Mother's Day

As Mother's Day was approaching, I had a hard time figuring out what to do for my mom and mother-in-law. After just moving from Seattle to MT, all my sewing supplies were in storage. Humph.

I was almost ready to settle on buying them something "unique", like lotion. (I know, I know...how creative.) But my mother-in-law had recently bought a brand new Bernina activa 230 - Patchwork Edition and she was willing to let me take it for a spin. I fell in love with the stability of the machine and the smoothness of every stitch. She has it on a roomy sewing table with attachable extensions and can lower the machine to be flush with the tabletop. Very nice! She said I could use it ANY time I wanted...so my gears started turning. What can I make in only a few days? Here's what I came up with...a spring table runner!

Here are some pics of one of them:

For the backing, I used leftover scraps so it could be reversible.

For the quilting, I stitched in the ditch and then had a bit of fun with the polka dots. I tried using the darning foot to quilt in a freehand circle around a few of them. I haven't done much before with a darning foot, but it became a little easier with each polka dot.

Welp...Happy Mother's Day! May God bless all the mom's out there!

From Scratch

I am attempting to start a compilation of my inspirations, projects, and ideas...from scratch.

My first inspiration is my dear mom. Whenever we go shopping, she usually proclaims, "Ah. Don't buy that; I can make it." From soap to chocolate cake to socks - she makes it from scratch. Starting from the raw ingredients, she taught me that most everything (except nylons) can be made at home. She now specializes in homemade soap using home-grown ingredients from their ranch in eastern Montana, called Pure Prairie Soap. It is amazing stuff. She is an amazing woman.