Patchwork Underground

Oooo…look what I found.  Clicky clicky….

Wow, where the heck have I been??  This looks like so much fun and I had no idea it was even happening - I’ll be there tomorrow night with bells on!

In other news, I’m getting back into this blogging thing.  I have tons of fun planned.  So much fun, I made a list.

• Review of Ginghers Dressmaker’s Shears and Pinking Shears (Is it, like, really worth all that $$?)
• Ginghers GIVEAWAY - Brand new, unused Dressmakers and Pinking shears yours FREE! (Oh, YES.  Stay tuned for more details…)
• Update on my old review of the Husqvarna Viking Emerald 116 (1 year into sewing machine ownership = new joys, new beefs!)
• Gripping interview with the lovely clothing designer/all-around diva rock-star Gillian Smithline of Indigo Inspired (It’s gonna be GOOD…this lady is a genius!)  I mean, seriously, look at this romper:

Sew on!  ~ Erin

Oooo - Look at what I made!  Fuchsia-gray-charcoal explosion!

This is me and my foot trying to decide on borders….note how my socks match.

Trying to get a lil’ perspective on that sucker…

Now that I’m all out of Kona Cotton in Charcoal I think I’m officially stuck.  Partner out of town = no car = no decent way to get to Fabric Depot.  (3 hours on the bus is not decent.)  Solution?  I’m going to have them ship it to me.  Hopefully I’ll be able to sash this beauty just the way I want to in a few days.

In the meantime I’m hoping to do a tutorial on how to make Lady Gaga shoulder pads.  (oh YES I DID!)  Well, I had to when I was making a muslin for a slightly more wearable version of this amazing Jeremy Scott dress:

Gaga wore it on Launch My Line a few months ago….

T

And featured it in her Paparazzi video….

(Hi http://www.gagadaily.com/fashion - I love you!)

The muslin itself is actually turning into a dress in its own right.  (YES!  That is what I call muslin success!)  I made it out of some royal blue knit that I found at Scrap.  I’m going to make a short sleeve mini dress out of it (no bolts).  It looks cute over this 40s blouse that Carol gave me with this night necked, lacy v-shaped yoke to it and this hat I made.

Don’t worry, I’m still going to make a replica of the Jeremy Scott one that Gaga wore, complete with lightening bolt appliques and faux wet look leather.  (I already bought all the goods so there’s no stopping me….)  Mine is going to have somewhat smaller shoulder pads (still nuts, just not AS nuts) and I’m thinking of letting it hit just above the knee.  Or maybe make it a mini?  I have been loving minis lately.

Anyways, coming up: how to make Lady Gaga Shoulder Pads to fit any pattern!

Can you find my quilt?

I had so much fun at this year’s expo!  Unfortunately, I only have time to post these pictures right now.  Stay tuned for my write-up of the expo later this week…

<3 erin

Too many scraps of patchwork experiments + random vintage scraps = crazy quilt top?

I think I like it!  (Excuse the wrinkles.  I’ve had it folded up the last couple days.)

This old school car cross-stitch finding has never looked better…

All together now:

It’s a good lap sized quilt right now but I’m thinking that I might want to keep adding onto it as future scraps present themselves. Who knows what it’ll look like in the end? I think I like not knowing. My favorite part of this quilt is the awesome double-breasted button placket towards the bottom. I cut it out of a stained free box vintage dress I adopted a while ago. I had visions of embroidering over the whole dress with black and white floss in a random pattern but then decided that was insane and that I was never going to get around to it.

By the way, don’t forget that today is the last day to put your comment in for my vintage knitting magazine giveaway! I’ll be closing comments tonight and announcing the winner tomorrow! Many thanks to folks who have already entered. I’m excited to find a new home for these little gems. GOOD LUCK!!!

I’m going to be at the Northwest Quilting Expo tomorrow - probably all day. I’m so stoked to get to see this year’s quilts. There’s going to be a few patchwork celebrities I want to see in person and more than few vendors hawking all sorts of quilting-related stuff. I might even invest in a class or two and support fellow sewing instructors! Admission is $9/day or $25 for all three days. Seems like most classes are around $10. Keep an eye out for my pictures and report back….

I’m back in Portland!  Phew!

CA was crazy (as always) but bridesmaid-ing for my best friend was amazing and Allegra and Alyn’s wedding was totally wonderful.  These two lovebirds were married in the redwoods on the California coast in a little town north of Santa Rosa called Gualala.  We lucked out with perfect weather and the whole thing went off without a hitch!

I just have to share with you a picture of Allegra’s amazing handmade, hand-dyed, 100% raw silk dress.  She designed it herself!!!

Isn’t it stunning?  Congrats, Alyn and Allegra!  I luv you guys!

In other good news, I just heard from the folks at the NW Quilting Expo that my Witch Farmer quilt got juried into the Art Quilt category of this year’s show!  Here’s a pic of it with a close-up detail to the right:

Yay!  I’m a little nervous about having my work shown, especially seeing it hung next to other amazing work but we’ll just have to see what happens.

It looks like this year’s Expo will be bigger and better than ever - there’s gonna be free classes and quilts, quilts and more quilts.  I’ll be there with bells on.

Here’s the vitals for the show:

9 am–5:30 pm, Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25, 2009
9 am–5 pm Saturday, September 26, 2009

(or you can go to their website to read more..)

Here’s just a taste of what you’ll see…..

(This is the 2008 Best in Show made by Ronda K. Beyer, Darwin’s Diamonds & Flowers!)

As you can see, the competition is *fierce*!  Can’t wait to meet all the other quilters at the expo. Ok, I’m off to sew a 4″ sleeve on the back of my quilt and get ready to drop it off!