Surf’s Up Retreat

I had so much fun at the Surf’s Up Retreat at Missouri Star Quilt Company! What a blast to spend one on one time with those that traveled to come to my retreat! Because we had a smaller group we were all able to spread out our sewing supplies and use the spacious Sewing Center to our advantage! Let’s just take a minute and talk about this Sewing Center. Nothing is better than a comfortable space with amazing lighting and plenty of space to spread out.  Anyways, here are a few pictures of the Sewing Center!

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This town is amazing! Definitely a place to visit at least once! Notice the flag… The local football team is on fire this year and headed to state if they win one more game! The whole town was painted blue and gold for the Hornets!

The whole place was a quilting inspiration. I may have a few new motifs up my sleeve after being in there all weekend!!

On the first night of the retreat we had my trunk show! The trunk show was pretty sweet! I even brought in all of the projects I was filming this last week and previewed those! I love it when I get to spoil those who come to my retreats! Here’s a little shout out to Jenny, Ron and their son, Josh for coming to the trunk show! And another HUGE shout out to Mr. Jenny for holding all my quilts while I spoke! rob, jenny ,josh Here are a few photos from the trunk show! Each of the quilts in my trunk show have a story. Some are funny, others tug on your heart a little but all of the quilts have a place in my heart and have shaped who I am today. You’ll have to come to one of my trunk shows to hear the stories!

 

Dolphin Dance
That’s Mr. Ron Doan AKA Mr. Jenny! See that surfboard in the background? Mr. Jenny made it! He even went and bought lace and then spray painted over it to give it an awesome pattern! Thanks, Ron!!!

 

Seascape
The first Seascapes quilt I ever did, I’ve come a long ways!

When the trunk show was over, Susan (who ran the retreat center) was kind enough to hang up every single quilt! It totally added to the ambiance and put us in caffeinated sewing mode! IMG_6860

These one's were pretty popular this weekend, it's hard not to fall in love with quilts that have animals though, especially when the quilts carry an amazing story!
These one’s were pretty popular this weekend, it’s hard not to fall in love with quilts that have animals though, especially when the quilts carry an amazing story for an amazing cause!

 

quilts on the walls
I love a wall filled with quilts and a floor filled with sewing machines and fabric! Doesn’t this look like a party to you?!

quilts on wallMore quilts! PS the green one on the back wall is an upcoming tutorial!

Close up of one of my quilts! The Twizzal Orizzinal

 

dancing dots
Closeup of the Dancing Dots Quilt! I’ve been wanting to experiment more with free motion quilting. I really enjoy it!

 

I loved the quilts hanging up so much that I did a live video chat showing them all!! You can watch that HERE!

Here are some pictures from my 3 Dudes Class I taught! This one has always been a popular one and the retreaters LOVED this quilt. Almost as much as I loved their own renditions. Most of them had already started sewing strip sets and cutting blocks before the class even started! We were all so excited about this quilt! 3dudes class

stripset
It was awesome to see the quilts come together with completely different fabrics! They were all so unique!

 

sewing strips
These vibrant colors were so refreshing! I’m a lover of all things bright!

 

stripset
I can’t tell you how much I LOVE batiks! These ones were awesome!

 

I think the best part of the whole retreat was watching these quilts come together! I was in awe!
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I spy a Man Sewing t-shirt and lots of awesome fabric!! We had so much space to spread out and get comfy!

 

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I’m glad my wife wasn’t with me at this retreat, she might have been stealing this fabric for her stash!!! 🙂 Such a fun print!

 

Busy, busy, busy!

 

These fabrics were right up my alley!

 

strips
And you can never go wrong with a Moda Grunge!

 

orange and red

I’m so in love with this quilt! The colors were fun and her smile makes it that much better! We love happy sewers!!

After hours of sewing it was time to take a field trip to the shops! With a smaller group it’s easy to do that! We walked through some of the shops, I showed them my favorite products and we even got to practice our Free Motion Quilting on a Crown Jewel in the new Machine Shed! What an awesome store!

Machine Shed

machine shed
The window displays were pretty slick! Such a cool idea!

 

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Doesn’t she look like she’s glowing??! That’s because she was in the quilting destination of the world, at an awesome retreat of course! 😉

 

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Mid sentence photos are always the most attractive I think… Notice that I have my french press traveling coffee kit in my hands. I needed the caffeine!

 

Rob fixing the crown jewel
Being a sewing machine technician has it’s perks. Like when the bobbin runs out after 10 seconds of quilting and the entire group is bummed out. Rob to the rescue!!! (Thankfully it was an easy fix and we were on our way quilting again!)

 

macine shed
She was a natural!!

 

machine quilting
I’ll give you 2 guesses who quilted these flames… Not my best but hey, not bad for my first time on this machine!

On Saturday we had our Reverse Applique Class! I’m amazed at what this group created!! Here are a few pictures of the fun!

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Can you tell what it’s going to be??

 

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I think she had the best spot in the house! With the sun resting on her back all weekend, what a relaxing way to sew!!

