Tag: Babylock Destiny

A weekend cornucopia: little boy gifts, a quilt top finish, and we’re off to the races on the Farmer’s Wife quilt!

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I got a birth announcement this week.  I love it, because it gives me a good excuse to hit up my sewing room and come up with something new and different.  It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve embroidered…

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These adorable trucks are in a set by Anita Goodesign, Baby Construction.  Along with cute applique designs, they have these made-in-the-hoop softies.  Ooohhh, I can give the baby his first trucks!

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I took some photos in my sewing room.  Not good enough.  I knew they needed to be photographed at a work site.  Now that’s more like it.

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The new little tot has two older brothers, so I put his name on his toys.  These were fun to make and turned out so cute.  Anita Goodesign does a great job on these in-the-hoop projects.

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Big brothers like to get gifts, too.  I decided to stick with the construction theme and make pillow cases for the two older boys.  I was at my local shop on Friday woking on the Million Pillowcase Challenge, so pillow cases were on my mind.  And I figured that everybody like to have their name on things.  Especially with a house full of brothers.

If you are hearing a grinding noise now, not to worry.  It’s just the sound of me switching gears.

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I have finished my Downton Abbey Christmas quilt top!  It looks very elegant, if I do say so myself.  I’ll figure out the backing, then off to the quilter.  And anytime I mention Downton Abbey, I have to include a picture of me at Downton.

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More grinding of gears here.

The Farmer’s Wife 1930’s Sampler Quilt sew-along has begun!  We got a preview of the first block, and here’s mine.

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Loving the brights.  Mine will have quite the variety of colors.  Is anyone else riding along for this adventure?

This is the quilt version of lipstick

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My mom taught me a couple of things that have stuck with me over the years.  One is never leave the house without lipstick.  Another is that every quilt should have a label.  So it follows that no quilt should leave the house without a label.

I decided to embroider the label for my quilt.  I entered all the words on my sweet Destiny, but it looked so boring.  Plain and boring, two things I aspire to NOT be.

I think I solved that problem quite well by adding this design by Urban Threads.  Really jazzed up the label, don’t you think?

Lonely no more, the Hawaiian quilt block gets some new friends!

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I was busy this weekend.

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Destiny was embroidering like a maniac!  The sections still need to be sewn together, but I managed to stitch out all four parts for each of the red and blue quilt blocks.  The vibrant colors are making me so happy!

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I continue to be amazed at the stitch quality of my Destiny.  It is so consistent and lovely.

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The designs in this Hawaiian Quilt pack by Anita Goodesign are amazing.  That company provides such consistent high-quality projects!  I’m going to need a big pile of blocks for a king-size quilt.

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Notice my solo pineapple square?  I ran out of embroidery thread  after this one.  Oops.  Well, that and I screwed up another two of them.  So we’ll call this one a work-in-progress.

I was working on organizational items in my studio between thread changes on my machine.  This week I will be moving my sewing studio upstairs to a much bigger space.  Unfortunately, this will involve a bunch of dudes with big muscles.  So that’s a wild card.  I’ll be spending my days prepping, unloading bookcases, carrying supplies, and generally wearing myself out without a lot of creativity to show for it.

My small space always looks like a bomb has exploded in it, so I’m looking forward to my bigger spot.  My issue is sure to be the one facing all of us with large fabric collections…storage.  I’ll keep you posted.

Does anyone else see a Hawaiian quilt in my future? I think it’s my Destiny.

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Look what happened at my house on Friday!

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The first block of my Hawaiian quilt is in the bag, and I am thrilled.  I’m using an Anita Goodesign embroidery collection called…wait for it…Hawaiian Quilt.  My plan is to use a variety of fun batik fabrics and make it really colorful.

I had three of these four sections completed when my sewing machine decided to have a spa visit.  The good news here is that I had actually saved my design in the machine memory!  I was able to complete the partially stitched section without a hitch.

Wondering what was up with my Babylock Destiny?  Just a big hairball – well, a thread tangle.  A spool of thread I had used previously kept shredding and breaking.  Some of that thread got caught up inside and built a nest in the machine.  Thanks to the clever and talented repair department at my dealer for solving that issue!

Destiny and I are resuming our love affair right where we left off.

I’ve got 99 problems, but this better not become one of them.

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Oh Destiny, please do not become one of those high maintenance gals.

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Don’t you flash your angry little eyes at me.  Don’t you make growling noises.  We are going to have an (apparently) overdue conversation about your behavior and responsibilities.  As soon as you return from the spa.

Guess who’s back, back again. Destiny’s back, tell a friend!

