FNSI is coming this Friday!

I love Friday Night Sew In.  Click on the button for info or to sign up.   It gives me a guilt free reason to quilt 'til I wilt one evening a month. (read am, afternoon, evening, into the wee hours).  I prepare my son a couple of days before, first to let him know, and second - to help him plan what to do that night so I'm not on the hook for entertaining him at the last minute (because "nothing" is on tv.....)  This weekend is also the sewing class for my students, so between quilting and planning class, I'll have lots to do.
I finished quilting the Autumn Leaves quilt for a client.  She did a lovely job, using earth tone batiks on a cream background.  I did a lot of FMQ on that one.   The main body of the quilt was free flowing echoing lines to depict the movement of wind.  The lines were about 1/2" apart.  The boarders were made of "bricks" of fabric.  The quilting on them was just outlining the bricks.  That was a lot of work.  Each brick was separate, so I had to break thread and hide the thread tails for each start and end on every brick.  I spent 5 hours just tucking in threads.  Oh my aching back.  I took it along to the Senior's quilting club today and gave it to her.  She showed it around with pride and everyone oohed and aahed and it felt so good.  I am really going to have to start suggesting to clients that I will square off and sew on the binding for them.  After all, I have the thread, the large tables, and the momentum, so why not?  What do you do?  If you send your quilt to a longarmer, or other quilter, do you get them to attach the binding or not?

For sewing class this week, the girls are starting a new project.  They're going to make a zippered hoodie using fleece fabric and a separating zipper.  We're using the pattern 
 Young Burda # 8042   We're going to make view A which is the longer, blue one.

This is a multi-sized pattern, so each girl is going to have to trace out the pieces for their size.  That may be all we get done the first class.  If we do, i'll be happy.  If we get to the part of pinning the layout - I'll be ecstatic!  I chose this pattern because it has the set in sleeves, and the separating zipper.  This will be a challenge for the girls, but I think if we take our time, it will go well. This will be the first Burda pattern they're exposed to, and it does have some things unique to Burda, so that will be a good learning experience in reading patterns.   I'm also going to start stressing neatness now.  They've had a few successes, so now we need to concentrate on making things neater - so the finished product doesn't look (so) homemade.   This pattern also calls for topstitching with a double needle.  That should be fun.  I'm having a great time showing them  the wide world of sewing.  They are so keen, they just soak up everything.

Now I have to share my son's "best thing that happened this week."  He is DEEPLY into playing Minecraft online.  Part of this game is collecting different objects along the way to make things out of.  He found this shirt online and just had to have it.  He's been waiting, and waiting, and waiting......  (picture Charlie Brown checking his mailbox)  and it finally came.   I think I'm going to have to sneak it away from him to wash it because he won't take it off.  I think the shirt is so cool.  But I'm a geek.  I have a periodic table shower curtain :)  (www.thegeekchic.ca)