The Latest Happenings
posted by Laura Martell on October 15th, 2009 at 8:00 AM
I want to share 2 beautiful Professional Totes with you made by Gigi Gould. I just love the way she placed your fabrics. Gigi chose a third fabric to use for the pockets and I love the look.
Again, Gigi used 3 fabrics for the outside of the tote and it looks awesome! Thanks, Gigi for sharing.
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posted by Laura Martell on October 3rd, 2009 at 2:10 PM
I have 2 customer show & tell pictures for you today. My first one is from Tammy Triglianos in Chapel Hill, NC. She works at Thimble Pleasures Quilt Shop and made this elegant Carol’s Convertible Purse for a store sample. The fabric choice is wonderful and makes it look like leather or suede.
My second picture is all the way from Sweden where Kerstin Eklöf Persson, made this in a class at Tyger & Ting quilt shop in Burseryd, Smålandsstenar in the south of Sweden. The “As You Like It” Purse has a front flap that is interchangeable and or reversible. Kerstin made 2 flaps and they are wonderful. I love the creative way that Kerstin added the colored squares to the front of one of her flaps.
Making flaps for an "As You Like It" Purse is a great way to try out a new sewing technique that you want to try. It's a small project and you can see if you like the new technique without spending a lot of time on a large project.
Thank you Tammy and Kerstin for sharing your pictures and ideas.
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posted by Laura Martell on September 29th, 2009 at 6:44 PM
Stash Dash continued...
Our next stop is another 45 minutes away in Wake Forest, NC. Quilt’s Like Crazy. This is another large, bright quilt shop with gorgeous quilts hanging up all around the walls, making for great eye candy. 
We all managed to find things to purchase with our 20% discount coupon. Each shop offered a 20% discount on one item, so of course we had to use them.
By this time it is after 5:00 and has been drizzling rain all afternoon and we are getting punchy, tired and hungry again, but we still have 3 shops to go and dinner to eat before closing time of 8:00. Down the road we go to our next stop, Carolina Sew and Vac. 
Kathy and I find a great template and pattern for a 4 Sided Placemat. I am so excited about making these placemats and will write about it in a few days when I actually make one.
Kathy’s birthday was on Thursday so we had to celebrate. Ursula knew that Carrabba’s Italian Grill Restaurant that was close by gives you a free dessert for your birthday so of course we had to go there. We had a wonderful meal and then ordered the Chocolate Dream for dessert with 3 forks. OMG!!! 
That is the BEST chocolate dessert I have ever eaten, and I obviously haven’t missed too many desserts along the way. All I will say is that the table next to us “wanted whatever we were having”!! I will be going back there for dessert with my DH very soon.
Ok, time is getting short, but we have to get to 2 more shops. Sew Unique
was our next stop so we ran in got our passports stamped, made a couple quick purchases and headed for our final stop.
Bernina is a special spot for us because all of us have worked there. I worked there for almost 11 years, Kathy for about 2 years and Ursula still works there. But, sometimes we take advantage of the ones we love the most. As Ursula dropped us at the door, after driving over 180 miles during the day, the closed sign was being placed on the door. I started waving my arms and hollering NO!!!, please let us in! They did let us in even though they had finished counting the passports. We stayed long enough to get pictures of our exhausted selves and headed home after a long, but wonderful day with lots of laughter, and with all 8 pieces of the quilt pattern.
I am taking an online digital scrapbooking class called Type + Writer, on the JessicaSprague.com website. Our first assignment was to write about our most recent adventure. Since I had gone on the Stash Dash the day before, I decided to scrapbook about my quilt adventure. Jessica gives you the template to work with and you fill it in with patterned patterns, pictures and journaling words.
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posted by Laura Martell on September 26th, 2009 at 3:54 PM
Yesterday I went Shop Hopping with Ursula and Kathy and Ursula’s trusty(?) GPS System, whom I will name Gypsy. We met at the Bernina World of Sewing parking lot at 9:30, (I was late so it was more like 9:40) and we all got into Ursula’s car and headed to our first shop in Chapel Hill, Thimble Pleasures. What a pleasure that was; they have recently moved to this new location and it looks like they have doubled in size. Their space is open, bright and beautiful! At each quilt shop you get your “passport” stamped and receive a quilt block pattern. After you travel to all 8 quilt shops you will have enough quilt block patterns to make the quilt that all of the shops have on display. Each shop makes a sample of the quilt and displays it in the shop in the color of their choice. 
This is Thimble Pleasures version of the quilt that we were getting patterns for. Look at the incredible quilting on this. Wow!
We all made a purchase and off we were to Etc. Crafts in Cary. Etc. Crafts is in an old house and has 8 charming rooms to explore including the creaky stairs to get to the 2nd floor. We stamped our passports, looked at their amazing quilt, 
made a few purchases and headed to Elegant Stitches also in Cary.
Elegant Stitches specializes in making Heirloom children’s clothing. They have a fabulous selection of smocking patterns, heirloom laces to drool over and beautiful colorful ribbons that I wanted to swim in. I have only smocked one thing in my entire life and that was a baby bonnet for my daughter (28 years ago), but, I am looking forward to making lots of baby clothes for grandchildren (when it happens, no pressure kids!) Here is their version of the quilt. 
