Friday's Tip of the Day

Today, I would like to share an idea that keeps my seams in check and my stitches from wandering wildly as I walk the line, that narrow 1/4" seam line, that is!

When stitching 1/4" seams on long strips, I add a piece of tape to the bed of my machine. I place the tape in line with the outside edge of my 1/4" foot.

The fabric strip can be guided along the tape so it is in perfect position when it gets to the foot.

Your seam will be accurate and your stitching straight and true. 

Tip for today

What's your favorite handy tool?

Today, I'd like to share a simple and quick little project for your sewing studio.  

As I was completing a quilted project using a wool batt, I trimmed the edge and was ready to throw away a narrow strip of wool batting. Thinking of the properties of wool and how it keep needles and pins from rusting, I rolled the batting strip into a ball and secured with a pin. (Notice the yellow pin head on the side.)

Just like that, I had a small pincushion to keep next to my machine for extra needles and a few pins. Keeping the strip narrow helps so you don't push the needles in too far to rescue and they become dangerous weapons ready to stick you at a later date.

Tip for the Day

Sewing, pressing, sewing, pressing, working on so many new ideas. Then comes the time when we have to leave the area. After I leave, my mind always flashes back. Did I turn off my iron? Am I going to forget it and the house burns down? (And, all of my lovely quilts burn up!)

To solve the problem, I have plugged my iron into an electric power strip. Along with this, I plugged in a floor lamp which I always leave turned on. Having the extra light at my pressing surface is wonderful. The real benefit is that when I leave, I turn off the power strip, the light goes off and I know my iron is also turned off. One last check as I exit, all lights are off and my studio will be here tomorrow.

Do you have any handy (quilt saving) hints to share?

Terminate, cut up and discard the remains

Doesn't that sound like the plot of murder investigation? Sor

ry, I couldn't resist!

Now that I have terminated my 5 bags of fabric from my quilting world, they really haven't quite left yet. They have merely moved from my stash into the stash of our quilting group (part of which is stored at my house).

Our quilting group uses donated cotton fabrics to construct utilitarian quilts that we donate to local organizations. As we work on these quilts, I found we commonly used the fat quarter size or larger pieces. The smaller pieces which were oddly shaped were just being pushed aside and ignored and thus forever stored in my basement.

One day, I grabbed a bag of scraps and started pressing them and cutting them into squares. I made piles of 3", 4", 5", 6" squares, whatever I could manage to cut out of the piece. (Actually, I like cutting so this turned into an enjoyable time.)

Now instead of tangled up, raveling scraps, we had organized piles to work with. Amazingly, the fabrics disappeared, emerging into colorful scrap quilts.

So this brings me back to today. My project is to cut up my terminated fabrics (and try not to sneak any back into my stash) and discard the remains.

Completion of "Dancing Trees"

I had a fun time quilting this project. I added stitching on the trees and some of the leaves. The contrast between the quilted leaves and the unstitched leaves gives a feeling of depth. The ground was enhanced with quilted "grass". The batik bottom border was finished with diagonal lines. Additional quilting was needed in the sky area. The brown border was quilted with vertical lines.

We all admire a quilt that lays flat and hang smoothly on the wall with no wobbles along the edge. One of the keys to that flat quilt is an equal amount of quilting over the surface. Intense quilting in only selected areas of the project will draw the fabric together and you will see the fabric pulling to that area. Often borders are insufficiently quilted resulting in a quilt that refuses to lay smooth. I've found that quilting that crosses that borders (i.e. crosshatching or vertical lines) helps to draw up the edge and straight line quilting that follows the length of the border tends to stretch the edge.

What are your favorite solutions to the perfect quilt?

Still Untitled

Bordering the quilt is the finishing touch for the quilt top. Additional hand-dyed silk, the same as was used for leaves, seemed to add color without taking away from the center of the quilt. The dark brown helped to enclose and finish the look. Because the light is coming from behind the trees, the dark border is perfect. To me, it is the vision of first light as I awaken.

Now it is time to prepare for the true glory of a quilted piece and that, of course, is the quilting itself. I have the edges pinned and have fused the batting to the quilt top and backing. (I am using Fusi-boo, a fusible cotton/bamboo batting for this project.) Even though the batting is fused in place, I found that it is still a good choice to hand-baste the edge of the quilt to keep the layers straight and in place.

