Sewtopia Boston Part Deux

One of the great things about the Sewtopia experience is the fun and games.  Daily giveaways and extra classes plus a popup shop in the sewing lounge make for great days--plus all the interest and encouragement from fellow sewists, free hotel breakfast and catered lunches are big pluses.  Not too many folks ventured out to sightsee, most were pedal to the metal to get big projects done.


An optional Make and Take class resulted in this adorable pincushion:

The creator coached us through the simple felted wool strawberry construction, helped us funnel crushed walnut shell filling, and provided all the nylon thread to close it up, plus the embroidery thread and ribbon.  So fun!  There was also a needleminder flower kit option.  Luckily I had an embroidery needle in my supplies to do the stitching.  I left it very rustic and loose and love it. 

The Sewtopia Michael Miller Challenge quilt...After playing with a bunch of layouts, I ended up with this: 

It's a bit wrinkled from being in my suitcase, but you can see the simple channel quilting--boring to stitch but effective for a modern look; blocks are about 10".  I stripped the color from the provided fabrics with Rit Dye Remover.  The black and white Hash Dot fabric I left alone.  My sister preferred the back of the quilt. 

I may try the technique again but the fabrics themselves as a group were hard for me to work with, but my efforts make a good size baby quilt.  Other entries were spectacular and varied from a basket woven with fabric strips to a kite, round quilt, and a cool handbag.  Some people ordered different colors of the line to complete their quilt. Our tablemate, Char, won first place with her large quilt that was wonderful.  

All the loot from Sewtopia Boston!  I did not buy much fabric, but won a ton of fat quarters in our Left-Right-Center game.  The long pincushion at the bottom of the pic I received in the secret swap.  The matching zipper bag didn't make the shot, nor did the needleminder kit.  For my secret swap gift, I sewed up a tote bag and filled it with various sewing stuff and fun things. 

I originally picked up this print at Superbuzzy thinking it was a matroyshka print--but it turned out to be Little Red Riding Hood.  It is about 12x12 and lined.  So glad I didn't get rid of all the cotton webbing I had in the last purge!  Funnily enough, our tablemate Char ended up with it. Char is also the mother of our guild president and I've invited them to Thanksgiving dinner, because in my world you can't have Thanksgiving with only 2 people.  

On Instagram, I follow Melissa Averinos, a very talented and creative woman.  Her quilt "My Brother's Jeans" won QuiltCon 's Best of Show in 2016.  She also designs leggings, fabric, paints, does workshops on Making Faces quilts (also a QuiltCon winner), and on Instagram if you post a photo of your cat with #melissapaintmycat, she may do a portrait and you can buy it for $95.  Anyway,  Melissa posted on IG that she was coming to Sewtopia, as a friend had to cancel and gave her a ticket, but she had nowhere to stay.  I immediately offered sharing our suite and she threw a bunch of fabric and projects in her car and drove in from Cape Cod.  What a lovely and fun lady she was to meet.  She's also a great hugger :)  She started another version of her brother's jeans quilt at Sewtopia.  As a thank you before she headed home, she let my sister and me choose some small paintings she brought.  I picked this HST kitty.

And this one of three cats playing in the flowers.  I love them so much!

See more of her stuff and a link to her shop here.  Maybe I will get a good picture of Mini and see if she will paint it...but it won't be this one:

She's crashed out and blocking the way from my chair at the sewing machine.  I guess she doesn't want me to leave again!