Happy Wednesday! I wanted to chat a bit today about my experience teaching at Glamp Stitchalot last month! I've taught at two Camp Stitchalot events, which are held at a bed and breakfast in Michigan a couple times a year. This was the first Glamp Stitchalot, which was held at a hotel in Ann Arbor, MI. There were five other teachers (Violet Craft, Sarah Fielke, Katy Jones, Alison Glass and Tula Pink) and we all worked together to design a mystery medallion quilt, which students worked on throughout the weekend!


Michael grew up in Saline, which is right outside of Ann Arbor, so I've been to visit the area quite a bit. One of my favorite things about going is Zingerman's bakery. They make the best sourdough! It's so good.


Always traveling with my own quilt! This is my much loved Patchwork Prism quilt made from vintage sheets. Still a favorite. And also two of my Stitches. I got to room with Deedrie, which was awesome!


I was able to visit Pink Castle Fabrics in their newer location, which was awesome! They ave SO much fabric, ahhck! With all the attendees visiting I stepped in to help cut fabric for a while, which was fun! I managed to get out of there with only a couple half yards, phew! Could have done some real damage in there.


A peek at the classroom! Loaded with Janome Skyline S7s!


Here is my version of the mystery medallion quilt. Each of us was responsible for designing a center block and a border, which could be interchanged according to preference! I used every border once. I chose half-square triangles (surprise, surprise!) for my center block and the very last border is mine. Unfortunately, the pattern was exclusive to the event, otherwise I'd direct you to it!


We were also asked to design a t-shirt for the event (if we wanted!). I wanted to keep things simple and also design something that would have all the details from the weekend! I am so pleased with how it turned out, and it's really comfy. I've been getting lots of wear out of it!


I had a great time at Glamp Stitchalot! It was really nice being able to stay inside all weekend, and the attendees were really lovely. The Pink Castle Team (Brenda, Jason, Hayley, Hayley, Josh and more!) did so much to make this a killer event, if you can make it in the future, do it! The June Glamp is sold out, but they do have a waiting list, here.

Brenda and I were pretty excited for the chocolate fountain, duh! A highlight for sure! :)

Happy Quilting!

Camp Stitchalot

Camp Stitchalot - The Hankered Inn, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Happy Wednesday! This week is absolutely flying by! Before we get too far from it, I want to chat about my trip out to Michigan earlier this month for Camp Stitchalot!  As I've mentioned before,  Camp Stitchalot is a retreat hosted by Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics and Rossie of Fresh Modern Quilts. It's held at the Hankered Inn in Pleasant Lake, MI.  They're being held about once a quarter, so make sure and check out the upcoming camps!

Camp Stitchalot - Cutting, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

This year's camp was so much fun! It was a really nice group of ladies! Anna and I drove up Wednesday so we could check out Pink Castle Fabrics!  We arrived at the Inn on Thursday and get right down to sewing! I worked on another mystery pillow!

Camp Stitchalot - Drawstring Bags, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

On Friday, the rest of the campers arrived and a few of us whipped up some Lined Drawstring Bags! We use Terri's add-on tutorial for the outside pocket!

Camp Stitchalot - Quilted Potholders, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Camp Stitchalot - Quilted Potholders, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Debbie taught us to make quilted potholders in the evening! They came together so, so easily! No binding and no turning under/topstitching! I used Color Me Retro for mine so they can hang in my kitchen! You can find instructions for making them on her free projects page!

Camp Stitchalot - Scrappy Trip, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I worked a little bit on my Scrappy Trip Along Quilt, but for the most part I worked on Christmas gifts! I got them all done at camp, but I'll have to wait to show them!

Camp Stitchalot - Marcia's 241 Bag in Nordika, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

On Saturaday, Anna show us how to make her 241 Tote Pattern! I have made this one many times (here and here), so I didn't make one.  See everyone's fabric choices made me wish I had brought fabric to make another one though! Check out this one Marcia made using Nordika!

Camp Stitchalot - My Pillow Top, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

In the afternoon, it was my turn! I chatted a bit about color and warm/cool combinations before we dove right into making our mystery pillows! It was so fun to see how different everyone's pillows were, depending on their fabric choices!

Flatter by Soak helped keep everything smooth before we did some cutting on the bias!

Camp Stitchalot - Maureen's Pillow Top, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Maureen made a very festive pillow!

