sewbittersweetdesigns.comSew Bittersweet Designs | Sewing and Designing in my BitterSweet World

Sew Bittersweet Designs Sewing and Designing in my BitterSweet World Home About Me Long Arm Services Patterns A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015 Q&A – A Lovely Year of Finishes Tutorials Sew Intertwined QAL ← Older posts Forever Project Posted on March 10, 2020 by Melissa Dunworth Do you any any forever projects? I have a couple. I have one that my Great Grandma Tevaite started long long ago. I guess it isn’t my project yet because I only possess it, I haven’t started working on it yet. My other forever project is my hexagon quilt. I started making 1” hexagons back in December of 2012 while my husband was on his second deployment. I needed something to keep me occupied at night and it was a good handwork project for long car rides. This past summer I finally finished prepping all of the hexagons (I hope, I haven’t really done the math to see if I’m really done or not). After I had a kitchen injury and couldn’t do much with my left hand, I decided it was time to bust out my forever project again. I currently have 145 flowers pieced together. I guess it’s really 145.5 since that one on the table is half done. I still have half the purple prints, all of my gray prints to make; then I have to decide if I’m going to make any solid flowers. Once I finish all the prints, I will lay it out and take pictures and hopefully you all can help me decide what to do. Do you have any forever projects? Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments Student Project Posted on March 3, 2020 by Melissa Dunworth One of the requirements in my middle school sewing/quilting class is that students participate in a charity quilt of some kind. As a member of this community who has helped make 30+ quilts for children in foster care, sewing for others is extremely important to me. I feel so strongly about it that I have built it into my quilting program. This year my beginning students, yes I teach beginning and advanced quilting, made a gorgeous log cabin quilt. The theme was Americana and the quilt was auctioned off to help support a local community college baseball team. I am so proud of my students. For many of them, prior to September, they had never held a rotary cutter or used a sewing machine. To date, my beginning students have made scrunchies, drawstring bags, log cabin quilt wall hangings and they are currently learning how to make half square triangles and flying geese while working on table runners. Our next big project will be self-directed as they learn how to design their own pattern. I am excited to teach them the math involved and help them discover their inner quilt artist! Stay tuned for a future post on what my advanced students are working on and their charity project! Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments Dream Big Posted on February 25, 2020 by Melissa Dunworth One of the many reasons I have been absent is because this summer I lost one of my closest friends, Sara. She was one of the first people I would show finished projects to. I liked to show her my designs when they were in progress and she was one of my biggest supporters. We shared so much of our lives, we raised our children together and had a beautiful friendship. When I lost her, I lost my spark. The week after her funeral my amazing husband practically shoved me into my studio and told me I needed to quilt something. I told him I was afraid and he told me it’s just fabric and we can buy more of that.” That day I went into my studio and poured all of my grief into a Dream Big panel. Losing someone you love takes so much out of you. I’m still trying to find a new normal. In the meantime, I think I have found a small way to honor my friend with this quilt. It was created through raw emotion and bound with love our our friendship. This was my binding label. Binding the quilt was almost as hard as quilting it. Finishing this project felt so symbolic and I couldn’t figure out how to do it properly. I finally came up with In celebration of friendship, July 2019.” This quilt has helped give me some peace and comfort, I know that Sara would have loved it. Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments Sewing with Anne Posted on February 18, 2020 by Melissa Dunworth This weekend Anne and I took advantage of the extra time and did some sewing together. My aunt set her an adorable minky pillowcase kit and we had fun putting it together. Before I would let Anne use my rotary cutter I ordered her a safety glove. As a middle school teacher who teaches sewing and quilting, I always make sure my students, and myself, wear protective gear. I bought this handy dandy safety glove on Amazon. The only downside is that it doesn’t have the rubberized grips on them like a Klutz glove would have. You can find it on Amazon if you search for Evridwear Kid Sized Glove. We had a fun time working together. Here are a couple pictures of her cutting and sewing. I’m so proud of how hard she worked. She did an amazing job. Next weekend she wants to finish the quilt she started when she was 4. I am excited to finish that one and start a new project with her. With her being 10 and more willing to listen now, we are going to be able to have sew much fun creating together. Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments Frantic Finishes Posted on December 4, 2019 by Melissa Dunworth I don’t always have a ton of time to sew. When I do get time, it’s usually little spurts and I have to be very intentional. This week I’ve been working on finishing a Christmas quilt for my family and a Christmas gift for a friend. Monday morning Anne decided she wanted to help so I taught her how to calculate binding. She measured each quilt, figured out the perimeter and then used the calculator to divide that number by 40. She was able to tell me how many strips I needed for each quilt and she was able to practice her fourth grade math skills. I’m very proud of her. This morning I took 30 minutes before I left for work and sewed the bindings to each quilt. Now I need to decided if I’m going to finish them by hand or by machine. How do you like to finish your quilts? Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Binding , Christmas , Christmas sewing | 2 Comments ← Older posts Search Search Archives March 2020 (2) February 2020 (2) December 2019 (1) November 2019 (3) February 2019 (1) May 2018 (5) October 2017 (1) July 2017 (1) January 2017 (1) November 2016 (1) October 2016 (3) September 2016 (5) August 2016 (6) July 2016 (5) June 2016 (2) May 2016 (8) April 2016 (7) March 2016 (8) February 2016 (8) January 2016 (10) December 2015 (9) November 2015 (9) October 2015 (8) September 2015 (11) August 2015 (10) July 2015 (6) June 2015 (7) May 2015 (7) April 2015 (7) March 2015 (10) February 2015 (8) January 2015 (10) December 2014 (9) November 2014 (10) October 2014 (12) September 2014 (11) August 2014 (11) July 2014 (12) June 2014 (14) May 2014 (17) April 2014 (16) March 2014 (19) February 2014 (18) January 2014 (19) December 2013 (12) November 2013 (14) October 2013 (15) September 2013 (14) August 2013 (16) July 2013 (17) June 2013 (16) May 2013 (16) April 2013 (17) March 2013 (12) February 2013 (11) January 2013 (13) December 2012 (14) November 2012 (13) October 2012 (19) September 2012 (21) August 2012 (23) July 2012 (22) June 2012 (20) May 2012 (23) April 2012 (23) March 2012 (26) February 2012 (22) January 2012 (21) December 2011 (21) November 2011 (19) October 2011 (22) September 2011 (16) August 2011 (10) July 2011 (15) June 2011 (12) May 2011 (14) April 2011 (13) March 2011 (13) February 2011 (12) January 2011 (1) Sew Bittersweet Designs Proudly powered by...