Week 33 Goals

Some sewing got done last week, mostly just learning some of the basic features of my new Janome 15000. One of the things I love so far is that I really don’t have to ever lift the presser foot or even put it down. As soon as I press the pedal the foot lowers automatically and once I take my foot off the pedal the foot lifts automatically. Pretty cool if you ask me.

This week though, I am not setting a sewing goal, I am setting a survival goal. If I make it through this week, my mom (who is visiting this week), Anne and I will reward ourselves with a trip to Quilt! Knit! Stitch! in Portland.  Here’s hoping I survive!

Survive - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.com

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Posted in Goals | 7 Comments

Winners! July – A Lovely Year of Finishes

ALYoF2014July has come and gone and August is now in full swing. Time to celebrate the FIFTEEN winners from last month. But first! A huge thank you to our incredible sponsors!  Without our sponsors we would still have all our finishes but it wouldn’t be near as much fun.  Thank you for your support!

1. A fat quarter bundle from Riley Blake Designs

Patti – Retired to Quilt

2. Green Fairy Quilts – 3 pdf patterns

Sandra – Musings of a Menopausal Melon

3. $30.00 credit towards Long Arm Quilting Services
from by Orchid Owl Quilts

250

Sophie – Sophie Junction

4. One pdf pattern from  Sew Sweetness

 Sew Sweetness

Ella – Throw a Wench in the Works

5. Thread Prize from Aurifil

Linda – The Pieceful Kingdom

6. 1 Charm pack or $10.00 gift certificate to

Stitches n’ Giggles (winners choice)

Cathy – Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting

7. 8. TWO winners each getting to choose one pdf pattern

from Sew BitterSweet Designs ($10 value)

 https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.com/

Lynne – Tinking Along

Andrea – Flickr

9. PDF Pattern from Persimon Dreams

Project QUILTING

Deana – Daughters of Dorinda

10. 11. Honey, Bunny and Doll – 2 Patterns

Honey, Bunny, and Doll

Pat – Bell Creek Quilts

Denise – CrafTraditions.com

12. One PDF Pattern from Meadow Mist Designs

  Meadow Mist Designs Button

Cynthia – Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

13. Thimblepie’s Quilt Supplies – Custom fabric package, 4 yards (worth $20) plus free shipping

Julie – That’s Sew Julie

14, 15. One pdf Pattern from Clover and Violet

 cloverandviolet

Carolyn – Sweet Boater Chick

Amy – Amy’s Crafty Shenanigans

Shanna and I would like to congratulate all of the winners and everyone who completed their goal in July! Good luck with August!

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Posted in A Lovely Year of Finishes, Fiber of All Sorts | 7 Comments

Not-So-Wordless Wednesday

This week I am going slow on the sewing projects and testing out the amazing new machine that has fallen into my lap.  My first two projects were simple repairs, a good way to familiarize myself with basic sewing.  The hubs has been after me all summer to repair a pair of PT shorts for his uniform, so with the help of my mom (she pinned everything for me while I was reading my manual) I finally got them done!Repaired Shorts - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.com

What have you all been working on?

Tomorrow is the last day to link up your goals for this month so make sure you do that!!

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Posted in Wordless Wednesday | 10 Comments

Flowering and Bursting Lone Star Pattern Launches!

I am very excited to announce the launch of two new patterns to my Craftsy Shop!  The two patterns available are the Flowering Lone Star and the Bursting Lone Stars.  I am offering these patterns as individual patterns or a combination download.

The Flowering Lone Star

 DSC_0734This was the original pattern I started with, the Flowering Lone Star. I made one for my cousin and quickly realized I needed to make one for me. I used some of my leftover diamonds (having cut way more than necessary) for the back, which is now it’s own pattern, Bursting Lone Stars.

Bursting Lone Stars

Bursting Lone Stars - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comI put a call out for testers back in June and some truly talented people took the call and tested for me!  You can see there amazing quilts and quilt tops below. Please be sure to visit their blogs too because they will have pattern reviews and giveaways this week!!!

Beth Bursting Lone Stars - beth-kinder.blogspot.comBeth, from My Husband’s Headache, tested the Bursting Lone Stars pattern, I just love use of solids and prints in the stars!

Amy Bursting Lone Stars - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comAmy, from @amybob3kids on Instagram, also tested the Bursting Lone Star pattern, I love the colors that she chose!

Diane - Flowering Lone Star - http://bella9studio.blogspot.com/2014/07/flowering-lone-star-pattern-testing.htmlDiane - Flowering Lone Star - http://bella9studio.blogspot.com/2014/07/flowering-lone-star-pattern-testing.htmlDiane from Bella 9 Quilting Studio tested the Flowering Lone Star pattern, she enjoyed it so much she did two! I love how changing the fabrics completely updated the entire quilt in the look and feel! Go here to read her review, she will also be hosting a giveaway for one of the patterns too so make sure you check that out!

