PFW: The Splendid Sampler™

The Splendid Sampler™ Wednesday
(...skip this part if you're not new here...)

The Splendid Sampler™ is an internet sew-a-long created by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson. It is an EPIC sew along...

• 83 fabric designers have created specific blocks that feature different quilting techniques. (paper piecing, fused applique, etc.).
• The blocks will be released each week, and are FREE to participants until March 2017. (at that time, they'll use the designs to publish a book).
• You can use whatever fabric you like.
• There will be pictures on their Facebook page, etc.

The new block designs come out twice a week....on Sunday morning and Thursday morning. I'm doing this with my TMBC...and, therefore, it is my pleasure to BLOG ABOUT IT every Wednesday. *******************

During our Princeton Featherweight Workshop, when we took our lunch break, we also did our weekly Splendid Sampler™ sew and tell.  Because Jackie was visiting from North Carolina, we thought it would be fun to show her our ENTIRE BODY OF WORK...

Sandy started to lay out some of her blocks...

And she had to do several different layers

There are HUNDREDS OF BLOCKS AT THIS POINT...

She made one special pillowcase for each grandchild.

It is very impressive, eh?

The Splendid Sampler has been a terrific way to learn MANY DIFFERENT sewing/quilting techniques.

When it was Linda P's turn -- she needed a suitcase to bring in her block collection.

Remember -- she makes TWO VERSIONS of each block!!

Yep. Two different versions of EVERY block, and there are at least two blocks every week.

Yes, two of everything...

THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY BLOCKS...so there is the very real danger that I might have confused some of these pictures -- and I can't be sure who made which blocks -- Sandy or LP. The only thing I know for sure is that IT WASN'T ME..!!

Great job, ladies!!  Jackie was absolutely blown away!!

PFW: The Lilly Challenge

Sewing will always be a part of Grandma Camp. After all, Lilly has her very own Featherweight, and I realized the first lesson should be about how to CUT fabric. Much easier said than done, folks. At seven years old, Lilly is used to those blunt paper scissors -- so using a real fabric scissors will be a giant, dangerous adjustment. Hummm...best to start off easy, I think.

Then, I realized I had accidentally purchased the PERFECT FABRIC PANEL for this lesson...

With adorable sewing motifs, it already has the cutting lines right on the fabric.

With Frankie's help, we set up on the porch. WHERE WE DO OUR BEST WORK!!

It was good practice -- and now we have all these little sewing motifs...

Along with some pretty ugly place mats from my thrift travels...

THAT'S THE CHALLENGE, THEN. The place mats will make the perfect little Featherweight sewing mats. So, the attendees of the First Annual PFW all got a place mat and some Lilly squares...

The reverse side of my mat is, of course, ZEBRA..!!

PFW: Attachments

It is shocking to me that so many of our Featherweight sewing machines have been found with the ORIGINAL CARDBOARD BOXES of attachments. When they were new -- they came with these attachments: (considered basic at the time)

We are still trying to figure them all out, but we know the ruffler, the rolled hemmer, the zipper foot, the rick-rack applicator, the bias tape foot. What are the others?

I was trying to demo the rolled hem foot. It really is all about getting the fabric inserted just right before you start...

Which makes a STUNNING little hem!!

Setting up the ruffler can feel kind of intimidating...especially if you are trying to weave the lower fabric in, so the upper fabric ruffles as you sew.

But, IF YOU DO IT RIGHT, the results are really stunning!!  And the SPEED of getting this job done is spectacular.

The little dutch boy pin cushion is sitting on Stella May.  He was once owned by the Grandmother this Featherweight is named after...

Maybe that's the Featherweight magic for me. Sewing on these little beauties takes you back to a kinder, gentler time. A time when every woman needed a ruffler attachment AND a bias tape applicator. I would like to thank each and every one of those women for taking such excellent care of their/our Featherweight sewing machines.

Sewing with my sisters and my sister/friends, learning about our Featherweights, making projects and quilt squares...well, it has added something wonderful to my life...

PFW (Princeton Featherweight Workshop): PPT

After a very busy morning -- popover breakfast on the porch, transport Featherweights, set up, learning about the basics of maintenance...it was time for a little lunch break.

Sandy brought soup, and we had some fresh fruit, chips, nuts...SNACKING all day long...

After lunch, Linda P. is going to do a Paper Piecing Tutorial (PPT)

Her first order of business was to share all the Splendid Sampler blocks she has PAPER PIECED...YOUZA...

She is using one of the simple designs from the Splendid Sampler.

And she has made up kits for everybody.  We will ALL BE WORKING WITH THE SAME pieces of fabric...

A little more explanation, some demonstration...

Showing her body of work.

The block on the right is the one we are doing today.

And, as you can see -- WE DID IT..!!

Every one of us had one of those DUH moments...When we got it, we really, really got it!!

Princeton Featherweight Workshop: Part Two

By 10:00, we were setting up in the Princeton Library to start our FEATHERWEIGHT WORKSHOP...

Sandy was wearing her "Little Black Apron"

Linda would be sewing on her brand new (to her) Featherweight, Sophie -- for the very first time.

Jackie drove all the way from North Carolina with her Lou Lou -- who was the oldest girl in the room...born in 1937.  Lou Lou is the only Featherweight at the workshop with the scroll face plate.

LP has been sewing on her Stella May for a few months now, and LOVES piecing with her...

We compared our various tools and attachments. 

The first order of business was for me to show them how to oil and lube their Featherweights.

Like I learned from the Henry's at the MSQC Workshop -- we started with the top -- then moved to the bottom...

That part of the workshop took about two hours...

I had ordered a bunch of stuff from the Henry family -- at Singer-Featherweight.com -- and several of them had already ordered things on their own.  So we all had new lube (VERY important) -- I had brushes, spool springs, rubber feet, an extra belt (just in case)...

The BEST part about buying from April and Carmon Henry is that you absolutely know THEIR bobbins will fit, or THEIR new cord will be the right size, and it is ALWAYS guaranteed, and -- hey -- IT'S ALWAYS FREE SHIPPING..!!

Princeton Featherweight Workshop

Drumroll, please. For awhile now, I've been ramping up to this blog post...I am proud to announce the FIRST ANNUAL PRINCETON, IOWA FEATHERWEIGHT WORKSHOP!!

Oh, yes -- this is going to be A.M.A.Z.I.N.G...

I have reserved the little room at the back of my small town library.  Have I said lately HOW MUCH I LOVE MY LIBRARY??

So -- we'll kick it off with a Hummingbird breakfast on my screened in porch.

The first order of business is to get out my starched white napkins, Coaching Scenes china, and Aunt Rozella's silver...

Then, of course -- I MAKE THE POPOVERS!!

The girls brought the rest.  Jackie is visiting from N.C. (along with her Featherweight, Lou Lou).

After a last cup of coffee, we drove the 5 minutes to our workshop location.

The backroom of the Princeton library was PERFECT.  We quickly set up our five Featherweights...

I was taking a picture of the room.

Sandy is taking a picture of me...

Wearing my Apron with an Attitude...!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!