Some cook, I sew and write: creativity brings joy

I finally finished piecing my disappearing quilt blocks for my Christmas quilt today.  Yay! Here's a picture of the stack of finished blocks with the Christmas tree block and the green fabric on the bottom that I've chosen for sashing.  So far I've only bought one small piece of fabric to make this quilt.  Unfortunately, I don't have enough fabric to make the quilt back or batting, but 99% of the top will be from my stash! Now I have to make some big decisions like: How big of a quilt do I want to make?  Is it going to be a lap quilt, a blanket, or a bedspread?  Originally I had planned to make a queen size quilt because I have a queen size bed.  I'm not sure now though.  It might be nicer to have it to cuddle up in on the couch or reading a book. How am I going to lay it out?  I also noticed, while it was spread out on the floor, that these blocks will make a very scrappy, very busy quilt if I push all the pieces together.  I ...

In a former life, I wrote, edited, and published technical documentation and user manuals as well as policies and procedures. Now, ask me how well I read them now. Or don't.  Because I'd hate to have to confess to not doing what I used to get slightly peeved that others didn't do. Ahem. Yesterday I called the sewing machine dealer to see if I could get the quilting foot because my fabric was pushing the fabric ahead of the presser foot.  I remembered that the walking foot (or even feed foot) helped but I'd also heard of the free motion quilting foot.  The lady who answered very kindly told me I already had it; it came  with  the machine.  Hmm.  I scheduled a private sewing lesson for January, but then decided I really ought to open the book.  The instruction book. Walla! The free motion quilting foot: And while I was at it, foot O (for 1/4" seams): The instructions to use the quilting foot were there along with darning inst...