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!!!

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!

Tween room makeover

Many months ago my daughter requested a room re-do.  It was time to let go of her babyish room and bring it more in line with her tastes.

So she designed this room all by herself.  Her Dad and I just did all the manual labor, although she helped there as well.  Might as well learn young right?

There was a new floor install (which she picked out and helped install)


New paint

and some stenciling

New furniture that her Dad built (yup, he's handy that way) and new custom mattress courtesy of her uncle (that was fortunate).

New curtains that I sewed and some sparkly pillows made (Yes that was xmas time).


Repurpose an old chair, repaint an old mirror, add a shag rug and you have a reading nook (aka home for the stuffies).

New headboard (made by her Dad) and upholstered (me)

and finally some wall art that she wanted, total PBteen hack job.  This sign doesn't come in black in that size - no problem... DIY to the rescue.


Then finally it was all complete! (A mere 6 months later)

She is in heaven and I'm pretty happy with the whole thing myself!

Sometimes that whole DIY and sewing thing really pays off.

Happy Sewing!

ETD a word about sources:
Ribbon Damask Stencil from Royal Design Studio
DIY upholstered headboard tutes at Involving the senses  except we used a plywood board and wood frame. I also used a foam alternative called NuFoam which didn't require predrilling holes in the foam because it's more like heavyweight batting and the needle slid right through it.
Chenille Headboard Fabric and Sequin pillow fabrics from Mood. Linens and shag rug from PBTeen.  Damask Fabric for Curtains from Michael Miller.

Super Easy Super Quick DIY Kitchen towels

At our house, we have been using homemade napkins made out of quilting cotton for a couple of years now and after a zillion washings, they are super soft.  They sometimes get used in the kitchen just because they are around which inspired the idea of using quilting cotton for kitchen towels.  Quilting cotton is a little too thin for a towel, which needs to be a little beefier, so here’s my super easy, super fun totally stash busting tutorial for making your own kitchen towels.   Maude Asbury's fun Kitchy Kitchen fabric was used to make these kitchen towels.

These towels are super soft and perfect for your fine crystal. What’s that you say? You are not using fine crystal for your everyday juice needs? No worries – these will work for sticky little fingers or plastic juice cups just as well.  In fact, the more you wash them, the softer they get.  Pretty soon you’ll be whipping up large sized ones for pool-side. Ok maybe not. But, these look super cute and fun in your kitchen and you can bust through some of your fabric stash this way!

Ready? Here we go...

You will need

1/2 yd of your favorite fabric -or-  2 fat quarters of coordinating fabric.

4"x44" of contrasting trim fabric for binding or a package of bias tape.

1” Bias tape maker (or Teflon fingers) if you are making your own tape.

Iron

Thread

Walking foot for your sewing machine. (Optional) ~ Not strictly necessary but I’m giving you an excuse to go tell your husband you need to buy one for this project! 

Directions

1.  First off, cut your fabric into 16x22” pieces.  If you are using quilting cotton yardage, this will be close to 18”x22” anyway, just square it up and trim to 16” long.  If you are using fat quarters, just trim them up so they are exactly the same size.  The sizing is a little adjustable here. If your pieces were cut a little shy of 16x22, that’s ok too.  What's important is that they are both the same size. 

2.  Cut 2 strips of fabric that are 2” wide by the width of the fabric (approx. 22”).  Again sizing is a little flexible here, the most important thing is that it’s 2” wide.  Sew the strips together so that you have one really long 2” x 44” strip. 

3.  Now run that strip through the bias tape maker following along the folded edge with your iron.  If you don’t have a bias tape maker, go get one! – you cannot live without this indispensable tool (well you can but you will need Teflon fingers for your iron!).  The Bias tape maker will magically turn your 2” strip  into 1” folded un-bias tape.  It’s so easy it should be illegal.  Ok It’s not a bias tape because we didn’t cut the fabric on the bias, but it works the same in this case in terms of folding and it’s easier and uses less yardage plus the bias bit doesn’t really matter for this project so we are going to call this magically folded strip of fabric un-bias tape and move on.  ‘Kay? 

4.  Lay your fabric so that the RIGHT SIDES are FACING OUT (wrong sides together).  Put a few pins in there to keep things from shifting around.  Now unfold and lay your newly made un-bias tape onto the edge of the cut fabric lining up the edges as shown (right sides together).  Start sewing about 4-5” inches in from the end of the tape and start at a point on the side of the fabric about halfway down.  Like so: (The reason for this excess fabric will be obvious in step 6).  Now sew using a ½” seam allowance all along the edge of the fabric following the ½” fold line that you just pressed into your un-bias tape.  Easy no?

5. When you get to the corners you will need to stop sewing ½” in from the edge of the fabric because we are going to miter these corners like it was a quilt binding.  Don’t panic! It’s easy, trust me. Fold fabric up at 45 degree angle like so:

 Then back down on top of itself like so:

 Pin this sucker in place if you like so it doesn’t shift while you go to your machine.  Now continue to sew a ½” seam allowance and stop when you get just ½” shy of the next corner and repeat until all corners are sewn.  

When you are done with the last corner you will stop sewing a few inches shy of where you started like so:

6.  Why? Because now we are going to sew the ends of the tape together.  Lay the whole thing out on a flat surface, it’ll be easier to work that way.  Now pinch up the 2 excess ends of the un-bias tape, lining them up so they are right sides facing and even like this:

You want to pinch the ends at the point where they meet and lie flat on the fabric.  Place a pin along this point to hold it in place.  The pin marks the spot where the seam will go on the un-bias tape.  Now fold the towel fabric out of the way like this:

You will sew along the pinned line.   

Snip off the excess leaving about ¼” seam allowance and you should now be able to see how this tape lies flat on the towel fabric and you have a perfect seam! 

7.  Now finish sewing the un-bias tape down to the towel fabric to close up the hole. 

 Voila!

8.  Now we’re going to flip over the tape and fold it down on the back side of the towel creating the mitered corner as we fold.  Watch ~ Fold. 

 

Pin.   

Check out the mitre! Woot. Pat yourself on the back! 

Now attach your walking foot to your sewing machine.  If you don’t have one, that’s ok too, it’ll still work but the walking foot helps prevent puckering.  You are going to sew down the un-bias tape approx. 1/8” in from the edge and pivoting at the corners all the way around the towel. 

TIP:  Keep the needle down in your fabric when you pivot at the corners and you'll have a perfect stitching line. You’re almost done!  

9.  To avoid this whole thing from turning into a balloon straight out of the dryer, you’ll have to add some stitching lines down the center and across to hold the 2 sides together.  I used a grid pattern but you can do whatever pattern you like. 

 Go crazy!

How cool is your new kitchen towel? If you like you can snazz it up with contrasting trim fabric across the top and some rick rack.  Or not – it’s totally up to you. Wasn't that easy? Now go make a few more to share with your friends.

Happy Sewing!