the retreat

I was fortunate to spend a weekend with this group of lovely ladies! We talked, laughed, ate, and of course, quilted. Warning- this is the longest post I've ever written!

I arrived Friday at about 11:30 and set up my station. I was right next to a window with awesome natural lighting and a nice view:

and we had a great lunch of minestrone, salad, and homemade focaccia. All the food was made by Tara, innkeeper extraordinare. :) Afterward, our instructor, the fabulous Amanda Jean of crazy mom quilts, talked a little about thread, needles, making quilt sandwiches (pinning vs. spray basting) and other tips on quilting. Then we got some time to work on our individual projects, so I pieced my placemats, which I'll show you later because I *love love LOVE* them!

Friday night after dinner we had a scrap bag free for all. Everyone brought a gallon ziploc full of scraps and we dumped them out on the kitchen floor... and the frenzy started! We turned that pile over and mixed it up and threw scraps around, trying to root out the good stuff from the *ahem* not so good and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! I also returned home with twice the scraps I left home with, having caught scrap fever (you didn't really think I was destashing, did you?).

Did I mention the fabulous goody bag? There were coupons to local fabric stores, soaps, lotions, and lip balm all made by Tara, a great key chain, a cool pincushion, a magnet, a fat quarter, and a nametag (also all made by Tara... she was a very busy lady in the months before the retreat!), all for me!

There were several ladies staying at the inn, but since I live just 20 minutes away I went home each night, which was great because I got to see my hubby. So I showed up on Saturday morning for breakfast and Amanda's next workshop, free motion quilting. It was so nice because I really didn't know what I was doing when it comes to free motion, so it was great to hear from a pro! We started by practicing doodling on paper with a marker...

and then had a partner hold the marker while we moved the paper to simulate what happens when sewing...

and as you can see my second doodle was a little more spastic than the first. :)

After a demonstration, we got a chance to go practice for ourselves, so I did some free motion quilting on my fall pot holders.

Not too bad. I did a little meandering stippling, and some wavy lines, and one poor potholder got a mishmash of techniques and is definitely unique, ha ha.

After lunch on Saturday we had more time to work on our projects and splintered off into little groups to shop and such. I went with Amanda and Tara to a fairly new fabric store in the area and an adorable yarn store just down the street from the inn. I bought several fat quarters and a copy of One Yard Wonders.

I also started piecing this little table topper on Saturday afternoon... I've since finished the piecing and need to start quilting. Yay for red and aqua at Christmas! The best part? All of this fabric came from the scrap frenzy! Special thanks to Penny and Amanda Jean for showing me how fun scraps can be!

Saturday night I had dinner with my hubby... but woke up Sunday morning thinking about quilting and piecing and binding, which is a switch because normally I wake up thinking about school. Definite improvement. :)

Sunday's workshop and demonstration was about using a walking foot while quilting. This was one of the reasons why I bought a new sewing machine... my old one didn't have a walking foot and I really wanted one for the retreat. I'm so glad I did! I hadn't ever used a walking foot before but it was so much fun... way less stress (for me, a beginning quilter) than free motion and my first walking foot project turned out FABULOUS!!

I  pieced some placemats on Friday afternoon and quilted them with my walking foot after Amanda's demo... I absolutely love them!

Sunday morning was also prize day! There was a slew of prizes, so much so that everyone won something! Unfortunately, I didn't win this gorgeous quilt, but I did win this great bundle of black and white fabrics. I was happy, too- I was eyeballing this very same line at my local quilt shop a few weeks ago!

Sunday afternoon, after a yummy lunch of chicken pot pie, I also had time to finish (except for the hand sewing of the binding) another changing pad for a pregnant friend,

plus Amanda helped me redo my quilt along quilt sandwich because I hated the orginal backing. Here she is talking to her hubby on the phone while taping the backing to the table. (Come to think of it, not sure if she knew I took this picture. Hi, Amanda! I took your picture!)

I also had time to finish the ugliest brown table runner EVER. I have decided I don't like anything about this project, and it will be relegated to the Dark Hole of Ugly Projects. I'm not even going to finish hand sewing the binding. I'm chalking it up to practice.