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First, apologies to Eminem for hijacking your lyrics.  But I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it.  I got my machine back from the spa yesterday.  We had some bonding time.  Thank you for respecting our privacy.

I cheated on my Destiny with another sewing machine!

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I am sick and tired of organizing.  Oh, I’m not done yet, just tired of it.  And my machine is still at the spa.  I couldn’t stand it any longer.  I cut out some fabric.

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I decided to make a smallish project.  I wasn’t sure how my Project Runway backup sewing machine would do, and I didn’t want to bite off more than it could chew.  I just happened to have a 24″ pillow form sitting around, and some fabric from the new Tidal Lace collection by Windham Fabrics.

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I was inspired by an adorable quilt pattern called Making Waves, on the See How We Sew blog.  You can see the pattern here https://seehowwesew.wordpress.com/patterns/

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I used the templates for one of the beach balls.  The curves in the waves and sand were made by stacking the fabric and cutting freehand curves.

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The back has a lapped zipper.  Somebody’s bound to slobber on it at some point.  Gotta be able to wash it.

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It sure helped out my symptoms of withdrawal.  And I gained a newly refreshed admiration for my Destiny.  I have fallen in love with my dreamy machine.  But I need it back, or I might not be held accountable for what happens next.

Stay crafty, my friends.

The roast beast rocks Valentine’s Day!

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There’s something so comforting about a big chunk of beef.  I had decided that this 5-1/2 pound beauty was too small for Christmas, but I’m sure glad I found it in the freezer in time for Valentine’s Day.  Covered that bad boy in a dry rub made from cayenne, paprika, garlic, fresh ground pepper, and amazing, chunky Hawaiian sea salt.  My daughter just loves the word chunky.

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And how much fun is it to rub this stuff all over the meat?  Lots.  Then it’s onto the grill to sear all sides.  After baking on indirect heat on the grill…

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I am seriously salivating just looking at this picture.  And I’m still full from dinner!  Oh yeah, grilled some asparagus too!

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I don’t even care that my pee is going to smell funny tomorrow.  Just for good measure, I topped it off with another piece of Perfect Cheesecake.

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I’m pretty sure the family is enjoying the fact that my Destiny is still in the shop.  Meanies.

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How am I going to tote around all those hexies?

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Don’t you just love those ah-ha! moments?  I’ve been working on rosette number two from the New Hexagon Millefiore Quilt-Along.  And I have bits and bobs spread all over the table next to my chair.  Time to rein in my mess.

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This is the Bionic Gear Bag Notions Tote, by RipStitcher.  The pattern is here on Craftsy:  http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/sewing/accessory/winner-bionic-gear-bag-notions-tote/93596

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This has enough zipper compartments to make me do a happy dance!  And I got to install four zippers!  A place for everything, and everything in its’ place.

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Can’t do EPP without my trusty 3M blue painters tape.  And massive spools of gray thread.  Here’s a small preview of some of the fabrics in my second rosette:

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I may start putting this together by machine.  I am very pleased with how my first rosette turned out, using invisible thread and a zig-zag stitch.  If you haven’t checked out my tutorial, you can find all three parts here on my blog.  https://handmadebycarolecarr.com/2015/01/23/machine-stitching-the-millefiore-quilt-tutorial-part-one-for-those-of-us-who-hand-sew-at-the-speed-of-a-turtle/

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For those of you who are loving on my Shaka Hula Fork Chef Dude, here’s a gratuitous picture of his bad self.

My wonderful Destiny is still in the shop.  You will never believe what I ended up doing all day yesterday.  Just try to guess.

Stay crafty, my friends.

After the second month, she needed a rest.

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Sometimes I’m an overachiever.  And sometimes I’m a hopeless procrastinator.  I’m a dichotomy.

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I’ve been having so much fun with my new sewing machine.  Last December I got one of those fancy, new-fangled Babylock embroidery machines.  I feel it was my destiny to buy a Destiny.  Oh, the things it can do!  Oh, the places we will go!  And I was determined to get there fast.

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Babylock recommends having this giant beauty serviced every one million miles (well, stitches actually.)  I hit that milestone in two months.  Two months.  That’s fast.  Somehow I outpaced everyone on the island.  Even those that got their machines a couple of months before me.  Not that I’m bragging, but that makes me NUMBER ONE!!!

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The downside of being number one…my machine is in the shop getting a tune-up.  I’m showing the symptoms of withdrawal.  It’s not pretty.

On the bright side of this dilemma, I’m heading to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for a cheesecake.  The best cheesecake in the world.  So tomorrow, you’re going to have to suffer through pictures of today’s baking challenge.

I also have very noble intentions of organizing my sewing room.

I crack myself up.