Doing a Quilt-Along

I have just found a very interesting quilt-along at Moose on the Porch Quilts. I have so much fabric, about three fat quarters bags full of fabric I bought more than eight years ago. I really would like to use up some of my stash so I can justify buying more of the modern fabric prints that are calling to me at the moment. Doing a scrappy quilt-along might just do the trick. I am also thinking of doing Oh Fransson!'s quilt-along too. I will need to do a bit of catching up for the Oh Fransson! quilt-along and the Moose on the Porch quilt-along starts in March. Huh! I had better get cracking.


I bought a few books from amazon the other day and I am waiting for them to arrive. One of them was Mastering Quilt Marking: Marking Tools and Techniques. I was finding marking my quilt top a little bit of a challenge. Stencils never fit right and you need to adjust them, and I have not really tried the light box method (which I think I might give a go with next time). I had read some reviews and this book came out as being a really good one. I hope so!


I also ordered Color Your Cloth: A Quilter's Guide to Dyeing and Patterning Fabric, Piece by Piece Machine Applique, Piec-lique: Curves the New Way, Mastering Precision Piecing: 7 Spectacular Quilts with Techniques for Success. Each book had something interesting to offer me. I really loved the way Oh Fransson! coloured some of her fabric for more interesting looks and would love to try this out myself. Machine Applique is something I would love to try, it has got to be easier and faster than hand applique. Sewing curves has always eluded me, and I simply love the look of applique so i would love to try more of it without the hand stitching hassle of it all. So I ordered all these books and I am hoping each one will be exactly what I am looking for, or at least put me in the right direction. 


I am looking forward to the Craft Expo which is going to come to Sydney March 11-14 at Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush. I am really excited as I haven't been to a craft show in many years. I love looking at all the wonderful creations other people have come up with and some of them just blow me away with their creations. It is very inspiring and intimidating at the same time. I will be going with my BFF, we always seem to jump on the same hobby bandwagon each time it takes off. Should be fun.

My First Finished Quilt for 2010

Boy am I excited! I have actually finished a quilt. It was a quilt top I did many, many years ago (about 8) and then decided to finish off for my daughter, then changed my mind and made her a different one that is still being finished. But my son liked it and decided he wanted it. So...


The quilt top was complete, it just needed backing and batting and then needed to be quilted. I went off to the fabric store (Craft Depot) and bought backing and batting and two more packs of quilting safety pins and set about marking the quilt top with a stipple stencil. I spent hours doing it. That is no easy task! Anyway, the top got marked and I laid it all out to baste. During the basting process, my daughter decided she would help me and was handing me the quilting pins, which I thought was great until I realised that she was sliding across the quilt top and wiping off a lot of my markings! Anyway, I kept basting and thought I would wing it and see what happened. 


Quilt partially marked, pins in place, machine foot, bobbin and thread all ready - I took a deep breath and started. Needless to say that I only managed about half of one stencil before I realised I couldn’t make out the pattern anymore! I got my stencil and traced it onto a sheet of paper in black marker and pasted it to the wall in front of my sewing machine and decided to wing the whole thing. I am very happy to say I only boxed myself into a corner once, and managed to avoid it for the rest of the quilt. I am really happy with the way it turned out.


This quilt was full of firsts for me. My first quilt in nearly 10 years, my first stipple quilt and my first attempt at using the Binding Mitre Tool for the binding and using a taylors awl to help help the binding on the sewing line. Normally I do one really long strip and do the mitre corners as I go but I got this cool tool that helped you mitre the binding corners without having to join your binding end pieces together. I think I need more practice with it. I don't think it worked out exactly as it was suppose to. Never mind. 

I know some use a seam ripper but this worked just fine for me.

This is the front of the quilt. I used sky blue for both the front and back. I think I still need work to keep the stippling a little more consistent in size, but all in all, I think it turned out great for a first time, and I was winging it the whole way.

The back does not look to bad, just don't look to closely as my mistakes are much more visible on this side.

And this is the finished project on my son's bed. I learnt so much doing this quilt and hope that my next quilts are even better.

