Archive | October, 2012

I wanted to do a quick post to share with you all something new I’m doing. It’s called a virtual quilting bee. I know, it sounds so futuristic. :-p

In a nutshell, a virtual quilting bee is a group of quilters (our group has 8 members) that collaborate to finish a quilt top for each member. For example, each month one member will ship fabric and guidelines for 1-2 blocks to all the other members. The members will assemble the blocks using the fabric and guidelines, and then ship them back. That member will then use those blocks to create a full quilt. What makes this fun is each block is a little different because its assembled by different quilters. This makes for a unique and one-of-a-kind quilt.

…I hope that didn’t make you go cross-eyed and that I explained it okay…I’m typing this up pretty late…

Anyway, I assembled these blocks for Betsy (a good friend and initiator of the virtual quilting bee! 🙂 who had the month of October. When my month is up (I have to wait until May….whaaa!), I will ship out my fabric and guidelines to all the members for a quilt of my choice.

 Anyway, here’s how the blocks turned out. You can tell by the design how much room for interpretation there is to make each block unique. It’ll be fun to see how the finished quilt with all of the members blocks incorporated will look.

Pretty cool concept, huh?

  

This weekend the Stitch and Sew Studio in West Seattle officially opened! I’ve been meaning to do a post about this sooner, but time got the best of me. A lot has gone on this last month…one being that I’ve decided to leave my day job in the biotech industry so I can stay home with my son. My new job (other than being a full-time mommy 🙂 will be working part-time at this new studio! I will be planning and hosting parties and events, as well as teaching quilting classes.

This studio is something else because the sky is the limit on what this space has to offer. Baby showers, children’s birthday party’s, events, sewing and quilting classes and open sewing sessions – this space was made for the community to foster a fun and creative environment. Monica Skov (owner of the West Seattle Fabric Co.) opened this studio because it’s what the community craved; a fussy-free and fun, creative learning space where the community can come together and create! This will be done via after school sewing classes,  mother and child sewing projects, all levels of sewing classes and as mentioned previously, baby showers where guests make bibs, appliqued onesies or a group quilt for the mom-to-be.

The grand opening went really well! Lots of people came out to see what the studio is all about. The back was stocked with sewing themed sweets by a local caterer, there were raffles for free fabric and classes, and local fabric designer Lida Enche came in and showed off her textile collections and artwork. The Stitch and Sew Studio received a lot of support and enthusiasm from the community! Thank you to all who popped in. 🙂

Anyway, I can go on and on about this space but I wanted to dedicate this post to showing off some  fun and inspiring pictures of the new space that I took before the doors opened to the public.

If you’re in the Seattle area, you’re welcome to drop by to see what it’s all about, or check out the Stitch and Sew Studio website for details and follow the Stitch and Sew Studio’s Facebook page to keep updated on the latest classes.

Lastly, check out this fun article on the West Seattle blog from a couple weeks ago where the space was used for the first time by the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild before the doors officially opened. See the studio being put to use and getting lots of love!

Ready for some pictures?!

Entrance to the studio. Blue and pink striped awning – you can’t miss it!

Monica Skov and Lida Enche posing with Lida’s original textile paintings. I was absolutely thrilled to
meet Lida, a local fabric designer who came in and explained the
process of how her paintings are scanned and transferred onto textiles –
very interesting stuff!

 

 Some extra supplies and embellishments for the crafter 🙂

And of course I can’t go without posting some beautiful quilts on display at the studio!

 

And lots of sewing themed sweets locally baked. And yes! There will be a menu available for events and parties.

Adorable monster bibs and onesie samples I made for baby shower ideas.

 

More beautiful quilts!

The quilt above is by Katie Pedersen who will be hosting a class on this beautiful half-square triangle quilt. Check out the website for details.

 

More cozy quilts (above and below) made by mwah…

 

The picture below was actually taken a few nights before the grand opening. Stitch and Sew Studio will provide Babylock sewing machines; very dependable and easy to use.

Come check out the studio and get inspired to create something! You can follow what’s new at the studio via the Stitch and Sew Studio’s Facebook page. 

I’m excited to be posting all the fun projects I have planned for the studio, so stay tuned. My 6 month hiatus of no-sewing-after-having-my-son is definitely over!