New Year, New Hobby, New Toys

2013 brings a lot of newness at our house. I got a new job (whohoo!) in a fabric store. I took up jogging with our dog Max. You can see pictures from those runs here. That's all good and well but the fun news this year, so far, has been the new antique sewing machine I picked up right before Christmas. I realize this means I bought her before 2013 but I had to have her serviced and didn't get it back until after the first of the year. I love her.

She is a post-WWII dressmaker that sweetheart found in a thrift store for $15! Sweetie called me over to meet her and at first I wasn't very impressed. An old machine that was a brand I'd never heard of didn't sound very appealing. Then I started riffling through the cabinet drawers and found the accessories box with 8 feet in it, including a darning foot, 2 rolled hem feet, a binding foot, several zipper feet and others! The bonus was the original manual since I had no clue how I was supposed to work the machine. Needless to say, we loaded it up and took it home and I had high hopes. Then I came to find out that she was so gummy with 60 years worth of oil that she'd need some major attention by someone with expertise. From there I found Mike at Antique Sewing Machines who got her retooled and purring like a kitten. I need to name her and I'm thinking Midge. I'm also thinking of having her powder-coated orange to contrast off the green walls of the sewing room, just for kicks. Did I mention she has 17 different stitches? I'm swooning now just thinking about it.

So I got a new machine and I'm in love. Also, I started a job in a fabric store. What's a girl to do? Why learn to quilt! I've never been especially great at sewing garments but I figured I could sew straight lines. There was more to it than I realized so I did what any novice would do. I asked the internet, made a pinterest board and joined a forum. The forum does a block of the month, which I thought could be a great way to start and ask questions all at the same time. So far, I've done two blocks, January and February. I'm hoping to do a rainbow color scheme and put it all together for the first of next year. Here are the blocks I've done so far.

January- Whirling Star 2

This one was interesting because it involved "Y" seams for the triangles and I spent some time with the seam ripper but it came out okay, I think.

I'm calling this "Blue Valentine"

This was my first paper pieced block and I had a heck of a time but it's done and I like the effect. It also gave me a chance to try out all Midge's decorative stitches. Did I mention I love her? What are you doing that's new in 2013?