Books quilts and sewing

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Archive for the tag “sewing”

23 May 2012

My Cat the Quilter

I set my cat to wake me up at 7am this past Saturday and he went off at 5:30am… I think he’s broken. Today he deleted everything I was writing… okay, maybe just the blog that I was writing. Since I was fairly deep into my thoughts at that point and it has been erased I’ll assume that he wanted at least one blog as an ode to him. He likes to give me subtle hints like that when he wants something. I’d like everyone to meet Oliver, my alarm clock, nuisance, conscience, pal, and pest.

Oliver is not type of cat to play with string, he’s way too sophisticated for that. A full bobbin or two batted around the house is more his style just to let you know that he’s the true quilter. When you’re good to him and give his treats on time, he’ll console himself with an empty spool or two though just to prove he’s still a cat and not the devil’s imp.

He’s the one that checks over my work and either gives me a congratulatory meow, or walks over my creation (his way of telling me that it needs to be redone). When I’ve done really well Oliver curls up on top of the quilt and claims it for himself.

If I’m walking back and forth from sewing machine to ironing board, he positions himself directly in the middle of the two to ensure that I receive extra exercise. Of course setting the quilt top out wouldn’t be complete unless just before he jumped on the bed and got under the quilt to be in the way to inspect the underside.

Honestly, Oliver has become so good at quilting and instructing me how to quilt properly that I’ve entered him into a contest. http://www.catswhoquilt.com/ I could not resist as this is so funny because it’s so true.

Do you have any funny stories about your quilting cat?

Posted in Daily, Pets, Uncategorized and tagged cat, crafts, Fabric, pets, Quilting, Quilts, sewing

23 May 2012

3 Comments

Great Book

I originally got this link from http://lazygalquilting.blogspot.com/ and it’s about a book that she suggested and I did end up ordering. If you’re interested in Amish quilts and the history behind them then this book is fantastic.

Posted in Books, Reviews, Uncategorized and tagged amazon, Amish, beginner, books, hand quilting, learning, quilt, Quilting, Quilts, Review, Schoolhouse, sewing

22 May 2012

2 Comments

Shopping for Fabric Again

Where do you shop? Where are the good deals on fabric? Luckily I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area which means that I have a lot of different options.

Here’s my latest find

I’ve gone to a lot of different stores, but keeping going back to the same store when I’m buying in bulk… Joann fabrics. Don’t get me wrong, I always support my local quilt shops and buy a lot of fabric from them, but pinching pennies is really important also and when I’m buying Kona Solids I like to get them for a great price. My favorite buy was 9 yards of the Kona Solids for only $2.80 a yard…. that was a good day.

What constitutes a good deal for you?

Posted in Daily, Reviews and tagged crafts, Fabric, joann, Joann Fabrics, project, quilt, Quilting, Quilts, Review, sewing

21 May 2012

Under the Weather/Radar

I spent most of the weekend working on the Schoolhouse quilt and getting it almost finished, but Sunday I turned my attention back to the Sampler Quilt my wife and I are working on together. I finished the last two blocks and then sewed the panels together. Even though I did a lot of work, I kind of felt out of sorts Sunday and here it is Monday and I’m definitely feeling under the weather.

Today will be spent relaxing and taking it easy, though I might try to finish the binding on the Christmas quilt that I spent so much time hand quilting. That project took so long and it is time to have that completed. When you feel under the weather, do you continue to do projects or just try and relax?

On another note, my daughter finished sewing her blocks together and will finish sewing the panels together this morning. Let her know what you think… This is going to be her very first quilt, she chose the pattern, fabrics, and colors all by herself.

Posted in Daily, Uncategorized and tagged beginner, crafts, daughter, Fabric, hand quilting, learning, project, quilt, Quilting, Quilts, Sew, sewing, Sewing machine, Viking | Leave a comment

19 May 2012

1 Comment

My children are thieves

My third quilt to go missing is now in Maryland with my son who is in the Air Force. He was on his way to his new base and was visiting us for a week in between bases. I was in the process of putting together a Jelly Roll quilt from the fabric that my wife and daughter had bought me for Christmas.

And speaking of, when I pulled out the Jelly Roll from its wrapping it took me a while to realize what it was. It’s not like I haven’t seen one before, I had just never envisioned using one for a quilt. What’s a guy to do when you’re given something that you don’t know what to do with? I very politely said thanks, and put it away for a while in my fabric bin.

A couple of months later while I was looking to buy some quilt books (I have said before that I have a problem buying too many right?) I came across a dozen or so books on making Jelly Roll quilts. Naturally i bought a few and even purchased some magazines on the topic at a local fabric store.

