Baby Gifts To SEW

Me & my sisters all sew. Last year, I think Ronda made 40 blankets for her grandchildren. Debbie, who lives in Nashville, embroiders EVERY SINGLE DAY. She totally WEARS OUT embroidery machines. Seriously -- the woman is obsessed with embroidery.

Deena has ACTUALLY made little mini-birdesmaid dresses for her granddaughters. So, you can imagine that making this polar fleece blanket for her soon-to-be-born grandson was a fun and EASY project for her. You can't quite make it out -- but the baby's name is embroidered on the blanket. The baby's name is Clayton Frederick. (Debbie EMBROIDERS for all of us).

Although Deborah couldn't get here from Tennessee for the baby shower -- she sent a BIG-BAG-O-EMBROIDERED-BABY-STUFF. This is a picture of Brenda sitting on the sofa with Deborah's baby quilt and a big pile of burpees (embroidered cloth diapers). With the baby's name. Or a farm scene (which is what Brenda used in the nursery).

I tried to get a close-up picture. These burpees are soo much fun.

But, it is DEENA'S grandbaby coming -- so she didn't quit with the polar fleece blanket. Nooooooo. There was a whole pile of flannel receiving blankets as well. The kind that are BIG ENOUGH to swaddle the baby. New moms love, love, love these oversized receiving blankets. And it's a GREAT gift to make -- because you CAN'T BUY THEM this size. Really. Receiving blankets in the baby department ready to wear are always 30" square. Completely worthless...

Of course, half the fun is shopping for the fabric! That's when you take into account the interests of the family. For Toby & Brenda -- Deena chose fabric with doggie prints, and farm animal prints. Brenda looks very pleased, don't you think? I'd say little Clayton Frederick is landing in a pretty good place...

Brenda told me I should come by and take pictures of the baby's nursery. Aunt Deborah embroidered the farm scenes, and Deena put together the crib bumper, etc. I'M GONNA DO IT, BRENDA -- so be looking for me!

Project Runway -- Week 11 Recap (Part #1)

The challenge begins with the six designers facing away from the runway. When they turn, their past “winning looks” are on stage and the challenge is to create a companion piece for your best look.

Because Logan has never won a challenge – to review, he’s never even been in the top three – for him they picked a long forgotten gray dress from the first challenge. I began yelling at my television, “IT’S A MESSAGE, PEOPLE. LOGAN MUST GO HOME…HE’S DONE NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. HE’S GOT NO GAME. SEND HIM HOME…”

Irina loves the challenge. Of course – she’s won THREE times. Her snarky remark is that “a few people are here who should have gone home”. Their wins were just ”lucky”. Obviously, as far as Irina is concerned – they all could have gone home weeks ago. BUT THEN, IT WOULDN’T BE MUCH OF A SHOW, IRINA, NOW WOULD IT??

They have 30 MIN. to sketch… and then it’s off to Mood Fabrics for their 30 minutes of shopping. THIS MAKES ME CRAZY. When, in the history of the world, has anybody ever spent 30 minutes in a fabric store? I wonder how much this year's designs might have been improved with a LITTLE MORE TIME TO SHOP FOR FABRIC?? Maybe that's why we get nothing but black, gray and brown...

Christopher believes his strength is “gowns”…..So he’s going to do the same dress, only make it longer. Wha? He’s buying 30 yards of white lining...I sense trouble…

Irina knows exactly what she wants – but, inspired by an embroidered brocade, she decides to do a dress instead,. Oh, yeah, nothing says “youthful” like an embroidered brocade fabric. I am hopeful. This could be a miss…

Carol has to design something to go with her Bob Mackie black feather & sequins dress – so of course she picks blue and green chiffon. There had been a lot of grousing about the fact that Carol has only done dresses. She hasn’t made a jacket, or pants, and she thinks she needs to step up her game. Then, oddly, Tim Gunn is giving her advice in Mood? Really? YOU’VE ONLY GOT 30 MINUTES, CAROL – GET MOVING. He tells her to stay in her comfort zone? That seemed weird to me…

In the first half hour, Althea is making black Hammer pants, Logan thinks a zipper collar is going to make his black vest and pants look original, Irina is playing with her embroidered fabric, Carol Hannah has black fabric pinned on the front of her dress form – they show us that shot so many times, I wonder if she might be considering a completely BACKLESS dress. Hey, if you’re going to do 11 dresses in a row – I guess you need to do SOMETHING to change it up!

