City Stitching with Christine Haynes

Quilt Market Recap

Quilt Market is inexplainable. It's overwhelming, fun, exhausting... did I say overwhelming? But wow, what a great time it is. How great you ask? Well, this Quilt Market was so great that I have no voice left and am now recovering from a full-blown cold and a case of laryngitis! Yep, it's that fun!

I was lucky enough to share a room with two of my best girlfriends (between Alexia's recent LA visit and this one, the three of us are like sisters now) Alexia and Marisa and they are truly two of the nicest ladies in the business. Here they are in our hotel lobby enjoying the free happy hour from 5–6pm. Yep, free!

Shaerie and I ordered a ton of new fabrics for Sew L.A. and below are some of my favorites. Below that are sites of the various booths, parties, and friends I was lucky enough to visit with. It's so massive that it could have multiple posts dedicated to it, but I'm just too tired to do that right now!

I hope you enjoy this taste of Quilt Market... :)

Me Made May Continues On

It's been a heck of a month full of teaching, quilt market, and handmade outfits! I have had more than my share of repeats, but I guess it shows just which garments are my current favorites.

There were a few rough days, like day 10 where I hung out sick in a DIY altered t-shirt all day, and day 16 where I worked for 12 hours and totally forgot to shoot a photo! But I'm in the home stretch now! So without further delay, here we go with days 10–20...

May 10

Top- Craftsy t-shirt that I cut up

May 11

Dress- Laurel Dress by Colette Patterns

Fabric- cobalt and white gingham shirting (maker unknown)

May 12

Dress- Miz Mozelle by Jamie Christina Patterns

Fabric- cotton knit from Girl Charlee

Day 13-

Dress- Self-drafted pattern

Fabric- brown and white gingham shirting (maker unknown)

Cardigan- Target

Necklace- Cathy Callahan

Shoes- Boden

Day 14-

Dress- my upcoming pattern, the Emery Dress!

Fabric- white and lavender stretch seersucker (maker unknown)

Cardigan- Banana Republic

Day 15-

Dress- Emery Dress by me (coming soon!)

Fabric- stretch cotton sateen (maker unknown)

NO PHOTO

Day 16-

Dress- Peony Dress by Colette Patterns on the top and Kwik Sew 3521 on the bottom

Fabric- brown woven fabric from Japan (maker unknown)

Day 17-

Dress- Emery Dress by me (coming soon!)

Fabric- white and lavender stretch seersucker (maker unknown)

Shoes- Cole Haan

Day 18-

Dress- Emery Dress by me (coming soon!)

Fabric- gorgeous lawn floral purchased in Paris last year (maker unknown)

Shoes- Cole Haan

Socks- Hue

Day 19-

Dress- Laurel Dress by Colette Patterns

Fabric- navy and white Ikat thread weave from Michael Levine (maker unknown)

Day 20-

Dress- Laurel Dress by Colette Patterns

Fabric- cobalt and white gingham shirting (maker unknown)

Off To Market!

Tomorrow I am heading to Quilt Market as part of my job at Sew L.A. Honestly, it's one of the best parts of my job, helping to choose the fabrics we buy for the shop and visiting with friends in the sewing scene. It's a good time! I am lucky enough to be sharing a hotel room with the lovely ladies Marisa and Alexia from recent weekend fun, so I suspect another good time is bound to be had by all!

I'll be back early next week with a market recap and loads of photos! Have a great weekend!

HUGE Spring Sale and Shop Closing News!!!

I have marked EVERYTHING in the shop a big 30% OFF from now through May 25th!!! This includes my printed patterns, my digital patterns, my tote, sewing notions, and even my book!

Why you ask? Well, I am soon off on a 5-week holiday and I have decided (after MUCH internal debate) to close up the shop while I'm away from May 26–July 2. I am pretty exhausted from the book writing extravaganza and really want to take a vacation without any work. Last year I did a lot of work while away and this year I'm shooting to do 100% vacationing and 0% work. I like those percentages!

Because of the upcoming closure, I am giving you all an opportunity to get what you need and want for your spring sewing before I hit the road. So if you've been wanting something, this is the time!!!

When I return I will be launching my newest pattern, the Emery Dress which is underway and will be wrapped up upon my return and hitting the shop. I love love love this dress and if you've seen me in the last six months, it's likely you've seen it too. It's pretty much my wardrobe staple.

So... don't delay! Hit the shop now and get yourself the patterns and supplies you need at a big 30% discount!!! Off to start stuffing envelopes... :)

My Article in Sew News Magazine!

It seems as though between Threads, Cloth, Sew Stylish, and now Sew News, it's hard to avoid seeing me in the spring sewing magazines! What a lovely problem to have :)

Last spring when I took my Paris holiday the lovely ladies at Sew News agreed to have me write an article about the Paris sewing scene! So while I was there (and going to my favorite sewing spots anyway) I shot a load of photos and wrote up an article for this May's issue.

It's a big fat six-page piece that is chockfull of photos I took (except for the opening prop shot) of Paris and a review of my favorite spots as well as a handy list of addresses to visit next time you're in Paris.

Thanks to Sew News for publishing my article and I hope you all enjoy doing some arm chair traveling with me!

A Weekend With Green Bee and Creative Thursday

Me & Alexia day drinking at Bottega Louie

Last weekend Sew L.A. (my day gig) welcomed the lovely Alexia Abegg from Green Bee Patterns for a workshop and party to celebrate her gorgeous new book, Liberty Love. Alexia and I have become friends and so I invited her to stay with me while in town for four days. What could have been a simple visit became a four-day slumber party with Marisa from Creative Thursday, Alexia, and myself where we toured Los Angeles, drank more than I usually do (though apparently a regular amount for them!), and plotted how to take over the world (insert evil laugh here)!

Enjoy some snapshots from what will go down as one of the best weekends of the year... xoxo

Alexia sewing samples on my new machine (aka Birdie Bernina)

Alexia as the guest of honor at the LAMQG meeting

Alexia's workshop for the Lulu Tunic at Sew L.A.

Macarons at Bottega Louie & more day drinking at the Westside Tavern

Dinner at Figaro Bistro

Fabric shopping at Michael Levine

Party time at Sew L.A. featuring Alexia's patterns and samples and margaritas by Haley

Me Made May

Since I hardly ever post photos of my finished projects (bad bad blogger!) and yet I wear handmade nearly everyday, I thought the Me Made May hosted by So, Zo was a perfect opportunity to document some of my outfits! I'm not going to lie, I'm not trying to pose for picture perfect photos, but rather show you shots of me in my life in my handmade garments. While I like posed shots, I also get bored by seeing the same background in the same shots over and over again.

So, without further ado, here are my shots so far, which are updated daily on my Instagram feed (@christinehaynes) by the way... in case you are on there too! I see that I have some favorites in my wardrobe because in 9 days I repeated twice! Here we go...