karen gray design

Summer Therapy

Well, I guess it's Summer.  Can't believe it ~ seems like yesterday we were getting into the groove of our first Modern Fabric Group Therapy meeting.  SO happy we started this group - 5 sessions under our belt and I am completely hooked.  I leave each meeting on inspiration overload.  Thank you everyone for making Group Therapy such a blast.  And I love how new members are showing up to get in on the action.  Too fun!  Our Spotlight member this month was Amy Shively who shared how she makes super cool fabric folders with the group.  Amy started sewing in 2009 as a hooby and is on the fast track to getting things rolling, selling her handmade wares under the name - "Amy by the Park".  Stay tuned for more about Amy and her awesomeness.  Thank you Amy for giving us a peek into your world.
 

Amy shares her 1st quilt - "Woof" she made for her son.  So cute.

Amy's fabulous May Block for the Colorology BOM project.  Love it.

Tom Transou, fabric representative for Westminster Fabrics stopped by to share some fantastic new collections coming out soon.  Loved seeing a Tula Pink and Denyse Schmidt preview.  Tom also shared so much about Island Batiks and their involved process, as well as his new Alexander Henry Collections.  It was an A. D. D. festival.  I could feel everyone contemplating all the different fabrics and potential projects.

Lots of incredible show & tell by the group.  Thank you Lee for taking pictures for me.  Except for these of your amazing projects - Love.

Kait shares her Kalidescope quilt made with Anna Maria Horner fabrics, her neato Tetris quilt, and this pretty little Granny Sqauare baby quilt, which had a bible passage quilted on it.   This girl is busy.  Wow.

 

New MF member, Joan shares a fun tote and immediately gets into the spirit of sharing her crafty goodness stories.

Janet shares this pretty Summer pillow  by Amy Butler

And last, but certainly not least, Tamoe shares her handmade masterpiece doll.  So much detail.  I promise you this photo does not do this justice.  Impressive.  

We had a fun swap and shared our finished blocks for our Color-ology Block of the Month quilt and said our good-byes until August.  Seems so far away, but as you know.... time flies.  We meet again on Wednesday, August 12th at The Little General.  So much to look forward to. 

See you soon.  

Love, Karen

ox

 

May MFGT Meeting

Hi!

Group therapy this week was pretty great.  Before I get into all the greatness, I want to mention that it's not late to join modern fabric group therapy - anyone is welcome to join at anytime.  I have received a few emails about this and wanted to clarify... Meetings are the 2nd Wednesday of every month at The Little General from 12:30 - 2:00 pm.  There will not be a meeting in July.  If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch - karen@karengraydesign.com.  Ok, we continued with our MFGT Spotlight Series this month with Barbara Young.  This is not only a lot of fun, but a great way for everyone to get to know each other a little bit better.  I look forward to Spotlighting each and every member.  Barbara is a treasure.  She started sewing in 2011 and since then has made some incredible quilts.  Her are a few she shared with the group ~ 

Barbara's very 1st quilt - "Pave the Way".  SO pretty. 

Barbara quickly advances to a Voile Lone Star quilt... that's crazy!  Beautiful custom quilt job by Gina.  This really has a WOW factor. 

Barbara and Gina snuggling with the Lone Star Quilt.  Things get crazy at group therapy.

The group shows off their completed April Blocks.  Fabulous work.

Carrie shows off a pretty donation quilt.  Quilted by Laura Davies.  Nice.

Martha Ann shares a graduation gift she's been working on for awhile.  Very cool.  

Martha Claire shares her Bottswana quilt she made for a gift with fabrics purchased from French Connection in Pittsboro.

Janet shares her reversible embroiderd Outdoor pillow.  Well done!

Heather modeling her awesome camera strap she made for the swap.

Lovely Miranda modeling her festive handmade flower pin.  Looking good!

I can't wait for our June Therapy Meeting where we will be Spotlighting Amy Shively who will be sharing a fabric folder demonstration and giving out her pattern.  Also, Tom Transou, fabric rep extraordianaire with be stopping by to share the latest and greatest fabric Collections that will be coming out this Fall.  

Hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day!  You deserve it.

