New Machine and New Layout in the Studio

I couldn't resist the sales events from the local Bernina dealers during late February and March.  Knowing that one of my machines was nearing the end of its life, I jumped on the deals and bought a new Bernina 770 QE Pro along with the embroidery module.  

The machine was so big that it didn't fit into my sewing cabinet.  So, I also had to buy a new sewing cabinet.  I bought the Arrow Kangaroo and Joey combination.  

All of this meant big changes in my studio layout.  My sister came down for a visit and helped me lay out the space and shop for the cabinet.  I'm getting used to the new layout and think that I'm going to love being able to see my design wall and have the ironing board in front of a window.  

I sold my old cabinet, my featherweight machine, and my traveling table to help offset the cost of the new cabinet.  I also plan to sell my Bernina 440 and all of its components.  Now, I just need to learn how to use my new machine and the embroidery module.  I guess that its always good to learn new things, especially at my age.  And this should be my last new machine and cabinet; so why not!

CCQ Challenge - 2026 - Red, White, Blue and Gold - Part Three - Patriotic Lady

This is a continuation of two previous posts about the making of the CCQ challenge piece, the Patriotic Lady.

I made the face, neck and hair with 4 shades of skin tone and selected black and gold for her hair.  After I finished it, I attached it all to the background with a tiny zig zag stitch.

The final item that I needed was the star wand.  I remembered that I had a 1/4" bias tape maker and 1/4" double sided fusible.  I found a nice shade of gold and made it and attached it to the top.  This was also added with a zig zag stitch.

I quilted the top in spirals and stars with gold colored thread.  AND I used my new BSR and Bernina 770 to do the quilting.  I love the new machine and especially the laser light that lets you see exactly where the needle is going to stitch.   I quilted the body with thread to match the clothes, face, and hair. 

 When that was all done, I hand stitched on the embroidered star at the top of the wand.  It was bound with blue striped fabric.

She's 24" W x 39" L.

I hope you like it!

Finishing a friend's inherited UFO projects

One of my quilting friends recently lost her sister, who was an avid quilter and made hundreds of quilts for charity.  The family went through her quilting room and found a ton of unfinished projects.  So, my friend  put the projects into baggies and has been handing them out to some of us to finish and donate to charity.

I picked up 2 of them.  The first one was made entirely of Fairy Frost, a line of shimmery fabric that was popular a few years ago.  I added 2 large borders to make it the 50" x 60" size that they used for donated quilts.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I passed it along.

The second one was so close to being finished.  There were 20 12" blocks all done and the backing was sewn together.  All it needed was to have some sashing cut and then sew it all together.  I decided to use only 16 of the 12" blocks to keep the quilt a reasonable size.  It ended up being 58" x 58".  Here is the completed top:

My friend and her family will quilt these tops and I may get them back to finish up the binding.  And I hope whomever gets these quilts likes them!

CCQ challenge 2026 - Red, White, Blue and Gold - Part One

Clark County Quilters (CCQ) issued a challenge for 2026 to celebrate both the 50th year of the guild and the 250th anniversary of the USA.  The piece had to be done in red, white and blue with stars and stripes, plus gold.  It couldn't be wider than 24", and the length was not limited.  I immediately thought about doing a lady with striped bottoms, star sunglasses, and lots of glitz.  Here are my sketches of ideas:

I found a picture in my sketch book and used that to draw my design to scale.  In order to get the face the right size, I took a picture of it and resized it in Photoshop.  I also posterized it so that I would have the 4 values that I needed to make the face realistic.  Here is the sketch and face to scale.

I started working on the pants first (shown above and detail below).  I knew that I wanted them to be red and white striped, and I used my chop and drop method to make them.  (Actually, I forgot the first step and didn't add the blobs of fabric before adding all the trim!).  I think they turned out very cute.

The next thing that I made was the top and sleeves.  I used 3 shades of blue blobs and trims to give it some kind of shading.  I also added gold thread to add that spark of shiny gold.

I hope you like it so far!