National Sewing Month

Apparently September is National Sewing Month.... Who Knew?

I have been sewing quite a bit of late... working on projects with Christmas in mind.

Project Number one is in "add the borders" stage.

Spring is in the Air by Lizzie B Cre8ive

I started this quilt top last month.  (See the post from July 16.) I decided to make it a lap quilt rather than a wall hanging so the borders would need to be fairly wide.  I chose a pattern from The Border Workbook.  My next decision for this quilt is whether to have another border.















I recently became aware that a colleague of mine is expecting a baby before the end of the year.  So, project number two will be completely adorable, but quick quilt with a piece of fabric I found while in Honolulu last month.

I decided on a pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Co BLOCK book from Summer Vol 3, Issue 3
The Friendship Star

Here is what I have so far:

Finally, I'm still working on the Glorious Hexies. Hexies are a hand-sewing project and the going is slow.  But, they are cute.

On The Road

I simply LOVE to talk to people about quilting. It is a good ice breaker that often leads to deeper conversations and sometimes even Facebook Friends.

Recently I discovered a couple of ladies right in my home church (Calvary Baptist Church) who quilt.  We had a small get together for a "show and tell".  It was very fun to get to know these ladies and see their past projects as well as what is under their needle today.







Another thing I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE is visiting fabric stores.  And, one of the perks of traveling for work is visiting fabric stores in various cities that I would normally not have an opportunity to visit.

A few weeks ago I was in Honolulu Hawaii and was able to visit three fabric/quilt stores, all very different.

Fabric Mart

 This fabric store was probably the store with largest inventory and prices were very reasonable.

Very eclectic and quite interesting, this store  had a very large inventory of Hawaiian fabrics.


Kuni Island Fabrics is a very sweet (but small), locally owned, store with a good variety of fabrics, notions and items on display.

While I was browsing, several ladies came in to sign up for classes... the owner seemed to know the ladies very well, asking personal questions about family, etc.  THAT is VERY nice.  While the ladies in my local fabric stores may know me by sight, we certainly have not taken any time to get to know each other on a personal level.

 Kuni Island Fabrics is participating in the Row-By-Row Experience

Here is a completed Row-By-Row quilt. 
If you have not yet discovered Row-By-Row...
check out the website Here.

Kaimuki Dry Goods

This was probably my favorite store. There was a nice variety of fabrics from Hawaiian fabrics to specialty fabrics.  The staff was quite friendly asking about the projects I had planned for the fabric I was buying and the store was bright and open.

They are also participating in the Row-By-Row (see above picture.)



That's all.  If you are planning a trip to the Islands (or any other location) check out the local fabric stores.
Before you go, check out this website for a list of fabric stores at your destination. Quilter's Travel Companion
(One last word, the above-mentioned site is a paid service.  Not every fabric store or quilt store will be listed.  Search Google as well.)

Hand Me That Screwdriver, Please.

April & Carmen Henry of April's 1930s are touring the U.S. this summer and helping Featherweight owners keep their babies in tip top shape.

My friend, Robin, and I spent a couple of days in San Diego with the Henrys and a dozen of our closest friends (who we'd never met before this class...)

First, we took the machines all apart.  The face plates, the belts, the bottoms, the bobbin housing.  It was a bit intimidating and made me somewhat nervous... a lot of little screws and pieces.

 But, we had a good teacher... and a few helpers

And in the end, we were all successful in getting the machines back together again.   A lot cleaner and purring like kittens.

My Miss Ellie
1951

P.S.  My sister gave me her mother-in-laws old sewing machine.  It is not a singer, but it is vintage... I think about 1970s era.  I'm going to try out my new skills on it... :-)

Off to the Mezz

It's getting to be a delightful habit.... meeting in the Mezzanine Room to sit-n-sew...and chat...and eat...and sew.

Today we are working on Glorious Hexies... all hand work... For those who do not know what Hexies are...
English Paper Piecing (EPP).

Charlotte's very first GLORIOUS Hexie.  Isn't she Glorious?  Her name is "Carol."  (as a point of clarification, we are both named "Charlotte."  Pictured above is Charlotte-from-the-East.)

I've done 3 so far, Dolores (Block 6)

 and two Marena (Block 8.)

(You'll understand the names in a moment.)

Here is a picture of Hexies posted on Facebook.  This person is actually keeping up with the Glorious Hexie "quilt-a-long."

Pretty Glorious, if you ask me.

The Quilting Auntie, Nyla, asked me how to get started.  It is a bit of a process so I thought I'd write it all down so you, too, can make Glorious Hexies.

