Thursday Threads link up

I am working furiously to finish up a baby quilt for my cousin's soon-to-be-here baby boy.   My whole family is super excited about this new addition, as my cousin will be the only other one to have children (except for my sister).  Babies are sooo fun!

I have a stockpile of Violet Craft's Madrona Road from my own stash and the MQG challenge from earlier this year.  I have had this pattern drafted up for a while and just needed the motivation to get started on it.

Here is the progress:

It's a crappy photo!  Sorry for the hotspot!  Anyway, the idea is a multiple sizing of churn dash blocks.  I'm using mainly 6", 9" and 12" blocks.  Yes, that is a teeny 3" block.  It was a test and I'm not sure if I'm gonna stick with those.  

I hope to have more progress made to share by Monday, but I am going to Winston tomorrow to visit some of the quilt shops there.  Amanda Murphy is coming to Sew Original tomorrow and there is the Quilt Carolina event going on in the Triad and Triangle!  My pocketbook is gonna be hurting after this weekend!

Y'all have a good one!

Weekend Sewing and Stuff

Hi!  How are ya?  I have been away from the blog but have  been getting my sew on!  I have a couple of finishes to share with you:

Seth's quilt

Seth and me with his quilt

This is a quilt I made for my nephew.  It is a late birthday present for him!  I had the top pieced for a month and just hadn't put it together.  I took my machine with me on our family beach vacay and finished it up there!  Seth is learning to sew, and as you can imagine, he was fascinated with seeing the quilt come together.

The pattern is from Jeni Baker's Modern Plus Quilt Tutorial.  Check it out here.

I used the blue color way from Emily Herrick's Hall Of Fame line.  I backed it with a panel of the Pennant fabric and a gray Colton sheet I picked up at Target.  I also bound it in the Pennant fabric. He absolutely loves it!

Back of Seth's quilt

Believe circle of do.good.stitches

March quilt for Believe Circle of do.good.stitches

Finally assembled the March blocks into this cute quilt!  This was my first foray into free motion quilting.  It was lots of fun and I learned tons!  The quilting is not pretty, but the final product turned out so cute.  I had the ladies use the Wonky Cross tutorial from Elizabeth Hartmon.

Baby Cooper's Quilt

Baby Cooper's Robot quilt

This quilt is for my friend's brand new baby!  They chose a robot theme, so, of course, I had to make a robot quilt!  The top is a panel by Kokka, the back is snugly orange flannel.  I bound it with a navy dot. I had so much fun quilting this! I took the opportunity to practice my free motion skills!  There are pebbles, stars, pinwheels, wrenches, lightening bolts, loops, swirls, a road and skylines!  I sure hope they like it!

Modern Mini Quilt Chllenge

Hi Friends!  I've been away from the computer for awhile.  Did ya miss me??

Well, regardless of the answer to that question, I've missed blogging!  I've been busy sewing, but just haven't taken the time to blog.   But, since Jennifer, of Ellison Lane, is hosting the Modern Mini Quilt Challenge, I thought I'd better do a post so I can enter!  

So here's my entry:

I made this pillow, from my very own design, from my very own brain, for Jennifer H of the TMQG.  Her Flickr and Pintrest photos showed lots of log cabin and courthouse steps inspired pillows and quilts along with pinks and oranges.  She also indicated that she was really getting into Anna Maria Horner.  Well, I have very little AMH in my stash, really only scraps, so I knew I didn't have enough to pull together an 18x18 pillow.  So, I pulled out my FQ bundle of Saltwater and some creamsicle-ish solid and got to cutting.  And here's the result:

Front

Back

Front detail

Back detail

I used a variegated Gutterman thread that was in our swag bag from Sew South.  I really like the effect!  I think the pillow was well received; I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I'm linking up to Ellison Lane's Modern Mini Quilt Challenge!  

See you soon, peeps!

My Very Talented Friends

At Sew South, I met some very awesome, very talented peeps!  So, I thought I'd share what a few of them are up to.

Lindsey Rhodes of LRStitched has her wonderful cosmetic bags featured on Pellon's blog today.  You too can make these bags!  Lindsey made these as her Sew South swap item.  I wasn't lucky enough to be in her group, but now, I can make one myself.  Go check it out!

