Did you have a great Thanksgiving? I sure did! Nothing better than a relaxing weekend with family and friends! I’m back to work though and today’s new tutorial will help me get through the week, every week! Today’s new tutorial is a Traveling Coffee Kit! (Although it can be made for anything! Tea, crafts, embroidery, first aid, anything!) Check out the tutorial HERE to learn all about Kraft-tex and how to make a cool traveling pouch!
Out of This World Quilt
With the new Star Wars movie coming out next month, we HAD to do an outer space quilt tutorial! The Out of This World Quilt is a fun way to practice your raw-edge applique skills! Click HERE to get all the details!
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!
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! 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!
I would say tonight’s trunk show at my Surf’s Up Retreat was a success! I had so much fun showing my quilts and sharing my stories. #mansewing #quiltretreat #missouristar A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on
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!
More quilts! PS the green one on the back wall is an upcoming tutorial!
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!
Check out what Vicki made at the retreat last night!! She’s rockin’ this pattern!! #mansewing #missouristar #3dudesquilt #quiltretreat #Repost @auntvicki_ ・・・ Ready to sew my rows. A photo posted by Man Sewing with Rob Appell (@mansewing) on
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!
On Saturday we had our Reverse Applique Class! I’m amazed at what this group created!! Here are a few pictures of the fun!
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!
Tote Bag Tutorial
This week’s Manly Monday Tutorial is packed with technique as Rob walks you through how to make this stylish Tote Bag! He used his dear friend, Valori Wells fabric and pattern!
Click HERE to watch the tutorial and get all the details!
Easy Curtains Tutorial
Today’s Manly Monday tutorial is making curtains simple! Follow along as I show you how to easily assemble lined and ruffled curtains!
Click HERE for all the details!
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!
After setup I got to enjoy Quilt Market and walk around. I didn’t really have a set schedule which was nice!
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!
This was probably one of my favorite booths! The colors and patterns spoke to my soul. I NEED this fabric!
I can officially say I’ve met Tim Holtz, such a cool, talented 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!
I spot a Man Sewing fan!!
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!
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!
Dresden Pillow
Today’s Manly Monday tutorial is bursting with fun and color! I had a blast making these Dresden Pillows. I may or may not have made way too many of these easy pillows!
Click HERE to watch the tutorial!!
Sugar Skull
This week’s Manly Monday was all about the thread painting! We used some sweet glow in the dark thread to really capture the Halloween spirit in this project. Follow along as I teach you some thread painting techniques on our awesome Sugar Skull!
Click HERE for all the details!
Gears Quilt
This week’s tutorial is bursting with movement and is fun to make! Check out how to make the Gears Quilt Get all the details HERE!
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!