The Very, Very First

As I’m charging through my backlog that you most likely don’t care to hear the details of, I thought I would regale you with some tales of my quilts.

We shall start where most stories start – in the beginning.

My freshman year in college, I lived across the hall from a crazy girl. As we became friends, I requested that my mom make her a quilt for graduation. Over the following four years, we collected fabric that reminded us of my crazy friend. We picked out a pattern – “All About Me” by Terry Atkinson. But graduation came and went, and the quilt was never even started.

I really wanted my friend, April, to have this quilt – I mean, we spent years finding fabrics that reminded us of her. So, I blazed into the unknown and started the quilt myself.

I had never, ever made a quilt before. I had no idea where my ¼” seam was on my machine. The cutting instructions terrified me. I didn’t know what it meant to “nest” seam allowances. I spent weeks piecing all my blocks together because I was so nervous. When the quilt top was finally assembled, I was shocked at its ease. I started it in August of 2010. I finished in November. It was far and away the longest I’ve ever spent working on a quilt.

I had hoped to give it to April in person, but I had to mail it instead. The stories I’ve heard were enough to make up for not being there myself. It’s hard to say for sure how much she appreciates it …

But I think she sort of loves it.

Sew-Cation, Day 9: Theeee End!

It’s finally time to get back to normal!

I got in around 1am this morning, unpacked and crashed. I feel like it’s been years since I slept that well. It was wonderful! I’ve spent the day trying to clear out some back-log and gearing up for quilts to come. I have my lucky blog-commenter’s quilt pinned and binding made. It’s third in line for quilting. I washed, dried and ironed all my new fabrics. I picked up interfacing that I completely forgot I had to pre-shrink until just now. I put the binding on a blanket. I quilted a small table runner. I am so ready for the week ahead. I am so ready to spend time doing something other than hunching over a sewing machine!!!

As promised, I am going to fill you in on the quilt pattern from the testing. I mentioned before it’s a sampler quilt – meaning, it’s kind of crazy! It’s divided into 7 parts. We started with the Basketweave (top right, in green and orange print). With an accurate quarter inch, it went together very quickly. It is a very gratifying block – speedy results and very pretty. Next we did the Beads (top center, in green and purple). The most time consuming part was marking the blocks for the “cheater corners.” Terry suggested sewing on marked lines rather than eyeing it. The last block we did as a group on Thursday was the Taco Chips (bottom center, purple and orange). Essentially composed of half-square triangles, the basic components were simple. The challenge is in the placement! I ripped this out several times. Later on Thursday evening, I made up the Ladder (top left, in purple). It is so straightforward that we didn’t even do it as a group!

On Friday, I did the Coins (middle right, in purple) on my own. It was a lot of marking for the “cheater corners,” but Terry’s method for making the 9-patch makes it go very fast. As a group, we made the Labyrinth (bottom right, in purple and blue). Again for this block, the challenge lay in the placement. I had to put in my headphones to keep from getting distracted while piecing this one. Last, I finished up with the Zig-Zag (bottom left, in orange). The block itself is pieced from Flying Geese, however, Terry’s method for Flying Geese is the easiest I’ve ever encountered!

Terry Atkinson will be releasing this and other patterns derived from these as a book. If you’ve never tried as sampler quilt, I highly recommend this. If you’ve never tried a quilt, I highly recommend Terry’s patterns for beginners. Not even a year and a half ago, I started my first quilt – All About Me, one of Terry’s many.

I promise she will guide you well as you venture off into sewing.

Sew-Cation, Day 8: No Sewing Here

I know I just blogged not even 12 hours ago, but I will be out and about all day and not near my computer again till tomorrow. So I thought I would fill you in now while I have the chance.

Today we will be hitting a quilt shop in Fayetteville. They have a great selection of retro-style sailing prints. I used some to make my Perfectly Pleated Clutch. I also used one as backing on a Mariner’s Compass. This is a great opportunity for me to stock up! I always seem to have a project great for those prints when my stash of them is running low.

After that, we’re headed down to pick up my sister from UNC-Pembroke. Book ‘Em NC is in Lumberton today. We will be walking around networking with authors and publishers. Maybe some can give me some advice on pursuing my pattern publishing.

Tonight we will be heading back to Pembroke to see a play at UNC-P. It’s the female version of The Odd Couple. When that gets over, we’re finally going home!!!! Of course, I probably won’t be getting home until the small hours of tomorrow morning, but at least I will get to sleep in my bed, shower in my shower, and sew in my sewing corner!

I have oodles of unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, fabric shopping, and cleaning to do tomorrow. Somewhere in that mess of a day I will find time to tell you about the quilt.

