More creative fun!

I’ve really been enjoying playing with my sewing software lately… something I love to do but don’t often seem to be able to find enough time!  On one of my sewing groups, one of the gals posted pictures of the new cover she made for her sewing machine, and it just sent off all sorts of creative sparks in my head!

Moda has a new line of fabric due out very soon, called “Etchings” that I’ve fallen in love with.  It’s got a retro look to it, yet it’s soft, feminine and warm feeling all at once.  I have four jelly rolls of it, but the yardage isn’t available quite yet.  I’ve decided that I’m going to design my studio with these fabrics, and I can start now with new sewing machine covers!  Fortunately I have some Moda Bella solids in my stash that coordinate well enough.

I grabbed some jelly roll strips and sew enough of them together to cover my machine (I’m starting with my Bernina 830), then I cut that in half for the front and back sides of the cover.  From those two pieces, I cut the bottom three inches off and inserted one of the light colored strips, then sewed the three inch section back on.

I’ve recently begun adding the circle dies for my AccuQuilt Studio, and decided after seeing Claudia’s wonderful new cover with her fantastic circle stitching, I’d add some appliqué circles to mine.  Since they’re perfect circles, digitizing them for appliqué in my software was a piece of cake.  I then added decorative stitching to hold them in place, and picked a “stamp” pattern in the software to make a wreath with the kaleidescope tool.  I removed most of the wreath, leaving the stamps just on the outer section of two of the circles.  Then I filled the inner circle with a motif from the “Floral Etchings” design collection, and a final outer border of paisleys from the same collection, once again using the wreath tool in my software. 

I know there’s a way to add fabrics to my digitized appliqués, but since I still make them the old fashioned way without using the new appliqué tool (because I haven’t taken the time to learn to use it yet!) I can’t figure it out.  No biggie, I have a very vivid imagination that fills in the details!

That’s as far as I’ve got on this project… I know normal people plan a project out and then proceed with it, but I make it up as I go along and that will likely never change.  I do know I want to cover most of the fabric with decorative circular stitching!

Here’s a peek at what the above design looks like on fabric… not quite done yet but I’ll post an update when it is.

How fun is that?