OPAM for February

Well, it is the last day of February--almost hard to believe!  I have completed three quilts for OPAM this month!  They are the three St. Patrick's Day quilts.  I have also sent off completed blocks to Australia and on Monday to Mama Sparks to be included in quilts for a wounded marine and a very ill friend in Australia.  So, all in all this has been a very good productive month!  I will now be working on the Amaryllis this first week of March--along with going to the New Jersey Quilt show later in the week!  Can't wait for that!
Until tomorrow, happy quilting!

Barb

Spring Sewing Party

8:00 a.m.
Shower, coffee and a quick call to the quilt shop to see if they were still running their free University quilt class on Hot Ribbon Quilting--they are!  That will be a quick trip! 
9:00 a.m.

Off to Hot Ribbon Quilting:  here are the photos of Cheryl demonstrating the hot ribbon technique and some of the quilts to make, I bought the Amaryllis to do and two of the books--the lighthouse and the first floral book.

Cheryl made this amarylis:

2:00 p.m.

Back home and putting things together to take to our once a month quilter's group.  I am taking all that I need to begin the above amaryllis.  I got all that I needed to make this--later today after the tablerunner and finishing the block I need to do!  So off to upstairs to work and take some pictures of the what is happening!

5:30 - 11:30 p.m.:

Well, I have been busy, although it won't look like I got a lot accomplished!  I did trace all of the pieces for the Amaryllis!  The quilter's got together at Cheryl's and all worked hard.  Pam and I are making the amaryllis:

                                

She is further ahead than I am, I am still tracing all of the pieces onto Steam a Seam Light, Laura is working on her Picnic quilt for her soon to be daughter-in-law:

Cheryl is working on her trees, this time I have a picture!  I also have to show a picture of her cat--she has Mickey ears on her side, isn't she cute--they call them "cracked" Mickey ears!

She is adorable and absolutely beautiful, she lives with her sister, who I did not get a picture of...

Cathy is working on her heart quilt--which will be queen size when she is finished:

Cathy is also looking for a piece of fabric to finish her last quilt: It is Robert Kaufman, Patrick Lose, Satinique Violet; if anyone has 1 yard or even fat quarters she would love to buy it, please let me know and I will get the information to her asap.  She needs it to finish this quilt:

We miss Christine tonight--she isn't feeling up to par. 

So, we all did work, and we all did get quite a bit done on our Spring Sewing Party--we made a real party of it, complete with Chinese food, pizza and homemade ice cream!  Thank you Cheryl for a great time and great ice cream--butter pecan and chocolate!  Pam brought a great cinnamon coffee cake--no lack of goodies here! 

This week I will be working on the amaryllis, table runner and sending off the blocks!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful Spring Sewing Party!  Until tomorrow, happy quilting!

Today is Spring Sewing Party

Check out the button on my sidebar because today is Spring Sewing Party, or click on those words to link you there!  Have fun and a great day of quilting!  Then check on back later to see what has been going on and what I have been up to!

Until later, happy quilting!

Let's make some quilty coasters!

These coasters are great hostess gifts, I like to cut the fabrics from leftovers as soon as I am done with a project. Then when I have a few sets to make, I get out the serger and serge the seams rather than sew and zig zag, as I show here.



For a set of 4 coasters (I usually make then in fours)You need 8 squares each of 3 different fabrics. I like to use 5", but you can use 5.5 or 6" also, as long as they are all the same size.



For these I used the plain black as the "base" Cut 4 pieces of batting, one-half inch smaller than the fabric. (In this case 4.5") Layer the 8 pieces of base fabric with the 4 pieces of batting as shown.




Now fold and press the remaining 16 squares. Don't get to carried away with the iron so they don't stretch.



Place the first folded triangle on the base, lining up with one of the base corners.



Work your way around the square, adding the triangles and alternating the fabrics.



Number 3...



The last piece is a bit trickier, because you have to lift up the corner of piece one and place piece 4 under it. It will make sense when you do it. Pin the pieces in place.



Now sew 1/4" all around, then zig-zag with your machine (this is where I switch to the serger if I am making a few sets at a time.




After trimming the corners (not too close) reach under the triangles and pull up the base. Use something pointy to push out the corners and press.



The coolest thing about these is that you can take a stemmed glass, and put the base of your stemware inside the little pocket made by the triangles. Really great for a party!

More Fabric to play with

I am very excited to be starting a new quilt. My fabric is ready and I just have to start cutting. I am trying to stick as close as possible to a Kaffe Fassett design. I chose the colours with my niece as she will be keeping the finished quilt as a wedding present. Looks pretty happy and bright.

Star Pool is Done

I've finished this quilt.

The binding fabric is a black and white stripe. The stripe isn't a straight stripe, however. It has a rick-rack look to it. Here's a view of the back. Do you like my staging?