Where’s my coffee?

Sew-Cation, Day 7: I’m sew tired of this sew-cation.

I really am.

This has been a lot more sewing than I’m used it. It’s burning me out a little. I’ll be glad to be home and back to my typical evening sewing.

Our testing finished up today. For anyone who hasn’t tried one of Terry’s patterns, please do. She is a phenomenal writer. She is an inventive designer. Her instructions are very straightforward and easy to follow. I wonder how her designing process goes. Even for the unpublished pattern, there were no huge errors. She pointed out the few mistakes beforehand and I ran into no trouble whatsoever. What a talented woman!

The sampler quilt consisted of 7 pattern types. We did three as a group yesterday, then I did one on my own and started another. Today we did one as a group, then I finished one from yesterday and completed the last. I was the first person to get my quilt sewn together. We even left two hours early.

I decided to keep this quilt for myself. It is a physical representation of a memory. I chose the pattern and color scheme because I liked them – not for someone else. Someone asked me who I was giving it to and I said I wasn’t sure. As I sewed, I thought that maybe no one would like it because it’s such a strange quilt. I would just be devastated to give this memory away to someone who wouldn’t treasure how much it means to me. It occurred to me that maybe no one would appreciate it as much or more than I would.

When I finally settled upon keeping for myself, I had it signed by Terry, Melissa (the hostess), Roseann (Terry’s helper) and Gwen (Melissa’s helper). My mom and I signed it as well. We each picked a different piece of the pattern to sign. There is one left open. I have high hopes of having that piece signed by Kate Spain – I used Good Fortune again and I feel like that would complete my quilt.

This is my 17^th quilt. This is the first quilt I’m keeping for myself.

Sew-Cation, Day 6: To Test a Pattern

Hello all. I have been sewing for the past 13 hours, and I’m actually quite exhausted. Forgive my brevity. Here’s what I learned today:

  1) Terry Atkinson is not only an amazing writer and designer; she is also a lot of fun and very supportive. Every time I started a new section of the quilt, she came over to offer kind words of encouragement. She is really upbeat.


 2) I love sampler quilts. A sampler quilt is a quilt that has what seems like no rhyme or reason to it. It’s a bunch of different patterns that all mix together to make one distinct quilt.


 3) I am out of place. I feel somewhat like an animal in a zoo. People are looking at me wide-eyed wondering what a 20-something girl is doing at a quilting convention. I am looking wide-eyed back at them praying fervently that my years in from of the sewing machine don’t turn me into the Hunchback of Notre Dame.


4) Quilters are competitive. I already knew that, but these times remind me. Some woman told me she hated me. Twice. Why? Because I was ahead of her.


 5) Two vultures hung out at the door this morning while we quilted: Buford and Beulah.

Perfect day, huh?

Sew-Cation, Day 5: Victory Speech

I’d like to thank my blog readers for their support in this triumph.

We started off the day at Mary Jo’s!!! For anyone not familiar with Mary Jo’s, imagine a fabric warehouse that holds nearly every type of fabric you can imagine – apparel, quilting, upholstery – all around $6-$8/yard. Remarkable. Amazing. Heavenly. Of course it’s in Charlotte, so what I save on fabric I spend on gas. But today it was conveniently on our way to Georgia. I spent under $100 and got enough fabric to make 3 Christmas gifts and a purse for myself! This is what I picked out for myself – I hope I find the time to make it because I think it would great for spring:

After hours and hours in the car, we finally arrived at our destination in Georgia. I was mistaken in saying we were journeying to Conyers, we are actually in Convington. We stopped by the convention center where we will be doing our pattern testing tomorrow. I can hardly contain my excitement!

After we got back to the hotel and settled in we (my mom and I) had a Jelly Roll Race! For those unfamiliar with fabric jelly rolls, they are 40 strips of 2.5”x42” pieces of fabric. For the race, we pieced the strips into one giant 2.5” wide piece of fabric, cut off 18” and set the timer. We folded the large strip in half, sewed through (cutting at the end to create two pieces) and then repeated 4 more times. The result was approximately a 60” square quilt top.

I won with 45 minutes and 49 seconds. I did mine in Good Fortune designed by Kate Spain. My mom ventured very, very far outside her comfort zone and went with kaffe fassetts! I’m so proud! She finished in 55 minutes and 41 seconds.

It was a lot of fun! It was a good prep for our class tomorrow and Friday. I think mine is a really upbeat quilt for spring. My mom is giving hers as a gift for summer.

