loot report

Just when I thought my garage sale season was over... There were TWO rummage sales this weekend AND another quilter's stash sale! I'm beginning to think my husband is right - Seattle is where quilters go to retire! But at $4 per yard, the prices were a bit crazy for a garage sale, so I left empty-handed. Probably for the best, anyhow!

I have been keeping an eye out for wool sweaters to try out felting, and finally scored a few (and only 50 cents each!) at one of the rummage sales. I really wish I had taken a "before" picture, because this sweater shrunk SO much, I could hardly believe my memory of its original size. But there's the tag - it really was a women's size large. Look how tiny it became! I wonder if I even have enough material to try this project? We'll see! The other two sweaters didn't shrink as much, but still might be usable. It was a fun experiment, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for more in the future. Oh, and I learned that I should have removed those buttons before I washed the sweater - they were a bear to remove!

I also hit up the thrift store, and found this awesome old Christmas fabric - 5 yards for $2.50. Just look at that adorable chipmunk! How could I pass it up? The selvage says 1993... I wonder what it's been doing for the last 16 years?? I think its time has come, and I might just make a tablecloth out of it.

And of course, a few more vintage sheets I couldn't pass up. I love that purple one, because it's the ONLY purple sheet I've ever found! I wonder why it's so rare? Seems like every other color is represented but purple... Was it just that unpopular back in the day?

moleskine cover, the tutorial

Okay, here's a quick and dirty tutorial for the Moleskin notebook cover. [[Edited to add - this is for the "large" Cahier notebook, which is 5" x 8.25". And last I looked, they were still on sale for $6 (for a set of 3) at Amazon.]] I'm in the middle of creating a PDF file which has more details (including cutting instructions to make 3 identical covers at once). But if you have some basic sewing skills, I'm sure you'll be able to figure things out from these rough instructions. Once again, I'd like to give credit to the Mr. Monkeysuit moleskin cover tutorial that I started with, and the Moda Bake Shop binder cover tutorial, from which I took my modifications.

Step 1. Cut your fabric and notions:

• Focus fabric (my red) - one piece 11.5" x 9", two pieces 4.5" x 9"
• Contrast fabric (my green) - one piece 2" x 9", two pieces 4.5" x 9"
• Lining fabric (my white) - one piece 11.5" x 9"
• Interfacing - one piece 11" x 8.5"
• 3/8" woven elastic - 9"
• 1/4" ribbon - 12"

Step 2: Take that narrow strip of contrast fabric, fold in half (right sides together) and sew around the edges using a 1/4" seam allowance, and leaving about 1.5" open. Clip three corners (not the unsewn one), turn and press.

Step 3: While you're at the ironing board, center the interfacing (glue side down!) on the wrong side of the large piece of the focus fabric, and adhere according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Step 4: Still at the iron... fold the coordinating pieces in half (wrong sides together) and press.

Step 5: Fold the outer cover in half lengthwise, and finger press. Pin the pen holder (folded edge up) to the right side of the outer cover, about 1" to the right of the center, and 1" up from the bottom. Edge stitch on three sides, as shown.

Step 6: Lay out your two smaller pieces of focal fabric. Layer the folded pieces of contrast fabric on top (folded edges up, bottom and sides even with the focal fabric). Then add the elastic on the left side, about an inch from the edge. Pin and then machine baste on the dashed lines (about 1/8" from the edges), as shown.

Step 7: Fold over about 3/8" on the long edges that have been basted (the inner edges above), and press. Sew them down with about a 1/4" seam. You can use a straight stitch, or zigzag.

Step 8: Lay out the outer cover, and pin the ribbon at the center top. Tuck the other end of the ribbon into the pen holder pocket, or just let it poke straight out the bottom (you'll be leaving that area open anyway).

Step 9: Lay the flaps on top, right sides down, with the hemmed edges to the inside.

Step 10: Lay the lining piece on top, and pin all the way around. Using a 1/4" seam allowance, start at the bottom at the inner edge of one flap, and sew all the way around to the inner edge of the other flap. The space between the flaps will be your opening for turning.

