For the love of quilting

Did you get to view the eclipse last month? I have viewed other local eclipses over the years, but none as close to total as ours was. The DH was such a hoot. He really got into it, and viewed the event using several different methods - just to see what they would look like. All I had was a small

Great use of a Warm & Natural box!

hole in an index card and projected the image onto a paper I laid on the driveway. The DH, on the other hand, successfully tried all of the following: viewing a cascade of small images through a colander; viewing several images in the dappled light coming through our tree in the front yard; projecting the image through a small hole onto a pan of still water - that was interesting; and making a very large projector out of a Warm and Natural box that a 40 yard roll of batting came in. Now THAT was hilarious. To view the image, you had to stick your head in a hole in the side of the box and watch that you don't block the image coming in through a hole in the top of the box.

Inside the box

Colander view

Thankfully, our neighbor was having an eclipse party, and let us borrow their glasses a couple of times - wow! What really gave me a sense of awe was how special the light was when the eclipse was at the maximum coverage. It was not like regular dusk, but more "alive", more comforting. And the
sudden 10-degree drop in air temperature made it really clear how important the sun is to us. We didn't have a full circle sunset - just a little too much sun peeking out, but there was a definite hint of pink to the clouds. It was as though you could see the outline of the moon's shadow on the earth. Amazing.

News from the studio

 

Welcome home Grown-up Margie

The DH and the truck driver. Margie came in 7 boxes.

Woo Hoo! Little Miss Margie, my beloved 2013 APQS Lenni longarm machine, has found a new home! A lovely lady from about 5.5 hours away came to test drive Miss Margie, and decided she had to have her. I know Miss Margie will be happy in her new home.

Our truck driver bringing the rollers
into the basement.

Now, welcome home Grown-up Margie - my brand-spanking new 2017 APQS Millennium! Yes, her name is also Margie - after my mother who taught me to sew 65 years ago!

Getting Margie on her carriage.

The DH helped as invited.

Margie was delivered on a Thursday, and that Saturday my dealer and her DH came to set her up! Thanks, Sheridan and Jerry! Margie's got lots of bells and whistles, so I've been spending time every day getting used to her new controls, the power fabric advance, thread break sensor, and low bobbin alert (among other wonders of technology). Yesterday, I completed the job of installing zippers on her backing leaders - so now loading a quilt back will be a breeze.

Ain't she a beaut'!

Guild Sewing Bees

The Appalachian Heritage Quilters have a new program this year - sewing bees. At the August meeting we signed up to either host a bee of whatever type we wanted to, or to participate in a bee. I volunteered to host a "piecing bee".  You know, fun, fellowship, and stitching. There is also a knitting / crocheting bee, an applique bee, a hand-quilting bee, etc. You get the idea. I sure hope the bees are a big success. It sure is fun to sew with friends. Oh, by the way, everyone who came to the first piecing bee meeting left having mastered the 1/4" seam!

Learning for the week (and the rest of my life)

Quilters of Gee's Bend, AL

My sweet DH sometimes sends me odds and ends of information from the internet. Today, it was a link to some information about this year's National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough in October. It was an article announcing a performance by residents of the tiny community of Gee's Bend, AL. The title of the article is "The Gee's Bend Quilters". I hadn't heard of Gee's Bend before - so a quick google search took me to a video about the quilters. Such joy of quilting - so simple, so profound. Quilting is first a soul thing. Love, do, quilt. Enjoy:

Gee's Bend Quilters VIDEO


Have a super week! Now, let's go quilt something.

What's wrong with this picture?

Oh, not THIS picture, though.

Rejoice with me! My laptop now has a new brain and is running great! I picked 'er up from the digital hospital on Thursday and have been dancing a jig ever since! Other than having my digital life come grinding to a halt and all the trauma that caused, I had to use a paper calendar! I also didn't have my usual "Good morning - here is your list of appointments coming up, and a list of all of the tasks you've been putting off way too long" greeting from Outlook. The tragedy in that was that I forgot to enter the APQS Millie giveaway every day!! Which reminds me, I need to put all of the appointments that are scribbled on my beautiful AQS calendar into Outlook before I stand somebody up. Can anyone guess who these lovely people are?

News from the studio

Miss Margie is good as new and we are open for business! Time to get those tops done that have been staring you in the face or a while. Remember, free batting on your first quilting order!

