Sew-A-Thon March 2015

Last weekend we had another Sew-a-thon in my local region held by the Australian Sewing Guild. Unfortunately this time I couldn’t attend all 3 days so I missed out on all the fun of Saturday.

I took a couple of mug rugs to quilt.  I can only show the back of them as they are for a gift. I got to practice some of the techniques I learnt in Deborah’s class from the previous weekend. I marked out all my quilting lines with a frixon pen in the same colour as my quilting cotton so if I strayed from the lines and it didn’t iron out it wouldn’t be so noticeable but luckily all ink came out (and I stuck to the lines) By the end of the weekend I got this one finished entirely and got another to the binding stage.

As with all sew-a-thons we were spoilt with food and gifts made by the organisers. Among the things we were given was a pen that had hexagons on it (I love pens, I love hexagons) a needle keeper, a lavender drawer pouch and a soap washer pouch (not pictured)

It was a fun weekend with lots of laughter, eating and the odd bit of sewing. On the Sunday it was amazing to hear a room so quiet as everyone happened to be working on hand sewing projects at that very moment. Everyone was in deep concentration. There were so many projects completed over the weekend or nearly entirely completed. When a project is finished it is hung on the brag wall. I love the diversity of things people were working on. Quilts, clothing, household accessories. I think the next sew-a-thon is September. I should be up to Christmas presents at that one. Before the weekend I did a bit of a clean out and found a stack of old craft mags which I took and placed on a table ‘free to a good home’ Everyone happily looked through and took what they wanted. I’m going to do this again next sew-a-thon as a way to pass on any craft items I don’t need knowing they are going to people who like and appreciate them.

 

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Sew-a-thon 2014

This past weekend a 3 day sew-a-thon was held for ASG members (Australian Sewing Guild) in the local region. This was my first sew-a-thon and I loved it.

It was held in a local hall that was transformed into a mini sewing studio. Each person had their own workstation they could set could set their sewing machine up in. There was an ironing board set up, cutting tables and communal overlockers. It was a fantastic set up. Then there was the food. We never went hungry over the 3 days with a hot lunch each day and lots of yummy baked goodies for morning and afternoon teas.

There were lucky door prizes and I was lucky enough to win the first one which was a set of tea towels. You can never have enough tea towels so these will come in very handy.

 

Before I went I over estimated how much I would get completed (I wasn’t the only one who thought they’d get more done) so I had lots of projects cut out and prepped however by the end of the weekend I only made 4 kids skirts and half a softie but I’m happy with that effort. I’ve never made skirts before so they took longer than planned.

Each day when we arrived we found a little wrapped present waiting at our workstations. They were lovely handmade gifts of an appliqued tea towel, an embroidered hankie and an embroidered bookmark. These are lovely little mementoes of the weekend.

It was good to meet ASG members outside my normal local group. We all share the common love of sewing so it was lovely to meet new friends. It was interesting in seeing the different projects the others were making, there really was a variety of items being created including toys, clothing, bags, aprons, quilts, home furnishings. Our completed projects were hung on the brag wall.

 

 

What I find most rewarding from weekends like this are the little tips and pointers you pick up from everyone. I like soak up as much as I can. If you can take away knowledge from a weekend like this, that is more important than how many projects you got completed.

I’ve Joined The ASG (Australian Sewing Guild)

I’ve decided to join the Australian Sewing Guild. My local group meets at a craft shop once a month. Last month I went for a trial visit to see basically what they were about it and if it would be something that I’d be interested in. I loved it so much as soon as I got home I filled the online membership and joined. This past Sunday was my second meeting.

A sewing guild sounds all formal and scary but really it’s not. It’s just like minded people coming together for a day of sewing whilst chatting, sharing information and experience. My main reason for wanting to join the Guild was to learn from others and soak up as much information from them as I can. Except from the beginner sewing skills my mum taught me and which got me started on my sewing journey I’m self taught. I’ve never been to sewing classes. If I want to try something I need to read books, look on youtube or ask my sewing friends.

Some guild groups are larger in members and may have a guest speaker come to the meeting to talk or they may have a charity project that the group is all working on. My group is just a small one with 6 members at present. We just bring in whatever project we’re working on and do that. This month I took a batch of WIRES pouches to work. I was going to take a photo but it was only once I got home I realised I was so engrossed in my sewing I forgot.