Getting crafty

For some time now I've wanted a sewing machine. Sewing is in my blood. Grandma Tweet can make anything out of everything. The smocked dress Grandma Lota made for me ended up in a "How to Smock" book. Some of my favorite memories are hanging out in the sewing room pressing seams while my mom whipped out one of her creations. Now that I have Ella the sewing bug got worse. I wanted to make her cute clothes and playthings. So I went to Shingelton's and bought myself a sewing machine. My first project was a burp cloth. I had a few hiccups along the way, but all in all it went fairly well.

Filled with confidence I started on my next project: a quilt for Ella. Not a real quilt, the kind with a named pattern (like "Log Cabin" or "Jacob's Ladder), just some fun fabrics pieced together in squares. Easy peasy.

I started by picking and arranging the fabrics, with a little help from the design-savvy Kimmy.
Then I sewed the connecting strips between the blocks.

At this point, I'm feeling fairly good about my self. The quilt is coming together nicely. I sew the long connecting strip down the sides, and start pinning things together.

This is when I notice that the blue connecting strips aren't quite matching up.
You can't see it well in this picture, but trust me, some of the blue pieces are bigger than others.

And now I remember why it has taken me so long to buy my sewing machine. Tweet, Lota and Sue may have passed down their love of sewing to me, but they forgot to give me their skills. And then I remember my C from my sewing class at BYU. And I remember that there was a reason I was the one pressing seams in the sewing room with mom.

Oh well. Ella will never have a mom who can make her brilliant Halloween costumes and Prom dresses. Lucky for her she has two grandmas who both can sew. And her mom will keep practicing and unpicking until those seams line up!