A Little Sew Day

It took two of us to be Mary at Sew Day. She was out of town and we had to fill in. Good thing I have done it a few times otherwise I would have been lost.

Cutting bags at Sew Day
Cutting bags at Sew Day

Of course, I spent the time cutting out the pieces for bags. I am making the Amethyst Project Bag by Sew Sweetness and the Kit Supply Tote by Aneela Hoey. I cut out all of the pieces for both so I can start sewing.

Designing the SJSA quilt
Designing the SJSA quilt

Sara from the Social Justice Sewing Academy was there with more blocks to make into a quilt. Members of the guild had done the embellishment on a lot of the blocks. It was really a group effort.

The first part was deciding how the blocks would go together. They usually go together in a 4 x 6 grid with sashing, which is what happened this time. Still the blocks have to be placed in the right location. In this case, there were some strong designs that had to be dispersed.

SJSA Quilt - April 2023
SJSA Quilt – April 2023

As usual, I didn’t participate. I kept an ear open and chatted with Sara and the others who were working on the project. I brought the Pink Strip Donation quilt, so I felt like I had been doing good. I also brought several donation blocks. I am doing my part.

I found out that the quilts are given to schools and libraries where they are displayed. I think they are given to the places where the artists come from. What I mean is that if an event was held at a school, then the quilt goes back to that school for display. A good idea, I think.

SJSA quilt sashing
SJSA quilt sashing

The fabric used for sashing had an interesting texture, but it was difficult to use and shredded easily. Still, the sashing strips they made look really nice.

You know I am not a fan of beige and brown, but these strips are very appealing.

They didn’t have time to finish putting the quilt together, though several people worked really hard for most of the day. I am not sure what happens if the quilt isn’t finished. Maybe some others will finish it?

Julie has a great post with more information about the SJSA quilt.

Melinda's embellishments on the SJSA block
Melinda’s embellishments on the SJSA block

I also saw Melinda’s finished block – or the block that Melinda embellished. It looks really great! It also got a great position in the quilt.

She added some gold metallic thread around the hands. She also added the stars and the words. It looks really good! The design is also very appealing.

BAMQ Thin Strips quilt
BAMQ Thin Strips quilt

Joelle brought the thin strips quilt as well. She did a FANTASTIC job! The quilt is wonderful. I looked for mine and thought she hadn’t included them, but I saw them scattered across the bottom of the quilt. See the one in the bottom right hand corner?

Sara saw this quilt and wants to incorporate the idea into the sashing of the next SJSA quilt. Interesting idea! I am so thrilled when synergies like this happen.

Sew Day Community Quilts

The recent Sew Day was a Community Sew Day. Most quilts were finished, but a few were taken home to finish. We think there were about 8 total.

Four Completed I Spy Tops
Four Completed I Spy Tops

SueS brought the leftover squares from her I Spy quilt project and most people worked on putting them together to make some community quilts. The quilts really turned out well. The solid sashing and borders really highlighted the variety of fabrics.

Amy's Pink Community I Spy top
Amy’s Pink Community I Spy top

Amy chose a variety of pink, or pink tending fabrics and used a dark pink for the border of her quilt top.

She told me she wanted to make something pink and girly. I would say she succeeded.

We all contributed to SueS’s stash of squares. I think the raspberry fabric in the center of Amy’s quilt is one that I donated.

Yellow Community I Spy top
Yellow Community I Spy top

This yellow top was the first one finished. I think Peggy sewed it, but I am not sure.

I think the blue number fabric in row 4, column 2 is a fabric that I provided as well. It is nice to see my fabrics show up in other people’s work.

I did not work on Community quilts today. I have the Pink Color Strip quilt in process and I needed to cut out pieces to make door prizes. If I had been thinking ahead, I could have worked with Mary, but I have been too busy at work to organize my sewing life very well.

SJSA Joins Sew Day

SJSA Sew Day blocks
SJSA Sew Day blocks

Cyndi invited a group from the Social Justice Sewing Academy to our Sew Day. Some of our group had finished blocks, so those were turned in. Sara, the organizer, brought a different group of blocks that were to be made into a quilt.

People worked together to put sashing on the blocks and sew them together.

