Alabama Chanin

The recent interest in Slow Sewing is interesting to me. I started hand sewing knit skirts after taking a workshop with Natalie Chanin in Portland Oregon several years back. She did an show in the gallery I was managing of her quilts (they are beautiful if you ever get a chance to see them in person). She offered the class to me for hosting her at the bookstore and having the show. I was hooked!! Sewing knit fabric by hand took all the fear out of sewing with knit fabric. Earlier this summer I bought another kit from Alabama Chanin because they were having a sale. It was the Facet Pattern. Now that is slow sewing…it has taken me all summer to complete the stitching on the 4 panels of the skirt…now I have to cut out the centers for the reverse appliqué  I also want to add some beading detail to the skirt. I hope to get it completed by Thanksgiving. 

 The top photo is of the 10 skirts I have made over the years (the most recent Facet skirt makes 11). I added beading detail to some skirts when I got a chance, I look at some of these skirts as a work in progress. I can keep adding detail when I have time. 

I have not even talked about the dresses I have made from the Alabama Chanin books. That is another post. 

Home Accessories

I have been a little busy lately. I've been trying to make several of these Pendleton Wool Rugs in an attempt to sell some on etsy. I figured that I need to make about 15 rugs so I can have a full page of items. I love making them but have become bored after making only seven rugs. 

I started to make this blue quilt for my sister when she got married last summer but found out from several family members that my sister does not like the color blue. So I set this blue quilt aside and made a different quilt top for my sister and her wife. I have not finished my sisters quilt, I have to get up to Modern Domestic and use the long arm quilting machine. But I really wanted to finish a quilt this last week, so I pulled out the small blue quilt to see if I could get it done on my home machine. I feel good about finally completing this blue quilt.  

I LOVE TO SEW

I love to sew, it makes me very happy. My Great Grandmother taught me to embroidery. On Friday nights my sister and I would spend the night at Little Grandma's house..she would make peanut butter cookies and teach us new stitches for pillow cases or teach us to crochet. She used to make quilts for us as kids. She would cut up old clothes for the quilts. I have several of the quilt tops and I'm working my way through turning them into an actual quilts. This is one of my favorites

There are several pieces of fabric I recognize from aprons and dresses my grandmother wore. It made me very happy to complete this quilt top.