Everyone was so encouraging and friendly! I really enjoyed getting to know new people and hearing about techniques, strategies, and creative ideas. It was also so nice getting to meet Amanda, whose blog I've been reading for quite a while... she is SO NICE in person! Not that I expected anything less. :)

Amanda Jean on the left, me on the right. She knew about this one. :)

Probably should have made this a two-part post, but I was so excited to share! Thanks for sticking with me to the end. :)

What a great weekend! I can't wait for next year's retreat!

it's finally here!

The quilt retreat I signed up for is this weekend! I'm so excited! Here's what I have ready to go:

We'll be swapping scraps and needed to bring a gallon bag full. I've been adding to this bag for a couple of months now; there's a good variety of fabrics in there!

I really struggled with picking a pattern for the pot holders and placemats... I finally just started cutting and piecing. These are the potholders; I haven't started the placemats yet.

I'm also taking my quilt...

Yes, I know. I'm the last to finish my quilt along quilt... It was supposed to take six weeks and we started the first week of June! Bad Carmen, bad. Mia and Nancy  have both had theirs finished for ages. Me? I'll finish dead last, behind the new mom and the self proclaimed procrastinator, haha.

And... ta da! I got a new sewing machine! It's a Singer Confidence Quilter. It  might not be a Viking or a Brother or a Janome, but I love it and it's mine!

halloween table runner

I wanted something fun to put on the coffee table for Halloween, so I decided to make a table runner. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I found the one I modeled it after! Whoops. I'll keep looking for it.

This was my first time using my free motion presser foot in a meandering pattern. There's only a couple mistakes that you can't really see. Overall, I'm very pleased!

I pieced the back a little, too.

On another note... the craft fair was a bust. I sold one miniature fabric pumpkin for $2, but I bought an ornament from another vendor for $5, so I lost $3 on the venture, haha. No big deal... crafting for money is too stressful anyway. I'll just keep doing it for myself or for gifts.

craft fair

Next weekend I'm doing a small craft fair with a friend here in my town. This is a take on the little tags I'm going to attach to the things I'll sell.

It's my first attempt to sell things I've made and I'm pretty nervous. What if no one wants to buy my stuff? Not that I'm expecting to make oodles of money, but I at least would like to hear some positive feedback. Cross your fingers!

i'm baaaack!

Whew! That was a long and unintentional blog break. The last month has been ca-razy. Isn't it funny how life keeps moving and time keeps passing even as you're screaming "FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, SLOW THE HECK DOWN!"

Ahem. Sorry.

I have been crafty the last few days, though. I'm sharing a table with a friend at a craft fair (gulp) in one week, and I'm making these to sell...

What do you think? Would you buy one? And how much would you pay? I'm also thinking I'll cut some of my vintage sheets into fat quarters and sell those. Thoughts?

I love this next one... might keep it for myself. Plus, it turns out that zippers are nearly as hard as I thought they would be.

What are they leaning against, you ask? My newly thrifted spool shelf... love it!

I have a few more things up my sleeve, but they aren't ready for public viewing yet. I'll leave you with a link to one of my new favorite sewing books. Happy Weekend!

thread catcher

Another finished project! I'm a sewing fiend these days.

I really needed something to corral all the loose threads and bits that pile up during sewing. After a look around blogland, I found this tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew!, and it was designed by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson!

I chose some fabrics from my stash, and set to work. There were a lot of little pieces (a lot of pieces in general) but I think it turned out great! The tute was easy to follow and had lots of pictures, which is great for us kindergarten teachers, haha.

stacked coins baby quilt (and matching changing pad)

I started this quilt waaaaaaay back in the first week of July, using the Stacked Coins Baby Quilt tutorial on Moda Bake Shop.

I put the quilt top together pretty quickly and got halfway through quilting before my machine got mad and punked out on me. A trip to the sewing machine doctor was in order!

I got her back the first week of August, perfectly tuned and timed, but school has taken up all my time, so I didn't pick the quilt back up until Thursday night.

Did I mention the baby was born July 27th? Oops.

At least she'll get it before she's 2 months old! Because....

it's finished! I am in love with this quilt... I'm going to have a hard time sending it away.

I quilted in straight lines (must get a walking foot for the next quilt!) with purple thread perpendicular to the columns.

This quilt measures 31.5 by 32 inches and is backed in a dark purple and bound in a medium shade. I think it will be a good size for a play mat and tummy time, or to use as a cover in a stroller.

And I added my label to the back.