I was tired and stayed in my corner working on the Half Hexies. I wasn’t up for a group project that day.

SJSA Sew Day blocks with sashing
SJSA Sew Day blocks with sashing

The group achieved a lot. They put thin sashing around each block and then worked on larger pieced sashing (no photo). They decided to put the larger pieced sashing on backwards so the raw edges show. I am not sure the point, especially after quilting, but it was definitely a design choice.

The themes of the blocks varied. I might have put all environmental blocks together in one quilt and all animal blocks together in another quilt. I can see the appeal of varying the themes as it makes people really look at them to see what else is there.

SJSA block
SJSA block

My favorite block has a fantastic design. The design is very simple and clear IMO. It also has a graphic quality and provides a lot of scope for discussion. Whoever designed this block should get an award. Great job.

It was fun to see the blocks up close and contemplate the messages. If you want to participate, check the SJSA website for more details

Super Sew Day

Super Sew Day view
Super Sew Day view

I spent the last three days at Sew Day, well, 2.5 days as we started Thursday at 1pm. Saturday was the busiest with about 16 people. Thursday was the least busy with about 8.

Month 14 basting/cutting in process
Month 14 basting/cutting in process

I arrived a little early so Mary and I could set up the tables, irons and food. We had help from Sue S and some others. Then we started sewing. I started off basting La Pass Month 14. Yep, Month 14 is here and Nope, I haven’t finished Month 13. Like Month 1, however, Month 14 is the outer right of Month 13, so I can sew them together at the same time. It makes hand sewing a little easier that I have not finished Month 13 yet.

My station is on the other side of the sewing machine in the first photo (above). That is Friend Julie’s machine in the bottom right of the photo. She joined the guild and I was able to convince her to come to Sew Day. I am almost more excited about what she got done than my accomplishments! 😉

Julie's Kitchen Sink quilt
Julie’s Kitchen Sink quilt

She worked on finishing her Kitchen Sink quilt, which she started in a BAM class with Maria Shell. She had already quilted most of it, but did a little more quilting then made and attached the binding.

I think the quilt looks really good and quite cohesive. The colors are fun and interesting, too. There is also a lot to look at. This is one of the projects on Julie’s September to do list and I am excited she made such great progress.

Another project on Julie’s September To Do list is her Japanese houses. She worked on making the back, which turned out really well, but could be another top! I forgot to take a photo, so you’ll have to go look at her blog for more info and a view.

I had a little more basting to do when I arrived on Friday. I had left one of the fabrics in the dryer at home. After I finished the last few small pentagons, I started cutting out other projects.

First I worked on cutting out pockets for the Brocade Peony UCAB. Remember I cannibalized the pockets I made for that UCAB for my improved UCAB? I was able to finish all the pieces and parts for the pockets on Saturday, I think.

Sew Hungry Hippie Essential Tote order
Sew Hungry Hippie Essential Tote order

As soon as I finished the pockets, I started cutting out the fabrics and vinyl for the Sew Hungry Hippie Essential tote pattern. I was able to cut out all the pieces except the exterior, because I am waiting for another piece of AMH’s Glow to arrive and I forgot to wash the other AMH fabric (left) I bought. I wanted to use that Spanish Rose vinyl (photo left) and I wanted to use it with Anna Maria’s Glow colorway. I know it is a shocking pink. I just bought it recently and I want to use it while I am excited (and not horrified) about it.

I didn’t mean to make two of these totes, but now I am. The webbing won’t be super comfy, but it is glitter webbing and super fun. One good thing is that I used up most of my regular vinyl with all of these projects, so now I can switch completely to glitter vinyl. Yay!

Once I finished cutting what I could for the Essential Totes, I started cutting for the ByAnnie Project Bags. I need more holders for in process projects. I know I am a glutton for punishment since I started making 5 of these. Yes, FIVE. I am a lunatic.

I had to lay out the cut pieces on a free table, clipped together, so I could be sure I had cut all the pieces for each different bag.

I was able to finish cutting out all of those Project Bags pieces on Saturday before lunch. As soon as I finished lunch, I started quilting the main panels.  Somehow quilting at Sew Day is less terrible than quilting at home. I quilted four of the main panels, which leaves one left to quilt, then I’ll be done and ready to put them together. I kind of wanted all the quilting done at Sew Day, but we don’t get everything we want.

