Summertime sew-cializing

Where to begin? I've been such a bad blogger lately.  Sew many projects have come and gone i hardly know where to begin.

Let's start at the end and work backward.  The most exciting sewing event of the summer was the Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild meetup which took place this past weekend in Portland.

What a blast!! That's my synopsis, but here's the long version.


The girls of the Corvallis Modern Quilt Guild  (yes there is one now!!) headed up on Friday.  We started with sewing classes at Modern Domestic.  I took the binding class with Heather which was very interesting and I would dearly love me a binder attachment - hello Santa are you listening.

Next up was a Publishing class with Susan Beal - super informative - the best class of the day for me personally.  Thanks again miss Susan!

Finally, there was FMQ class with Christina   - she's the best teacher and the sweetest gal! A totally low key, do your own thing, no rules,  go for it lady - totally my kinda gal.  Plus she has the best FMQ patterns I've seen - and I got a peek a her new book - which was awesome! I am totally going to buy it.  Love her designs.

CMQG Girls ready for FMQ class

My practice FMQ

In between all that learning, we were socializing with other MQG members from the PNW.   It was a blast. I got to meet so many bloggers in person which was totally cool (hello Sonja!) and lots of new-to-me bloggers as well. Of course Portland is ripe with famous fabric-y/quilty peeps (Violet Craft, Mo Bedell, Monica Solorio-Snow, Jen Carlton-Bailly). I can go on and on, but I shouldn't be all name-droppering – so I’ll stop.  It was still pretty rad though ;)    

CMQG Banner quilt on the wall at Modern Domestic

Modern Domestic is the best sewing studio.  If you’ve never been go check it out next time you are in P-town.  Way ultra modern and hip and oh yeah, there are cool modern quilts on the wall. But if you are more of a garment sewer then that is the place for you, since that is their focus – or so I learned. 

Anyway, I can go on and on but yeah it was a way cool experience.

So then we did a bit of socializing and a bit of shopping while socializing and some eating and drinking and socializing ~ you get the gist!  And as if that wasn't enough - there was a cool tote bag swap. 

Jane Market Bag I made for swap

And pouch

This was sponsored by Robert Kaufman who supplied the denim chambray to all the MQG's.  My tote went to Kim  and this lovely tote (below) is the one I picked, made by Jennifer of the PMQG.  I love this thing.  It's currently going to work with me everyday 'cause it's just the right size to throw all my random stuff into. 

Fun times.  I tell you.

CMQG Members, Christina, Lisa, Connie and myself.

Saturday we had the choice to go to a charity sew event at Modern Domestic or all day sew at Fabric Depot.  So some of us Corvallis gals headed to the Charity sew event and proceeded to make lots of urban chicken blocks (designed by PMQG Leader Michelle).  Very fun block and easy to sew.

Here's what the quilt blocks looked like when we left:

After lunch and maybe a little bit of shopping at Bolt, maybe, we headed off to Fabric Depot for the open sew, where we proceeded to chat and socialize and oh yeah, maybe sew a bit and possibly some more shopping, possibly.   Whereupon I managed to win a little goody bag from Fabric Depot. "Way cool!" I said – "I never win anything I said".  Ha ha ha ha ha.    I laugh because as Jessica (EMQG) pointed out, for a girl who never wins anything, I struck gold.  At the end of the sew day, guess whose name was chosen to win the baby lock machine they were giving away? Yup, it was yours truly.  So I guess I can’t say I never win anything.  Crazy I tell you.  And apparently after that there was some goodie bag fabric from Bolt that I won after I left.  Yea, I struck gold.  I should've bought a lottery ticket - why didn't I?  My apologies to all the meet-up attendees that were disappointed - you can still cross your fingers for the Bernina they are giving away. 

Introducing Molly ~ 

Montevilla Sewing Center , PMQG, Fabric Depot and whoever else was involved, I thank you over and over again.


Finally, it was time for dinner at Cartopia on Hawthorne and I headed home to my peaceful dwelling.
That's my wild sewing adventure for this summer!


Happy  Sewing!!!

Doctor Who Along Block 8 ~ Weeping Angel

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available

Are you ready for block 8 of the Doctor.Who.Along? It's a Weeping Angel. Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, either way they're scary. This one is at least weeping so we don't have to see the scary angel face staring at us from our quilt! Ha!

Soma designed this block and it comes in 2 formats depending upon your skill level. We realize that some of the blocks in the Doctor.Who.Along are very challenging. This one ranks among the toughest in the QAL for sure - if the angel has you scared in more than one department, try the easier block. If you are up for a challenge, go for the harder one. Either way, you'll end up with a cool new block for your quilt or project

Pattern and instructions available HERE.   Don't forget to share your finished blocks in the Flickr pool.  Doctor.Who.Along



Happy Sewing!!

Iconic Sonic Screwdriver Doctor.Who.Along block 7

Welcome Whovians!  With the extra days in July, we've had a bit of a longer break from the last block.  Hopefully you had a bit of a chance to get caught up and are not in withdrawal!  Are you ready for block 7?