The quilts featured in these publications certainly looked fun to make and something that I could maybe finish in a weekend. I was happy with how the quilt top turned out and sent it off to my wonderful Long Arm quilter. When I picked the quilt up after it was finished it had been transformed from a good quilt into a work of art.

It was at this point in the story that our son arrived. Like any good child who shows up just as the meal is being set to the table, or when the last nail is being driven home on a project, he shows up just as I’m putting the binding on my first Jelly Roll quilt. I have to say that the colors where more to his liking than some of the previous quilts that I had made, more… manly. Over the course of the week he made it clear how much he wanted it and in the end, I had to give in.

Have you ever had your crafts find another home though you didn’t plan on it?

Posted in Daily and tagged crafts, Fabric, Jelly Roll, learning, project, quilt, Quilting, Quilts, Sew, sewing, son, Viking

18 May 2012

The Schoolhouse blocks are finished!!

I’ve said before that I work in IT (Information Technology), what that basically means is I sit at a desk and am on the computer a LOT… So yesterday, I was thinking about getting home from work and being able to do more work on the Schoolhouse quilt. One of my commitments however, is to get to the gym at least 3 times a week because, let’s be honest… I am NOT getting enough exercise at work! Some weeks I make it to the gym three times and sometimes just once.

Even though I’m practically desperate to finish those Schoolhouse blocks, I knew it was time for me to get myself to the gym. When I arrived home from work, I had about 30 minutes until my wife would get home as well and change into my workout outfit so we could go to the gym. I quickly changed and then started sewing!! I imagine it was a funny sight when my wife saw her husband in shorts and running shoes on my Viking Sapphire furiously trying to get a little bit more sewing completed before we left. She did laugh by the way.

By the time we arrived back at the house, it was 7:30pm and we had a very nice dinner that we brought home. After dinner I proceeded to spend the next 2 ½ hours getting my blocks put together, ironed, and trimmed. I’m very happy with how they turned out and when I looked at the clock and saw that it was past 10pm I knew that I’d accomplished everything I had wanted. I know the blocks are not perfect, I haven’t quite got the ¼” seam down as much as I’d like to think, but I’m proud nonetheless at how well this quilt is coming together. I still have to sew the sashing on to bring the blocks together and then put on the border. What color should I use for the backing??? I still haven’t decided and would really like some input.

Tonight and tomorrow, I’ll be working on the sampler quilt with my wife to finish the last two blocks and start sewing that quilt top together. I’ll post photos of that tomorrow. I will finish the Schoolhouse quilt top this weekend and hopefully come up with an idea of what to do to the backing by then as well.

Posted in Daily and tagged Amish, crafts, Fabric, hand quilting, learning, project, quilt, Quilting, Quilts, Sapphire, sewing, Sewing machine, Viking | Leave a comment

15 May 2012

4 Comments

Too many projects!!

Too many projects and not enough time…

How many of us know and have said this exact line?

I have so many open projects right now that I find myself jumping from one to another… currently I have 5 projects and a redesign that I’m having fun with. I am definitely not saying I’m overwhelmed, or maybe I am, but just… happily overwhelmed.

My Christmas quilt that was hand-quilted needs it’s binding finished, I sewed the binding on one side, started hand stitching it down and then moved onto another project.
I made a beautiful Amish mini quilt for a swap group. In the early stages of making the mini, I knew right away I was in love with it. I had misgivings about swapping it, but rather than keeping it for myself and making something else for the swap, I realized that by not sharing what I considered a worthy piece of art, people out in the world would never truly know my efforts, my creative talents or skill level. In the end, I submitted my mini for voting and sent it off to the lucky recipient in Germany. To combat my separation anxiety (Has anyone else felt this way about giving up something they’ve made?) I proceeded to make another immediately. Thus, project number two is sitting in its hoop, mocking me from the end of the couch.
I had cut out all of the pieces for my Amish schoolhouse quilt, then decided I liked another pattern better and am in the process of cutting that down to piece together.
I FINALLY started the center block for my Block of the Month quilt from Joann Fabric called “Arbor Lane” and have to finish that up. All the blocks will be done at that point, but I’ll need to piece it all together… I can hardly wait until this one comes back from the quilters!
I’m helping my daughter piece her very first quilt together and am very excited to see how it turns out. I’ll post one of the squares here so you can see where’s it’s going.

While all of this is going on, my wife was looking through Elm Creek Quilts and came across a really nice looking pattern called a Sampler. We both looked at each other and said… “We could do this!!” It has 12 blocks and she and I have completed 8 of the 12 as of today. This will be the third quilt that we’ve made together.

