You have no items in your shopping cart.
quilts
-
The Best of ...
Welcome back to "The Best Of ... ! " where our designers share a bit about themselves and why they do what they do.
This month Marybeth O'Halloran is sharing her "best of"!
Best quilting tool: I have two favorites, one for patchwork, and one for quilting:
For patchwork, I just love my seam ripper/stiletto combination. The two ends can be turned around into the hand-turned base, making them safe to store or travel with. Plus, the ends are replaceable, so when the ripper is dull, I just pop a new one into the base. The stiletto is so wonderful for curved piecing and pointy patchwork, when you want to control that last bit of a seam.For quilting, I love my simple long-arm ruler. Gadget Girls makes short and long versions in that splashy neon yellow-green acrylic, marked in 1/4” intervals. They are my go-to for simple cross-hatching and stitch-in-ditch.Best inspiration: One of my all-time favorite things to look at (and hold, if you’re lucky) is vintage quilts. I’m so inspired by the art of making do with what’s at hand to create functional works of art, and it’s simply amazing to touch quilts that were made decades ago — like your hands are connecting to the maker’s across time.Best time to quilt: For me, longarming is a job I do every day, pretty much during working hours. But the earlier in the day I’m able to get a project done, the better! Before anything else can happen.Best project ever: I’ve had the opportunity to finish projects that families couldn’t — the maker passed away. The sweating-bullet difficulties of matching the character of hand-quilting with longarming fall away when the family picks up the quilt and wraps themselves in it, tears overflowing. I think this is why I quilt. I can’t lift that family's burdens but I can ease them. What we wrap ourselves in and sleep under at night is what brings us the deepest comfort and I am grateful to be able to do this for myself and others.Best day off: One of my favorite things to do outside of the studio is to play with acrylic paint pouring. I love to venture into other media — you always learn something you can bring back to fabric and the textile arts.Best advice you ever received: When I started my longarm business, the advice I was given was to buy thread slowly, from several sources, in the colors that I love to work in. That was great advice because the more I worked with my machine, the more threads I tried, the more I sorted out what suited the machine — and the type of project.Best advice you’ve ever given: I like repeating elements in patchwork and quilting, because I feel like it lends unity, a sense of harmonious whole to a piece. I’m aware this is counter-advice to what a lot of people suggest, which is contrast in your quilting pattern (curves over straight lines, geometric over organic shapes etc.) But it does make me happier to look at, to see similar things at different scales in the same piece, and it seems to make my clients happy too. But of course, satisfy your own aesthetics when it comes to pattern choice! That’s probably the best advice of all.Best road trip: A few years ago, I drove with a friend to California to help her clean out her family house. It was going to be a tough emotional journey, so we stopped at every fabric and yarn store we could find along the way. We came home with a stash of fabrics in completely different colors than either of us usually work in and did original quilt compositions in that palette as a sort of stack of postcards from our trip. (Mine still isn’t done but hush!)Best thing about quilting: I have to say I’m fairly obsessed with pattern and design. It’s probably what keeps me up late at night and gets me up in the morning. There’s something so soothing about the way geometry fits together, and the process of constructing it in fabric, that calms the chaos of my thoughts and puts my reality back in order. I also love the camaraderie of quilting, of finding like-minded people who similarly obsess, no explanations needed.Best place to visit: Sigh ... I was going to say Fabric Depot, a destination for the whole West Coast, but sadly, it met its demise last fall, so unfortunately it’s no longer available. But instead I’ll say go to your local fabric stores as often as possible. Do them and yourselves a favor and try to help keep their doors open. And if you’re in the Puget Sound area, go on out to Port Gamble and the magnificent store Quilted Strait! It’s one of my local shops and I am so grateful to be able to teach classes there on occasion. The owner and her staff are friendly and knowledgeable, and there’s a huge selection of fabrics, notions, and tools, and of course, lots of beautiful samples to enjoy.
Marybeth is an award-winning longarm quilter whose work has appeared on the cover of Modern Patchwork magazine, on pattern covers for Beach Garden Quilts, and in the book French Braid with a Twist, among other publications. She is also a quilting pattern designer for Urban Elementz, and an organizer for the local American Hero project, which provides quilts for wounded soldiers and their families. She started her career in engineering, and then studied and taught spinning, weaving, dyeing, and knitting, which informs her structural — and sometimes unconventional but definitely colorful — approach to the art of quilting. Commercial clients include McKenna Ryan, Jane Hardy Miller, Susan Wiggs, and Beach Garden Quilts, and two of her clients’ quilts have won Grand Champion at the Washington State Fair. Her three best selling pantographs are Harbour Wave, Nautilus and Stacked Snailz.