And, Kim, of Windsor & Main, is hosting the Easiest Sew-Along Ever!  She has lots of give-aways, but more importantly, you'll actually finish a project!  Imagine that!  The rules are simple:  do what you can, with what you have, at where you're at.  Check out Kim's site for details, prizes and other information.  I can't wait to see what we all come up with!

I Heart the 80s

I was in a Flickr swap that just finished up and I'm so excited to show you what I made for my partner, Courtney.  I was so excited to get her name, because I'm in the Believe Circle of do.good.stitches with her, and I absolutely LOVE what she posts up on Flickr.  I mean, the girl does amazing work!  So, I knew I had to bring out some good shiz!

Courtney left wonderful hints, and she was easily stalkable.  She is a little younger that I am, so our 80s references overlapped, but we different just the same.  My original idea was to make a modern day version of the bermuda bag.  I carried one of these in middle school and they were all the rage and I LOVED MINE.  I mean, you could change out the covers; I had a monogrammed one, a corduroy one, a pink and green one . . .  

I recently purchased Stitch Savvy, by the very talented Deborah Moebes, and in that book, is her version of the classic bermuda bag, The Classy Lady Elbow Bag.  When I saw this pattern, I knew I would make this for Courtney.  I purchased some awesome cassette fabric from the Geekly Chic line as well as some Robert Kaufman pink animal print.  See, Courtney was a Jem fan, and, well, that pink lepoard fabric would be perfect to make the cover!  I found a Jem patch and ordered that, thinking that it would be the most awesome finishing touch.   However, that patch has YET to arrive . . . and the deadline for sending my swap item out was April 30.  

Bag fabric . . .yeah, those are sparkly handles!

So, last week, I came up with another idea.  Courtney is a HUGE fan of John Hughes films.  Someone in our Flickr group posted a discussion topic about what your favorite 80s movie quotes are.  Lucky for me, Courtney posted several.  With this info, I set to creating a 16 candles pillow for her.  It turned out fab, if I do say so myself!

I am still waiting on that Jem patch.  I'm gonna finish the purse cover when that comes in, and I'll send that on as well.  So, yeah, two gifts!  Not a bad deal!  She is awesome, so she deserves it!

Classy Lady Elbow Bag

Y'all have a great day!

Claiming my blog

Following Lee's lead and claiming my blog with Bloglovin!  Now that Reader is going away, I wonder how long Blogger will be around too . . .

Sew South post coming today!  Stay tuned . . .

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5039799/?claim=3u5sm5azhxk">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

What A Weekend! Sew South

The sign! (Thanks Lee for the photo)

Well, well well, what can I say?  I just spent an amazing weekend with 49 other talented, inspiring, dedicated women at the inaugural Sew South Retreat, in Charlotte,NC.  This was organized by the awesome Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts.  I must say, I don't know how she got it all done . . .in only 6 months.  Everything was seamless.  The classes, instructors, meals, social events, everything!  

I asked my mom if she would like to go with me.  Of course she said yes, but she was very nervous, because she hadn't sewn in many years.  I was confident there would be no project too over her head, because she sewed forever!! I was taught by my mom and grandmother, as a lot of us are, and I was excited to share this experience with her.  We picked the amazing Lee of May Chappell in Greensboro and headed to Charlotte.  Lee is so great and I know I've made a forever friend!  Once we arrived in Charlotte, Jennifer had arranged for a bus to take us on a field trip!  Yea for field trips, especially when they involve a fabric store and IKEA.  We went to We're So Creative in Concord, NC.  Jennifer Roycroft, the shop's owner, is awesome.  We had the run of the place for an hour and we all shopped!  She has an amazing selection of fabric.  I've never seen so many full collections in one spot!  Definitely make the trip to visit her shop.   Then there was IKEA.  I love that place.  We all raided the textile section and came away with some goodies!

After the field trip, we headed back to the hotel for cocktails and to meet everyone!  Then dinner, then we set up in the ballroom for some sewing time!  Mom and I took this time to finish our duffle bag pieces.

My pre-quited, pre-serged bag pieces

Friday was a jammed packed day.  Starting out, Jennifer Mathis taught a paper-piecing class.  I'm still not finished with mine, but will post upon completion.  

