My First Quilted Flower!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  When You Want To Learn Something, The Perfect Teacher Will Appear!

I am sooooo excited!!!!  Yesterday, my friend Pam came over and gave me my first real lesson on my sewing machine!!!!  About a year ago I had tried the machine for the first time by following the instruction manual - I was able to pleat a piece of paper and then I put the cover back on the machine and hadn't tried it since.  I had been wanting to learn for awhile, but hadn't made much effort to find a teacher...and lo and behold, my teacher found me!  Pam was amazingly patient - she walked me through how to maintain the machine, how to thread the machine, how to thread a bobbin (I think that's what you call it) and then how to sew a straight line.  By the end of our lesson yesterday I had sewed around the first 2 layers of this flower!!!!  Today I went back to the machine and finished it off!

The flower was so easy to make...and I can say that since that was my first sewing project!  You do have to have some patience though - since the petals are curved.  Angie Juda has a great video explaining how to make the actual flowers using your Big Shot machine and a few dies.  I followed those directions for a bit and then went another direction.  I decided to put a corduroy button brad in the center.  I also did something different on the back.  At Leadership we were able to watch a demostration by Jill Olsen and she told us how she places a piece of felt on the back of her flowers so that she can use them for multiple purposes - slide them on barrettes or headbands, put a hair clip through them.  She even puts a safety pin on the front of her apron and then uses the hair clip, through the felt piece, to temporarily attach the flowers to her apron!  What a great idea!  So, I sewed a piece of black felt on the back like this:

I hope you like my first flower...although I'm sure no one can love it as much as I do :)  Let me know if you have any questions!