All in all, I’m very happy with the various projects we have in the works and can’t wait to share them with you. How many are you currently working on?

Posted in Daily and tagged beginner, crafts, Fabric, hand quilting, learning, manage, project, Quilting, Quilts, sewing

11 May 2012

2 Comments

Persian Plum Block 1

Persian Plum

Block 1 Roundup

The first block in the set… With great anticipation I pulled the fabric from the package and my heart skipped a beat. There in my hands was a miss-cut piece of a triangle, and I couldn’t believe that right out of the gate I would be disappointed. As I continued to examine the pieces supplied however, my disappointment turned to excitement as I realized that it was extra!! There were already four PERFECT triangles to use and I can only assume that someone decided to include it in the kit rather than wasting a perfectly good piece of scrap!!

The other two comments are about the color and density of the fabric they choose. This is NOT cheap fabric and no matter how many pictures I post, they would never do the fabric justice. It is thick without being too thick and got me thinking about how heavy and wonderfully durable this quilt is going to be when complete. The color of the fabric has such depth and complexity as I mentioned in an earlier post, but doesn’t compare to actually holding it outside of the package. Only one word describes it… “WOW”

Below are the pictures of assembling Block 1 from the Persian Plum Block of the Month from Joann Fabrics… Let me know what you think.

Here are the triangles that came with the kit

Sewing the smaller triangles together

All the triangles joined together

Here is the finished block…

Block 1 Compared to the package!! Not bad right?

Posted in Daily, Reviews and tagged beginner, block of the month, crafts, Fabric, joann, Quilting, Quilts, Review, Sew, sewing

09 May 2012

Quilt swap II

A word on quilt swaps, or maybe more than just one word… I entered into my second quilt swap three weeks ago and as I previously wrote was determined to make a better showing than the first one I entered. What’s a quilt swap?

There are different kinds at different sites and all have their own unique set of rules. I joined one on Flickr called Little Quilt – Sew, Vote, Swap Group at this site. http://www.flickr.com/groups/sew_vote_swap/
The basics of this site is to make a mini quilt no smaller than 12” x 12” and no larger than 20” x 20” using your best effort. The quilt must be bound and quilted either by machine or hand before entering the quilt in the swap at a pre-determined date. Once that cutoff date is reached, the moderator posts a voting sheet to each quilter where you set your preferences from 1 thru 20. One being the quilt you want to be sent most, two being your second choice and so on…

Not to get too much further into the rules, depending on how many votes your quilt receives determines which of your choices that you’ll receive. During the first quilt swap I ended up literally swapping with the person. You guessed it, as big as the odds are on something like that, the person that was to receive my quilt was the person whose quilt I received as well.

So bring it back to the current or second quilt swap, mine will be traveling outside of the country, but whose quilt do you think I received… You guessed it, the same person who made the last mini quilt in the first swap. You’d think I’d be upset, although I wish I could have received one from another quilter for variety I was happy to receive a beautiful quilt from a true artist. I did send her a quick note saying that she should just send me her next one as well ahead of the swap…

Here is the beautiful quilt that I received on this second swap!!

As for how well my quilt finished, I learned a very valuable lesson throughout all this. It really doesn’t matter because everyone views art differently and when you create something that you’re proud of… You’ve already won.

Have you had any interesting quilt swap experiences?

Posted in Daily, Quilt Swap and tagged mini quilt, quilt, quilt swap, Quilting, sewing | Leave a comment

04 May 2012

4 Comments

Using my Viking Sapphire 835

I’ve recently purchased an amazing sewing machine. I started out with a Brilliance 6180 Singer sewing machine which I still love for a lot of different reasons and if there’s enough interest later on I’ll give a review of it. For now I want to talk about the new sewing machine in my life, the Viking Sapphire 835.

This machine was obviously made for large amounts of work. I have to say that like a lot of other people that I talked to spending over $1000 for a sewing machine was an enormous leap from the $200 I paid for my Singer. I went to several different stores and once I located a Joann’s that I wanted to make the purchase at, I had to have visited it on six different occasions before finally making the purchase.

To say that I had a long learning curve with this machine would be an understatement… I stopped sewing for two days at one point because I couldn’t figure out how to set up the stitch I wanted. The NOISE!!! How can I describe the feeling and joy of being able to hear while sewing? There are too many favorites to say that one function is better than another, but being able to hear is definitely in the top five. What other improvements do I love? I’m sure we’ve all been sewing and then have reached a seam or two that changes the thickness that we’re sewing through… Sewing with the Sapphire you won’t miss a beat, or have your seam move. The machine effortlessly glides over whatever thickness of fabric you happen to be sewing through. That alone has turned out to be worth the cost.