Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of hosting a wee gathering, with Amiee, Julia, Lori, and MJ. Shan and Kat, we missed you! (Next time!) Yesterday also happened to be my birthday, but this gathering wasn’t meant to be a bday party, per se. At our get-together a couple weeks ago, these fabulous gals decided to have a “sew-in” to show me the ropes when I expressed that I thought I wanted to try sewing. This day was good for everyone, and then when I said it was my birthday too, it was sealed and the date was set!
Now that I have a dining room, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to entertain, creating a small snack buffet and drinks at the ready in the kitchen. Like, I Martha Stewart enjoyed it. Just looking at this picture makes me happy. Is that so wrong?
Amiee was first to arrive on this day, and we got right to the business of sewing. We were at it an hour or so, I was learning SO much, then around 6pm the power went out. And didn’t come right back on, as it sometimes does. Hard to sew without power. There went that plan.
It was pretty funny, actually, we didn’t notice the second it went out. We were ironing (Amiee was showing me how to make bias tape, whee!) and we realized the iron was not, well, ironing. I leaned back into the kitchen to look at the microwave, and “I’ll be darned, the power’s out”.
By 7-ish, it was darkening and cooling off. Opened all the windows (thank goodness to air wasn’t too bad) and lit a bunch of candles. We sat down to food and drink and got to gabbing with nary a bump, though all plans were out the window:
L-R: MJ, Amiee, Lori, Julia, me
Thanks to MJ who instructed me on manually setting the shutter lower, and then we all sat perfectly still for 2 whole seconds to get this great shot. I can’t believe how well it turned out, being so dark. And, it’s sappy, but I’m so happy to have a photographic memory of the birthday/sewing party that went lights out. It was charming and fun, but would have been weird if we had done it on purpose, know what I mean?
Here’s a another pic that isn’t as bright but that I love anyway because we weren’t as still and some parts are clear and some are blurry, and it sort of captured the mood of the evening because of this:
I noticed looking at this picture that everyone sat in the same seats as the last shindig here. Funny. Like assigned seats.
In addition to sewing lessons from the group, MJ gifted me with gorgeous fabric (way to enable) and a handmade scarf!
I love them, thank you so much!!
Last week, feeling the need to handle some fabric, I tried my hand at the no-sew braid scarf tute from Pickles. And I love it! So fast, easy, wearable and pretty.
I used some plummy pink bamboo jersey that I gladly inherited from Lori as part of her great pre-move clean-out. That is almost the same color as the scarf in the tutorial! What are the chances?
I had a heck of a time getting even remotely straight cuts with my scissors. But the beauty is, when worn the edges don’t really show! I made mine more petite, in a few ways. Mine is about 8 feet long, before braiding, rather than 9 feet. The tutorial doesn’t specify width, but mine’s less thick when wrapped at about 16 inches wide. Finally, I made the braids a little shorter, and the fringe also shorter.
If you don’t know Pickles, get to know Pickles. I only recently discovered them. Look at all the crafty tutorials on the left!
On the knitting front, I hope to bind off the back of the Kimono Cardi today, and cast on for a front. Slow but steady on this one.
Also, it seems as if BL is friends with my feed again! Just as soon as I rant about it, it’s OK. Way of the universe, no?
Happy birthday!!
What a fun night – friends and candlelight converstation are always memorable. 🙂
Hey, Happy Belated Birthday! I’m so bummed I missed out on the fun yesterday! The little lady was so crazy nuts yesterday I couldn’t even get it together to wish you a happy bday on time. :p Oy. I’m glad you had a good day, in spite of the power outage. I’ll definitely see you soon. 🙂
ps: Oh yeah, MJ is the greatest enabler in all the land!
Happy B-Day, Jillian! Sounds like you had a grand time, even without power!
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!! a knitty sknitty seance {sp }? ………………..xoxoxo
Happy birthday! Sounds like you spent it in a wonderful way 🙂
I love the scarf tute. So awesome! Maybe you’ll model yours for us?
Aw, happy belated birthday! And welcome to sewing, it’s addictive 🙂 I just made placemats today after my spree of box bag sewing….
Happy birthday Jillian! All of your projects are so pretty.
To think you actually told me and Lori not to come over! We wouldn’t have missed your birthday! The blackout was actually nice because we really couldn’t do anything but talk, really. Welcome back to sewing, Jillian!
What a great way to spend your birthday!! Those photos turned out really neat.
My knitting has suffered since I started sewing but I really enjoy it. I bet MJ is a great teacher.
Hey, Happy Belated Birthday! I’m sorry I missed it. It looks fun sitting together in the candle light. And, no it’s not weird that you get happy looking at your table of party food. I’m that way too.
Happy Belated Birthday!! What a fun, memorable time you all had, and you must be so excited to have a new craft to learn!
[…] a few careful strokes of watercolor.Reconnect.Time to go home.(Boy, did the light seriously wane at our most recent get-together! What was supposed to have been a Sew-In became a gabfest…. ladies, I think I know you all A LOT […]
[…] did the light seriously wane at our most recent get-together! What was supposed to have been a Sew-In became a gabfest…. ladies, I think I know you all A […]
have a great { is that possible ? } flight and see you soon………xoxoxoxo
Oh! Happy birthday! I know you had a wonderful day, and I hope you have another one, today and tomorrow, and on and on, as well!
I knew it! I knew you would start up an new craft 😉
Next time you’re in NYC, we can go to both Purl and Purl Patchwork…
Happy birthday!