Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Summertime sew-cializing

Where to begin? I've been such a bad blogger lately.  Sew many projects have come and gone i hardly know where to begin.

Let's start at the end and work backward.  The most exciting sewing event of the summer was the Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild meetup which took place this past weekend in Portland.

What a blast!! That's my synopsis, but here's the long version.


The girls of the Corvallis Modern Quilt Guild  (yes there is one now!!) headed up on Friday.  We started with sewing classes at Modern Domestic.  I took the binding class with Heather which was very interesting and I would dearly love me a binder attachment - hello Santa are you listening.

Next up was a Publishing class with Susan Beal - super informative - the best class of the day for me personally.  Thanks again miss Susan!

Finally, there was FMQ class with Christina   - she's the best teacher and the sweetest gal! A totally low key, do your own thing, no rules,  go for it lady - totally my kinda gal.  Plus she has the best FMQ patterns I've seen - and I got a peek a her new book - which was awesome! I am totally going to buy it.  Love her designs.
Lisa and Christina at Modern Domestic FMQ class
CMQG Girls ready for FMQ class

Some practice #freemotionquilting from an awesome class by @afewscraps thank you again. You r a great teacher! @moderndomestic #mqgmeetuppdx #latergram
My practice FMQ


In between all that learning, we were socializing with other MQG members from the PNW.   It was a blast. I got to meet so many bloggers in person which was totally cool (hello Sonja!) and lots of new-to-me bloggers as well. Of course Portland is ripe with famous fabric-y/quilty peeps (Violet Craft, Mo Bedell, Monica Solorio-Snow, Jen Carlton-Bailly). I can go on and on, but I shouldn't be all name-droppering – so I’ll stop.  It was still pretty rad though ;)    

CMQG's first quilt! at Modern domestic #MQGPNWMeetupPDX
CMQG Banner quilt on the wall at Modern Domestic



















Modern Domestic is the best sewing studio.  If you’ve never been go check it out next time you are in P-town.  Way ultra modern and hip and oh yeah, there are cool modern quilts on the wall. But if you are more of a garment sewer then that is the place for you, since that is their focus – or so I learned. 

Anyway, I can go on and on but yeah it was a way cool experience.

So then we did a bit of socializing and a bit of shopping while socializing and some eating and drinking and socializing ~ you get the gist!  And as if that wasn't enough - there was a cool tote bag swap. 
Jane Market Bag I made for swap
And pouch


This was sponsored by Robert Kaufman who supplied the denim chambray to all the MQG's.  My tote went to Kim  and this lovely tote (below) is the one I picked, made by Jennifer of the PMQG.  I love this thing.  It's currently going to work with me everyday 'cause it's just the right size to throw all my random stuff into. 

Fun times.  I tell you.
CMQG Members, Christina, Lisa, Connie and myself.

Saturday we had the choice to go to a charity sew event at Modern Domestic or all day sew at Fabric Depot.  So some of us Corvallis gals headed to the Charity sew event and proceeded to make lots of urban chicken blocks (designed by PMQG Leader Michelle).  Very fun block and easy to sew.

Here's what the quilt blocks looked like when we left:
Charity quilting @moderndomestic #mqgmeetuppdx #corvallismodernquiltguild

After lunch and maybe a little bit of shopping at Bolt, maybe, we headed off to Fabric Depot for the open sew, where we proceeded to chat and socialize and oh yeah, maybe sew a bit and possibly some more shopping, possibly.   Whereupon I managed to win a little goody bag from Fabric Depot. "Way cool!" I said – "I never win anything I said".  Ha ha ha ha ha.    I laugh because as Jessica (EMQG) pointed out, for a girl who never wins anything, I struck gold.  At the end of the sew day, guess whose name was chosen to win the baby lock machine they were giving away? Yup, it was yours truly.  So I guess I can’t say I never win anything.  Crazy I tell you.  And apparently after that there was some goodie bag fabric from Bolt that I won after I left.  Yea, I struck gold.  I should've bought a lottery ticket - why didn't I?  My apologies to all the meet-up attendees that were disappointed - you can still cross your fingers for the Bernina they are giving away. 

Introducing Molly ~ 
Montevilla Sewing Center , PMQG, Fabric Depot and whoever else was involved, I thank you over and over again.


Finally, it was time for dinner at Cartopia on Hawthorne and I headed home to my peaceful dwelling.
That's my wild sewing adventure for this summer!


Happy  Sewing!!!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Doctor Who Along Block 8 ~ Weeping Angel

PLEASE NOTE – these patterns have been removed are no longer available
Are you ready for block 8 of the Doctor.Who.Along? It's a Weeping Angel. Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, either way they're scary. This one is at least weeping so we don't have to see the scary angel face staring at us from our quilt! Ha!



Soma designed this block and it comes in 2 formats depending upon your skill level. We realize that some of the blocks in the Doctor.Who.Along are very challenging. This one ranks among the toughest in the QAL for sure - if the angel has you scared in more than one department, try the easier block. If you are up for a challenge, go for the harder one. Either way, you'll end up with a cool new block for your quilt or project

Pattern and instructions available HERE.   Don't forget to share your finished blocks in the Flickr pool.  Doctor.Who.Along



Happy Sewing!!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Iconic Sonic Screwdriver Doctor.Who.Along block 7

Welcome Whovians!  With the extra days in July, we've had a bit of a longer break from the last block.  Hopefully you had a bit of a chance to get caught up and are not in withdrawal!  Are you ready for block 7?

It's pretty iconic I think ~ The Sonic Screwdriver - of course no Doctor would be caught without it!

Pattern pieces and instructions download here




As always, all the Doctor.Who.Along patterns are available through the Craftsy website as well.

Did everyone see there will be a new Doctor? I'm not sure what to think of this just yet.  It's so hard to let go of a Doctor.  Don't you think?

Happy Sewing!