A day of sewing at The Stitchin' Post!

Not every day at the shop** brings in lots of money, but every day is fun!  Yesterday, one of my new friends came over to sew with me at the shop.  We both have sets of interchangeable knitting needles that came in awful plastic cases, and we are making fabric cases for them, mostly following the guidance of this tutorial.  However, those of you who know me know that I never work on just one project at a time!  While my friend was meticulously cutting her fabric (she's new to rotary cutters), I worked on making a class sample for the SEW Cool After School Program.

I'm so thrilled with the way my tote bag turned out!  Doesn't it just scream, "SPRING!"  We just finished a project with boxed corners, so I boxed these corners, too, so they'd get more practice.  The appliqued "e" (for Erin!) is so we can cover buttonhole/blanket stitch on the machine.  We've used the technique for making the straps and the loop closure many times before, so that's just more practice.  And by golly, before they leave me, they're going to know how to sew on a button by hand!

This bag is reinforced with fusible fleece to give it body.  I LOVE using fusible fleece!

Inside, we go over how to make a lined pocket.  They were pretty excited when they saw the sample yesterday, and set to work selecting their fabrics.  The only drawback to starting a new project with 7 kids is the way the shop looks when they are done selecting fabrics...

Here they are with the Dopp Kits they finished yesterday (one girl was out sick).  This project featured inserting zippers, as well as an introduction to boxing corners.  Let's just say that the seam rippers got LOTS of use!  But they all finished and were tickled with the result, so what more can I ask for?

The Dopp Kits are lined, have structure from the fusible fleece we used, and include a zipper and a tab at each end of the zipper

My other sewing project yesterday was for my Guild challenge quilt.  We got the assignment months ago, but I just started this week because I wasn't inspired until now.  Even now, I'm not sure my vision is going to pan out.  We have to make a quilt using Ohio Star, and it can't be more than 144" in circumference. 

 I've been wanting to work more with selvages, so that was my starting place.  In my head, it would be cool if I spelled out Ohio Star with selvage blocks, using two Ohio Stars for the "O"s.  Like I said, I'm not sure if my vision will work, though; not sure if the stars will actually read as Os.  If I have to explain the quilt to people, what's the point.  We'll see.  And we'll see, soon, too, because the challenge quilt is due at the next meeting the second week of April!

Now, I must be off to visit the quilt shop in town.  She just moved locations and re-opened this week, and I've been dying to see the changes.  Plus, I have a Sip & Stitch Wine Tote Workshop this Friday night at the shop, and while I have lots of wine themed fabrics to make the totes, I don't have many coordinating fabrics for the participants to use for the linings and bindings.  Should be fun, though!  I'm providing the materials and hors d'oeurves, and the students are bringing their own wine.  Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE my new job???

This wine tote is for my sister.  I used this chicken fabric to make double potholders for her for Christmas - I love this fabric!  She's coming down from NH at the end of the month, and I plan to give it to her with a FULL bottle of wine in it! I modified this tutorial for my workshop.

This is my class sample.  Again, the fabrics scream SPRING to me.  The idea behind the Wine Tote is that you can safely and stylishly carry your wine to your next dinner party, picnic or BYOB restaurant.  I doubt you'll be surprised to learn that I used Fusible Fleece in the construction of these totes.  :)  I've gone through an entire bolt in the last few months!

**The Shop refers to The Stitchin' Post, LLC, the business I started in August 2013 when I quit my job in college admissions (which I loved) to pursue my passion for quilting.  I've since discovered a love for knitting and crochet - I learned how to knit and crochet at classes at my own shop - so my quilting time has been curtailed a bit.  If you are ever driving through SW Virginia, I do hope you'll stop in to say hello. (like Doreen and Becky did - so cool!!!)  And if you use Facebook, my shop page is where most of my online presence is these days.  I don't find as much time to blog, but I do find time to post on the shop FB page every day.
www.stitchinpostva.com
www.facebook.com/stitchinpostva

Giving it all away

I've found a little bit of time to sew lately, mostly making samples for classes at the shop.  The nice thing about those is that once the class I am advertising is over, I am free to give those samples away.

A friend who has been going through a tough time was the recipient of a Dresden Plate pillow

Instead of buying pillow forms (expensive!), I buy jumbo pillows from Walmart for less than $5, cut them in half, and sew them back together as two rectangular pillow forms.

I love an envelope back pillow so you can wash the cover.

and I am donating this little doll-sized quilt (or wallhanging) to a fundraiser at a local middle school.

I wanted to add the same motif from the outside strips to the inside strips, but my stencil was too big and I'm not talented enough to redraft at a different size.