Step 11: Clip the corners, and turn. Don't get freaked out if you see the wrong side of the flaps!

Step 12: If you're seeing the wrong side of the flaps, just pull them around to the other side. Press all edges, and sew the opening shut (by machine or hand).

Step 13: Insert the notebook by holding the inner pages in one hand and folding the covers straight back, and putting both covers into the flaps at the same time.

Step 14: Sit back and admire! Oh, and pull the elastic around the back, and add a pen. Now you're done!

Please let me know if anything is unclear (or if anything is incorrect!). And if you make one, let me know - I'd love to see them!!

retreat - what a treat!

Oh my goodness, that was fun! Exhausting, but fun! Karen put on a fantastic retreat, and I'm so very glad I went. I hope it's the first of many! I came home feeling like I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here are at least a few...

This is the big "lodge" we stayed in. I only realized on the morning we left that there was a hot tub out back! Rats! I'm not sure I would have taken the time to sit in it (and didn't bring a bathing suit anyway), but by Sunday morning, a hot soak was sounding SOOOOO good...

This little visitor was outside to greet us both mornings...

Here's a shot of our crafting space - a huge gym! I loved all the design walls around the edges - it was so fun to walk around every once in a while and admire everyone's work. We each had our own table, and I felt like I had plenty of room to spread out. I don't think it would be possible to actually quilt with this setup (except maybe a small one), but for piecing and such, it was great.

My buddy Robin was at the table across from me. Here she is, slaving away on her Prairie Pinwheels quilt blocks. Check out the full picture - isn't it gorgeous?? I'm not sure I would have taken the plunge if Robin hadn't come along with me, so thanks again my friend!

I loved snooping around at other people's setups, to see what tools they were using, and how they had their space arranged. Everyone was really friendly and helpful! For instance, my neighbor Laura saw me snipping apart my zillions of chain-stitched bits, and introduced me to this wonderful gadget:

It makes such quick work of cutting those threads - you just hold the fabric on either side (use both hands - one of my hands was holding the camera!) and pull down and it's done! So quick and easy. I'm definitely going to get myself one of these! (Um, no, I have no idea what it's called...)

As far as the sewing goes... I was sewing machine! I didn't get everything done, but I was still very productive. I got all 24 journal covers done, except for pressing and sewing closed the openings. Yahoo!! [I also took pictures for a tutorial; I hope to have that up by the end of the week.]

I finished the notebook covers on Saturday morning, sewed up the apron in a couple hours that afternoon (sorry - I forgot to take a picture!), and then moved on to the quilt that evening. Robin and I had a race to see who could reach our goal first - her blocks vs. my rows. I won (just barely!), but by then it was 2am! For a girl who normally goes to bed at 9pm, this was a major feat. I was so proud that Robin and I were the last ones to stop sewing that night!!

Here's a (pretty crappy) photo of the rows. With a lot of help from everyone nearby, I was able to work out a nice arrangement. I'm so glad to have been able to do that at the retreat - it would have been so much more difficult at home! Funny enough, this photo was taken just moments before the whole thing crashed to the floor (note to self - do not hang up a batting with painters tape - use the push-pins next time!). Thankfully, it all stuck together enough for me to number the rows. :-) I got a tiny start on the sashing, but then it was time to pack up for the drive home.

My biggest regret is that I did not do a good job of taking pictures of other people's work. Next time I'll do better. But check out Sarah's recap for some great pics of the show-and-tell sessions - there were some spectacular quilts!

And finally, I wanted to mention that the peanut butter cup cookies seemed to be a big hit! I can't believe so many people had never seen them before! Here's a couple recipes - the short way or the long way.

retreat!

I'm so exhausted from preparing for the retreat - I hope I don't sleep all the way through it! :-)

Here's my huge pile of stuff, waiting by the front door for Robin to pick us up. There's a seat cushion, two quilts for the show-n-tell, a power strip, iron, rulers, pressing mat, and so much more I can't remember now. And of course, all my projects nicely bagged...



