Fool Me Twice--Shame On Me

Have you ever done anything that you think "OMG I can't believe I did that"? I know that I certainly have. And being the optimistic 'cup half full' person that I am, I then wonder what I could've done so it wouldn't have happened. 

Simple example would be when I hand sew (think sewing on binding). I've had just a few more inches to sew but my thread is extremely short. I know I can make it so I take those few final stitches. Then my thread is so short I can't make a good strong knot. My fault and I know better. Rather than aggravate myself with the outcome, when my thread starts to get short, I knot off right then and there. Then I re-thread my needle and pick up where I left off. It only takes a couple extra minutes, but it helps my blood pressure.

Another way to address these kind of situations is a visual queue. I bought a single hole throat plate and I'm very happy with it. However, when I forget I'm using it and switch my machine to zig zig WHAM! that needle will break faster than the fastest thing you can think of.  So I went with the visual queue: I put the little sign under my machine but I can see it through the acrylic table. I hate to say it's 'idiot proof' but so far so good!

 

Bitten by the Hexie Bug

I like so many other innocent quilters have been bitten by the hexie bug. I know I'm not alone...I've seen others...there's an outbreak on Instagram and Pinterest. We can't help ourselves. The darned things are fun to work on and they're easily transportable.

 
For me it started with an innocent glance and then a continuous stare at Millefiori quilts. The color and movement was absolutely breathtaking. This led to  Hatja Marek's book, The New Hexagon. Her hexies are not your ordinary English paper pieced hexagon; oh, no, they're so much more than that. They're multi-faceted and extremely interesting.

This is the point where the fever set in. I pulled my favorite colors from my stash, bought the paper patterns and started working. And work I did - I was a person obsessed. Every evening when I got home from work, I couldn't wait to start putting the little puzzle pieces together. 

"Rosette 1" was my goal and I got it done fairly quickly. But what to do with it? It's approximately 36" high and 36" wide. I'd like a wall hanging, so what I need to do is applique the piece onto another fabric. I so don't want to do that. I'm afraid it'll wiggle and shift as I try to applique around the circumference. 

 

That's when I remembered another technique I learned years ago for applique.It's from Mastering Machine Applique - Mock Hand Applique and Other Techniques by Harriet Hargrave. Basically what you do is a blind stitch around the piece to be appliqued. On my Bernina, I used  a stitch width of .75, shortened the stitch length, loosened the tension, used monofiliment thread, and a fine thread in the bobbin. It worked like a charm. 

Here's the back and you can barely see the stitches by my well-manicured finger nail.

  
Next step will be to quilt it. I think I'm going to quilt a hexagon shape in the blank space around the piece, but still not so sure about how to quilt the rosette. I think I'll take the Scarlett O'Hara approach "I'll think about that tomorrow"!

My Gabby Bag

This year I joined the Bag of the Month Club ( or bagomc.com as it's known). It's a great club that provides a new bag pattern every month by some fabulous bag designers that include Betz White, Mrs. H, Sew Sweetness (Sara Lawson) and Emmaline Bags (Janelle MacKay).

The first of each month is met with anticipation for the pattern that'll be in my email box.In April it was the Gabby Bag by Emmaline Bags. I loved it as soon as I saw it. My first thought was 'what do I have in my stash that'll work?'. Being the Alison Glass frabricaholic that I am, I was immediately drawn to her Sphere fabric (which of course I own just about the entire collection).

But which ones to choose? They're all fabulous but the Vanilla and Pewter really grabbed my eye. Oh, and where those colors meet, some piping would be a-w-e-s-o-m-e! Ruby would be ideal; both for the piping and lining. Yesssss!

So along with the fabric, I needed interfacing, Soft & Stable, zippers,metal rings, and thread (but thread wasn't an issue - I have the Alison Glass Essential Thread Collection of course!). And score one for me...I had everything I need! It's realizations like this that make it all worthwhile to have a stash! I'm also proud to say that one of the zippers and the metal rings were salvaged from other bags.


Inside the bag there's a nice double slip pocket and zipper. I have to say that the directions for the internal zipper were about the best I've ever seen. Worked great!



 I was very happy with the outcome. Here's the final result. The pattern has an external zippered pocket which I didn't want - that's the nice thing about making your own bags...you can customize them so they are exactly as you want.