-
Tis the Season!
by Sarah Curry
YEEEEE-HAH! Major League pitchers and catchers arrive today for spring training! Now, what does that have to do with quilting, you ask? Well, it happened this way.
I’ve been a rabid baseball fan since I was 7 years old. And it was FINE with my daddy (who was a 4-letter jock in high school and loved all sports, for all his life) when I showed serious “tomboy” tendencies. And so, Daddy played catch with me. And showed me how to “get down on” a ground ball, and even how to bunt. Back then, TV barely existed, and only for rich folks – but Daddy and I listened to the Baseball Game of the Week on the radio every Saturday afternoon. In 1949, a lot of the broadcast games involved the New York Yankees – they were doing pretty well. Maybe that’s why a little girl in Hobbs, New Mexico fell in love with the Yankees. And I have no other reason to explain my lifelong love of “TTELTH” (The Team Everybody Loves to Hate ☺ ).
Back then, Little League didn’t exist (especially for us “delicate” girls), but I played a lot of street ball, and sandlot baseball, and pickup softball, and was even in a “mushball” league one summer while I was in law school. I was a good infielder, a good hitter (never could hit for power, but I had a “good eye”, and nearly always got on base). But unfortunately, my kids refused even to consider baseball, so I froze my butt off in a hockey rink for 11 years, grumblin’ and cussin’, and wishing to “have a catch” with my boys in the summertime. Oh, well.
In ’96 or so, I discovered the quilting newsgroup, RCTQ (which stands for rec.crafts.textiles.quilting), and after “lurking” for less than 24 hours, began to tell my stories there, and just chat about stuff other than bias binding and perfect corners. That same year, Derek Jeter was a rookie. I don’t remember how the subject came up, but one of the quilters near Seattle mentioned that the Mariners had a pretty good rookie, too. We got into a little squabble about which was the better-lookin’ young shortstop, and when it turned out that my Yanks played Janet’s mariners the first game of the season, she said A-Rod et al would whup Jeter’s Yanks. I suggested that she “put your fat quarter where your mouth is,” we shook virtual hands on the bet, and next thing we knew, the RCTQ quilters who were baseball fans came swarming out of the woodwork, wanting in on that action.
Good grief. There was a horde of them! I had nothing to do with the mechanics of it (and was out-voted about the name – hmph), but out of that little snarl evolved the “Baseball Swap.” Anyone can get in on it but for almost 25 years, we quilty baseball fans have picked a major league baseball team to back (one from each league if we wish). We have a “Caller,” who announces things (including who’s playing who, today), and a “Statistician” who has designed a spreadsheet that figures out exactly who owes whom, for every single game of the MLB season. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Y’see, this isn’t really a “swap,” it’s a BET. On every single game that’s played. If my team beats your team today, you owe me one 6 ½” square of fabric. If my team beats yours tomorrow, you owe me another. If your team beats my Yanks tomorrow, it does NOT “work out in the wash.” I owe you a square. At the end of the regular season, the Statistician sends us the final stats, including what each person owes every other person. She even sends labels we can print if we want to. I bag up how many squares I owe (no duplicates in the baggies), put a label on a baggie to each person I owe. Pack up the baggies (alphabetized) into a Tyvek Priority Mail bag and send them to the “Chucker”, who sets up paper bags and chucks the little baggies into the correct “bin,” then mails them all out to the individual “swappers.”
We usually add a little “graft” (a fat quarter) into the bag for the three volunteers who do the work, often pay up some side-bets, add little prezzies like Cleveland Indians pencils (I still use mine), and what FUN it is, to open the “payoff” bag and find allll those little baggies of FABRIC!!! And in all these years (I was the Chucker for several years, and got to see ALL the fabrics, not just the ones from Yankees’ opponents), I have seen only one duplicate in the squares. Amazing. Our Statistician hasn’t reported this year, but her figures show that we’ve “swapped” over ten THOUSAND yards of fabric over the years. But best, we’ve swapped stories.
Major League Baseball is about to begin again! And while I like most all sports, baseball is this quilter’s game, and the Baseball Swap is a slurp of gravy.
...
Our glorious guest blogger, Sarah Curry...
"3d-generation quilter, 3d-generation grammarian/teacher, born and raised in Hobbs, NM. NMSU, twin sons (and when they started coming in litters, I was done with that sort of project), happily divorced since 1977, UNM Law School, civil litigation for nearly 20 years, now retired, 4 grandsons, but still quilting – these days, almost exclusively from a legendary stash. AllieCat and I grow old together, but she’s still an excellent “Quilt Inspector/Block Re-arranger”."
