I won classes at the Orginal Sewing & Quilt EXPO!

 

 

I opened my email yesterday  and this is what I saw.

 

 

 

Congratulations on being the winner of our blog giveaway for a Value Package A! Value Package A includes 5 class sessions, 3 day general admission, an Expo shopping bag and a limited edition neck wallet! 

 

---

                

 

What a nice surprise.  I have been looking through the class list to see what I want to take.  So many choices.

This Expo is in Tinley Park IL which is 30 miles south of down town Chicago.

Beginers sewing class

In September I taught  a free sewing class at the Whiteland Library. 

This is a beginners class  so I expect people to not remember how to thread their machine and how to wind the bobbin  so as I have done every year for the past 5 years  I design a simple class.  I have taught how to make tote bags from new fabric and how to make them from up-cycled bird feed sacks.   Last year I taught how to make a t-shirt quilt.  I supply the fabric and thread for most of the projects, even kiting them up to save time.   I always bring extra scissors pins and measuring supplies as well as other basic sewing items including an iron and an extra sewing machine.  The class description stated to bring a sewing machine.  When checking on the number of people that had signed up I asked if people were bringing their machine and was told yes.  The reason I checked was because the first class I taught for the library  a few years ago had 12 or 13 people showing up to make a tote bag and none of them  brought a machine.   

This year 13  people signed up for the class and 10 showed up.  The amount of people is fine  but of the 10 people 7 did not have a sewing machine and one of the attendees  that did  bring her machine stated that she was going to make a pillow case.   As people came in to the class empty handed I asked them if they had a sewing machine they said no but the library had told them that I would probably have an extra machine.  Yes, I brought 1 extra machine.  Of  the students 2 were teenagers and both did a good job.  One lady  with absolutely no sewing experience brought her 2 girls ages about 6 and 8 (no machine). I like teaching young sewers because they are so happy to make something but at that age you almost need one on one teaching to keep their interest and help them through every step of the project.

Needless to say it was impossible for people to get their apron done when so many were sharing machines and it wasn't fair to those that brought a machine because they couldn't get as much out of the class as they should have.

It was frustrating for me because since so many people were sharing machines I couldn't really teach, I had to run from person to person helping with each part of the project.

  Since the aprons couldn't get finished I said I would teach a second class so everyone could get the help they needed to finish.

I know at least one of my friends  Dee finished her apron because she wore it to our Sewing Guild challenge. 
3 showed up for the class part 2, one of the teenagers, the lady that made the pillowcase in the first class and a gal that had most of her apron done but wanted to hang out and sew.

Dee's finished apron

The second class was easier, the teenager used my extra machine and finished her project and the almost  finished gal got hers done .  This left the nice pillow case lady.  She had a lot of trouble with her machine.  She left her manual at home but I was able to figure out the threading and tension issues for her.  She still wanted to do extras to her project so she did not get it done due to the machine issues but I am sure she will finish it later and it will look quite cute.

 

almost finished!

I am not sure if I will teach another class at the library again.  If I decide to do this again next year the rules will be as follows.

You must bring a machine in good working order.  You must bring your machines instruction manual.  Last year a woman told me she had a working machine at home but brought "this one" in hopes that I could fix it for her.  

Bring scissors, pins, tape measure and basic sewing supplies.  13 people using  5 pair of scissors is totally inefficient.

I need to know the number and ages of anyone under the age of 16 that plans to attend  ( I need extra help for young sewers)

Funny thing is that while I was typing this I thought of simple project to teach that could be completed in 2 hours,   I could kit it up and  limit the options for excess creativity in the class.  I am totally hopeless.

Mammoth Cave and Lincoln's birth place

We recently went on a trip to Mammoth cave in Kentucky.  Even though less than 4 hours away we though it would be fun to stay the night.

We invited our daughters boyfriend so we needed 2 rooms for the night.  Mammoth park has 3 different options, one is a regular hotel room, and another is a small cabin but it only had one room.  The 3rd option is also a small cabin but this cabin has 2 bedrooms.  There was a bathroom with shower in between the 2 rooms and a small fridge in one of the rooms.   I wasn't really impressed because I saw some cob webs in the corners, but my daughter thought it would be fun so I said ok since it would only be one night.   The price is only about 70 dollars for the night so it was inexpensive  for the 4 of us.   Each room had 1 Queen bed and 1 twin bed so there was plenty of sleeping room.  There is no air conditioning but plenty of screened windows and ceiling fans in both rooms.  We checked the weather carefully while making reservations and since the weather was cool in the evening it was quite pleasant.  We took snacks and breakfast foods but went to the hotel for dinner.  The guys had cheeseburgers  and fries which they said were quite good.    Daughter and I shared a steak dinner with an extra vegetable.  We asked for our steak rare but I think that the regular chef was out that night (off season and during the week)  because it was not done at all and was even cold.  At our request it was quickly cooked properly.  Our salad and mashed potatoes were good as were our cooked apples. I thought it odd that they left all of the peel on the apple but it was soft so it was fine.