Maria's eggs at Sew Day
Maria’s eggs at Sew Day

A lot was going on at the event. I don’t know why Maria had eggs next to her sewing machine, but she did. I didn’t get a chance to ask.

You can see Patti and Anna talking in the background. Their table was pretty full, though people moved around the room quite a bit so it looks pretty empty in this photo.

New Mary came and got her door prize bag. There was a lot oohing and aahing over the contents. That made me feel good.

Sue S' grandson's quilt top
Sue S’ grandson’s quilt top

Sue S has a grandson who is interested in quiltmaking. He has made a quilt, which we were pleased to having hanging on one of the design walls at Sew Day.

I was impressed with the sophistication of the design. It is all half square triangles, but the design is quite elaborate. I kind of want to make that design in different fabrics.

He joined us for Sew Day via FaceTime and got to see what we all were doing.

Maria basting her Plus quilt
Maria basting her Plus quilt

Maria basted a quilt on the wall. I tried that technique a few years ago and it didn’t work for me, but she was very successful. I love the quilt, too. She did a nice job choosing fabrics.

I came home on Friday exhausted. It was a result of walking back and forth to the cutting table all day. That was hard. I took a break from my daily walk on Saturday and didn’t feel the exhaustion as much, though I was still tired.

All in all, I am pleased with what I accomplished. I don’t know that I can cross anything off my to do list, but I’ll soon be able to do so.

Amy’s Rainbow

Rainbow Strips - Amy
Rainbow Strips – Amy

Remember when I talked about Sew Day? I mentioned a future donation quilt (no progress yet). I talked about some Sew Day Improv I worked on with Tim and Mary to create a quilt that would keep someone warm and comfy. I also talked about basting La Pass Month 10. What I didn’t talk about -yet- was Amy’s amazing rainbow quilt.

The first thing I saw was the line of strip stacks laid out on two long tables.

Rainbow - first draft
Rainbow – first draft

As the day progressed, I began to see the piece take shape. Amy struggled with not having a complete set of colors/shades/tones to make a smooth transition between colors. She was determined to make it work. I could sympathize after working with the various Fabric of the Year quilts. Unlike painting, generally we work with certain fabric prints and can’t alter them (yes, I know there is fabric painting and dyeing, but you know what I mean) like painters can on the fly.

Amy's Rainbow - 2d draft
Amy’s Rainbow – 2d draft

The piece progressed well, I think. There was a lot of moving around of strips and a lot of people got involved.

Amy wasn’t super picky that everything flowed into one another. I think the rest of us were more invested in the outcome than she was.

Amy is cleaning out her workroom and I think this was a set of Allison Glass strips she wanted to use. I didn’t hear what her plans were for the final piece.

Amy's Rainbow - near final
Amy’s Rainbow – near final

I did not get a picture of the final piece. This is close, though, to the final layout.

Maria helped Amy sew, so the piece could get finished by the end of Sew Day.

The piece is cheerful, regardless.

Sew Day Improv

Mom's donation blocks
Mom’s donation blocks

At the last Sew Day Mary and I decided we would make another donation quilt in an hour. Neither of us brought a sewing machine, so we just played around with some blocks and shards that Mom donated.

Mom is clearing out stuff she doesn’t want and quilt projects she won’t finished.

Mom's donation blocks-2
Mom’s donation blocks-2

These are not really my style and they are all odd sizes, but we can make them fit together in some way.

We started out by just putting them on the design wall and looking at them. Tim stopped by Sew Day and helped us play around with them. Three brains are definitely better than one.

We got rid of one block that was the same pattern, but just much busier than the others (bottom center block). It didn’t really go. The butterfly was not sewn by my Mom and that one was out, too. I really wanted to put all the blocks in so there were none left, but that isn’t always possible.

Mom's donation blocks-3
Mom’s donation blocks-3

We tried spreading out the blocks and imagining other fabrics or blocks in between.

I think it is harder to imagine what could between blocks when you don’t have any extra fabric with which to work. When we did the Improve charity tops, Maria and Cyndi both brought big bins of  solids we could use.

