Cozy Quilt Chatter

Six Early Lessons in Sewing

Raw Edges:  The Diary of a Clumsy Quilter  by Andrea Paden

March 16, 2010

Last night, I completed my first sewing project! And even though it isn’t a quilt, I sure feel a sense of accomplishment. I actually sewed something together and it didn’t fall apart. Hooray for me! And in just this one small sewing project, I learned six important lessons that have given me a great beginning education to the world of quilting.

What did I make if it wasn’t a quilt? Well, I guess you may know that I spend quite a bit of time in the shop so I see lots of fun things to sew. I recently brought home my new Bernina 240 and I was itching for a project to break it in. So I got the idea to make my Mom something for her upcoming birthday. Who wouldn’t love a handmade project from their daughter? But… (sigh) a quilt still seems a bit more than I am ready to wrestle.

 
Then I saw our sample for Jan Hayman’s latest BFF class. [BFF stands for Bags for Fun and Fashion] What a cute handbag! Lots of pockets. My Mom loves handbags. I was pretty sure that was something I could tackle, especially if it was taught in a class. I figured I could get some basic sewing skills under my belt to help my quilting, too. And if I made a bag for myself in class, I would be less apt to mess up my Mom’s birthday gift! So I signed myself up.

 
As with most education, if you are ready to learn, you usually get more from the experience than you expected. And with this purse project, I sure learned a lot of great things.

Before my class started, I got the supply list and learned that we should purchase, cut and fuse our fabric beforehand to get a jump start. Fuse? Uh-oh. I had no idea what that meant. Luckily, I work in a quilt shop! There’s always someone around to ask for help.

Lesson #1 – Fusing is the process of applying an interfacing product (like Pellon Fusible Fleece) to your fabric for added support to the finished project. The interfacing is ironed to the wrong side of the fabric with the right side of the fabric facing up to prevent burning the interfacing.

So I bought some PFF. Then it was time for the fun part – picking out my fabric.

Lesson #2 – Buy fabric you love. It’s one of the best parts of quilting!

This was one of the first pieces of advice I ever got in the shop. Since day one, I have heard many customers and quilters repeat it. If you don’t love the fabric, you probably won’t love the finished project, right? I have seen fabrics in the shop that I love since the day I started, and I finally had a chance to use some! I have always been drawn to Art Gallery fabrics with their bold, colorful graphic prints and their unique fabric texture. So that was the first place I looked. I chose Spellbound with a dark navy blue background because it had some accent colors I liked and I thought a darker-colored bag would be best for a mom-on-the-go like me. Then I was ready to prep for class.

 
I got everything home and opened up the pattern to get started. Background fabric, check. Pocket fabric, check. Lining fabric, check. Cutting instructions, check. Ready to follow the pattern for the initial sewing and fusing before class (I was always a good student). First line of the pattern… and I’m already stumped. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I read it over and over and it isn’t any clearer. I know I am an intelligent woman, but I just don’t get it! I have only learned a little about quilting/sewing so far but it really seems wrong. So, fine. I give in and just do what it says even though it still doesn’t make sense. I have to be prepared for class. But I don’t go any further because I figure if I did this wrong, I’ll have to fix it before I move on.
 
Lesson #3 – Trust your knowledge. Patterns are written by people, and people are not perfect.

I guess you know where this is going. I got to class early and showed Jan my first piece, sewn as the instructions described, with Wrong Sides Together (uh-huh WST!) Of course that wasn’t right, Jan confirmed. That would put my seam on the outside of the bag. How silly. We re-read the instructions over together and sure enough, first line of the pattern has a typo. I knew it! Well, at least I brought my seam ripper.

Lesson #4 – Sewers and quilters are some of the friendliest people around.

 
The vintage Singer pictured above belongs to Rosemary. I asked her about it because it just looks so pretty. She bought it just recently because it was made the same year she was born, 1947. We spent some time talking about her sewing machine, her family, and other things. And as I’ve noticed often happens with quilters and sewers, you can feel like you have a new friend in just a few minutes. What a lovely lady.

Class went on, and although we didn’t finish our handbags that night, we got more than half way done. It was a lot of fun for me to see the different fabrics everyone chose. Here are a few for you to see.

     
After class, I had to bring my project to the shop to show the ladies what I had started. They are so supportive and as we were going over what I had left to do, Diane suggested a few things to me.

Lesson #5 – Show off your work! Quilters and sewers are such supportive people and they have fabulous ideas and suggestions if you are open to them.

I still needed to sew up the lining and sew on a button for the top closure. Diane looked at my fabric and button and suggested I layer two buttons together instead of one. How cute! I like the contrasting colors even better than with one alone. And when I mentioned being nervous about hand-stitching up the lining to finish the bag, she mentioned how she just makes a tiny fold and sews it right on the machine. It ends up on the inside-bottom and is so small it’s hardly seen. Perfect solution for me! Thanks, Diane.

Lesson #6 – Make what you want, how you want it.