 
Now just need to decide if I want to make another before I see next month's pattern!

Prepping for QuiltCon

 

QuiltCon is less than a month away! Five of us from my Magpie group are going and one even has a quilt in the show which is amazing!

 

For two of us, this will be our third QuiltCon. Since I'm all about tote bags these days, I wanted to design something fun to take along.

 

 At the first Con in Austin, we got the tote bags that were huge and long (but of course we needed one!). I looked mine over and decided to dissect it. I cut a big piece to use on the front. I ironed on some Wonder Under and adhered it like raw edge applique. Then it was cropped a bit as I measured it carefully and sewed it onto a fun green linen cotton blend which has great body.

I also embellished it with a vertical strip that mimics the Alison Glass fabric I wanted to use as the lining. Then I did some straight line quilting.

I cut another piece to use on the back. I was able to keep the finished edge at the top and made a great pocket. Next I went to my printer and copied my ticket stubs and ID from the first and second QuiltCon onto fabric so I could use them to embellish the bag.

 

I wasn't quite sure what to do about the handles...I have some awesome leather straps I got at Sew to Speak, but wasn't sure if I wanted to use them for this project. Then I saw a photo of a bag that used two different fabrics for the straps. I knew right then that was what I wanted to do. The tote's straps have the green linen on one side and the lining fabric on the other. 

 

Voila! I love it and I'm ready for QuiltCon!

Working Smart

I'm still working on the baby quilt for Natalie. Bottomline, I bought too much fabric (awwww, too bad; right?!). So I am using the opportunity to try a fun technique that Nicole showed us at our Sew In last fall. Now I know she found it on the web somewhere, but I'm not sure who the sly sewist is that figured this out,but I think you'll agree it's slick.

It's all about half square triangles...Take your two fabrics and place them right side together. Then there's a little math: the size of the block x2+1. So, my blocks for Natalie's quilt are 6.5" squares, here's the calculation (don't squirm if you're math-a- phobic; it's not that hard): 6.5x2=13  13+1=14. That means I cut 14" squares. 

So, draw the "X" like usual and stitch 1/4" on either side of the lines.  Now here's the cool part: you get EIGHT half square triangles with this method.

Next (and this is the Ah Ha! moment) cut on the line like usual and in between:

This is what you end up with (told you it was pretty cool):

With a very minimal amount of trimming, here's the finished product:

Now as you may recall, I mentioned that I bought too much fabric. With this particular block ( blue stripe and white), I only needed one. But the new technique is so fun that I have 7 extra blocks. What to do with them, you ask? My husband has a client who is an going to be a new dad in May, so...I can use them on that baby quilt too. Some things just happen for a reason, don't you think?

Importance of Functional Design

This week I was invited to speak at the Westerville Quilt Guild.  The topic was Sewing Space Savvy...an extension of an article I wrote for NQA's The Quilting Quarterly on ergonomics.

I had the opportunity to share information that I had found, but not able to put in a two page article. Some of the information I picked up apply to office spaces as well as sewing rooms. Here are some of the tips I found out while doing research for the article:

• Cutting table surface should be six inches down from your elbow. If you find that your cutting table isn't high enough, there are a number of ways to raise it to a better height including bricks, wood blocks, and bed risers. Here are some bed risers that have a power strip built in. How cool is that?!

• Good lighting is important at any workspace. The Bendable Bright Light attaches to the side of your machine and can shine a bright beam right down onto the foot and stitches. And since the light is on a bendable goose neck, if you need to do some hand stitching or (gasp!) rip out, you can move the light so it's shining right down on your work.

Posture is so important when you sew. It can mean the difference between an enjoyable experience and an uncomfortable one. Ideally, your elbows and knees should be bent at 90 degree angles. 

If the chair you're using doesn't allow you to sit properly, there are a few products on the market that can help. First is the Gypsy Sit Upon. It can help you sit erect and raise your seat a few inches:

There is also a portable attachment you can purchase for better lumbar support. It attaches to your chair via an elastic strap that clips in the back. You can find these attachments in office supply stores. There are many other options on the market as well. This one I know from experience is great!

