It’s been an entire year since I last posted on this blog.
I had such good intentions of sticking with my plan of regularly posting and sharing the quilty happenings of my world. But ya know, life kinda had a few other plans for my day-to-day routine.
They say a picture tells a thousand words. And the occurrences over the past year have brought lots and lots of pictures. So rather than try to catch you up with lots of words, I thought some strategically placed pictures would do a lot of the talking for me.
Most of the past 12 months had really good things happening in them, but a few had some stinky moments too. I’m happy to say all the stinky stuff is resolved, and the really good things are still happening. So, let’s go for a tour and you can see the highlights of what I’ve been doing!
Lots of classes happened over the year in my home classroom. Here is Jean as she is working on her “Grandma’s Wedding Ring”. We put a couple tables together then laid a sheet over them. As she placed each section in the proper place, she would pin it to the sheet. At the end of the day, she gently rolled and folded up the sheet to take home. Once there, she could unfold the sheet and continue working without loosing anything or have anything out of place. Works really well when there isn’t a design wall handy, and placing things on the floor isn’t an option for laying things out.Whenever I get a chance to do some piecing, I like to use my folder system. I call it “Power Quilting”. Each folder is a layer, and is a specific section of a quilt. 8 layers shown, representing 3 different patterns being worked on at the same time.One of several T-shirt quilts I was commissioned to make over the past year. These are always so much fun to make and always a delight to see the recipient’s face upon the “reveal”. I even hid for a weekend. Well…not really. I turned off all my devices and just sewed at my desk and put this together. It was so therapeutic for me. Sewing is my happy place. The top is all completed now and waiting to be long arm quilted. Mine are always last in the queue, which is why there are so many waiting. This sweet quilt is a Moda Bake Shop quilt. Recipe card # 5, named Ganache.I also was able to do a bit of thread painting on a quilt made by a very special friend for her father. Just a couple long threads to clip to finish. It was such an honor to work on this beautiful tribute.What a happy moment this was! Our son and his beautiful bride on their wedding day!I was able to do a couple of trunk shows as well. The guild meeting for Sunset Slope Quilt Guild is about to start so there are a few ladies buttoning up a couple things. While I’m not in the photo, all the quilts you see are mine. The topic was “Vintage Linens” where I talked about how to take vintage, hand embellished linens and turn them into a quilt. They got to see my Quiltworx portfolio as well.These cute little gnome girls are waiting for their hats to be embellished. These, and about 35 more, were fairy gifts for the ladies at one of the two retreats I held over the last 12 months. They were so adorable and such a lot of fun to make!And here is the evidence of the retreats I hosted. 37 women at this retreat! We filled the Ball Room of the Wine Country Inn located in Palisade, CO for an entire weekend. 31 ladies attended the next one held 5 months later. SO MUCH FUN!This is such a special gift I received from one of the ladies attending my November retreat. It goes where ever I am working…always within eye sight so I can keep things in the proper perspective all the time. Such a comfort!Here we are at retreat about to play one of the two games we always enjoy. CLR — Center, Left, Right. Everyone starts with 3 FQ’s (fat quarters of fabric) and the winner takes all. HUGE amount of laughing and carrying on was done by all.Here is a Vintage Linen quilt in the “puzzling” stage. It’s now a finished top…or maybe I’ll put another border around it. Still in progress.And you know…there were MOUNTAINS of laundry to do over the past year…mountains and mountains of it. And dishes too. But I won’t show you those. Eeewwww…..no, just the mention of them is enough. But regular housework happened a lot too.Thought you’d like a peek at my long arm queue. Most are for customers, waiting their turn to go on the frame. And a few of my own at the end of the line. It’s a never ending stream of them of which I’m always grateful to have cross my threshold.And this happened! THIS is the culmination of nearly 5 years of hard work and persistence. I did it! It felt like I graduated from college. I’m still pinching myself. It’s now in a frame and sitting close to my desk where I can look at it every time I sit down. Classes – both in-person and via Zoom at my home classroom and at various quilt shops, trunk shows, guild presentations, long-arm quilting and blogging ALL circle around this piece of paper and what it represents…my absolute love of quilting and teaching. I Have Arrived!These sweet ladies “arrived” with me!! Donna, Cynthy, and I are the newest Quiltworx Certified Instructors. We had an amazing week together as we finished our certification training and all it entailed. In the background you can see my Dinner Plate Dahlia on the left, and two of Donna’s beauties…Glacier Star and Mariner’s Compass. In front of us is Alchemists Crystals playing peek-a-boo. It is a stunner and I can’t wait to make it so I can teach it!!
Thanks for taking a whirlwind tour through the past 12 months of my day-to-day life. Are you tired yet?? I am! Maybe I’ll take a nap before I start on the next 12 months. Eeehhhh…maybe not. I’m having too much fun!
But until next time, may your bobbin never be empty!
I don’t know who sings that song, or when it was recorded. In fact I know very few of the lyrics. But what I can say, it that I’ve got that tune on a loop inside my head, and everything is looking pretty good right about now.
