Seattle Sewtopia

Wow, sorry for the lengthy unexpected break!  I was very busy these last few weeks--prepping to go to Sewtopia kept me busy for many hours leading up to the trip, and returning to work just as busy afterward.  My sister and I left on 11/6 and finally made it home in the wee hours of 11/11.  Prior to leaving, I stayed up until stupid o'clock doing final packing and searching for missing items.  I did not find the extra blades for my Olfa cutter until today!  I also now noticed that I have no photos of the gifts I made for my swap partners--though I was sure I took some..

I joined the Michael Miller Challenge again this year for Sewtopia.  I showed the unfinished basket quilt I made on my previous post, Fall Picnic Quilt from APQ magazine.  There were many hours spent quilting this approximately 25" quilt, the first pic is before quilting.  

  After ditch stitching, I marked the Xs through the outer border squares, then worked on the basket. 

 I was happy with the texture the quilting stitch gave the basket.  The handles and orange stripes got extra details too.

 This was a preset specialty stitch I elongated and widened to max.  I think it gave a nice touch. 

There was plenty of material left to make a nice pieced back.  I really liked this year's fabrics better than last year's (which I altered by stripping color).  Though my quilt did not win any of the prizes (very stiff and uber talented competition!), people did like it.  Next year we will have a different sponsor for the challenge.  

Our first day in Seattle was spent on a bus tour to two quilt shops.  The first was in Snohomish, Washington.  I was so glad the weather had not washed away all the fall color.  Our hotel was downtown and there were lots of great views from the bus. 

 Loved this colorful tall building.  The green electric bikes were available for rent all over the area.

Lots of construction going on downtown--including a new convention center right next to our hotel--but this Cell tower with branches was huge and interesting. 

 I had to really zoom in to get these window washers, many floors above ground level. Loved all the details on the old buildings still in use. 

On the slow crawl out to Snohomish, there was time to capture the famous houseboats on the lake, which I'm told are multi-million dollar homes. 

Our destination was Quilting Mayhem.

This is a very large shop with classrooms, sewing machine and longarm sales, and lots and lots of fabric.  The staff were well-prepared for us and moved as quickly as they could at cutting tables and registers.  There was time for lunch after fondling fabric and we strolled through this 150 year old town.  

This 1800s home was being eaten by ivy and brambles, but many others were in beautiful shape. the shingles on teh eaves matched the quilting on my picnic basket :)  The drive back to Seattle passed again through many acres of large farms, including Christmas Trees and cows, and harvested pumpkin fields. We headed to the Pioneer Square area of Seattle to shop at  very modern maker's shop, Dry Goods Design, near the Ferry terminal.  After a bit of shopping, Kathy and I wandered through public areas, enjoying the day. 

Such a pretty area to sit and read or rest.

Pioneer Square had lots of shops and restaurants, and large public areas for strolling, sitting, and playing.

 There were ping pong tables and playground equipment near these huge totem poles.

Skyscraper views, too...

Upon return to our hotel, it was time to check-in and get our sewing stations set up.  Let the sewing begin, in Jammies!

We had the whole second floor to ourselves, which was very nice.  We didn't last until the 12:00 midnight closing time, though, too tired!  I'll show projects I worked on in the next post.