Here's a close-up of the hand quilting, big stitch style with variegated crochet cotton.  I also machine stitched in the ditch along each of the vertical rows.

I have a rag quilt workshop coming up soon, and need to make a class sample.  I wonder who will be the recipient of THAT class sample?  Maybe I'll actually keep something for myself.

A Million Different Directions

I'm supposed to be working on class samples right now, and I'm about to, but I am determined to get back to my regular blog posts.  I love blogging!  It is really frustrating me that I haven't been making/finding the time for it.

Instead, I've been knitting...

I was given 8 oz of reclaimed 100% cashmere, and wanted to make something fun and easy.  This Ruffled Scarf pattern lets me practice my short rows and wrap and turn, and the yarn is so soft to work with!

 and getting back into Block Lotto...

This month we are making 7"x14" purple (or gray or brown) and white chevron blocks

 and working on class samples for a Dresden Plate Possibilities class I want to teach.

This is the scrappy pieced block, obviously.  I'll also have a stack and whack/kaleidoscope version and a more traditional version.  We'll be making pillows while they learn how to use the ruler and piece the blocks. 

Oh, and I'm still learning how to run a business, trying to be the best and most present mom and wife I can be, and discovering the joys of Downton Abbey and Doc Martin!  I've been running in a million different directions at once, but boy, life is fun these days!

It's in the bag!

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I didn't give my twin sister a birthday present this year.  Bad twin, I know.  My intentions were good, but we all know about that road.  Here's what happened:

Back in September in the after school program at my shop, we were making small drawstring tote bags from denim and scrap fabric based on this Lunch Tote tutorial.  I really liked the one I made as a class sample, and was thinking that I'd give it to my sister as a project bag for her knitting for her birthday.  But then I noticed that one seam wasn't quite perfect, and it wasn't one that would be easy to just re-do.  In disgust with myself, I banished the bag to the armoire in my shop.  Every time I opened the cabinet door, though, I saw the bag - a constant reminder of my failure, a project that defeated me.

That just won't do.  Aren't you supposed to start the new year fresh?  I couldn't start the new year with that project hanging over my head. (ahem, ignore the 4,327 other UFOs I have going at present...)  So today, I pulled it out, made a fabric yo-yo, covered the yo-yo with a button I'd been holding onto for just the right occasion, and VOILA!

I love the bag all over again!  There is a drawstring top to keep her projects in,

but also to allow her to use the bag like a yarn bowl. (For those of you who don't knit or crochet, when you pull on your yarn, the ball of yarn likes to roll around, escape, if you will.  Think of that song, "On top of spaghetti" - but substitute the yarn ball for the meatball.  A yarn bowl keeps the yarn in one place, allowing you to pull the yarn as needed without having to chase the ball.)

I bought her a skein of hand-dyed yarn, a set of handmade stitch markers and two hat patterns to go in the bag, all from my shop.  I hope she likes it!  (yeah, I know Christmas is over, but she's spending the holidays in Puerto Rico, so she doesn't know that her gift hasn't arrived yet)

I hope your holidays have been merry and bright!

Erin

Holiday sewing

Ack!  Nearly another month has passed between posts!  When people say you work harder when you have your own business than when you work for someone else, they aren't lying!  But it is so rewarding, it is worth the extra time and effort.  What that means, however, is that I haven't had many opportunities to sew for me.  Most of what I've made these days are samples for classes at the shop.  But Christmas is coming, and while the business is doing well, money is tight, so I am extra motivated to make as many gifts as possible this year.  I know the holidays are right around the corner, but I'm doing pretty well so far.

I knit a face cloth/dish cloth for a friend.  I'm pairing it with some wonderful handmade Herbal Oatmeal Goat's Milk Soap from my shop.

I now know that a solid is a better choice when incorporating a design (can you see the Christmas Tree?) but this is all that I had on hand.  I don't have a yarn stash.  Yet.

I made some double potholders for a family member.

These were actually a sample for a class, but I love them so much, I'm giving them as a gift.

I made a set of two single potholders with hand pockets on the back for another family member.  The third one (without the hanging loop) is a gift for a sewing friend.  These three blocks were orphans that have been hanging out on my design wall for years now.  I'm glad they now have a purpose.

The loops came out kind of wonky, but I don't care.  I wish you could see how the machine quilting I did makes the stars pop!

I'm almost done knitting a hat for another family member.

Oops!  Left the double points at the shop, so I'll have to hold off on finishing this.