Now to awaken the piece with quilting.

Exactly Where Did This Come From?

Color Explosion

17" x 14"

2010 - Sharon V. Rotz

Here I have been enjoying delicate spring flowers and then go into my studio and come out with this. How did that happen?

My only thought is that the flowers have gone into my memory bank and have to spend some time traveling around in my head before they are turned into a quilt inspiration. Meanwhile, the fantastic colors of sunrises, new growth, and those violet blooms all "mushed" together and fabrics from my stash popped up to bring the excitement to life.

Your art should make you happy and this puts a smile on my face. It stretched me out of my comfort zone to stitch wavy pieces together and finish an uneven edge (after all those years of striving for straight edges).

Lesson for the day: Loosen up, loosen up, we must stay loose to be creative!

Ann's hand painted fabric

The wonderful part of the attending a class is that you learn new tips and techniques. Many times, the students are as inspiring as anything that the teacher could present. I am constantly amazed at the talent of my students and I am constantly being "taught" by them.

In our recent serger class "Simply Leafy 2", one of the students, Ann from Waukesha, came with a fabulous fabric that she hand-painted. When the supply list called from a leaf print and Ann couldn't find one that suited her taste, she made it. Quilters are so clever!

Thank you, Ann, for sharing with the class your technique for creating this special fabric.

If you have the opportunity to attend a class in your area, don't pass it by. You never know what you may learn.

Merging Serging with Quilting

In addition to my Friday class at FVTC Sewing and Quilting Expo, I will be presenting a Saturday lecture on merging serging with quilting.

You will enjoy the fun ways of using your serger as a quilting tool. Check out the how-to. We will look at the common serger stitches and see how they can be employed to add creativity to your quilting projects.

Adding the sparkle of decorative threads to your projects will be easier with your serger. Pieces can be joined with maximum speed. Stretching and raveling threads can be controlled.

See you in Oshkosh on March 19-20.

Working from my inspiration

From my inspirational photo, I chose to re-create a small section of leaves in my quilting project. Although I loved the whole composition and may at some time choose to make a larger quilt, today's project will be small, approximately 12" square.

I drew out three leaves based on the leaves in the photo. Because I can pick and choose, I am not limited by my photo and can combine or delete as I desire. I can simplify the leaves. I can also add other elements. I can go realistic with the colors or into a fantasy realm.

Now the fun part of sorting through my fabrics, on a quest for the best choices to complete my vision. The fabrics that pop out at me may change my vision and clear the way for an ever greater artwork. I always try to keep open to the possibilities that may arise.

Inspiration

Where do you look for your next idea? I have been looking through photos I took of autumn leaves and found this view which I found interesting. The colors, the shapes of the leaves, the light and the shadows all were inspiring. How can I turn this into a quilted piece?

Will it be the entire photo or just a close-up of one area? What fabrics would be the best choices? How could I incorporate the multiple colors in each leaf? Will the finished piece be realistic or abstract?

These will all be questions I will ponder as I work on this idea.

What do you think?

Should I have left off the red flanges on the redwork blocks? Should I have made the quilt square instead of going for a more unusual shape? (See Friday's blog for the photo with the flanges.)

When laying out the blocks and stitching them together, I felt there should be more red to emphasize the outline of the redwork blocks. A solid border didn't seem like the best solution. Ever exploring the options, I came up with the red flanges. I liked the more dramatic shape, so I finished it that way.

Did I wander off? Or did I come up with a more interesting quilt? You be the judge.

Quilting the design

As I said yesterday, I can make multiples of my quilting design by stacking papers and stitching through thread-less. Not only do I now have the needed copies of the design but the perforations on the copies make it easier to later remove the paper from the top of my quilt.

As you can see, the tracing paper is thin enough that I can center the design on my block. I then pin in place and quilt on the perforated lines. I do have to remove the paper later but the design is easy to see, quick to quilt, and I don't have to remove marking lines from my quilt top.

Life is a trade-off, but we are always looking for the option that is easiest and most satisfying for our needs.

Making quilting designs

I have been busy getting quilts ready for the quilting step. Often I need multiple copies of the quilting design to place on selected blocks in my quilt.

