{amylouwho} sew & tell v3.8 mini quilt party and giveaway!

Hello!!!  It's here! I know, I'm probably more excited than you all are! But still :)

I mailed off this mini quilt early this week for my partner in the Post Sewing Summit Swap.  I'm not going to lie.  I was a little intimidated to sew for my partner (hi, partner!).  I went through all of her favorites on Flickr searching for some inspiration. Knowing she liked bright colors and her favorite being green, I decided on doing something bright with stars.
Then I got cold feet and went in a different direction.  Then I got cold feet again (and by cold feet I mean a little birdie told me my first idea was better) and dove back in with the stars.

I'm not going to lie to you - I love the way it turned out!

And the quilting on this was really fun to do!  I got to practice some of my skills that Allison taught me in her free motion quilting class.

I chose my favorite Amy Butler polka dots in Lime for the back.  (and said birdie told me this is one of my partner's all time favorite prints! Yea!)  Binding it in the turquoise really helps it pop! (birdie suggested this too - which was a better choice than the green I was going to go with.  Thanks birdie!!)

This quilt was so fun to finish.  It didn't take that long, and I learned how to  piece them in a "random" way so they weren't just all in rows.

It was a little tricky at first, but I just layed them out and figured out where I needed to add more white. I love learning new things!  It was nice to practice on a small project too.

So many of us were inspired by the mini quilt class at The Sewing Summit!  Holly (who designed my new banner and button) started a new Flickr group!  You can head over there to add your quilts, or just look at some eye candy!

So now onto the details of the party + prizes!

Instead of making this a super long post and relisting all the prizes I'll summarize them. But you can go here to read the prize post.
1) Lovely Dana from Old Red Barn Co. is offering a 30$ gift card to her soap shop!
2) Erin, is offering up a flat rate box of swag from the Sewing Summit! 
3) Kim is offering up a bundle of awesome Heather Ross scraps!
4) Candy from Candied Fabrics is offering up a set of “quilter’s 8ths” of her own hand-dyed cottons. (check out the birthday sale in her shop!)
5) Nadine from The Material Girls Quilts, is giving away a jelly roll of fabric!

Now, for the fine print.
To enter:
1) Link up a new blog post about your mini quilt.  You can have blogged about the quilt before, I just ask you write a new post for our party, linking back to the fun!  Use a link or button in your post. (And by new post I mean written in the last 2 weeks, for you swappers who may have already blogged ~ just edit to add the button and/or link)
2) Leave a comment on this post.  Tell me one thing on your Christmas list.
**I really want a walking foot and a food processor.  :)**

3) If you don't have a quilt to enter, write up a blog post about sew & tell (button on sidebar) or the mini quilt party (also on sidebar) and let me know in the comments.  Leave a link to your blog post.

That's it! I hope you all have had fun getting ready for today!  I have!  Let's get the party started!
Linky will be open until Sunday night.  Winners announced Monday.  :)

I would love it if you put your name/blog name in the linky so we know who you are! :)

{amylouwho} sewing summit - where to begin?

I'm still recovering from my whirlwind trip to Salt Lake City for the Sewing Summit last weekend!  I have been reading everyone's recap posts and reliving every lovely minute.  It's a little daunting trying to write my own, but I'm going to go for it.
***
I have to say, it was a little surreal. I walked into the opening meet and greet on Friday afternoon and thought, who are all of these people!?

I only recognized the handful of them that I already know.  But then, as I went around and introduced myself I found most conversations went like this:

me: Hi! I'm Amy, there's like 20 Amy's here.
person: Hi! I'm so-and-so.
blank stare.
me:  what's your blog name?
person:  suchandsuch.com
me: Oh my gosh! I know YOU!
***
It was really fun to put real faces with the very real friendships I've made through this wonderful blogging and sewing community.  As Amy and Erin said that night,

their vision for this weekend was to bring together everyone's online sewing friends so we could sew and chat and visit and laugh and be together in person!  It was a success!
***
I loved the classes I took and walked away with new ideas and techniques but mostly INSPIRED to get back on my machine and do things that I have been putting off for fear of messing them up. 