 

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What an awesome idea!! I’ll have to make more of these bad boys when I get home! I feel so inspired after spending the weekend sewing with this group!

 

dragon
This dragon is so slick! Crazy intricate design!

 

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This is a sample that I brought along with me!

 

Phillip's design
Phillip’s creation was so cool! So much talent at this retreat!!

Look at this good looking group!!!  

Here are some of the Reverse Appliqué creations from today’s class!! #mansewing #surfsup #quiltretreat #appliqué   A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on

All in all the Surf’s Up Retreat was awesome! We made new friendships, bonded over our love of fabric, made a few quilts and most importantly… had fun!!! We hope to make this a tradition and do a Surf’s Up Retreat every year! I’ll be sure to let you all know when we have the dates set in stone!

Turkey Centerpiece Tutorial

Today’s new tutorial is so fun and easy! This project would be great for the kids and is perfect for the Thanksgiving table!! Click HERE to watch the tutorial on how to make this Turkey Centerpiece!

TURKEY TIME PINNABLE

Quilt Market Fall 2015

Quilt Market is always a blast and always seems to fly by way too fast! We shared some pictures on Facebook and Instagram from my travels at Market and wanted to compile them in one place for you! I hope that if you weren’t able to go, these pictures will help you feel like you were there with me!

For several years I’ve been helping Michael Miller Fabrics put up and take down their booth. I did it again this year and had a great time with great friends!

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The line for Starbucks was never short. MUST HAVE COFFEE! MUST HAVE ENERGY TO KEEP SETTING UP BOOTHS!

 

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The boxes of props and decor for the booth was never ending! So much cool stuff to play with though.

 

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Like I said… never ending!!

 

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We did take occasional breaks, they were each well deserved!!

After setup I got to enjoy Quilt Market and walk around. I didn’t really have a set schedule which was nice!

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I got to attend Violet Crafts Paper Pieced Series, she rocked it!
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Such incredible talent this awesome friend has!

This summer Sizzix sent me some sweet stuff to play with and my daughter and I made these dolls. It was cool to meet the creator of the doll die in person!

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Kerry Goulder was so cool! I really enjoyed the Sizzix Booth!

 

Later that day I ran into Vanessa at the Schoolhouse! So fun running into MSQC family!
Later that day I ran into Vanessa at the Schoolhouse! So fun running into MSQC family!

This was probably one of my favorite booths! The colors and patterns spoke to my soul. I NEED this fabric!

My friend Patty Sloniger's booth with Michael miller love the colors obviously! So fresh!
My friend Patty Sloniger’s booth with Michael miller love the colors obviously! So fresh!

I can officially say I’ve met Tim Holtz, such a cool, talented guy!

I even got to meet Tim Holtz! Everyone went wild over my Gears Quilt saying that I should use his fabric, now I know why! Not only is his fabric awesome, he's a super cool guy!
Everyone went wild over my Gears Quilt saying that I should use his fabric, now I know why! Not only is his fabric awesome, he’s a super cool guy!

The owner’s of Missouri Star Quilt Company brought this to Market after going to Sunday’s game in KC. Of course I had to get a picture with it. Go Royals!!! Game 1 of the World Series against the Mets is tonight!

On Sunday the Royals won a big game that took them to the World Series!
On Sunday the Royals won a big game that took them to the World Series!

I spot a Man Sewing fan!!

They were selling Man Sewing T-shirts at the MSQC Booth! So cool to see people walking around in them!
They were selling Man Sewing T-shirts at the MSQC Booth! So cool to see people walking around in them!

 

Everyone, meet Rachel from Quilting Connection!
Everyone, meet Rachel from Quilting Connection!

So glad I got to chat with Valori and Jean Wells AND Violet Craft! All great friends, fun to see them grow in the industry!

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My good friends, Valori and Jean Wells. What a fun booth!

 

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Violet Craft in her booth!

 

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Here’s that quilt from the class!

 

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Real men wear capes at Quilt Market. 😉

A couple of photos from Instagram! One I reposted from Missouri Star and the other from @jennykaequilts!

The crew at MSQC were a blast to hang out with. This is a secret but I’m still starstruck when I see Jenny and I’ve been working with her for almost a year now… Shhh

I wish it wasn’t the last day of quilt market!! #Repost @jennykaequilts ・・・ I got to see Rob Appell again. Thanks, Rob, for the advice and encouragement! #jennykaequilts #mansewing #quiltmarket 2015 A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on


Meeting fans at market was so rewarding. When I teach to a camera I never know who’s going to watch the tutorials.

All in all, Quilt Market was a success! Time to go catch up on sleep and work on some projects for you all!

Action Figure Holder

It’s that time of week again and this tutorial couldn’t come at a better time! I’m in Star Wars prep mode as the new movie comes out in a few months so this fun Action figure Holder was a must! I needed a way to organize my kids action figures (Okay you caught me, they’re mine…) and this was the perfect project to do it!

action figure pinnable

These can be used to hold jewelry, crafty supplies, tech gadgets, anything and everything that would fit and you need to take on the go!

Click HERE to get all the details for this project!