Today was Mission UFO day in the classroom, and I just had a couple of women to sew with today. But boy howdy did we get a lot of things worked on. It was a terrific day, and there are lots of pictures to share.
So while I’ve got dinner in the oven, (and it smells super tasty), let me show you what was finding it’s way under needles and onto the design wall.
Hmmm? What’s for dinner? It’s Keto Stuffed Peppers, one of Gary’s favorites, and super easy and quick to throw together. Ground beef, riced cauliflower, 2 eggs and 1 can of tomato sauce with salt and Mrs. Dash all mixed up and scooped into green peppers that have been halved and cleaned of seeds. A generous squirt of ketchup across the top, placed into a baking dish with ½ cup of water in the bottom of the dish to keep it from scorching, then bake at 350 for about an hour and out it comes ready to eat. And just to cover all the bases, I get most of my Keto recipes from www.ruled.me — so easy on a class day!
Anyway, let’s get to the best part of the day…show and tell from the classroom!
Jean has been hard at work on her second Prairie Star. Yes, you heard that correctly…her Second! Beautiful color way for this one! And she is doing a terrific job of working through it too! I can’t tell if I’m more excited for this one, or if she is, but it’s amazing!
Vicki finished her Rainbow of Jewels—Mirage Quilt by Laurie and now it’s off to the long arm quilter. She’s started another one called Dragonfly Lanterns. It’s a cutie that’s just beginning to take shape. Terrific project!
Here are the first few blocks for Vickie’s Dragonfly Lanterns. A really great pattern/kit for a young little fella.
Jean also wanted to get some help on squaring up the blocks she made for this quilt, called Watercolor Garden. It’s a simple little block made for a quick quilt for her granddaughter. Another winner.
And for me, I’ve got the stacked folders happening today. That, plus some quilting on my domestic machine to finish off some Impatiens placemats. With a lot of repetition for this quilting, I like to mix in a little regular piecing to break up the process. One layer of folders, then a petal, another layer of folders, than a petal, and so on until all the way through the folders.
These are my folders, laid out for a quick view. Three different patterns between the six folders. I really enjoy working this way…helps to make quite a bit of progress every time I’m able to sit down to sew.Here’s the setup for the first petal of an Impatiens placemat. 2 placemats down and only 4 more to go!
Then for seatwork this evening, I’m working on this vintage quilt that needs a bit of repair.
Remember this? I blogged about this and what work would need to be done.I’ve got a nice start on removing the first damaged side. Using a water soluble pen, I marked the path needed to remove the damaged section. It’s a bit slow going but will be well worth the effort to bring this darling quilt back to whole.Not much to finish on this side. I always love digging into a vintage quilt…there is so much to learn from each piece. This one is entirely hand pieced AND hand quilted. Interestingly, the quilting thread, which is cotton, is significantly stronger and more heavy than both the fabric and the piecing thread. Several of the hexie flowers are fussy cut as well. Definitely enjoying this one.
Lots of good things happened today. It really was a good day…Oh Happy Day!
It’s time to get back in the saddle of blogging. Believe it or not, I’ve actually missed spending time at the keyboard. Part of my absence was due to the final push to get everything ready for the kick-off of Great Escape Quilt Camp. But the other issue came from the failing (failed) graphics card in my laptop. With only so many hours in a day, and each day’s list being longer than 24 hours worth of work, prioritization had to take place. I’m happy to say that I’m back up and running on a different machine and these fingers are flying along with more stories to tell and beautiful quilts to share.
Even during the past 4-week push of readying the house, I still held classes and met with customers for their long arm work. I bet you’d like to see some of the snap-shots taken to share here on my blog.
Shall we begin?
Remember when I showed how to smooth the seam of a fleece backing? Well, now that this beauty has been received, I can show you the top. The fleece was the backing for this t-shirt quilt for my parents. It’s now living in Florida with them, and all these t-shirts were acquired during their years as full-time RV’ers. Lots of fun memories for them saved into a useful and cuddle-worthy quilt.Just a close up of a shirt block and some quilting. Turtles and Florida, along with wolves and Alaska seem to be among the favorites!Another Mission UFO day here. Valarie working on her Rocky Mountain Bear Paw, and Jean working on her Prairie Star, both are Judy Niemeyer patterns.Here’s Cindy working on the borders of her Hanging Gardens.And the Hanging Garden, hanging sideways to make it easier to reach the remaining sides while on the design wall.Vicki has just put her project on the design wall, Rainbow of Jewels–Mirage Quilt, by Laurie Shifrin. It’s a real eye catcher!And last but not least, here is my work station. I’m using up a stash of strips and turning them into area rugs for the bedrooms. A long process (hahaha, pardon the pun), but it is so nice to have some scrappy rugs that can take a lot of wear.
I think that sums up the rest of the story for the quilt related events happening to date. I’m really looking forward to sharing more and more of the exciting work being done by my students.