Lunchtime! Elegant Stitches is in one of those shopping centers that is like a maze to get into and out of and “Gypsy” wanted to direct us to our lunch location, but we first had to “proceed to the highlighted route”. Easy for her to say, she knew where that was, but we on the other hand did not. So to get across the street to the restaurant we drove through a residential development and through the hospital complex and then Kathy took over and directed us perfectly to the restaurant. A girl could starve trying to get across the street to lunch!
Our next stop was Whistle Stop Quilt Shop in Selma, NC which is about a 45 minute drive. Gypsy failed us again and didn’t tell us to exit off the highway. As soon as we passed the exit (which she didn’t tell us to exit on) she said “RECALCULATING”, in a very snotty way, I might add. She did get us to our location in through the back door so to speak. Whistle Stop Quilt Shop is a charming quilt shop in the middle of downtown Selma. I think downtown is about a 2 square block area filled with wonderful antique shops, restaurants, beading store, railroad station and a real “Barber Shop” with a pole outside. So cute! The shop has wonderful old wood floors and is decorated like an old country store with great quilts hanging all the way around the walls of the store. 
There is a woman, (Janet Daughtry) that makes beautiful handmade baskets for the shop and has them incorporated into the displays. I just had to buy one of them for my every growing basket collection. It is a mini market basket that has a dowel across the handle to place a spool of thread on. Janet painted a tape measure across the top of the handle and it makes a perfect basket for carrying your sewing supplies. 
To be continued...
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posted by Laura Martell on September 23rd, 2009 at 10:06 AM
This weekend I went to my friends daughters baby shower. This is her 2nd little girl so the mom wanted just the basics, diapers, wipes, etc. Since I haven't been to a baby shower since her first baby and haven't had my own babies for 25+ years, I had to buy a cute little nightgown and toy. I don't know how you don't spoil a grandchild! The clothes are just so darn cute. I experimented making my first “hybrid” card. That means that I used my Photoshop Elements software for the background and added purchased stickers. I used a tree brush and a frame brush (which is like a digital rubber stamp) and then added stickers. I think it came out really cute!
Grandma to be made this adorable baby quilt for the little one.
All the young moms brought their little girls all dressed up in their party dresses and I just had the best time watching everyone.
This is my “smile for the camera” pose. Don’t you just want to squeeze her! Precious!!
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After the presents were opened the little girls just had to go swimming in the swimming pool in the back yard. Their mothers were not prepared with bathing suits or towels, so what’s a girl supposed to do? SKINNY DIP! Oh, to be young and inhibited. Those 3 little girls had the time of their life, it was so much fun watching them jump and play and hear the giggles and laughter. They were having so much fun, they weren’t even shivering and the outside temp was on the cool side (for NC anyway) There were sweet dreams that night!
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posted by Laura Martell on September 18th, 2009 at 1:47 PM
In March of this year, I was asked to teach at a weekend retreat in Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. It was put on by the Summer Breeze Creative Quilting and Fabrics shop in Wilmington, NC. I designed a mystery quilt to be made that weekend. I wanted to put lots of quilting techniques into the design and leave room for embroidery if they wanted to do that. There are 9 patches, quarter square triangles, half square triangles, rail fence and foundation piecing included in the design. I was very mean during the weekend and didn't show anyone what the quilt looked like until the last night, although I did have to tease them by showing part of the back of the quilt. We had a great time working on the quilts and most of them finished the top of the quilt.
Pat Tucker was one of my students and she just sent me a few pictures of her finished quilt. She did a fabulous job and even added additional borders to the original design to increase the size of the quilt.
I also love the colors of Pat's quit and Bev's quiting is awesome!
This is a picture of my original quilt with just one border. If you live in the Raleigh area, I will be teaching this quilt starting next Monday, September 21, at Bernina World of Sewing in Raleigh. It is a 4 week course and starts at 10:00 am - 1:00, Four Mondays in a row. Hurry and sign up now!
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posted by Laura Martell on September 15th, 2009 at 7:21 AM
Mary Ann Kramer sent me a picture of her awesome Professional Tote that she is taking with her to Africa. Mary Ann, your fabric choice is absoulutely perfect and I LOVE the green contrast fabric and your "fussy" cut elephant pocket!! Thank you for sharing and have a wonderful safe trip.
"My dear husband and I are making a trip to Africa. I made the Professional Tote for my travel bag. It will hold my Kindle, the new issue of World of Games magazine, a few blocks from my current hand appliqué project, a bottle or two of water, and, of course, the usual travel documents and purse items. I love the design, and your instructions are top notch! Thank you!"
Check out my Sept. 12, 2009 blog for directions for a zipper variation for the Professional Tote.
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posted by Laura Martell on September 12th, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Welmoed wrote to me the other day sharing pictures of the Professional Tote she just made. She shared with me a couple of changes she made to her bag and I thought they were really cool. My favorite one was where she used a separating zipper at the top of the tote. This allows the bag to open wider at the top. She offered to write down the directions and within hours had them posted on her September 7, 2009 blog. If you want to try another way to do the zipper at the top of the Professional Tote, check out Welmoed’s directions. I can’t wait to try one myself, thank you so much Welmoed for sharing your ideas.
The bag Welmoed made is beautiful and will be used as a diaper bag complete with vinyl pocket lining. She has listed all the details on her September 5, 2009 blog.
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posted by Laura Martell on September 11th, 2009 at 6:50 PM
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