Then we started the duffle class taught by Lindsey Rhodes of LR Stitched.  Lindsey was such a great teacher and had the patience of a saint!  I mean, this was a tough bag, and there were, like 50 of us, and she took the time to go around the room and help us all.  A wonderful thing happened when we were working late into Friday/Saturday night making these bags:  when someone would finish, they would stand up, swing their completed bag into the air, and EVERYONE would stop and CHEER for them!!  I mean, how great is that!  This group was fantastic!  The pattern was donated by Cherie of Cherie Studio and is available on Craftsy.

Lindsey and Jennifer and a WALL of duffles (thanks Jen for the photo)

Saturday morning was the frame clutch purse taught by the lovely Diane.  This was so much fun!  Diane is such a great teacher and made this easy!  The pattern is available on Craftsy.  The clutch frames were generously donated by Winn of While Baby Naps.  Such a great sponsor!  This clutch is such an easy, quick project, I can see making more of these.  My sister and BFF have already claimed ours, so I guess I'll have to make them their own!

Diane with ALL the clutches (thanks Lee for the photo)

Our Clutches:  Mom's in Pezzy, Mine in Guitars

Modeling our clutches

Then the afternoon session was the pajama pants class taught by Jennifer of We're So Creative (the fabric store we had a field trip to).  I have sewn garments before, but it's been a long time.  The pattern was provide to us by Kwik-Sew (#3602).  This was an easy pattern and I love how mine turned out.  

After I finished the pjs, I went back to work on the duffle.  After MANY broken needles, borrowing thread and machine from my awesome neighbor, Alex (on a side note, Alex came with her mom too -Maria- and our moms became fast friends!), and borrowing Lee's machine, I FINALLY got my cheer on Saturday night, like at 11:45!  It was done!  Mom finished her bag a little bit before me.  We are both so proud.  My bag has a TON of flaws in it, and I skipped the zippered side pocket, but I still love it. IF I make this bag again, I'd do ALOT of things differently; for one, NOT make it out of canvas!  My machine just couldn't handle it, as I was traveling with my #2 machine.  #1 was in the shop!  Feed dogs decided to become quitters the night before SS!!

Alex and Maria

My completed duffle

Mom's competed duffle

Modeling our duffles- See how JOYFUL we are!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Saturday night, after dinner, the fantastic Leah Day gave an inspiring talk about free motion quilting.  She talked about her book, and the Goddess quilt she's working on. She showed us a sample of her amazing quilting for the Goddess project too.

Leah with a Goddess sample (thanks Jen for the photo)

The process for this is really cool.  What an awesome talent she is! Loved having the chance to be in her space.  She then took some additional time to chat with a small group about blogging, getting published and making a career of this quilty, sewing world we are in.  I love that her first advice was to have an attitude of abundance.  Meaning, put it all out there, share it with everyone.  It was quite refreshing to hear.

Sunday morning was the closing of the retreat and Jennifer surprised us all with a GIANT swag bag!  The Sew South Sponsors were so AWESOME!  I mean, they totally trusted Jennifer, new retreat and all, and sent the most fabulous stuff.  Cutters, batting, interfacing, thread, books, patterns, magazines, fabric!  Oh my!  Jennifer said she felt like Oprah on her Favorite Things shows!  Thanks to Pellon, Dritz, Stash Books, Coats & Clark, The Warm Company, Fabricworm, Andover Fabrics, Allison Glass, Wyndham, Jo-ann's, Aurifill, Michael Miller and more! 

Swag galore!  Awesome sponsors

After we all recovered from our great fortune, we had a sharing time.  Everyone got really emotional; tears flowed.  Everyone felt like they had found their tribe!  The whole weekend was such a giving, inspiring, FUN time.  I made so many friends that I know I'll continue to keep in touch with and foster that friendship.  

But the best thing about the weekend was sewing side by side with my mom.  All the nervousness she had before the retreat was long gone and she was sad to be leaving.  She told me Saturday night on our way to dinner, how much she was enjoying the ladies, the fellowship and the sewing! If you are on Instagram, check out the photos at #sewsouth.

Jennifer deserves every bit of kudos that I'm sure you've read on the many blogs you follow.  Believe the hype; it was awesome!  I sure hope you punch your ticket for next year, 'cause I know I am!