Tacky Quilt things #217

Oh boy....  these were found in the 99cent bin.   I just HAD to have them....so I could blog about them.  

I have this thing about too many quilty tchotchkes in our world.  I mean, I ADORE actual quilts and quilt designs,  design inspirations everywhere, but when I see quilting teacups, towels, curtains, carseat covers, t-shirts, bathroom accessories......or a quilting nail polish design I admit I rolled my eyes a little and giggled too.  And then,

I applied one.   

*blink*

*blink*

 And now I want to apply another.   Do you think hands and toes would be too much? 

Is this taking things too far????  

I am going back for more tomorrow.  

You too can own some -  they are called Sally Hanson Salon Effects in  510 - Mod About You.

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really not sure why i have to do this...but doing it anyway.

Auditioning your machine quilting on your quilt....CHEAP

This is not my idea,  I've read about it in several places, but not sure if my quilting friends know about this trick.    Have you ever wondered if a certain style of quilting would work on your quilt?  Now you can rehearse your ideas directly on your quilt -  with a dry erase marker and vinyl table cloth.

 Purchase -  a clear vinyl table cloth. Mine was called a tablecloth protector, purchased from Walmart for $2.00.   Yes, look who stole the label when I was busy organizing the ideas for this post.  sigh. 

 This comes in different sizes -  mine was 52 x 70.  I cut this into FOUR large pieces.  Keep one out...store the rest for next year, or  give to three friends (Cheryl? Lee?)

Tape the edges, like a fold over binding - I used masking tape, you can use duct tape as well.  This is very very very important.   VERY IMPORTANT.  Because your vinyl is clear, when you are sketching on the vinyl you want to see the edge so you don't accidentally sketch over onto your quilt!

TRUST ME! ahem.

Your vinyl may have a few wrinkles in it, but over time, it will flatten out nicely.  Lay your vinyl over top of your quilt and sketch your ideas onto the vinyl. 

 If you don't like your plan,  it's easy to erase -  with a cloth.

Isn't that the coolest thing??? 

 Another idea -  if you see a design you like in a book, etc.  Do the same thing...trace it onto the vinyl and place the auditioned pattern vinyl onto your quilt.  

I have some pantographs that I have organized in a binder.  A pantograph is a long pre printed pattern that you trace with a laser light...while your machine stitches.  I organized sample copies of the pantographs into my binder and put them in sheet protectors. 

  I traced the sheet protector with a marker and then if I need to audition the pattern on a quilt, I slide the paper copy out...and just use my clear sheet protector to try it out on the fabric....like so. 

Again, these are ideas that have been in use for quite some time, but thought these would be really helpful ideas for domestic machine quilters as well!

Have you ever tried this?   What do you think?   

practice makes near perfect

...or at least better than before.

I practice every night on my whiteboard....I focus on only one shape/design per session, and practice a path how to stitch, if I get stuck somewhere - how to get out, etc. and this week I have been practicing more on quilts.  

 I volunteered to do some quilting with Victoria's Quilts - a charity that provides comfort quilts to people going through cancer treatment. 

Longarm quilting has been slow the past 2 weeks as I finish up designing, piecing and writing a tutorial for a quilt.  It feels so good to get back on the longarm - I absolutely love it. 

A great find at Ikea

 Most of Ikea's fabrics are thick, drapery/upholstery grade.  I found some thinner fabrics on sale for TWO dollars per meter....100% cotton, 150cm wide.   I thought these would be awesome backing fabrics for some bright modern quilts.  

This one is the same quality but it screamed summer picnic quilt to me -   If you look closely there are fruits, veggies, lobsters.... so sweet!   I can imagine pairing this backing up with Pat Sloan's line of Eat Your Fruit and Veggies. 

2.00 a meter....can't go wrong!

Craftsy Class

No...not ME!  LOL  

 I'm giving a shout out to my friend Cheryl Arkison who has just announced she is now part of the Craftsy.com instructors and has a great class to offer.   How cool is that?  I know a Craftsy celebrity! And I've eaten at her house!   

