The only thing I had made for the Sewing Summit was my teensy quilt name badge :). The day before the Summit, I got a wild hair that convinced me that I *needed* a ca-ute cover for my note book. I wish time were no issue, but I got crazy and stayed up late getting my fun project done!! I used a tutorial from the lovely Vanessa over at http://www.vanessachristenson.com/ as a guide while cutting the main pieces and sewing them together.
I knew I wanted some of my favorite fabrics and linen, of course! So I pulled some favorites and sewed strips, teeny little strips! Then I cut them all on an angle. That was the fun part :). I had no pattern, just a picutre in my head of what I wanted to make the cover look like. I cut linen and tried to get the meaurements to work out. They did, thankfully! It was a great lesson in improv and just working to make something how I wanted it, without knowing exactly how to do that. Such fun and ca-ute--ness!! By the seat of my pants, that's how I refer to improv! :)
After hours of working on the front, I went for a simple slant linen and fabric stripe on the back :). I still love it too though. And let me tell ya, it was much faster :) hehe! I added a yellow flower button for the embellishment that held it closed, and was completely happy with what I took notes in for the conference! It was very me, and as Amanda says, it qualifies as a mini quilt. Cool!
So I wound up with 2 things that I had made for the Sewing Summit- woohoo! HA! Love it. Just being there was enough for me :) But I do love still being able to use my cute notebook that reminds me of all I learned.
I'm entering this in Celebrate Color, 'cause that's what it is for me- a celebration of color! Go see the amazing things over there- just beautiful stuff!
After the strips were cut, I sewed them together. Iron. Then I cut them all against the seams at varying widths, flipped some and sewed again. Iron again. Next I cut them again, but with the seams this time, again at varying widths. I sewed it together again. Iron.
Add a darling vintage sheet for the envelope back and ta-da! Here is my lovely pillow case. It was challenging to step outside of my norm, but it was very rewarding too. I am very much a "plan" person, so having no definite thought of what the finished product might be was a leap for me. I've been leaping lots lately in life, and it teaches you some good things. My vintage daydreams pillow reflects those leaps and how they always end up beautiful in the end :)