my Sweat Shop..

So, Gertrude and I have been together for almost a month now!

I have FINALLY rearranged my "sewing room" into a usable space for Gertie! My hubby bought me an awesome sewing table (Joann's had them 50% off for awhile!) which will support her weight!

Check it out!! With her embroidery module attached, she takes up the whole width of the table! What is even more amazing is that I can now embroider at FULL SPEED! Whaa hooo!

Needless to say, I have been spending all my free moments in this room working away. It's my own little sweat shop. (Sometimes literally since there is a heating vent in this room.. I've had to close it so I don't die up there!)

So, here is what we've been working on...

Bumpers for a friends baby Girl! 

Awesome Foxy Wallet

Inside said Foxy Wallet

Foxy Zipper Pouch

Are you sensing the theme here with this adorable Fox fabric?! If you must have it, it is Acacia by Tula Pink!

Made myself a cute ironing board cover! P.S: That is my awesome new Green Iron! 

Free Motion Quilting a lap top sleeve

And of course embroidering one of above said Foxes!

As you can see I have been having a Grand 'Ol time in my sewing room with Ms. Gertrude! I'm trying to cram in a bunch of sewing time now because all of my babysitters (aka Grandparents) are going on vacations and I will have significantly less free time to sew during February!

Hopefully I'll get a chance to chat with you all some more before February blurs by!

Happy Sewing,
Enjoli (and Gertrude)

A Few of My Favorite Things.. about Gertrude

Oh my! Oh my! Gertrude and I have really hit it off.

I find myself wishing for more time in the day, and sneak up to my sewing room (aka: my converted walk-in closet) to scheme and just stare at her! Sometimes I manage to get something done.

Right now I am waiting for hubby to either build or buy me a table..I think the later is more likely since we both have severely limited free time with three little munchkins running around!

So, whilst I wait (not so patiently) for my table, so that Gert can have a place to be set up all the time, I figured I'd share a few of my favorite things about my newest, most wonderful machine!

Number 1: The sheer size of her is AMAZING! 

The fact that I have so much space to the right of the needle is the biggest difference from my previous machine (not that I didn't love her..but..) and one of the biggest reasons for adopting Gertrude!

Number 2: Hover Function

No, she does not magically hover downstairs to my dining room table so I can sew, but she does have a setting programmed into her that allows the presser foot to hover when I stop sewing. So, when I am chain piecing or pivoting during quilting, she will stop needle down and raise the presser foot so that I can either go straight into sewing my next piece or turn directions while quilting.
It. Is. Awesome!

Number 3: Automatic Cutting

I knew this function would be nice to have, but I didn't know it would be LIFE CHANGING! I Freaking Love this function! It has cut (ha ha get it!) my piecing time a lot and made me really appreciate having thread cutting done for me!

She will cut automatically when I sew decorative stitches and use my pattern end button. She will cut embroidery jump stitches automatically. And boy does this function save time and energy when you are quilting and want to jump from one spot to another.

Whew! I am still so excited about the addition of Gertrude to my machine line up that I've thought of like 6 more things typing this. I'll save them for another day, I've got to head back up and keep on sewing!

One of these days when I remember to take some photos, I'll give you all a glimpse of where the magic that Gert and I make happens! (Gotta have that table set up first!)

Happy Sewing,
Enjoli & Gertrude!

P.S:
Apparently others are not so thrilled with my attempt to spend more time with Gertrude!

Avalyn does not seem thrilled with her sister's form of entertainment while Mommy sews! 

Welcome Home Gertrude!

The anticipation is FINALLY over.. Gertrude has ARRIVED!

It has taken every ounce of self control that I have to not forget that I have children (human ones that is) and just play with Gertrude!

Though I do have to say..My oldest told me, "I love my new sister!", last night when we took Gertie out of her box!

Gotta give her a Kiss!

Ascher couldn't miss out on the fun either!

I told myself that I'd wait until the kids were all in bed to get Gert out, but hubby could tell the suspense was killing me, so he cooked dinner while Alia and I unpacked her! She is currently living on our dining room table since I don't have a big enough table for her yet! (Not to worry, its on the to-buy list for this weekend!)

Once the last kiddo was FINALLY in bed, I spent some quality time with Gertrude.

We bonded over a late night hot cocoa and of course, took our first "selfie"! 

I'm so excited that she is finally home, I've already put her to work on some new curtains for my oldest daughters room! She has decided that anything Mickey Mouse is the best thing ever now, so we're transitioning her room from Cat In the Hat to Mickey Mouse! New curtains are the first step, then a coordinating bed quilt. I'll be sure to share once they're done and up! 

I am off for more Adventures with Gertrude! I can tell already that we're going to have a great time together! 

See you later,

Enjoli & Gertrude!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas morning. Ours was filled with chaos, screaming and lots of flying wrapping paper!

Hubby and I decided that we would go minimal this year and just get the girls presents. But of course men follow directions so well so...

This was in my stocking..

I noticed yesterday that this jewelry box was missing, but the earrings inside weren't..

Honestly, I was relieved it wasn't jewelry.. my wedding ring is currently being repaired because I broke it!