Stay tuned! Beautiful things are about to show up!! Until next time, may your bobbin never be empty
I was rearranging a bookshelf today and I came across a UFO, tucked away in a notebook that I’d forgotten all about. Imagine that!
Here they are! I get the biggest smile on my face when I see these. Such fun fabrics and sweet looking dresses. I have a hard time deciding which is my favorite.
It’s a shame these little cuties are still unfinished, but I plan to rectify that toot sweet! I think the reason they are still in the block stage and not completed is that I simply couldn’t decide how to set them. Should I make them each into single little wall-hangings to be spread out in a couple rooms? Should I group them into pairs? Or should I put them all together in a group of four—wait—should they be place in a line horizontally…or vertically…or maybe in a square with two rows of two????
Obviously this little girl needs a trim to square up the sides, but how fun are these fabrics together?? I was so determined to use the big print as the center panel, I had to match together a couple pieces in order to get a big enough piece to use. Not too bad at that. Flashy and feminine all at the same time.And this one is just so ready for a dinner party. I would loved to wear something like this back when I had a figure to match. Who says you can’t mix batiks with regular cottons.
I’ve been stumped, evidently for years over the very same questions.
Maybe this one is my favorite…red IS my favorite color after all. Then again…maybe not….And then there is this lovely. Yes, red is my favorite color, but this one just makes me hum. It’s so awesome when something makes my heart sing.
I think the answer is just going to have to be…yes! To all those options! Which means of course, that I’ll have to make more.
Hmmm…. maybe not.
Now I love paper piecing. You could even say that I’m a bit crazy over paper piecing. But I’ve learned a thing or two about these types of patterns over the years. And the bottom line is that you get what you pay for.
This is the pattern cover sheet that originally caught my attention. The cover samples are quite cute, but I have to admit that I like mine better. I wish the patterns were just a tad bit better, but I can’t be unhappy with the end product. I haven’t seen any of this designers more recent work, but I hope she’s still at it and going strong.
These adorable little dresses were purchased from a pattern designer from her on-line shop, just sure if it was Craftsy or Etsy. And she’s got several others that I also bought. Sweet, sweet little projects, and very reasonably priced. And! The patterns can be printed on your home printer with great success.
So, here’s my little bit of unhappiness with these patterns. There are no seam allowances written into the pattern. Definitely not the end of the world…not by any means at all! But it does make sewing these patterns a little easier to mess up without that little added bit on the pattern.
Her graphics are good…and the instructions are succinct in their explanation of what to do. I just think one little additional thing put on the pattern would make the construction just a tad easier.
I don’t mean to sound like a paper piecing snob. But I think I’m just really used to how Quiltworx puts their patterns together. And I suppose that would be why I’m working towards becoming a certified instructor for Judy Niemeyer and company. From their entry level patterns to their advanced level patterns, they build upon skills every step of the way. And it’s more than impressive.
But for now…I’m going to raid my scrap tubs and see about pulling out some fabrics that I’ve been eager to put into something small and quick just for me. I think these little cuties are going to see some needle time real soon!
Not a shop hop, where every shop you enter holds a new gadget and fabric to revel in. But a real scavenger hunt within one quilt?
I did that today. Let me tell you about it.
When Gary and I began our quest to build a new “barndominium” to hold both our home AND our business ventures, we bundled up all our furniture to move into a storage unit during the build. Just this past week we’ve brought more of that furniture home. Several of these pieces were wrapped in sheets and old blankets. As several of these pieces were unwrapped, I set out to launder the wrappings and put them away until needed again.
In the pile of things to wash, I found not one—but two quilts from Gary’s great-grandmother. (Great Grandma Davis lived from 1887-1964, and Gary has a few memories of her from his early childhood.) I think they were pulled into this service because they were heavily worn and showed much damage. Well, when I picked up the first one to inspect for laundering viability, I noticed right away there was more to this quilt than met the eye. A further investigation was in order.
You can see here an area of the quilt that is completely missing…but there is something peeking out that shows there’s more to see beneath the rest of the old girl.
I’m glad I looked further, because this old girl held a secret inside her.
And another area of shredded fabric with more surprises hiding beneath whats on top.
Yep…a quilt within a quilt. My fingers got itchy and the scavenger hunt was on.
This old lady was tied, and the only way to learn her secrets was to clip all the ties and separate the layers.
Once all the ties were clipped and removed, the only thing keeping it together was the binding. It obviously needed to be removed, but how. The decision was made after looking at the condition of the folded edge of the binding. It had several threadbare areas and showed a lot of wear over the whole binding.
The decision was easy…I chose to cut the binding off. Now if it had been in slightly better shape, I would have opted to carefully remove the stitching and unfold the binding with the expectation that if the backing needed a little patching, the material in the fold of the binding could provide that. That wasn’t the case, so out came the scissors.
The ties are out and the binding has been cut into. You can see the beginnings of what started to fall out of the quilt as soon as the scissors opened up the layers.
