This Week In Studio Time
No lights were on in my studio this week.
On vacation!
Tune in next week for an update.
TWIST
Wedding Quilt
When a friend asked me to make a quilt for her family to give as a wedding gift, my mind immediately went to a layer cake in my stash. I had been anxious to sew it up into something beautiful. Neutral, contemporary prints I could see most twenty somethings appreciating. I filtered through quilt patterns until I landed on Jenny Doan’s Illusion Quilt, larger pieces for the focus fabrics and easily adapted to Cotton Theory.
I’m happy with how it turned out and so is the family giving it as a gift. Couldn’t ask for more. Well… hope the bride and groom love it…
Let’s TWIST Again
TWIST ~ This Week In Studio Time
This week I had time to bond with my new Baby Lock Ovation! Effortless serging. I love it! One evening I ran to JoAnn’s to check out their knits. I wanted to make a beach cover up and maybe a knit dress for our upcoming vacation. It has been so long since I made any clothes that I didn’t know what the fabric selection would be like. I just know it is hard to find fashion fabric anymore! I did find a pattern for a beach cover up and one for a knit dress as well as four knits.
So this week I got to get back to my sewing roots and made some clothing.
Really love how both of these turned out, which is kind of amazing. Both are super soft and comfy.
This dress will probably become loungewear it’s so soft. Perfect for after workout/shower. Not quite getting dressed again, but not quite pjs.
Guess you can tell this is one of my favorite colors.
Also made this cool ruffled skirt I spotted a gal wearing in Utah. She was the store manager of a sewing center and she showed me how simple it is to make. This ruffled knit fabric comes in several colors and the ruffles can be all the same size or different sizes like mine. It’s only two pieces cut on the bias so the ruffles fall at different angles. Two side seams and no need to hem! Several colors available for the elastic waistband as well. If you are able to find the fabric locally, ask them for the pattern for the Boho skirt. It’s free.
I’m feeling pretty accomplished today!
St. George, Utah
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to beautiful St. George, Utah. “Jaw dropping gorgeous” is how I described it to my husband on the phone. Perfect weather, mid to upper 70s, sunny, no humidity, and breathtaking scenery! A local park with paved bike paths nearby provided convenient daily walking opportunities.
Superior Thread’s Sue Green-Baker Serger Workshop is what attracted me and it was so worth it! Sue is a knowledgeable and entertaining instructor and the Superior staff was exceptionally helpful and courteous. I have a serger that lives in my closet and really wanted to learn how to use it to its fullest potential.
I attended both the 3 day Beginning and 3 day Advanced Classes back to back, with a day off in between. Each three day class had its own huge binder full of colored pages with detailed instructions and page protectors for safekeeping of the samples you made during class. The fabric for your samples was precut, bagged, and ready to go. Superior Threads included a generous thread package to play with, as well.
Everything was so well organized. I learned how many amazing features a serger has, for sure. So cool! I sewed on Baby Lock’s Ovation, its top of the line model. Of course, I fell in love (OOoooahhhh, that jet air threading!) and it followed me home. My daughter inherits the one still in my closet!
A two hour lunch each day allowed us time to shop at Superior Threads and Fab Fabrics upstairs.
On Sunday, my day off between classes, I rented a car and drove about 30 minutes to Snow Canyon State Park and then on to Kayenta. Others chose to drive to Zion or Bryce Canyon, but I had already been to both a couple of times. I was mesmerized by the scenery, once again. Being a camper, I detoured through the campground within the park. Check out these amazing campsites!!
One of several walking trails –
Then a very short drive to Kayenta and Coyote Gulch, an art village. I loved the area so much, I visited a model home.
During the Advanced Class we met Bob and Heather Purcell, owners of Superior Threads.
Heather presented a trunk show of some of her garments and quilts one evening after dinner. She pieces a quilt about every two weeks and has someone else do the quilting.
This visit was an exceptional one. I just love spending time with like minded peeps!
TWIST ~ This Week In Studio Time
My newest feature – TWIST – This Week In Studio Time – a weekly peek inside my studio to see what I’ve been working on, debuts today. This week I finished (waiting for customer to finalize label info to finish label and add black binding) a wedding quilt I was commissioned to make for a friend’s family to give as a gift. The bride approved the printed fabrics, but has no idea about the quilt pattern. I adapted Jenny Doan’s, Shadow Quilt to Cotton Theory. I think she’ll love it. The fabric is Contempo Studios Paintbox Shadows. It’s modern, contemporary, and neutral enough to go with whatever other colors she chooses for her decor now and in the future.
