Design Wall Monday: Seattle Sewtopia--What I Worked On

On my design wall is what I worked on at Sewtopia. See more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

It was hard to make my choices for Sewtopia this year--the two previous events I worked solely on one project at a time.   I finally settled on three different options for Seattle: blocks to assemble, a child's dress, and a paper piecing project. 

Having recently finished all the individual blocks for Beach Cottage (Kim Brackett design), I brought them along to assemble into sets of four and play rearrange.  Having a design wall is a luxury for me--no space in my converted family room!  I stacked up the rows to assemble at home, and got to cutting out the dress for my daughter's best friend's little girl, who turns two this week.  It had been a long time since I sewed for a little girl.

New Look pattern, size 2.  I chose View A with the darling ruffle on the straps and hem. Of course, it was the view with the most pieces and pages of instruction :)  Cutting out went fairly smooth, but the bodice was pretty fussy, the ruffle being extended beyond the yoke and requiring a lot of stay stitching, clipping and pivoting, and lots and lots of pinning! I resorted to hand basting at one point. Laying the bodice aside,  I assembled the skirt including the pockets and bottom ruffle before stopping for the night.   

It wasn't hard, only time consuming, to gather the skirt and stitch to the bodice.  Having sewn many clothes for my girls growing up, I used my favorite method of stitching the gathering rows at 4/8" and 6/8", leaving the 5/8" seam allowance to be easily sewn between the gathering lines.  This makes pulling out the basting easy too.

I stopped at this point, with the zipper and lining finish left to complete at home.

My final project was the Mt. Hood  pattern by Violet Craft, who was actually sitting at the table next to us working on a new pattern!  She came to our guild last year and I got a small portion of the wallhanging done.  I didn't bother her, but had my seatmate help me when I got stuck--every five minutes!  I find paper piecing very difficult with its inside out and backwards fabric placement.  I had to rip out several sections more than once, especially after I sewed two sections together on the trimming line NOT the stitching line, making the moon wonky. 

My sister had bought me a set of Add A Quarter rulers.  The rulers are so helpful with trimming.  Hopefully I will not wait another six months before touching this again. I sure hope I have enough of the sky fabrics since I wasted some with my mistakes, yikes.  

Many others were working on making bags, Christmas quilts, lots and lots of blocks were being stitched, and there were plenty of design walls, cutting tables, and ironing stations in use.  So many repeat attendees were  present, a whole contingent from Canada, and from all over the US.  Next November's location was announced as Orlando, Florida.  The events sell out almost instantly, I think the Las Vegas one next spring took 4 minutes!