I've made a Union Jack block for a family member who asked for "anything British" for Christmas.  Now, I'm trying to decide what to make with it.  I was thinking another potholder since she likes to cook, but I'm thinking now maybe a bag or a composition book cover.  Right now it is just 9" square, so that's a bit small for a pillow, although I could frame it with some of the red and blue, I guess.  Any ideas out there?

Paper pieced, of course

I've got a couple more projects to knock out in the next couple of days.  What about you guys?  What are you making as gifts for the holidays?

SEW Cool Playdates!

Bad blogger!  How can I have let so much time go by between posts?  I think about you guys, my blogging friends, quite often, much more often than I post.  But I tell ya, this "starting a business" business will wear a body out!

So, quick recap of the last month and a half -

Business has been great - classes are almost all at capacity, I now have over 50 local artisans selling in my shop, I am able to pay all my bills, and I am having FUN!

Plus, I've had surprise company - Doreen from Treadlemusic stopped in around mid-October

And then Becky from Quilting Meme stopped in a few weeks later.  (Oops!  Forgot to take a photo!)  Meeting blogging friends in real life is so fun!

I continue to keep my shop closed on Sundays and Mondays - a gal needs a rest, you know.  Yesterday's rest, however, was prepping lesson plans and samples for my newest addition to the services at the shop - SEW Cool Playdates for kids.

For the 5 and up crowd who are just starting to lose their teeth, a 90 minute Tooth Fairy Pillow Workshop.  This has to be one of the easiest yet cutest things I've done in a while.

For the 8 and up crowd, a 3-hour Patchwork Doll Quilts Workshop.  I used gridded fusible to align the squares, so instead of sewing twosies, then four patches, and so on, there are just 17 total seams to make this quilt top.  Add some fusible fleece and backing, birth the quilt, add a bit of simple, straight line machine quilting and voila!

Today I want to time out a Rag Doll lesson plan as another option, plus tweak my t-shirt backpack design.  Winter is coming, and I want to give parents something fun for their kids to do outside the house, but also out of the cold.

What have you all been up to?  One goal for today is for me to find out - I haven't read any blogs for eons!  Be well!

Planning Ahead

The beginning of this week presented a couple of milestones to celebrate. One month of my shop being open - woot, woot! This week, it was downright busy in there! I have not spent more than 15 minutes alone in the shop all week. Twice this week, there were people waiting outside for me to open! The word is spreading! This harebrained idea of mine might actually work out!

Tuesday was my 42nd birthday. Well, mine and my twin sister's. We are at a stage where I don't think we look that much alike - our hair is different lengths right now. But can you tell, am I "Thing 1" or "Thing 2"?

Having a birthday in the shop was FABULOUS! It was Knit Together day, so there were knitters there from the time I opened (yep, someone was waiting outside for me when I arrived), until almost 6 PM. They brought flowers and cookies and chocolates and a doll made just for me. And when I opened my email, what did I find? I had won the Hawthorn Threads weekly giveaway! On my birthday! What are the chances?

They mailed it right away, and my goodies arrived already - I wanted to share photos of the Amy Butler goodness, but Blogger is fighting me about adding more photos and I just don't have any fight left in me today.

I haven't been doing too much sewing for myself lately. I taught one 3-session Quiltmaking 101 class, and started teaching the second 3-session class today. I taught rag rug making to an oversized class of 10 (my classes are supposed to be 3-6 students so everyone gets individual attention). I'm teaching that series again starting this Saturday. I can't believe how popular that has been.

I took a Learn to Knit class here at my own shop and made a hat. Now I'm working on a matching scarf.  I took a Beginning Crochet class here at my own shop, and have had fun learning the different stitches. We've only met once so far, so I only know 3 stitches. Crocheting seems really easy to me.

And my after school program kids have made 3 projects so far - aprons upcycled from pillowcases, snap shut coin purses and fabric composition book covers.

Now I am turning my thoughts to October and Breast Cancer Awareness and what I can do in my shop to support the cause. Any ideas out there? Right now I am thinking of having the following:

1) Knit Sessions to make Chemo Caps.
2) Drop in sessions to make paper pieced Pink Ribbon Pins to wear.
3) Drop in sessions to make quilt blocks for a quilt to raise money for cancer research - but what pattern? And how to raise the money - by raffling the final quilt or by having folks make a donation to make a block or some other way?
4) Pink Ribbon fabric for sale either as Fat Quarters or yardage with the proceeds being donated for Breast Cancer Research.

What do you think? Do any or all sound viable? Do you have other ideas? I'm going to deck out the display windows with pink ribbon stuff, and might ask the vendors if they might agree to having part or all of their sales for a particular day to be donated. I welcome any suggestions from any of you!