Next Friday may feature a project using my new serger! So excited to get it set up and make it a working part of my studio.
New classes added
I am super excited to announce some new class offerings this spring at Always in Stitches in Noblesville, IN and this summer at the Westfield Parks and Recreation Department in Westfield, IN. If you have wondered about what Cotton Theory is all about, I hope you’ll join us, meet some new quilty friends, and just have some fun sewing.
Up first is Cotton Theory 101 at Always in Stitches. This is a very large, yet friendly quilt shop in Noblesville, IN. They also feature a large yarn and knitting area. It is worth a road trip if you have not yet visited. In Cotton Theory 101, held on two Wednesdays, April 15 and 29 from 1 – 4pm, you will make a 10″ x 10″ Candle Mat. You only need to supply 2 fat quarters and 1/8 yd of fabric for the binding. I will provide the Cotton Theory Book 2, a comprehensive book which has the pattern in it along with many other projects, as well as the Cotton Theory method general instructions so you will be able to refer to them later. It is a wonderful reference book!
In May (12th and 19th, 10 – noon) and June (17th and 24th, 10 – noon) I will be teaching Cotton Theory 101 for the Westfield Parks and Rec Department in their downtown Westfield, IN facility. For this class I will be providing a pre cut fabric and batting kit for the Candle Mat project. Several fabric color options will be available.
In July (8th and 22nd, from 1-4pm) and August (3rd and 17th from 1-4pm, I will be teaching Cotton Theory 102 for the Westfield Parks and Rec Department in their downtown Westfield, IN facility. The project for Cotton Theory 102 is the Button Back Table Runner. Make this completely reversible Button Back Runner to adorn your own table or give as a gift. Easily customizable by you – you decide if you want an embroidery design in the center, a panel or focus fabric, or simply quilted. After this class you will take away a total of 9 hours of instruction. If you are an experienced quilter, you may begin with this class and skip CT 101.
Zentangle: Now I Get it!
I have often wondered about Zentangle. Is it just doodling? Why are people coming up with another name for doodling? I just didnt’ get it. People I asked would reply, “What do you mean, you don’t get it?” I just didn’t understand what it was and what it was all about. So, when I saw a class offered at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show in nearby Bloomington, IN, I decided to find out.
I signed up for two one day back to back classes with Certified Zentangle Teacher, Nysha Oren Nelson. Thursday’s class was an introduction to Zentangle. This was an enlightening experience for me and now I get it! Your brain can only think about one thing at a time (I always thought I was fabulous at multi-tasking!) and so concentrating on drawing particular Tangles for some amount of time is similar to a form of meditation and takes your mind off of everything else that’s going on up there. And there is a process and it’s NOT just doodling. And it does clear your mind for that amount of time.
Here are some of our class samples of the Tangle patterns we learned. We all followed the same directions and drew the same tangles, but they all came out differently.
Friday’s class was adapting the art of Zentangle to free motion quilting. Free motion quilting can be daunting for me. I can practice and get to the point that I feel comfortable doing it, but if I don’t practice regularly I have to start all over the next time. I did find the Zentangle patterns lend themselves will to FMQ and am excited about the possibilities. I believe warming up with drawing the Tangles will also translate into better FMQ. I can definitely see myself using this in the future.
Students at work
Super fun to teach classes in my new studio!!! I was having so much fun, though, I forgot to take pictures! Here’s the only one I remembered to take. This was the second class of two, so they were finishing up their Candle Mats. The did a super job! Looking forward to sewing with them in the future.
Quilt Retreat
I attended a wonderful quilt retreat last weekend at Lakeview Villages near Seymour, IN. Beautiful facilities! It was a pleasure to sew in the enormous room with one entire wall of windows and a fireplace at one end. An eagle even gave us a show right in front of our eyes.
Much progress was made by the 24 quilters during the weekend! Here are some examples ~
And these are only a few!
I worked on a wedding quilt I have been commissioned to make for friends to give as a gift. It is coming along nicely, but that’s for another post.
New classroom/studio
I couldn’t have done it without him! My husband consolidated his office to make room for me to teach sewing/quilting classes! It is an amazing space with lots of light. I have room for 6 very comfortably. I held my first classes in it yesterday and it worked really well. I think I’ll be spending a lot of time here…
