Nancy's Notions Sewing Weekend Post #4

I forgot to mention something about the Knitty Gritty Store that I blogged about the other day.  Look at the bag they gave me to take my purchases home in!

Isn't it great?!  It's a fabric shopping bag, with pockest on the outside as wella s grommets.  I figure you can put your yarn inside and feed it out through the gommets to work on your project.  This was a really nice bonus for my purchase!  Just another indication of the high quality of the shop.  (Do you like the quilt on the bed?  More about that tomorrow!  Great story to go with it!)

On the last day of the Sewing Weekend at Nancy's Notions, I did some of the make-and takes.  These only cost $5 each, and all the supplies and sewing machines are provided for you.  One of the ones I did was this Corn Bag, which you make on a serger.

I have a serger at home, but I haven't really learned to use it very well, so I thought this would be good.  This is what I sat down to.  You can see my project supplies on the right and an untrheaded serger on the left.  We had to thread it ourselves.  This serger was so cool.  It threads with air!  We just put the threads into the holes and push the button.  The air shoots through and threads the loopers.  Soooooo cool!!!

Here I am getting ready for the class to start.  It was really fun.  We made this bag in about 10 minutes.  You put corn in it and microwave it for about 1 minute for really juicy, tender corn.  (It's just like one of those potato bags you may have heard about.)  I really wanted this serger, because it was so easy to use and produced such good results.  The price was AWESOME, too.  Maybe next year!  I will have to save more pennies and commit to serging more to justify that expense.  :-)

After that class, I made this quilted tissue holder.

For this project, we got to sew on this very nice little sewing machine.  Really, these make-and-takes were about sitting through a sales pitch on the sewing machine.  But I ddin't mind.  It was fun to learn about different machines and get to play with them again.  I have never sewn on a Baby Lock, so it was fun and informative.  I thought this was a nice little machine.  It would certainly make a good travel machine.  It sewed over lots of layers of pre-quilted fabric very easily.

Another thing I did between my two make-and-takes was to wander through the hallway and look at the quilts that were submitted for the Charity Challenge.  People were to make a small quilt out of these fabrics to donate to a charity that gives quilts to children in a tough spot.  What fun colors and fabrics to work with!

This one was my favorite from the very begining of the weekend.  And I was happy to see it won a blue ribbon!  I liked the log cabin blocks and I loved the little owls that were embroidered in the center of the log cabin blocks.

Here is a close up of one of the blocks.  The quilt was called "Summer Cabin Friends," and it was made by Maria Schuelke of West Bend, Wisconsin.  Aren't those embroidered owls just so cute?!

On the information sheet the maker wrote about this quilt, she said that this quilt was way out of her comfort zone, both in colors and with the "cute" owls.  Wow.  I would never know this was out of her comfort zone.  It looks like she's pretty comfortable with them to me!

Here is another one I thought was so cute.  Love that dinosaur!  This one was made by Carol Jones of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Here is a detail of the applique.  I like how she used bias to cover up the raw edges, and I love how the bias changes color.  I thought the zigzag stitch on the bias was really effective in this quilt.  It made the dinosaur seem "scaley!"  (spelling???)

Here is another one I liked.  It was made by Nancy Osowski of Davis, Illinois.  I liked the crazy patchwork on it, and the green borders really changed the entire look of these fabrics.

And did you notice these little green frogs on it?  Such a fun hidden surprise.  We have lots of tree frogs here, and in the summers, they are almost deafening.  I can't wait until it's warm enough to sleep with the windows open and we can listen to those guys all night!

I also thought the bargello style heart on this one was pretty cool.  This was made by Karen Simons of Columbia, Louisiana.  I really loved seeing all the different ways people used this fabric and now different all the quilts looked.

 

 There was also a Hoffman Challenge with these fabrics.  I didn't read the sign too much.  So, I can't tell you too much about it.  But I assume it was a doll-making challenge, because here was the display with it:

Cool,  huh?  Wanna see some of my favorites?

This one.  Sorry the flash really makes it hard to read the card and the maker's name.  I liked the circus bear.  I don't konw why, but I sort of like circus bears.....

I thought this girl was sweet.

Well, that was about it on my last day.  SisLH and I went to check the roster of the door prizes....I forgot to tell you that Nancy's Notions had a ton of door prizes, as did all the vendors at the event.  They drew names once a day, and you had to re-enter each day for your chance to win.  We checked the roster several times throughout the weekend, but to no avail.  We didn't win anything.

Then, yesterday, SisLH e-mailed me and told me she had a call from Nancy's Notions saying she had won a vendor prize and could she come in and get her prize. 

She won a Simplicity Deluxe Sidewinder Bobbin Winder!  (Photo from Amazon.  Click here to go to their listing for this.)  Retail value $99!  Woo Hoo!  Way to go SisLH.

The next day, I got an e-mail from Nancy's Notions saying my order had shipped.  What?  I didn't order anything.  I looked at what they were shipping to me, and it said "door prize."  So, I guess I won something, too!  Wow!  How fun!  The package only weights .47 lbs.  I wonder what's in it?  I'll have to keep you posted!

Well, I have one more post for you with some odds and ends from SisLH.  I think these are all my photos from the Sewing Weekend at Nancy's.  The next post will be other stuff from the weekend.

Some of you have asked if this is an annual event.  Yes, it is.  I believe the flier said the weekend will be May 2-4 next year.  So, mark your calendars!  I hope I can go back.  It is often graduation weekend here, so I usually can't go.  This is the first year it has not conflicted with graduation since I moved to Michigan.  So, we'll see if I can go or not.

Hope you enjoyed...

Until next time,

 

Comments

[terriaw]

This weekend trip looks like so much fun! I love hearing that you could try out different sewing machines, especially a serger. I've always wanted to try one. But then I'll probably want to buy one because I want to make clothes again.

Fun to see all those whimsical quilts. I love that one with the heart shape.

[liveacolorfullife]

I REALLy want one of those knitty gritty bags. Do you think if I ordered something from them, I could request one? And I need to finally plug in my serger, which I have had for 1 1/2 years and never plugged it in because it intimidates me...

[carolld]

Oh, I love seeing all those quilts. I bet your were thrilled with all those dolls. Great gift for your SisLH. Congratulations on your win! Can't wait to see what it is.

[Allie]

Wow how fun!!! I have a $1000 serger that I've only used once...bought it on the last day I worked at Viking, with my employee discount, now I wish I hadn't, lol. Love the dolls and the sweet quilts, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about that quilt in your first pic! That's a great bag on top of it, good idea to have a hole where you can feed your yarn through!

[Lynn]

$5 seems like a great price for the make and takes. Sure looks like a fun weekend! Wish I lived closer.

[Thimbleanna]

The fun continues! Those quilts sure are cute -- I love the little owl one. Can't wait to see what your door prize is!

[Donna]

This sounds like so much fun using all the machines makine the make and takes.
I love seeing all the colorful quilts!
Hugs,
Donna

[Maggie Szafranski]

Awesome! What a lotta fun packed into a weekend!

[Linda]

You look quite lovely in the picture with the sewing machine. That's really a good picture - I really like it. I have a baby lock - a more expensive one and it's a dream to sew on. I also have the side winder - a $20 one and it's not such a dream. I bet the one she won will be a lot nicer.

[jenclair]

Girl, you know how to have fun!

[niche blog comment]

You look quite lovely in the picture with the sewing machine. That's really a good picture - I really like it. I have a baby lock - a more expensive one and it's a dream to sew on. I 0-\lso have the side winder - a $20 one and it's not such a dream. I bet the one she won will be a lot nicer.