It's pretty iconic I think ~ The Sonic Screwdriver - of course no Doctor would be caught without it!

Pattern pieces and instructions download here

As always, all the Doctor.Who.Along patterns are available through the Craftsy website as well.

Did everyone see there will be a new Doctor? I'm not sure what to think of this just yet.  It's so hard to let go of a Doctor.  Don't you think?

Happy Sewing!

Doctor.Who.Along block 6 ~ Werewolf

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available

It's time for block number 6 of the Doctor Who Along quilt along.

This weeks block is brought to you by Soma, my paper-piecing partner in crime.

I hope you like the block. It was a fun one to put together and actually went together much more quickly than some of the other blocks in this QAL which I know you will be relieved to hear.  I will rate this one as intermediate. 

Here is my version of the block:

Pattern and instructions can by found on Soma's blog.
My background is more of Lizzy House' Constellations fabric which is truly tailor-made for this QAL.  Thanks Lizzy!! Also included are kona solids and tonal mosaic from Michael Miller.

Happy Sewing!

Tinkertote Quilt-as-you-go review and Giveaway

A few weeks ago, Tara of Tinkerfrog  asked if anyone wanted to review her Quilt-as-you-go class on craftsy.  I had been wanting to take a craftsy class and learn more about QAYG, so I jumped at the opportunity.

Let me just start off by saying what a fun class this was. Tara is such a wonderful, enthusiastic teacher you can't help but want to dive right into your project after you take this class.  She really explains the quilt-as-you-go process very clearly, starting you off with an easy potholder to master the technique and moving onto the construction of a large tinker tote.

Personally, as a bag maker of many years, I can say that she really does cover all the basics of bag construction and shows you everything in detail including interior pockets, zipper installation, working with leather and how-to install purse feet and a magnetic snap.  Even if you have never made a bag, you will be able to follow Tara's instructions and end up with a fabulous quilted bag when you are done. Tara gives you lots of options for designing your bag. Don't want leather? No problem! She shows you alternate ways to make your bag.  Plus it's a scrap project and who doesn't have ton of scraps that need to be used up?

Here is the potholder that I made in no time at all.


The bag I made took a little longer but that's just because it's a lot bigger and there are more steps. Turned out pretty cute I think!


She also included a super easy peasy and fun to learn zipper tutorial - which I know can be daunting for some of you. She makes the whole process super easy and you'll wonder why you ever feared zippers after you watch her class.

It's a no-brainer peeps really!  It's also quite a lot of bang-for-your buck as you are learning quite a lot of new stuff all in one class! Totally worth-it!


So as part of this review, Tara and Craftsy are offering a 25% discount to her quilt-as-you-go class if you use this link.



Finally, I'm giving away the bag I made on this blog!  If you want to win it, all you have to do is comment here.   If you tweet this post, share it on facebook, or pinterest, you'll get extra chances to win. Just pop back here for here post and make a comment so I know you did.

Good luck with the contest and have fun sewing!! The contest will close on July 17th. Open to US Residents only this time.

Who is Badwolf?

Ah yes the endless Badwolf references. We spent a whole season (or more) wondering who Badwolf was? Remember those? Pretty iconic Doctor Who I think.  That's this weeks theme for Block 5 of the Doctor.Who.Along.



Yes I know it looks complicated and to be honest, it is one of the toughest blocks in the QAL but if you go slow and do small sections at a time, I know you will get there! This block took me approximately 2 evenings to piece - that's about 6 hours.  So keep that in mind. Take your time and roll with it!

The pattern can be found here and on Craftsy.

I chose a brick print background for my block but since it's directional, it adds another layer of complexity to the piecing, if you are a beginner, stick with a non-directional or even a solid print for your background. Follow my piecing guidelines here for those tricky diagonal seams and all will be well.  A glass of wine might help also :)  After all, it's supposed to be fun, right?!

Don't forget to add your finished block photo to the Flickr Doctor.Who.Along photo pool.

Happy Sewing!  Geronimo!!!

Doctor.Who.Along Block 4 ~ SS Madame de Pompadour

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available

This week it's Soma's turn for block 4 in our installment of the Doctor.Who.Along QAL on Flickr.

SS Madame de Pompadour

Pattern and instructions can be found on Soma's Blog or on Craftsy.
This block has a lot of little pieces but no difficult angles so it's a slow and steady wins the race kind of block.  I recommend some uninterrupted time, good music, and possibly also a favorite beverage.

I used various Kona gray's for the ship and Lizzy House's Constellations fabric as the background which just happens to work perfectly.  So you might want to snag some up while it's still available.

Don't forget to add your finished block to the Flickr pool - there are so many amazing blocks in there already - it's so fun to see all of your hard work!

I am currently on summer vacation in Canada, but I'll be back next week.  In the meantime, happy sewing!

Doctor.Who.Along Block 3 ~ K9

A Time lord's best friend ~ K9.

I've always been fond of K9 - all the way back to the Tom Baker days.   Maybe it's because I'm a dog lover.   So here he (or she?) is in block form.