Irina and Althea are eating lunch and hating on Logan…Irina is encouraging Althea to say something about the fact that Logan is copying her creative zipper idea which she used in a previous challenge. Irina is SUCH A TROUBLEMAKER….

Irina said about Christopher’s dress, “why is one dress throwing up another?” Okay. I’ve gotta admit she hit the nail on the head with that comment…

At one point, Logan realized he cannot sew across zippers…REALLY? WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE, BUD?? He talked about how living in Idaho is the best of both worlds because he can work on his car, then go inside and design a dress. Just more proof that he is a heterosexual man, right? Which, come to think of it, must be the reason he’s still on the show. He referred to Irina as “Meana Irina”…that made me chuckle.

Tonight’s revolving judges are: Nick Verreos – Nina Garcia and Kelly Washington. Or maybe it's Kerry Washington? Either way, I have no idea who she is. AND I DON'T CARE. I go into a pout when there’s no Michael Kors..

Here are the three designs the judges liked:

Carol Hannah did a little black dress. Kelly thought it was delicious, Nick said he wrote down “Ava Gardner”, Nina liked the lightness, the judges loved the pockets.

Althea made shinny black hammer pants, a white tank top and a HAND-SEWN bulky gray sweater. (with all those sergers, WHY THE HAND SEWING?) The judges LOVED IT. Heidi said she wants it – she called the pants genius. Kelly said the sweater was gorgeous.
Irina made a way-too-tight-embroidered brocade sheath and a bulky brown sweater jacket with big square edges. Once Nick said he loved it, the judges all got on the loving bandwagon. Nina had a problem with the tight brocade dress – but otherwise, it was an Irina lovefest.


Next post for the losers...(this is way too long, I know...)

Project Runway -- Week 11 Recap (Part #2)

And, the three outfits the judges did NOT like:
Gordana made a gray jacket with a stand up collar with pin-tucks along the sides, and in the back of the jacket. And, a completely forgettable black skirt. Heidi called it old, drab, sad. Kelly said it feels passive, Nina said, between the collar and the darts, it makes the look a little dated..Nick said it looked like an office worker in Warsaw Poland…(you could have a future as a judge, Nick...)

Christopher stuck with his vision. It looked like a big flower garland wrapped around the front and swarming up the back. Once Nina said something negative – the judges all agreed with her and started down that slippery slope – at the end, Heidi said it looked like a bedskirt.

Logan sent down a short black dress with zipper collar and netting outside the skirt. Nina said it looks like a fashion project from a student. Nick called it 80’s, Kelly said it’s futuristic, which is distracting.

So, there’s ten minutes left in the show and I’m thinking…SEND LOGAN HOME…and give Althea the win – YOU’VE GOT TO DO IT – YOU CANNOT LET IRINA WIN TWO WEEKS IN A ROW…THAT WOULD BE HER FOURTH WIN. EVEN THOUGH SHE DESERVES IT. I’m just not that big a person. DON’T DO IT…I WILL BOYCOTT…SERIOUSLY…. I want Althea to get the win. Even though I hated her pants and thought the sweater was a pale imitation of Irina’s original design…

In the end, that’s exactly what happened. But the drama was a discussion on the runway about who thought of a big oversized sweater first. HEIDI – WERE YOU ASLEEP LAST WEEK?? Of course it was Irina’s idea.

Here’s how the judges scored it. Carol Hannah – “in”. Althea is the winner. (Irina’s eyes nearly rolled out of her head.) Christopher is declared “IN” – and Logan and Gordana are in the bottom two. That’s when I notice Gordana is wearing a mini dress with black tights. You’re killing me, babe…

They AUF LOGAN. As he is packing up his gear in the workroom, he puts his large leather man-purse over his shoulder. I’m shaking my head…he is the poster child for that confusing new-age word, “metrosexual man”. Then I notice his sewing notions are in a fishing tackle box…

Superior Threads at Quilt Market

Because I took AT LEAST A THOUSAND PICTURES at Quilt Market -- I'll be able to write about sewing, and inspirational projects for the next YEAR!! Here's a picture of Bob Purcell in his Superior Threads booth. That is some HEAVY STUFF to ship all over the country, people. And you KNOW what an inventory Superior brings to a show!! In this picture, he's directing me to an area where they're doing "demos":

I tried to get a complete picture of their booth -- the beautiful quilts for backdrop, the thousands of cones of thread...

