New Machine in Turkey

Well, Saturday, hubby and I went to Ulos, one of the many shopping areas here in Ankara.  We somehow communicated to a store clerk that we needed a new adapter (mostly by pointing to the broken adapter).  Luckily, the man spoke just enough English to tell us, "Light...signal...right...elektrik."  Okay, got it.  Off we went, got the adapter, walked around some, I got prices on some inexpensive machines should the adapter still not work and I found a fabric store that carried some cottons!  I bought a few gingham-type checks and got a few colors as fill ins for a few projects I had.  ;)  And then home.  I tried the new adapter with my Janome Jem and still nothing.  I get power and then an error display message so it must need some work or it's just not taking the 220v power. 

I've been cutting "kits" and pinning project pieces together so I was staying busy during the day.  I'm not sure but I must have had the most pitiful look ever on my face because on Sunday night, hubby told me I should go back to Ulos on Monday and get myself a new sewing machine.  Saturday they had a Singer for around $200 US dollars.  I really didn't want a Singer but hey, I didn't want to complain.  I'm unemployed now, you know.  lol

So, on Monday, I got out the English/Turkish dictionary and wrote down a few phrases like "left" and "right" for the taxi ride and "how much".  :)  Before I was ready to leave, I called one of the wives that I've become friends with, Debbie.  I told her my plan and she eagerly said she would go with me.  I almost climbed through the phone line to kiss her!!  lol  I would've gone alone but she's been here for three years and knows a little Turkish, how to get to Ulos and is just knowledgeable about things here.  Talk about relief!!

This photo is behind the main street.  The shops go for blocks but the "main street" is where the sewing machine stores are.  They have Pfaff, Juki, Singer, Janome....just about anything you would want.  A lot of friends and family have asked if I have to wear a scarf or keep my head covered.  There are many Muslims here, from the full black dress with just their eyes showing to ladies who wear the trench coat and scarf to just a head scarf.  I know there are names for all of those garments but I don't know them.  If I take time to look it up, I'll never get my post done!  lol

 

So, below is the machine I got.  It's not a Singer and it wasn't $200.  lol  I'm telling you, it's a wonder Richard even lets me come to visit him!  :oD  This week I blew up the iron!!!  lol  Anyway, this hobby machine was just over $400 US dollars so it's not horribly priced and I'm hoping when I come back in September, toward the end of that visit, I'll be able to sell it on the expat site since it's 220v and I won't be able to use it at home.  So far, she's been doing a great little job.  Since I had some of my "kits" ready to go, I was able to start sewing strips together for a Yellow Brick Road quilt.  She's nice and quiet and would've been a nice extra machine if she wasn't 220v.

 

 



None of the fabrics I brought with me looked good with the YBR monkey fabric so I sure was glad I picked up those ginghams on Saturday.  The brown seemed to work just fine. It looks kind of crazy in the photo but it's just a small check.

 

 



 

I also sewed my granddaughter Emily a little soft counting book.  It was an easy panel and it was all cut and pinned together.  I just had to sew it up.  I can't wait to see her and give it to her.  I'm sure it'll go right in her mouth!  :)

 

 

Well, it's raining heavy hear and it's after 10:00 a.m. and I'm still in my jammies!  Love, love, LOVE days like today!  TGIF!!



Darci's Dress Up, Part 1??

Look at me trying to be a good little blogger and post some updates!!  :o)

I haven't figured out the sewing machine situation yet so in the meantime, I'm plugging along on prep work.  Doing what I can to prepare for when I have a working machine here in Turkey. 

I've had this pattern and layer cake kit for...oh, about two years I guess.  That must be my "simmer time" because that seems to be my average of projects I brought with me.  I guess I had to bond with my fabrics and kits first....like raising a family.  Hold 'em tight and then let them go.  hehe

Anyway, no sewing but there is quite a bit of prep work for this project, Darci's Dress Up.  The dresses need to be fused onto squares of background fabric.  I'm using Steam a Seam 2  I'm hoping it doesn't make them to stiff but I'm guessing this will be a wall hanging and hopefully, it will be fine.  (Sorry for the poor quality photos.  My camera's on the charger.)

 

 

The need to be fused, attached by blanket stitch, blind stitch or whatever your choice is.  I'm probably going to blind stitch them on.  There are collars, sleeves and pockets.  You can also add embellishments like lace, rickrack, buttons.  I brought a few things but not a lot.  We'll see how far this project goes.

 

 

I brought a charm pack of 30's but not big pieces.  I'm not thrilled with all of the fabrics I have to use but I'm going to go for it.  The background blocks and dresses are okay but once I pulled all that I liked, there wasn't much left for the little "pinwheel" border. 