Love,

Karen

ox

May Flowers

Spring in North Carolina is pretty glorious.  I visited family and friends in Wisconsin and Minnesota over the last 2 weeks and the weather contrast was very drastic.  Cold, snowy, rainy... all the bad stuff - when it's suppose to be Spring.  I am so happy not to be clearing snow off my windshield.  Hopefully  pleasant temperatures will show up soon in the North.  

I've had some really fantastic classes lately - honestly, I have the best time at all my classes.  Sewing people are fun!  I had an action packed workshop last Saturday with Courtney, Kerry, and Linda.  The ladies showed their commitment to sewing and learning new techniques by getting started early - 7:45 am.  They packed a lunch and we powered through the day, finishing up around 3:30. They had great success making Rufflicious Scarves from Rayon and "Pave the Way" Placemats & reversible Napkins.  We had time for an easy drawstring gift bag and wine bottle apron demonstration, which I will be posting a tutorial for soon.  It's very cute.  Here are some photos to highlight the good times had by all~ 

Here is a photo of sweet Laurie, who made this cool ampersand pillow in applique pillow class with Pam and Patsy.  I love it!

I am looking forward to MF Group Therapy this week on Wednesday at The Little General.  Meeting starts at 12:30.  Don't forget the theme for our swap this month is "flowers", which means you can bring fresh flowers, make some pretty fabric flowers, bring delicious cookies decorated with flowers... Be creative. We will be spotlighting MFGT member and friend, Barbara Young.  Looking forward to seeing everyone.  

Hope you are enjoying your Spring.

love,

karen

ox

Welcome Spring!

Hello,

So happy Spring decided to get it's act together.  The weather has been perfect these past few days.  The only issue I am having with the arrival of pleasant temperatures and sunshine is my backyard.  My son actually suggested that we contact Extreme Backyard Makeover to fix the problems.  We have 2 large dogs that have made a mess out of what was once a nice area.   I try to come up with a game plan for the project - but can't quite come up with a starting point, aside from pouring concrete over the wasteland. It's a big project and involves more than picking up sticks. Enough about that.  

I've had a couple of fantastic classes this week.  I have really been enjoying the teaching process... I learn something new from each class.  That's the amazing thing about sewing and hanging out with cool sewing people - you always learn something new.  I love it.

Carolyn's pillow she made for her friend Ann(e) in our Applique Pillow class this past Saturday.  So pretty.  

Pam's "Pave the Way" Placemats in progress.  Used Denyse Schmidt's newest collection - Shelburne Falls.  A new favorite.

Patsy's "Pave the Way" Placemats & Reversible Napkins!   More of my current favorite fabric collection.  Patsy and Pam both did a beautiful job.  I am looking forward to more sewing adventures with these two.

Modern Fabric Group Therapy tomorrow at The Little General at 12:30.  We will be spotlighting MFGT member and friend Tillie Willis.  This is a new feature for our sewing club in an attempt to really get to know one another better.  Tillie was part of the very 1st Beginning Quilting class in 2009 with Ginabean and has been a quilting machine ever since.

Gina, Laurie, Tillie, Barbara, and Kathleen - Tillie's birthday celebration last year.  Good times.

Have a nice day.

Karen

ox

April Showers

Hi Everyone,

We returned back from our Spring vacation yesterday and couldn't quite believe that it was sleeting....!?  We decided to drive to Florida this year since it's only about 11 hours to our destination, but yesterday I think the entire East coast was under siege by some sort of precipitation.  Our drive home turned into 15+ long hours of traffic jams mainly due to the rain.  So happy to be home even though our time in Florida was glorious and the weather could not have been more perfect.  

I had some pretty great students in March and I am looking forward to more sewing class adventures this month.... this year is buzzing by too quickly.  Here are some highlights from the fantastic March classes.  

Kitchen Essentials with Pam  ~  Carrie modeling Pam's fabulous apron

Courtney, Kerry, Linda, and Diane ~ Coasters & Cocktail Napkins class

This was such a fun class.  Sadly, we ran short on time and did not get a chance to make the gift bag.  I am getting together with this bunch again soon for a mini Sewing Workshop Day.  We will definitely have time to finish the gift bag, along with a cute wine bottle apron too.  

