My First Sewing Machine

This has been a week of firsts...my first week rounding at St. Francis, my first week back in lab at CAIRD since my fellowship, first time getting my car stuck in the snow this season, and the list goes on. So it seems fitting to finally jump back into blogging again with my first post of the year being about my FIRST SEWING MACHINE!  Needless to say I'm thrilled.  Enough of the firsts and onto the good stuff, pictures!

My lovely new machine, it's been very easy to learn.

And now for a few of my first projects...of course I would need a dust cover for the machine.  Plus I found this really great remnant at JoAnn's that goes very well with the craft room decor.  The pattern was a Simplicity Project Runway pattern that just so happened to be on sale for a $1.

New throw pillow for the coach, with a removable cover so I can wash it! No pattern, just made this one up as I went.  It was also a remnant found at JoAnn's, I thought the print was very fitting for our cozy little lakeside condo. 

Handmade swaddling blankets for my dearest friend Krista who is expecting their first in May!  One side is white flannel and the printed side is cotton.  I borrowed this idea from Martha Stewart and embellished it a bit.

And now for my current project, I am making my first quilt!  I am making the Easy Four Patch quilt from a book I bought at JoAnn's back when I was in college and using some fat quarters bought for another project that never got completed.  Already have the top pieced together and need to get quilting.  I'm think I will likely end up tieing it, as I've already got my eye on another pattern and Denyse Schmidt's new Aunt Edna fabric!  Maybe I'll actually try to learn machine quilting for the next one.