As I was cutting away the binding, the batting…or wadding… began to crumble from inside the quilt. Crumble sounds like it disintegrated, but that’s not an accurate picture of what occurred. The batting fell out in crumbs. It had long since balled up into crumbs and migrated towards its corners and simply fell out of the quilt when the fabric was no longer there to contain it.
What looks like a pile of lint is actually whats left of what was used as a batting. I’m thinking it was more of an unwoven layer of cotton, nothing like anything used in todays quilts.
You can see what’s left of the batting in the lower right hand corner of the quilt…it’s a wad of crumpled, pilled batting. Not much of it either. I assume the rest of what used to be the batting must have fallen out of the quilt through the various holes and missing fabrics of the quilt.
Once the top was removed, you could definitely see what was inside. This little quilt was revealed. The curiosities didn’t end there. Beneath the little nine-patch baby sized quilt was not a jumbled layer of crumb-y batting, but a collection of various other fabrics which I am guessing was the original backing to the baby quilt along with perhaps some aged muslin. And what was even more curious is the layers of fabric were not stitched together, but rather laid on top of each other with the hidden quilt top over that. The batting that turned to crumbs was placed in there somewhere, but the evidence of where is a mystery.
Here is what I found when I lifted off the outer top remnant. A sweet little baby quilt with some patches and partial blocks to make a uniform size.
The little baby quilt top has a few other stories to tell as well, and someday I hope to learn about them. The fabrics that it’s made from look to be from the 1930’s and perhaps even earlier than that. I’ll learn more as I research the print patterns and fabric types. It does appear they are mostly from shirt weight fabrics in more feminine colors. Cottons with a variety of weaves, and perhaps a linen print as well as a lawn or batiste. All the seams are sewn by machine, but the various patches correcting cuts or holes are done by hand.
Beneath the little baby quilt top are these layers of what looks to have primarily been flannel with a baby print on it as well as some added pieces of muslin. The blue and pink striped fabric on the bottom of everything is the back of the original quilt. I’m so curious as to how this all came together.
Then there is the original top. Several large holes and tears are present, and some places the fabric is missing altogether. Other places within the body of the top are sound enough to save and add together.
I’ll be selecting the best areas of this tattered old girl to save…most likely to add onto the body of the baby quilt that’s been revealed in the middle of this quilt. We always remark about walls having eyes as we wish we knew the history created within a home, but I think this quilt has quite a few stories to tell. Somehow, I think my scavenger hunt is far from over!
Now that everything is separated into its respective layers, I’ve got some choices to make as to how best to proceed. Through all this process, my goal is to preserve as much as possible to create a useable top which will become another quilt. It will take some time to determine what to do, but I’m up for the challenge. It’s a great test of my skill set, and I’m happy to bring to life something that was most likely destined for the garbage bin.
I know I have another “prize” to open with the other quilt lying beside me. And what is even better is that I have another one like these two, but from my family. These will be a trip down memory lane with lots to tell as the layers are uncovered. I’ll save those adventures for another day.
Wow! It seems like forever since I’ve been at my laptop and sharing my world with you, but it’s only been since Tuesday. Settle in for a cozy read and see what’s been happening around here.
Wednesday was a great day because I got to spend the day with my good friend Susie. We hadn’t been able to spend a girls’ day of visiting and sewing since before Thanksgiving. It’s good for the soul when a little time is spent nurturing a friendship and motivating your creativity. We giggled and squealed and summed up our lives for each other. Susie worked on a great project, the Carpenter’s Star by Jennie Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company. And I worked more on my Moda Bake Shop Ganache pattern.
Here is Susie’s Carpenter Star. The blocks have been laid out and she’s putting the rows together. It’s looking marvelous!
We even had another good friend stop by for a little while. Maggie leads a quilting group at her church and I’ve helped her several times over the past 6 years that they’ve been active. As part of my certification process for Quiltworx, I’m encouraged to do some pro bono work and I love doing things for Maggie and her ladies to help them learn new techniques to incorporate into their mission of giving.
We’ll be meeting in March for a day class on Fractured Paint box. It’s a terrific introduction to Judy Niemeyer’s method of paper piecing…one I love teaching and seeing the light of accomplishment sparkle in the eyes of those giving this pattern a try.
This is my Fractured Paint Box quilt that I will use to teach Maggies’ group in March. I love this pattern! Jelly Roll friendly and the perfect size for a throw on the sofa to cuddle in during TV time.
It was a great day!
Mission UFO landed again on Thursday and we had another new table arrangement for 4! Cindy, Jean, Susie and I all spent the day working on our various projects. Susie again was at her Carpenter’s Star.
Cindy nearly finished up the body of her Hanging Garden, only two more rows to add. Then the borders!
Once those last two rows are attached, switching the layout to be square to the world will be so much easier to visualize. But it’s coming along nicely.
Jean was hard at work on her second Prairie Star in a blue and yellow colorway.
Jean’s working on the lone star diamond points that are in her Prairie Star. The blues and yellows to golds are stunning in this color way she’s selected.
And I was putting the rows together on my Ganache.
