So the quilt coat happened! You may have seen me share about my it in my Instagram stories over the weekend and I thought I'd add a little more insight into the creation of this cozy garment. First off, garment sewing is hard! The Papercut Patterns Sapporo Coat is an intermediate pattern and at times I felt like I'd taken on way more than my modest sewing skills were ready for. Because I was quilting parts of my coat and piecing sections together, cutting out the fabric took far longer than it probably would if you were making this regularly. I used part of the Miss Make Clava Quilt pattern for the back of my quilt coat, because you know I can't get enough of it.
Sewing the coat and coat lining pieces together worked pretty well. Because I quilted my coat, I decided to forgo the fused sections in this coat pattern. When it came to attaching the coat lining to the coat I must admit that by that point I was completely lost and pretty much just winged it. I know my coat is not done correctly, or perfectly, and I'm ok with that.
While going through this process, I definitely Googled how to do a few things and found a YouTube channel that had a sew along for this jacket (you can find part 1 and part 2 here in case you'd like to give the Sapporo Coat a try). Seeing how to do some of the sewing, rather than just photos, helped me better understand some of the steps.
Along with my coat jacket, I've been partnering with Monster and Spacecraft to host some fun online embroidery workshops. It's been such a joy spending a few hours crafting with fellow makers. This week we had 2 classes and you can check out some of the student work below. I also updated my events calendar with a few more online and (fingers crossed) in-person classes for this spring and summer.
What else have I been up to besides quilting and teaching workshops in the last few weeks? Books. I've been reading (well listening to) lots of audiobooks. Thank you to everyone who's shared murder mysteries recommendations with me and please keep them coming! You might also remember me mentioning that I'm working my way through the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton. Well in-between this series, I've also read a few other murder mysteries:
Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson Only read this book if you'd read (or don't plan to read) all of the "eight perfect murder" books mentioned in this book, because there are major spoilers! Peter Swanson is a capitvating writer and this book had be hooked at the beginning. While it's an interesting I also found the ending somewhat unsatisfying.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley This one was different than your typical murder mystery, because it's from the perspective of a smart, spunky, and imaginative 11 year old girl named Flavia de Luce. Because of Flavia's narration and perspective, I sometimes had trouble believing the story line yet also enjoyed the childish perspective.
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz This book features a murder mystery within a murder mystery. The first half of the book is very reminiscent of the show Midsummer Murders, so much so, that I wondered if it was actually an episode or two from the show. The second half of the book was less of a surprise to me, yet still an interesting read.
James Patterson novels These books I'm not even going to name, because I can't really say I liked any of them. I tried to get into a few of his many series (not sure why) and could never really enjoy any of them. Patterson's books often seemed like they were better suited as an action movie instead of a book. I could also have done without some kind of over-the-top and unneeded adult relationship in every book. Can we just stick to the murder please?
Now for something cool from the creative community:
Fellow small business owner Lauren Tilden of Good Sheila and Station 7 recently started the Making Good podcast. If you're a small business owner who wants to find ways to give back, then take a listen! Making Good is all about helping you build a strong small business and using it as a force for goodness in the world. Lauren's podcast covers topics like ways small businesses can do good: donating to causes, advocacy, being real online, supporting businesses that align with your views, and much more. She also plans to offer trainings on ways to make your business thrive, through marketing, numbers, systems, social media, finding your community, and more. There's already 4 episodes of Making Good available on the Making Good website! Listen in and see how you can have a business that makes you money, makes you proud, AND makes the world a better place.
#embroidery #quilting #murdermysteries #books #clavaquilt #makinggood #workshops #onlineclasses #sewing #PapercutPattern #SapporoCoat
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