New pattern for Irish Pinwheels

Yea! Now that my laptop has a new brain and all of my precious apps and files are unaffected, I can resume normal life. (Don't you wish getting a new brain was as easy as unplugging the old one, and putting in a new one?) Anyway, normal life includes publishing a pattern now and then. The pdf pattern for Irish Pinwheels was already complete before my laptop died, so all I had to do was enter a few details about it on Craftsy, and upload it. Maybe I'll actually make one for myself soon. I have most of the fabric, but it has to take a place at the back of the line behind 3 other priority projects - well, unless I change my mind. Click here for the pattern: Irish Pinwheels

Junk to Jewels

Junk to Jewels

Here's the latest creation from Linda in NY. Such a happy quilt! So full of life. The block is known as Aunt Sukey's Choice (among other things). We used the new Filigris pantograph.

Filigris

Rebekah's Lone Star

Joyce is at it again. What a pretty lone star quilt! We used the very versitile Pipeline panto. You go girl!

New pantos in the studio

Twine

Filigris (again)

What's Wrong with this Picture?

No... these are not supposed to be harem pants (or eunuch britches). They are supposed to be p.j. bottoms for me. And no, my legs aren't that short! I'm still laughing over the thought of trying to walk while wearing them. I'll wait while you figure it out......
..........still waiting......

See, this is really a bigger problem than just sewing the front side seams together and the back side seams together rather than doing it right. Wonder when I last made a pair of pants... Not only did I use a lovely 5/8" seam, but I serged the raw seam edges together to prevent raveling. Do you think I'm going to pick out the serged edges as well as the regular stitching? NO. These are p.j.'s not Lady Gertrude's wedding dress. I'll cut off the serging and just use a narrower seam. Golly. And I was so proud that they were going to get done today.

New machine status

Met with the bank this week. Financing strategy is in place. Be thinking about whether you want to have a sweet longarm of your own. Margie will be coming on the market in a few weeks.

Tips and Techniques

Spin your seam intersections to reduce bulk

Have you noticed that when you make a block, such as a pinwheel block, with several seams that intersect in one place, that they often form a hard "knot" of a place? Well, that knot can be a challenge for the needle to penetrate during quilting. If it is bad enough, it will pose a risk of a broken needle or damaged quilt top. Here's how that knot can be minimized.

• Join your pieces as usual.
• Then remove the vertical stitches within the seam allowance on both sides of the seam. I have noted that area for you with a ceramic pencil.

 

• Press the seams in a circle and flatten out the center of the intersection.

Your block will lay flatter and the seam intersection will be easier for the needle to penetrate.

Learning for the week

Are you kidding? Guess I needed to check one more time.


Well, that's it for now. Please have a simply delightful, quilty weekend!

Now, let's go quilt something! 

Smoke gets in your eyes

Other than the election, the news this week around here is the smoke that fills the atmosphere and my sinuses! There are a number of forest fires in progress in NE Tennessee, SW Virginia, and Kentucky. Yesterday, the skies were filled with an acrid smoky haze. There are actually mountains in the distance that should be visible, but as you can see - not so. I had to go out twice yesterday - and paid the high price of raging sinus and stinging eyes for it.

Today, the winds have changed and the smoke is not as bad as it has been for the last few days.

News from the studio

Brick Town

This is Kay's latest creation. I love the way she uses color and her free-spirit approach to design. We used the Bauhaus pantograph:

Bauhaus

 Maple Leaf Quilt

Isn't this a wonderful celebration of Fall? It was created by Linda, from Catskill, NY. I love her joyful use of color. We used the Poplar pantograph.

Poplar

New pantograph 

Greenhouse

There is a new pantograph on the shelf just waiting for the right quilt. I sized it down, some, so it will be fairly dense for lots of leafy texture. It's called Greenhouse.

Tips and Techniques

Securing those seams for longarming

Both the backing and the top are placed under tension when loaded onto the frame for longarming. That's in order to keep the quilt stable and avoid accidental tucks and shifting.With all of the seams under some sort of tension, there is the possibility that unsecured seams can un-sew themselves. If the seams in the top have inadvertently missed the mark or are even slightly open, the machine can catch itself in the opening and cause damage to the top or backing.


Here are a few common methods of securing seams during the construction process:

Back-stitching

Most of us have used this technique at sometime or other. It definitely will keep the seam secure at the ends.

Tiny stitches at the ends

This one is my go-to method of securing seams, especially when sewing longer seams and backing seams. Just change the stitch length to a 1.0 or 1.5 to stitch the beginning and ending 3/8" of each seam. None of the seams will separate themselves at the ends.