  This was a bon voyage gift for Abby, who recently moved to DC.

I got together with Eileen for the Baby Essentials class - a favorite!  So easy and quick.  In 2.5 hours, Eileen made a baby blanket, 2 washclothes, a burp cloth, and an applique onesie for a baby shower gift... and a gift card too.  Adorable!  

This is the class sample I made... perfect for a boy or a girl, don't you agree?  Maybe more girl.

 I am looking forward to group therapy this Wednesday.  More on that later.  Enjoy the weekend.

Karen

ox

We all need therapy... just not in the evening

Hi everyone,

The Modern Fabric Group Therapy meeting yesterday was fantastic and therapeutic too.  I just love hanging out with other sewers, especially these talented ladies.   The meeting kicked off with introductions, a swap, followed by fascinating sewing news and highlights, and a bunch of show and tell.  I have been getting a lot of suggestions and ideas for our therapy sessions, which is amazing and helpful too - thank you.  The ladies brought in their 1st block from our Colorstrology Block of the Month project to share and are moving onto the February and March Block now.  Here are a few photos that Lee snapped during the meeting, except the one of Lee showing her new Rainbow Color quilt.

Gina, aka The Little General talks about an "event" taking place in the shop on Sunday, March 24, 3 - 6 pm.  That's all I know about that...

Kathleen Baden's award winning Applique quilt from QuiltCon - "Rainbow Blocks".  Very Impressive hand quilting  on this awesome masterpiece.  Congratulations Kathleen!

January Block. Done.

the group reviewing the BOM project, before tackling February & March Blocks.

 I think the idea of an evening meeting was good, but I have just decided  to focus on the original afternoon MFGT meeting for now.  I was starting to tilt into an area of too much to handle.  Possibly in the future, once the program is a little more developed, we can add another time/day therapy sessions.  I'm sorry to disappoint.  I hope you understand.  

Looking forward to teaching more fun class tomorrow and Saturday.  I will share more photos soon. Have a nice weekend.

karen

ox...

MFGT Evening Addition Starts this Month....on Wednesday!

Hi,

I can't believe it's been a month already since our 1st Group Therapy Meeting.  I am looking forward to our next Therapy Session on Wednesday, March 13 at 12:30 - 2:00 pm OR now I am having an Evening addition of the same meeting on the same day from 6:00 - 8:30 pm.  Also, I want to mention that the groups are completely interchangeable - which means that you are not locked into one group.  If you normally attend the afternoon meeting and have a conflict on therapy day, feel free to attend the evening group and vice versa.  This is going to be a fun way to get to know some pretty amazing sewing ladies and feel completely inspired.  If you have any questions or  would like to attend the meeting, please contact me at karen@karengraydesign.com.   Oh ~ and please bring a fat quarter that includes any shade of the color AQUA to the meeting to swap with a friend.  The fabric does not have to be completely Aqua, just needs to have a bit of that color included in the print.  If you were not able to attend the meeting last month, I will give you more details about our Monthly Swaps on Wednesday.  Looking forward to it.  

I have had some REALLY fun classes lately.  I got together with Carolyn on Saturday to make a Reversible Sewing Machine Cover and just love the fabrics she picked out.  I think Carolyn's sewing machine is going to be very happy.  Check out both awesome sides of her cover.  Good job Carolyn!

Today I got together with Patsy to whip up some Kitchen Essentials.  Patsy made a very cool apron, dishtowel, quilted potholder, and a pretty adorable recipe card pouch.  She used Denyse Schmidt's new Shelburne Falls Collection, which I love.  These lovely handmade items are all going to be a wedding gift for Patsy's friend.  Very nice.  Carrie was in the shop just as Patsy finished up the apron, so we had her model it - what do you think.  Fantastic, right?  Here are a few pics I snapped during our class today.

Gina has the entire collection of Shelburne Falls in the shop, along with so many other wonderful prints.  Stop by and visit her soon.

