Sewtopia Orlando--Part 1

I'm back from Orlando, Florida, where Sewtopia retreat again was a great event and getaway.  Attendance was cut in half due to social distancing requirements, but the fun and camaraderie was full as always. My sister Kathy and I spent the night at an airport hotel the night before our flight, which included free parking and a shuttle to the LAX airport.  We got to the airport way early and breezed through security, but nearly missed our boarding as we were hanging out in the wrong terminal!  We were running through the airport and were the last on, I think. The flight was very bumpy and this delayed drink/snack service.  There were a lot of folks getting up and moving around even after being told not to by the staff/Captain due to the turbulence.  Our window seatmate slept almost the entire time, unbothered!  

On the plane, I worked on stitching down binding on the Copy Cat pillow I made with the Windham Challenge fabric--also not easy due to turbulence! At the hotel, I finished closing and attaching the stuffed toy balls to the pillow before bedtime, as we had to turn them in first thing. 

Sewing on the ball toys was the hardest part of this pillow cover!  It turned out really cute with the plaid binding.  I did not win the challenge, as there were many other fantastic entries, but did get to pick out a lovely prize for participating. 

There were shoppers before the sewing room was fully powered--man on the left was part of the crew taping down outlets and cords!  Having an in-event shop is a good thing.  Amy and her team are always so responsive to issues or questions. 

My first task was laying out my precut rectangles for the Cosmic Crush pattern (Modernly Morgan) I had cut all these months ago from stash when there was a stitchalong that I ended up not doing.  I tried to balance out all the colors/prints in the blocks. The background pieces were mostly cut with my Accuquilt die.  

                               

Thank goodness for cell phone cameras to provide reference for placement, as I shuffled the pieces while sewing on the corner triangles. 

First block came out pretty well.  I wished the provided Juki sewing machines had a 1/4" stitch setting, as I struggled at first with scoring with a Hera tool after laying on the corner square.  Eventually I trimmed off the corner triangles prior to sewing with the 1/4" foot, as it had a guide piece. I was SO glad I had included my small round Omnigrid cutting mat for this job!

                  

I am absolutely a fan of the Folded Corner Clipper tool by Creative Grids, as well. Very clever tool that is easy to use.  I got a bit ahead of myself in the order of events, though!  We had a small shop hop trip and lunch out before the sewing room opened.  I'll make a separate post for that--and our continuing adventures and the loot I brought home :)