I made a matching changing pad using this tutorial from Bernina. It was an easy tute to follow and I love the result! I also used a button covering kit for the first time... if I had known it was that easy, I would have done it a long time ago.

I added a pack of wipes and a diaper left over from babysitting a friend's kiddo.

Does anyone else have the problems I do with photographing purple things? They all turn out too blue!

I also made a sweet little card to include. I stitched around the outside with pink thread, and the letters were pre-made with the zig zag stitch.

Overall, I'm really pleased with this gift. Now I just have to get myself to the post office to mail it.

Welcome to the world, Baby A!

making an afghan

This is my first crocheted afghan. Um, no it's not! I totally forgot about the baby afghan I made a friend several years ago. I never heard back from her after I sent it :(, but I hope she liked it.

Tangent #1: Doesn't it make you sad when you give a gift- especially a handmade gift- and don't hear from the recipient? I've always wondered how my friend liked that afghan, or even if she got it. I should have asked her.

So, I guess I should say, this is my first crocheted afghan FOR ME! I didn't really have a plan or pattern when I started, I just gathered up as many little yarn scrap balls as I could find and went to work. I'm using a pretty basic no-brainer granny square pattern with double crochet stitches. I chose mostly acrylics, but I think there's a wool-acrylic mix hiding in there.

Tanget #2: I've been working on it during my knit/crochet group on Tuesdays. I'm really enjoying this group every week... it's a bit of a hike for me to get there but I love the opportunity to sit, crochet, and talk with new friends. Such a stress reliever!

I decided to make a 6x6 afghan... six squares by six squares, that is. It's not going to be a full size afghan, more lap sized, to sit on the couch and cover me when I'm cold this winter. I've finished 17 squares.

Tangent #3: When I do get cold, one of my absolute favorite things to do is turn on our fireplace and toast myself in front of it. Makes me so happy!

I think I'm done with tangents now. :)

So after making 17 squares, I got tired of that and started sewing them together. The only thing I know I'll hate about this project is weaving in all the ends.

I've been weaving some in as I go, but there are lots of tails left. Plus, 19 squares to go!

doily love

I mentioned in my last post how I've begun collecting crocheted doilies during my thrift store hunts. I thought I'd show you the collection I've amassed... I like unusual ones (not just plain white) and there are many out there!

Initially I felt that doilies were too old fashioned for me, but I've found so many lovely ones that I can't help myself now.

Hope your Labor Day has been fun and relaxing!

And congratulations to my friend Nancy on her new baby boy!

thrifting and vintage goodies

I've been hitting up my local thrift stores quite a bit the last several months. I have a game plan when I go into these stores. First, I check out the dishware/china area. I'm on the lookout constantly for cute Pyrex dishes to add to my collection.

Second, I check out the linens section. I'm looking for fun vintage sheets (like the ones I used to make Mia's apron) and lately I've expanded my search to doilies crocheted in unexpected colors (eye popping pink or sunshine yellow). I also look for vintage kitchen towels.

Next, I hit up the luggage area. Currently I'm looking for a vintage train case, by either Samsonite or American Tourister. I've seen a few on Etsy (you can see some here) but they charge way more than I'm willing to pay. I saw one at a thrift store a while back for $4 and I'm still kicking myself for not picking it up. It was sort of a drab shade of blue, but I could have decoupaged something cheery on it.

I also check out the crafty area for vintage sewing notions. Sometimes I'll glance at clothes (skirts, mostly) but that's about it.

Last week I found a set of these lovely crocheted valances. I thought Sweet! I'd love to have these in my living room, and it's so great that some granny crocheted them a zillion years ago. Um, not so much. Right before I washed them I found the tag that said "Dry Clean Only" and "Made in China". Oh well, they're still nice. I'm wondering what my husband will say when he gets home? Plus, since I crochet, people will probably assume I made them. Is that wrong? I'll tell the truth, but only if they ask, haha.

I also picked up a grab bag that included several things for $3 or $4. I saw this through the bag and thought it was ridiculously cute...

so I didn't pay attention to too much else. This is what I found when I opened the bag and started pulling things out:

fun heart shaped bean bags (think I'll use them in my classroom for some kind of game), a fun wicker ball (not pictured), some other piece of junk I threw away, and this...

... pardon my French, but can somebody please tell me what the hell this thing is?!?

It totally cracks me up every time I look at it! It's just so kitschy and country and I think it's hilarous.

Yay for thrifting!