One last point I'd like to share is how important it is to take a break when you sew. Using the Pomodoro Technique, you sew for 25 minutes uninterrupted and then take a 5 minute micro-break. It's important for a number of reasons: it keeps your mind fresh and focused as well as the opportunity to stretch your legs and get the blood pumping. Sitting for extended periods of time can lead to carpal tunnel and cardio vascular disease - even if you work out on a daily basis!

These are some products that can help keep your sewing space comfortable because quilting doesn't have to be a pain in the neck!

The Quest Continues

This year I am going to continue on my journey to improve the precision of my sewing. And it is a journey; not just a short trip. I'm showing progress so I know I am trainable (just ask my dogs; they got me whipped into shape in no time!), but I need to keep working at it. As Mad Eye Moody said in the Harry Potter books: 'be constantly vigilant'. 

There are the very apparent tips like keep the blades in the rotary cutters sharp and use Machingers by Quilters Touch when working on a larger piece (really helped reduce the tension in my arms and shoulders). Oh, and here's one of my favorites: if I make a mistake, fix it. Chances are if I think no one will notice I'll be in the home stretch when I realize that that decision was so very wrong. And (speaking from experience), then I get very discouraged and sometimes don't want to finish the piece.

I've invested several tools too. This post is about a few things I've picked up along the way that have worked for me...

1. Listen to Susan S. Cleveland. Her website is Pieces be With You. She is an engineer turned quilter and precision is her thing. Take one look at the name of one of her books to see this is true. It's a great reference book that every quilter should own.

One of the things I found very interesting is what she wrote about regarding the feed dogs and presser foot. On most machines, when the presser foot is down, you don't get the entire use of the feed dogs which, may I remind you, are there to move the fabric under the needle. The center position is the one she uses the least on her machines (interesting, don't you think?).

2. "Scant Quarter Inch". Does this mean a smidge under .25"? Or just a 'thread or two under a quarter inch'. Here's what Susan has to say about it: When seam allowances are pressed to one side, one fabric folds back on itself and up over the thread. The amount of fabric taken up in the fold is the "turn of the cloth". If strips are cut perfectly, then a perfect 1/4" seam allowance would yield a result too small because some fabric is taken up in the turn of the cloth. So the seam allowance must be a scant 1/4"."

So what I did was get  the Prep-Tool by Guidelines 4 Quilting. It has a guide that I placed under my presser foot and then there is a reusable adhesive seam guide that attached to my machine. Then removed the plastic guide and I was good to go. I have only had it a couple days, but so far so good.

My favorite tool is my TrueCut ruler and rotary cutter by The Grace Company. 

The ruler has a couple helpful features: every inch, there is a vertical opening in the ruler that lets me line up with my cutting mat and/or fabric design to keep the ruler straight.  There is also a lip on either side. This raised part of the ruler allows the TruCut rotary cutter to hook onto it. Now every time I cut, it's a true straight line. No more veering over to the right or left. And this keeps the ruler from slipping because my entire focus is on pressing down on the blade rather than over to the edge of the ruler.

As I continue on my journey I'll pick up more tips along the way. I'm sure there are other travelers on this road, so I'll be sure to share what I learn from them as well!

Name Tag Design

When you wake up early in the morning and the house is quiet because it's too early for anyone to get up, what crosses your mind? Well, for me this morning it was my quilt guild name tag. Weird, eh? I don't know why I thought of that but the point is that I did.

I had a really cute name tag at one point.  I had made it out of fabric in yellow and black. But for the life of me I can't find it. I've looked high. I've looked low. No luck. So I need a new one. 

The next place my mind started to go was to a class I'd just taken on needle felting. I've written a post on felting before, but finally I had the opportunity to take a class and learn some new ideas.

One of the things we did was use wool roving. These fibers are used to make actual wool felt. Here's  what it looks like:

All you need to do is unwind a little and then gently pull it apart.

 Next, layer it three or four times; vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal. Now it's ready to felt. I alternated blue and green.

The needles of the felting tool are barbed so it pulls actual bits of the wool up and down through the piece. That's what causes it to become sturdy and felt. You can also felt without a machine. You just need a felting punch tool which contains the needles and a punch mat. It can provide the same end product as the machine punch tool, but it will take quite a bit longer to complete a project.

