Friday, August 10, 2012

Stumbling into sewing

Ouch!
That's me yelping ,as I stumble in to my first blog entry.  Just like I stumbled into sewing, at the age of 51.

I don't like being  a tattle-tale, but my primary enablers are my Aunt Ellie, Aunt Sharon , and my sister, Amy. (Don't worry... I have forgiven them all.  They are just so darn  talented and generous and cute , and I know they can't stop.)  
 I guess I picked up sewing information  by some sort of osmosis , from my family .  I bought  a tiny portable Singer  sewing machine in 1986  , in case I wanted to hem my kids' pants.  One day, in 2009,  I innocently made my first placemat tote with  sweet little ribbon handles. ( My aunts showed me how to make them.  I should've known something was awry, because they were making hundreds of them by then.) 
Oh,  and my own mother actually re-taught me to thread my little sewing machine.  (You see, I was truly innocent... I had not sewn a stitch  by machine since ninth grade. That's when I was traumatized by sewing a pair of pants, using kettle cloth, in home ec class .  We HAD to use kettle cloth.   And I ended up sewing  both legs together, and  of course had to rip the whole thing apart. I dreaded patterns after that. And kettle cloth.  ) 
Do they make kettle cloth any more??

This is one of my Aunt Ellie's placemat totes (the "lure" ).



This is one of my first little totes that I made, from placemats. (You see, "No hems" was very seductive to me back then. I can't lie-  it still is.)





 (Another confession-  I haven't sewn a button hole yet....   but may be FORCED  to make them for a cute kitchen tea towel that hangs on the stove .  This is my sister's fault.  See Amy's Blog link below.)


And that is how my  stumbling into the wonderful world of sewing began. It is  their fault that I am sewing bags and totes, quilting blocks,  reading blogs and bookmarking tutorials and patterns, have a Flickr page, and worst of all,  have a HUGE fabric stash. ( Yes, I do pet my fabric, and take pictures of my cat, Whiskers, laying around on piles of fabric.)



In this blog,  I might reach out for some answers.
For instance:  My sister and those Naughty Aunts call me , from  all kinds of quilt shows and quilt shops, and tempt me with new patterns and fabrics and project ideas.  
I used to spend my time cleaning the house, cooking and baking, and just reading a few emails per day. Now,  All of that does get squeezed in completed (mostly). But then as my reward, I get to do my " Fun Sewing Stuff."  
That's normal.... right?


My sister started her own  blog recently.  It is called AmyMadeThat!  She makes it look so easy.... one day, she  just decide to create a blog, and she started it up the next day!  And she never runs out of things to write about and create. She amazes me with her talent and wit and style!  (Go check her blog out!)  So I figure, what can be so hard 'bout making a little old blog myself?! 
Am I  crazy right?

I hope my son can help me with the sizing of elements on this blog page. Maybe that'll pull me through!

By the way, this is my latest project, using 2 paper pieced blocks.   I'll give the pattern details on my flickr link  :  Susie's Sunroom Flickr page



Susie's Sunroom blog will simply be my online journal,  sharing my adventures and misadventures, successes and stumblings .  (And show you cute pictures of my kitty, Whiskers.)




I want to thank all of my family and friends for their help and encouragment as I learn to sew and quilt!  




Off to sew now.... in Susie's Sunroom, of course!

Susie

PS   I love comments.
I 'll try to reply back to you!

16 comments:

  1. Oh, welcome to this world, Susie! You fit right in already...I LOVE your blog!!!

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    1. Thank you , Amy, my very first person to comment! You are a terrific mentor and sister!! xo

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  2. Welcome to blogland - looks like you have a lot of great talent to share with the world!

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    1. You are sweet for your encouragement! I am a new follower of your blog now! I like it a lot!

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  3. I am sure I will enjoy reading your blog as much as I have enjoyed viewing your photostream.

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  4. You go girl!!! You are such an inspiration with all the things that you make. Your work is beautiful.

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  5. Welcome to the blogging world! Love your paper-pieced block tote - so cue! Whoop whoop!!

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  6. Hello Susie and Whiskers! Love, love your ice cream tote! The colors are fabulous! Oh my, what memories of Kettle Cloth! Hate it. And sadly, when I see these new Shott Cottons that everyone loves, all I see is a return of Kettle Cloth! Ugh! Welcome to blogland!

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    1. Oh now... now I am off to look up Shott Cottons.... Thanks for being my first Follower! I am thrilled!

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  7. You are a brave soul!!..hahaa.a..Your sister could make anything look easy but don't let her fool you.hah.ah..a.a

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  8. Love your story about first sewing!! When I first started I tried to make a skirt from a pattern and REFUSED any help from my mom (who is excellent at sewing clothes!). I ended up just cutting out the pattern not paying any attention to the grain line, then tried sewing on the machine without the presser foot down. My material was flying all over the place! I couldn't believe anyone would enjoy this. My mom got a kick out of my experience though. I didn't touch a machine for years after that. Oh and I love your icecream paperpieced bag! Paper piecing is my next big adventure :D

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    1. I will be happily anticipating your projects and stories!!

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  9. Susie, I love how your very first blog post gave us a glimpse of your inner imp and the sweet humor that I've found in every post ... It's fun to see how you started out so "innocent" LOL and now are a through and through quilting fiend!

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    1. This is a real complement coming from you, Lara! Thanks for taking the time to read all the way back to my beginnings!!

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