Here are the rows all connected. Next comes the horizontal sashing. It’s coming along too!
So much laughing, visiting, sewing and sharing happened on Thursday. It was a great way to spend the day while working towards our respective goals of finishing up projects on our UFO list.
Friday was good too! Kids coming home for the weekend means lots of activity, lots of fun and good food too. Our son Grant and his friend Tyler came home to help us move furniture. We missed out sweet daughter-in-law Maddie, who couldn’t come this trip, but we visited with her several times and kept her in the moment as best we could. Getting older isn’t for the faint of heart. And while Gary and I aren’t all that old, we just don’t move the way a 20-something can. Go figure!
These ladies came home from the storage place, and it was so cute to see them side by side. After a little bit of sprucing up, they will each find their way to a special place to be admired and honored.
The darker cabinet on the left holds a beautiful White machine that I bought from a friend 20 years ago when her family was moving and didn’t have room to take this along with them. And the lovely on the right is a Singer Redeye that I bought from an estate sale a couple years back. She’s been in storage for quite a while before we brought her home so will need a bit of a spa treatment. But her decals are beautiful! Looking forward to seeing her in all her glory soon.
And this family heirloom made its way to the game room. It put a smile on my face to be sewing and hear the guys playing the pinball machine, laughing and carrying on for a few fun hours as the kids tried to best the dad whose skills were a little dusty but still spot on to win several matches.
Gary’s dad bought this pinball machine when he was high school. They spent many, many hours playing on this machine. It’s a wonderful thing to share this same kind of fun with our kids.
Saturday was more of the same. But Sunday was a day we enjoyed together just keeping company and swapping stories.
And my Sweetheart of nearly 35 years surprised me with these! Flowers for my heart, and fixings for a movie night…popcorn for me, and M & M’s for Gary.
The first flowers for me in our new home. They are so pretty, and who can go wrong with popcorn! It’s better than chocolate to me, lol!
And the sure way to a girl’s heart, after flowers of course is a new set of kitchen spatulas! ! They are! I had snapped the handle of my favorite spatula while whipping of something on Saturday, and these lovelies came home with my flowers. And presented much the same way. Like a bouquet of flowers, lol. He’s such a keeper…looking forward to the next 35 years too!
I’ve been admiring many of the Pioneer Woman’s kitchen gadgets for a while now. So when these came home to live in my kitchen to replace the sadly broken spatula, I just clapped my hands and smiled happily to use them to cook our next meal.
Today, Monday, was a bit melancholy as we said goodbye to the guys when they headed back home, and we began the task of settling back into regular life. Lots of laundry to catch up on as I clean and stow blankets and sheets used to wrap furniture; a blog to catch up on; a quilt to load on the long arm; figuring out the placement of the furniture brought in; and perhaps a nap…maybe a couple games of pinball too.
Would you believe me if I told you that I’m really enjoying my Tuesdays these days? Well actually my Tuesdays AND my Thursdays which are now dedicated to Mission UFO.
While the weather outside was looking blustery and full of snow over Grand Mesa to our north, we were warm and toasty in the classroom being industrious and having a great time visiting and sharing stories with each other.
Cindy is making lots of progress on her Hanging Garden project. Take a look at how far she got today.
I love how this is going together. It’s built on-point, so tilting your head slightly will give you a better view of what it will look like when finished. Just a little more for the body before the borders go on. Such a great pattern!
Her boarders are already made, and her goal on Thursday is to finish up the body and then get the borders put on. I think I’m looking forward to her finish as much as she is.
I was able to get the blocks on my Ganache set with side sashing. Now, I just need to add the horizontal sashing and put the rows together.
Here it is…growing wider all the time. Adding the horizontal sashing will increase the body to be a much better shape to fit on a bed, lol. I struggled a bit in trying to put the smaller components together in a scrappy way until I tried a sample block that all matched. THAT was way harder to do, which surprised me a lot! Back to a scrappy layout and it just got easier from there.
Out of the same project box (…my Moda Bakeshop box), I pulled out a set of blocks that I’ve had waiting to be set for several months. This quilt is called “Sherbet” and is made from the Bakeshop Recipe Card #1. It’s another quick and great looking quilt made from a layer cake plus some additional background fabric.
I can honestly say that I don’t remember a thing about buying the layer caked being used here. I like the fabrics well enough. Actually, I like them a lot better in this quilt than I did as a layer cake. My preferred palette is much brighter than the colors here. But it’s growing on me and I’m glad that I’ve worked with this color way. It’s stretching me as a quilter…and that’s always a good thing.
And over the weekend, the yummy plaid fleece that I showed in a previous blog became a cozy quilt. As soon as it makes it to its new home, I can show you pictures of the front, but for now…a peek at the back is all I can share.
It’s a happy day when the quilting motif looks so good on the back of a quilt. It’s curvy without being too feminine, and a quick moving e2e pattern that allows a nice drape to the over all quilt.