First, join the Facebook page for Glorious Hexies.  Click HERE


Next, buy the book "The New Hexagon"  You can get it at PaperPieces.com or Amazon
(I think it goes without saying, don't buy the Kindle version of this book.)

You will need some EPP papers (and for those of us who had some EPP papers already (Auntie) you can start with those.)  I did get my EPP papers from PaperPieces.com.  It was a bit confusing trying to decide what I needed so I called them.  The lady I spoke with was nice and VERY helpful.  She suggested I start with the pack that has a enough papers for one of each block in the book.  Good Idea. Click HERE to see that package of papers.

The Glorious Hexie Quilt-A-Long is sponsored by PaperPieces.com. There is a link on the website.  Click Here

If you want to participate in the Quilt-A-Long, they will send you papers every month to make three of each of the blocks in the book.  That felt like a life-long commitment to me so I opted for the package of papers to make one-each.  Click HERE to see that package of papers.  I did not buy the second little booklet.  I may later...  I did not buy the acrylic templates, a bit spendy for my budget.  (Many of the truly GLORIOUS Hexies you will see on the Facebook site are made fussy cutting the fabric, including Charlotte's very first pictured above.  If you are going to do a lot of fussy cutting, the acrylic templates might be a good option.  (Auntie, I have a different option for you.))

One word of warning with this package of papers.... when you get the papers...they are ALL JUMBLED UP.  It's just a big pile of papers!  Pour yourself a glass of wine, turn on your favorite trash TV and spend some time separating them.  I put mine in snack-size sandwich bags I purchased from the Dollar Store.

As I start putting together the actual block, I use snack-size bags also and I mark them with a piece of painters tape with the block # and name.  Oh, I almost forgot...all 52 blocks in the book have a girl's name.  Cute.


One last tip....
We quilters have worked hard perfecting our quarter inch seams.  This author suggests 3/8 inch seam allowance.
I poo-pooed that right away. Crow-eating time...quarter inch seams are a bit skimpy when doing EPP.  EXCEPT when using the teeny tiny pieces.

OK.  I think that is about it.  Another excuse to get to your favorite quilt shop and stimulate the quilt economy.  Then, book a flight to Fiji so you can spend some quality, uninterrupted time with your Glorious Hexies.

July 22, 2016:  This just in...more GH information. (This is copied and pasted from the comments below, if you find this too small to read.)

Thank you, Wanda, for this information.

I was under the impression that Paperpieces.com was the sponsor of this quilt-a-long.  But it is really Glorious Color!  Their website IS very helpful.  Click HERE
AND, they have FABRIC and other quilting goodies.

More good reasons to get on board the Hexie train!

Decision Time

It is all put together with  2 inch border.... but now my decision is whether to add more borders and make it a lap quilt, or make a wall hanging.

Putting it All Together

All the blocks are finished and I've started putting them together....It was kind of hard. A lot of little pieces and a lot of changing thread color. I don't think it looks like the pattern picture.  But, I'm happy with it....



Final step...borders and then the quilter.

Freedom to Sew

What are you doing this long 4th-of-July weekend?


After a month of travel (first to Manhattan and then to Honolulu) it felt really good to "sit-n-sew" with the girlfriends.

Each of the 8 buildings in the apartments where I live has a meeting room we can use free of charge.  It is PERFECT for sewing get togethers.

I want this room to be MINE!

Funny story:  My friend Robin from out of town came to spend Friday night with me and sew all day Saturday before returning to her home...and hubby...Saturday evening.

But Saturday, early evening, after a full day of sewing and some pool time and a quick dinner and a bit more sewing time, she decided to stay over night again and return home Sunday morning....so, a phone call to hubby was made, mainly so he would fix himself some dinner.

Sunday morning, after enjoying our coffee on the balcony and some breakfast, she decided it would be good to stay and sew all day Sunday.... another phone call to hubby...keeping him in the loop. We had a marvelous day of sewing.

We did briefly consider one more sleep over and a trip to Piecemakers for their big 4th-of-July sale.... but she decided the hubby might panic if she called, yet again, to announce she wasn't coming home for another day. And so, alas,  did return home on Sunday evening.  It was very lonely and quiet in the Mez after she left...

I always have so many projects going at the same time, I had to pick one to focus on this long weekend.  I picked an applique project.  A lap quilt I'm making for a great niece for Christmas.

Lizzie B Cre8ive

 Applique is a fair amount of work, but it is so darling.

I have 4 and a-half blocks done and, as is true to my nature, making some switches as I go.

I'm trying yo-yos for the first time.  The jury is still out.

Sadly, today I will need to remove everything from the Mezzanine Room, vacuum and return the key...

BUT, we are already planning our next Sit-N-Sew... it will include our Featherweight machines and some grandkids!