Summer Vacation

I think it's fair to say that I've taken a summer vacation from my blog. It's been a busy summer - much of which was spent in the car driving my oldest child (7) from one sports camp to the next. We took a family trip to Portland, Oregon then I had my 20 year high school reunion just days after we returned. We've had family visiting, etcetera, etcetera. No doubt you know how it goes. Besides having little time to sew, let alone blog, it's been quite hot this summer. While we have a few window air conditioners in this 102 year old house, my sewing space stays unconditioned and can get quite hot.  Sweat and sew or take the summer off. What would you do?

Here's a photo I took the other day of my sewing room. It was a hot day - in the 90's and ridiculously humid. The afternoon light was so lovely, though. The room looks inviting but don't be fooled!

That's a mini quilt/doll quilt in the foreground. The fabric is by Robert Kaufman. On the last day of Quilt Market I made one final purchase at their booth and they gave me a huge stack of 3" squares. Most of the fabrics were absolutely not my style, but there were a few goodies. I've scoured the RK web site looking for photos and the name of this line, but with no luck. Let me know if you recognize it. I'll post a better photo of the finished product soon. Mini quilts could be addictive.

Speaking of small things, what I have been working on lately is cloth napkins. Dinner napkins, hors d'oeuvres napkins, kids' napkins in various sizes. What fun to pair fabrics and to get a finished product in a short amount of time. I'm slowly but surely getting my Minimushroom Etsy shop stocked, but I have a feeling a little back to school trunk show would be more fun and more successful.  Here are some photos of napkin mania.

 

Photography is always a struggle for me. Seems crazy given that I loved the class in college, but photographing your work is different from just trying to get the occasional "artsy" shot. I need to capture the item AND try to convince you that you need to buy it. I have a profound respect for sellers on Etsy with great photography, and certainly professional photogs who bring us adverts, billboards, etc. It's not just about aperture and f-stop. You need a good eye, good lighting, a good angle, and of course styling/props. Practice makes perfect - I hope. If you're in a similar conundrum, check out this post on the Etsy forums about taking great photos. Good stuff!

School starts here on August 30th. While I'm going to miss my little boys while they're at school, I'm excited to have some time to finish the millions of things I have in progress - like several quilts of my own designs. And then there are more skirts. So much to sew, so little time. On that note, here's my most recent skirt - finished just one hour before my friend wore it to a wedding. There's nothing like working in heat and under pressure.