Home Ec 101

Today I lament the fact that I never paid attention during Home Ec in high school. I was the girl who had safety pins hold the back of her skirt together during the "Fashion Show" because I couldn't get the zipper seated on the back of the skirt I made to model. Now, many years later, I've purchased a sewing machine and I mutter while trying to thread the bobbin and somehow, now, I think I'm going to be able to sew. Be proud of me...my sister, my daughter, my niece and I are all signed up for Sewing 101. Classes start in a few weeks. My dream...to make quilts. My Pinterest "Crafty Stuff to Do" board outgrew all the "Quilty Things I'm Going to Do" and I had to migrate all the quilty things to their own space. We even had to subdivide into "Fabric" because I'm now obsessed with becoming a fabric hoarder. I see how addiction starts. My first quilt: a circus-themed boy's quilt for a friend due in the Fall. Time is of the essence. My hope is that my sewing instructor is a stitch-master and can pull a rabbit out of his/her hat and transform me into a stellar seamstress by summer. I've already begun purchasing fabric for the quilt. My favorite so far:

{{Sigh}} I adore it and I've got a myriad of other coordinating fabrics already picked out and waiting as well as a simple pattern that I think even I can master. And I am amassing tools! An Olfa rotary cutter that, quite frankly, scares the poop out of me. I'm destined to lose a digit, I'm sure, or at least a cut requiring an e.r. visit because I attempted to wield the cutter like a ninja sword. A cutting mat designed for rotary cutters (because I'm sure my husband wouldn't like to see a 10 inch gash on our dining room table); one bitchin' seam ripper (which I think I'm going to buy a holster for since I'm sure I'll be using it frequently); and plenty of pins in various sizes, enough to compensate for those that end up on the floor and in the bottom of my foot. And I stalk...I stalk the quilting blogs, learning terms like "jelly roll", "fat quarter", "charm pack", and "layer cakes". Hell, all the terms make it sound like fun, patterns like "Flying Geese", "Dresden Plate", and "Cathedral Window". Spare moments find me with a set of headphones on, watching YouTube videos on making "quilt sandwiches" and "seam binding". Amazon now sees me coming and pops up a list of quilting books in the right margin for my perusing pleasure. They're kind enough to see how green I am and proffer "beginner's quilting" books (isn't keyword tracking on the internet a marvelous thing?) I'll document my progress, or lack of, as I go. I have quilts in mind for quite a few people and it's one thing I've wanted to do for years, but just never thought I was "crafty" enough to master. I'd love to be able to have a craft, any craft, that's mine and that I do well. I can't draw to save my soul and finishing any craft project takes an act of Congress..but this one, I really want to learn and learn well.