Tomorrow, I have another friend coming to spend the day and we plan to sew and visit to our hearts content. We haven’t been able to have a sew day for a couple months now. So, I’m really looking forward to our time together. I hope to have some great pictures for you too!
Have you had a chance to sew with a friend lately? I mean, in person and not through a virtual platform? Even in our current life where so many of us are taking extra precautions, and self-isolating, I think it’s an important thing to still try and get together with others. Don’t get me wrong, each of our personal situations require us to do the things we are compelled to do, but the shortest story to the long diatribe is that we are social creatures. Everyone needs personal contact to thrive — and we are suffering in ways many of us cannot see right now because we are just trying to make it through all this “stuff”. But for others, they feel it more acutely.
I suppose that as I write this, my readers could easily ask about what I do and the why that goes behind having classes and meeting with a friend or two. The honest truth about the classes is that I’m trying to get my business back on track…classes and retreats followed closely by long arm business are my focal points. But meeting with a friend is purely because I need to be in contact with that person.
I would love to say to everyone, just meet with one friend, and catch up with them. Meet outside or wherever you can to respect each other’s personal decision about dealing with “stuff”, but reach out. Our isolation can be such a hard decision to bear, and the simple act of seeing a face you care about…a whole face, is like food for the soul.
Somehow, somewhere, sometime…we have to reach out and re-connect. I think those days are going to become easier to accomplish. I hope we all can find a way to reconnect and regain so much of what we’ve lost by being absent from our regular lives.
I wish everyone a better day today than what we had yesterday.
It’s a blustery day outside, and Whinnie the Pooh would simply say,” Oh bother”.
Then he and Piglet would go find Eeyore to make sure his little home was still in one place since “It’s a mobile home”. (Said in the very best Eeyore voice.) Then, the whole troupe would gather for a bit of honey and the day would be perfect.
Blustery days are perfect days to tuck inside and do what I love to do. There is a beauty on my long arm and in-between passes as it quilts away to my heart’s content, I’ve got a few other things to putter at. Piecing is one of them. When I mix up the tasks like this, any piecing I work on must be easy to stop and then pick up again without worry of a mishap.
While I can’t show you the top that’s being quilted right now, I can show you this. Just in case anyone else might have need to see how this can be done.
This is the backing for the project at hand. It is fleece, which makes a super cuddly quilt backing, but it needs to be larger. So, piecing is required. Fleece and other bulky fabrics used for backings need a bit more prep and attention before they get loaded onto the frame.
This is what I used as the treatment for the seam on this fleece. I’ve sewn a larger seam allowance than normal…about 1”. Ironed it open. Then to keep the seam allowance flat and manageable, and to avoid any errant folds from happening during the loading and quilting process, I used this lovely product. Fusible batting tape is a fantastic product. These are two different brands…Dritz and Jeanne Harwood Designs. The Dritz is slightly thinner, but that doesn’t matter to me at all. They are interchangeable to me. And I use this product for many, many purposes, not just piecing together a batting. It’s priceless for repairs as well!
The tape is soft, supple, matches the drape of the fabric and you can’t feel it between the layers of the quilt. It’s an incredibly easy way to manage the seam.
The only other tip I can give about this method would be the heat of the iron. You want to be mindful of the heat of your iron when doing this. You can always test this on a scrap of fleece before you start. You want to make sure the iron is sufficiently hot to make the fusible tape stick where you want it to, while at the same time not leaving press marks on the fleece, or heaven forbid…melt it to the iron causing holes, etc., etc. etc. I don’t test anymore; I just use something to protect all my surfaces. (Ask me how I learned all about this! ;-)) My favorite tool for this is a Teflon Pressing Sheet that I bought years ago when my Brother embroidery machine came to live at my house. There are lots on the market and you simply need to google to find one. Other things that can work just as well and are found in most homes are parchment paper, muslin pressing cloth and even clean brown paper. (Bet you can’t guess how I learned about being careful there is no dirt or ink on the brown paper, lol.) Be creative with what you have access to!
One more piece of advice from a long arm quilter is about backings. Pieced backings are frequently used for a quilt. When using a regular cotton or batik, the bulk of the seam is not a problem…as long as the seam is prepared for a horizontal loading on the long arm. A pieced border that runs in a vertical line to the long arm can cause more of an issue. A vertical seam will cause an increasing amount of bulk in one localized area as the quilt is advanced during the long arm process. That bulk creates an increasing and significant bulge in the layers which leads to puckers, tucks and wrinkles which can then be quilted into the body and the back of the quilt. Many times, unnoticed until the quilting is completed and off the long arm. However, if the seam is horizontal, (running from side to side), that same bulk is sewn over and then advanced across the bars holding the quilt, all at the same time, and only once. Everything is equal with the same amount of bulk increase all together from side to side with no issues.
Today, the project that is under my needle as the long arms hums away is this!
I love how this Ganache is coming together! 5 rows here, with 3 more to add.
It’s the Moda Bakeshop, Recipe # 5 called Ganache that I first mentioned in my post from January 25th. If you haven’t had a chance to read this one, you can scroll back to when it first posted and learn all about these quick and easy patterns.