 

 

I'm guessing it'll take me some time to get the dresses done so who knows, I might be home by then.  lol 

 

We'll be going to Munich in a few days and will be gone for a week.  Thus the Part 1, question marks.  Who knows what I'll get done while I'm here.  :o)

Playing in Turkey

I wish I could read Turkish.  Saw these great magazines at the little corner market when we were picking up some produce.  They had some of the cutest projects inside.  Probably a good thing they weren't in English  because the last thing I need are a few more projects to do!

Monday was my hubbies birthday so he took one more day of vacation and we went to the mall where Ikea is and walked around.  We saw these cabinets  They are perfectly vintage looking and he thinks he's going to get one for his car collectibles.  It's too bad they don't have it in the new turquoise color they're using on so much right now.  Richard said he'd go back and get one for the game room.  Lord knows, he needs something in this big empty apartment.  lol  I told him it will give him a place for all the souvenirs he's getting and I told him to paint it before he puts it together.  :o)

 

We passed by the rug department and Richard spotted the button rug we saw in the catalog back in May last time I was here but they didn't have them yet.  He said, "There's your button rug.  You better get it." :o)  I told him I didn't think I wanted one since they have a white background and it would be too hard to keep clean.  You can see I put up a fight and gave in.  LOL  It makes me happy to look at it and it is comfy on my feet when I'm cutting.  Guess I'll keep the vacuum handy.

 

 

I put that room and rug to good use the last few days.  Before we took our trip to Ireland for Richard's "mandatory R&R", I made these red and light blue blocks.  These were from the class at quilt camp I went to in July.  I had to pack that away though because I didn't bring the ruler with me to make the other two navy ones.  It'll have to wait til I get home.  It's looking good though and I'm loving them.

 

I did those, a breast cover for my daughter Ashley and this little iron caddy/pressing mat.  Thank you for the pattern, Carolyn!

This will be great for retreats and sew-ins.  :)



Yesterday, I took this kit out and got it cut out.  It was a perfect, easy project for sewing while doing laundry.

 

 

I think it's a perfect little boy quilt.  It measures 38x48 so it'll be nice and easy to quilt when I get home.  :o)

 

Sort, Stitch, Seatcover

While putting away all of my new fabric purchases over the last week or so, I was forced to sort through my bins, drawers and piles and piles of fabric to create room.  This quilting hobby is a love-hate relationship.  lol  Love the fabric, hate that I'm limited on space but it's probably a good thing that I am.  I'm happy to have a sewing room.  I lived many years with junk piled all over the dining room so I appreciate my little space. 

 

I relabeled some of the boxes in my closet.  Moved some things around and I think it's as good as it's going to get.  I need to make some new labels to replace the blue painters tape.  :o)

 

 

I pulled out some fabrics that I've had a long time and some that were given to me.  I filled a kitchen bag and will donate it to my friends church for prayer quilts.  It feels good to make space and to know the fabric will be used for some good.  Win-win.  :o)

 

One of the things that I went through was a drawer of Debbie Mum fabric.  I liked her old stuff and haven't parted with it just yet.  My sewing room valance is a one of her all over designs.  I decided to cover this nasty old chair that I use in my room.  Isn't it disgusting?  I can't believe it's taken me this long to cover it.  All because of a little sorting.  Well, a LOT of sorting!

 

 

Here "she" is with her new coat.  Or cover or whatever you want to call it.  I couldn't believe this chair had a removable back so I was able to staple gun the fabric down and then put the back piece back on.  Makes it look so professional.  For the bottom, I just sewed a casing with double fold bias tape and ran some 1/4" elastic through it.  Ta-da!!

 

It's a little busy, huh?  lol  That's okay.  Anything is better than that nasty old gray.  Here's a picture of the backing piece.  Pretty spiffy, huh?

 

Here's a shot of my valance.  (Buttons are from Joanns several years ago.)  I backed the fabric with muslin because of the light but it still faded a little bit.  I think it still has a few good years left.

 

And I got a little sewing done too.  In trying to get rid of some piles of fabric, I cut and stitched up some travel pillows.  I still need to sew the flannel blankets.  I hope to get those done tomorrow.

 

Seems like everyone is having scorching temperatures this weekend.  Today it was 101 in Fullerton (CA).  As of 10:00 tonight, it was still 92 degrees and the a/c has barely clicked off.  It'll be triple digits again tomorrow.  I hope it cools down for the 4th of July!  

One Little Indian

My boss's daughter graduated this past week.  She attended the same high school as my girls did, Fullerton High School, home of the Fullerton Indians.  Because my girls went there, I purchased some fabric several years ago from a local quilt shop.  I guess it was part of a fundraising effort to make Hawaiian shirts from the bolts of fabric which was printed at Hoffman Fabrics here in Mission Viejo, CA.  I made my boss a quilt a few years ago as a panel quilt as she is an alumni of the high school also.