-
The Best of ...
May is upon us! And you know what they say about May, right? April showers bring May flowers. Blooming is one of the things our intrepid leader does best. This month our own Patricia E. Ritter shares with us her "Best of ..." and her bio. Her creative genius takes it roots in the world around her. So, without much ado, we give you Patricia in her own words.
Zoey, Patricia's MVPBest quilting tool? My imagination. But it can also be my own worst enemy ... especially when I can't seem to execute what I imagine.
Best inspiration? Anything and everything ... from a trip to the hardware store to the pattern on a sheet of paper towels. Design and patterns are all around us, and it's hard for me not to visualize them as quilts, applique or quilting designs.
Best time to quilt? Mornings. I'm one of those crazy people (that you hate ;-) who loves waking up and getting started with their day.
Best project ever? Whatever project is next. I'm always evolving and always trying to think "outside the box", so my best project has yet to come.
Best day off? Hummmm ... this is a tough question. I feel like I'm always "on", even when I'm sleeping. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up from a dead sleep with a really cool idea.
Best advice you ever received? Strive to be the best at whatever you do.
Best advice you’ve ever given? When it comes to designing, don't "marry" your original idea. You're only dating. See where the design leads you before committing.
Best road trip? I don't think I can pick a best road trip. I once drove from Florida to California and back, and that trip was amazing. I also lived and worked overseas for 7 years and pretty much every weekend included a road trip that's worth noting.
Best place to visit? My house and studio ... LOL ... just ask any of my friends!
While pursuing her degree in Fine Arts, Patricia E. Ritter established her artistic voice as a ceramicist. Soon her talents expanded to include working with metals and bead work, and for the next 15 years she worked creatively and professionally as a jeweler and gallerist.
Her relationship with quilting bloomed out of a need to strengthen her fine motor skills through needlework. With quilting, she found an art form that was simultaneously useful and ornamental. Her quilting experience quickly grew from dabbling on a domestic machine to acquiring her own longarm machine and sketching the pantographs she envisioned yet found did not exist.
Inspired by the foliage and flowers within and around her native Miami, her original pantograph designs multiplied into a library of designs. It was a natural step to start a pantograph business, Urban Elementz, first selling to local quilt shops and soon after selling internationally online at her site www.urbanelementz.com.
Now Urban Elementz's product line has expanded beyond pantographs to include original patterns, stencils, design boards, applique and fabric. Patricia's multifaceted artistic experiences and entrepreneurial resolve ensure that Urban Elementz will continue to flourish alongside the ever-growing creativity of machine quilting.
-
Spring Stash Cleaning
by Valerie Smith
Few things inspire panic like the disorganized stash of a fabric obsessed quilter. Whether doodling is your thing, tatting, or crochet, as a collective community, we all know that where there’s a sewer, crafter, or virtually any type of creative hobbyist: a supply of much needed accessories, gadgets, rulers, templates, and FABRIC must follow. We quilters know just how to hide, jam, shove, squeeze, tuck, and stuff our treasures into whatever sized space we may be fortunate enough to house it in. Some of us even have so many goodies tucked into that sacred space, our said treasures are literally overflowing into other parts of the house. If you find yourself overwhelmed with crafty clutter, then what follows may be of interest to your fabric collecting heart!
First, allow yourself to let go of your clutter anxiety. We all feel it from time to time, those pangs of guilt as we stand in the fabric store check-out line with a new basket full of must haves. We all are familiar with the “other room”, the one we often spend time dreaming up projects in. You know the one, that favorite back bedroom piled sky high with yard sale finds, fabric store sales, and the brand-new line from Moda that you just had to own, TODAY – yardage and precuts both. This is your sisterhood speaking (and your brotherhood too) – we sewers all have that room. We know it well. We love it. We spend hours daydreaming, rearranging, and adding to that room. It takes a little time and dedication to harness that creative tidal wave of a sewing room, but it can be done. Rest easy, and let’s tackle that tidying problem together.
These days there are a multitude of stash busting and craft organizing systems around that can help eat up your overflowing fabric stash. With creativity, any space, big or small, can include an organized creative haven with which to work. But how do you keep from getting overwhelmed? What can we do to keep things neat yet at your fingertips ready for immediate use? What do we do to prevent the fabric mountain from migrating onto your sofa turning into a cozy new elevated cat bed? Well friends, you first need a plan. Think about the place that you have, the storage that can fit in that space, and how to most effectively utilize it. Take a walk through your local container store or even Wal-Mart and just see what is available to you in terms of storage. These days there are endless limits to our organizing needs, but if that is too overwhelming at this stage in your de-cluttering life, stick with simple. Plastic bins in various sizes and an area to stack them in. If you have a sewing table at all like mine, which is basically just a long eight by ten folding table with a cloth covering it, you can easily store organizing bins below.