Here's my to-do list:

• 24 moleskine notebook covers
  
• One of these quilts
• an apron
  
• start on some half-square-triangles from 6" vintage linen squares

I really had to resist the urge to bring every WIP in my sewing room! I have an irrational fear that I'll run out of things to do. It's crazy - I probably already have a week's worth of sewing in there!

And of course, you can't go to a retreat without bringing munchies!! Peanut butter cup cookies and chex mix. Yum!

Okay, gotta run and pack some clothes now. :-) Have a great weekend!

moleskine cover, take 3

I think this is it! I added interfacing, moved the pen holder down so that the bottom gets caught in the seam (just makes assembly a tiny bit easier), and narrowed the inner sleeves a bit (again, for assembly reasons).

I also traded out the hair tie/button closure for an easier full-length elastic closure, because it was actually a pain to sew the hair band and because I'm basically lazy and didn't relish the idea of hand-sewing all those buttons! On the top, it's in the "locked" position (elastic pulled over the back), and on the bottom it's "unlocked". It would have been better with black elastic, but I'm not picky with my prototypes. At least I did change out the white thread for brown. :-)

I also added a ribbon at the top, for a page marker. Kinda gratuitous for such a small notebook, but I like the detail.

I love this floral fabric, and I'm so glad to have found a use for it. It's a "mystery" fabric that I got at a church rummage sale. It feels like cotton, but maybe just a little bit crisper and "vintage-y". The funny thing about it is that when I iron it, it smells just slightly spicy, kinda like Opium perfume! And yes, I washed it! This one is definitely a keeper, and it's mine. :-)

So, now I'm all set to gin out a couple dozen of these at the retreat this weekend. Yay!! I'll take pictures and write up a tute while I'm there, and will post it sometime next week.

moleskine cover, take 2

Here's attempt number 2 (minus the button...). I combined the Mr. Monkeysuit tutorial with a binder cover tutorial from the Moda Bake Shop. The fabric I used this time is from a pillow slipcover that I bought at a thrift store. I love to find slipcovers or duvets that have coordinating fabrics - they are perfect for projects like these!

In the binder tutorial, I liked the wider sleeves and the pockets on the inside. The stripe part here is folded over to form a pocket.

The other thing I liked from the binder tutorial is the "pillowcase" method for combining the front and back, so that the cover is exactly the size of the notebook, instead of sticking out an extra 1/4" on the top and bottom. It looks much tidier this way.

There will probably be a version 3.0 - I'm thinking about narrowing the sleeves a bit, and I might try to add some reinforcement where the button is sewn on, and I'm tempted to try it with some interfacing. After that, I'll write up a mini-tute in case anyone wants to try my version. And speaking of which, the plain Moleskine notebooks (with a blue cover) are currently on sale at Amazon for $6.15 per set of 3. That's about half price, and even cheaper than when I bought mine a couple weeks ago! I'm tempted to buy more!

moleskine cover, take 1

Here's my trial version of the Mr. Monkeysuit moleskine cover. Yes, those are sideways trees. Sigh. Lesson #1 - pay attention to the orientation of the pattern on the fabric!

Oh well, this one is just for me, so I'll still use it! I don't totally love how it turned out, so I think I'll try a few modifications to see if I can get it more to my liking.

I found some interesting loot this weekend! I only went to one sale, for a business that was downsizing (check it out - it's heelarious!). For just a buck or two (thrown in with a plastic cauldron full of pretty halloween decorations, all for $10), I got an envelope chock full of really cool leather samples.

There are 30 different pieces, in various shapes and sizes, most about 4" square. It's hard to tell from the photo, but they are all really thin and supple. I think they will be so wonderful cut into fun shapes for hair clippies or other embellishments. This is one of the funnest parts of thrifting for me - finding cool stuff that I could never, ever buy in a store!!