My First Quilting Project

Today I thought I'd share a picture of first quilting project. I made this about thirteen years ago and although it is full of mistakes, I proudly display it to remind me of what I can accomplish without boundaries.

I'm completely self-taught, getting the majority of my quilting knowledge from books or articles I've read, quilting programs on TV, other quilter's who so generously share their knowledge and experience, and from my own experiences... or lessons learned as I like to refer to it.

I had purchased a set of Kaye Woods' Starmaker templates and began to 'practice' making cuts with one of them. My first project is the result of my practicing.

Back then I knew nothing about squaring up blocks or measuring from the center for the length and width of the border before cutting my strips. I wasn't even concerned about matching points yet. I'm sure I managed to match one or two, but when I look at it hanging up on my wall, I don't see whether the points are matching or whether it lies flat. What I see is the results of someone's creative expression, all done without boundaries.

Sometimes I think we set ourselves up to fail if we always follow the rules. And perhaps these rules are important when it comes to critical areas such as getting your project to lie flat, but in other areas I think they’re meant to be broken; or at least bent a little.

So the next time you’re selecting fabric for your next project and you just love those orange and lime green prints with a splash of purple, use them to your heart’s content. Let your boundaries down and cut away. And above all, have fun doing it!

Beware of Flying Pumpkins!

Here in Skagit Valley, the competition between modern built Trebuchets ruled the weekend. What is a Trebuchet, you ask? Trebuchets were weapons used in medival times to catapult large, heavy stones towards the enemy. But, in modern times, we've added a little twist. Instead of stones, we use PUMPKINS! We are so easily amused. LOL

As you can see, we take our competition held during the annual Harvest Festival very seriously. Safety first!

And if you think the sign was put up as a joke, the surveyor walking in the field wearing a hard hat should reinforce how dangerous it can get during the competition.

There were six Trebuchets in this year's competition. All of them designed and built by the individual teams. Each team was given six opportunities to catapult their pumpkins at a designated target. The winning team is the one with the furthest and most accurate attempts.

Each of them bearing their own signature name.

Some of the teams stayed true to the original design.

While others re-designed the weapon using more modern methods. The Gourdinator, pictured above, was the winner of the competition with their pumpkins flying overhead up to 1,000 ft. I tried to get pictures of the pumpkins hurling through the air, but it wasn't working out.

Here is the surveyor, measuring where the catapulting pumpkin landed.

His partner standing at the landing point.

The Harvest Festival is a small family event with tons of activities for children of all ages. At the Hay Toss, kids sift through all the hay to find candy buried beneath.

Many of the younger kids enjoyed the huge pumpkin air bounce. (Is that what they call these?)

Others stood in line for several minutes to have their faces painted.

What fun to roll a pumpkin at the bowling pins. Every child was awarded a prize after their turn at each game.

At the Tire Toss, instead of using pumpkins to throw through the hole, they used little bean bags.

At this game, the kids tossed small bean bags at the large painted pumpkin. The bags had velcro on them and would stick on the pumpkin's face.

Of course, we had to have the Ring Toss game!

There was a table set up so kids could paint pictures to frame.

Here they threw darts at the balloons.

Lots of kids lined up to play the Tic Tac Toe Toss.

We even had kids fishing for prizes!

And then there's the Milk Bottle game. I was never good at this game.

Here is a budding young artist painting her pumkin. She was so cute, painting her pumpkin with her sunglasses on.

Lastly, there were tables set up for kids, young and old, to build there own zuchinni race cars for competition.

As you can see, this required a lot of concentration.

But it was well worth the effort. Aren't these just the cutest little zuchinni cars? Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of any of the races as it was just too crowded. But I know everyone had fun, regardless of who won. What a fun day we had. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

It's a Giveaway of Yummy Fabrics!

While trying to catch up on reading blogs this morning I came a cross a yummy giveaway I'd like to share. Designer Sandi Henderson's, author of the Portabellopixie blog, new fabric line, Meadowsweet, is going to be released in November and she's offering a yummy collection of fat quarters to a lucky visitor of her blog. Be sure to visit Sandi's blog and enter to win. Don't forget to tell her I said hello and good luck on the giveaway.

In The Mail

and off to my Friendship Bag Swap recipient...

I filled the friendship bag with eight fat-eighths Batik prints, a spool of Robison-Anton variegated thread, and some coasters I made. I love the yummy colors of the Batik prints!

The recipient of my friendship bag has a young daughter and they recently moved into a new home where she now has her own bedroom. I made this doorknob hanger for her. It should go nicely with the bright, vibrant colors of her bedroom. (The edges of the hanger were still a little damp when I took the picture so the edges look a little funky in the picture.)

