Tree Pants update

OK, I am declaring an October redo. I blew October for various reasons, mostly beyond my control. At the beginning of October I cut out a billion little pieces for the Christmas Tree sew-along on Sew, Mama, Sew.

Check me out I finally made some progress!

The sew along really lays things out for anyone making tree pants. I did not know it, but I have stumbled along my most intensive quilting project on this one. As you can see it is not perfect, but I'm pretty darn proud of the results.

This tree skirt is make of more Moda Countdown to Christmas fabric, so it matches my Christmas Crazy quilt. I don't have enough of this fabric to bind the tree pants with the same, so I may use plain black. If you have a brilliant idea for a binding please let me know. I am game on this one.

For more fun news, I got my Colette Book last week and have been reading through it all. It is very well written and beautiful. I have a trip to High Fashion Fabrics with my awesome friend and sewing teacher Jenny this afternoon, so I will be on the hunt for some fabrics to try a few of the projects with.

I am off all this week, and am hoping to be able to get several projects done. That will help make up for all my slow times lately. Thanks for hanging in there as a reader and for all your support in the last month. Even though most of us have never met, your kind words really mean a lot to me. Stay tuned!

I've been keeping a secret....

I have an addiction...to Craigslist. I have been scouring it for months chasing after embroidery machines. Remember the Christmas in July stocking class I took? It was a gateway drug, and my awesome teacher Jenny was my pusher.

I have been after then, and the good deals are gone before I ever even call...Until a few weeks ago. Now you must know this class I'm taking is killing me, because my whole life should be embroidered by now, right? I digress...check out my Janome Memory Craft 200E embroidery machine. Barely used, about $200 on Craigslist and all mine!

It is computerized and mindless and magic. Well, maybe not magic technically, but I'm watching HP and The Deathly Hallows and picking up some vocabulary.

It has been rainy all day in Houston, so I was trapped in the house. First I worked on a couple of assignments, then a cardigan. Then I cleaned. Then I napped Then I ate a hamburger while I watched the Texans blow it it at the last minute, but it was a good win for the Raider's since they just lost their owner. Then I thought, "What am I doing????" And the machine called to me...

I looked around, and had no idea what to try. I didn't want to just play on scraps, but occasionally I make shipping sack's for my husband's business out of muslin. I had some already cut, so I embroidered his business's initials on a couple. Not super fancy, but a good start.

I know, not anything too impressive, except for the fact it worked! One worrisome thing about Craigslist is will what you buy work.

I also played with a hand towel. I told someone I would try and I did.

Cute right? That is the water soluble stabilizer still on there, to keep the loops from coming through. Notice it is a bit crooked. The only thing I am missing is the grid to frame up the project on the hoop. I looked it up, and I can get one of those fairly easy. I expect to do this to more towels, and maybe add some ruffles.

Also, I don't know if you know this, but I go to quilt club after work on Wednesdays. I am thinking about taking the machine up to work while I am making my tree pants. I am thinking of doing a personalized set of tree pants and stockings for some family members for Christmas. Maybe I will invest in some more thread colors too, now that I know it works! When is the 40% off thread sale?

Quick, what else can I embroider?