DONE AT LAST!

It is DONE! Thank goodness, the blue floral bedspread is complete and gorgeous if I do say so myself (blush). I relisted it on etsy, with new photos.

My machine is back from the shop, and I'm still not happy with it. I bought an inexpensive Kenmore model about 2 years ago, not knowing how serious I was about sewing. Now that I'm relying on my products to support me and pay my bills, my machine is critical, and I believe I need to buy a professional model. I watch Project Runway, and notice all their machines are Brother models. The problem with my Kenmore is that there I am, sewing along, and suddenly BAM! the thread spool sort of jumps and I have a tangle of threads in shuttle race. Harumph. Why does it do that? Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? It's a serious pain in the neck and slows me right down to zero while I take the shuttle apart and put it back together. Argh. So frustrating.

I'd really appreciate anyone's advise in this matter. Can you recommend a different machine? Or can you tell me what I'm doing wrong so this will stop happening to me? Thanks a lot for any and all input - I will be reading all comments, eagerly seeking solutions.

WORK IN PROGRESS II

I'm still working on this, but now my machine needs attention, so I can't do any more until it's back from the shop - oh heck!! And I only have one more panel to add and hem it all around. Here are pictures of how it's coming along. Here you can see my tools, my work space, sewing and ironing, and get an idea of how it will look when complete.My own bed is too small to show the entire piece in all its glory, so I will have to use a friend's or relative's bed for the final photos. I am pleased with this piece, and have enough material still to do matching pillows!

A WORK IN PROGRESS

I recently rediscovered a beautiful soft robin's egg blue/white floral embroidery cloth, and I had a lot of it, so I decided to make a bedspread. At first it would just the floral cloth, which would be relatively simple to do, but decided to incorporate a luscious white subtly-ribbed silky silk into the design instead. I like framing a beautiful fabric with a material that enhances the patterned fabric, and adds to the "feel" of the cloth as it becomes a whole. When finished the cloth should be "one" and move and act as a single piece, with style and grace.

Here are pictures of this stage of the process. I am deciding how to finish the piece. It is now 80" long by 72" wide, and I'm aiming for overall dimensions approximately 106"l x 96"w, standard king-size measurements. The big decision was to use the white ribbed silk for the corners of the last round of layering the two fabrics. This last border is the final frame of the piece, and putting the white silk at the corners adds to the architecture and structure.

Hope you enjoy watching the process, and thank you for looking. I should be done with this piece by early next week. It is already on my etsy store at http://customdesigns4ubynan.etsy.com/.