Rain Day = Sew Day

It rained most of the day today so I had a plan, well at least a "short-list" plan.  I would get into the sewing studio & get some piecing of my Modern Quilt Guild Mini Swap quilt done.  Really I am at the stage to quilt it - so yeah for progress!

Overall I felt very productive despite the dreary rainy day outside.  Had to run a few errands & decided to tackle a few quick tid-bits of sewing beforehand, got those completed & felt that set the mood for my creative part of the day.  

I'm participating wholeheartedly in the 2019 Modern Quilt Guild #mqgminiquiltswap.  This is my second year participating (third year for the program) and really having a great time coming up with a design theme and overall mini quilt.  The swap entails making a mini quilt with the dimensions no bigger than 24 inches around and swapping it with a swap partner chosen by the MQG admin folks.  It coincides with the timing of QuiltCon #quiltcon2019.  This year I have the time to dedicate to coming up with a quilt and sending it to my swap partner. I am a mini swap fairy ---> what is that you ask?  Well, it is kind of similar to a swap mom or overseer of the group of folks assigned to you to offer assistance and encouragement to go thru the design process, admin help, booster and overall listener to the swap teams you are assigned. This year has been really exciting because the 10 pairs of folks I had were really hype'd to get involved & many had never done anything like this prior to this swap.

Well, lets get to some pictures of my mini; while I can't reveal the entire work of art yet, I do have some teasing peeks of the quilt (wall hanging). 

 I started to quilt the background sections here.

More "in the ditch" quilting - hardly visible but fun 

Binding cut on the bias & ready - Fossil Fern fabric line

Stay tuned for more progress & updates as I prepare to send it to my swap partner within the week. tjg

Sewing in PJs

Sewing in PJs today. 

I had plenty on the list of "to do" for the sewing studio.  Mainly I need to get in there & complete my task of making my mini quilt swap so I can get it in the mail & call that puppy DONE! 

I love how it turned out & now on to getting it quilted.  I have procrastinated about getting to it all day.

Will post more on getting it done.  Have to make my way to at least consider the pattern to quilt on it.

Sewing with Grammie Gibbs

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWORprQgSnE/

Sewing with friends

Hello again, my readers. I am very pleased today to have a sew-in with a few creative sewing buddies. We worked on the fun tank top "Sorbetto" by Colette pattern. The pattern has undergone some revisions this past spring when I first heard about it from a blogger who was following along during the sew-along tutorial.  I found several versions of the top on Pinterest & I knew then I had to sew this one up & make it a "go to" staple in my wardrobe.
This is a very simplistic top, yet it has tons of wearability potential in anyone's closet. You can dress this up by changing the version & fabric type, or make it your blue jeans partner daily wear. I do like the ability to modify the style to meet your person style
First, the pattern pieces are very easy to put together once you download the FREE pattern from their website colettepatterns. The instructions are straight forward and there is a sew-along tutorial once you download the FREE pattern. I like the clean refreshing directions- no getting lost in the lingo or terms you don't know.

So what does this top look like?  Have a look at my work in progress;

Row by Row Experience - Fun shops

SEWFUNNY TJ - 2017 ROW BY ROW ADVENTURES

The 2017 Row By Row has kicked off over a week ago & I have started off with a bang!
The first day, which coincides with the first day of SUMMER I set out to get my Row By Row pattern. I have been staying fairly true to posting my pics on Instagram and Twitter. Now I will blog about some of my fun experience here.

I have yet to start sewing up any of the patterns, but I do have plans on doing so very soon.
I do enjoy the travels to various shops, near & far to talk with the shop owners and the folks putting the kits together to make such lovely quilts, or as some would have it - Rows!

On Day 1; I found that two of the three shops I visited were still in the process of making up kits for sale.  I waited while I shopped for my kit & it felt kinda fun as though I was the first kid in line for ice cream . . . . . 🐱
On Day 2: I visited two more shops in my area, Northern Virginia, Maryland & DC.  I stopped in at my LQS; Sew Easy Sewing/Attic Treasures SewEasySewing Facebook page .  I spoke with the owner & she designed the shops' RowByRow herself - that was nice.  I can't wait to stitch that one up.

By Day 3 & beyond I took nice road trips; some of the shops I frequent are what I consider local, but involve at least a 40 minute or hour long drive to get there.  One of my regular visits, generally once a month or so, is Quilt & Sew - Fredericksburg, Va http://www.quiltandsewonline.com/.  I love their classes & teachers are wonderful. We all have so much fun & what's not to love when you get to see the Bernina's?  I get my machines serviced here.