This is my favorite lesson because I made it up myself! As I was admiring my own work, studying my fabulous new purse, I realized I had covered an awful lot of the fabric I loved with four big pockets on the outside per the instructions. I ended up with nine pockets on the inside of the bag. Now, I have a lot of stuff to carry, but not that much stuff. Did I really need all four outside pockets? Nope! So I ripped two of them off! Now my project is complete! So what that it’s not identical to the pattern. It’s just the way I want it which makes it just right for me.

 
And that’s how life should be, shouldn’t it? Just the way we want it. Another great lesson for me to learn. Now that I have finished my handbag and learned these valuable lessons in sewing, I think I just might be ready to make a quilt!

[If you would like to find out about our BFF classes, check our Classes & Clubs menu on Cozyquilt.com!]

1 Million Pillowcase Challenge

Post by Andrea Paden

Cozy Quilt Shop is proudly participating in the One Million Pillowcase Challenge sponsored by AllPeopleQuilt.com. This is a terrific program taking place during the entire 2010 year is designed to inspire people of all ages to make a pillowcase for those in need. A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident. A homemade pillowcase is a cozy, happy and personal way to show you care.

Cozy Quilt Shop has picked two wonderful causes that have agreed to accept our donated pillowcases: ConKerr Cancer and TS Workhorse &TS Thunder.

ConKerr Cancer is organization that provides colorful, cheerful, handmade pillowcases to children battling cancer and other life threatening illnesses at Rady Children's Hospital, The Ronald McDonald House, and other local pediatric wards, and pediatric hospices.

If you want to learn more about this amazing organization, the boy who inspired it and the woman and son who started it, visit ConKerrCancer.org. Bring your tissues. This one will touch everyone.

If you are making pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer, please follow their simple guidlines:

1. Use new, quality fabrics in bright cheerful colors,
2. Do not wash the pillowcases as some detergents bother these children,
3. Please place each pillowcase in a quart size ziplock bag.

Local organizers will come and pick them up periodically and will get them to the local hospitals in need.

Our other great cause is very different, but in some ways the same. We are in touch with a grass roots effort to make pillowcases for our U.S. Military troops in Afghanistan. They too appreciate the soft feel of a handmade pillowcase as a reminder of home, family and better days. These pillowcases for Task Force Workhorse & Task Force Thunder will be mailed to chaplains stationed with the troops in Afghanistan and will be given directly to the troops. Most of them are male, so keep your pillowcases masculine with maybe a few feminine ones.

The AllPeopleQuilt goal is for 1 million pillowcases to be donated. You can check their current tally at the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge page on AllPeopleQuilt.com. At the time of this post, 34,556 pillowcases had already been collected!

Our Cozy Quilt Shop goal is 3,000 pillowcases! We've got all year, so there is no reason we can't do it! Won't you participate? We already have 303 pillowcases donated at Cozy!

 
MAKE A PILLOWCASE, MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

To participate in this fantastic event, you are going to need a pillowcase pattern! To make it as easy as possible for you, you can find some simple patterns at AllPeopleQuilt.com's 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge page or at ConKerrCancer.org.

Bring your completed pillowcases to Cozy Quilt Shop at 2940 Jamacha Road, Ste. H in El Cajon, CA 92019.

Here are a few samples to give you inspiration!

 

Friday Night Fever on March 5, 2010

by Andrea Paden

Friday Night Fever is Cozy Quilt Shop's monthly sit and sew with a Disco theme. Once a month from 5pm to 10pm we offer great music, good food, and lots of fun sewing in the Cozy Classroom, all for only $20! If you would like to get in on the action, check our website for the Friday Night Fever schedule. It's a great way to complete unfinished projects and have a blast at the same time!

This month’s Friday Night Fever was a fun-filled evening for all of us! The music was crankin’, the disco ball was spinin’, and sewing machines were smokin’!

It was a very productive night for pillowcases. Diane got lots of them ready to go for our 1 Million Pillowcase challenge. I’m sure we’ll make our goal of 3,000 pillowcases at this rate!

 

Mary started and completed all 12 Dutch Treat blocks – she’s a Super Sewer! If you didn’t see it before, Dutch Treat was the block designed by Cozy Quilt Shop for the Spring Fling Row Quilt Run. Take a look at Mary’s work.

 
Are you inspired to make your own row of tulips? You can find everything you need to complete the entire row in our  Dutch Treat Kit, available on CozyQuilt.com.

As the evening wore on, the ladies got a little wild and crazy singing and dancing to Y-M-C-A, I Will Survive, and a few Michael Jackson tunes.

And after we worked up an appetite, Kathy served us her fabulous homemade lasagna. Of course there was room for chocolate cake!

Here is an adorable project. This sewer used the Love U Charm Squares in a patchwork quilt with a twist (or a tuck, I should say). She just added one tuck in the center of each seam to make squares puff up in this quilt top. Using a plush poly-batting will fill in each square to maintain the shape. A unique idea, so simple to do!

