Quilted Sewing Machine Cover

For a recent craft swap on Craftster, I made this sewing machine cover for my partner. Her favorite color is orange, and she likes it paired with purple, so that's why I chose this color scheme! I must say that after the top was all pieced together and I was considering a purple fabric for the binding, I wasn't happy with it--the colors seemed to be "too much".  Then I thought of going with the black and white stripe, and it took on a more modern feel to me, and I am very happy with how it turned out. I quilted it by machine, which is unusual for me (I do almost all of my quilting by hand), but I was running out of time, so machine quilting saved the day!

This is the first sewing machine cover I've ever made, and although I would have preferred to make a fitted cover with closed sides, I didn't have the exact dimensions of the machine it would cover, so I made it loose-fitting with adjustable ties. My partner says she loves it, and that's what matters.

This was my 52nd swap on Craftster! That's a lot of swaps! I'm going to take a break from swapping now and concentrate on other things...at the moment, my main interest is sewing and crafting for Blythe dolls. I've opened an Etsy store called Blythe Happy, and the embroidered panties are selling like crazy! I will be doing more blogging on my other blog (also called Blythe Happy) and less blogging here.

So, until next time, happy crafting!

Seven Days of Giveaways!

I started this blog almost a year ago, in March of 2011, with three followers:  my husband, my daughter, and my wonderful friend Susan (whose idea it was that I start blogging).  As of today I am up to 76 followers, and since a few more are added each week, it won't be long before the number reaches 100!  I've been thinking that I need to do something special for my readers then, some kind of giveaway, but one day of prizes just isn't enough for something as big as this--so I've decided that starting the day my number of followers hits 100, I will have SEVEN DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS!!

Many of the things I will be giving away are the samples I've made for swaps, like this apron:

or this basket:

or these morsbags:

or this card wallet:

And to make it more fun, I will have two winners each day:  the first person to leave a comment will win the handmade item (plus whatever extras I throw into the package) and the second person to leave a comment will win a group of fat quarters of designer fabric!  The fabric is being donated by Susan; she came upon an amazing haul of brand-new, packaged fat quarters at a garage sale last year, and because she is so awesome, she is letting me give it away!!  There will be a picture of the prizes each day, which I will post at a random time, just to keep things interesting.

The tricky part is, I don't know exactly when this will all happen--that depends new followers signing up--but I think is will be within the next month or two.  I'm telling you now so you will know to keep checking here.

 As the number gets closer to 100, I will post a reminder of this great big, incredible, awesome, unprecidented SEVEN DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS!!

Pincushion Parade!

I came upon this CUTE idea today at Love Laugh Quilt--Beth is hosting a Pincushion Parade, and anyone who wants to show off their pincushions can participate!  I want to play!  Take a look at my pincushions:

The only one I made is the square watermelon-looking one on the left.  It is actually a Japanese ote-dama (juggling) ball, but it makes an awesome pincushion when filled will plastic pellets! 

The other four pincushions came from talented crafters in swaps I participated in on Craftster.  This cute purple cat is from wendiek in The Netherlands.  She made this for me because I love cats!

This lovely pincushion was made by alwaysinmyroom in Pennsylvania, using Japanese kimono fabrics.  There is a lot of  detailed beading and embroidery around the sides.

Unsuperb made this pincushion.  She hand-painted the design on the cup it sits in!

This little cupcake is from Amifriends in Mexico.  I love how realistic it looks!



I use pincushions every day (I have several others that are too scruffy to show)--I have three in my sewing room and these are all in the family room, near my sewing chair.  I plan to keep adding to my collection!