Once your space is established, let’s get to sorting. Separate your fabric, notions, doodads, and thingamabobs into like piles. Head off into your sewing refuge and find an open place for fabric, thread, and notions – and establish a home for those items. I like to keep fabric in clear plastic bins so if my creative haven must for any reason move to say, the basement - then critters, spiders, and mold will be no match. What kind of bins you say? Well this girl likes options. I choose large bins for yardage, medium for cuts larger than a fat quarter, and both small and large bins for my teeny tiny scraps. The key here is to be flexible. Be willing to donate what you know you will not use or toss it in the bin until it is needed for a project. At times we may need to be a little ruthless with our stash. If it is outdated, donate it. Some may choose not to save the very smallest size scraps, and if you are ambitious like me you may appreciate onto them for “someday” scrap quilting. If you collect strings, those work well in a shoe box type of plastic bin so there is less folding, which means less ironing later. My first choice is always clear bins, for obvious reasons – I want to see the fabric! Not only will this inspire creativity, but it sure makes pulling colors for quilts easier! Occasionally it is good to go through that stored folded fabric and press it or re-fold it to prevent permanent creases, as well as color fading from uneven light exposure. Once a year is good for this refolding task, you can make it fun by declaring this your inspiring spring project. While we sewers love to be optimistic about the quantity of our production, however, very often at least some of that fabric will take a few years before making its way into the perfect project. Rotation and refolding are good habits to get into to preserve the longevity of those calicos and cottons.
A note on threads. My favorite way to store threads is on a shelf where I can see them. There is nothing like looking at a beautiful array of threads organized by color rather than tossed into a big box. If you are fortunate enough to store them in such a manner, I encourage you to choose one with a door to again prevent light exposure and dust accumulation. The next best place is a thread caddy. Generally, these are see through as well, and they prevent moisture or dust from damaging those precious threads.
Trims and thingamabobs are a little different. Those items are better tucked off into opaque boxes with neat clean labels. Trims can get messy once you collect a few and so out of sight and out of mind is the idea. Better neat and tidy out of mind so you aren’t off imagining the mess in your trim box. You can get fancy here when it comes to labeling if you like, but I tend to stick to a tried and true stand by – a black sharpie and blank side of an index card. If I decide I need that bin to house something different in the future, no harm no foul. I can easily repurpose the container.
Rulers are always tricky for storage, but a couple of solutions have worked well for me over the years. Large bins from a three-tier rolling storage organizer is wonderful, especially if you are working at a long arm and using multiple rulers. Your rolling bin can roll right along with you down the length of the long arm machine. If your ruler stash is still modest and in the process of being built, a small three tier shelving united with clear drawers is another great solution.
The key to maintaining organization is really a small amount of time dedicated daily or weekly to tidying. While often overwhelming at the thought, dedicating just 10-15 minutes of “clean-up” time into each project day you plan to prevent the clutter from becoming overwhelming can work wonders. Make it habit so you do not feel any loss of sewing time. Above all else, take time to enjoy the organizing process! Let that color sorting and time spent playing in the sewing room add to your creative experience, even use it as the catalyst for creating something entirely new with items you forgot you already had!
...
Valerie Smith is an Urban Elementz pantograph designer who lives in northeast Ohio on the coast of Lake Eerie.
-
Layer Cake Rag Quilt
by Heather Spence
Okay, I understand that the title may not be entirely inspiring. At least you'll know exactly what you're making!! :D
A couple of thoughts about rag quilts:
- They are very low on the perfection scale. Because all the seams are on the outside of the quilt you don't really need to worry about whether or not seams are matching or even if the stitching is perfect.
- In my opinion, the most time consuming part of making rag quilts is the cutting.
- Rag quilts are super easy and great for beginners.
- Great for scrap fabric and batting (can we please get an amen to that??)
- The 1/2" seam allowance is super important.
With that out of the way let's get started! (oh ... you can also skip straight to the bottom of the post for the PDF version of the pattern.)
Quilt Size: 48" x 56"
Great size for snuggling under on the couch. A little big for a lap quilt.
Fabric:
I used Little Ruby Flannels by Bonnie & Camille for Moda.