I think I just might give mine to … hmm … someone who comments on my blog …

Sew-Cation, Day 4: Why is all the sew gone?

I’m too fast for my own good.

Today has been … atrociously boring. Since I finished quilting Stitchin’ Addiction and put the binding on another blanket yesterday, there hasn’t been a whole lot to do today. I woke up at 6 and made Scott breakfast and lunch. Then I napped till 9. I learned that Karoline is terrified of brooms, which is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. She attacked a broom in the closet this morning.

The broom pretty much sums up my riveting day. I am really looking forward to tomorrow though – Mary Jo’s, sewing race, spending some time with my mom. I’m going to pick out fabric to make myself a purse at Mary Jo’s. It’s kind of sad that all my friends are running around with custom-made purses and I have an old ratty purse I’ve been dragging around for years.

Any suggestions for purse colors??

Sew-Cation, Day 3: Quilting Kitty

My little Karoline loves quilting!

I started (and finished!) quilting Stitchin’ Addiction last night!  And Karoline helped! I think she misses my sewing. Today I wanted to write about quilting and my wonderful, little cat – two things I love.

I’ll start with Karoline. Karoline was a stray. In my experience, strays end up being the best pets – they are grateful to have a home, and very loving. I take full responsibility for why Karoline is not that way at all. She’s a bit of a loner, but she hates to be alone. She wants to be near you, but she absolutely does not want you touching her or petting her unless she is so inclined. However, when she is so inclined, it’s so rare that you will drop everything you’re doing to snuggle with her because you never know when she will be so inclined again. Usually those moments are at 3 in the morning, or when you’re in a mad rush to finish a quilt. She is full of energy. Everything is a game to her – in fact, my mere presence marks the start of a never-ending game of hide and seek.

The best part about her is her love of fabric. I think she loves quilts about as much as I do. She likes to crawl underneath them when I’m hand sewing the binding on. She also likes to lay on them while I quilt, which is a problem because it makes it nearly impossible to finish quilting.

She joined me while I quilted Stitchin’ Addiction. This was my first time quilting in invisible thread. I’m not entirely sure how much I enjoy invisible thread. It makes it hard to see where you’ve already quilted. However, it makes it nearly impossible to find mistakes. THAT part is wonderful. I also couldn’t decide if I wanted to quilt through the applique, or just around. I opted to just go around. I’m really happy with it. I put the binding and hanging sleeve on it today, so now I’m onto hand sewing.

Now I get to sew while watching movies!

Sew-cation, Day 2: Let the Sewing Begin

Tomorrow. Let the sewing begin tomorrow.

We are back from our lovely trip to Asheville! We woke up early this morning and did the gardens at Biltmore. It was raining a little – but it was the relaxing kind of light rain that ushers you to sleep. It was really quite pretty for being cold and wet.

We didn’t see that much of the gardens, but we did finally stumble upon the greenhouses. They were warm and filled with a variety of plants and flowers. They had a lot of palm trees and orchids. I especially liked the orchids.

Afterward we did some shopping. I am on the eternal hunt for pineapple paraphernalia thanks to the wonderful show Psych. Biltmore is like a pineapple gold mine. I picked up a pineapple glass for my sister – also an avid Psych lover.

Then we went over to Antler Village for a wine tasting and tour. That was a lot of fun! We got to sample a lot of different wines, and of course we ended up buying even more wine. The tour was incredibly informative. I learned so much about wine making! After the tour we had lunch at The Bistro before heading home. The drive always seems longer and less pretty on the way back for some reason.

We arrived home to snow – as everyone in Winston already knows. I think for the first time in my adult life, I am enjoying the snow. My car is home in Wake Forest, so I don’t have to drive in it. I have my sewing machine, my mom’s quilting machine, and enough sewing supplies to keep me content for probably two days tops.

Let it snow, let it snow, let me sew.

Sew-cation, Day 1: The –Cation Part

The sewing part comes next.

Tonight I’m writing to you from the beautiful, yet cold, Asheville, NC. Scott has taken me away for a relaxing weekend in the mountains before my Great Sew-a-thon starts. Scott is resting up for a typical week at work. I am getting fired up for a fun week of traveling, learning, and sewing.

This morning concluded my Groovy Girls 2 course at Wish Upon A Quilt. My mom signed us up for the first session as bonding time for us on weekends. Long story short: I loved it, I started sewing like a maniac, I made a lot of friends and I won the second Groovy Girls session for free in a drawing. Now, here we are, a year and a half later, approximately 12 patterns wiser. It was a fun class for sure, and I’m looking forward to what’s next … which just might be me teaching a Best Of class. Eek!