 

Okay, it's sort of hard to really see the back when it's draped on a chair, so here's a full back view.

 

Did you know that in three days (March 1) the Twelve by Twelve group will reveal their blue/white/black quilts? I can't wait to see what everyone has made with this color scheme.

Over on the Three Creative Studios Quilt Blog there is a reveal this week of puzzle themed quilts. Please go check them out.

Happy weekend!

Sew Long, Farewell...

I'm leaving today for a quilting retreat up in the mountains. Basically three full days of nonstop sewing Woo-hoo! I can hardly wait.

A couple of years ago, this was our view:

This weekend it is supposed to rain instead of snow.

I'm okay with that.

Because this is where I will be:

I hope to accomplish a lot and pictures will be posted when I return. Have a good weekend, everyone!

New Studio Additions

This photo shows some new things I've added to my studio lately.

Starting at the very top of the photo is a new wooden ruler rack. The rulers in the rack I already had and while this isn't all of them, they are so organized now. Before they would all lean together and it was a pain to sort through them to find the one I wanted. Now they stand up all straight and important and it's easy to quickly grab the one I want. I don't know why I waited so long for one of these.

I did get a new ruler too.  If you look closely, all the items are sitting on top of my new 20" square.  Some of you may recall the blog post a while back on my wonderment of having one this size.  Well thanks to so many of you who shared how much you use your large square, I decided to get one.  I haven't had much of a chance to use it yet, but I really feel I will find it very helpful.

I got myself a mini iron.  Some of the projects I create, such as the collage quilts I make, I have found if I want to tack/fuse down a small piece of fabric, a smaller iron might work better.  I haven't used this yet, but look forward to it.

And last but not least, a Goddess Sheet.  This is a protective sheet when ironing with fusibles and other sticky things.  It protects your iron and ironing surface.  I love how easy it is to clean stray fusible residue from it and that it doesn't curl when heated.  I have used parchment paper for this task and still will when I need to, but the parchment paper always wanted to curl up on me and what a pain that was.  The other day I used it to heat set a piece of fabric with a resist product on it.  Some of the resist left a residue on the Goddess Sheet.  When the sheet was completely cool, I simply took a scrap fabric and rubbed it down and the residue cleaned right off.  I love this product.  You will find it at www.mistyfuse.com, and perhaps your local quilt shop.  Ask for it if they aren't carrying Mistyfuse products.

Thanks to all of you who offered some advice on the batik fabric I am looking for.  While I'm not desperate enough to put out an all-points bulletin for it (I just thought I'd ask if anyone had seen it), I did get some great information on looking for fabric that is suddenly hard to find.  I thought I'd share that information here:

1.  www.quiltshops.com - this site links to a whole bunch of online quilt shops.  You can type in your search criteria, whatever that may be, and start looking through all the results.  A great tool, that I did know about and do use sometimes.

2.  www.missingfabrics.com - this site lets you post an ad where you can describe the fabric you are looking for and you can send a photo along so that viewers can see what the fabric looks like.  This site is especially helpful for those of you who have already started your project and you suddenly run out of a certain fabric and can't find it where you last bought it.

I imagine there are other web sites that are similar to these that help find fabrics.  One thing that I think the online quilt shops should do is to be more universal as to the information they list for each fabric they sell.  They should include the manufacturer, the pattern name, the pattern number, the colorway the manufacturer gives it, etc.  While some shops do this, sadly some do not.

On to other stuff!  I've had some questions about my method of washing and drying quilts before I add the binding.  You've asked why I do this.  Well the answer is simple!  I don't know.  I simply just started doing this when I wanted to bring up the quilted textures in the quilt after it was quilted.  I usually only do this when I use wool batting.  I really have no intelligent sounding reason as to why I do this.

Another question many of you have had is why I block the quilts.  Some of you hadn't heard of it.  I think for most quilts that will be used, such as a baby quilt or lap quilt, blocking is not necessary since these types of quilts will be washed periodically.  But for quilts that I make for hanging on the wall, such as art quilts, I block them so they hang flat and the corners are squared and the edges are straight.  When I block a quilt I dampen it with a spritzer bottle of water, then lay it out on a surface I can pin into, and with my rulers and tape measures, I pin it so it is straight and square.  This sometimes means I need to stretch the quilt an 1/8" or 1/4" to get it to behave in certain areas. Let the quilt dry.  Depending on the surface you are pinned to, you may even use a steam iron to help the quilt relax into the desired shape.

Thanks for all your comments, suggestions, and questions.  I love hearing from you.

A little fabric search tonight and Boy Scouts!

