And a little bit green as well. (Not sure why I've got that old wedding rhyme going, it just somehow seemed appropriate to the last couple of days worth of posts).

I didn't start out Saturday morning planning to having anything to do with fabric or sewing machines. But then I asked Mom to help me hem up the edge of one of my cross stitch pieces, which led to a sewing machine moment, which led to the discovery of my mom's travelling sewing machine, Romeo. Since it was Mother's Day weekend, how could I turn down a trip to the quilting store? Where I found this:

Butterflies to Quilt With

And it seemed to go well with a square that I found in that Puzzle Quilts book. As disturbing as it might seem, the first thing I did was take my new rotary cutter to it along with a contrasting striping fabric. The result? Butterflies flying through a field of handpainted grass.

A First Set of Quilt Pieces

Mom gave me a basic lesson in the care and feeding and use of sewing machines so that I could take Romeo home and put my sqauare together. Always iron your fabric. Wash it if you're going to wash whatever you're going to sew later. The foot always needs to be down when you start to sew, and the needle needs to be up when you get to the end of what you're sewing. Start sewing a little bit in from the edge. And I did some simple practice stitching. But, since I have something of a fear of sewing machines (they move fast and are not as reversible as ripping out a knitting project) I decided that I needed to get some more practice before I started connecting fabric that I really liked. So I also got myself a little muslin and cut out some test squares and triangles to start piecing together.

A Test Muslin Square

Tonight Romeo and I did some bonding over that muslin. I guess it's going to take a little while before we are true partners in this experiment. But it's a beginning. And I've given myself permission not to get too upset about making mistakes, since sometimes mistakes are the best way to learn something new.

A New Kind of Stash*

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A New Kind of Project

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A Borrowed Romeo**

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*For a closer look at those two fabrics on the left end and why they had to come home with me, click here.

** A Husqvarna Romeo, that is. My mother's "travelling" sewing machine. Her other Husqy would be comparable to this one if she bought it today. And then there's the Huskylock. Mom has excellent taste in sewing machines.