Double Whammy – Iron Maiden and Sewing Expo

As usual, it’s been busy at Keep It Thimble this week! But this week had not one, but two special events that I have been anticipating for a long time.

The first one was the kick-off concert for the Iron Maiden U.S. Tour in Charlotte, NC. My husband is a HUGE fan and I got him tickets to this for his birthday. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived in Charlotte just in time to see the Opening Act – none other than Alice Cooper. Fittingly, he ended his set with the classic song “School’s Out for the Summer.”

IronMaidenCharlotte — Iron Maiden – Charlotte, NC

Iron Maiden took the stage at 9pm sharp and rocked out for 2 solid hours without a break. For a bunch of dudes in their mid-fifties, it’s amazing how much energy they have. This tour was a retrospective of their music, so they played a lot of fan favorites. The stage show featured amazing pyrotechnics, a 10 foot tall Eddie, a phantom organist, a feast of other visual sights and sounds, and of course Bruce Dickson dancing and running all over the stage. Definitely worth the price of admission.

SewingExpoRaleigh — Sewing Expo – Raleigh Convention Center

We got home very late that night, but I was able to catch a few hours sleep before my next exciting event – the Sewing Expo at the Raleigh convention center! I have been waiting for years for the Sewing Expo to come to Raleigh and so I was thrilled when I found out it was going to be here in June.

Sharon (aka Liberty Rose) at Primitive Gatherings Booth

The expo featured several local vendors and some from places as far away as Oregon, Wisconsin, Florida and Texas. My favorite booth, hands down, was Lisa Bonegan’s “Primitive Gatherings” – packed to the brim with wool applique projects, wool, and patterns. And can you see who is in the picture I took at the booth – Ms. Sharon Stewart herself (aka, Liberty Rose). I caught her in the act of making a “few” purchases.

Sewing Expo House Blocks — House Blocks @ Sewing Expo

The expo also featured a ton of quilting, sewing, and applique classes. Sadly, I didn’t have time to take any classes, but I plan to do so the next time it is in town. They also had a quilt show feature Quilts of Valor and several quilts from various McCall’s contest. My favorite display was the “There’s No Place Like Home” one which featured about 100 different blocks shaped like a houses. I thought this was a cute idea I might try for some type of online quilting activity. What do you think?

Keep it Thimble!

Porch Sale 2011 Report

The porch sale is finally over, and this is likely the last post on it for this year :). Thanks to everyone who came out to support us! It was nice to see everyone and meet some new people. I also want to give a big THANK YOU to Sharon Stewart of Liberty Rose and Lisa Treadaway of the Little Herb House for organizing the managing the show this year. They did a wonderful job and definitely made it easy for me to be a participant. We plan to be back next year!!

Here are a few pictures of my booth from the event. My camera didn’t really do it justice – but it looked beautiful in person. Sharon had me team up with two other ladies so that we had enough between us to put something nice together. Sharon also helped us with booth set-up and made sure everything looked nice and tempting!

Now that the sale is over, I should be able to get back to my regular sewing. I have some ideas for a few cute projects that I hope to share with you in the next few months.

Keep it Thimble!

Porch Sale is Coming!

This is the last week before the big Porch Sale in the Barn. I can tell you I will be happy and relieved when it is over! One of my friends is coming over on Tuesday to help me get everything priced and organized. I have been busy this weekend making a few items and am pretty happy with how everything looks – so I hope everyone else like them too!

Also, for those of you who have been eagerly waiting for my first pattern (which I said would be available in September), you are going to have to wait a bit longer. Real life just has a way of side-tracking my sewing plans – so I had to put pattern design on hold for a bit longer. After the porch sale I should be back to my normal amount of “too much to do”.

Keep it Thimble!

Sneak Peek

It’s a busy week as I get ready for the Porch Sale on Oct 14th. Here are a few sneak peeks – as you can see there is still a bit of work to be done!

I also got this steam press today. I used one of these a long time ago in a class and found it is wonderful for ironing interfacing onto fabric and saves so much time! Since I am making things in bulk, I need to find ways to save time.

Keep it thimble!

Porch Sale in the Barn – October 14 and 15

Only two more weeks until the second annual Porch Sale in the Barn! It will be at the Little Herb House on Holland Church Rd in Raleigh, NC on Oct 14th and 15th. Doors are open from 8am – 5pm on both days.

I participated in this sale last year and it was a lot of fun. It will be much larger this year since we have more space and more vendors will be participating. I am in the midst of getting my stuff together for this year’s sale and I hope to put some teasers on the blog in the coming weeks. Just to whet your appetite, here are some pictures from last year’s sale.

I hope to see you there.

Keep it Thimble!

Porch Sale – Part 2

First, a big thank you to Sharon of Liberty Rose for hosting the first annual Fall Porch sale at her house. I can’t even tell you how much work Sharon and Evette did to get everything arranged and set-up for Saturday. Everything was perfect, down to the last detail!! I am very honored that Sharon asked me to be a part of this show and I look forward to doing it again next year (yes, we are already planning another one!).

This is what Sharon’s back porch looked like before the sale. All the tables are loaded down with goodies and the tree is full of ornaments. By the end of the day, everything was bare (I wish I had some after pictures).

Ladies started lining up well before 10am, eager to look at all the beautiful items that were for sale. This display features a wool Hootie owl I made and some pot holders and candle mats made by Laura.

Here is the main corner where my wares were displayed. The stand is my grandmother’s spool tree – it’s perfect for hanging purses and other small things. The doll was made by Jennifer :).

Here is the Halloween corner. You can see Bartleby the Pumpkin with his sly grin, hanging out with the other witches and ghosts. Evette had some beautiful wool Halloween ornaments, Jennifer made some witches boots, and Sharon had a cute little embroidered witch.

Thank you to all the ladies (and gentlemen – I saw at least two) who came to the sale. It was wonderful meeting everyone and I look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Sneak Peek

I’ve been busy working on items for the Porch Sale. It’s hard to find time to generate a large quantity of items, but I am trying my best. Here’s a quick snapshot of some things that have been cut out and are ready to be sewn.

I’ve been trying to cut out a bunch of projects in an evening, and then spend the next evening sewing them. I haven’t made a much progress as I’d like, but I should have a good showing by this Thursday. More projects will be posted later this week :).