In class we learned to use a wooden skewer to direct the loose bits on the edges up under the needles. Not only does it keep fingers away from the nasty needles, but if the skewer get's  nicked, you're less likely to break a needle than you would be if a metal tool was used. 

So the needles go up and down; condensing the fibers. Then flip it over, felt it some more. Flip, felt, flip, felt etc. etc. etc.

  Here's the final piece:

Next I cut it into a shape, embellish a bit, add my name, and voila! a new name tag. The process doesn't really take a lot of time and it's really a fun break from sewing with thread.

Sure hope I don't lose this one!

Computerized Design

Natalie is having her second baby in June. For most people their initial thoughts are around 'oh, isn't that nice' or 'congratulations!'. However I'm a quilter. My first thought was 'the baby will need a quilt; an excuse to make something!' then it was 'congratulations!'.

Once Natalie found out she was having a girl, I very subtly asked about whether she had decided on the colors for the nursery (since she's a planner like me, I knew she had made a decision). Pale aqua and pink was the answer. Cool! Now I can buy fabric! Any excuse is appreciated, and a new baby is a really good one.

I picked out a cute simple pattern for the quilt. It is Big Love; a tutorial can be found on Modern Handcraft.  It's comprised of half square triangles and a handful of squares. 

Then with an estimation of the amount of fabric I'd need, I headed out to the local quilt shop that was having a 20% off sale. Kismet! Here's what I selected:

  
I bought EQ7 a few months ago and haven't used it much. But I thought that this is such a simple pattern, that it might be a good one to try with the software. It has some videos you can watch to learn certain functions (so of course I watched them all!).

The quilt is 7x6 blocks. Since I have so many  half square triangles, I was able to use this template. I just had to click on it and then paste in the appropriate square.

Here's what the final pattern looks like:

One of the things that drew me to EQ7 is the ability to actually scan my fabric to use in the designs. How cool is that! So that's what I did.  Here's the screen that shows my fabric:

I rearranged some of the darks and lights. I'd like to repeat the fabric colors in a given block at least twice so that I could do some speed piecing.

 
Once I get the squares put together, this should help me arrange them. EQ also helped me get the balance of the colors that I wanted. I think I'll find it saved me time and fabric because I won't have to resew any squares because I didn't make enough of a given combination. (At least that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!)

Now I get to start cutting the fabric!  Woo hoo! Hopefully I'll have another post in the near future with my quilt top. So stay tuned.

Zip It Up

Birthdays are fun and my Magpie friends are always up for a celebration! We go out to dinner and exchange gifts this time for Karen and Kathy F.

I can't just buy something to buy it, so I looked at all of the local quilt shops, but nothing seemed to be just right. And to paraphrase the Grinch...'I puzzled and puzzled till my puzzler was sore.Then I thought of something I hadn't before.'  I'll make something for them; something they'll love...a zippered pouch it will be like a dream from above.

As all of the Magpie's know; Karen's favorite color is orange and boy do I have some awesome orange fabric in my stash. Been waiting for a good reason to use it (it's the kind of fabric you gotta have but really don't want to cut it...oh come on, admit it...you know what I mean).

So I pulled out the fabric  and decided to embroider her name on it:

I didn't want it to be plain on the back, so I inserted a fabric like the one I'd used on the front.

Now I had to quilt it before I assembled the bag. But what color thread?  hmmmm. I know (after I puzzed again)...my metallic copper thread! Cool look with orange fabric.  So I changed my needle and loosened the tension. And followed a tip I'd gotten from a fellow quilter, don't rush; stitch slowly. Otherwise friction could build up; that's why metallic thread can seem to break so easily.

Well, that was fun! What now...Oh, decorative stitches! Yes and with the same metallic thread:

Next decision was for the inside of the bag. Something similar but contrasting. hhhmmm. Ah, purple! Quite the color combination! Add a zipper and it's almost ready to wrap.

Karen collects pieces of costume jewelry and uses them in her compositions. She actually brought some to a Magpie meeting  and let us each select a piece. Then she challenged each of us to find a way to integrate into a project. I love the look and I'm happy to say Karen did too!