Well, it is Wednesday and that means Boy Scouts; got in a little while ago and have been pulling fabric to make two string blocks for Mama Sparks--who is putting together a quilt for Matt, a marine who was injured in Afghanistan.  He is the son of a very dear friend.  They are easy string blocks if you can help out check it out.  I have been busy pulling my dark reds and blues....will sew them tomorrow night!  Maybe I can get some pictures in tomorrow too!

There is a wonderful giveaway for a one-of-a-kind rolling pin bowl keep at Firecracker Kid's blog.  Take a look!

Until tomorrow, happy quilting!

Frilly SugarTulip

Some of the visitors to my blog who came for the Gumpaste Tulip Tutorial have asked how to make a frilly tulip.  For the red tulip featured in my tutorial I used the cutter on the bottom left with the quarter inside (to show the size).  For this white tulip I used the smaller cutter on the top left.  After the paste was cut I used the scalloped cutter on the top of the petal and a little way down the sides.  Then I used the ball tool and frilled them well.  I followed the same steps as in the other tutorial, taping the centre stamens together, then the inside three smaller petals, and lastly the outside larger petals, one at a time to keep them in place.  Then it was dusted with pale green on the edges of the petals and at the base, and after that I steamed the flower.

 

Big Thread Love

The number one question I have been asked since first posting about my Work Quilt Series is "What type of thread are you using for the hand quilting?". I get asked this almost daily, and have lost count of the emails received. Suffice to say the thread has made an impression!


I put a lot of thought into what type of thread I wanted to use for these quilts. I knew I wanted certain elements... high quality and durability, 100% cotton, matte finish, beautiful and wide color range, and thick enough that it showed well on the surface of the quilt, but thin enough that it could easily pass through the eye of a hand quilting "between" needle and go through the various layers with ease.


I decided to use Sulky® Premium 100% Egyptian Cotton Threads, as it had all the elements I wanted. I have not been disappointed. In fact I have been so happy with the product and viewer response, that last week I decided to write a Thank You letter to the Sulky folks. I wanted them to know how much I loved their product and also showed them some pictures of my quilts so they could see how I incorporated their lovely threads into my work.

Later that same day, I was delighted to hear back from Patti Lee, Vice President of Consumer Relations for Sulky of America. Her prompt and personal reply to my letter only made my admiration for this company better. (How wonderful to know that the personal touch still exists in at least one large company.)

But here is the best part... Just look at what came in the mail today...


A Sulky Slimline Storage Box...


Chock full of 42 gorgeous Sulky Premium Cotton Threads!


Patti was beyond kind... Generously gifting me these delectable Sulky Cotton Blendables in 12 wt. to try out in my quilts!!! I feel like I won the lottery, and am beyond excited!


Previously I have only tried the solid thread colors, and Patti thought that I might also enjoy trying these beautiful Blendables...

I can barely wait to get started and I know they are going to look fabulous against the shot cotton fabrics in my Work Quilts! I am truly blown away by this gift, and deeply appreciative.


If you would like to try some of these Sulky Premium Cotton Threads in your own work, and are unable to find them where you live, you can purchase them here on-line at Speed Stitch and/or Uncommon Thread

P.S. Thank you for all the well wishes in regards to my daughter. Happy to say that after several rough days, M. is feeling much better and went back to school today. xo

Wanted

Have you seen this fabric?  Is it lurking in your local quilt shop?  Do you have an unusually large cutting of this in your stash?

I recently got this fat eighth of fabric in a bundle of fabric I purchased from an online source.  I have fallen deeply in love with it and actually have a stack of coordinating fabrics started for a future quilt.  This fits in perfectly.  I contacted the online source to see if they had more, but sadly, it was not to be.  I also searched other online sites in hopes of finding it. (insert pout here)

So I'm asking you for your help.  If you know a quilt shop that has a bolt of this lurking on its shelves, I'd love to hear from you.  If you have some in your stash and would part with it, I'd love to hear from you.  I will purchase it, trade for it, or work up some kind of deal.

The fabric in question is a batik by Timeless Treasures and I don't know the name of the pattern or colorway.  The colors in it are beige-ish leaves surrounded by golden oranges and olive greens.

Just a little light reading

These have made their way to my doorstep in the last couple of days. Thank you, Amazon. I've glanced through a couple of them, anxious to peruse the rest.

One thing I'm a little concerned about is the Flickr book. It was copyrighted in 2006. Doesn't that make it like 28 in dog computer years?

It is Snowing Again!

Well, it is snowing again and we have no school today!  This could be a long week of snow if the weather predictions come through as true.  We will have to see what happens--at this rate, we will be going to school until July--yuck! 

In the neighborhood waiting for the bus and the woods to the side of our house.

I came across this beautiful quilt giveaway and a new blog for me today.  Check out Lila Tueller Designs.

Well, I am off to the upstairs to see what I can sew today!  Will show pictures as things happen....

Until later, happy quilting!