Sewing Something!

I finally got back to the sewing machine!  

Craftsy sent me an email with a screaming deal discount  (75% off!) on a class of my choice.  I guess they do that if you haven't signed in for a long time.  Their strategy worked, and I am glad because I had been wanting to enroll in Leah Day's class "Free Motion Quilting a Sampler". 

It was my intention to take the class and use it as a guide to quilt the top I made in the "2012 BOM" class, but I had resolved not to enroll in any more classes until I finished all the ones I had already paid for. 

 I couldn't pass up the deal, though...

After watching a few lessons, I was really itching get started, but first I had to get some organization reinstated in the sewing room. I made good enough progress to have a modicum of workspace, even though I still have loads to tame. 

I basted my eye spy quilt first, because it is smaller and because I had a back all ready to go.  I didn't really have a quilting plan in mind, but I didn't want to stipple or pebble, because they both bore me to tears and it is hard to stay consistent. I decided to try Leah's 'echo shell' which is kind of a Baptist Fan variation and do an all over design. 

I will just say that I made every error possible.   It is not a quilt I am emotionally invested in, though. It was intended to be a charity quilt from the get-go and it will be a good quilt for dragging around, making a tent or spilling things on. 

Of course, I got a bit better as I made my way through the quilt and I identified some areas for improving my set up, so I am feeling pretty good over all.   I am  finished with the quilting.  If I can finish up the binding today,  I might have some stash usage to report this week.

Which is good, because I added some this week   I just couldn't pass up Heather Ross' "Briar Rose". And, I bought a fat eighth stack of "Bluebird Park" a new Moda line that is super cute.  That makes about 8.5 yards I need to work off!

I better get to it!

Good-bye, June!

 My sewing room is sill chaos and getting worse! I have been dragging totes and tubs up from the basement that were put there three summers ago. While it is fun to see things that I had forgotten about, it makes a terrible organization challenge!

I have not been faithful keeping things current here, but I have been consistent with getting things listed in my Etsy shop, AtomicSisters. I am up to about 45 items and I have not made a dent. I think I need to increase my listing goal to 10 things a day!

I have So. Much. Vintage.Fabric.

The last time that I did much in the way of e-commerce from the selling side was 7 or 8 years ago and my, how the market has changed. Prices are much lower than I expected, but maybe that is a good thing. Sometimes paying a 'pretty penny' for something can make it hard to cut into.

Here are a couple of fun things that have bubbled up from the debris!

This is a piece I picked up at an estate sale last week. It is overcast stitched on all four sides, so it may have been intended as a table cloth. It doesn't have any of the usual spots or wear of a tablecloth though, and the overcast hem doesn't really look as neat as I would expect for table linen, so it wasn't used much, if at all for that purpose.

I love looking at all the different details!

Recognize these folks?

This fabric is fun, but a little disturbing!  It is the Bordens - Elmer and Elsie and their kids having a barbecue. And, it doesn't look vegan...

It is a double border print  with the 'tossed' utensils in the center.  I am thinking it may have been designed to make a picnic table cloth.

The quilt guild sign ups for a all day sewing retreat in August just opened. I will look forward to sewing there, if I don't tame the chaos before then!

Paper Piecing with Penny

I have not been sewing much the past few weeks.  Lots of summer interruptions, and truth be told, my sewing room is a mess of rearranging in process and accumulation of stuff!

This weekend I had an opportunity to sew without tidying up first.  Penny Layman of Sewtakeahike was our speaker at guild on Thursday and she offered three classes while she was in town! 

On Friday, she taught foundation paper piecing in the morning at a cute quilt shop in a small town nearby.  I had never been there, so it was fun to explore a new shop. We used her super cute jelly jar pattern and it was so fun seeing it made up in all the different fabric combinations. 

We used this pitcher patter to practice freezer paper piecing in the afternoon. 

I started with a picture from a vintage coloring book, but I forgot that the image would turn out reversed!

Saturday, we learned how to design our own patterns for foundation paper piecing.  

Penny is a great inspiration and a wonderful teacher and it is always fun to sew with friends!  

I am not sure I will dive right into designing my own patterns, but I definitely feel more comfortable using the technique!

Another thing that has been keeping me busy is restocking my Etsy shop, "AtomicSisters".

If you are interested in some vintage fabric, trim, hankies, or 'miscellany'  check it out. I have set a goal to list at least 3 things every day.  

I should have it done by this time next year...

Peer Pressure

I signed up for Instagram.

I couldn't help it.

All the cool kids are doing it.

I don't want to be left out.

I am not exactly sure what to do next, but if you want to see if I figure it out, I am Justmerely over there.

It's less words, more pictures. That is probably not a bad thing...

WIP Wednesday - Picnic Pals Quilt

During the holiday weekend, I started thinking about putting these embroidered blocks together with some fabric from the same designer, Alyssa Thomas from Penguin &Fish.  

Last Spring, Alyssa offered some of her fabric and a copy of her new book in exchange for making samples for her Quilt Market booth.  Besides the fabric and the book, I also got ten of her alphabet animals designs to make the samples from and to keep for myself afterwards. 

They are very cute and quick to stitch up, so I stamped some squares for a travel project and finished up a set for me, earlier this month. 

The fabric I selected is her Picnic Pals line and she sent me fat quarters of all 18 prints as well as eight coordinating solids. They are all organic and really nice to work with!

(this block is not wonky, just my photography skills...)

I am trying to decide whether to make a couple of duplicates so I can make a bigger quilt, or maybe make some 'alternate' blocks.  

I think I will make a few more blocks and then decide...