QuiltCon Class with Bill Kerr

On the third day were in Austin, I was able to take a 3 hour class with Bill Kerr. Not only does Bill design with his wife Weeks Ringle at Modern Quilt Studio, but he also teaches Graphic Design and is Chairman of the Art Department at Dominican University.  The class I had the opportunity to take was The Role of Color in Your Quilts.

Bill talked a lot about the saturation of color, much as Weeks had. Desaturation can be moving light or darker than the most intense version of a hue.  Think about Red and Yellow. Saturated red is much darker than saturated yellow. Actually what is the darkest form of Yellow? It's brown!

As soon as you put boundaries on your art you limit yourself

Interesting concept isn't it? It aligns with Weeks' comment the day before: Rather than choosing the first fabric then selecting from your stash, consider everything as an option, then edit out what doesn't work. It gives so many more fabrics the opportunity to be selected. There could be hidden gems in your stash you didn't think would work.

The first exercise we did in class was based on a painting by an old master. Bill passed out copies of the paintings to everyone in the class. Here's the one I got stuck with  was given, it's "Icebergs and Wreck in Sunset" by Frederic Edwin Church:

OMG was my initial thought. I really don't like to use pastels in my work; especially the dreaded m-a-u-v-e. (So glad I'm not opinionated.) Bill even told me he chose that painting for me because I was wearing an emerald green sweater and he thought it would be a good excersie for me.

Okay, let me step off the mauve soapbox so I can tell you what we had to do. First we were given a color wheel and had to place dots on the wheel that indicated the saturation of color we saw in the painting.  Then we wrote down percentages of those colors that we saw in our painting.

Next we were to select fabric from our stash that represented the colors we saw. We weren't to try to recreate the painting, but trim the fabric to different sizes to reflect the proportion of the colors found in the painting. Here's my end result:

(For the record, I want to say that the pinky-mauvey color you see above was a piece of fabric I was given when my number was chosen in a raffle at a guild meeting...and I've used it to applique flower petals...the color looked great...Gasp! Perhaps I've been a little hard on pinky-mauvey. Maybe it does have its place.)

After about 20 minutes, we all shared our interpretation of the color with the rest of the class.

We talked about each painting and the fabric swatches. It was interesting to see how certain hues were used to evoke a particular message or feeling. I think that by using the peaches and pinks in the sky, Church was able to evoke more of a feeling of anguish for the ship wreck than if the sky had been steel blue or dove grey. After all, pale pink is the lightest saturation of blood red.

It was a great exercise. Another one Bill mentioned was to hand out photos of paintings and ask everyone in your guild to sew a log cabin block with colors that mimic the painting. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?

QuiltCon Class with Weeks Ringle

I took two classes at QuiltCon. The first one was Rediscovering Your Stash with Weeks Ringle. On Pat Sloan's podcast I had heard them talk about Weeks' magic when she works with hard to match fabrics in someone's stash  so I knew it would be an interesting class.

At the beginning of the session, we talked about color and its importance. Rather than thinking in terms of light/medium/dark fabric, Weeks encouraged us to realize the importance of contrast. When deciding on a background fabric, the hue shouldn't be found in any of the other fabrics selected for the quilt top. The same value in a different saturation makes the fabrics pop. Also, when determining what fabrics go together, think in terms on commonality i.e., not matching.

Here's a photo of a quilt that will be in the next issue of Modern Quilts Illustrated. You can see each of the colors very vividly.

And here's a close up of another quilt using Liberty of London fabrics. Weeks says every quilt needs contrast. As you can see, the drab makes the bright triangles pop with the contrast.

After we talked about color, we each selected one fabric from our stash that either we really didn't like or we didn't know what to do with it. We put them on a table and Weeks teamed us up with the owner of another fabric on the table.My fabric is the bold huge print on the right - I love it but I'm not sure how to use it. My partner had the alligator print (okay, maybe it's really a crocodile - I'm not sure!).

At this point, we were to use our stash and select 8-10 fabrics that would allow the huge print and the alligators to be used in a single quilt top. Weeks taught us to consider everything in our stash as an option, then whittle it down. How to do that?  Look for commonalities - not matchy matchy. We chose the roundness of the berries and the long curved line of the stems and alligators' tails.

It's a very interesting process that certainly has taught me to look at fabric differently. For more information on the exercise, check out issue 7 of Modern Quilts Illustrated. It makes for a fascinating read!