Reduce your piecing stitch length

This is the fastest method. It is a little less secure than the other two, but definitely reduces seam separation. Just shorten your stitch .5 or more from your usual stitch length and go for it. A little trial and testing will lead you to a stitch length that is fairly secure but doesn't slow you down to much.

Tidbit

Some of you may be wondering what the pink square of fabric is all about in the "backstitch" picture. Well, do you ever get a bird's nest of thread develop as you start a line of quilting? To avoid that, just start your seam using a thread "leader". A thread nest will show up on the leader and not your piecing. When you come to the end of the seam, keep sewing onto another thread leader and you'll be ready for the next seam! If you are chain-piecing, start with a thread leader, and end the last seam with a thread leader. No more thread nests!

Learning for the week

Before you call your cell phone to find out where it is, ... check your pocket.

Soar on wings like eagles.

A nesting pair of bald eagles nesting near Johnson City TN

What do you know about eagles? Sad to say, I don't know much. Just that when I see one in flight, I am awestruck. So I snooped in google for information. There were 2 interesting facts I didn't know. First, not only do they hunt for prey with keen vision and great skill, they don't mind a good mugging now and then. Why work, when you can take the spoils of someone else's endeavor? What was really surprising to me, was that eagles love to play. They have been witnessed using various objects, including empty plastic bottles, as toys. One person reported seeing 6 eagles in flight, gleefully passing a stick from one to the other. Cool.

East Tennessee State University is following this darling couple with a live camera feed. They have eggs in the nest that should be hatching soon. When I checked the cam just now, they were eating supper. Check them out at: ETSU Live Eagle Cam.

News from the Studio

Just shoot me!

When it comes to quilting, I am a project buyer. I don't keep a stash. I'm also a one-project-at-a-time kinda girl. At least I thought I was. But, right now there must be 10 or 12 (or more) projects in some state of construction (or hoping to be constructed) sitting around the studio in their plastic project boxes gathering dust.

So, I swore off buying any more fabric until I finish a few of them. But a recent 45% off sale from Craftsy sucked me in.  Check out this gorgeous line from Robert Kaufman. I saw it and my mouth started watering - really! So quick - I designed a super simple twin size Hunter's Star, and ordered 2 layer cakes (and a jelly roll which will be used to decorate the studio for now). Of course, I didn't discover that I only need 1 layer cake for my quilt until I had already drooled on both of them.

On the Frame

I'm about half finished with an edge to edge free motion on T.'s What Knots quilt. Isn't it beautiful! She does nice work. The quilting is a simple leafy meander that the DH calls "poison ivy pattern." Not funny.


 

Off the Frame

I came to a stopping place on J's lovely Rippling Star quilt. so I took it off the frame for a few days to work in a couple of quick quilts. Doesn't it remind you of a happy french garden?

Tips and Techniques

Are you "scrappy-challenged" like I am? Do you always agonize about what would look great with what, and change your mind a million times per block? Well I have a solution. But first you have to GIVE UP CONTROL and embrace the notion of "random."

• First, USE A PRE-CUT! It contains all of the fabrics from the same line, and they all already go together!
• Next, put the pieces you need to join into  separate containers, and jumble them up. 
• Then, squeeze your eyes shut, refuse to look into the boxes, and pull out one piece from each box. No, no! Do not make a decision about whether they look good together. They DO. They were designed to go together!
• I do, indeed, give you permission to put a piece back if it EXACTLY matches the other one. 

Try this technique - come on now, be brave. Your quilt will be nice and scrappy, look beautiful, and you will have saved yourself a lot of heartache.

Learning for the Week

Doing taxes makes my head hurt.

Enjoy your weekend, and for Pete's sake, go quilt something!

The Butterfly Effect

Happy New Year everyone!! Monday, January 4 officially marks the end of the holiday season and the return to the normal routines of life. Have you made any resolutions this year? I stopped making resolutions years ago because they were usually either guilt based, fear of something-based, or just wishful thinking. So I encourage you to examine where your resolutions come from. If their basis is any of the above - rethink them.

The best, and most successful resolutions are about relationships, friendships, and joy. Here are some suggestions:

Batiks, Etc., Wytheville, VA

• Reconnect with an old friend and stay in touch.
• Invite 3 people you want to get to know to lunch (one at a time, of course).
• Invite a new member of your guild to your home for a private "sit & sew".
• Holler "Road Trip" at your guild meeting! (I do this when I'm planning a trip to Batiks, Etc. in Wytheville, VA.) No telling what fun you will have giggling all the way to the quilt store.

Get the idea?