Here are a few pictures of where my travels have taken me over the last week.

http://rowbyrowstudio.com/

http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/

FINCH SEWING STUDIO, LEESBURG, VA

DAFFODIL QUILT SHOP, NOKESVILLE, VA

3 SHOPS IN ONE DAY

COLLECTION 

KELLY ANN'S QUILTING, WARRENTON, VA

THAT LITTLE QUILT SHOP, CULPEPPER, VIRGINIA

CULPEPPER, VA

 DOWNTOWN CULPEPPER




So far I have been as far as Charlottesville, Virginia to  COTTONWOOD QUILT SHOP  , I spent so much time in the shop I failed to take any pictures due to my hands being full of fabric- what a great sale!  Just love the staff at the shop & always get a welcome greeting by all when I arrive.

Until my next stop, see you later. I must get sewing on my 2017 Brown Bag Mystery( kellyannsquilting.blogspot.com/2017/03/brown-bag-mystery.html)  from March 2017!! Ugh  so behind on my fun projects.

Row by Row goodies

Lovely Sewing purchases

Today I received my sewing purchases, yes, more than one!  I had ordered some poly-fiberfill to stuff pillows.  It arrived in such a big box that I had to roll it in the house.  Not that the box was heavy, it was simply huge!  After that arrived I noticed the MASSDROP box sitting out on the front porch -Yippy!  My Pink queen size batting must of arrived as well. The Quilter's Dream Pink looks like a good buy plus proceeds help charity, on the back the story stated the money helps ALS and helps find a cure, but not sure how current that is.  The year listed on the brand was 2016-2017; so I guess that was still the charity affiliation.  I had a choice of size and choose the queen size since I can get more bang for my buck that way. The queen size listed as 93 inches or so by 108-- - >this would be perfect for my use. According to the product info on the manufacturers web page the color "pink" should not bleed thru nor give off a pink coloring to ones quilt.  Yet, if using white, you may see a bit of shadowing of pink under the white, I am fine with this because some of my colors on the quilts I plant to use this pink with are dark enough that shadowing will not be an issue. https://smiles.amazon.com

I immediately opened the fiberfill because I needed to finish stuffing a pillow that the granddaughter sewed last week-end while visiting & learning how to sew.   The fiberfill was a great deal for the amount I needed (or thought I needed) on Amazon.  After reading an hours worth of reviews & checking prices for the various types of fiberfill I decide on the soft, eco-friendly raw-cluster fiber filling brand that was made in the USA; it was shipped by eLuxurysupply.com.  I opened the package, which was shrink-wrapped in plastic plus was encased in very fine linen sheeting that had a Serged edge all around.  The fun part was cutting open the shrink-wrap and watching it expand like expanding foam!
I encourage anyone looking for good quality fiberfill to check out their website, or follow their Twitter account  - - >@eLuxurysupply. Check out the company, it will pleasantly surprise you with their values & how customer service is paramount. Needless to say I am very pleased with the product and the service. The color was snow white and very silky soft, great for stuffing animals, children's toys, pillows and other crafty projects.  https://www.eluxurysupply.com/

Nothing like buying premium fiberfill  in 20 pounds lots.  I am very happy that I thought this purchase thru beforehand because I purchased it in 4 five pound bags, good choice.  I think I will be in the pillow sewing business for quite some time. I really love the fresh feeling of pillows in a room, especially different types for several uses; i.e floor pillows, couch pillows, back support pillows, and pillows to sit with outside while chill'n. My PINTEREST page has a ton of "saved/liked" pillow patterns as well as pillow colors that I would some day want to make.

 

QUILTER'S DREAM PINK - QUEEN SIZE (2)

MASSDROP -group buy co-op

Premium Poly fiberfill - Amazon purchase 20 #

3 Zipper Purse 2013; HIA

I thought it is about time to post some pictures of projects, mostly because I would like to see that I have had progress on some of the many projects which I have started and left for the UFO bin.

This is positive reinforcement that I have truly completed something, be it that is was a new endeavor or an old tossed in the bin project, that I intended on completing.  This purse, bag; however you view it; was completed from the HIA <Hatched in Africa> class in Fredericksburg.  I used upholstery/home decor fabric which was a woven damask patterned fabric with a heavy weft to the feel.