Autumn Hues

One of the nicest things about this time of year is that I live in New England.  Soon Autumn hues will be in their full splendor but the fabric stores have been a riot of Autumn hues for a while now which I find to be a wonderful inspiration.    I enjoy getting ready for this time of year and the myriad of visitors into the shops that sell my work with a wide variety of autumn themed items.  I have been been very busy over the past 2 weeks working with this wonderful Fall palate .  Today, I got out my new sewing machine so that I could make a few coiled fabric bowls using this palate.  This would only be the second bowl I have made using my new machine.  I did indeed struggle making that first bowl because I could not locate the open toed foot for my new machine.  It is imperative one have an open toed foot when making these bowls so one can see EXACTLY where the zig-zap is landing when sewing the coils together, otherwise you end up having to go back over the bowl patching up all the gaps where you veered off the straight and narrow.  So, it was time to find said open toed foot.  There were 42 accessories that came with this machine, an OVER WHELMING amount.  I had put some of the accessories in the storage container on the machine, some in the plastic snap pouch but had run out of room for the rest so I put them away some place went I unpacked them all for "safe keeping."  I am pleased to say I found the safe keeping place today along with several accessories including not only the open toed foot but also the walking foot...YES!  This machine also came with an attachable sewing table so this time I attached before starting this bowl.  Nothing like having a nice flat surface to work on!!!  

This was day #3 working with this particular group of fabrics.  The first thing I made back on Monday was a table runner.  Yesterday I made 2 hot pads and several balsam sachets and a pillow.  I knew when I spotted these fabrics in the store they were going to make a wonderful addition to my Fall collection and they did not let me down! They last thing I made was the fabric bowl. The experience of making this bowl was far different than the first one since I was using the open toed foot and the detachable sewing table.  I cannot say enough about the quality of the stitch this machine makes.  Since I had the open toed foot on I could see EXACTLY where I was sewing and did not have to go back over fixing gaps.. Also, having the table there made my life so much easier maintaining a uniform angle on the sides.  I found out today why I purchased this machine.