You'll need:
- 1 Layer Cake or (42) 10" x 10" squares
- 3 yards backing of 44/45" fabric or 2 yards of Minkee (which is, generally 60" wide)
- 1 1/2 yards 90" wide batting from a roll or twin size package ... or leftovers! I used scrap batting for my quilt.
Before cutting:
- Separate the Layer Cake into two piles of 21 fabrics each. One pile will be predominately one color (i chose red), which will be the large squares, and the other pile will be a mixture of all the other colors, which will be for the small squares.
Cutting Instructions:
Trim the squares that will stay large to 9" by taking 1" off of two sides that run perpendicular to each other. Set them aside. (you can discard the extras or make something out of them ... totally up to you.) As a side note: Do not try and cut the entire pile of 10" squares at the same time. I stacked 3 on top of each other and, as this is low perfection, didn't worry too much if they didn't line up perfectly.
- Cut the other 21 squares in half vertically and horizontally to make eighty four 5" squares.
From your backing fabric:
- Cut WOF (width of fabric) six 9" strips.
- Sub-cut into twenty-one 9" squares.
Then:
- Cut WOF eleven 5" strips of fabric
- Sub-cut into eighty-four 5" squares
Then from batting:
- Cut five 8" strips
- Sub-cut into twenty-one 8" squares
- Cut eleven 4" strips
- Sub-cut eighty-four 4" squares
Done?? Excellent! Let's get on to some sewing.
1) Lay one backing square with right (printed) side down.
2) Next center one square of batting on top of the backing square.
3) Lay one Layer Cake square on top of the batting, lining up the corners and edges with the backing square. It's totally fine if it's too big or doesn't match up perfectly. Just do the best you can. Remember: Low Perfection Quilt!
4) Sew diagonally from one corner to opposite corner. Hint: If the corners of your fabric are pushed down into the machine by the needle try running a piece of scrap fabric folded in your half through the machine first. Do not cut it off! This helps keep a tension on the fabrics and minimizes problems.
5) This a great time to chain piece. Chain piecing is when you don't cut the threads between the pieces that you've sewn. You'll have a really long chain of quilt blocks.
6) Once you've stitched all the squares in one direction, clip the chain apart, turn the blocks and stitch the other direction creating an X on the block. Hint: You may find the presser foot pushing the fabric towards you causing a pucker to happen at the previous stitching line. I counter this by gently pushing the fabric back under the presser foot.
7) Repeat steps #1 through #6 with the large squares. You should have eighty-four 5" blocks and twenty-one 9" blocks.
8) At this point, depending on what level of I-Just-Want-To-Finish-This-Quilt you are at, you can choose to square up the blocks to the backing squares.
9) Next sort the little squares into the different colors. My piles were blue, pink and green. And ... there's no picture. How I missed this I'm not entirely sure ... so imagine three piles. One pile will be the bigger than the rest, in this case it was the blue pile.
10) Using the layout on the pattern (PDF at the bottom of the page) I decided to use the blues as my dark squares and the green and pink squares as my cream squares. Pair one medium and one dark (in this case a green with a blue).
Hint: Due to the nature of Layer Cakes there is an extremely high chance of a wide variety of colors...this is good! It lends to the scrappy nature of these quilts. Go with the flow of it and try not to get hung up on what will look good where. The most important part is the contrast between light and dark so be consistent!
11) Put your two squares together with backings touching. Line up the edges and the corners ...
13) Sew down the side using a 1/2" seam allowance. Did you get that?? 1/2" SEAM ALLOWANCE. That's super important.
14) Repeat #11 through #13 with remaining green/blue and pink/blue squares.
15) Match two pairs turning the second pair so the blues are opposite of each other.
16) With backing sides together, match center seams by folding them opposite of each other. Butt them up right next to each other. Pin if you need to. Sew according to step 13 with a 1/2" seam allowance.
17) Open that bad boy up! Should look something like mine with those seams standing up for the whole world to see. :D
18) Repeat #15 through #17 until all four patches are completed. (btw ... you're more than half way finished! congratulations!!) You should have 21 four-patches.
Take a moment ... get something to drink. Stretch. We're in the home stretch with the sewing but it's the perfect time to move a bit.
Okay. Ready?? Now we're going to make rows:
19) Lay out your blocks. Be sure to alternate one large square with one four-patch with six blocks in each row. Make 7 rows.
20) Sew the the blocks together following steps #12 and #13.
21) Sew rows together following step #16 where seam allowances match up. I like to sew a completed row to the rest of the quilt when I'm done sewing it together. Gives me the feeling of progress as I move down the quilt!