Still, we thought we had a good selection of blocks and some possibilities.

Mom's donation blocks-4
Mom’s donation blocks-4

We automatically put the largest block in the center, but started talking about not having it in the center. What could we do if we put it somewhere else in the top?

Moving the largest block down and the Ying/Yang blocks (those with the crazy circle fabric prominently placed) to the center made the piece a weird shape, but we liked the location of the blocks better. We will probably cut off the yellow square on the bottom and use the yellow in some other location. We finally started to feel like we were getting somewhere.

Part of the issue is that none of use these types of fabrics. My Mom has a unique fabric selection style that people love and is hard to imitate.

Mom's donation blocks-6
Mom’s donation blocks-6

We finally ended up adding some of the leftover purple and lilac squares from the Celestial Squares quilt to bring out the purples in the batik. Those fabrics are unconventional choices, but I think they work.

We have plans to sew it together next time, but we will see.

October Sew Day

Sew Day Workroom
Sew Day Workroom

We had another in person Sew Day the other day. We all wore masks and did quite a bit of physical distancing. We each had our own 6 foot table, which was nice not only for safety, but also because we could spread out.

In addition we had, as usual, cutting tables, ironing boards and a free table. The usual, overflowing snack table was strangely empty. I did not have a chance to make coffee cake, so I wasn’t surprised that other were in the same boat.

As usual, it was great to see people. Mary and I tested the 5 ironing boards the guild has and decided two of them were substandard – one was too wobbly and one tilted in an odd direction. We have been wanting to do that for awhile, so it was good to get it done.

The Sew Day was actually a Super Sew Day in that people came on Friday and Saturday. I put together two door prize bags, which were won by Amy and Joelle. I wish I could have attended on Friday, but work and taking off the Friday before prevented me from attending.

Someone from the church donated her mother’s fabrics. The mother had died and there were 12 garbage bags full of fabric. Some guild members sorted the fabric. People chose pieces they wanted. Most of the fabric was Joann quality. I didn’t take any, but some went to make pet beds. I think some will go to the community quilt project as well. The rest of the fabric will go to FabMo for others to pick through.

Sew Day Workspace
Sew Day Workspace

My workspace was good. Having a 6 foot table to myself allowed me to leave Rosette #1 flat on the table while I worked with the smaller chunks.

It also allow people to see the big part of the piece and not disturb my progress. As I said before, people are very interested in the progress of my piece. They were less interested this time in English Paper Piecing in general. The La Pass rosettes are very impressive and my Rosette #1 is no exception.

Month 3 arrived and I was able to press the fabric as well.

People were working on really nice projects. Rhonda sat across from me and shared a design wall with Melinda. Rhonda’s piece (right) was fantastic! She is working on a round robin with Cheryl, Kelly, Ruth and some others. It is one of the best round robins I have ever seen. She told me that Ruth did a lot of the design work. I love everything about it.

Melinda’s piece was also really great. The colors aren’t exactly my colors, but I did like the combination. It is really different. I also like the variety of plus (cross) blocks. I received some of these fabrics in one of the Modern Handmade modern boxes I got last year before they stopped the subscriptions.

Alice's block
Alice’s block

Other people were working on interesting projects as well. Bonnie was working on a quilt top that looks woven. Nancy was quilting a community quilt. Alice finished a great block that I think was paper pieced.

Amy found a project that has generated interest throughout the guild. She found a pattern for a zipper organizer. She made one for Mary C as a gift and Mary started to use it to organize pieces for a quilt she is working on. It looks like it works really well! I think I might need to make some as gifts.

Mary clipped the various pieces for her Aftershock quilt in groups and then hung them on the zipper organizer, which is now a project organizer. I can see using it for bag parts and other projects.

Mary's Aftershock quilt
Mary’s Aftershock quilt

The other thing I noticed was the quilt on which Mary was working. As mentioned it is called Aftershock and is from Wren Collective. Mary picked her colors and then didn’t have enough of the background. Also, the quilt store was out of it. The quilt store, Bay Quilts, was very helpful in that they pulled Mary’s foreground colors and suggested several different background colors. Mary picked the maroon-ish you see above. She admitted that it wasn’t one she would normally pick, but that it worked really well. I have to agree. It isn’t a color I would pick, but it looks great with her foreground colors.