I handed the camera to Mother Superior so I could get a picture of me & Bob:

On the last day of the show -- here's Mother Superior....hummm....an alter of thread? I'm pretty sure she's praying for 6:00 PM (closing)

Quilters and more!

On the first day of Quilt Market, my friend Eileen Roche from Designs in Machine Embroidery stopped to say hey. Apparently, I woke her up when I sent a text messasge at 6:00 AM. Sorry, babe. I am so dumb, I don't even know how text messages really WORK...the truth is, I don't have any business owning a cellphone...
Eileen was delighted with my beautifully EMBROIDERED JACKET...

I was in the Schmetz booth with Rhonda. Kaye Wood, a Schmetz Designer, stopped in to share her "sewing story" -- and I got more pictures of her at the show...THERE MIGHT ALSO BE A VIDEO!!

This was a common sight at Market. Great quilting pattern, eh? Their booth was so much fun..I'm sure I have another picture of it....if only I could find it..

Eleanor Burns VIDEO

Welcome to my blog! Many of you received the Expo Insider in your email yesterday -- and maybe you were reminded to visit the "blog". I just posted the video interview with Eleanor Burns over on the show blog.

I had several emails asking about the slide show of the quilts in Houston -- yes, it is a BEAUTIFUL VIDEO. That slide show IS STILL ON this blog -- BUT you need to scroll down and click on "older posts". (Nothing ever really goes away, it just rolls down the line...in many ways, a blog is like a reverse roll of toilet paper...) I posted that slide show on Thursday, October 22 if you want to take a look...

YES, I AM A BLOGGING FOOL. Turns out blogging is like talking -- and I JUST CAN'T SHUT UP. I have sooo many exciting things I want to share with you! To simplify -- I'll post on the Rita Blog every day, and you never know what I might write about. But I'll only post on the show blog on Tuesdays -- and it will be strictly show information.

Quilt Market AFTER

After blogging the pictures of "building the show" -- the next logical step would be pictures of the finished vendor booths. These were some of my best pictures -- but they in no way reflect the number of stunning booths in Houston, Texas. At times like this, I wish I was a better photographer...But I hope you can get the idea....this overhead view shows a very small fraction of the show floor...

I took hundreds of pictures of the show floor -- this is the Quilt In A Day booth..

And the beautiful Coats & Clark booth...

And the hands-on classes in the middle of the show floor...


My favorite booth at the show -- THE SCHMETZ NEEDLE BOOTH...







A coupla hard-working gals -- right before the show opens for the day -- Deanna & Nancy...
It is a beautiful show. THANK YOU QUILTS, INC!

Kelcy's Pumpkin Costume

My niece Kelcy is seven months pregnant. She lives about 3 hours away -- her husband, Andy is in Iraq. Kelcy is very crafty. She's always doing scrapbooking, painting a room, remodeling her bathroom. You name it. And one of Kelcy's hobbies is PHOTOGRAPHY. She and Andy had an engagement photo album, a wedding album and a maternity album. We are all quite sure this baby will be THE most photographed baby in North America. She came home for Brenda's baby shower recently. And the girls (Kelcy and her two sisters-in-law) got together for some Halloween fun -- they were invited to a neighborhood Halloween party...

Becky is painting, while Madeline looks on...

Here, Kelcy looks pretty pleased with herself...

The final shot will probably become a family classic. After they all had so much fun painting Kelcy's baby belly like the perfect Halloween pumpkin -- they were too tired to actually go to the party!!

Quilt Market BEFORE

Over the past coupla months, I've received several emails from Expo fans who said, "wow, I had no idea people worked all year long to make Expo happen."

