Happy Wednesday! Things are slowly getting back to normal over here after our trip. Thank you for your well wishes and patience while I was away! As soon as I have photos I'll be sure to share a few! I have a few projects waiting to be photographed, quilts to bind, and lots to share about my book over the next few weeks! In the meantime, I wanted to share two recent knitting finishes!

Above is my newest work in progress, an Exploration Station shawl.


For most of the summer my main project was a colorwork cowl. The pattern is called the Stitch Block Cowl and it's free on the Purl Bee Blog. I have had it on my list for a long time, but finally moved it up the queue for the Eat Sleep Knit Yarnathon knit along!


It was such a fun knit! The cowl is worked in three sections, each section adding another color to the mix. I used Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage for all three colors, in Astrid Grey, Button Jar Blue, and Kelp. These colors are a bit outside of my normal purple/gray, but I love the finished product. The turquoise and teal will match my winter coat perfectly! Now it just needs to get cold! For more photos and information see my Ravelry page.


Next up, is a new shawl that I finished in the car on the way back to Wisconsin! I actually started this shawl on our trip to Ohio for Christmas last year! The pattern is the Great Divide Shawl by Michele Brown. I started this pretty quickly after finishing my Daybreak and was in the mood for more stripes and ended up with a similar color scheme.


This shawl is knit up in DK weight yarns. The two gray yarns are Madelinetosh DK in Tern and Charcoal. The purple is Tanis Fiber Arts Yellow Label DK in Plum. The Tanis is SO pretty in person, and super duper soft! This was another Eat Sleep Knit Yarnathon project, this time for the Booster Club. I made this shawl quite a bit bigger than the pattern suggests. I have an easier time wearing giant shawls, and this one turned out huge! For more on my modifications and more photos see my Ravelry page.

Happy Knitting!

Catch-up!

Happy Friday! I almost didn't make it into this space this week. I was hoping to share my recent garment finishes, but it just didn't quite happen. It's been nearly a month since my last catch-up post, so that seemed appropriate instead! The wedding is getting real close, so my main goal the last week and next week is simply to relax as much as I can. There is still plenty of work to do before we leave for Ohio, but I haven't been putting too many self-imposed deadlines on myself! I'm so happy that Fall is right around the corner. I was so tempted by these multi-colored mums at the grocery store, I've never seen any like that before!

General Housekeeping: My online shop will be closed from September 16th-27th! Here is a list of shops that carry my PDF Patterns: Pink Castle Fabrics, Connecting Threads


In between all the other exciting things going on this month, my book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle, is shipping! (!!!) I'm not going to lie, it's been a little overwhelming thinking that it's winging it's way to shops right now! It should be showing up in local shops this week! So, let your shops know you'd like it!

My local shop, The Sewcial Lounge, is running a pre-order special until the 15th! Use code VIP at checkout to receive 15% off and get a signed copy! For locals, this includes an invite to our VIP launch party, woot! (Also, if you are local and are picking up your book in store, your shipping will be refunded!) Order here!


I have been doing some sewing! I stitched up a quick quilt top with Katarina Roccella's Imprint collection earlier this month. I used the largest square size in my Arithmetic Quilt Pattern! I love how it's turning out!


I also managed to sew a little pincushion too! I used Pure Elements scraps and my pattern from the book Stitch n' Swap. I kind of want to make a bunch more.


I have been doing some reorganizing in my sewing room, spurred on by Fall and an awesome deal for storage containers at Target. It's been a couple weeks now, but I got some giant bins for $4! I won't tell you how many I bought, haha! Anyways, when I was putting away my yarn purchases over the last few months I realized they were all purple!


All the new Art Gallery Canvas prints shipped late last month, including my print from Curiosities! Hawthorne Threads has all the prints in stock, you can find mine here. I made a Zip-Top Tote from Handmade Style with my print earlier this summer (see here), and I have another project to share soon too!


In July, Michael and I took a cooking class together at the newly opened Sur La Table in Madison. We took a Spectacular Summer Pies class, and made three kinds of pie. Since Michael's favorite dessert is pie, I knew he would be game! We had so much fun, and the pies were delicious. I made one of the pies from class a few weekends ago, a Nectarine Blueberry Crostata. It was messy, but so tasty!


We have also started shooting black and white film photos again. It had been seven years since I shot a roll of film. Michael bought all the chemicals to develop the film ourselves, so I got to develop my roll earlier this month. I forgot how much work it is, but it was fun to do it again. I of course had to take some photos of George bun. This one is my favorite, he is so perfect for black and white photos!

Have a great weekend!

Sew Portable Travel Set + Mat Tutorial

Happy Wednesday! This summer I have been trying to tackle works in progress and one of those projects was another Featherweight travel set! Shortly after I released my Sew Portable Travel Set Pattern last year, I started this set made from my Dreamin' Vintage fabrics. My original set is made with prints from Nordika, and is a perfect match for my black Singer Featherweight. For my celery/white Featherweight I wanted to use colors that were a little more summery.


The set features a sturdy tote bag with a hard bottom to carry the machine in. There is room on both the front and back of the machine to carry projects, which also helps protect the machine. The exterior is quilted, with a layer of canvas to add extra structure.


Heavyweight handles are made from cotton webbing and a double layer of quilting cotton. They're sturdy and wide enough so that they don't dig into your shoulder! I quilted the exterior with light blue thread from my Aurifil thread collection.


The second piece in the set is a drawstring bag! This is the everything size, which is also in the Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern. It holds the foot pedal, keeping it from scratching up the machine bed. For my last set I used the same prints for each piece, but for this one I mixed it up a bit, using different prints from the cool colorway.


The last piece in the pattern is the extension table cover. For this particular machine it's not quite as crucial because the table is half size and isn't at risk of hitting the screw on the machine head like most Featherweights. All the same, it still helps to protect it! It's quilted and has the same layers as the tote!



I made an extra piece for my set this time around. A small quilted mat to rest the machine on! It came together super fast! It also makes a nice little cover for the machine inside the bag too! Want to make your own? Here is a quick tutorial:

Finished size: 9.5"x12.5"
Use a 1/4" seam allowance.

Materials:
(12) 3.5" squares
(1) 16.5"x13.5" backing
(1) 16.5"x13.5" batting
(2) 2.5"x42" strips for binding

Lay squares out in a 4x3 arrangement. Sew squares together in each row. Press seams in one direction, alternating direction every other row. Sew rows together, press seams open. Layer backing, batting, and top. Baste, quilt, bind.


Of course I had to make one to go with my other set too! :)

You can find the Sew Portable Pattern as a PDF and Paper copy in my online shop. You can find my tips and tricks for sewing with a Singer Featherweight here.

Happy Sewing!