22) Once all the rows are sewn together sew around the outside edge of the quilt with a 1/2" seam allowance.
23) I open up the seams as I come to them.
24) Don't forget to back-stitch at the beginning and end of each side of the quilt!
Phew! Almost. Done. I guess if you really wanted to not go any further you'd have a wonderful quilt but ... BUT ... it just wouldn't be finished. Right??
Okay ... grab your scissors. But not any old scissors! Spring loaded scissors are your best bet. Though my very favorite scissors for rag quilts? The Kai 5150 6-inch Rag Quilt Scissors. Like cutting through butter. I promise.
25) Now ... all those 1/2" seam allowances ... you are going to start clipping them.
I keep my sections about 1/2" so they are square'ish.
What NOT to cut:
- The four actual corners of the quilt. Don't do that. Not good.
- Any stitching lines. Yeah ... don't do that either. Really not good.
- The quilt top fabric itself (it is possible to accidentally catch some of it when clipping). That's not good either.
What to clip:
- The outside edges ... all four
- All the seams that are sticking up
26) When you come to a seam that is sewn open, clip one side ...
then clip on the other side ...
and when the seam stands up continue clipping 1/2" sections until the next intersection.
27) I start at the top edge and work along each row until the row is finished. Inevitably I miss a section. But it's fine ... it's simple to clip it later (the wonderful part of having the seams outside the quilt).
28) When it's all cut (but not yet washed) it'll look like this.
Thoughts on washing ... rag quilts create a huge amount of lint so I recommend that you take it to a laundromat to wash it the first time, especially if it's a larger quilt.
29) Throw it in the washing machine on regular cycle with whatever soap you use. LOTS of little threads will be in your machine when the cycle is done so be sure to wipe it out really good.
30) Once washed put into the dryer. Regular heat. BEWARE! The lint trap will be super full of lint so change it. (of course ... my quilt is flannel so there was an exceptional amount of lint ... if you use regular cotton quilting fabric you won't have nearly as much lint.)
And here it is!! All soft and warm and finished!
You can get the downloadable PDF version here.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you learned something new and enjoy the pattern.
xo,
~ h
- They are very low on the perfection scale. Because all the seams are on the outside of the quilt you don't really need to worry about whether or not seams are matching or even if the stitching is perfect.
-
The Best of ...
Welcome back to our new series called The Best Of ... !
Every month we'll introduce to you one of our designers, and they'll share their very Best's. This March are thrilled to acquaint you with, Leisha Farnsworth and her "best of"!
Best Quilting Tool ...My favorite quilting tool is my own circle set rulers, called Circle2, which come in a set of 6.Best Inspiration ...I get inspired everywhere I look. From color to texture to fabrics to patterns, inspiration is out there if you look for it.Best time to quilt ...I would love to only quilt during the day and be done...however evenings after dinner, I get the most uninterrupted work done.
Best project ever ...
I’m working on a hexagon flower quilt using the English paper piecing method, which I started back in the summer of 2015. I have recently finished everything but the edge pieces. Now it’s time to lay it out and sew the flowers together.Best Day Off ...I love Sunday’s every week. I don’t work on Sunday’s so I can recharge by going to church and spending time with my family, which helps me continue to do what I love.Best advice I’ve ever been given ...Take care of yourself, so you can give to those who need you. And do be afraid of using the word “no”.Best advice I can give ...Don’t let someone ... anyone ... tell you that you can’t do something. If you have dreams, go for them! Figure out what you need to do, to make them a possibility. If it gets hard or you fail, don’t give up.Best Road Trip ...One of my favorite road trips was from northern Virginia (where I was living at the time), to upstate New York, to Boston, to New York City, and then back home.Best thing about quilting ...For me the most rewarding thing about quilting is seeing how much my clients love the quilts they made, after they are quilted.Best Place to Visit ...I’ve visited places all over the USA and a few places outside of the country... however my all time favorite place would be at a lake that is about an hour away from where I live.
Although Leisha has been sewing since she was a child, her love for making quilts started in her early 20's. In the summer of 2005, she started machine quilting her own quilts. Soon the word got out and she started quilting for others. In 2014 Leisha started co-designing paper and digital machine quilting designs, with Patricia Ritter from Urban Elementz, which has been an incredible opportunity. Even with 13+ years of machine quilting experience, she still loves learning new things.Leisha has also taught one on one and group machine quilting classes, and loves teaching her students the techniques that have helped her in her machine quilting career. She recently released her own circle ruler set of 6, called "Circle2".While quilting is her passion, she also enjoys water skiing, playing the piano, cooking, and spending time with her family. She has 10 nieces and nephews, and being their aunt is her very favorite thing. Leisha lives in beautiful Cache Valley, Utah, and thanks God for the talents He has blessed her with. She is excited to see what comes next. Her three best selling pantographs are Marmalade, Birchwood and Bubble Wrap - Double Take.*NOTE: You can find Leisha's ruler's on her website quiltingit.com.
