WIP Wednesday: The Meadow

Now that the fall weather is starting to creep in, I feel like I'm starting to do a bit more sewing. It helps that I have a TV in my sewing room so that I can watch football while sewing on Sundays. Over the weekend, I decided to work on my Meadow blocks from Lizzy House's class at SewDown.

I have three blocks done and a fourth all cut out and ready to sew together. There are 20 blocks total plus the border, so I still have a ways to go. Once all of the pieces are cut, the block itself goes together pretty easily. There are some gentle curves, which are great for someone just learning curves.

 

SewDown ThrowDown

While at SewDown, a bunch of us were looking for something to do during the free sew time. I had come directly from a work trip in Milan, Italy, so I didn't have much room to pack extra fabric/projects. Fortunately, we all received charm packs of Michael Miller Cotton Couture solids in our swag bags. A bunch of people decided to do a challenge to make a quilt using the charm pack - and thus the SewDown ThrowDown was born.

While I think everyone else added additional fabric, I set out to just use the fabrics provided in the charm pack - my own personal challenge within the challenge. I knew my suitcase was nearing the max weight, so adding more fabric might have put me over the limit (I ended up three pounds over and had to do some serious moving of stuff anyway).

I decided to make half square triangles, separating the colors by warm and cool colors. Overall, I think trying to separate the colors that way was okay, but because the charm pack was full of colors that could have gone one way or another - yellow or green, or purple or pink - that the separation of colors wasn't quite what I was hoping for.  That being said, I'm still really pleased with how this quilt turned out.

I backed it using an Art Gallery print that I've had in my stash for a couple of years now. As you can see above, I quilted this quilt, echoing either side of the diagonal lines of the HSTs.

I bound the quilt using Kona Iron.

Quilt Stats:
32" x 28"
Fabric: Michael Miller Cotton Couture Solids, Kona Iron, Art Gallery (I forget the line)
Batting: Warm and Natural
Thread: Aurifil #50 2600

First SewDown Finish

When I got home from the Philly SewDown, I was inspired and itching to sew. I made a sixteen patch block using a silk blend fabric and a bunch of Liberty of London prints. I've been wanting to use a bunch of silks and voile/lawn fabrics lately, so this was the perfect chance to practice.

I took that block and made a little pouch!

I used a soft coral zipper and a solid soft blue fabric for the lining.

For the back of the pouch I used a cream linen fabric.

I'm anxiously awaiting an order of Liberty of London prints that I ordered when I got home from the SewDown. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I'm excited to start hoarding more of those and eventually make some awesome stuff, whether it be a dress or a quilt. 

SewDown Philly Wrap Up

Last weekend I was fortunate to attend the Philly SewDown, hosted by The MQG, with four of my fellow Boston MQGers.

I arrived a little early and had a chance to stroll around Old Town Philly. This was my first time in Philly, so I wanted to check out some of the sights.

My first class was with Liesl Gibson on making a sample textured quilt. I made these four blocks in the class.

Here I am with Liesl!

My second class on Saturday was with Elizabeth Hartman. Here we learned tips and tricks on making a perfectly quilted tote. Here are the Boston MQG members with Elizabeth and are partially quilted panels.

On Sunday we took a class on beyond quilting cottons with Alexia Abegg and got to touch THE Marcelle Medallion quilt! I've been hoarding a ton of silks and have been too hesitant to cut into them. Maybe after this class I will.

I MAY have gone and purchased a ton of Liberty of London fabrics after this class. Needless to say, I was inspired to do something outside of my comfort zone.

Finally, I got to hang out with Lizzy House and learn her secrets to making The Meadow quilt.

Lizzy will be coming to visit the guild in November, so I better get moving so that I have something to show her during her visit.

Because the classes were three hours long, I was able to get a jump start on a bunch of projects and am excited to finish a few of them. Now to just decide what to finish first. To check out all of the projects and happenings from the SewDown, check out Instragram.

The weekend also included several lectures during lunches and dinner. Overall, I had a great time getting to know some of my blogging friends a bit better and spending time with some of my awesome guild members. I thought the SewDown was a great event and if my schedule permits, maybe I'll attend another one. My schedule will be tightening up a bit though, as I will be going back to school for my MBA starting in two weeks.

Registration opens tomorrow for the Portland SewDown. If you're on the fence, just go for it. How can you beat a weekend of sewing? 

SewDown Philly

It's official, I'm registered for the Philly SewDown! 

After having a fantastic time at QuiltCon, I knew I wanted to attend one of the SewDowns. First up is the Philly SewDown, which just happens to be the closest one to my house. 

I'm excited to spend four days down in Philly, sewing away with some wonderful quilters. I loved QuiltCon, but was so anxious to quilt after spending so much time looking at the wonderful quilts and hearing all of the lectures. 

So who's joining me at SewDown Philly? (Is it me, or does anyone else want to break out into a Boyz II Men song every time they hear "SewDown Philly" - must be the fact that I just saw them in concert last week.)