Happy New Year From Zelda!

Hi!  My name is Zelda.

Kay is away from the computer and I am writing her post.

 I have been visiting and having a great time.

There are so many things that I need to explore in Dean and Kay's house.

I checked out the Christmas tree and since it wasn't a real tree, I didn't try to climb it.

 All the pretty decorations were fun to check out when no one was looking.

There are so many places to play and hide in their house.

Kay kept her sewing room door closed so I only got to explore her room once.

There was something said that she was afraid that I might swallow a sewing pin and that her room wasn't kitty proof.  Do you think that I would do such a thing?

I did get a sneak peek at this little wall-hanging that Kay received from her sister, Jenny for Christmas.  

Aunt Jenny sure does great work!

I love the shiny thread that she used and the metal star.

Check out the neat curves!

Kay said that this pattern is from Vikki Pignatelli.
Aunt Jenny and Grandma Rita took a quilt class from her.
Sounds like fun--if you're a quilter, but I'm a cat and have more important things to do like "cat napping"!

Happy New Year!

Zelda the Cat

P.S.  Please don't tell Kay that I posted for her!  She has been having too much fun playing with me :)

Images of Christmas

The best things of Christmas aren't things.

It's the people that we share our lives with whether friend or foe.

It's a season of forgiveness, love, and tears.

It's season that magnifies our losses, but it's a season of hope.

 So take time this season and hug someone, forgive someone, and shed tears of sadness or happiness with a confidant or an adversary. 

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne

A Moment of Silence

This week I decided to have a moment of silence.

I dearly love children and as  a mom my heart breaks for the mom's and dad's who lost children in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday.  I can't imagine the nightmares that children and adults will have in the future over this terrible rampage.

 

I love to blog about quilting, but sometimes a moment of silence for those that are broken is appropriate.

 

Best Wishes

Kay Lynne

Zipper Replacement in a Leather Jacket Tutorial

When my son came home for Thanksgiving, he brought home a job that I really wasn't sure if I could do it or not.  He received this leather jacket as a gift from a friend about five years ago and the zipper needed to be replaced.  After calling my Mom and asking her how she would handle this project, I was ready to start.  I've replaced many zippers in jackets before, but I have not worked on a leather jacket.

The first thing I did was make my zipper exactly the length as the old zipper so I marked it with a pin and used my needle nose pliers to take off the zipper stop and the extra zipper teeth that I didn't need.

I carefully removed the old zipper using my seam ripper. 

 Since I cannot use pins in leather, my Mom and I came up with the idea of using double stick tape instead of pins.  The tape would be inside of the coat so it would not matter.  The zipper was carefully lined up along the edge of the coat.  Don't forget to reattach the zipper stop for a professional look.  Once the zipper was lined up,

 I used more tape to under the zipper so the leather lining would stay in place as I sewed.

I took my time and made sure that everything lined up on the top and bottom of the zipper.

I also double checked to make sure that when I sewed it would catch the zipper.

I used a silicone spray on the bed of my sewing machine so the leather would easily slide while I sewed.

I also used a Teflon coated foot so it would make the sewing easier.

 

Below I am matching my stitch length with the holes in the coat.

I don't know what you call the little yellow tools in the picture, but I use them when I am sewing on heavy fabric.  It makes it simple to sew on or off thick pieces of fabric.

Here I am sewing and found that this coat is extremely heavy and I broke my leather needle after taking this picture.  I found that this coat was really putting a drag on my machine and my needle wanted to hit the needle plate so I hand cranked one stitch at a time, which I wasn't planning on.

I did get both sides of the zipper in.

After I was done, I decided to double stitch the zipper half way down so it would stand up to the wear and tear.  I'm happy with the results and my son is extremely happy that this was all done free of charge.

Now I am ready to sew something fun!

Happy Zipping

I mean Quilting!

Kay Lynne

Thread Painted Lady Bugs & A Different Season

I am teaching a thread painting class in January.

Above is my sample wall hanging.  We will be thread painting lady bugs in class.

The applique is from a Sizzix die.

Harvest is done, but the work is never done.

Machinery has to be cleaned up and put away for the season, the bearings on the combine needs to be replaced, and paperwork needs to be caught-up for tax season to just name a few.

Just because there's no activity out in the fields doesn't mean the work is done.

It just means the work is different.

Dean spends a lot of time in his office planning for the next year.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Zelda sure did!

Happy Quilting!

Kay Lynne