SEW, SEW CUTE!

My parents owned a Stretch & Sew store in San Jose when I was a small girl. One of my earliest "chores" was to pick up and sort by color the spools of thread my baby sister (Mindi) would pull to the floor by the dozens. My mom sewed all our clothes and we two little girls were often dressed in matching outfits, or better yet, the WHOLE FAMILY would be the beneficiaries of mother's mad sewing skills (see Exhibit A). Don't be jealous if your parents weren't as cool as mine, or your outfits as fashionable (it was the 70's, after all)...

Despite her best attempts, I never learned much more about sewing than how to attach a button or how to hem a pair of pants. If something needed to be sewn, I just took it to mom.

Now my mother-in-law is a quilter, and a pretty creative one, at that! I enjoy sitting around the quilting frames with her, but I'm not as fast, nor are my stitches as even as hers. Cody even made me a set of quilting frames (nice guy), but they haven't seen much action...yet.

Then it occurs to me: It is ironic that my Stampin' Up! group is named "Stitched Stampers", but I let my demonstrator family vote on it years ago, and there you have it.

What I'm trying to say is this: I have a LOT to live up to! (Exhibit B...taken at Stampin' Up! home offices in August)

So I'm giving it my best shot...or should I say, my "Big Shot"?!

I attended a quilting class taught by Jill Olsen last month on how to use the Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin' Up! as a tool for quilting, and was captivated by the possibilities: The Big Shot can cut up to 8 layers of fabric at a time and makes cutting scallop circles a cinch! Which led to my FIRST scallop circle quilt (but certainly not my last!) Exhibit C:

Isn't that totally cool?? I must give my Launa (my mother-in-law) a huge THANK YOU for holding my hand as I worked on this quilt, and to my mom Lana for insisting that I learn how to sew a straight line (and I'm getting better at sewing circles, too)! Here's a closer look at the scallop circles...we washed it to make it look "shabby chic" and that helped cover my drunk circle sewing :D

You haven't seen the last of my quilting endeavors, folks. Prepare yourself to be amazed!