All in all it was a really good day!

September Sew Day

Sew Day Rosette #1 Workk
Sew Day Rosette #1 Work

Sew Day fell in the middle of Labor Day Weekend. I was happy to go. I didn’t take as many photos this time, because I was devoted to my La Pass Rosette #1.

I got a lot done, though not the whole thing. I am feeling some pressure, because I haven’t started Month #2’s work yet. Month #2 adds on to Rosette #1.

I found that I could walk around and sew, so I walked around with my sewing and talked to people. Lots of people were very interested in my project. Some had never seen EPP so complicated which was a surprise to me. I thought everyone knew Willyne Hammerstein‘s work. I also explained how the Block of the Month program worked.

It was interesting just doing handwork.

Sept. 2021 Sew Day
Sept. 2021 Sew Day

Everyone wore masks, which was great. It is fun to see everyone’s projects. Lindsay came and put together the top and back of a Buffalo Plaid quilt, then began working on her foundation piecing block of the month. She sews really fast. I am constantly amazed at her output.

Lynette's pouch
Lynette’s pouch

Lynette was there. She had a pouch that was an excellent example of what good fabric can do.

This is a fairly simple looking pouch pattern, like the Persimmon Pouch from Sew Sweetness. With the great Kaleidoscope fabric, it looks super impressive.

More donation quilts were exchanged.  There was a free table to which I contributed some fabric and things. it was good fun.

Sew Day – June 2021

For the first time in over a year, we had an in person Sew Day! It was GREAT. We took special precautions to keep everyone safe and followed the guidelines laid out by the church where we meet.

SIL#2 and I drove down together. We drove my little car and it was filled pretty well. We had a lot of stuff to bring for projects as well as items to hand in or exchange.

I mostly cut out projects. I cut out napkins for the YM, a pillowcase for the YMG (YM’s girlfriend), starting cutting out 3 more Sew Together Bags, which will be gifts, the Westchester Dolman shirt and a few other projects.

BAM Sew Day - June 20211
BAM Sew Day – June 2021

There was a lot of standing around and chatting. Even though most of us have been in touch over the course of the pandemic, most of us have not seen each other in person for months. Also, there are things people don’t really want to talk about in email. There was a lot of catching up to do.

Amy commandeered a table and everyone at the table worked on a quilt with Amy. She has been making slow progress on the piece for months (or maybe years), which is a gift for another guild member.

BAM Sew Day - June 2021 - Design Walls1
BAM Sew Day – June 2021 – Design Walls

The design walls were put to good use. These large office dividers make great designs walls because of their size even if  one does need some pins.

Joy-Lily came a bit late and worked on an improv block piece. I think she was using some of her hand dyed fabrics. A number of people worked on their Put a Ring on It pieces from the class with Latifah Saafir. The one in the photo above is Gerre’s.

BAM Sew Day - June 20211
BAM Sew Day – June 2021

I believe this was Christine’s first Sew Day. She worked on a quilt using the Quilt-As-You-Go method. The large design walls enabled people to work together to lay out blocks or see problems through fresh eyes.

Technically, it was a Community Sew Day. I didn’t work on donation quilts as I have Tim’s Improv piece and the Yellow Strip donation top in progress. SIL #2 finished a charity quilt from the last Community Sew Day. I really like the way it came out.

Peggy's Community Quilt - June 2021
Peggy’s Community Quilt – June 2021

Sue S created a new pattern for the Sew Day and Peggy made one quilt top using the pattern. This is a variation on one design that I have made with the 16 patches before. Just goes to show that nothing is new in quiltmaking. This design is made with all half square triangles rather than including Flying Geese, like mine does.

I might have made a couple of the 16 Patches in Peggy’s quilt. I love the joint effort!

During the pandemic, people have still been working on donation quilts. 12 were handed in at Sew Day, including several of my tops that had been quilted.

 

 

Sew Day Projects

I had great intentions to get the pockets of my Ultimate Carryall Bag made during Sew Day. I also wanted to set a good example by working on it and encourage people to get it done.

Best laid plans.

