Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Vines - Decorative Stitch


Before I invested in a bias tape maker -

And made yards -

And yards -

And yards -

Of bias -

I decided to retest the 1/4” green marble -

100% cotton -

Iron-on fusible tape - ;))

Key words being - COTTON - IRON-ON and FUSIBLE - ;))

I tested a closer trim -


Three of my sewing machines -

A variety of presser feet -

A variety of needles -

And a variety of stitches - ;))

I won’t bore you with all of the details -
You're welcome - ;))

But I had originally thought -

That I could/would stitch the tape -

Using a twin needle -

One run down the length of the tape -

Two lines of stitching -

Done - ;))

BUT -

Twin needle stitching -
3MM and 4MM -

On such narrow tape -

Was VERY hard to keep straight -


The tape was thick -

It skipped stitches -

And the fabric pulled and puckered -

So I decided on -

SuzieQ -

A single needle -

And a decorative stitch - ;))


One thing I noticed -

All of my samples were sewn -

With the Dark Gray on the LEFT -

And the Light Gray on the RIGHT -

BUT -

Because this stitch is directional -

And I want it to flow around the corner -

I don’t want to have to shove the entire quilt top -

Under the sewing machine arm -

In order to maintain the stitch direction -

I need to REVERSE it - ;))

If I stitch the tape down -

With the Dark Gray on the RIGHT -

The outer edge of the border -

Will be under the sewing machine arm -

And the bulk of the quilt will be to my LEFT -

As I sew around the corners - ;))

I’m SO glad I realized that -

BEFORE I got to the corners - ;))

And YES -

I also realize that I did, indeed -

Do a decorative stitch -

All over the dang thing - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Tuesday, May 28, 2013

BOB is curious -


I recently received my copy of -
Quilters Newsletter
June/July 2013 - No. 434



And as I scanned the articles -

I found on page 58 -

Fusique(TM): Fused Reverse Applique -
Quiltmaker’s Work Shop -
By Linda Everhart -
A streamlined approach to reverse applique results in two projects for the price of one.


After making a complex reverse applique quilt, I developed a streamlined technique to make the same beautiful quilt. I trademarked the technique, Fusique(TM), a method of doing fused reverse applique. Start your Fusique(TM) fun with this table topper. You’ll trim the time required to create the reverse applique with the aqua scroll and get a bonus: the remaining black applique motif makes a second table topper when appliqued to a blue background.

Now - no offense to Linda -

And I am no expert in trademarks -

But I’m curious -

As to how this technique is different from -

Stacy Michell’s -

2 for 1 Hawaiian Applique
Shades Textiles - HERE -
Pre-Fused with Shades SoftFuse
Pre-Cut with Accu-Quilt Studio Cutter
Pre-Washed Kona Cotton for Quality Applique



Granted - Stacy's is pre-cut -

But both are basically one cut -

Two shapes -

One positive -

One negative -

So it looks to me -

Like this "trademarked" technique -

Has been done before -

I'm just sayin'... - ;))



But then again - it’s probably just me - ;))



Monday, May 27, 2013

Design Wall Monday - 5/27/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 5/27/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===



One of these days -

Before I run out of month -

I have to work on my -

May Flowers Sudoku Quilt -


And something for the "Race" - ;))

You know -

The LTRTCWSA - 2013 -

The Leisurely Turtle Race To Christmas With Squirrels Allowed - 2013 -

The little “Race” that Linda - HERE - and I started - HERE -



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Friday, May 24, 2013

Vines - 50-50


So after I “unsewed” the fabric -

And the Supreme Slider(TM) - ;))


I got all four border panels sewn -

And trimmed - ;))

Then I realized that the pre-packaged bias tape -

That I wanted to use -


Is 50% POLYESTER and 50% COTTON -

CRAP!!

