Telling Time

Hoping I'm about caught up with Christmas preparations, I can finally write up what I've been doing with my sewing machines. The last warm day here in Minnesota was about ten days ago so with one mad dash to donation centers and some thoughtful rearranging of the garage, both cars were back inside before we got the next snowfall. It's been more than chaotic here with the new windows finally installed, bathroom light and fan done, and new refrigerator ordered to replace the broken one. That still leaves another ceiling fixture and fan in the second bedroom, HVAC people for duct cleaning and furnace check that had to be rescheduled. In the midst of all of this I have been working on sewing projects, too!

Spoonflower, the company that lets you design your own fabric or even purchase someone else's design, had a great fat quarter sale and that's just the size (18" by 22") I need to make up recipe card dish towels like I did at this time last year. This year I had a brainstorm to make up calendar towels using some photos of a family wedding. Using PicMonkey online photo editing, I came up with this:

Printed fat quarter comes unfinished

Printed on their heavier weight canvas linen so it's a good feel and weight, it's also a larger size than the standard fat quarter since this linen is wider than standard cotton. This happy family just moved into a new home so I'll get it hemmed for a housewarming present and a memory of our trip together. Here's what they look like finished:

Wedding memories

Since it was a beach wedding, I used a cloud background via PicMonkey and added the calendar from a free calendar and image site. I did have to be careful when hemming because one side was nearly white and the other blue so I changed thread color as needed. It looks skewed in the photo but it really is straight! One little snafu was not checking the calendar for typos: there was a red line under each abbreviation for Tuesday and Thursday so a small red line appears under each and every month for Tu and Th. I would have edited them out if I would only have caught it! Live and learn on that one. All in all, they turned out nice and will be gifts for the new year.

While I was bringing sewing machines into the house, I spied this a very dirty Singer 185 and cleaned it up to reveal how nice it really was:

Singer 185 out of Canada

It took some coaxing to get it sounding good again but there was nothing a good cleaning and oil couldn't fix. I put it in one of the wood bases I had someone make up for me last spring so it's ready to go. There's no top for these bases so I should make up a cloth cover and that brings me back to Spoonflower. I bought someone else's design as a fat quarter in hopes of making up a cute cover but noticed the design is running the wrong way so will have to combine with another fabric to make a cover. Here's what I have for sewing themed fabric:

Sewing themed fabrics: Spoonflower design on right is so cute!

The one on the far fight with the vintage sewing machine photos will be my "centerpiece" but think I should pair it with something less busy than the fabrics I have on the left. Maybe the green Singer 185 should have the spools of thread on the brown background for a cover but I'll have to see how much is left. I would love to make up my own quilted fabric and as I type my mind is forming a plan for piecing squares and quilting for a fantastic new cover. Oh, I can hardly wait to get started!

Much to my relief, the Christmas tree is up, cards have been sent, the refrigerator is being delivered today, and the electrician is scheduled to come tomorrow. All of this gives us the freedom to head up north for three days to Gunflint Lodge for a smoked meat weekend. That's right, we will be watching them smoke meat and other food to enjoy while we hike outdoors in their single digit weather. We really like this place and couldn't resist a package deal plus a chance to get away and relax before the rush of company and cooking. I'll let you know how it goes but there is no internet access up there and we will be UNPLUGGED for three days. This will be good for me, too, but I'll report back about the food and the sights but not expecting any sewing machine sightings but you never know...