I’ve been making daily progress in between different things. All the units are laid out and I’m sewing them together as blocks, then attaching the side sashing. When all this is done, I’ll do my last rearranging of blocks to make sure everything is the way I want it. After that, the rows are sewn together, with the horizontal sashing added. It’s coming together quite nicely.
Those are the highlights for today, friends. Hope your midweek finds you well and inspired!!
You wouldn’t believe it from the picture here, but this is a quilt from hell, aka The Demon Quilt.
Now that I’ve got your attention, let me begin by giving acknowledgement and thanks to the creator of our topic of blogging discussion. I have been given permission by the owner of the quilt to use this project as a teaching tool to demonstrate techniques used to correct and mitigate some of the effects of assembly.
Normally, I do not show pictures of my customer’s quilts, mention them, or bring attention to them out of respect for their privacy. There are exceptions to everything, and this quilt is one worth excepting.
My goal for this blog post is to point out problem areas in which all quilters find themselves, and then discuss what can be done to correct issues that occur.
Background information starts with the following facts: This was purchased as a kit. Kits are not inherently bad, but they can lead to problems unforeseen until you’re in the middle of a project. Cutting errors in the kit led to the need to re-cut fabric that was supplied, and missing fabric required the purchase and sub-cutting of additional fabric.
These are just a few of the issues that can occur. Other hiccups occur when pattern instructions are poorly or incorrectly written, missing assembly steps and even heavy reliance on pictures occur without written detail.
The main thing to remember is this…not all mishaps are the piecers fault
The next most important thing to remember is key to both finishing the project being pleased with its outcome…. The key—ALL things can be fixed.
Let’s get started!
Take another look at the finished project. Its outer border has a bit of a wave to it, but nothing compared to its beginning. And the next two pictures will show some of the other problem areas that were greatly calmed.
Just a bit of a wave along the bottom border. Not bad at all.You can see a number of areas that need attention…excess fabric in the blocks and lots of extra in the border.You can see a number of areas in this picture…please excuse the long arm frame in the picture.
So now let’s get into the meat of the issue…How do you begin to correct the problem areas?
Long story short…turn the top over and examine the back. Then, get out a water-soluble pen and start marking. This must be done first to understand the order of correction. Every person has their own “shorthand”, so mark things per what makes sense to you.
The key to looking at the back of the quilt is that you can immediately see the seam allowances and begin to work through the problems areas.While the horizontal seam looks good, the vertical areas on either side of that seam need to be taken in a bit. This area shows a bit of excess around the intersection corners. You start along one seam then move on to its counterpart to bring it all flat.Here you can see the vertical seam needs to be taken in, and the seam along the border edge needs attention between the two straight lines.This notation shows the direction the adjustment needs to be made and the specific area of concern.This picture shows the area and amount of fabric to be adjusted.
I marked areas that need to either have too much fabric, or areas that have seam allowances that need to be corrected or closed. Markings also include length of area to correct. You only need to adjust the affected area.
When these corrections are determined, you start in the center and work your way out to the edges, one area at a time. Many times, these corrections have counterbalancing effects and can, but not always, have ripple effects that need further attention. But without doubt, if the borders don’t already need attention, the adjustments in the body of the quilt can cause adjustments in the border.
For this quilt, once the body was corrected, all the borders were also removed, re-measured, shortened and reattached.
Then the quilting. Not all the corrections could be solved by structural sewing. The remaining excess was slight enough to be absorbed into quilt with a specific technique. Think of it as using “C’s” … forwards and backwards in execution, and then quilting the encircling areas down. The C and backward C are shapes that literally capture the fabric, sew it into a permanent place and then sew down what’s captured so the needle/pressure foot cannot push anything forward in its movement.
So, when this question is asked…” Can you quilt it out?” The answer is always, “No, but I can quilt it in permanently.” It can be seen as a flip answer, but it’s the absolute truth. Long arm quilters have certain methods to improve and mitigate certain issues, but bottom line is, there are definite limits to how much can be rectified. When you can employ more than one front of attack, then your chances of having a good finished project greatly improve.
So, the story concludes with another picture of this non-demon quilt. I think it turned out well. And is praiseworthy as well.
Ta-Da!!! It’s finished and has great visual appeal!
Biggest bit of advice here is this: When someone compliments a quilt that you know was a problem child…You get to say only this…” Thank you”. And under no circumstance do you go into the litany of its problems. Don’t diminish their enjoyment and perception of what you’ve worked on. Let them praise it. And know the work and efforts of correcting its issues were worth it.
So, don’t be leery of taking out your own problem quilts and giving them another look with a critical eye that looks for ways to fix the unsightly areas.
Or, you could say, it’s a matter of pressing, aka ironing. In today’s everyday world, ironing is a skill primarily reserved for shirts and wrinkled pants and what not. But in the quilting world, using an iron is a necessity for every project we undertake. And believe it or not…ironing and pressing are not the same sport. Hey…it’s liberal arm movements, repeated many times for each engagement. That could be a sport, right?? And those of us who can use both arms are considered ambidextrous too, right? It is in my book, so I’m going with that.
