Have You Started Making Gifts for the Holidays Yet?

September 13th, 2014
 
xmas-whole
 
 
I know, I know, it’s only mid-September! I don’t really even want to start THINKING about the holidays yet, but they’ll be here before we know it.  If you’re like me, you’ll want to make some gifts yourself, and who can resist felted wool pin cushions like these:
 
 felted-wool-pincushions
 
These are so easy and so fast to make and quilters and sewists love to receive them!  If you’ve never made these before, we made a short video tutorial that shows you how to do it from start to finish.  If you’re looking for some colorful wool roving to make them with, check out the wool roving in our online store by clicking right here.  And now for the tutorial, so you can see how easy it is for yourself:
 
 
 
 

Filed under gift making, Tips & Tricks. Comments Off on Have You Started Making Gifts for the Holidays Yet?

My Thistle Garden Quilt – Finally Done!

September 10th, 2014
 
I have many friends who routinely leave projects to the last minute and seem to be very comfortable working in that way.  I have always been the type to finish early, just in case a dog might eat my homework or some other calamity might arise. I have done little other than work on this quilt for the last 10 days.  It was completed in the middle of the night last night and there was no time for blocking or even making  proper label, but I met the deadline and it was handed in earlier today.  I’m never working like this again!  Here are some photos:
 
MTG-partially-quilted
 
MTGB-center-section
 
MTGDcorner
 
 
MTGF
 
 
MTGC
 
 
MTGH
 
 
MTGI
 
 
MTGE
 
The quilt blocks/borders were all embroidered/appliqued on my Babylock Ellisimo embroidery machine.  It was an original design that went through many changes as I added new borders to the quilt and discarded other border designs that were lovely but simply did not work well aesthetically.  The final quilt top was quilted on my Pfaff sewing machine (about 1/3) and on my George sit-down machine (about 2/3).  I learned a TON of new things in the process of making this quilt and will be blogging about this stuff over the coming weeks.  I just LOOOOVVVEEE to free motion quilt!  Thank you, Mom, for sending me to learn how to sew when I was young!!  For any of you out there who have children or grandchildren, please teach them to sew and quilt.  Who would have ever guessed that learning some basic sewing skills many decades ago could bring me so much joy and satisfaction over the course of a lifetime?

Filed under Free Motion Quilting, George Sitdown Quilting Machine, Machine Embroidered Applique. 18 Comments

Snippets of My Life Over the Last Several Days

September 6th, 2014

MTG1

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MTG4

MTG5

MTG6

I have been in a self-imposed exile for the last several days, trying to finish quilting this quilt.  For as much progress as I’ve made, there is SO much more left to do that I think there’s a good chance I cannot meet the deadline.  I’ve never left work until the last minute like this and this experience is a good lesson in why one shouldn’t let things go until the 11th hour!

Filed under Free Motion Quilting, Machine Embroidered Applique. 7 Comments

Dropping a Center Design Into a Quilt Block

September 5th, 2014

I am furiously quilting Big Red to try and finish this monster in time to turn it in next week.  This leaves little time for anything else, but I did get a little time with my embroidery machine earlier this week.  This time it was to play more with the block I am calling “Flirty Flower Quartet Block” but instead of creating it in 4 hoopings, the main part of the block was done in 2 hoopings and in the 3rd hooping, a quilting design was dropped into the center. Here is what the finished block looks like:

Flirty-Flower-Quartet-3-pt-split

(Please ignore the crosshairs and jump stitches; I haven’t removed any of them yet.)  That center design was added as a trapunto layer.  Here’s a closeup of it when only the crescent outlines were stitched:

FFQ-center-outline

It’s hard to see because the thread and background fabric are so close, but there is a chain of pearls inside those crescents:

FFQcenter-closeup-outline

…and here’s a close up of the whole center design:

FFQ-closeup-of-quilting-design

This shot of the backside below shows the batting for the trapunto layer.  (The other pieces of white that you see are pieces of  stabilizer that still need to be cut away.)

FFQ-backside

This is the first time I’ve ever worked with this color (gold) but all in all, I’m happy with the way this block is turning out.

FFQ-3-pt-split

Filed under Machine Embroidered Applique, Trapunto. 1 Comment

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