I even got a little work done on my first quilt, trying to complete my “in the ditch” quilting.

Everyone had a great time and left with a smile on their face! It’s so much fun to sew in such great company. Hope to see you next time!

Introduction & Why I’m Glad I Got the Job!

Raw Edges:  The Diary of a Clumsy Quilter by Andrea Paden

Feb. 25, 2010

Welcome to my first blog entry. I guess the proper thing to do here would be to start out by introducing myself. So…

Hello. I’m Andrea and I have been working behind-the-scenes at Cozy Quilt Shop since last Fall. Daniela brought me in to help with Cozy’s ever-growing web sales from customers like you here locally, across the U.S., and even (as I was impressed to learn) all around the world!

But before we go much further, I have to give a “shout out” to my Aunt Judy. Hallah! Aunt Judy was the person who told me that Daniela was looking for someone to add to her staff when she read about it in the weekly newsletter, and what a blessing for me, because I have honestly never enjoyed a job so much. This doesn’t even feel like work! So thank you, Aunt Judy, for being a faithful Cozy customer, and for being a fabulous Aunt!

I have only been with Cozy a short time, but quickly learned that I love it here! Probably for many of the same reasons that you do, and many of the same reasons that make Cozy Quilt Shop such a success in the quilting world.

First, and most importantly, I really love the people who work here. These ladies are so much fun. So sassy and energetic! Right, you’ve seen them? Nothing at all like the fuddy-duddy ol’ gals I pictured quilting in their long, flannel nightgowns and bonnets surrounded by multiple cats. (Just kiddin’, Cozy Queens. I knew you didn’t all have cats.) If that image wasn’t erased the first day I walked in the door, it was blown out of the water at last year’s Christmas party! Who on Earth could spend 3+ hours at a CoCo’s restaurant and have so much fun? [My husband accused me of ending up at Chippendale’s because I was gone so long!] Seriously, these ladies really are fabulous!

I have worked other places where people said “it feels like family”, but now I see they really didn’t know what they were talking about. Cozy Sisters make everyday enjoyable. They keep chocolate stocked at all times (thank goodness!!). They are always willing to help me out with one of my thousands of newbie-quilter questions (Diane, Virginia, Shareen, Kara, Jan…). They pass out Valentine candy and cards to each other, they make World Famous meatball appetizers (Maureen), they hoot and they holler, they sing Disco songs (Kathy) and they use words like “wonky” (Marguerite & Janice). I am always excited to see who I will be working with each day and happy to be greeted with a familiar “Hey, there Ladybug!” And they truly all have a passion for quilting. I can see it when they help someone find just the right fabric for a special project, when they teach classes, and when they get excited for me even when all I made was a sad, miss-aligned and puckered pillowcase!

Second reason I love being at Cozy: all these fabrics! The patterns, the colors. I can’t stand it. Lime green, lavender, coral, chocolate brown, oyster, pink, butter yellow, navy, silver, ruby, charcoal, tan, mocha, teal, strawberry, plum, sage, cornflower. Do ya get what I mean? Everyday it seems there is something new, and by the multitude of UPS and FedEx delivery people coming through our doors, it’s true. You can find a fabric for every mood. Marbles, dots, florals, stripes, Batiks, Oriental-inspired prints, cupcake and pizza prints, motorcycles, beach themes, leaves, outer space and owls. It’s like candy for my eyes (and I have a BIG sweet tooth!). Many times I have heard a customer or one of my Cozy Sisters say, “If you find something you love, you just have to get it”. And that is how I decided to make a Pocket Parade Purse – I just had to have that Spell Bound fabric by Art Gallery! [See upcoming blog about my first projects]

And the last reason I will talk about today that I am loving Cozy Quilt Shop is being in an environment that inspires, that promotes creativity and a sense of community, all based on the art of quilting. Now, I have a small art background. I studied some in college and have done a little of this and that since, but I have never known anything about quilting, let alone sewing, until I started work here. Can you believe Daniela hired me?! Ha! I thought quilting was a hobby. I didn’t know it was an art form. But when I saw Susan Prioleau‘s Jacobean appliqué quilt (completely hand stitched!), I was amazed. When I look at Janice’s Indian Orange Peel quilt, I am in awe. The work, the care, the skill is almost baffling to me. And there is so much history in quilting that I didn’t realize. It’s a part of our country, our culture, our families. And that is something I am looking very much forward to being a part of.

So, look out Quilting World! I have the sewing “bug” and I’m going full-throttle. Being surrounded by the ladies here, who wouldn’t?

Check back soon. While Daniela and Georgette write about quilting from the experienced quilter’s perspective, I have none of that.  I’ll be writing about quilting from a novice quilter’s perspective (that should provide a laugh or two, at least!). I hope you will find it enjoyable. Plus, I am about to finish my very first quilt thanks to Sandy Thompson’s Into to Quilting class. And my own sewing machine arrived at the shop today! I can’t wait to take it for a test drive! As Kathy says, “Go, Baby, Go!”