New Seams

The Christmas season is upon us! For the first time in three years, our family has made a real effort to decorate for Christmas. We have a real tree (a luxury that we sorely missed while living in Jacksonville), outside lights, and other touches that have become part of the feeling of Christmas in the McGehee household. Beneath the tree our beloved town scene (an inheritance from my grandmother) is proudly displayed to remind us both of sweet and humorous memories from previous Christmases.

Now that we have become mostly settled in Colorado and the fall semester has come to a close, I have had the opportunity to pull out my much neglected sewing machine for a few projects. I had forgotten how marvelous it is to see my bedroom covered in fabric and thread as I plan new projects. This season has beckoned much creative inspiration both for gifts and technical ventures. Here are a few of the projects that have been undertaken thusfar:

As we sifted through our Christmas decor I noted a severe lack of tasteful and festive hand towels. So, without spending a penny I sifted through our towels and my stabilizer and embroidery thread collection and created this cute little design (which was also free from my favorite embroidery web site).

The other two completed projects are actually Christmas gifts for Mom and Dad, so I will post pictures of them at a later date. Suffice it to say that the Bosch now has a custom quilted fabric cover, and we finally have a place to hang our keys!

I have also been experimenting with more precise techniques for sewing. I can figure out how to accomplish just about any project, but I have not mastered any one particular aspect of the craft. So, in an effort to train myself more formally, I decided to undertake my first real quilt. This project will require that I sew together blocks, stitch "in the ditch" for a quilted effect, and combine colors and designs in a cute and tasteful manner. After researching quilt blocks I decided to incorporate pinwheels into my design. After further research and a few test runs, I figured out how to make a "perfect pinwheel". Not that it is actually perfect by any means! I simply made an extra effort to use good technique and take no shortcuts during this project. A tutorial for these pinwheels is soon to come!