Quilt Market Recap - Portland 2013

Christine and I went to Portland this year for the spring Quilt Market! Here is some of the amazing fabric we'll be getting in over the next few months:

AMAZING Melody Miller...

Nani Iro:

Kiyohara, Kokka, Ellen Baker and Echino:

That's Rashida Coleman-Hale with Christine! Her newest line 'Koi' is with Cloud9 - ORGANIC!!!!

Here's a small sample... it's voile. I can't wait to make a dress out of this!

Cloud9 fun by Sarah Watson:

Kaufman yarn dyes to die for, and some cheetah jersey! I couldn't help myself.

Heather Ross' newest collection 'Briar Rose':

I love the parent frog helping the baby frog to swim! And the wee little pants on the riverside!

Carrie Bloomston / Such Designs:

Lizzy House!

The rumor that there will soon be Downton Abbey fabric is true...

Alexander Henry:

Tula Pink, Marjolein Bastin, Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry:

The always amazing Yuwa Fabrics:

Colette Patterns is based in Portland, and they teamed up with Amy Butler to host a lovely party at their studio! Here's Sarai of Colette Patterns with Jaime and Amber from Fancy Tiger:

Alexia Abegg (who just came to Sew L.A. to guest-teach a fantastic Lulu Tunic class) and Christine:

Amy Butler and Melody Miller:

Hamming it up!

Alexia Abegg from Green Bee Patterns!

Please join us at Sew L.A. on Sunday May 5th for a party to celebrate Alexia's book, Liberty Love! We carry her Green Bee line of patterns (I have a crush on the Amelia Dress!) and were psyched that she was willing to travel all the way from Nashville to party with us. 

We'll be swinging right into the reception at 5pm (after the workshop detailed BELOW) and going strong till 7. As always, look forward to fantastic snacks & drinks created by Devon, Haley & Christine!

Before the reception, we are thrilled to have Alexia as a guest teacher, heading up a workshop for the adorable Lulu Tunic from her book. This workshop is open to any student who has completed one beginner garment class - Cute Skirt, Tess' Dress or Pajamarama. Please follow this link to sign up for the workshop! This is a one-time class and space is limited...

Making Embroidery Personal with Lisa Solomon

We are so happy to welcome Lisa to Sew L.A. for this very special workshop! Fresh from teaching at Purl Soho in New York, she's got some lovely projects in store for you. 

You'll learn how to transfer an image - a drawing or photograph - to fabric and then Lisa will show you how to embellish it beautifully with embroidery. Click here for all the info and to sign up - spaces are limited for this one-time workshop!

Also, any and all can join us after the workshop for a BOOK PARTY for Lisa's 'Knot Thread Stitch' book - she'll be there to mingle and chat and of course sign your book, and we'll have snacks and libations set out between 4:30 and 6pm. We'll see you there!

The Bearding Ladies Quilt Group!

Announcing The Bearding Ladies Quilt Group!

Hey all, Christine reporting here! We are SO excited to announce that we are starting a monthly quilt meet up at Sew L.A.!!! We will gather the third Monday of each month from 6:30-9:30pm and talk quilts! It’s a place to bring finished projects to show and tell, share your favorite quilting tips, trade ideas and techniques, learn new skills, and get input on your work in progress. The Bearding Ladies quilt group meetings are free and open to everyone! Please join us!

So, you might be wondering, how did a quilt group get started at Sew L.A., the land of the garment seamstresses? Well, here’s how it went down.

First we had Rebecca Prange, our lone quilter in the bunch. Then came Devon Iott, another quilter in the teacher line up. Next thing you knew, Shaerie, Haley, Hollye, and myself were all quilting! I’m not sure what happened! I know I’m enjoying a completely different style of sewing from my usual garment construction, and perhaps that’s true for all of the other new quilters in the house too. No matter what got us going, we are now all quilters. It’s a slippery slope!

We offer multiple quilting classes each semester and between all of the new quilters in the house and all of our quilting students, we thought it was time to form a real quilting group. But to be honest, we’re a little punk rock for anything too formal, so we decided on a few things up front. First, we have mad respect for the LA Modern Quilt Group and its founder, Alissa Haight Carlton. So first things first, I chatted with her to make sure there was no stepping on turf, and like a real quilter, she was excited that we were all bitten by the quilting bug and gave us her blessing. (This is so West Side Story – we’ll have to snap and dance around our quilts!)

Next, we had to think up a name. Devon and Haley started looking up quilting terms and after some back and forth, we all loved the word bearding. What is bearding? Bearding is a term for when the batting comes through to the right side of your quilt. It’s not a good thing, and it suited the bad-girl vibe we were after for our posse. Pair bearding with the word ladies, and well, it goes from a bad-girl vibe to something even worse. We were smitten.

Of course, every group needs a good logo and mascot, so we called upon Hollye, our resident graphic designer and she developed our bearded lady, complete with beard (of course) and since we’re ladies, her beard is topped off with a delicate bow. Again, we were in love. So with our name, logo, and times set, it’s now time to get these going!

Please join us for the first of what will hopefully be many quilt meetings, Monday January 21 from 6:30-9:30pm. We hope you come, bring ideas of what you’d like this group to be, and of course, bring quilts, tips, works in progress, and anything else you’d like! See you there!