I took Dana 's social media and blogging class - I loved her message.  (another Amy on the left, Dana on the right - how did I miss a picture of the two of us!?)

Blog what you love, be real and it's not a numbers game.  I totally believe that.
***
Vanessa shared great tips on getting beautiful photos. (And she made that adorable skirt!)

And how to lose inches off your thighs in full body poses.  If I could explain it to you here I would.  Trust me, it was hilarious! and worked! And if you don't know V. she is hilarious!

We all loved Leigh's hand-pieced hexi quilt.
***
I had to take a nap after lunch I was so tired from the 2 hour time difference AND staying up late.  It was just long enough to make it back down for my afternoon classes.
***
Susan had us make some little zipper pouches which came in really handy on the way home.

I used the purple one for my phone and iPod (they didn't get lost!) and the blue one housed babylouwho's snacks for the long day on the plane.
***
Amanda, aka Ms. McPorkchop, was inspiring and charming and funny and made me want to make a gazillion mini quilts!

At the beginning of the weekend I was telling people that I liked to quilt but had a hard time finishing them. 

After her class I realized that little quilts are still quilts! And often you can finish them in a couple of hours! How awesome is that?  I have a few ideas brewing already.
***
Saturday night we spent in the sewing room.

It was full of humming machines, happy chatter and laughter! Just what the doctor ordered.

I finished my bee blocks for Rachel who was there! I didn't have to go to the post office, just walked over and handed them to her. Perfect.

And I really liked how they turned out! 

Amy worked on and finished this gorgeous top.

To be honest, I didn't get a lot of sewing done because I was having so much fun just visiting with everyone! I'm telling you, sewing with friends is the best!

I'm afraid of overwhelming you with too many pictures, so we'll stop here for today. I'll be sure to share more.  I took 2 other classes and acquired a lot more fabric!  Sew & Tell is happening tomorrow - See you then!

i made it to the sewing summit!

Well, by made it, I mean that I didn't have a 5 hour delay anywhere (like last time).  I did however forget to bring half of my electric toothbrush, toothpaste, extra pajamas for babylouwho, face wash, and my iPod charging cord.

Luckily my mom had my charging cord that I left at her house the last time, an extra toothbrush and some toothpaste.  I'm pretty sure I remembered all of my sewing stuff and isn't that what is most important?

And this is what it looked like this morning when I was on my way

 to meet Pink for some chatfest time.

and some awesome treats at Blue Lemon! (where I will be having dinner on Saturday with more sewing peeps!)

Love my sewing blogging peeps! (thanks for the pics Pink!)

PS - i may have already bought fabric today.  Maybe even some Henna Garden in leaf...

PPS - awesome post tomorrow for sew & tell!

The Sewing Summit

I'm sure you've heard of the Sewing Summit. Right?

Did I remember to mention that I'm going to be there! Are you?

I'm so excited I can't stand it!  I registered all teh way back when they first opened registration.  Mrlouwho was supposed to be deployed and I was looking forward to a little get away.  Since then his deployment has been pushed back so he's home (sort of) and he's taking a few extra days off work to spend with the kids so I can go and spend some time with my mom too.

I'm totally not prepared and will be lucky to show up in clean clothes with make up on.  I know there's lots of sewing prep going on and I would love to sew up a new wardrobe, bag and fabric flower accessories, but, you know how it goes.

I'm trying to decide what, if any projects I'm going to take to work on. I left this quilt in Utah with my mom this summer, she said she'd help me get the back pieced together.  This is my rough draft of the back...

Maybe I'll work on it.  It's about time I finished it!  I made it 2 summers ago!  It would be awesome to have it there for when I meet Dana the first time.  After all she inspired it!

But in reality, I think I'll just be talking everyone's ears off!  Won't it be fun to be in the same room with a bunch of other sewing bloggers!?  I love it.  You all know how I love bloggy meetups.

So leave a comment and let me know if you are coming!  I seriously want to meet you!