It's not the same content -

And may not lay flat -

If and when it's ever washed -

Unless I do a decorative stitch -

All over the dang thing - ;))

I may re-test the 100% cotton narrow iron-on fusible -

But it's so skinny -

It may not cover the raw edges at the seam line -

So I may be looking at making yards -

And yards -

And yards -

Of bias -

Oh, goody - ;))




Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Leaves and dies -


When I was testing my leaves -


My bloggy buddy KatieM  - HERE - asked me about dies -
Does Accu quilt have a leaf die? Just wondering...

I replied -
Yeah - they have several - and I have most of them - but they're not the right size - or they waste too much fabric. I would have to apply the fusible to the fabric before I cut them - and some dies only have one or two leaf shapes - so I would have to cut the fabric to cover only those shapes - and if I have to cut the fabric before I cut the leaves - I might as well just cut the leaves - right? - ;))

I think I have another way to do it - drawing them on the fusible and cutting them by hand - but hardly any waste of fabric. If it works in "real life" like it works in my head - I will show how I did it. Might even show you if it doesn't work, too - haha - ;))
===

So these are the dies that I have -
The one in the middle - top row -
Is obviously too big -


The one on the bottom -
Stems & leaves -
Cut a variety of applique shapes using quilt diagram as inspiration -
Leaves are the wrong size and the stems are too free-form for what I’m doing - ;))


Round flower/star center
4” strip - 20 leaves across width of 40” wide fabric
7‘ strip - 32 or more curved stems across width of 40” wide fabric
Start at selvage edge to cut one curved stem, align cut edge of fabric with curved stem blades to nest stems. Continue to cut curved stems in this manner across the width of the fabric.

Nah - I don’t think so - ;))


Rose of Sharon -
Place scraps over selected blades and cut -
Scraps yes - yardage no - ;))


So this is How I Do It -

I draw my leaves on some fusible -
Using a template -
And nest them to minimize wasted fabric -


Cut a chunk of fabric -
Trim the fusible a bit -
Press it to the WRONG side of the fabric -


Cut along the RIGHT side of the leaves to make strips -


Cut the leaves apart along the LEFT side -

Trim them up a bit -

And I can get 18 leaves with a minimum of waste -


Now wouldn't that make a MUCH better die? - ;))

Hey, AccuQuilt -

If you like my idea for a die -

I want the credit -

And I want the bucks - ;))




Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Tuesday, May 21, 2013

BOB's Tuesday Toast - 5/21/13


Here’s to Quilt Bloggers -
Who misspell or misuse words -

May they someday learn the difference -
Between the word they meant -
And the word they used - ;))

===

BOB already did a post -

About mixing up words - HERE -

But was reminded of how prevalent -

The problem is -

When Kobe Bryant was hurt last month - ;((

According to an article in the Huffington Post - HERE -

Kobe Bryant Will Be Back: A Legacy Revisited
By Tyler R. Tynes - 4/14/13
Emphasis added by me -

Bryant had this to say on his injury via his Facebook page on Friday:

"If you see me in a fight with a bear, prey for the bear". Ive (sic) always loved that quote. Thats (sic) "mamba mentality" we don't quit, we don't cower, we don't run. We endure and conquer.
===

I don’t think that means -

What he thinks it means - ;))

Not only did he misquote the quote -

When he changed one word -

But that one word -

Changes everything -

And I wish him the best of luck - ;))



But then again - it’s probably just me - ;))

EDIT UPDATE - 5/22/13
Kevin Durant - HERE - seems to have a much larger problem -
His giant back tattoo appears to have a misspelled word -
Oops - ;))



Monday, May 20, 2013

Design Wall Monday - 5/20/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 5/20/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===


All of those gorgeous colors -


And all of that testing -

And I forgot -

To remember -

To NOT sew the fabric -

To the Supreme Slider(TM) - ;))




Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Friday, May 17, 2013

A bit more testing - Corner


Then I tested the “corner join” -
A mini-version of the top left corner -
Left = Side border
Right = Top border


Stitched them together -
And assumed a mismatch -
To see how to fix it - ;))