My hubby has been paying attention to all my going-on's about Gertrude! The one extra foot I wanted, that doesn't come with her, is the 37D foot! He sure knows the way to my heart! 

I hope your Christmas was filled with laughter, fun and a few of your favorite sewing items! Leave a note letting me know what great sewing notions or other items you got for Christmas!

Merry Christmas,

Enjoli (and family) 

In laughter & smiles,
The Straits

P.S: Maybe next year, Gertrude can go with the girls for the Santa picture! 

"Made with Love" and a module

In an effort to pass the time while waiting for Gertrude I've been shopping for embroidery designs, because its not like I already have about..a billion!

But with the holidays literally just around the corner, I've been in search of some cute and modern quilt labels. I never used to worry about labels, but since I now have three little monsters who have sucked out  my ability to remember things, I now feel like I need them.

One of my all time favorite embroidery websites is www.urbanthreads.com; they have some of the best designs I've seen. They have a nice variety and all sorts of styles. They offer the designs in a bunch of machine formats as well as hand embroidery.

Anywhoo… about my quilt labels.. this is what I decided on:

Seriously, how cute is that?! I like that they are not super dense and look kind of hand written! I can't wait to stitch some out for labels. Once Gertrude shows up I'll make sure to share some finished labels with you! 

The other great thing about Urban Threads is that they give out FREE designs.. what's better than FREE? So, here is the design I scored this week: 

How cool is this design, very festive and appropriate for our weather the last few days! 'Tis the Season.

Well my time in blog land has been spent today.. the monsters are getting ansi so we are off to get supplies for holiday brownies! 

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! See you in the New Year!

P.S: Be sure to head over to Urban Threads, they have Freebies on a regular basis. And leave a comment to let me know what new designs you picked up! :) 

Shh.. therapy in session!

Some days after I've been home with my three little screamers, I feel like I need real therapy. Today was one of those days! However, since I don't think that there are any Motherhood Anonymous groups in my area, I choose to use sewing as my therapy!

When I found out right after my first daughters 2nd birthday that I was pregnant with twins, hubby and I decided that we should probably move out of our two bedroom, one bathroom house into something with a bit more space to house two more children. So, we moved into a three bedroom, two and a half bath, which was AWESOME while I was pregnant because I could spread out and use the twins' new room as my sewing room since I was still housing them.

However, I got tired of carrying them around and they wanted to be born, so my nice big sewing room got pushed out so that two cribs, a changing table and ridiculous amounts of other baby crap could move in.

Being the optimistic person that I am though, I decided "Hey, I don't really need ALL of my walk-in-closet for clothes!" I really don't care as much about clothes as I do about my fabric stash and sewing machines! So I did it, I crammed all of my clothes into one corner of the closet and set out to turn it into the best makeshift sewing room I could.

I totally make it work!

As you can see I may need to do some creative arranging when Gertrude shows up… maybe take over the other closet in the bedroom (hubby doesn't really need it anyway, right?!)

Don't look too close, it is a bit of a mess, you know with the holidays coming (next week! Eek!) I spend much more time sewing instead of cleaning!

I even got in some bonding time in today with Betsy! She is helping me work on a paper pieced table topper for Christmas!

Whenever Betsy and I sew, it reminds me why I love her type (Bernina that is!). She is so quiet, which lends very nicely to the whole "no screaming" part of sewing therapy. She does exactly what I tell her (unlike so many other little girls in my life) and she doesn't talk back. I do so enjoy her presence. And now I'm missing her.. gotta get back!

Sew until next time,

Enjoli (and Betsy)

P.S: Feel free to use my "sewing therapy" excuse to get rid of people who try to interrupt your sewing time! My family knows I'm a much happier person when I come out of sewing therapy!

Dearest Gertrude, my new B780

I'm getting a new sewing machine, and not just ANY machine, a Bernina 780! I do have two other Bernina machines, but she is going to be SPECTACULAR! 

This is not Gert in the flesh, just a look-alike! 

Do you have ANY idea how EXCITED I am? So excited that I made it official already with an adoption certificate!

Not to worry, for those of you who don't understand the AMAZINGNESS of this event, I'll tell you…  

This machine is not for wussies! She is HUGE and has ATTITUDE! Thus the name I will give her: Gertrude.

So, what can Gertie do that makes her so special?

Well, she can..

- sew 1000 stitches per minute

- cut thread automatically (can't tell you how excited I am about that!)

- has the amazing new B9 Hook (more on this later, I promise, just trust me that it's awesome)

- comes equipped with Dual Feed (a.k.a built in walking foot!)

- HUGE embroidery capabilities (No words to describe this awesomeness!) 

- hover function (OMG!!!)

- 360 degree sewing (Heck Yes!) 

- endless embroidery (yep, doing that!) 

Needless to say, Gert and I will be fast friends! I've been spending a lot of time over at Bernina.com to pass the time while I wait for Gert to arrive. I have so many things planned for her. Oh the adventures we will have. 

I hope you'll come back and follow along with Gert and I as we embark on our creative adventure!