Scott and I drove up to Asheville this afternoon. We have 12-month passes to Biltmore Estate, so we dropped in for a little visit. I love the tapestries there – they’re stunning. We’re not doing the house this time. We did walk around Antler Village though. We bought some wine. It was a pretty nice start to the vacation. Now we’re patiently awaiting our dinner reservations at Fiore’s!

If you ever get to Asheville, you must try Fiore’s. It’s wonderful Italian food!

Go Sew!

You don’t have to tell me twice.

This is my awesome announcement: I’m going on a quilting retreat.

It’s like freaking Christmas over here. I lay awake at night and wonder what we’ll be sewing, wonder what it’ll look like even though I’ve already bought the fabric. It’s sort of pathetic, but in a really exciting way.

Here’s the scoop:

Saturday, I’m concluding my fun-filled Groovy Girls 2 class at Wish Upon A Quilt. Then, Scott is stealing me away for a weekend in Asheville, NC. Monday, he is promptly returning me to my sewing machine where I will sit and create for the following two days. I plan on doing a fair amount of baking too, when the sewing machine needs a break. I also might clean his house, but that depends on how much strength I can muster. Wednesday, my mom and I are embarking on our trip south to the Great Sewing Retreat of 2012. We’re going to make a half day pit stop at Mary Jo’s where we will spend entirely too much money before carrying on to our final destination: Conyers, GA. We will arrive in Conyers on Wednesday evening for a friendly competition between sewers – a Jelly Roll Race. After I claim my winnings and make my speech about my dedication to sewing, we will rest up for Thursday. Thursday begins the actual sewing portion of this self-proclaimed sewing retreat.

The real reason we are going on this adventure is to test an unpublished pattern that Terry Atkinson designed. I’ve never been to one of these before, so I have no idea what to expect, but it seems like a lot of fun. It seems like a giant sewing party. What’s not to love?

While I’m gone, I intend to write about all the fun things I’ve learned and made so you can follow along. Remember, leave a comment for a chance to win something wonderful!

Now, I have to go prep for the week ahead!

Luck or Good Fortune?

How lucky to have both!

It’s Monday. You know how Mondays are. I have a week’s worth of joyous announcements, but most of them are exciting for me. This one is for you. I thought I’d give it to you today, because it’s Monday.

How did you like our last drawing for prizes? I think the winners were quite fond of it. I was quite fond of it. I mentioned when I announced the winners that I would like to do it again, but bigger and better. That time has come. I'm stepping it up on my end. But now you have to step it up on your end too. The rules are changing. In order to be entered into the drawing, you have to be signed in as a blog follower, and leave a comment on the blog. Any blog. Anytime. From the day the blog started until March 16th.

This time we have one prize, and one prize only. It's in a newly released line by a designer I happen to love. It's something I've never made before. It's something I'd very much like to keep for myself. But I'm going to share it with you, in hopes that you'll treasure it more than I would. You can't fit it in your pocket. You probably can't fit it in your purse. And here's the best part: I'm not telling you what it is until I pick my winner! So brood, wonder, guess, do whatever you like. But in order to have a chance at this lucky mystery, you must leave a comment. And to leave a comment, you must follow. And to follow, you must log in with a google account.

Let's recap: Comment on blog. Enter to win secretive mystery prize. Patiently await March 16th when winner is announced.

Are we clear?

I hope Good Fortune is coming your way.

Operation Organize

I have no choice but to accept.

I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person. Unless I’m stressed. When I’m stressed, I like to make a huge mess and then mope about in it. That’s not a very productive thing to do when you have quilts to make. This weekend, I am undertaking the organization of my sewing corner.

It’s definitely not going to be a short process, but I think getting started will be the hardest part. I want to be more organized so I can transition between projects easier. Now it’s like my world comes to a halt when one project gets hung up. I want to be so on top of things that I can just pick up the next project without missing a beat.

I need to clean out my fabric stash, my old patterns, things that aren’t getting used. I need some sort of shelving system that makes everything accessible. I need to store my notions in … something. I need a place to keep current projects so they’re organized. Preferably something more manageable and the infamous “table” that I’m using now. I need a lot of things. I need help. Here’s my before picture:

Please send me your ideas to help me get organized!

Sew What?

Sew everything!

You’re probably wondering what I’ve been up to now that the worst is over with Stitchin’ Addiction. Don’t worry. I haven’t been idle. I’m slowly tackling all those projects that built up during the applique times. I’m by no means caught up, but I’ve reached a lull where I can come up for air and blog.