My Little Girls Quilt

Well it has been a hectic week for me this week, but I have finally managed to finish my daughter's quilt top.

It has been modified from Janelle Wind's Candy Girl pattern. I managed to finish the quilt top with little problem. My problem came when I tried to quilt it. I had basted it (the first time) and jumped straight onto my new sewing machine to quilt it, and it puckered, really badly, so, I had to unpick all the stitches I managed to do and then pull it apart and then re-baste it. I was pleased with the short amount of time it took me to re-do but then was kicking myself when I turned it over and it was bunching up under my hands. I then undid it all again then sat down in front of the computer and looked up basting a quilt. I just couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong. It's not like I haven't basted a quilt before and each time I had done it in the past it worked just fine. 

I managed to find quite a few references to basting the quilt sandwich, and the thing that jumped out at me the most was DO NOT STRETCH the fabric, just make it taut. I realised that I was making the backing fabric too tight. Then I came across another reference  that used a really long quilting ruler to help smooth out out the fabric (I was using my hand), and quite a few mentioned having only a fist distance between the safety pins. With all this new info on board I decided to re-bast my quilt. I used a ruler to smooth out the backing fabric and used masking tape to tape down the entire backing fabric to the floor. I then laid the batting and quilt top down and smoothed it out with the ruler. It is a really nice technique. I will definitely be using that one again. I then got out all of my safety pins and started basting. I ran out of pins one row from finishing the quilt top. This really surprised me as the other two times I did it, I had half  my tin left over. I had to go out this morning to get more safety pins. 


Once it was all basted, the top was nice and straight, I then took off all the masking tape and noticed that the background fabric did not 'spring' in a bit when the tape was removed, it just stayed exactly where it was. I then turned it over and ran my hand along the back. It seems so much better than the last two times I did it. I am not sure if it is going to be pucker free. 


I am just so annoyed with myself at having to do this basting three times and I am still not sure if it is going to be okay this time round. I look at sites like Oh Fransson and others an wonder - how on earth do they get it right every time? I know I am out of practice. This is my first quilt in 8 years, but still - three times is way to much re-do!


I am still not completely sure that I am going to free-motion quilt this quilt at the moment. I have had my confidence shaken a bit. I might just do some stitch in the ditch around all the blocks and do some parallel lines on the three borders and then decided what to do with the applique blocks. I do have then marked with a nice stencil I had, but I am not sure if I will do it just yet. Thinking about it.....

Happy Valentine' Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I hope you all get something nice for Valentine's Day. I got an early Valentine's Day present from my DH. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful DH, who just gets me so well. No flowers and chocolate for this girl, I get something I really want.

Yay - it’s a Memory Craft 6600P! I can't believe my DH bought it for me!!! The fact that it was on sale from $2999 to $1999 made a huge difference. We went out today all the way to Liverpool and got it from Sewing Machine Services there. I also traded in my very old Pfaff 1222E as well, so I got an even better deal.

My wonderful DH unpacked it all for me and help me set up the newly organised Craft Studio/Office, which used to be our formal lounge/dining (that we have only used two times in the last 13 years).

I got rid of my Horn Sewing Cabinet (by that I mean it was moved to the garage until I can decide if I want to keep it or sell it) and replaced it with a 5ft folding table. I found that the cabinet was too low for me. I am not a short person and I always felt like I was leaning down into the machine and hunched over. I have put the MC6600P on top of the table with it’s very large extension table and I seem to be more at the right height for it now. I also have so much more room on all sides with this new table, but I have to say I miss the storage area in the drawers that the horn cabinet had. I might have to come up with a new storage solution underneath my new table.


I had a little play with the machine and it is awesome. I did a little bit of free motion quilting and I have to say that it was so much better. I am not sure if it’s me or the machine. I'd like to think it is a little bit of both. I am now trying to get through my DD applique blocks so I can start piecing together the quilt on my new machine. Only 6 from 14 to go. It’s a hard slog, but it will be worth it in the end.

ProjectLife Catch-Up

I have caught up with my last few weeks of ProjectLife. I have been a little lazy.


This is my week 4.