We all get a kick out of those emails. Because IT REALLY DOES TAKE A VILLAGE. Beyond that -- it occurred to me during my visit to Quilt Market in Houston that WE ACTUALLY BUILD A VILLAGE. A temporary four-day shopping mall built out of pipe and drape. Then, add to the mix a four-day sewing university with hundreds of classes and speakers from all over the world. Hey -- while we're at it -- how about some style shows and special events? It is not possible to convey to you how much work it is to plan and organize a big show -- or how many man and woman hours go into the pre-show planning. Ann Sagawa is working on the teacher apps even as we speak. And Janet York is accepting the vendor apps. Joanne Ross has the big job of overseeing the entire process -- and you pretty much know what I've been doin'!!

After all the planning is done -- the actual BUILDING begins. It occurred to me that taking pictures of Quilt Market as it was going together would give you a good idea of how EXPO happens.

Some vendors even ship their own "flooring"

Every vendor ships their merchandise in wooden pallets, often wrapped with plastic wrap...


Many of the vendors ship their merchandise in wooden crates bigger than my bathroom.
Multiple wooden crates make for a very exciting booth...
The "beep beep beep" of the forklift operators creates a symphony of NOISE,NOISE, NOISE...and you've got to be careful when you step into an aisle in progress...

Forklifts, hundreds of rolls of carpet, thousands of wooden pallets...

And millions of pre-show hours put in by the best speakers and vendors all over the world. In Australia and Canada, Texas, South Dakota, Maryland, Wisconsin and New York City -- there are sewing stars working right now on their newest books, patterns and/or products to bring to the 2010 Expo. In the next few months they will design, write, publish, and sew new samples -- IT'S A LOT OF WORK, PEOPLE..
Just writing this blog entry is making me tired...I'm exhausted...time for a nap, eh?

Brenda's Baby Shower

Sunday, we had a baby shower. My sister Deena's son Toby & his wife Brenda are expecting their baby boy in a few weeks. With absolutely no pre-planning -- my two sisters and I showed up WEARING ZEBRA STRIPES. What are the chances? Here's me, Ronda and Deena holding the Hey Rita tote.

We are DELIGHTED that the next generation is keeping us so busy with the baby showers. In the next picture, we have Becky (her two little girls, Avery & Madeline -- are in the hot pink shirts) Then Brenda (guest of honor, holding the Hey Rita tote -- due in November). My Emily (Elliott's wife) with the great brown boots, and my niece Kelcy on the end (Deena's daughter). Kelcy is also pregnant -- due in December. She's holding our Lillian -- who looks GREAT IN A HAT.

Just in case you don't believe me...


We had a GREAT TURNOUT -- and Brenda & Toby are super excited about their new baby boy. We ate: chicken and spaghetti casseroles, Deena's homemade rolls and the family favorite -- green salad. (which is actually cream cheese layers, cool whip and pistachio pudding. The fact that we call this a SALAD could explain why I have a weight problem). Oh yeah -- for dessert -- carrot cake, cream puffs AND pear cobbler. Good job, girls! I'm telling you -- WE PUT ON A TERRIFIC FEED. lol. After these many years of practice, family special events, etc -- we can bang out a wonderful meal for a huge crowd and make it look pretty easy.

Brenda got many wonderful gifts -- but the BIG HITS -- OF COURSE -- were the one's people SEWED for the baby. In this family, the real gift is all about WHAT YOU MADE for the new baby. I mean -- anybody can go shopping, right? If I can get the pictures off my camera -- I'll show you who made what for little Clayton Frederick (so far!).

Halloween Costumes 2009

I'd love to see your homemade Halloween costumes!! This pattern reminded me of the year my sister Ronda & I sent our kids as the characters from the movie, "The Wizard of Oz". Her daughter Amy was Dorothy, carrying their little dog (his real name was Jedi but he seemed okay with the TOTO thing).

Nicole went as the Lion. And Ross was the Tin Man. I spray-painted a box, and wrapped aluminum foil around his legs. If I recall, Ross had a large metal funnel on top of his head. THEY LOOKED AWESOME...

In later years, I got busy (or lazy). My favorite costume was a black trash bag with purple baloons pinned all over it. "Grapes". Get it? Oh, yeah. Neither boy would go for it...

My favorite 2009 Halloween costume idea is from my friend Bert Shinbori. Her son, Tim looks like his Japanese father. He is married to a beautiful girl, Sue. They have two adorable little girls...

So -- can you guess what their Halloween costume idea is? Here are your clues...

• Both girls will be carrying three cabbage patch dolls strung together.