I forgot my mesh and the interfacing. In reality, I thought I had everything already cut and prepared. I hadn’t cut the mesh and the interfacing wasn’t adhered. People were very kind and tried to help me out, but I gave it up as not possible.

St. Patrick's Day Donation block
St. Patrick’s Day Donation block

I turned to charity work. I grabbed some packs of 2.5 inch squares, which Peggy always has available, and started to make some squares.

I didn’t want to waste bringing my machine. If I couldn’t work on my own projects the next best thing was to do community service work.

I sewed the squares into blocks. It is an easy mindless task, though I did pay attention to color and print placement. I was able to follow the conversation fairly easily and still sew. My plan was just to sew a bunch of blocks. It turned out that I was pretty fast. Mary helped after she finished her project, so we were able to finish a baby quilt. Mary took the top home and will put borders on, then bring it to the meeting.

St. Patrick's Day Donation Top
St Patrick’s Day Donation Top

I am sad I didn’t get to work on the bag. The quilt project wasn’t planned, but I am pleased that I didn’t drag my machine down for nothing.

Sew Day Saturday

Sew Day was small and I got there late, but I did accomplish something. The Mondo Bag is looking like a project that will never die. I work on it at Sew Day in September, but I started it at Craft Night back in March! I didn’t think it had been laying around THAT long, but the blog doesn’t lie.

I arrived at Sew Day after 2pm, because I was enticed to go to CQFA first. The enticement was lunch with Julie afterwards. I didn’t have much in my bag, but the Mondo Bag project pieces and the stuff to cut out another Running with Scissors tote.

I decided to work on the Mondo Bag, so I laid it out and looked at the layout of the squares on the fusible. I rearranged and replaced some of them. Finally, I was happy. Fortunately Amy was there. She had everything including a mini iron, so I was able to fuse the squares to the interfacing.

Mondo Bag pieces on fusible and sewed
Mondo Bag pieces on fusible and sewed

When I got home, DH was watching football, so I was able to sew the squares together.

I am really glad I spent so much time arranging and rearranging the squares. I think the layout looks really good. I am not done by any stretch, but I did make progress. I am thrilled.

Community Giving Sew Day

I spent the day yesterday sewing for good. It was the guild’s Sew Day and we made zipper pouches for the Grateful Garment Project. The project provides a variety of items to assault victims. You can read more about the project on their website.

31 BAM zipper pouches
31 BAM zipper pouches

We ended up with 31.5 zipper pouches. I have one that I need to finish, which is the other half. 3 of us made over half of them, but everyone contributed. Mary talked to me about a production line where we could more done in the same time frame. I like that idea and hope we can do it again soon.

I also like the variety we came up with. Peggy, the awesome, put out a bin of fabrics and we were allowed to choose the ones we wanted. This meant there were fabrics with which I had never worked and that expanded my horizons a bit. I think some of them will be suitable for men, too.

Green & Yellow Zipper Pouch
Green & Yellow Zipper Pouch

I chose fabrics I liked, but I concentrated on producing as many well done zipper pouches as I could in the allotted time.

The first zipper pouch I made was the hardest. It came out fine, but was a challenge to get oriented to the pattern. After making the first one, I consulted with Mary on the zipper. We traded tips and after that our zippers came out as well as can be expected. I made two using the green and yellow fabric combination.

Purple Zipper Pouch for BAM
Purple Zipper Pouch for BAM

The second one I made was from purple fabrics. I liked the various motifs and like to use fabrics I enjoy.

I wasn’t a big fan of the white zipper, but there wasn’t a lot of choice in zippers. Peggy bought a bulk packet and there were no purple. Needs must and all. I think it looks fine.

Dots and Stripes Zipper Pouch
Dots and Stripes Zipper Pouch

Midway through I made two bags from the dots and stripes. I couldn’t, of course, resist the dots and the stripes were just great.

I like light interiors for pouches bags and handbags. Black interiors: blech! The light insides/linings allow one to see what is inside the bag. Light can also reflect on the light fabric to aid seeing what is in the bottom corner of your bag. I am sure I have said this before.

Dots with white zipper pouch
Dots with white zipper pouch

I had a lot of the dots, so I made a third pouch with a different interior. I liked the stripes better, but the light white on white (or maybe a very light pink) is fine. It does show the red dot fabric through a little bit, which is a shame.