While there we took 2 different tours, the Historic and the New Entrance.  Both tours were fun, they had lots of stairs and lasted about 2 hours each. 

 

Many of the passages had cute names like the one below.

On our way home we stopped at Lincoln's birthplace.  It was a perfect day to get the free walking tour.  This is the spring that would have supplied his family with water.  It was also cool even on a hot day.
.

 This is the memorial, Most of what you see has special symbolic meaning

This is the cabin that is inside of the memorial. This was considered Lincolns birth place until it was carbon dated in 2004 and found that it was almost but not quite old enough to have been his birth place so it is also symbolic.

We had a great time at both Mammoth cave and Lincoln's birth place.

Vogue 8634

This was a very easy pattern just as Vogue promised. I featured this as a me made May outfit and promised I would make it again. 






 My pattern is a medium and I don't like thinner knits to be too  fitted so I added a 1/2 inch to the side seams.    Because of my age and or size, I  lengthened the front bodice by one inch.  While wearing this the weight of the knit pulls the top a bit lower than I like for work so I'll just wear a cami under it.   I did not have this problem with the lighter weight knit.  For the next version I will probably raise the neck line a  bit so I won't have to worry about it. 

I used a twin needle for the sleeves and hem.  I have a serger with the coverstitch function but I haven't used it yet and didn't want to start arguing with my machine, I wanted to wear my shirt the next day.

Front side

 

 

This is how the inside looks when you use twin needles.

  

 

The knit fabric has a wonderful drape and is smooth and soft at the same time.  It was purchased  3 or 4 years ago when Billli and I went on  fabric buying trip to New York City with Peggy Sagers.  We had so much fun and were totally amazed at how many fabric and notion shops there were. We were able to go to stores that most shoppers never see. The quality of the fabrics were also better than what I usually see in my area.   It was almost overwhelming. 

I would love to go again. (Billi can you hear me?)

 

 

The sleeves are really the same length and the cowl usually sits nicer but I just finished working 10 hours and was too tired and hungry to spend any time making adjustments for the camera.

 

This is a really quick top to make and you can easily cut and sew it in an afternoon.

 

 

Funny Monkey

 

 

On a recent trip to Michigan City we stopped at the zoo in Washington park.  This is not a large zoo which is  nice when you want to spend some time walking around on a nice day but don't want to invest the entire day.

The funniest thing was this silly monkey, the pictures are in the order I took them, I think she was trying to warn me away from her baby.  She really didn't have to worry as I don't think I could afford dental bills and shampoo for these funny creatures. 

 

 

 

 

 

SCARY!

 

Johnson County Indiana Fair

Our County fair was earlier this month.  I think we have a very nice fair and have both many items from 4Hers and open class divisions.  My daughter is in her last year of 4H and being the busy person she is could only  complete 2 projects this year.

One was the recycled ladies jacket in to a pillow which she received a blue ribbon  meaning that she had met all the requirements of the project with no major flaws.  The other project was also a pillow and took much longer to complete.  It was based on the pattern we bought  from Yoder's on our Shipshewana trip earlier this year.   She made several changes and everything she used was from my stash.  She put the black wool applique on muslin rather than wool and she used a piece of red wool from a thrifted jacket and needle felted a bit of black detail on the  bird.  She also did hand beading on the leaves and inserted  piping as well as a hidden lapped zipper.  We were both very happy with how this project turned out as was the judge.  She received the Reserve Grand Champion and her project  has been taken to the State Fair where it will be judged against winning entries from other counties.  We won't know how well she does until next week but I wish her luck!

Upcycle a ladies jacket

A few months ago I purchased a XL ladies jacket in a thrift store for .99 with the plan of taking it apart to make a pillow for the couch.

My daughter decided to do the project for herself and enter it as a 4H project in the county fair.  Here is the jacket after she cut open the seams and cut off the hem.

 

 

 

She cut the top section off at the bottom of the armscye and squared what was left of the back

She used one of the sleeves to make piping.  She utilized the front opening keeping 2 of the buttons and the pockets.

The project turned out well, she received a blue ribbon and we think this looks much better as a pillow than a jacket.