Sewing Summit Wrap Up
Here's the lowdown on The Sewing Summit. For those of you who are over it, I'll be working in an update on my adventures with Free Motion Quilting and there's also a bit of English Paper Piecing progress. So boring? Or not. Whatever.
One of the best parts of The Sewing Summit was rooming with Amanda of My Sewcial Hour (right) and Holly of Bijou Lovely (left). You never know how it'll go, being with someone you only kind of know in such close quarters. Well, it rocked. I think we all three wanted a relaxed pace, not that we achieved that. These two shots are Amanda's. For more pretty shots of The Sewing Summit, see her photostream. The girl has the skills. My point and shoot camera was pretty well defeated by the mood lighting in the hotel and the fact that people - unlike my projects - have this pesky habit of moving.
This is our room. Isn't it lovely! The entire hotel was quite posh, and the event was nicely catered too. I was particularly happy to find lots of delish deserts floating around in the evening. Chocolate makes me happy.
My first class was Improv Piecing. How lucky to start off Saturday morning at the machine! I had never tried curved improv piecing before. Here's what I came up with.
That was fun! What do you think it should be?
Next was Free Motion Quilting. Allison Harris (Cluck, Cluck, Sew) is such a sweet lady. She seemed kind of shy to be teaching, but she was definitely the right lady for the job. I got over my fears thanks to a tiny quilt sandwich, plus the start/stop sewing button on the Babylock machines, which removes the need for the peddle and thus one stitch-length variable. Fortunately, I have the same button on my cheapo Kenmore at home. Unfortunately, my Kenmore is lame. I told Allison how I have tension problems on the bottom when I do circles or loops, only when making circles in one direction. She said that's probably just my machine. Which is, of course, exactly what I wanted to hear. I did bring home a half-used quilt sandwich to run through my machine. I'll have to report back if I have the same tension issues, even given what I learned about fixing tension in Allison's class.
Um, now's the part where I have to show you my free motion quilting....
Yikes. In conclusion I need a new machine that isn't lame and has more than a paltry 6" of room in the arm. I plan on working on that after I get my book under contract (yes, more on that soon!).
Let's see, what else?
There was Jeni's class. It was cool to see her stuff up close.
And my crazy-good luck at the Fat Quarter Swap.
But, I don't know, it's kind of a big blur. There was so much going on all the time, so many people to meet and very little time to really get to know them. I guess I crave that time to really sit down and talk. Maybe my personality is more suited to a weekend quilting retreat than a big convention like this one.
Along those lines, I really enjoyed chatting over my English paper piecing handwork in my room, the lobby, the airport... What, did you think I would get more done than 4 stars?
Me too.
Well, I did fritter away some time crocheting and teaching crochet. Nice and mindless that crochet. Highly recommend it.
When I got home I surveyed my loot. You know I didn't buy that much out shopping. I won something like 4 or 5 drawings and was fortunate enough to be at a dinner organized by Jennifer and Elena that had some really fabulous swag. These are some of my favorite take-homes.
I've already done some sewing with that Peacock Lane at left. Such great colors in that line!
Today I finally got back behind the sewing machine. It's been way too long. I have some cute sewn things to show you tomorrow. Good night!
One of the best parts of The Sewing Summit was rooming with Amanda of My Sewcial Hour (right) and Holly of Bijou Lovely (left). You never know how it'll go, being with someone you only kind of know in such close quarters. Well, it rocked. I think we all three wanted a relaxed pace, not that we achieved that. These two shots are Amanda's. For more pretty shots of The Sewing Summit, see her photostream. The girl has the skills. My point and shoot camera was pretty well defeated by the mood lighting in the hotel and the fact that people - unlike my projects - have this pesky habit of moving.
This is our room. Isn't it lovely! The entire hotel was quite posh, and the event was nicely catered too. I was particularly happy to find lots of delish deserts floating around in the evening. Chocolate makes me happy.
My first class was Improv Piecing. How lucky to start off Saturday morning at the machine! I had never tried curved improv piecing before. Here's what I came up with.
That was fun! What do you think it should be?
Next was Free Motion Quilting. Allison Harris (Cluck, Cluck, Sew) is such a sweet lady. She seemed kind of shy to be teaching, but she was definitely the right lady for the job. I got over my fears thanks to a tiny quilt sandwich, plus the start/stop sewing button on the Babylock machines, which removes the need for the peddle and thus one stitch-length variable. Fortunately, I have the same button on my cheapo Kenmore at home. Unfortunately, my Kenmore is lame. I told Allison how I have tension problems on the bottom when I do circles or loops, only when making circles in one direction. She said that's probably just my machine. Which is, of course, exactly what I wanted to hear. I did bring home a half-used quilt sandwich to run through my machine. I'll have to report back if I have the same tension issues, even given what I learned about fixing tension in Allison's class.
Um, now's the part where I have to show you my free motion quilting....
Yikes. In conclusion I need a new machine that isn't lame and has more than a paltry 6" of room in the arm. I plan on working on that after I get my book under contract (yes, more on that soon!).
Let's see, what else?
There was Jeni's class. It was cool to see her stuff up close.
And my crazy-good luck at the Fat Quarter Swap.
But, I don't know, it's kind of a big blur. There was so much going on all the time, so many people to meet and very little time to really get to know them. I guess I crave that time to really sit down and talk. Maybe my personality is more suited to a weekend quilting retreat than a big convention like this one.
Along those lines, I really enjoyed chatting over my English paper piecing handwork in my room, the lobby, the airport... What, did you think I would get more done than 4 stars?
Me too.
Well, I did fritter away some time crocheting and teaching crochet. Nice and mindless that crochet. Highly recommend it.
When I got home I surveyed my loot. You know I didn't buy that much out shopping. I won something like 4 or 5 drawings and was fortunate enough to be at a dinner organized by Jennifer and Elena that had some really fabulous swag. These are some of my favorite take-homes.
I've already done some sewing with that Peacock Lane at left. Such great colors in that line!
Today I finally got back behind the sewing machine. It's been way too long. I have some cute sewn things to show you tomorrow. Good night!