By the time I made all of these pouches, I didn’t need a pattern. I was just making them over and over and refining as I went along. One thing I should have done was sew the lining with a larger seam allowance so that it fit inside the pouch better. It didn’t occur to me until I was almost done. I’ll do that on the last one.

The pouches I made
The pouches I made

 

 

 

BAM July Sew Day

I got myself organized after the week’s strange schedule to head to Sew Day. Surprisingly, we had 15 or so people in attendance. I was the first to show up after Mary and she was pleased because she wasn’t sure if anyone would show up. Holiday weekend and all, I suppose.

We always set up and clean the tables first. As we were doing that, others showed up and offered help.

I brought cutting and organizing only, after bringing my machine last time for the Jelly Roll Rug. I have a number of projects that needed attention and brought them along.

First, the Flapper apron I am making as a gift needed some corners. It took me longer than expected to get these corners ready to sew, but I finally accomplished the task and moved on to the bag.

I decided to make a Poolside tote as a gift. Mine was a pain to make, but I started using it for my knitting and find it very useful. I think my recipient will probably find it useful as well.

En Provence - Peaky & Spike example
En Provence – Peaky & Spike example

I also brought the Mondo Bag to arrange, but didn’t get to it. Cyndi and I spent some time talking about Deb Tucker rulers. She recently bought the V Block ruler, which I think works on the same principle as my Split Recs ruler with a slightly different outcome. The V Block ruler makes Peaky and Spike blocks, like I used for En Provence. Perhaps I’ll try it when I get around to the next En Provence quilt.

I brought a pattern for a nightshirt that I wanted to cut out. Mary is a master at garments and she finished all of her projects. I asked her to cut out my nightshirt and she agreed. This means I got a third more done than I thought I would!

Marty's Flying Geese quilt
Marty’s Flying Geese quilt

People were busy at Sew Day as well. Marty was working on a binding. Her use of mustard is the best I have seen. the colors in general are great. The piece is not too depressing, but also very neutral. It’s hard to see, but  the background fabrics are low volume text (and text-like) prints. She used some that I used in En Provence. I also like the way she placed the Flying Geese. This is Marty’s fourth quilt! She was able to finish the binding today and we all cheered.

Cyndi's JCB blocks
Cyndi’s JCB blocks

I was pleased to see Cyndi’s Jen Carlton Bailly blocks. She decided to make enough for a large wall hanging or small lap quilt and was working on them.

The fabrics she is using are very cheerful. I saw one overlap with my Circle tablerunner!

I didn’t get a photo after she finished it, but I did see it and it looks really great.

Once finished with the circles, she took out a different piece she is making from Camille Roskelly’s Simply Retro book. I saw the quilt she is making in the book and didn’t think much of it, but Cyndi’s version uses more dark fabrics in the background. It is much more appealing *to me* that way.

Gerre's Jen Carlton Bailly blocks
Gerre’s Jen Carlton Bailly blocks

Finally, Gerre also brought her Jen Carlton Bailly blocks. She had sewn a couple of rows together and was able to get the top done by the time Sew Day was over. She used Amy Butler fabrics and the piece is fantastic.

I have some new projects to work on and some of the small tasks ready to move me to my next steps. I am happy!

One Long Seam

I sewed one seam on Saturday.

First Step in Sewing the Jelly Roll Rug
First Step in Sewing the Jelly Roll Rug

Sew Day was Saturday and I went with the Jelly Roll long strip batting and 4 wound bobbins in my bag.

Amy and I pretty much got to it as soon as we got set up. She is making the rectangular rug and I am making the oval version.

Jelly Roll Rug strip-ready to sew
Jelly Roll Rug strip-ready to sew

Since I already had my strips sewn together, I started closing up the jelly roll’s seam. It took me several hours to make headway and I didn’t even finish that one step. I had grand illusions of getting the whole rug finished because I had sewn my strips together. HA!

This is not a difficult project. It is slightly tedious, but great for Sew Day because I could easily talk and sew and not make mistakes.

I used up one whole bobbin already. One seam one bobbin. It’s crazy since I am not even finished with that seam.