.: My QuiltCon finish! - the Love Machine Sewing Organiser :.

So I went to QuiltCon last month - there are five posts in our March archives if you'd like to go take a look.  :-) There's one last post I've still to write - about all the people I met - I have high hopes for that to happen during the school hols.

But for today! - today, with much excitement, I'm sharing the Sewing Machine Organiser I started during Penny Layman's wonderful workshop - the only workshop I took while in Austin.

How fun is it!?  I had such trouble choosing fabrics for it - since I had to choose them and actually commit to them, then pack them in my suitcase and stay committed to them!  Usually when I'm sewing, I'm constantly back and forth to my fabric cupboard, swapping and changing as I keep thinking of 'just the right fabric'.  But - I wouldn't have changed a single fabric for my organiser, I can't tell you how much I love love love it!

I'm calling it the 'Love Machine' - since I've used Amy's 'Letters of L-O-V-E' fabric for the machine itself.  The pink is a Timeless Treasures sketch, and the grey is from Emma Jean Jansen's 'Terra Australis'.  The orange and white control panels are from Carolyn Friedlander's 'Botanics'.  The background is Pam Kitty Morning's white on white 'Picnic'. And the spool?

The spool would be a fussy-cut from Monica Solorio-Snow's 'Sew Yummy' - I took a big piece with me, so I could fussy-cut just the right spool.  I met fabulous Monica in the lift at our hotel in Austin, and saw her a few times at QuiltCon - and so wish I had more time to talk with her and take a pic too, but it didn't happen!

The pockets are Aunty Cookie - I am going to be so very sad when my stash of Aunty Cookie finally runs out!  Penny's pattern calls for a 'scissor plaque', where I've instead made a little pocket for teeny things (with the Clover clip up there) - and I also didn't do the sweet sashiko-stitching to label all the little pockets - but I figured the busyness of the Cookies meant I didn't need to do any extra stitching.  The little scissor-strip is Prints Charming - a print I picked up from Danielle in a destash.   The binding is also Prints Charming - lime starburst - and the blue/white background is a Lu Summers cross-hatch from her 'Summersville' line with Moda.

For the back I used a selvedge print from Spotlight.

Here is Penny's organiser from her book - she had it hanging in the class, and it was awesome to see it in person.

And here is Penny's book - it's truly wonderful- there are so many cute and fun projects in it.

And oh! - here are me and Penny!  I can't tell you what a treat it was to meet Penny. I've long admired her paper-piecing patterns and blog, and through our little chats on instagram and email, thought she seemed like a really lovely person.  Well, let me tell you, she's absolutely gorgeous in person - it was such a huge treat to met her and get to chat with her a bit.  Her husband Lenny was at QuiltCon too, so it was lovely to meet him too.

Looking at that photo makes me a little teary, as it reminds me of just how amazing QuiltCon was.  It also reminds me that I was sewing that sewing-machine block right up til the very last second of the workshop - I was so determined to get it finished!  Penny's class was really awesome - she is a fantastic teacher and made sure each person knew what they were doing and stayed on track - there were a few ladies who had never paper-pieced before, and I think each of them finished their sewing-machine block during the class - amazing!  Here's a pic of our class (that I took from Penny's blog post).

It was so fun.  Hope you all have a great weekend.  xoxo cat