Here is the friendship bag, filled to its top with goodies. The doorknob hanger is too big, but will be included in the package.

I’ve enjoyed this swap, especially coming up with ideas of what to fill it with. These would make great gifts for random acts of kindness too…

Tools

Recently, I read a post on a blog where the author gave a list of her favorite things. For her, it was her husband, animals, and other important things in her life. (I apologize, I do not remember which blog it is was to reference.) This got me to thinking. What are some of my favorite tools in my sewing studio. Not the ones that are common place like a favorite seam ripper or pin cushion. But the ones that are used all the time and make a particular task or technique manageable. Well, here are a couple of my favorite tools...

Each year I attend the Puyallup Sewing Expo and visit one of my favorite vendors. I don't remember their name, but they are located in Bellingham WA. They sell medical supplies that can be used as sewing tools and this is where I purchase for first favorite tool.

The picture above is of a pair of long tweezers. It's about 5 inches in length and works great for reaching into hard to reach places (like a bobbin case) to remove lint and threads. I also use this for holding onto thread tails so I can cut them closely.

These are a pair of Havel's Snip-Eze and are perfect for clipping threads close. I use these when I'm doing machine embroidery, quilting, and hand sewing. Anytime I want to clip the thread as close as possible. Their design makes it very easy on my hands too.

I'm not sure who manufactures this as it was given to me when I purchased my Pfaff 2144/2170 by my dealer. This thread rack is a great tool when I'm using multiple colors of thread when I'm doing machine embroidery. I have assigned a number to each spool so I can organize my embroidery thread in order. Very effective way to stay organized and to stitch through an embroidery design quickly. I could see where this would also be a great tool to use when doing free motion quilting and using multiple thread types/colors. (In case you're wondering, the bobbins on the lower level are used as place holders when I'm using the same color multiple times in a design.)

This tool is a must have for all quilters. It's a Shape Cut™ manufactured by June Tailor. The 'grid' is a 12" x 12" and has slots for cutting strips in 1/2" intervals. This makes strip cutting go so quickly.

I have another June Tailor ruler called a Quarter Cut™. This one is smaller with a ‘grid’ of 6” x 12” and has slots at ¼” intervals. The reason I don’t use this as often as the Shape Cut™ is because the grid is so short I have to fold my fabric too many times, risking the integrity of my strips.

June Tailor also manufactures another ruler called Shape Cut™ Pro. This has a larger ‘grid’ measuring 20” x 23” and would be perfect for large cuts of fabric. However, the intervals of the slots is at 2 ½”. Great if you’re cutting Jelly Rolls or Charm Squares, but not for strip piecing the average quilt.

Well, these are just a few of my favorite tools in my sewing studio. I’ll feature more a little later.

Free Motion Machine Quilting

Although I haven't written about my challenge in learning how to free motion machine quilt, doesn't mean I haven't been practicing. I've spent several hours practicing but because of other obligations, I have not worked on it for the last few days and need to.

This is what my stitching looked like when I first started. I know the picture isn't real clear, but if you click on the picture it will enlargen and you can see the stitching detail better.

This is what my stitching looks like now. As you can see it isn't perfect but I've definitely made some improvement. The purpose of using this large scale fabric was to give me the opportunity to work on the various shapes and although it looks like it would be a simple pattern to follow, it wasn't. There is a pretty big learning curve. Of course, because I'm using Pfaff's Fabric Mover for quilting, I'm not only learning how to free motion machine quilt but I'm also learning how to use this tool. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.

Here is the backside. I’m not sure why, but it appears the batting is being forced thru the fabric and leaving little specks in the quilting. I’m using Warm & Natural and have never seen anything like it before. I suppose it could also be the fabric as it is lesser quality than what I would normally work with. I’ve adjusted the tension several times without much success. I’m hoping it will disappear after I’ve washed the piece. I’m welcome to suggestions on how to eliminate this if you have some.

I’m not completely comfortable with the process but I am improving. I think one of my biggest struggles is my need for perfection. This last picture is a clear example of this. When I look at the front side of the quilting piece I zero in on all the mistakes. Places where my stitching didn’t fall exactly on the line or my stitching lines cross. However, when I look at the back side, I can see a pretty intricate design and it looks OK.

Along the same topic, I found a great site that focuses on free motion machine quilting. Leah Day, author of 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs blog, features a new free motion quilting filler design each day. While she takes you thru her creative process, she provides videos demonstrating the logistics of stitching out the design as well as guidelines and tips for achieving success. Great site!

I’ll continue to practice to gain more confidence and skill before I attempt to machine quilt my musical angels quilt. In the meantime I’ll work on other projects while I persist on learning how to free motion machine quilt.