Go check her out!   

Oh yes...and this quilt here?   The one that is a sample feature of her craftsy class?  

It's been quilted by MOI!!

Aviary Quilt

Awhile back, a coworker of my husband got wind that I am a quilter.   She was looking for someone to make her a quilt like this one that she saw on danimiller.com except for her KING sized bed.   I was up for the challenge.   I got her to purchase the fabric and I did the rest.  

Even though it is a simple pattern, working in such a large size is tricky...trying to keep it all squared up,  etc.  

backing...

I quilted it in my favourite style -  the watery meander.  Thank heavens for my longarm quilting machine...this was a breeze to quilt.

Fabric:  Joel Dewberry  Aviary 2

Quilt measurement:  100 x 88 (after shrinking...another post for another day...sigh)  

Next up,  putting together a new quilt...

Quilting Malpractice #267

The Seam Ripper.

Yesterday, my seam ripper went missing.  My beloved 29 year old seam ripper.  Yes, you read that correct.  The one that I stole borrowed in junior high home ec class.  I loved it.   When I couldn't find it anywhere in my studio, I kind of panicked.   Loss of family feeling or something.  I couldn't continue my quilting,  I was at a standstill.  This is where the malpractice comes in....

#1 - always have a backup seam ripper.

#2 - antique seam rippers are for display only, not for daily use

 I decided I needed to buy not one,  but two new seam rippers.   My husband told me that he was shocked...and proud of me to be spending money on a redundant item.  (two of the same thing?)

I bought these two seam rippers...the white one was 5.00 and the blue fancy one was 12.00.   The cheaper one is by far my favourite,  there are just little nuances that feel right, and it just hooks the stitch a little easier.   The blue one has an eraser type end to it to rub the stitch threads away.  It's okay...and will be a good backup.   

Well, both will be good backups, because LOOK WHAT I FOUND after I drove 30km to my nearest quilt shop!!!???

 Naughty dog.   He won't chew anything up, but he will come up and show me what he found - and he dangles it from his lips....

Back to work!

Here are some photos from our recent weekend drive down to Montana....we took the 'Cowboy Trail' from Alberta through the Rockies, and then down to Whitefish, Montana.  Stunning stunning scenery:

Can you see me now?

I've gone to great lengths to be able to see my stitches.   

I'm keeping it real....yeah, I'm a dork.

With or without the led lighting on my longarm machine,  sometimes, I have no idea where my stitches are going - I just cannot see them amongst the fabric.  I have a plan - but I can't see a darn thing.   And it isn't a vision thing...

My machine has a black light which I discovered -  and I kind of giggled with glee that it did...memories of night clubbing all over again...sigh. ( I really need to find those old Cure and Smiths cd's)

But my black light doesn't work on everything.... :( 

 blinded once again.  

I have tried turning all lights off, using my headlamp, etc.  Any suggestions from the audience out there?     

I discovered my headlamp is also great for checking my tension and stitches underneath the quilt.  

I also have a new secret.   Under this machine,  it is really quiet and a super great hiding spot...where no one can bother me.   It's now my number #2 spot behind shower time.  

Live a Colorful Life - The Name Game

I'm totally bashful about this, but I was invited to play over at Live a Colorful Life.   :-)  I love reading this feature every week and have  discovered a whole bunch of new bloggers though The Name Game.  

Did you know that my first blog post was made in 2006?  Holy moly!!  This makes me feel:
a) old
b) a technological whiz
c) lucky to have met so many virtual friends
d) embarrassed that I have that much to say publicly

Hope everyone is having a great week.   I'm working on a custom quilt...yeah...no small starts for me.   She said to 'play'  and 'no pressure'  which makes it even worse.    So, my first 1/3 of the quilt took forever with lots of starts and stops...and now I'm in a groove and am figuring things out.