I forgot to add some black bias “vines” to each piece -
So I added those and tested two different stitches -
At the same time - ;))


I tested covering the join with the “side” vine -
A possible maybe -


I tested covering the join with the “corner” vine -
A more probable maybe - ;))


So - enough testing already -

Time to actually DO IT - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Wednesday, May 15, 2013

More testing - Leaves


So I fiddled with the size of the leaves -

They seemed to be a little too big -

Next to the other leaves in the center block -

Maybe they needed to be a bit smaller - ;))

I tried another size -

Put the larger ones on the left -

And the smaller ones on the right -

And I think the smaller ones on the right look much better -


LindaJ and I were “talking” the other day -
And I gave her a preview - ;))
Glad you like it!! Yeah - if I use the smaller leaves I will need more of them - but that's not a problem - I don't really care how many I need - I just want it to LOOK good - and I think the smaller ones will definitely LOOK better. I've invested so much time in this top already - a few extra leaves won't matter - ;))

More leaves, of course - but more colors??? I was thinking of just the three because I have about a yard of each and they are multi-shaded versions of the same print. I used the yellow/gold/brown and the green/gold in other leaves and the orange/red/rust in the roses of the "bird's nest" block - so those fabrics have been used before and will tie in to the rest of the quilt. I could use some of the other greens that I used in other leaves - but if I'm going to assembly-line them - the fewer fabrics I have to deal with the faster it will go - in theory at least - ;)) Here's a close-up photo of the fabrics - aren't they gorgeous?? - ;))


Then -
I fell in love with those fabrics way back when - gorgeous color changes - all in one panel. I still have some of the other "leaf" fabrics that I used in some of the other blocks. ALL of the fabric that I used in this quilt has been segregated for YEARS - so that I don't accidentally use it for something else. It won't hit the scrap bin until this sucker is DONE - haha - ;)) So I also have the fabric that I used in the HST - that was what I was thinking of when I said MORE colors - ;))
===

Since I will probably need hundreds of leaves -
I’m going to start with just the three fabrics -
Then decide later if I need to add more colors - ;))

A little more testing -

And I should be able to start cutting -

Like I told LindaJ -
I want/need to work out all of the possible "problems" before I commit - probably an occupational hazard - I spent my entire career trying to figure out what could possibly go wrong so that I could avoid problems with the IRS and clients - now it's just part of ME - ;)) After I figure out all of the piddly details - I'll work up a little mini-version to see if it works. The border fabric that I'm using says 1997 on the selvage - and it's not likely that I could replace it if I screw it up - unless you or the "other" Linda have some in your stash - ;))
Maybe I'm over-thinking the whole thing -

But I REALLY don't like surprises - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Tuesday, May 14, 2013

BOB's Tuesday Toast - 5/14/13


Here’s to Quilt Bloggers -

Who live in other countries -
And in other parts of this country -
And give me a glimpse of their world -
And liven my day -

May they continue to do so - ;))

===

I LOVE reading blogs -

It's like talking/listening to old/new friends - ;))

Some bloggers live VERY far away -

And some lead VERY different lives -

And I like to read about what they are doing -

And how they are doing it - ;))

I have “met” bloggers from -

Australia -

Hungary -

Japan -

And other countries -

And other parts of this country - ;))

Some of us “talk” regularly -

By leaving each other comments -

And sending emails back and forth - ;))

It sure beats having a HUGE phone bill -

Like in the “olden” days - ;))

And then there are those blogs -

Where I just "listen" - ;))

You aren't allowed to disagree -

Or point out an apparent lack of common courtesy -

Or say anything remotely "negative" -

Even if it looks like -

One of their blocks -

Is going the wrong way -

Or their math is wrong -

Or they're just full of crap -

So I bite my tongue -

Save my thoughts for a BOB post -

And move on - ;))



But then again - it’s probably just me - ;))



Monday, May 13, 2013

Design Wall Monday - 5/13/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 5/13/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===


Testing - testing - testing - ;))

