The Long Weekend

I'm doing it.  I just bought the pattern and I'm going to make one.  My first one will be a scrappy one for my sister for Christmas.  I hope it turns out well, and I hope she likes it.

Mouthy Stitches 2 Tote

A couple of months ago I signed up for the Mouthy Stitches 2 swap and today I mailed off the tote I made for my secret partner.

Her inspiration mosaic had a lot of brightly-colored hexagons laid out in interesting combinations, so I decided it was time for me to do some hexies.  The layout for my hexies was inspired by the colors in the hexagons themselves.  I really enjoyed playing around with the different colors and seeing which ones looked good together.  I'm quite happy with how it came out, and I hope my secret partner loves it.

On the reverse side I played around with the quilting a bit.  Another thing I noticed about my secret partner's inspiration mosaic was that all the things she had pictured had some fun geometric-looking quilting, so I did my take on "geometric quilting" while trying to make sure it didn't get too busy.

In addition to the tote, we were allowed to go crazy and make whatever kind of key fob we wanted for our partners.  I stuck with the hexie theme and made my partner a reversible hexie keyfob with  lobster clasp.  Each side of the fob is made out of 6 half-inch hexies, and each side has a rainbow of colors.

I also added one of my new tags I had made recently to the bag.  Now my partner will never be able to forget who she got the tote from.

Linking up this post with:

Giveaway Winner!

 Winner Winner!!!!!

And the winner of my 100th post giveaway was comment #

Which is:

Congratulations Elizabeth!  I've sent you an email!

Thanks to everyone who entered and who gave me some amazing ideas for my classes.  I look forward to using some of them when I start teaching at The Makery next month!

More Stuff to Give Away!

If you haven't yet entered my 100th post giveaway you should go and do so now!

Here's the link: 100th Giveaway Post

And there's more!

The box I had to ship to myself from Sewing Summit because I didn't have any more room in my suitcase arrived yesterday and in it were the rest of the items I'm giving away.

So in addition to all the stuff listed in this post, I'll also be giving away:

One copy of the book Ruby Star Wrapping (which isn't even released yet!), one Spring 2012 Eclectic Modern design catalog for Joel Dewberry, one Pack 'n' Pillow pattern by It's Sew Emma Patterns, one Gabby's Sleepover Jammies pattern by Izzy & Ivy Designs, and one free month subscription to Creativebug.

(I'm turning comments off for this post because I don't want anyone to get confused and try to enter the giveaway here  To win all the things pictures in this post and on the giveaway post hop on over and enter on the original post.)

Good luck + thanks for commenting!

WIP Wednesday 10/17/12

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone!

If you haven't entered my big 100th post giveaway go here to do so now!

So, I have no idea how it happened but October seems to be a crazy hectic month for me in terms of the number of projects I have to do. When I actually sat down and wrote the list out I was amazed.  And this is all post-Sewing Summit stuff.  I did a ton of projects to get ready for Sewing Summit that I still have to photograph and share.

Here's my list (organized by when they have to be done by):
Before 10/20:
-Finish Mouthy Stitches 2 tote and send
-Finish class samples and photograph
-Halloween costumes

Before 10/27:
-Issachar's baptismal gown
-Plan baptism reception
-Plan Halloween party
-Jen's costume?/ presents and send

Before 10/31:
-Stash Bee blocks and send
-Believe at do. Good Stitches blocks and send
-Quilt August Believe at do. Good Stitches quilt

Ongoing WIPs (no deadline):
-"Be Creative" dresden wallhanging
-Mario blocks
-Christmas tablerunners
-12 Days of Christmas quilt
-Harriet's Christmas quilt

And to prove that I'm at least making some progress on my long list, here are some pictures:

Mouthy Stitches 2 Progress

Intro to Quilting: Applique Class Sample

"Be Creative" Dresden Wallhanging Progress

Believe at do. Good Stitches August Quilt Progress

What projects do you have going on that need to be done before the end of the month?

And again, If you haven't entered my big 100th post giveaway you should really go here to do so now!

100th Post Giveaway + The Makery!

I'm back from Utah!!!

I had an absolute blast these past few days attending the 2012 Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City but now I'm home again and it's time to get back to business.

As promised I have a giveaway today to celebrate my 100th post on this blog, and it's an awesome giveaway if I can say so myself.  I have a surprise for everyone though!  The giveaway isn't just to celebrate my 100th post, it's also to celebrate the fact that beginning in November I'm going to be teaching modern quilting and sewing at The Makery in Anaheim, CA.  Yay!

The Makery is a combination craft studio/ co-working space/ creative classroom/ supply shop located in Anaheim California that offers quality instruction in a variety of mediums to crafters of all levels.  In the words of The Makery "We believe in community. We believe in creative expression. We believe in Accessibility."

Starting in November I'm going to be teaching beginning classes in applique and piecing, as well as pouch making and papercrafting.  I'm super excited for this opportunity to work with tha amazing owners and all the other great instructors at The Makery and to be able to share my love of quilting with others.

For the full schedule of classes offered at The Makery, please go here.

Now onto the giveaway!

I had the idea for this giveaway a few months ago and when I realized that the giveaway would end up being right around the same time as Sewing Summit I knew that I would have add some Sewing Summit swag to the pile of loot.

 

So here it is! The giveaway pile o' loot includes: 5 coordinating fat quarters of Reflections by Gudrun Erla for Red Rooster fabrics, one Kate Spain fat quarter with a tag signed by the designer, one seam ripper from Babylock, one measuring tape from Craftsy, a set of "handmade with love" tags, one "Sew Blog Love" sticker, one 4" square template from Tabslot, one set of buttons by Basic Grey, and since I wanted everyone to benefit from all the swaps going on at Sewing Summit I included one I-Spy charm set (with 112 charms!) and one handmade zipper pouch.

And there's more!  I had so much stuff coming back from the Sewing Summit that I couldn't get it all in my suitcase, so I had to ship some stuff home in the mail, including some magazines and books that I'm also planning on including in the giveaway bundle!

So here are the details for the giveaway:

For one entry, tell me what kind of small project you would want to complete in a beginning quilting class.  A mugrug? Some coasters? Something else? And what would be a good design? Basic squares? Half square triangles? log cabin? It would have to be something that could be completed in 3 hours by beginner sewists.

For a second entry, follow my blog (or already be a follower) and tell me so.

For a third entry, "like" Sewing By Stephanie on Facebook and tell me so.

For a fourth entry "like" The Makery on Facebook and tell me so.

The giveaway closes at 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, October 21st, with the winner announced Monday morning.

 Happy Commenting + Good Luck!!!!!