Sweet Home Quilt Co.

A friend’s birthday is coming up this week and while I knew what I wanted to make for her, I fiddled around and didn’t get started until last weekend. I cut everything out at the shop Saturday a week ago, and as luck would have it I was using the last pattern we had in stock. A customer wanted to buy the pattern and I certainly wasn’t going to say “No!” So I had my project all cut out but no pattern. Luckily, it was one of Terry’s patterns so a quick call last Monday and I had more patterns on the way. Unfortunately, I didn’t get back to my project until Sunday and by then I was under a deadline ‘cause the birthday girl’s party is tonight! I had already made the pattern once, though, so I felt confident I could whip it out in no time flat…yea right! This is the pattern I planned to use:

Pockets to Go, Atkinson Designs

A terrific gift idea and very easy to make! The only problem was that I complicated things by deciding to use some of the new laminate fabric we’d received at the shop the week before from Andover. I wasn’t anticipating any problems because the laminates were so soft and supple, I assumed they would sew just like regular fabric (unlike some of the vinyls and oilcloths we’d had previously which were stiff and hard to maneuver) – I was partially right. I didn’t have a teflon foot for my machine so it was a little tricky sewing with the laminates…the fabric wanted to stick and thus, shift out of place…I did a lot of ripping, which if you think about it, isn’t exactly what you want to be doing with laminates! I was able to get one box done using tissue paper sandwiched with the fabric, but it was harder to see what I was doing and then I had to pick the paper out of the stitches! I finally gave in on Monday and called our local sewing machine dealer, Conyers Sewing Center, to see if they had a teflon foot that would fit my Janome; they did, and I made a special trip into town to get it. Back home and that last box was done in under an hour…I was kicking myself let me tell you! But so happy with how they turned out…what do you think?

The bindings and the inside pockets are coordinating cotton fabrics, and the zippers? No Big Deal! Terry’s instructions for inserting zippers are so foolproof it is actually fun to do them! Did I just say putting in a zipper is fun? Trust me, it is or it can be if you use Terry’s method!

I sure hope they’re a hit with the birthday girl! Gotta run, it’s birthday night with the Batty Babes…nobody does birthdays like the Babes!

Melisa