Been working on the borders -
For my Floral Applique -

I REALLY need to name this thing -

Any suggestions? - ;))

Anyway -

I tested the stitching -
And opted for a twin needle setting -
To better attach the two borders -
To each other -

The border will be LIGHT GRAY on the inner side -
And DARK GRAY on the outer side - ;))

I tested the color of thread -
The top thread - if you can see it at all - is WHITE -
The lower thread - if you can see it at all - is GRAY -

The top WHITE thread is lighter and more invisible -
In case I make a boo-boo -
So two “WHITE” threads it is - ;))



I tested the width and color of the “Vines” -
The “Vines” are hard to see against the DARK GRAY -
And the LIGHT GRAY background blends with the WHITE of the design wall -


But I tested two different colors of GREEN at a narrow width -
And a BLACK at a wider width -
Say that three times fast - ;))
You can't really see any of them -
But the BLACK won - ;))


I tested the colors of the leaves -
ORANGE - GREEN - GOLD -


What GREEN, you say? -

The one in the middle - ;))


Guess that one won’t be showing up -
On the DARK GRAY side -
Pun intended - ;))

But all three colors show up very nicely -
On the LIGHT GRAY side -


Now I need to fiddle with the size of the leaves -

They seem to be a little too big -

Next to the other leaves in the center block -

Maybe they need to be a bit smaller - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day!


Happy Mother's Day!

To all of the Mothers out there in blogland -

And to everyone else just because - ;))

May your day be filled with -

Love -

Family -

Friends -

Fun -

Fabric -

Flowers -

And -

CHOCOLATE!! ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -





Friday, May 10, 2013

TUSAL - 5/10/13


I have joined hundreds of other stitchers in Daffycat’s TUSAL 2013 - HERE -

It's a Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long - ;)) -

To play the game -

I have to fill my glass container -

With saved thread clippings -

Or ORTS - Old Ratty Threads -

Fabric trimmings -

Stitching cast-offs -


And then -

On (or about) the New Moon -

Take a picture of the ORTS in my jar -

Post it to my blog -

With a link back to her TUSAL post - HERE -

And label the Totally Useless posts with “TUSAL” -

It's EASY -

It's TOTALLY USELESS -

And -

It's FUN!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Staring at the wall -

Monday when I was complaining -

That my borders were NOT cooperating -


I went over to visit my bloggy buddy Linda's blog -
linda quilts - HERE -

And she was talking about staring at her wall -
So I'll keep them both on my design wall and sit and stare at them for hours until I have a firm decision made. heehee.

So I left her a comment -
I LOVE your background squares - PERFECT colors to show off the embroidered blocks! I vote for cross-hatching, too - very old-fashioned - very simple. And you crack me up with your "sit and stare at them for hours until I have a firm decision made" - I do the same thing - but my "hours" turn into "days" very quickly - haha - ;))

Then my "other" Linda -
LindaJ - life, quits and a cat too - HERE -
Emailed me and said -
Looks like your design wall is getting a work out today!

I laughed and emailed her back -
Haha - maybe if I stare at it long enough it will tell me what the h*** it wants - ;))

She said -
that might work well in theory?? Let me know if it yields any results so I can try it too.

And right about then -

When I looked at the wall - AGAIN -

It HIT me -

I HEARD it -

LOUD and CLEAR -

So I emailed her back -
It works!! - The top border just told me to "move me UP a little" - and I did - and I think it looks a LOT better - ;))

So - what do you think?