I’ve been working on some cute little zipper bags for a dear friend. I’m trying out some new things, like quilting the panels to look like Vera Bradley bags. So far … not what I anticipated, but it’s a start. I aspire to become a better machine quilter someday, and, well, I’ve got to start somewhere. I would blame it on the machine, but nothing is my adorable little Janome’s fault. Ever.

I’ve also been working on some quilts. More like many quilts, but I’m going to pretend it’s a mere “some” to retain what’s left of my sanity. Most of them have yet to make it to “the table” where projects await their turn with me and the Janome, but I know they're coming. And that scares me a bit.

Besides Stitchin’ Addiction, I have two other quilts currently on the table. They are my first official order as Life’s Short. Sew Fast. They are matching quilts for twin 5-year old girls. I designed the pattern – something simple and fast, with a touch of applique. They are both in Terrain by Kate Spain. Six blocks on each quilt will have pictures of the girls. The center block has their name appliqued. Not incredibly intense, right? Well, here’s the fun part: I’m appliqueing MERMAIDS on the center block as well. Mermaids. It’s like the worst of the fish world AND the human world. Fingers and fins. Neither are applique friendly. In an attempt to save my beautifully girly quilts from an applique atrocity, I solicited help from none other than Sarah, my hand-quilting partner in crime. She is sketching out some applique-friendly mermaids and transferring the designs onto fabric. In the meantime, I get to wait, dread, and write to you.

Good thing I got all that applique practice on my last quilt.

It’s Not All About Winning

But this blog is!

I am SO happy to announce the winners of my I <3 You! Sewing Give Away! But first, grab your popcorn and wait in suspense. It’s story time!

I NEVER make things first and give them to people as an afterthought. I always make things with people in mind. This was a challenge. I had to make something that would appeal to anyone, something practical, something fun. I went with generic Valentine’s Day fabric to theme it. Pretty boring, I know, but I’m out of my comfort zone so give me some credit. I chose probably 2 of my favorite “30-minute” patterns. I can crank out Zippy Strippies and Cash and Carries like nobody’s business. I am a one-woman staple-gift production factory over here. And the best part is they’re so practical! They’re perfect sizes! The coupon idea came after, but it fit in great. YOU can pick what you want, and I can make it and you get a discount! How great!

So, are you ready to know who the winners are?? No? You want more stories? Ok. If you insist. I do this for you.

I have probably thought about this drawing every day since I announced it. I wonder who is going to win which, what they’re going to do with it, if it’s going to make their day, if it will make them smile, if they’ll think of me when they use it, if it will encourage them to pass along the nice gesture. Finally, the day has come to decide. Honestly, I was too excited to draw the names myself! I had to have help!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, our winners!!!

The first prize, a small-sized Zippy Strippy from Atkinson Designs, a perfect bag for many things, goes to … VANESSA DORAN! Congratulations!!!

The second prize, a small-sized Cash and Carry also from Atkinson Designs, great for (surprise) cash, credit cards, iPods, change and whatever else you can cram in there, goes to … CATHERINE CROCKER! Go you!!!

The third prize, a magical abyss of whatever the hell you want with $5 off, goes to … APRIL ALIX! Bamo!!!

Thank you EVERYONE (not just the winners) for reading my totally nerdy, but also fun blog! Answering to you all keeps me sewing when the sewing gets tough. Thank you for your support.

Now, for the non-winners (oh, ok, the winners too): I really liked this. It was fun. And I’m going to do it again. But bigger. And better. Keep following. Start commenting. Stay tuned.

Good Fortune could be coming your way …

Playing Catch-Up

It’s a fun game.

I have a table in my room where I pile up fabric, organized into projects and assorted by due dates. That table is overflowing! The table has exploded onto the floor around it and things are in quite a mess. While I was immersed in the applique of the Stitchin’ Addiction quilt top, my fabric staged a coup!

I finished the quilt top earlier this week. It was more of a relief than a feeling of excitement. Although, every time I look at it, I swell with pride. It was far more challenging than I had anticipated, but I stuck to it and I finished it. I can’t wait to quilt it and bind it and see it hanging on my mom’s wall. It’s stunning for sure. It’s almost shocking to think that I made it all myself!

Of course, in my time sewing the Stitchin’ Addiction, other projects piled up … and piled up! I’ve spent the better part of the week tackling what I could, desperately trying to fit everything back on that table. I have quilts, blankets, tote bags all over the place. I’m slowly tackling them little by little, but for each project finished, two more appear. This week, instead of sitting at my computer telling you about the things I love, I’ve been sitting at my machine making them.

The good news is I love being busy.