• Sue will trim off one side of a wig...

THAT'S RIGHT. Jon & Kate Plus 8...

Young Sewing Star Fan Mail

Dear Readers,

Just when I was feeling like I could use a little "blogging encourgement" -- I posted the pictures of my young sewing enthusiast. The pictures were such a hit -- I received several emails.

This email from my dynamic duo, Jan & Bonne:
Rita! The outfit by the 12 year old is absolutely gorgeous!!! And the coat? My gosh, is she a 12 year old with a design IQ of a 25 year old? She should be sure to find out about entering the wool garments in the Sew for Wool contest sponsored by the 4-H I think - not sure of the name but check it out online. Just think, 6 more years and she could apply for Project Runway and then we'd REALLY have something to watch!! Just fabulous sewing, thats for sure!! Congratulations on a lovey job well done! jan and bonne " inspired2sew"

Then, from my young-Star Wars Mother-of-twins:
Good Morning Rita,

Another fun tidbit for the day…. Sarah was working on one of her projects. She has access to a pile of “snippets” and a basket of ribbons…. So, she came to me and told me, “I need some fray check.” She must listen to some things I tell her. Maybe one day she will be showing me up – just like that 12 year old on your blog. My goodness her sewing is beautiful! I’ve got a winter white wool winter coat for Sarah in the back of my mind – recycled from a special suit that Grandma Jahnke passed down. Now I’m inspired!

Have a great day. It looks like a beautiful crisp fall day. Jim and Sam are out scouting for food, I’ve got plans for an apple pie. I’ll finish up the vampire dress while it bakes. I should put on my pearls for my perfect June Cleaver day. J

Yesterday, I sent my young sewing star this note:
Today I finally posted the fabulous pictures of your sewing projects...thanks again for sending me the wonderful photographs. Our Expo readers always enjoy seeing what the younger set is working on. And your projects are exceptional. Thanks for allowing me to share them. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU at the show!! Best,Rita
P.S. it's been so long, you may have forgotten the blog address: it's ritassewfun.blogspot.com

This morning -- I received this delightful email:

Rita, That is so funny, that we would have forgotten the blog address. It is bookmarked and we check it every day. Thanks for putting my daughter on. It gave me goose bumps and definitely made her day. We found out yesterday that we do get to go to expo. Would really love to meet you.
(Mom & talented sewer)

ISN'T THIS FUN?? SINCE THEY READ EVERY DAY -- I've been trying to think about what kind of thank-you-message I could send out. ON THE BLOG. SO -- HEY -- I'm not only going to meet you both at Expo -- we're going to have lunch. My treat. AND -- I can make sure you get to meet any sewing star at the show. UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. How's that? So -- carefully read the brochure when it comes out (December -- I'll keep you posted) -- and then I'll HOOK YOU UP.!! This will be sooo much fun for me! Again -- thanks for sharing -- ane keep up the good work!

Project Runway Week 10 Recap

This challenge started off with a trip to Michael Kors Rodeo Drive storefront. He had pictures of several exotic locations for them to choose from – which was supposed to be their “inspiration” for an outfit. In the now-predictable-first half hour of the show – Irina did her usual trash-talking. She said Christopher’s dress looked like “something an Amish woman would wear”. Gheesh... you know how it pains me to agree with anything she says…

Here’s how it went:

Carol Hannah. First to pick – she got Palm Beach. Then she proceeded to channel Uli Herzner from Season 3. AND I CAN’T BELIEVE THE JUDGES didn’t call her on it. She chose an Uli fabric --a flowing print – then made an Uli style – halter top, long full skirt. To complete her clone dress, she even made a braided trim out of the fabric – which was a total signature move for ULI. Hey – I liked the dress, too – but the show is not Project ReRun…

Nicholas – who, remember – was the SECOND designer to choose -- picked Greece. Then, from the first moment, he complained he’d never been to Greece, so he was totally clueless. Michael Kors gigged him for going into Mood and choosing gray flannel menswear fabric. No kidding. His outfit was a terrible fitting pair of gray pants and a white blouse. Wow. He deserved to go home. As he struggled to sew the blouse, he said “I’ve never worked with jersey fabric before” – I found myself wondering, ‘HOW DID YOU GET HERE??”