Anyway, considering the topic at hand, I was pressing the last thing to pass under my needle and I happened to take a closer look at my little side table that I use for that purpose. Well, that led to another thing and then another until the whole focus of my morning yesterday involved a task I didn’t expect to be doing. Come on along and I’ll show you what I was up to.
Here it is…just a modest little TV tray.
This is a wooden TV tray that I recovered several years back to serve as a little side table when I sew. Mostly for ironing, but it’s a perfect size and height for several tasks. It’s had a couple different layers of fabric over the course of time, but I decided to try some freezer paper on the top to see if it would help to preserve the fabric underneath a little longer before needing another layer.
You can also see along the left side of the paper, the discolored fabric underneath.
You can see here the freezer paper is showing some marks on it. A bit of ink that transferred from a home printed piece of newsprint for paper piecing…a bit of scorch mark from high heat…a bit of paper shrinkage from being steamed during pressing.
Up came the paper to this point, but just one more pull on the paper revealed the degraded fabric underneath.
I decided it needed to be replaced, so out came the gigantic roll of freezer paper that only comes in one size and will last two lifetimes. I cut a piece to replace the old, and proceeded to remove the marred sheet from my little pressing table. Unfortunately, the paper also brought up a spot of the top layer of fabric. Hmmmm…time to investigate.
I found the top fabric had begun to basically rot. Rot?!?! Nah…..that couldn’t be…rot comes from moisture and other unsavory conditions. But it was damaged none the less, and had to come off. Then I saw the layer underneath. Yuk!!
More tugging and pulling of the top fabric revealed the next layer down. Not very pretty at all. I really loved the initial layer of fabric. But it showed scorch very quickly, which led to the second layer…the practical silver ironing fabric came into service. What’s surprising is the ironing fabric is quite thin compared to regular cotton. But it outlasts regular cotton for heat reaction.
So, after some ripping and tugging and pulling on both layers with not much success, out came my tools and I began the process of stripping down the old and replacing it with the new.
Brute force just didn’t work. I need some tools!Here are my basic tools for this step of the job. Nothing fancy. The staple puller helped in some places to get the staple separated from the fabric a bit. And my personal little Leatherman. Just the right size for my hands. No…I don’t need pink tools. But I do need them to fit comfortably in my hands. These two worked pretty hard for the morning.
The steps aren’t complicated, but they do take some effort.
Sometimes, the staple pullers just couldn’t get close enough to the staple due to the frame of the table. So, I just grabbed the edge of the fabric and gave it a good pull. That loosened the staple nicely.Sometimes, the fabric just came right out and left the staple behind. These got a good tug. And sometimes they broke off. But I was able to grab hold to the broken portion and pull it out with the pliers from my Leatherman.You can see a broken piece here in one of the staple holes below and to the right of the staple I’m pointing to. It’s good to get these out too so there are no pointy surprises as you work.Off with the old! The rewards of my hard work. Trash bin for the fabric and into my little “sharps” container for the staples.Yep…it’s a recycled spice can. They don’t make official “Quilter’s Sharps Containers”. And if they did, it would probably cost much more than I’d pay. Just like baby furniture seems to be twice the price as regular because it has the word “baby” in it. So I’m frugal. Besides, every penny saved is a penny used to buy more fabric!But before this heap of ick went into the trash, I got the measurements for it’s replacement.And just to make sure I was doing it right, I measured the top of the table. Now I know the fabric to cover the table top and wrap around the edges needs to be about 4″ larger than the top surface.Here are the layers that will replace the old covering. A piece of 100% cotton batting and regular cotton, both cut to 23″ x 18″ .You’re going to need a staple gun like this for the next step. I’ve made sure to show the size staples used in this project too. Too long and the staples can poke out the top, and too short they won’t be able to hold the fabric very well. lol…ask me how I know. 😉Now comes the fun part. Turn the table over and center it on the fabric, making sure there is equal amount of material to pull over each edge. Start by placing one stable in the center of all four sides.Next, go around each side again and put a couple more staples in spaced equally. Make sure to gently pull on the fabric to make sure it is taut, but not distorting the other sides.Corners are next. Trim off excess fabric to keep from accumulating too much mass for the staples to pass through and get a good bite for holding in place. There’s no magic to the method of making a tidy corner. I just approach it like the wrapping of a present…it’s easy peasy.Here’s my first corner. It’s tidy enough and doesn’t need to be any better than this.. And just so you know…each corner is a bit different from the last. That’s ok with me. I just need it to be done well. Finished is better than perfect.When the corners are all done, then I go back and fill in staples all along the edge of the material. Again, making sure the fabric is taut and secure.
Ta-Da!! Here’s the finished ironing board. I’ll still be adding a sheet of freezer paper to protect the new surface. But for now, I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor.
Thanks for coming along on this mornings bunny trail!