How To Paper Piece Tutorial

I’m still enjoying fine tuning my paper piecing technique while making my scrappy basket blocks in 1930’s prints and I’m really please with how my baskets are turning out. Because of the frustration I experienced when I had attempted to learn how to paper piece I thought I’d put my talents into writing a tutorial on this method of quilting. My hope is to provide clear and concise instructions so others don’t experience the difficulties and frustrations I did.

You’ll first want to gather all of your supplies. These include:
1) small cutting mat
2) pressing surface
3) iron – set on dry heat
4) ruler – I chose to use a 6” x 12” because some of my seams are diagonal and long
5) rotary cutter
6) seam ripper
7) thread clippers
8) card stock card – I didn’t have an index card but a legal sized envelope worked great
9) size 14 needle
10) set your sewing machine for a straight stitch at a 1.5mm stitch length
11) copies of your paper pieced block printed on paper piecing paper – there are several brands to choose from; I selected one manufactured by Patchwork, it comes in a package of 100 sheets

I used a block drafted by Carol Doak and she provides recommended cutting dimensions for each piece required to complete the block. However, if you were to use a block where these dimensions were not provided, you could easily figure out this size yourself. Place your ruler onto your block to measure the piece. Measure the height and width of the piece and add ½” to each side. This is the dimension to use to cut your piece.

Because there are so many pieces, all a different size and many similar, organizing is a key to success. There are several good methods you could choose from but I decided to place my pieces into snack or sandwich sized Ziploc type bags with the piece number and dimensions written on the outside. I organized them in sequence on a baking sheet.


To begin, I placed piece #1 over piece 1 on my block pattern. I eyeballed ¼” seam over the stitching line for piece #2 on the wrong side of the block. I know this seems backwards, but it will work out. I promise.

I then placed piece #2, right sides together, edges matching, onto piece #1

By holding both pieces securely in place, I flipped the pattern over to the printed side and lined up my needle to the line between piece #1 and piece #2. With the needle in the down position, I lift up the pattern to verify my pattern pieces have not shifted and the edges are meeting.

Make sure you have shortened your stitch length to 1.5mm before you begin stitching. You will want to backstitch 2 or 3 stitches at the beginning and ending of each seam.



After stitching the first two pieces I placed the edge of the envelope / index card to the stitching line.

Fold the pattern paper over and crease the paper.


Trim the seam allowance to ¼”.

Fold the pattern paper back and press your seam.

You could finger press your seam but I found I had better results when I pressed with the iron. This is the perfect time to use that small iron you purchased for sew-ins or classes.

Initially, I was told to trim my seam allowances after I had sewn the seam. However, as I progressed in perfecting my paper piecing technique, I learned it worked better for me to trim the remaining seam allowances before I stitched the seam. (I will show why I came to this conclusion a little later.) With this mind, place the envelope / index card edge onto your stitching line for piece #3 and trim the seam to ¼”.

Place piece #3, right sides together with the edge centered on the stitching line.

Place your needle in the down position onto the stitching line.

Lift the pattern paper to verify the pieces have not shifted and the edges line up. Stitch seam and press.

If you turn your pattern paper over to the printed side you will see where each seam begins and ends.

Place your envelope / index card onto the stitching line for piece #4 and fold the pattern paper back. Because the connecting stitching lines have been backstitched you’ll need to carefully pull the paper back to ‘pop’ a couple of stitches so you can fold on the stitching line. Trim to a ¼” seam.

Having trimmed the seam before stitching allows you to see where to place the next piece more clearly while giving you a placement line for the piece. This is especially helpful for odd shaped pieces.

Center the fabric for piece #4 over the stitching line lining up the edges of the pieces. Lining up the edges will ensure a ¼” seam. Notice this piece is triangular. By placing the long side of the triangle on the long side of the triangle on the pattern piece will make certain the piece will cover the shape properly.

Holding the pieces securely, flip the pattern to the printed side. With the needle in the down position, verify the piece has not shift and the edges are lined up. Stitch the seam making certain to backstitch at the beginning and ending of the seam. After sewing the seam, verify you have maintained a ¼” seam and press.

Using the same method as before, place the edge of the envelope / index card on the stitching line for piece #5 and trim to a ¼” seam allowance.

Centering piece #5 on the stitching line, holding onto the pieces securely while flipping the pattern over to the printed side. Verify the pieces have not shifted before stitching the seam line.

Verify your ¼” seam and press.

Using the same method for trimming seam allowance, trim the seam allowance for piece #6.

As you can see from the picture, piece #6 is another triangular shape and the long edge is at a different angle than for pieces #4 and #5.

Matching the long side of the triangle, verify you have proper placement of the piece to ensure coverage.

Center piece #6 while lining up the edges.