 

Anyway I decided to make a little make-up bag using that same pattern I did a while back for all the craft show bags.  Mariah, the graduate, is going to a college in Georgia so I thought she could use the bag for all her power cords for her travels.  I put the attachment on my machine to do some grid quilting.

 

 

Here is the finished bag. This side shows the Indian and the school name.

 

 

And this side shows the Hawaiian theme print and the words "Tribe" as in Tribe Spirit.

 

I whipped up a card for the Open House today.  I used an older Stampin' Up set for the "hats off" and another set for the Congratulations.

 

 

Here is a little tag I made to go on the bag.  I tucked in a little green stuff for the rest of her graduation gift.  :)

Peek-a-Boo Bag





People who know me, know I am a "visual" learner.  You know, I need pictures/drawings with my directions because let's face it, the writing is just there to take up space!  It makes me feel like I got my money's worth on a pattern but it has no purpose other than that. 

I'm sort of kidding.  I have had to resort to reading the directions when I've hit a road block but it's usually only a last resort for me.  :o)  Look at this photo.  One drawing!  How am I supposed to make this???  lol


 

 

 

Sorry for the blurry photos.  My camera was charging...  Anyway, I bought this kit, including the pattern a while ago.  I decided to "ease" back into sewing after my trip to Turkey since the time change was hitting me pretty hard.  This little project seemed like a good thing to tackle.

 

 

It wasn't too bad actually.  There was just a tricky part on the inside but EVEN I understood it!  :o)  And the fabric kept me going.  Sooo dang cute!  Like any first bag I make, this would go probably go much fast now that I've made one.  

 

Now that I can't use the excuse of time change issues anymore, I guess I better go dig through my UFO's and see if I can get something done.  I want to be able to check something of my UFO list!!
 

Fabric Box

It was my middle daughters birthday yesterday.  We are going to dinner to celebrate tonight and she just wanted $$ for her present this year.  I found this little fabric box/basket tutorial last week and wanted to try making some.  This was the perfect opportunity.  I will tuck her card inside and some money and it will be a two-fer gifty.

The blog that the pattern is from is Seaside Stitches and it's a great tutorial with lots of pictures.  It's very easy and cute as can be with just two 10" squares of fabrics, a piece of batting and 4 buttons.  You can see I have a printed copy of the tutorial.  I am a visual person and need to refer to patterns quite often.  The printed directions are better for me to have in my sewing room as my computer is in another room.

Look!  It looks just like the picture!!  Shocking.  lol

And here it is all done with the buttons on.  Soooo cute!!

I suppose I ought to take my things out of it and put the birthday card inside.  :o(  I guess this means back to the sewing machine for me!  hehe

Travel Pillows

I finished three travel pillowcases last night and that was "after" making dinner, doing dishes and visiting with my daughter and her boyfriend...and watching The Avengers!!! No, don't call me a stud. Call me "tired"! lol

I think they turned out pretty cute. I will try and get the matching blankies sewed up tonight. We'll see. I'm not usually "studly" two nights in a row!! Is there a little icon for bags under the eyes? No?  Okay, I'll keep the smiley face.  :o)

Baby Quilt and Busy Bees

I got to quilting on the baby quilt for my daughter's friend.  I took it in little spurts to see how my back would hold up from both the sitting and maneuvering a quilt under the needle.  It went fine with little 'get up' breaks.  I just stitched in the ditch on the sashing and did diagonal stitching through the blocks.  This makes it quilted about every 3" or so, so it should hold up to lots of washes.  You know how babies like to dirty stuff up!  lol

 

 

The back of the quilt is a cozy polka dot flannel.  Mmmm, good for snuggling little babies! 

I still need to trim the quilt and sew on the binding but during one of my 'breaks', I got out this fabric that I had picked up a long time ago for my friend's daughter.  She loves bees because her daddy used to called her "Bee Wee" when she was a little girl.  And you know daddies and daughters have those special kind of relationships so the name stuck.  Bee got married earlier this year but I had missed the bridal shower.  She was coming over Monday night to have me hem some pants so I thought it was perfect motivation to get this thing off my (this should have been done in February) to-do list!
 

I used a free pattern I found online here.  I only made them 8" so I didn't do too much quilting on them.  I found this adorable bee ribbon at Road to CA in January so I had the entire project ready to go, I just needed to do it!  (Dang, I need a new cutting mat! lol)

When I knew the shower was around the corner, I found these cute bowls at Home Goods.  They are perfect for a yellow and black kitchen.  The newlywed loved it all.

