New Wave

I am so proud of the young women sewists who have taken so beautifully to the craft and the results of some of their first projects is amazing.  We have adapted an Amy Butler pillow to fit a beginner’s skill set.  The lesson includes color choices, strip cutting, top-stitching among other techniques.  I can tell that the women are really enjoying  the Sunday break and the common bonds they are developing. Thanks Jenn, for the Mother’s Day Goodies.  And I’m having so much fun!

P.S. It’s a drop in, so it really works around their busy mom-schedules and anyone can join in at any time.

 

Look what Debbie made with her scraps!

 

On the Grid

 

I’ve designed another quilt, written another pattern and finally completed the quilt top after much deliberation.  Jennifer Paganelli gave me a stack of fabrics that she designed for her latest collection – coming January 2009 – and I puzzled them into what finally looks like a great cover for the pattern.
These are just a few of them.

 

 

One seam to go

I am using the Flower Power prints in aquas, peach, pink and green.  There is a perfect shot of animal print all around.  We’re so happy that Westminster is bringing back the brown and white, black and white zebra prints that sold out the door last time.  They add a punch of kitsch to anything they touch.  I will now be using the rest of the scraps to come up with fabulous garments and accessories.

Flower Embellishment in process

  Nose to needle again…

 

 

 More at the store…

 

Jill made twin gifts from Wee Wonderfuls Pattern

Strawberry Fields

 

Make-up Class

A tutorial for this easy bag was requested and will be uploaded to our website.

A patchwork headpiece

A cartoon headpiece

A holiday neck-piece

Amy Butler, Simplicity and Proud Mama

My littlest sewists

 

Diana's Apron

Mimi's Apron

 

 

                                                                                                   

 

Nancy finishes in time!

Eileen's naturally dyed fabrics are amazing!

So much in only a couple of weeks.  Whew!

 

It’s so cute…

If I say so myself.  Returning from Quilt Market with tons of ideas and a 150-bolt order has made me focus on my two month time frame for their delivery.   Kaffe, Brandon, Phillip,  Jennifer, Anna Maria, Amy, Minny Miu, Art Gallery all in view through my “magic mirror.”  (remember  Romper Room? I’ve been inspired by childhood lately.)  I’ve also begun to reorganize the shop a bit with an area (as Stu says:) that looks like a puppet show will be starting.  My other amazing collection of props: a child-size wooden ironing board, bright red toy iron and a battery-operated pink sewing machine.   

A corner of kid inspiration

 

 

Minny Miu Fabrics

 

 

 

I have loads of sample garments and quilts to make, with a priority being the new pattern for Jennifer Paganelli’s unreleased line of fabric.  I have half-yards of the whole collection, thanks to my favorite courier, Nancy, who is also working on a pattern for JP.

But I just had to interrupt that project to make a tiny (size 3) dress. It shouldn’t take too long.

Art Gallery Fabrics are a great choice for kids!

 

 

 

Fashion Show

Last week, there was a surge of finishing projects (and mostly wearables) and the makers came to visit us at The Quilter’s Alley. The store is in the background in a lot of the shots.

 

Audrey

 

A Birthday Skirt

 

Barcelona Skirt

 

Lounge Pants

 

New Kaffe Fassett

I made this one. Sew easy!!!

 

And then the quilters…

 

Cheer Leader Extraordinaire!

 

Runner Extraordinaire!

 

Some beautiful things come our way.

It’s hard to keep up with all the visual beauty that passes through the Quilter’s Alley on a daily basis.  In the last week, I’ve had visits from customers who shared their hard work with us. It’s amazing how creative and prolific people are.  With all that goes on in a life, it is great that people take time to sew. Those of us who do it know how magical it is. In alphabetical order…

 

Talking Dresses

I’ve dredged up a old icon to spend time with lately. It goes back several years, and, as I mentioned in my last post, sometimes I revisit the sketchbook storehouse to get myself back into inspired mode.  So I decided to cut some templates and print the silhouette on plain fabric.  Then I dyed and painted more stuff.  I used my favorite green fabric paint color, with my favorite brown color and made some murky images. Then I took brighter fabric and traced the silhouette with bleach pen.  Then I dyed over some of the cheerier color and I got some murky thing again.  Some of the dresses are cut out and sewn back onto other fabric.  Some are just squares of fabric. All in all, I’ve tried to brighten them by surrounding them with more color, whether with fabric or stitching and I like what I’ve got. So far I’ve made four…and counting, I’m still not done.  These gals have become simple bags which may end up on (that labyrinth called) Etsy.

 

 

Life cycle of cloth

Three days and three yards, at least, into this tiny baby kimono project that I thought would be quick.  The directions and pattern are on Martha’s craft site, but I couldn’t make sense of it – the illustrations didn’t illustrate, the directions didn’t direct- so I just went my own way on this one, the long way.   There’s never enough time to do everything and less of it now. I guess it came out okay, but try #3 has upsidedown amy flowers.  

 I’m squeezing in macro shots between/during loads of laundry. (the life cycle of fabric) Luckily one of my favorite pieces of cloth  (circa 1970) hangs in my laundry room.

 

Frenzy is good for?

We have been working feverishly to ready ourselves for the Lancaster, PA show next week.  I’ll spare you the details  But, the new Amy Butler has arrived in the midst of the frenzy.  The sample images aren’t all available yet, but a sneak peek of how beautiful they are.