-
Hooked - How did y'all get here?
by Sarah Curry
I don’t mean Here-here – I mean Quilty-here –Hooked-here; totally awash in books (usually bought for the one quilt with those “oooh” colors, teeny-tiny patches, and curves and angles inside); astonished and embarrassed at how those four Fat Quarters of fabric you bought that said, “Oooooh” apparently bred like rabbits (like those old wire coat hangers used to do) during the night, and you suddenly have a Stash. Hooh, boy.
I guess I got the Q-gene from both sides, because both my maternal and paternal grandmothers were quilters – as was my mama before me. Mama’s mother (Nana) was built like a Pouter Pigeon - soft to cuddle up to. Little wire spectacles. A cardboard box in the closet that held kid-stuff – old jewelry, most of a deck of cards, battered pot lid. She baked with cinnamon. And she made quilts. Completely UTILITARIAN quilts, made of men’s WOOLEN suits and all were rectangles and squares. And they were tied with red yarn. H-E-A-V-V-V-Y.
Grandma Curry, on the other hand, lived in an old Victorian house in West Texis (not a typo – I spell it like it’s pronounced). I remember the gables, the wraparound porch, the gingerbread, the “hidden” rooms, and that “children are to be seen and not heard". Grandma Curry looked like the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz” (squinchy eyes, hook nose, thin lips), and as far as the grandkids were concerned she was just about that distant and scary. She made “Grandmother’s Flower Garden” and “Lone Star” quilts with patches that were about the size of a nickel - finished. All cut with scissors, hand-pieced, and hand-quilted. E-X-Q-U-I-S-I-T-E.
Mama was a quilter, too, although she didn’t really enjoy the cardboard-template-pencil-scissors routine. And her sense of color wasn’t the best. But she quilted. Also hand-pieced, and hand-quilted. And WASHED those quilts, every weekend, with the sheets. Not one of her old quilts survived. But they were definitely clean!
By the time my boys graduated from high school and went to college (thank gawdess! I got’erdun!), I was SO-O-O-O ready to begin the next phase of my life (after a 48-hour nap). That's when Mama burst into the living room one afternoon, laden with all sorts of bags and suitcases and more bags and an ironing board and what looked suspiciously like one of Daddy’s old tackle boxes. Mama travelled like that. She had “discovered” the rotary cutter and mat and was READY to make a quilt for the “Sweet Darlin’ Angel Baby Boy” who didn’t yet have one.
So the next morning off we shot to the quilt shop. By noon, we found appropriate fabric for a 6-log “Rail Fence” (blues for a hockey player – no florals), with 1 ½” finished “logs". What? Can’t start yet? Gotta wash the fabric (with salt & vinegar)? Geez. Press same. I became the “cutter”. Woo-HOO! Lookit how FAST that is (still don’t understand what I’m doing, but that’s OK)! As I cut strips (fast), Mama sewed (slowly – she insisted on PINNING every seam). Then I pressed the strips (Mama was always behind, still pinning). Then I cut some more. Mama pinned and sewed. I pressed and cut. And had a WONDERFUL time!
Finally, about midnight, Mama lurched up and announced that I could quit cracking the damn’ bullwhip, ‘cause she was tired and going to bed, and she did. I did not. How COULD I? The pattern was REALLY starting to show!!!! YOWZA!!!!! So, when Mama arose the next morning, bleary-eyed and demanding coffee, there was a finished quilt top laid out on the couch. Every time she told the story, Mama never forgot to mention the fact that I had pressed those seams “everwhichaway, bless her heart.” Hmph.
And I was hooked. Beyond just “hooked,” I had bumbled onto the fourth passion of my life. I haven’t a clue how much money I’ve spent on that stash (from which I am working, these days, almost exclusively), or even how many quilts I’ve made. I did make 6 (SIX!) “Rail Fence” quilts before I “graduated” to “Double Irish Chain.” Made 6 of those before I “graduated” to another level, and I reckon I’ve averaged a quilt every 2-3 months for 30 years. Yeah, it’s a Passion.
So. That’s how *I* got hooked. Passionate. How did YOU find quilting?
...
Our glorious guest blogger, Sarah Curry...