Securely hold the pieces together while flipping to the print side of the pattern. With the needle in the down position, verify the pieces have not shifted and the edges are lined up.

Stitch the seam for piece #6.

Verify you have maintained the ¼” seam allowance and press.

Verify there is adequate coverage on all seam lines for piece #6.

Piece #7 is the same shape as piece #6.

Trim the seam allowance for piece #7 as shown for piece #6. Line up the piece to ensure coverage.

Center the piece with the stitching line and line up the edges.

Holding the pieces securely, flip to the printed side and verify the pieces have not shifted and the edges line up.

Stitch the seam.

Verify you have the ¼” seam allowance and press.

Confirm there is at least ¼” seam allowance for all sides.

All the seams have been pressed.

Place the edge of the envelope / index card on the stitching line for piece #8.

Trim to a ¼” seam allowance.

Trimming the seam first allows full view of the area for piece #8.

Center the piece and line up the edges for piece #8.

Holding securely, flip the pattern to the printed side, confirm the pieces have not shifted and stitch the seam. Verify you have maintained a ¼” seam and press.

Trim the seam allowance to ¼” for piece #9.

Trimming to the ¼” seam makes the stitching lines for piece #9 visible for easier placement of the fabric.

Center the fabric for piece #9 on the stitching line and line up the edges.

Hold the pieces securely as while flipping over to the printed side of the pattern. With the needle in the needle down position, verify the pieces have not shifted and the edges are lined up. Stitch the seam, confirm the ¼” seam allowance has been maintained, and press.

Confirm there is adequate seam allowance on all sides of the piece.

Trim the seam allowance for piece #10, line up the fabric, flip to the printed side holding the pieces securely, and stitch.

Verify the ¼” seam allowance and press.

Trim the seam allowance for piece #11. Center the fabric on the stitching line, hold the pieces securely and flip to printed side. Stitch, confirm ¼” seam allowance, and press.

Place the edge of the envelope / index card on the stitching line for piece #12.

Fold the pattern paper over to expose the seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowance to a ¼”.

This is another instance where if the seam allowance was not trimmed prior to stitching, it would be very difficult to line up the fabric and ensure complete coverage.

Center the fabric on the stitching line, hold securely and flip to printed side, verify pieces have not shifted, stitch seam and press.

Center piece #12 and line up the edges, hold the pieces securely and flip to printed side, verify pieces have not shifted, stitch seam and press.

Using the same method as before, trim the seam allowance to ¼” for piece #13. Center the fabric over the stitching line, hold pieces securely and flip to printed side.

Verify the pieces have not shifted and stitch seam.

Press seam.

Trim the seam allowance for piece #14, line up the fabric, hold firmly and flip to printed side.

Confirm pieces have not shifted, stitch seam and press.

Pieces #15 and #16 are very small. For this reason, I trimmed the seam allowance to 1/8” instead of the standard ¼”.

Trimming both pieces to 1/8” will allow the ability to visually see the outline of the pieces for proper placement of the fabric.

Here is what the block looks like after trimming the seam allowance for both pieces.

Here is a shot of the small triangle for pieces #15 and #16.

Center the fabric piece on the seam, hold firmly and flip to the printed side of the pattern, and confirm the pieces have not shifted.

Stitch the seam and press.

Confirm there is adequate seam allowance for all sides of the piece.

Follow the same process for sewing piece #16.

Trim the seam allowance for piece #17. Center the fabric on the stitch line.

Hold the pieces securely, flip to the printed side of the pattern piece, verify the pieces have not shifted, and stitch the seam.

Press the seam and confirm fabric adequately covers the pattern piece.

Trim the seam allowance for piece #18, center the fabric over the pattern piece, hold pieces securely and flip to printed side.

Verify the pieces have not shifted and stitch seam.

Press seam.

Follow the same process for stitching pieces #19 and #20.

Turn the pattern over to the printed side. The pattern has an outline that runs the circumference of the block. The line is the seam line for assembling the blocks and it ensures a ¼” seam allowance. But there is another purpose too.

By stitching around the block using this outline as a guide, the block will retain its shape and size until it is stitched to another block or sashing.

I used the outline as a guide and placed my seam just to the right of the outline. This will guarantee this seam will not be visible when I assemble my blocks.

Next, trim to a ¼” seam allowance on all four sides of the block.

All of the sides have been trimmed to ¼”.

Here is the completed block. At the point when I’m ready to assemble the blocks together, the blocks will be stitched together before the paper is removed.

If anyone is interested, I do have a pdf version of this tutorial. Just make a note in your comment and I’ll send it to you. Remember, I will need your email address to send it, so if you’re set as a no-reply response, you will need to include your email address in your comment. Thanks!