Supplies: CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker, DEB_ToyBox_oliveswirls, EHI_BlueWallpaper_5, GHU_NewYearResMini_Emb_Blue-Butterfly, KDDE_Paper%20Coordinate%20Brown, KDDE_Summersault_Paper%20Multi%20Floral, KPertiet_MetalClipAssortment-purple1, aneimann-justbecause-week

This is my week 5. 

CK_DrewDrops_jpt_week, CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker, KDDE_Paper MultiSwirls.jpg, DDE_Paper%20Solid%20Blue, PKnox_RibbonBits3_SolidPink, PKnox_RibbonBits3_SolidtPurple, PKnox_RibbonBits3_SolidtTan, PKnox_RibbonBits3_XStitch_Cream1, WW_GrowingThings_Alpha_4

Supreme Slider

I thought I would talk a little bit about the supreme slider. I bought one a little while ago and have been using it on my sewing machine for free motion quilting since and found that it does really help.

This is how the supreme slider comes. It is encased in a cardboard folder.

 

This is my sewing machine set up. I have a Horn sewing cabinet with a plastic insert to make the arm level with the cabinet.

 

This is the supreme slider almost in place, you can see the hole in the middle of the sheet. You have to make sure this hole is right over the hole in the sewing plate.

This is how it looks properly positioned. This should fit any sewing machine that has a flat surface near the needle. The supreme slider can be cut down to fit any size you like. I would think though, that the larger you leave the slider the better it will be for quilting. It might not be too helpful if you only have the the arm space on your sewing machine. I would also think that most quilters would have a similar setup to this one, in regards to quilting space on the left hand side of the needle.

This is a close up of how the whole in the supreme slider fits over the needle plate hole.

Kids PVA washing test

Today I decided it was time to wash my test applique block to see if in fact the Kids PVA glue would wash out like the manufacturers claimed. This is my block before washing with some stitching and the other elements just glued on. The first flower was glued then machine stitched. The middle and third flowers had some stitching and some parts just glued.


This morning I just gave the block a very light hand wash in the bathroom basin with very mild soap, swished it around a bit. The parts of the applique that were glued on only came off in the sink. I then let it dry to see if any residue or staining was left behind.

I didn’t iron the block after drying so it looks a little wrinkled!


Okay, so I would say that yes it does wash out very easily, a full machine wash on a quilt after it is made would definitely wash this glue out. It does not leave any residue behind, and it does not stain the fabric either.


I have to say that I am very pleased with this result as the CraftSmart Kids glue is very well priced ( about $4.40) and can be found in Spotlight. 


I also bought in my travels to Spotlight some CraftSmart No More Pins glue. This is meant to be a 'real' basting glue - washes out in water, replaces pins etc. I decided to give that a go on another test block, but after using it only on about three pieces decided that I didn’t like it at all. It is a clear glue rather than white (no problem there), but I found after you placed your dot on your fabric the glue went stringy - what I mean by that is that  after I put my drop of glue on the fabric as I lifted the glue bottle away a very thin string of glue followed the bottle and as it stretched to far it dropped onto my ironing board. Fair enough you can clean it up with a damp cloth but if you are doing a lot of gluing that is a lot of string bits to clean up. I then also heat set it and it went as hard as a rock, but not heat setting it left if wet for longer than I was happy with. It comes in a smaller bottle and is more expensive than the kids glue and so far I have to say the kids glue is winning out for me at the moment.

When I was at spotlight I found a Helmar's Kids School Glue which clearly labels that it is non-staining and washes out in water. I really like the look of this glue because of the lid mechanism. It has a twist top on it which allows you to control the amount of glue and it then twists shut and (should hopefully) there is no glue gob dried up on the end that needs to be cleared to use it again. Also very reasonably priced for the amount. I can't find my receipt right now but I think I paid about $4.70 for a 250ml bottle.

Free motion quilting update

After a few rave reviews on the supreme slider and using machine quilting gloves, I ended up buying both.


My free motion quilting improved - well, dramatically. Instead of being awful, it is now not too...bad. The supreme slider was really good in the sense that my fabric didn’t get 'caught' on anything when it was under my machine. It gave the quilt a lovely slippery feel to it, without being out of control but, I did use it with the machine quilting gloves. I think the two together is what made the difference, oh, and working out the the auto tension button just didn’t cut it and I actually had to manually set the tension.


