Ahhhh, now we're getting somewhere!

Lots of smiles last night as the new quilters sewed their blocks into quilt tops. They had worked hard during the week in between classes to get their blocks finished. When asked if it seemed to take a long time, they all said yes!

Time is an interesting concept when making a quilt. Time can seem to go really fast while sewing, even when it seems like you aren't getting anywhere. I'm often asked how long it takes to make a quilt and that is a hard question to answer. I don't normally keep track, and sometimes sew in bits and pieces. I know it can seem like it's taking forever. And then you are finished. One thing I do know is that it's always worth it in the end.

Today is the last day to vote on your Blogger's Quilt Festival favorites! Go to this post for the links to take you there! Winners will be announced tomorrow.

More Whatcha Got Bags and Blogger's Quilt Festival

Jane got her bag from Saturday's class finished. I bet it was finished the next day!

Brenda finished her second bag and it matches her first bag! Trust me, these bags are addictive!

If you haven't voted on your favorites in the Blogger's Quilt Festival yet, voting is open until Friday. I entered my Which Way is Up? quilt in the original design category. If you haven't taken time to browse this virtual quilt show, you should take a look. Lots of eye candy and great inspiration. You can vote for your favorite three in each category, so do some browsing and then vote!

Which Way is Up?

New beginnings and a winner!

We got off to a great start last Thurs. night when the new quilters started sewing their new fabrics in to blocks! That's exciting anytime you have new fabric, but especially so when it's your first quilt.

They are definitely going to be pretty quilts! I can't wait until this week to see how many they got made...yes, they had homework!

Marta took the Modern Cathedral Windows class last month and brought this show and tell on Sat. to show me her new windows. She sized it down a bit, sewed the main parts together by machine and is going to handsew the windows down. Pretty.....

 Notice how she fussy cut the flowers in the centers of one and made a design using darker fabrics in the center of the other.

Rafflecopter chose the winner of the $25 GC to Fat Quarter Shop this morning \ /  \ /  \ / drumroll, please.... Maryellen McAuliffe will be making something very pretty soon with her new purchases at Fat Quarter Shop! Thanks to FQS for sponsoring this giveaway, and Maryellen, please stop back and share what you got!

Whatcha Got in that bag?

I had a great experience on Saturday teaching these great ladies how to make the Whatcha Got? bag by This and That. This bag is great because of its size, shape and the vinyl front so you can see what's inside,

They could choose from 2 sizes and any fabrics they wanted to use. We had so much eye candy! 

And the best part was that all but one got their bag finished (she left early or she would have. More than likely it is finished now!). That hardly ever happens in class, as we are usually working on quilts.

It sounded like many of them were planning on making more for gifts for the holidays. They are perfect for stuffing with those favorite lotions or just give them as is.

This quilter finished hers and started another one!

As you can see, we had a fashion show of pretty bags, which is nice because we can all get inspiration from other people's color choices.

I had this bag prepped so I could use it to show the steps, so I sewed parts of it as we went along. I didn't finish it however, so I spent some time yesterday getting it done. Smokey loves it!

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway for the $25 gift card from Fat Quarter Shop, so go here to enter through Rafflecopter.

The voting is open at Blogger's Quilt Festival until Nov. 7, so you still have time to visit the blogs and vote for your favorites in each category. You can read about my entry here and vote here.

Blogger's Quilt Festival voting is open!

It's time to head over to Blogger's Quilt Festival and vote for our favorite quilt! I entered Which Way is Up? in the Original Design category. To vote, you click on the gray heart in the linky that you like best. It will turn red when you vote. It's that easy.

The It's All About Kids Day 5 giveaway is still open Please go the original post and leave a comment to win a great (who couldn't use this?) $25 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop. Make sure you do it through the Rafflecopter as I will be using that to pick a winner.

It's All About the Kids! Day 5 and a giveaway!

Welcome to Day 5 of SewCalGal's  It's All About The Kids Blog Event!  Lots of inspiration for kids and a few giveaways too. Head over to SewCalGal's to see the full list of blogs participating.

Did you sew as a child? I did... my mom started teaching me to embroider and sew at a young age. She guided my sister and me as we embroidered pot holders as gifts for family and later on as we learned to make clothing for ourselves. She made most of our clothes, so we fell into it naturally. There has never been a time in my life that I haven't sewed.

Because I enjoy it so much, I think it's important to make sewing available for kids. I spend some time every summer holding Kids Camps in our local fabric store. I think I have as much fun as the kids, though I have to keep moving to keep up with them!

Over the past few years, the kids have made pillows, kleenex covers, pajama pants, quilts, and bags. Most of the time I design a pattern for the classes, so I have control over the difficulty of the project.

Kids are open to trying new things and really have fun. Even when they are having problems, they stay focused when they are really interested. As we all know, there is something very satisfying about making a project on your own and they feel it too. They don't fear making mistakes as much as adults and are very creative with their fabric choices.

These pictures are from last summer's camps. I taught two different sessions, the Topsy Turvy Pillow and the Carry-All Bag. The Kleenex covers were a bonus project for the Pillow girls, as they finished early.

When I use purchased patterns for the classes I try to stick with the Learn to Sew section of the pattern catalog....the kids used the Simplicity pattern 2164 last summer to make these cute bags. I chose it for its simple structure and purchased webbing for handles.

Here are some tips if you want to help your child begin to sew.

Pick out a project that is simple enough for a child. If they are overwhelmed, it won't be fun and they won't want to finish.

Take breaks. They have lots of energy, but it is hard to stay focused on most projects for more than a couple of hours.

Don't be too picky. If it holds together and there are no holes in the seams, it is ok, even if the seams aren't perfectly straight. You can guide them to try harder but don't discourage them by making them take out every seam. If it seems too hard they won't want to do it.

Help when needed. Even sewers with some experience need help occasionally, so don't worry that if you help with a tricky seam or  turn handles right side out that they aren't making it themselves.

You can see from these pictures that they were very happy to have a finished project that they could use after these classes. Were they all perfect? They were in their eyes!

To help in the celebration of kids and crafts/sewing, Fat Quarter Shop  has donated a $25 gift certificate! They really do know how to celebrate.  Enter using the Rafflecopter below. You have until Monday to enter and win this wonderful prize! What would you  buy? They have so many beautiful fabrics, it would be hard to choose, but it will be fun to try!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for joining me for this blogging event. I hope you are inspired to start a new project soon with your budding crafter/sewer.I'd love to hear about it when you do!

Let's work on finishing some projects!

I hosted UFO Saturday last weekend and you can see that there was lots of sewing going on....plus a little chatting and laughter!

Dianne and Jane were working on their Cobblestone Path quilts....lots of vibrant colors for both.

Brenda was working on blocks for a local quilt shop's monthly challenge. She was whipping those out like crazy!

Laura worked on some 4 patch mug rugs for gifts for friends. She got a lot done as well.

Barb worked on her Ruby Shadow quilt pieces. She didn't get anymore blocks finished, but she got all of the hst and hourglass sections made so she is ready to start making blocks again. I can't wait to see this beauty finished.

Jane got all of her Cobblestone Path quilt sewn together. It just sparkles, doesn't it?