Althea picked St. Tropez. And she made another hot pants outfit -- off white and shades of brown and beige. It was very lack-luster. YOU COULD DO ANYTHING, Althea - -and you make a pair of brown shorts? Where did you spend the $150 they gave you to shop for fabric?

Gordana got Park Avenue, New York City. Her dress was stunning and looked rich and very luxurious. I’m a big fan of statement necklaces – and she worked hard on this one. It was also detachable, which they should have given her big points for. Her gray dress with the silk outlines looked fabulous. I loved everything about it. And when the model started down the runway – the wrap also looked great. It would have been nice to see more of the wrap. I would have given Gordana the win. Well, sure, mostly because I can't stand Irina -- but this gray dress really was a show stopper. Gordana is a puzzle...last week, she had no game at all. Then -- this week -- she pulls this great, original outfit out of the hat!

Irina chose Aspen. She knew from the first moment what she wanted to do. Her ski pants were impeccable, and the faux fur vest was a show stopper. But the best part of the outfit was when the model took off the vest and there was a peek-a-boo back on the sweater. AWESOME -- and you know it's hard for me to admit -- but this girl is good. Irina definitely created an outfit based on the“inspiration” of her chosen location. But, let's face it. It was all brown. And Irina is mean as a snake. C'mon...I just cannot root for her...Besides, the sweater should have been a different color to break up the boring brown pallette. Maybe that's not a major criticism...I'm just sayin...

Christopher picked Santa Fe. He made a dreary gathered skirt (which WAS the color of sand). Then paired it with a boxy, chiffony, blue top. Wha?? Right before the runway show, he had an epiphany and shortened the skirt. Which probably saved him from certain elimination. No, what saved him was the great belt. No, what saved him was Nicholas sucked worse than he did this week. No, I'm back to the great belt...

Logan(last to pick) got stuck with Hollywood. He said he was inspired by YOUNG Hollywood – Lindsay Lohan and Mary Kay Olson. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I was afraid he was going to paint dark circles under his model’s eyes and have her stumble down the runway in her underwear. Obviously, he should have gone with OLD HOLLYWOOD – and made an over-the-top dress for a movie premiere. Instead – he made skinny white jeans with a black top. Huh? His inspiration apparently came from a Hollywood Walmart.

I know why they gave Irina the win – but her outfit was too toneless and brown for me. I would have put Gordana on top this week. If for no other reason than to keep Irina’s ego from inflating to the point where nobody else can fit into the workroom.

The bottom two designers were Nicholas and Christopher. I thought the bottom two should have been Logan and Nicholas. When Heidi said that Christopher’s belt was the “only interesting thing” about his outfit – I thought THAT’S ONE THING MORE THAN LOGAN GAVE YOU. I don’t know – maybe I’m just fed up with Logan’s stupid head bag thingy…

After being auf’d -- Nicholas was packing up his stuff and he said he believes his style is “just too edgy” to break into fashion. Oh, yeah, that’s it. Gray pants and a white top. It’s WAY TOO OUT THERE FOR THE FASHION INDUSTRY. That’s your biggest problem, Nicholas. (yes, that is sarcasm...)

When Tim came into the room to tell Nicholas to pack his bags, he made at least two comments about what a GREAT DESIGNER Nicholas was. Really? Name one stand-out garment he did, Tim. The only way those comments make any sense to me is if Nicholas and Tim are dating...

Anyway. It's clear. The boys have got to go. Season Six is going to be an ALL GIRL FINALE. Irina, Gordana and Carol Hannah.

12-year old Sewing Enthusiast

Writing this blog means I get to meet the MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE..!! In a recent email, a woman wrote some comments about the blog and told me her daugher loved to sew. We are ALWAYS interested in what the younger set is sewing -- so, of course, I asked for pictures!!

What a beautiful wool suit. I never made buttonholes that looked that good...

And I love this picture -- what great lines for her black coat. I don't know if she used a pattern or designed it herself -- but this couldn't have been easy. What it is, at the end of the day -- is BEAUTIFUL and unique!

I saved my favorite for last...


Really? doesn't that look like armhole facings? And a bias edging around the skirt? REMEMBER -- SHE'S TWELVE, PEOPLE!!!

I'm telling you -- she puts me to shame. And her favorite part of sewing?? HEMMING BY HAND...