I've added some"K9" stitching on the side to jazz him up but that is totally optional. He looks good without too!  See?

This block is probably the easiest block to piece so far. So you can breathe a sigh of relief!


The pattern can be downloaded here or through Craftsy.  In case I didn't mention it earlier, 'cuz I often forget stuff like that, Soma and I are posting all these patterns on Craftsy, so they'll be in one easy to find place.  But if you don't like to have to login to get stuff, then you can always find these patterns on our blogs for as long as they are around.

And as an added bonus, I have made an embroidery file for those with embroidery machines, that has the K9 embroidery.  If you would like a copy, please download it here.  Format is .exp but can be converted to other formats in your embroidery software depending upon your machines format.

Happy Sewing!

Winner, Winner!

And we have a winner.

The winner of the Doctor Who Along fat quarter stack is..... drumroll please

lucy said...

I have shared on facebook!

May 28, 2013 at 12:14 PM

Congrats to Lucy!

Please contact me at cascadeskids at gmail dot com so I can arrange shipment of your new fat quarter stack.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway and to all of you who are having fun quilting along with us Doctor Who fans.
Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Block 3!

Happy Sewing!

Blog button:

<a href="http://trilliumdesign.blogspot.com/2013/04/is-there-doctor-in-house.html/" title="Doctor.Who.Along" target=_blank><img src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8244/8664506408_e16350cc4b.jpg " alt="Doctor.Who.Along" style="border:none;"></a>

Oh yeah and this other stuff happened...

I swear, since I started Instagram-ing everything I completely forget to blog about it.

Sorry about that.  So these other baby quilts were made by me over the past month or so.  Completely forgot to show these off here.



Another Low volume scrappy Trip (aka trip around the world) quilt made with inside voices bundle 3 (I think) from Amanda at Westwood acres and then a bunch of other prints that I had on hand.
I love the low volume scrappy trip combo - a lot!
Totally channeling my inner-Rita copying (Red Pepper quilts) on the binding.

Then there was this chevron quilt which follows this moda bake shop tute from Jeni (in color order) except that I did it with a jelly roll so everything is exactly half the size of the measurements in the tute.
 

Fabric is Little Red from Tasha Noel, Riley Blake fabrics


So yeah.  Since then both of these babies have been born and quilts gifted. Yaaay!

Happy Sewing!

Spring Quiltmarket - the wrap up

On a whim, I decided to go Spring Quiltmarket.



Met lots of bloggy friends, none of which I apparently took any pictures of.  Ummm???  I must've been in a daze at this point.

The whole experience was overwhelming.  The phrase "sensory overload" totally comes to mind. 

I went there with clear expectations and an agenda.  This is where you should commence your hysterical laughter. That pretty much went out the door the second I entered. Umm yeah. That place is overwhelming, an assault of the senses? Not in a bad way, but you have to rest your eyes every now and then - take a break from the constant onslaught of color and texture and all things sewing-related. So i'll just let the pictures do the talking shall I?

Melody Millers fabrics - huge fan of her stuff.
 New Echino offerings

Heather Bailey's amazing booth complete with larger than life embroidery wall
The first day I walked into the Free Spirit section, I saw Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Valori Wells, Tula Pink and Erin McMorris all in the Free Spirit section all at the same time. Whoa. Talk about design stars!

Of all that was Free Spirit, Erin McMorris' new line Astrid stole my heart. I love this fabric and can't wait to sew with it.
 

The always amazing Tula Pink's Booth

 Did I mention that Belle is making a comeback?

New Denyse Schmidt
 

More Beautiful booths over by Michael Miller including the lovely Mo Bedell - she was such a sweetie!
 

And another Pacific Northwest gal, Violet Craft, who I didn't meet sadly, but her new fabric line Waterfront Park is one to watch out for! So gorgeous. Her booth was fab as well but I stupidly didn't take a picture of it.
 

And a new fabric to watch out for, Cocca by Kokka.  

Some Riley Blake offerings,

Josephine Kimberling - I have a fondness for Xmassy fabrics, and this one struck my fancy.


Doohickey Designs cuteness. Check out those phones? And that large graphic medallion print will be fab as well.



Graphic Kona Booth from Robert Kaufman fabrics.

And while that is by no means all of it, I think I'll end there for today. There are more market photos on my flickr feed if you just can't get enough.

Happy Sewing!

200th QAL Member Celebration

The Doctor.Who.Along has officially reached the 200 member mark!
This is huge for our little quilt along.

We never imagined that we would get so much enthusiasm for our Doctor Who blocks.  So as a thank-you I am giving away a specially pulled stack of solids and textural prints perfect for the Doctor Who blocks we have planned.

To win this stack all you have to do is comment below.
Tweet this blogpost for an additional entry
Post it on Facebook for an additional entry
Pin it on Pinterest for an additional entry
   ~ make sure you comment back here for each additional entry.  You could get up to 4 chances to win.
Make sure you are not set to no-reply on blogger or I will have a hard time emailing you back if you win.

The Giveaway Will end on June 2nd and i'll announce on the 3rd.  International entries welcome.

Good luck!