New Cottage Treadle

Spied by my "personal shopper" in a local resale shop. Can you guess what is inside?

A New Cottage (National Sewing Machine Co. badged machine). It's a treadle and I have been toying with the idea of jumping into the treadle community for awhile. Blame Bonnie Hunter! There is no belt attached, but when I turn the flywheel, everything moves very smoothly and quietly. It's a bit dirty, but not bad. Nothing that some oil and elbow grease won't fix. Here are the "irons":

I am going to go back today and investigate it further. It may be coming home with me.

Progress on Ellie

I have finished Ellie and stitched her down. I added the sun, but still need to adhere it with stitching. The fabrics on either side are being auditioned for borders. I have also made a small utility baby quilt and three burp cloths for a little girl. They are the best kind - shopped totally from my stash from fabric to batting to backing to thread. The new baby is also getting a "good" quilt in the mother's choice of colors, but it felt good to whip out this little freebie. The fabrics have been hanging around in the closet since I made the last flannel baby quilt - over ten years ago!

The idea is for this quilt to be tucked into the diaper bag or used in the car. I always shudder when I see those fold down baby changing tables in restrooms. Does anyone ever clean those things? The mother will always have this quilt handy to put down on the changing table and it can be washed and washed without worrying about it.

Ellie

I took a workshop this weekend at a local quilt store. It's "Ellie" from BJ Designs. I had tried the project on my own and after wasting a lot of fabric and not liking the results, figured I could use some help. The teacher was excellent and she swooned when I rolled in with a ginormous bin of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. She said she hadn't seen this wide a selection even at a quilt store. I have been collecting his fabrics for years, picking up pieces everywhere I go. So, yes, I have a lot of Kaffe fabrics.

The instructor asked us to use Floriana Appli-Kay Wonder fusible web. As far as I am concerned, the jury is still out on this product. You have to use more heat than with other fusibles - at least 7 seconds to get the first bond. Then you can peel off the paper backing and it is tacky, allowing you to place and remove the piece until you are satisfied with the results. I have experienced the fusible sticking to the stabilizer, however, and the fabric coming away from both adhesive and stabilizer if I left the piece too long before trying to move it. So I have been pinning it in place until I am sure it is the piece I want to use. At $9.00 per yard, it is more expensive than any other fusible I have tried and I expected better performance from it. One nice thing about the Appli-Kay Wonder is the sturdiness of the paper backing which makes handling the fused fabric very easy to handle and cut out.

Once I am satisfied with the fabrics and placement, the pieces are permanently fused into place. A satin stitch is used to outline all the interior seams. The stabilizer, which has no fusible on the back, is then trimmed away from the finished elephant and the entire appliqued piece is glue basted onto the backing fabric. Finally, the outer edges are satin stitched to finish the edges.