News from the Studio

Joyce came to pick up her beautiful quilt, today. The DH took the picture for us. Ain't he sweet? She has quite a story about this quilt. Joyce told me that from the beginning it was a challenge, fraught with discouragement and exhaustion with the whole thing. But when quilted with the meandering leaf pattern, it went from a sluggish, all-consuming caterpillar, to a beautiful butterfly of a quilt. It's now full of life, infused with Joyce's love, and will look great on any bed. She is still working on a name for her quilt. One option she came up with: Never Give Up!


Joyce is also an accomplished knitter. When she came to pick up her quilt, she brought me these very nice (and warm!) hand warmers. Great job, Joyce and Thank You!

Frogging

On another topic, every quilter is an expert at frogging. When you have to "rip-it, rip-it, rip-it" - you are frogging. Here I am, engaged in that very activity. When I finished Joyce's quilt, I examined it thoroughly and found a place that had a boo-boo in the quilting. So it had to come out. Re-stitching the area was simple enough and now it's good as new.

Learning for the Week

I didn't learn anything this week. I'm still trying to recover from the Christmas pancakes. (See the Dec. 27, 2015 blog post).


Now, let's get back to the sewing room!

A Very Puzzling Christmas

I hope you are still enjoying your Christmas weekend! This year, Christmas was a bit challenging for me. It was just the 2 of us, so you'd think the day's events would be simple. Well, Jim had a wonderful Christmas day. Me? Not so much.

I decided to treat the DH to pancakes for breakfast. Right. The Bisquick was about 4 years old, and hadn't been used but once, 4 years ago. So I added some baking powder - just to fluff them up. Then I didn't have any milk, so I used 1/2 & 1/2, which of course, adds more fat. Next, I didn't notice that the griddle wasn't set hot enough until late in the game, so they turned out cooked, but were Bisquick color. I decided to blow my low-carb lifestyle and have some anyway. Well, the pancakes were AWFUL. Serves me right for blowing my carbs.

Then came playing with the presents. Santa brought each of us a puzzle. The DH's was called "Dad's Shed" - and old-timey workshop shed with hand tools and stuff you haven't seen since the 30's and 40's. The DH has some of both his father's and grandfather's tools, so he had a wonderful time putting it together and reminiscing. It had 500 pieces. Piece of cake.

Santa brought me a 1,000 piece puzzle called Grandma's Craft Room. But, I'm not sure what Grandma they were trying to depict. It had an old sewing machine and a new computer! The artist must have been an art school reject: 2 of the cats looked angry, and the other one looked like a dog! 

The worst part is that both the DH and I got completely compulsive about our respective puzzles! So much so, that I forgot to take any of my meds. One of them is a mind-helping drug, so without it, I got to feeling crazy by 10:00. But did I stop? No. I just kept going .. and going .. and going. Of course, I wound up with a raging headache. We forgot to eat lunch, so about 4:00, I took my meds and ate a lot of (low-carb) junk food that upset my stomach. Rats. Needless to say, I quit working on the puzzle and took some Tums. So much for Christmas day.

Thankfully, I got plenty of sleep that night and woke up the next day feeling great. The DH worked with me to finish my puzzle, and we had a wonderful time putting it together. We watched a good movie, too: The Monuments Men. 

News from the Studio

 

I got a good start on my customer, Joyce's king sized Trip Around the World quilt. She is a wonderful piecer, so it is behaving very well, and is a joy to work on. She picked a meandering leaf free-motion pattern, and a beautiful thread that's perfect for the quilt. 

 

Learning for the Week

Don't use 4 year old Bisquick for anything.

Have a wonderful week! Now let's go quilt something.

'Tis the season - hug your sewing machine

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season! After several years with no Christmas decorations at all (due to various circumstances) this year we put up a little pre-lit tree. Think we have it all decorated yet? Of course not, but it's up along with our usual clothing gifts to each other from Land's End. Of course, Santa has something up his sleeve, especially for the DH. Hmmm, I see that the table looks a little cock-eyed...

News from the Studio

This week, I finished quilting a What Knots quilt for Robin. A member of the AHQ guild, she made this quilt in a workshop we had last May. Robin is a wonderful piecer and her quilts are a joy to work on. Nice job Robin!






   

Robin chose the Poplar pantograph. It is perfect for this quilt!

New Pantograph

 Poplar: This is lovely, and a very versatile design. I love it.












Now, I know you are busy with Christmas activities and obligations. Include some time with your sewing machine or longarm, too. If you just don't have time for that, this month, at least give your machine(s) a hug and let them know you haven't forgotten about them!

Have a beautiful week! Now let's go quilt something!