 



 

NOW....with that out of the way and before the next stamping party, I thought I would work on a few things for the upcoming craft show.  I cut some flannel I've had for a couple of years for blanket/travel pillow sets.  They should go together fairly quick and take up some space on the table.  I used to paint wooden items but don't really have that in my much anymore so sewing it is.

 

 

I don't have any blue flannel in my stash so I hope the boy-buying-public isn't offended.  lol  It feels good to be using up some of this stuff I bought so long ago.

A little sewing and some re-dos



If you are a quilter, sewer or crafter, you know how easy it is to "collect" fabric!  I have trouble finding a place for all the fabric in my little room.  And  besides "my" purchases, I have people who give me fabric.  It's a nice gesture but sometimes, it's not what I would use for quilts or sewing projects.  God forbid I say 'no', right?  lol

 

Such is the case with this bright yellow fabric that I covered my ironing board with.  My friend Anna found about a 3 yard bundle at a thrift store for $1.98 and the price was too good to pass up.  She thought I could use it for something.  :o)  The weave was not too good, reminded me of a feedsack.  I have a good ironing board cover I got at Road to CA last year but it's too slippery and our clothes won't stay on the board.  Very frustrating.  So, I decided to use some of this 'free' fabric for a cover.  It's a little on the bright side but it's cute and it was free and it took me under an hour to do it.  It was an easy project and since I'm trying to ease back into sitting and sewing, it was perfect.









 

 

And last weekend my hubby went to a car show and he brought a bag full of freebies.  One was this lanyard for your keys.  I have been wanting something to hook my house key on when I go for my walks but don't have a pocket.  I cut the old ribbon off and used the parts for a cute red polka dot ribbon.  Ahhh, much better!  Now I can take my walks in style.  :o)

 

 

 

And just to share some fun and cuteness, have you seen these adorable little  Fisher Price Super Heroes toys?  My daughter's friend has a little one and she found them while cruising the toy aisle one day.  I died when I saw them and knew I had to have some but each time I went to Target, they were out of stock.  My sister (who loves cuteness too) had to have them also and found them on Amazon.  When I showed her that I found them at Target, she said "she might even let her grandkids play with them".  Of course, neither of us has grandkids.  Maybe by the time we do, we'll be so happy, we'll give those little gems anything they want!!!  lol

 

Sew, Sew, Sew

I finished 10 drawstring bags for the craft show.  It's not a lot but with my daughters also making things, I feel like I don't have to kill myself.  Yay!  :o)

I found this adorable print at the discount fabric store.  This would make a cute lunch bag.  I used what I had bought, so of course, I had to go back and get a few more yards!!  lol  I think it would be cute to make a fabric sack with a boxed bottom.  This fabric is so cute, it would be a cute whatever.....apron, pot holders, table topper....


The green bag in the back was made at the retreat I was at in Indiana.  Since I got the first bag made and was out of projects to do, I asked one of the girls that headed back to the quilt shop to get me some fabric off the sale table.  Usually I over pack but this was a first!  lol  The bag in front has an adorable western print purchased at the same discount store.  I love the little "rope" drawstring.

And lastly, I got two different car prints.  Can't you just picture these full of little Hot Wheels?  One of the ladies at the retreat made a bag out of car fabric for her grandson so when I saw this fabric, I scooped it right up.

I only have three make-up bags from the last batch I made so back to the cutting table!  I'm burning through the zipper stash I had built up but that's why I bought a bulk lot on ebay.  I better make some money so I can stock back up.

I Finished It!!

I finished the Dresden Plate!  I saw the cutest little doily/topper here and loved it so that's how I did mine, as a topper.  I figured since my plate was 17", to me it was too big for a block.  My sis suggested using it as a center block for a quilt and make smaller ones around it and I might do that one day but for now, I have so many other projects, I just wanted to make a sample for my daughter. 

So, I got some muslin and put right sides together and used a scrap of batting.  I sewed around the scalloped edge of the block and trimmed the fabric close to the edge so I wouldn't have to clip the curves.  I did clip in the valleys and it was pretty bulky but they flattened pretty good.  I turned it out through the hole. 

I cut a circle at 3" with my Fiskars Circle Cutter.  I hardly ever use that thing but when I need it, it works perfectly every time!  I gathered the edge of the circle and put a cardboard circle inside so I could press it for crisp edges.  I did a blind hem stitch on the edge.  I like this technique in lieu of hand stitching, especially for something like this.

For the quilting, I just stitched 1/8" from the edge of each 'blade' to hold it together. 

The back is just muslin.  Nothing exciting but I had it on hand and now my little topper/sample for my daughter is done!  Yay. 

And now it's late, again!  Off to bed I go.  At least tomorrow is Friday.  Woohoo!