Five Days of Sewing

I really can't believe what you can get done when you just get to sit down and sew!  What a luxury!  Now I can't wait to do it all again next year--or maybe before then if we can get another retreat together.  The creative energy that happens when you get a group of people who love to turn what's in their imagination into reality is really something!

Aunt Maggie came a day and a half early, so the day before we left for the retreat we sat down and had a sew fest.  I quilted all 8 of the placemats I'd pieced at last year's retreat while Maggie created pillowcases.  I'd been cutting out things to take with me, and I embroidered the names on the stocking cuffs so they would be ready to sew.  Never before had I planned out what I was going to do in such detail, and for the most part, it really paid off.  Of course there's always the elastic that was left at home and the ribbing that got cut 90 degrees off that brought some projects to a halt before they were finished. 

We got to the retreat about noon on Thursday, and unloaded (a real chore). I wanted to get pants sewn for the girls, so Miss E got the purple cord (remember, she LOVES both  the word and the color purple) and a deep rose cord for Miss K.  I had also embroidered hearts on denim for back pockets for Miss V.  All that's miss in these now is the hems, and I need to see the girls for those.  I started a heart shirt to match Miss V's denims, but the aforementioned ribbing that was cut wrong brought that to a screeching halt.  Something to finish this week.  I also made of blue stretch pants that aren't pictured because they don't have elastic yet that are from the same pattern I made the girls' mother a long, long time ago!  Yeah for Stretch & Sew.  I learned a lot of good techniques for working with knits from those patterns, and that was pre-serger days.  I'm constructing the top totally on the serger now and it is so much faster--love my cool tools.  The first evening I put binding on five of the eight placemats , but my fingers got tired so I moved on to another project, so three more will be done later.

I also remembered Kit and Ruthie while I was there.  They  get to share both denim and aqua stretch pants which allows them to dress like their Mom. Ruthie  got a new dress, too.  The best thing, though, is the quilt top made from scraps from Miss V's big girl bed quilt that will fit on the trundle bed they share that turned up at Christmas.  There's enough backing fabric from the line to match, and I even have matching binding.  There's an evening of quilting in my near future, and then another to add binding, I'm sure.  I'll have to use the rest for a blanket for the trundle bottom bed.

A few other projects were started--a new set of placemats are being pieced, a sweatshirt for  me that seems a bit big, but I'll probably finish and wear it, and a pair of "surprise" pants I found all cut out, from who knows when, and decided to sew up.  I need to make them shorter, but they will be a nice pair of navy stretch capris when spring finally arrives.  All in all, a very constructive time shared with good friends.  A true retreat in every sense of the word!

Sewing Weekend Here I Come!

While January has never been my favorite month of the year, mostly due to the fact that I HATE to be cold, it holds one distinct pleasure not found in any of the other eleven months--my ASG sewing retreat.  I dream about this retreat all year, because it's just like one big sewing party doing something I love to do so much.  Add good friends who also have the sewing bug to the mix and you get an all time favorite pass time that doesn't involve family.

Getting ready for the retreat can be quite an endeavor!  For those of you who don't know me well, the first task is to clean off the cutting table so I can use it for its intended purpose--cutting out projects.  It took me a full day to get everything I had stacked on it put away so it could be used, but I managed to do it.  Then I started cutting out items.  Since I sew for three small girls as well as myself, I started with some items for them, like pants and shirts, and Christmas stockings.  Yes, I said Christmas stockings.  Misses E & K have the baby ones I made, but they need big kid ones like Miss V, so I went through my Christmas fabric stash and picked out two prints I really like so I could make their stockings.  I cut out five pairs of pants, two tops, and will continue to cut today so that I don't run out of things to do.

Something else you have to do is pack what you think you'll need because you don't get a chance to come home and there isn't a fabric store you can visit at the lake.  Last year I just worked on quilting projects, but this year since I'm sewing clothes I'll need a serger as well as my sewing machine.  As I cut projects, I got the thread, elastic, zippers and any other things I might need to work with.  I also wound at least one bobbin per project so I could just go from one thing to another.  I remembered to pack a variety of needles since I'll be sewing denim, knits, cottons and who knows what else before I'm done.  I have a box with scissors and bobbins and markers and chalk and a brush to clean the machine between projects.  I'll have my bright light and my favorite sewing table and chair, too.  It's like a move, really, but it is so worth it!  Stay tuned to see what I have done when I return.

Pajama Day at School

Miss V's school had a pajama day the last day they had school in December, and it must have made quite an impression on her, but come to think about it, I guess if I had ever gotten to wear my pajamas to school it would have been memorable for me, too.  Between Christmas and New Year's I made pajama pants for both Kit and Ruthie, so when V got here she immediately dressed them in their pajamas and reenacted pajama day at school.  Then, after school, she put them in their karate outfits and reenacted her karate class complete with Ruthie being sent to the office for some offense.  Don't you just love listening to kids!  Art Linkletter was right, they do say the darndest things!