I’m leaving for Florida on Saturday- so the shop will not be open May 11th, 2013 through May 18th, 2013.
I purchased an English paper piecing kit by Granny Gran Stitches called Marley Town Square. I thought it would make a great hand project for the long plane ride, followed by long car ride. It’s so much fun, I’ve already used up all the paper in the kit and had to order more!
I’ll post photos of my progress as I go. I’ve already got a flower done and a whole row of houses!
Shame on me- I haven’t updated this blog in months!
Here is what’s coming down the pike:
We’ve got awesome classes coming up for the Spring/Summer. Like, really awesome.
We’ve got a sewing machine event starting May 27h, Give & Get Back. I’ve got a goal of 15 machines to donate to The Sewing Machine Project. If you donate a machine, you’ll get 10% off a new BERNINA sewing machine. That’s 10% off our everyday price, not the MSRP. Come in and test drive a new machine. A BERNINA isn’t nearly as unattainable as you might think! You can’t lose on this one, you help change the life of a person in need, and you help yourself to the best sewing machine in the industry.
I’m going to start documenting our classes and posting about them here. We have so much fun!! I also plan to start documenting my own sewing projects again, as well as posting about interesting ideas I find. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in a day.
Here are a couple things I made over the past few weeks while I was absent:
I haven’t been slacking with my sewing, just my posting! I promise that is going to change starting May 1st! I’ve also been in touch with a few other bloggers about myself guest posting for them and them posting here. That should be really fun.
If you haven’t visited the shop here in Acton, or if you haven’t been here for awhile, please come by! We’ve grown a lot since we opened in September! And I miss you! 
We’ll be working on this adorable blouse with a Peter Pan collar- the Violet pattern by Colette Patterns. I hope you’ll join us!
We had a great time in class today working on this fun reversible ‘split personality’ bag by straight stitch society!
hello & happy holidays!
We made it through ‘the end of the world’!!
My lovely boyfriend gave me my Christmas gift (an iPad) early, but was convinced I’d have it broken by Tuesday- so today I whipped up an iPad cover using the City Girl collection of fabrics. I was originally thinking of using our new Nancy Drew fabric, but I changed my mind at the last minute.
First things first, let me show you the finished product of my last update.
I ended up simply sewing on a binding and skipped quilting it altogether. I made a second quilt similarly with moda’s marmalade flannels.
here’s the nancy drew fabric I decided against (oh heck, I’ll probably make a second iPad case)
And I made Joey another flannel with our beautiful Marcus flannels
Here’s Tom making curtains for our new classroom area
and finally, lets talk iPad covers.
I started by cutting out 4 pieces of fabric and 2 pieces of batting (10 1/2″ x 8 3/8″) these dimensions are those of the apple iPad plus 1″. I also made 2″ binding.
I also cut out a piece of fabric that I folded in half for a pocket. I wanted to fit my iPhone, but you can change the size of this.
First, I put fabric/batting sandwiches for the front and back of the case. I added the pocket flap right on top of the front sandwich. I pinned these pieces together to hold them in place.
I made a flap to pin into the top of the back cover sandwich. This will fold over the top and button onto the front.
Next I applied binding to the unfinished edges on the top of the case and stitched
I did some free motion stippling with our Bernina 550 machine and Bernina Stitch Regulator.
To finish the case, I put together my sandwiches with the 2 outer pieces facing out, and simply applied binding! This seams the 2 sides together and puts a finished edge on the bottom and top flap.
I zig zagged the binding on with grey thread, but it didn’t come out as lovely as I imagined. I do like it, but it doesn’t look as neat as a straight stitch in the same pink color might. I added a buttonhole for closure and found a cute pink heart button. I also added a piece of selvedge because it had cute shoes on it.
Voila! I think I want to make a Nancy Drew case too, so I have options that go with different outfits 
In a jam for a quick holiday gift?
So was I! I got a 1/2 yard of each of our 8 Moda Homespun Plaids and started whipping up this soft, cozy lap quilt.
I cut eight 8″ squares from each fabric, and then laid them out as randomly as I could!
I simply pieced each block together to form a strip
and then serged the striped together and voila!
Serging the outer edges of the top piecing will keep my fabric from fraying while I decide how to finish this quilt. This project only took about 2 hours. It is a Holiday grab gift, so the person it’s for can’t know it’s for them yet. However, this is where you can take personalizing a quilt to another level. I love how the quilting design can turn a very simple quilt top into something spectacular.
How adorable would this quilting pattern be?!
(I know, I need to get over the owls, but they are too cute!)
I will, of course, post pictures of the finished product once I have a border, backing, quilting, and binding on it. I’m just glad I can cross this off my list of things to do!