I seemed to find a better rhythm - the sound of the machine and the movement of my hands, I also found being barefoot (thanks Helen) really made a difference too. Still, I am not quite able to get my stitches all even.


I also bought the quilt halo. Again it is something that needs a lot of practice to use and I found the quilt gloves easier. So, for the time being I will use the supreme slider and the quilt gloves, the tension cranked up to 8.5, and be barefooted while doing my free motion quilting. 


My daughters new quilt is going well. The pattern I am using (after some modifications) is the Janelle Wind - Candy Girl.

 I bought the jelly roll for the striped blocks but did all the strips the same size, and instead of the scallops made from fabric, I used some lace. I also made it to fit my daughters king single bed, so it is much bigger. I have managed to do all the striped blocks and am currently working on the applique blocks (all 14 of them) and it is taking a long time. I don't usually have patience for applique blocks but I really loved the look of this pattern that I thought I would give it a go. I have only managed to blind stitch one third of the blocks so far. At this rate it will take me weeks....


I am also thinking about doing a paintbox quilt-a-long that I found on the Oh, Fransson! website. Looks like a good way to use up some of the very old fabrics I have laying around. I might just see how I go with my daughters quilt first and then see how enthusiastic I am about it then.

Another great find - something called a Bobbin Saver (about $13). I bought one of these as I was really fed up with my plastic bobbin case spilling open and my thread ends nesting. It is really a wonderful little thing. I actually managed to find a generic one at Lincraft for $2.50 in pink. I bought a few of those and must say other than the colour they both work pretty much the same. No more bobbins flying across the floor and no thread nests!

Elmer's School Glue Substitute

I have noticed on quite a few US sites, that quilters are using Elmer's School Glue to bast quilts, stick down applique parts etc. Living in Australia means that the ultra cheap and available anywhere (in the US) glue is very hard to find and not so cheap. After much searching on the internet and going through product descriptions I have found some glue here in Australia that is fairly cheap and not to hard to come by, that should do the same thing (I have not actually tested any of these yet, but the description matches the Elmer's). Basically if the glue bottle says Kids PVA, it means that it washes out in water. These are the ones that I found: Bostic Kids PVA, UHU Kids PVA, Gloo Kids PVA, (these should be available at Officeworks, Spotlight and Lincraft) and CraftSmart Kids Glue (I think I got this from Spotlight),

I actually have the CraftSmart Kids glue, my kids have been using it for their crafts and there is about a quarter of it left. I have decided to 'borrow' it for an experiment to see if it does work just like the Elmer's. I have made up a test block  like the actual blocks I will use in my daughters new quilt using off cuts and scraps and I have used the CraftSmart Kids glue to attach all the applique pieces to the background block, and used the iron to heat press it and make it stick faster (I experimented with machine blanket stitch for one of the flowers but decided that hand stitching was actually easier and neater). I am now going to hand sew the applique pieces to  the background. Once I have done that I will wash the block and see how it goes.

I will let you know how it works. 

Week 3 ProjectLife

Okay, so it has been a while since I blogged anything. I have been flat out doing some quilt piecing and designing, practicing my free motion quilting and getting some ProjectLife pages done.


I decided to NOT quilt an old quilt top my daughter found and desperately wanted on her bed. Instead I went out a bought a jelly roll and decided to make her a girly quilt since I will be spending so much time practice quilting to get it right - I wanted the quilt to be a really good one for her room. I love jelly rolls. I ended up buying Boutique by Chez Moi. I feel in love with it when I saw it, I simply just had to have it. I ended up using a design called Candy Girl by Jannelle Wind. It is a lot of applique work, but why not.


I finished off Week 3 of my ProjectLife.

Supplies: CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker, LS_SummerGarden_4, MRE_EdgeIt_EffectLayer, lweifenbach-johndough-green-3, maha_springmedley_e copy, sbartolini-sherbetpunch-pp4.jpg

I will update pictures of my new quilt as I go along.