"3d-generation quilter, 3d-generation grammarian/teacher, born and raised in Hobbs, NM. NMSU, twin sons (and when they started coming in litters, I was done with that sort of project), happily divorced since 1977, UNM Law School, civil litigation for nearly 20 years, now retired, 4 grandsons, but still quilting – these days, almost exclusively from a legendary stash. AllieCat and I grow old together, but she’s still an excellent “Quilt Inspector/Block Re-arranger”."
-
The Best Of ...
Welcome to our new series called The Best Of ... !
Every month we'll introduce to you one of our designers, and they'll share their very Best's. To kick off our first month, we are thrilled to acquaint you with, Valerie Smith and her "best of" list.
Best Quilting Tool: Seam Ripper. We all make mistakes!Best Inspiration: Quilt Shows!Best Time to Quilt: Early in the morning. I am an early bird and get my best work down 5 or 6 in the morning.Best Project Ever: Whatever I am working on at the time.Best Day Off: The day after a big "whoops". We all need breaks even from the things we love. Then get back to it!Best Advice You Ever Received: "That's nothing anyone on a horse galloping by would notice" - Gal from my old quilt guild. Let up on your mistakes and enjoy your beautiful creation.Best Advice Ever Given: Do what brings you joy!Best Road Trip: Hmmm ... my best road trip is yet to come! I don't travel much with small children, but I did take a trip to Gatlinburg, TN. That was a lot of fun.Best Thing About Quilting: You get something cozy when you're done.Best Place to Visit: The quilt shop!
Valerie has been quilting for more than 30 years, and many of her designs have been published in national publications. She lives in the northeast corner of Ohio, on the shores of Lake Eerie, with her husband and four children. Two of her most popular pantographs designs are Lather, Rinse, Repeat and Deja Vu. -
New Quilting Toy
by Brian Partin
One of the first things that drew me to quilting was appliqué. I remember seeing a very simple primitive quilt at the Dade County Youth Fair. It was a red plaid angel quilt, and each angel was made up of a heart body, round head and a halo. I wanted to buy the quilt, but I couldn’t afford it. I kept thinking, “I could make that”. After taking beginning quilting, an Appliqué class was next on my list, and yes, I did make that angel quilt.
Ever since then, appliqué has been one of my favorite types of projects. It addresses my need to be creative better than anything else. The only down side is the length of time it takes to crank out an appliqué quilt as opposed to pretty much any other type of project. The holiday and season quilts that I want to make keep stacking up, and the time keeps slipping away. Not to mention the long list of family members and friends that think they deserve a quilt from me as well. Something had to give.
Purchasing laser cut and pre-fused appliqué soon became my "go-to" for putting together an appliqué project. The precision cutting made the shapes clearly identifiable, and the project's a breeze to snap together. Just peel, place and press. I only wished that I could get them in exactly the size that I wanted for my project. And wouldn’t it be great if I could get them out of the fabric that I already own to match collections that I have already bought?
Well, it turns out I can. Enter fabric cutting machines. These new cutting machines allow me to buy SVG files and cut the designs at home, using my very own fabric, in any size that the machine will cut. It did take a bit of a learning curve, but that is a part of the journey, isn’t it?
Here are a few things I've learned so far:1. Designs don't always open the size that is specified, but I can scale and rotate them anyway I want. Pretty cool ... right?
2. I have to “select all” so that I can ungroup the design. This allows me to separate the components of the design so that I can cut the pieces from various fabrics. The machine also cuts better when the cutting is separated a bit from each piece.
3. Since I am cutting the fabric face down, I want to flip the design to keep it facing the right direction and the lettering readable, if there is any.
4. Any items that are showing on the "mat" will be cut. Those that I drag off the "mat" will not cut. I can drag off items now while they are the right size and cut them later in a different fabric. I just go back to the design after cutting and switch the items that I want to cut next.
5. When I load my fabric on the mat, I place the right side of the fabric face down on the mat. Using a lot of pressure I hand press that fabric onto the mat to make sure it is flat. If it is loose it will get pulled up while cutting and make a mess. I have pre-fused the Steam-A-Seam II onto the back of the fabric, and make sure that it is freshly ironed and the paper backing is still tight on the fabric. I will lift the paper, and re-iron it flat if there are any creases in the paper that might catch on the cutting knife during cutting.
6. I have read that some people soak their fabric in Terial Magic, available at Amazon or at your local quilt store, to stiffen the fabric, but I have yet to try it.
Who knew that after quilting for 27 years that I'd find something totally new to learn? And it's a good thing because I think learning new things makes life more interesting, and it also makes me more interesting too.
9 Item(s)