Kris Front - http://sewsunshine.blogspot.com/ Kris Back -http://sewsunshine.blogspot.com/Kris from Sew Sunshine, also tested the Flowering Lone Star. I love how she masculine her quilt looks and the completely modern feel of her backing! Please visit her blog and make sure you enter her giveaway too!

Elizabeth - Bursting Lone Stars -http://andpins.wordpress.com/Elizabeth, from andpins.com, created this gorgeous modern take on the Bursting Lone Stars pattern. I love her use of solids and play with color value.  Make sure you visit her blog to ready about her experience with the pattern and enter her giveaway!

Lucy - Flowering Lone Star - http://www.charmaboutyou.com/Lucy, from Charm About You, created this stunning rainbow version of the Flowering Lone Star pattern. All of my regular readers know how much I love a good rainbow, so it goes without saying that I adore this quilt! Make sure to visit Lucy to read about her take on the pattern and enter her giveaway!

Mary - Flowering Lone Star - mary-quiltingrandma.blogspot.comMary, from Quiltin’ Grandma’s Blog, did this beautiful Flowering Lone Star quilt! I love her use of prints and play with values! Make sure to visit her blog to read about her experience with the pattern and enter her giveaway.

Sarah - Flowering Lone Star -https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comOne of my regular readers, Sarah R, created this stunning quilt from the Flowering Lone Stars pattern. I love how her star pops against that dark blue background. I also love how she staged her quilt for this picture, that is one area I really need to get better at!

Jo - Flowering Lone Star - http://createthepoint.blogspot.ca/Jo - Bursting Lone Stars - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comJo, from CReate the poinT, made the Flowering Lone Star quilt top and used the Bursting Lone Stars pattern for the backing (which is why the Bursting Lone Stars has an extra border around it).  I am in awe of how she made the Flowering Lone star with one quarter of the center star in white. It adds so much visual interest to the quilt. I also love how she used all solids for the fabrics. Very modern!  Please visit Jo’s blog to read her review of the patterns and later this week Jo will be hosting a giveaway for a pattern as well!

Carolyn - Flowering Lone Star - http://sweetboaterchick.blogspot.com/Carolyn - Bursting Lone Stars - http://sweetboaterchick.blogspot.com/My wonderful blogging from Carolyn, from Sweet Boater Chick, tested for me again. She has tested virtually every pattern I have released and is just wonderful! She decided to get an early jump start on her Christmas Sewing and created these two stunning tops.  I am excited to see how she quilts them. Make sure to visit Carolyn to read about her experience and enter her giveaway!

As I hope you can see, both of these patterns are very versatile. To purchase the Flowering Lone Star pattern, visit my Craftsy Shop, it is $9.00. The Bursting Lone Stars pattern is also available in my Craftsy Shop for $9.00.  I have decided to also offer a bundle of both patterns together for $12.00. All purchases are instant PDF downloads.

I hope you have a wonderful Monday!

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Posted in Sew BitterSweet Designs Patterns | 13 Comments

Janome 15000 – A Huge Win

About a month ago, I woke up to an email stating that I had won the grand prize from a marketing survey that I filled out. The prize, much to my surprise, was a Janome Horizon Memory Craft 15000.  At first I was in complete shock and slowly it turned to denial. Then a week and a half ago I received a phone call from Janome telling me where I could pick up the machine, from my local Janome dealer – South Sound Sewing.

Janome 15000 - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.com

Winning this machine is such an incredible blessing and surprise. It is an embroidery, quilting and sewing combination machine and is even wi-fi enabled. It comes with an iPad mini that has 2 apps which are used to monitor the machine while it is stitching embroidery designs.  I have so much to learn.  One of the cool things about Janome, is that I come from a Janome family. I learned to sew on my mom’s Janome, I currently sew on a Janome Horizon 7700 and Anne is learning to sew on the same machine.

I thought it would be cool to have all three generations of sewing women together with the machine.

3 generations - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comAnne is so excited to try out the new machine, as soon as I sat down to look at the floor model she climbed right into my lap to look too!

Anne Sewing - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comMy machine is currently sitting in the box, but will probably be set up tonight or tomorrow. I cannot wait to see how she sews!

Janome 15000 - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comI think the the dealer, Julie, was just as excited as I was about my win.  The cool thing is that I bought my Horizon from her, so I guess you could say I will be a continuing customer for years to come. I’m also very, very glad that they offer lessons on how to use this machine, because I know I will be needing them!

South Sound Sewing - https://www.sewbittersweetdesigns.comOne thing is for sure, this was my lucky day! I truly feel so incredibly incredibly blessed.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!!

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Posted in Giveaway, janome, janome horizon | 57 Comments