Camp Stitchalot - Ashley's Pillow Top, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Ashley choose a fuschia, teal and mustard palette!

Camp Stitchalot - Debbie's Pillow Top, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Debbie went with deeper tones for her pillow!

Camp Stitchalot - Rossie's Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Rossie added some fun patchwork and quilting to the back of her pillow!

Camp Stitchalot - Annika's Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Annika pulled colors from a special print that she used for the back of her pillow!

Camp Stitchalot - The Hankered Inn, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Thanks to all the lovely campers, my fellow teachers Debbie and Anna, and our hosts Brenda and Rossie for a great camp! If you live in the Midwest you've got to make it out to one of these camps! They're a blast! For more information on future Camp Stitchalot events, see here.

Happy Sewing!

Camp Stitchalot: Nordika Mystery Pillow

It's nearly time! The Winter 2013 Camp Stitchalot Retreat is a month away! The retreat is held at The Hankerd Inn in Pleasant Lake, Michigan and is hosted by Brenda Ratliff of Pink Castle Fabrics and Rossie Hutchinson of Fresh Modern Quilts. It's pretty central here in the mid-west and about an hour from the Detroit International Airport. This winter's camp is December 5th-8th, and I'm happy to be teaching again this year!

For more on my experience at last year's camp, see this post.

Nordika Mystery Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

This year, I'm teaching a pillow workshop! I've developed a special mystery (not quite so mystery anymore) pillow pattern for us to make! In addition, I'll be sharing my favorite ways to customize and finish up pillows!

Nordika Mystery Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

One of the great things about Camp Stitchalot is that we'll be sewing together all weekend! The teachers will be available throughout the weekend to help you work through your class projects or whatever else you're working on! It's perfectly timed to help you finish up (or start, if you're like me) your holiday gift sewing.  Or take it as an opportunity to tackle some of your works-in-progress!

Nordika Mystery Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I'm excited to share this pillow with you all, it's so much simpler to make than it looks, which is always a treat! It's a mystery because the choice of colors and fabric placement can completely change the look of this pillow! I choose to make mine with Nordika, but am already scheming a second using warm and cool colors!

Nordika Mystery Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Nordika Mystery Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I finished my pillow up with a simple zippered closure on the back and some echo quilting using Aurifil 50wt thread #2600!

Nordika Mystery Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I hope you'll be able to join my fellow teachers, Anna Graham and Debbie Grifka, and I next month! Anna will be teaching her popular 241 Bag Pattern and Debbie will be sharing her Easy Turn
Potholders and Holiday Hotpads!

For more information and to purchase tickets, head over to Pink Castle Fabrics. Ticket prices include lodging as well as brunch and dinners! There's no reason to leave all weekend!

Hope to see you there!

Teaching at Camp Stitchalot

Happy Tuesday! I'm excited to share some fun news with you today! This December I'll be headed out to Pleasant Lake, MI to teach at Camp Stitchalot (formerly known as Quilt Camp)! I had such a great time teaching at this retreat last year, I'm so excited to be teaching again!


Camp Stitchalot is a fantastic retreat hosted by Brenda of Pink Castle Fabrics and Rossie of Fresh Modern Quilts.  It's held at a great location here in the Midwest with a giant sewing space! Meals are included so once you're there, you have no reason to leave! All you have to worry about is what you're going to sew!

Pillow Talk Swap 7 - Finished, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I'm thrilled to be teaching alongside two of my friends, Anna Graham of Noodlehead and Debbie Grifka of Esch House Quilts. How fun is that going to be?! Such talented ladies!

Kaleidoscope Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I'll be teaching a special (mystery!) pillow pattern and sharing my favorite techniques for finishing them up! I love making pillows (lots of pillows!), and who doesn't need another pillow for their couch/bed/favorite chair?  They make such great gifts too, especially since the holidays will be right around the corner! Anna is going to be teaching her 241 tote and we'll be making hot pads and casserole pads with Debbie!

Beyond that the best part about this retreat is just being able to hang out and sew together! I had such a great time last year meeting new people and working together on projects.  We'll be there to help and guide you through whatever you're working on!

Kaleidoscope Pillow, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

I hope you'll join us December 5th-8th! For more information about Camp Stitchalot see here.  For information and sign ups for the December camp, see here. You can read about my experience last year here!

You can find my current teaching schedule on the Teaching Page in the toolbar above!