Hope to see you at Modern Fabric Group Therapy on Wednesday.

love,

karen

ox

 

 

The Pillowcase Case Dress

Pillowcases dresses are amazingly satisfying.  They go together so quickly and look great.  I love a project that has a lot of room for interpretation and I think the best part about this garment is the forgiving fit.  I made a pillowcase dress for a friend's daughter when she was 3 years old and she still wears it today.  She's 7 now - she wears it as a top and it's still one of her favorite things to wear. This style isn't just for kids, I think the pillowcase dress is a perfect swimsuit cover up for girls of all ages, don't you?

I had a Pillowcase Dress class this morning with Linda who wanted to learn what it took to make this cute dress for her granddaughter.  We started by picking out the fabrics at 7:30 am, and by 10:00 am we were finished.  I love how this dress turned out.  So cute.  

Linda definitely has plans to make more of these pretty little dresses, along with coordinating bow ties for her grandson.  

Spring is coming.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

karen

ox

 

Classes at The Little General

Hello!

I had previously mentioned that I am going to be teaching a bunch of fun classes at The Little General this year.... I worked for hours days trying get a schedule together, write class descriptions, make samples, write supply lists and instructions & create sewing patterns ... the process has been great.  I am actually still working on some of the samples.   At any rate, I started getting emails and calls from eager sewists letting me know they really wanted to take some of my classes, but had conflicts with my "schedule" because of work and family obligations.  I totally understand these issues and have decided to offer my classes on-demand.   What does this mean?  Well, it means that if you want to take a class and have a few time slot options in your schedule to get together and sew - let me know.  I will coordinate with my schedule and try to make this happen for you.  This works out great if you have a friend you'd love to take a class with.

Patsy and I got together last week for the Coasters & Cocktail Napkins class.  We had so much fun making this project and even had time to make a cute gift bag & card for the gift set.  I also brought along a copy of the perfect recipe to include in the gift bag ~ The BEST Summer Sangria.  That recipe might have to be a whole other blog post.  Check out Patsy's preppy fabrics she used.  She did a wonderful job and I'm sure whoever receives this gift will be thrilled.

This cute gift bag was inspired by Melody Miller's fantastic new book

I have a few classes on my March calendar that have been reserved On-Demand.  Feel free to join the class if your schedule allows.

Pillowcase Dress - March 2, 7:30 - 10 am

Reversible Sewing Machine Cover - March 9, 9am - Noon

Kitchen Essentials - March 11, 9 am - 1 pm

"Pave the Way" Placemats & Reversible Napkins - March 21, 9-12:30pm

Have a great week.

karen

ox

DSLR 101 Workshop at Graylyn

Hi,

I talked about this fantastic workshop my husband is hosting at the MFGT meeting last week ~ here is a reminder of the details: 

DSLR 101 at Graylyn - Take that big fancy camera off AUTO

Sunday, February 24, 2013

1:00pm until 4:00pm

Join Jacqui Shooter Causey-Byers and Bo Gray for an intro on how to start shooting in manual to get the most out of your camera.  $75 per person (Coffee and soft drinks provided - cash bar for wine/beer/liquor). ***You will need a DSLR, Tripod, a remote shutter release.***

Please send me an email if you would like to attend this workshop - karen@karengraydesign.com.  This is the perfect opportunity for you to get the information & inspiration required to begin taking some incredible photos with your Big fancy camera.  I don't have a fancy camera, but I will be at the event soaking up the inspiration and scenery.  

The Little General for Westminster Fabrics

Last September, my husband Bo and I worked with Westminster Fabrics to produce lovely photography for their product catalog for International Quilt Market in Houston, TX.  The day couldn't have been more perfect.  Gina and her husband Sam were kind enough be the modern faces of Westminster Fabrics - we even had Sue Lauer's Westie, Spencer make his debut for the shoot with some very stylish Kaffe kerchiefs.  Spencer definitely has a future in the fabric world :).  The entire shoot was photographed at Graylyn and was a big success.  Westminster had a difficult time selecting which photos to use with so many great options.  I should probably clarify that Bo took all of the photos - I acted as the stylist for the shoot.  Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day ~

The weather this Sunday should be ideal for taking photos.  I hope you can make it.

love, karen ox