Got out my sewing machine...

This time of year brings me inside...I turn from the yard and outside activities to the home and inside activities.  It seems like an annual rite that my sewing machine comes out this time of year.  I greet it like an old friend and get to work.

This year, I combined my sewing machine with a painter's tarp from Lowes, some quilting fabric, and the Silhouette machine that Superman surprised me with last Mother's Day and in less than an hour, had a new fall decoration. 


Did you know you can use your Silhouette machine to cut fabric?  Neither did I, but, Boy Howdy!, does it make little sewing projects go just that much faster.  All you do is attach your fabric to Wonder Under, stick it on the cutting mat, put in the pink blade, adjust your settings to slow and thick (I think mine were 3 and 33, respectively), and hit "cut".  The machine does the rest.  I ended up trimming so threads that didn't quite make the cut (get it?  "make the cut"...I crack myself up!), but other than that, the letters were done in about three minutes.  Woot!

After that, I took the fabric triangles I'd cut from my painters tarp, ironed the letters to each triangle, zig zagged them on and they were done.   Then I decided to add a little more flair and sewed a decorative stitch on the border. 

I attached all the triangles to a bias tape and frayed the edges of each one. 

Ta Da!  A little fall sewing in less than an hour!

 Didn't it turn out well?  I really like it.  I think I'm going to make some pillows next.  I have plenty of fabric left and I they'll be just the thing!

 (If you haven't discovered painter's tarps, I urge you to give them a try. They are an inexpensive way to get a casual looking fabric and are really versatile.  I think I paid $5 the tarp I got and have made two buntings out of it and have plenty left to make two pillows.  You just can't beat that.)