Monthly Archives: August 2011

30 Minutes to Sew!

30 Minutes to Sew!

Late last night I got a hair-brain idea that I should make the scarf that our friend Patty Young designed for Quilts & More magazine.  I knew I had some Grand Bazaar fabric leftover from another project and wondered if it was enough.  I wanted to use the fabrics we carry at the store, and make only 1 scarf!  So, the challenge was on.

When I got up this morning, I slipped on khaki capris and a black tee.  I figured it’d look nice with the charcoal Grand Bazaar fabrics (and, even though I simply despise getting my photo taken, I knew I would have to do it to complete the challenge!!)  I went into the sewing room and rooted through the stash to see what was left.  Not enough of the pear, but no worries there…it’s in stock at Sew Much More!  The focus piece wasn’t wide enough; I only had a 22″ wide piece, but figured I could make a seam right down the center to create that 42″ wide piece for the scarf center section.

Armed with the printout from the website, I arrived at the store at 8:30 and made a cup of coffee and turned on the iron.  I had to cut out my pieces of fabric, and ponder if the paisley should be on the end or near the center.  Then, I headed to the thread display to find the correct charcoal thread.

I pressed all of the seams open and squared up my corners and, of course, anyone who knows me knows I didn’t slip stitch the opening, but used 1/4″ Steam-a-Seam Lite to close the opening in the seam.  Viola!

Our heads are spinning with ideas of many combinations for this fun scarf.  It really only takes 1/4 yard of 4 different fabrics to make a single scarf and Patty’s Sanctuary and all of the Kaffe fabrics we stock are in this shirting weight.  It’s a perfect drape for this scarf!  And, again, I don’t take a photo for just anybody!

Dog Days

Dog Days

The dog days of summer are upon us.  Usually, that means anticipating the arrival of Baby Lock’s convention and the introduction of the newest products.  But, this year, the announcements came early.  Social media has jolted us into a new world, and information is power, right?!  So, the savvy sewist “likes” Baby Lock on Facebook and keeps up with the latest news.

I thought you might enjoy a short list of blogs and other places I routinely “stalk” to keep up on things.  You can also subscribe to many blogs and get announcements of their latest postings right in your email bin.  But, I’m a bit old-fashioned still, and randomly scouring my bookmark list is more fun for me.

You can get lost by clicking on some of the links that each of these link up to.  It’s a big sewing frenzy on the internet.  Who knew?  Don’t get lost, and pack a few snacks for the trip.  You won’t believe how long you’ll be “gone”….

Cloud 9 Fabrics – We carry their latest line of organic cottons, Miscellany.  One co-founder has her own personal blog, too.

Modkid – Our friend Patty Young’s blog.

Sew4Home – Projects and more.

Jenean Morrison – I love Jenean’s style and we carry her fabrics.

Sweetwater – One of my very favorite design teams.

Kate Spain – Ever cheerful, I would love to be Kate Spain’s friend.  And, her fabric is divine.

Robert Kaufman fabrics – The official blog of RK fabrics.

Totally Stitchin’ – Info-packed and funky.

Amazing Designs – Even Amazing Designs has a blog chock full of embroidery ideas.

Moda Fabrics – Also check out their famous Moda Bake Shop.

Riley Blake Designs – Lots of great tutes here.

Diane Kappa – She’s a designer for Anthology fabrics.

Michael Miller fabrics – Projects and contests!

Nancy Zieman – She’s everywhere, even on Blogger!

Cosmo Cricket – One of Moda’s designers.

Lily Ashbury – Since lots of fabric designers also do paper products, sometimes you get tons of printable freebies!

Oliver + S - A favorite pattern line.

Sandi Henderson – She designs for MMF and has lots of recipes and other goodies.

Valori Wells - We have some of her books and fabric at the store.

Paula Prass - Ah, just to have half of her design ability!

Anna Maria Horner – She’s a great writer and a beautiful woman with a houseful of beautiful children and a great husband, too.  And, she’s a businesswoman and a successful designer.  If she wasn’t nice, too, you’d actually be mad!

Well, enough of this list for now.  I’ll save the rest for another time…