Do your quilts tell you what to do -

If you stare at them long enough? - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Tuesday, May 7, 2013

BOB's Tuesday Toast - 5/7/13


Here’s to Quilt Bloggers -

Who like to center -
All of the lines of their posts -

May they never have tired old eyes -
That have to wander the page -
Searching for the beginning of the next line - ;))

===
I have no fix for this one -

It falls under the “creative” umbrella -

And is another example of one of those -

“Eye of the beholder” things - ;))

Back in the "olden" days -

Titles were centered on the page -

And the first line of a paragraph -

Was indented five spaces -

With the rest of the text -

Beginning at the left margin -

So that your eyes knew where to go -

To find the beginning of the next line - ;))

But now anything goes -

And each and every line -

Of some blog posts is centered - ;))

And what may seem a bit “creative” -

To some bloggers -

May seem a bit “annoying” -

To some readers - ;))



But then again - it’s probably just me - ;))



Monday, May 6, 2013

Design Wall Monday - 5/6/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 5/6/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times
on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===


Been chasing another Squirrel this week - ;))

THIS Squirrel has the border -
That I want for my Floral Applique -

Quilts to Warm Today’s Home -
By Nancy Rink -
(c) 2012 - Leisure Arts, Inc.


I want a two-color variation -
Of the one shown on the cover -

So I dug out the fabrics -

The inner border will be the light gray -
The outer border will be the darker gray -
And the orange - green - gold - will be the leaves -


I’ve been messing with it -

Trying to change out the corners -

Because BOB doesn’t DO mitered corners -

But they are NOT cooperating -


I’ll show you more -

When I have more - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Friday, May 3, 2013

Another day -

Yesterday - after LindaJ mentioned -
How much my Lazy Lefty 9-Patch block -

Looked like Marti Michell’s -
No-Name Four Patch Duo block -

From her book -
Quilting for People Who Still Don’t Have Time to Quilt -
(c) 1998 - Martha G. Michell -
American School of Needlework(R), Inc. -

I dug out the book -


And - sure enough -

It looks the same to me, too - ;))


I'm not strip piecing mine -

And the proportions are a bit different -

But the end block looks the same - ;))

Hers is more pronounced - as LindaJ said -

So the same - but yet not the same - ;))

Both are asymmetrical 9-patches -

But Marti calls hers a 4-patch - ;))

Maybe if I take four of them -

And put a strip down the middle going both ways -

I could call it an original block -

But that’s probably been done before, too - ;))

So I put the book away -

And thought that I would play with my borders -

But I kept getting side-tracked -

And then it was nap time - ;))

Where did the day go?? - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Thursday, May 2, 2013

MAY already -


This is MAY ALREADY?!?! -

Good grief -

The year is almost HALF over - ;))

Before you know it -

It will be the Fourth of July -

Then Labor Day -

Halloween -

Thanksgiving Day -

And Christmas - AGAIN - ;))

I seem to be running out of year already -

And it just started - ;)

So - where am I?!?! -

Lazy Lefty 9-Patch -
The experiment continued -


I made a couple of more sets -
Solid red/orange -
And a solid turquoise -


And separated them into piles -
Positive and negative -


I tried some layouts -

Same fabric -
Positive and negative in opposite corners -
With SMALLER CORNER in the middle -


Same fabric -
Positive and negative in opposite corners -
With LARGER CORNER in the middle -


And some others -
That I won’t bore you with now - ;))

Let’s just say that I have to make -
A whole bunch more 9-patches -
Before they will even begin to look -
Like the picture that I have in my head - ;))

And I’m getting bored again -
So I think that I will work on them -
A few at a time -
While I chase some other “Squirrels” - ;))

May Sudoku Quilt -
I “cut and kitted” the May Sudoku Quilt a while ago -
And it’s May now -
So I should probably work on this one -
Soon - ;))


LTRTCWSA -
I need to figure out a Christmasey something -
To work on this month -
For the "Race" - ;))

I cheated in April -
And didn't work on LTRTCWSA at the end of the month -
Because of the slop-over from March -
At the beginning of the month -

But this is May -
I need something for May - ;))

Floral Applique -
Before I start work on the borders -
I need to do some math -
Oh, the horror!! - ;))

And I need to find one of my rulers -
I could have sworn that I had a special one -
That would be “perfect” for this project -
But who knows where it is hiding these days - ;))

I have the book -

And I have the fabric -

Now I just need to DO IT!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



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