One for the table!

Last weekend was another weekend where my plans did not actually work out, but, the difference this time around is that, it turned out for the better, and I have to thank my hubby for that! *smile* I had initially planned to work on my DT SGB.

As my car needed to be serviced since it was long overdue, my hubby was so kind to offer to send Aiman to his enginering and animation class while my car is being serviced at the workshop. In the mean time, he told me to go for my sewing class at SAKURA as it is quite near to the workshop. Isn't that so sweet of my hubby? I love him! Thanks, Dia! Hugs!

So, after sending the car to the workshop and breakfast, my hubby dropped me off at SAKURA. He will be picking me up at around 2.30pm, after Aiman's class is over! Wow! 4 hours of sewing! Isn't that great? LOL! In the mean time, my hubby went off to the gym, after dropping off Aiman at his class. A day of classes for us! *grin*

I had bought the placemat kit when I came in to finish off my chenille bag the week before, not without actually knowng when I was coming in to do it. But, I am glad that I had bought the kit in advance, and thus, I could already make up my mind what I wanted to make when my hubby suggested that I go in for a sewing class.

I wondered why May called it a placemat, because it was more of a table runner to me. The way I understand it, placemats are meant to be individual pieces for you to place your plates and cups/mugs/glasses on it, for meals. Table runners run the length of your table. *shrug*

Anyway, regardless of the correct term, I managed to do quite a lot in the 4 hours I was at SAKURA, but, even then, that wasn't enough, as I did not manage to finish the top in time for Kelvin to teach me the free motion quilting when my hubby came to pick me up for a late lunch. Heheh...4 hours is still not enough when you are enjoying yourself, and there is a lot to do! LOL!

Kelvin isn't going to be around this weekend as he will be in Penang participating in an Arts and Craft Exhibition at Queensbay Mall from 27th February to 2nd march 2008. May could not teach me free motion quilting as she claims that she is not yet an expert in it. She said that it will take years to perfect the free motion quilting to the level of Kelvin. But, I have to start somewhere, right?

May suggested that I just do a normal straight line diagonal quilting, which I wasn't too keen initially, because one of the reasons why I wanted to learn the placemat was because the model was finished off with free motion quilting. I thought that this would be a good opportunity for me to learn the skill from the sifu!

Alas, it was not meant to be, as May also said that it wasn't wise of me to practice the free motion quilting on such a nice piece of project. She said that I should do a project test piece first until I could perfect it. *sigh* I finally relented, after giving it much thought and looking at how much work I had already put into it, and in case, with my inexperience, I might just spoil the piece. It is, afterall, a very nice piece! *wink* Take a look! Wouldn't you agree with me? LOL! *grin*

I came home to work on it almost all day on Sunday and finished it after dinner, as I had to take many breaks to do the household chores. I also had a scare when my hubby called to say that he couldn't find his car after picking up Aiman at his friend's birthday party at Petro Sains KLCC. For a while, I abandoned my project and went to do my prayers to calm my nerves. The security at KLCC finally found it after close to an hour of searching. My hubby had gotten the location mixed up. You know how big the parking area is at KLCC, right? Thank God all is well. Phew!

Anyway, back to my placemat/table runner project, second photo above is the back part of the piece and immediate photo above is a close up. The center piece was quilted diagonally, while the border piece was quilted in a wavy motion using the walking foot. Alas, it cannot be seen that clearly in the photo. An even closer close up of the tea cup and saucer (below) will show you the buttonhole stitch which, I must say, with the BERNINA, it made my buttonhole stitches look so nice and almost perfect! *wink* Can you see it from the photo? Nice, huh? *wink*

If ever I do buy the BERNINA, it is beacuse of the buttonhole stitch function, among many others, of course! *wink* I managed to work my buttonhole stitch so nicely, with a few flaws, of course, *wink* being a beginner using a machine to applique using buttonhole stitches. I could have done the buttonhole stitch by hand, but, with the amount of applique work, it wud take me ages!

This is also a first for me doing applique this way, and also a first for me using the fusible web. I am learning something new all the time, and it feels great! You never stop learning, no matter how old you are! *grin*

I really enjoyed doing this piece. I am thinking of buying the same fabric and making 6 matching placemats. Now I only need to find the time to do SIX placemats! LOL!

So, what's my next project? I am not sure at the moment. SAKURA teaches teddy bear making using cotton fabric, but, currently I am not that keen, since I want to make something I can make use of, instead of just something I can hug.

Any suggestions, anyone?