My favorite method to make these multiple copies involves stapling several sheets of tracing paper together with the design on the top sheet. I remove the thread and bobbin from my machine and trace around the design perforating the paper with my sewing machine needle. I remove the staples and carefully pull apart the sheets of paper.

Red Hot Chili Lily

The flowers on this quilt were not the important part for me, therefore I placed them high on the quilt, actually almost off the top of the quilt. The colors also blend into the color of the background making them less noticeable.

The flowers are three dimensional and beaded but you have to look close to see them. Isn't fun to have a main focal point, then fascinating details that draw the viewer in for a closer look?

Maybe next time I'll try a more subdued background. And then, maybe not!

Record keeping

Do you keep a list of the quilts that you have made?

I have found that this a valuable resource for so many reasons. I make an average of about 20-30 or more quilts a year and I can't remember all details (and it seems my memory is getting worst, ugh!)

When I first started quilting, I thought it was pretentious to name my quilts but I soon found out it was much quicker to say "GPS- Geese Phying South" than "the red and green quilt with the mariner's compass in the middle and the flying geese blocks surrounding it, and the quarter mariner's compass blocks in the corners, you know the one". So my quilts began to have names, and with the names came stories of how they got their names. Or why they deserve their names, i.e. my friend's quilt named "The Quilt from Hell".

Along with the name of the quilt, there is information about making the quilt including the year made, the size, the materials used including the batting, and perhaps awards that the quilt has earned. All this should be included on your list of quilts. This past year I (finally) finished a quilt I started in 1995 and I certainly don't remember details that long.

I wish I could tell you I always keep up to date on this, but I would rather be making quilts than recording them. My resolution is to start off this year keeping track of things. A new year, new beginnings!

p.s. Don't forget photos.

More Grandchildren Quilts

I've been so busy working on Christmas gifts I haven't taken the time to add to my blog. Here is another of our Grandmother/Great Grandmother creations (the quilt, not the little darling in front -- although, I guess we had a part in that too!). My talented mother embroidered the squares and I put them together in the quilt. It's so much fun to work on projects together. And, it's so nice to make something that can be cherished in the future.

Always remember to add labels to your quilts. We forget details so quickly and as quilts are passed on, the stories are lost.

Christmas Snail's Trail

Scrap quilts must be my passion, as I see my use of multiple fabrics has spread into my Christmas quilts was well.

The snail's trail pattern is an easy design to try. It looks festive when we combine several Christmas prints on a white background. As you can see on the detail, it is composed of four recognizable parts, a four patch surrounded by triangles, two larger half square triangle blocks and a solid block.

Enjoy getting into the Christmas spirit as you work on holiday projects.

More ideas for using scraps

I have found that I use scraps if I go through and trim them to more usable sizes.

When I was looking for a backing for my "G.P.S." wall hanging, I gathered all my red and green scraps left over from this project as well as others. I cut and stitched them into four patches. I combined small four patches into 16 patches, and joined them with larger four patches and solid blocks for my quilt back.

Four patches are very usable because they are easy to make. If you find the size needs adjusting for a project, they can be easily trimmed to the required size by trimming equally off all four sides.

Now I've found that I like the back of my quilt as much as the front.
And I've used a multitude of my scraps.

Machine Quilting a large Quilt

Yesterday, I was talking to another quilter who was having trouble handling a large quilt on her home machine. She mentioned that anything over 60" wide was too hard to quilt on her machine. Perhaps you may also have had the same problem so I thought I would mention a method I've used.

Lay out your quilt for basting -- the backing, the batting and the quilt top. Pin baste the center section from top to bottom of the quilt. On a 90" wide quilt, this would be the center 30". Fold back the side of the quilt top over the basted section, exposing the batting. Without cutting the backing, cut out the batting (you will replace it after quilting the center section). Repeat for the other side of the quilt. Now you have batting only in the center of the quilt, making it much easier to handle under your machine.

After machine quilting the center section, lay out the quilt again. Reinsert the side batting, butt the edges of the batting and hand stitch together. Pin baste and quilt the side of the quilt. Repeat on the second side. Because you are quilting closer to the edge of the quilt, you will be able to handle the additional weight and thickness of the batting.

This does require you to lay out your quilt a second time, but the ease of quilting may be worth the effort. What do you think?