Katie's Quilts and Crafts

T-shirt Quilt for Police Officer

2012-02-13T12:48:00.002-05:00

This Quilt was a commission quilt made for a friend of the Nitro, WV Police Officer who was hit by a car

Around the borders I machine embroidered (free-motion) the text from their wedding. I used Wonderfil's "Spaghetti" thread (12wt) and an embroidery needle.

I stippled/meander quilted most of this quilt. I ripped out the seams of a few police uniforms and used the uniform material for a few of the blocks. On other blocks, I just took off the badges and appliqued them onto t-shirt material.

The backing is WVU colors and the hanging sleeve is in the same color.

Finished size 40" x 50"

Vote for my quilt!

2012-02-11T19:18:00.004-05:00

http://quiltinggallery.com/2012/02/10/commemorative-quilts/

Click this link to vote for my quilt. . "Ruby Red Anniversary Quilt" PLEASE!!!

I entered this quilt into the contest because the theme is "commemorative quilts."

I made this for my friends Mark and Kristen's parents on their 40th wedding anniversary.

I put alot into this quilt and it is one of my proudest quilts to date. This family is very special to me.

Versatile Blogger

2012-02-08T21:30:00.005-05:00

The Versatile Blogger

I feel SOOO Special that Sue Dario recognized ME for a "Versatile Blogger" award.

I just had to play along!

Here are the rules:

1. Add the award to YOUR blog.

2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.

3. Mention 7 random things about yourself.

4. List the Rules.

5. Award to 15 other bloggers.

6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven random things about ME:

1. I hate cheese

2. I love bluegrass

3. I have a piebald dachshund named Louie

4. I quilt with my feed dogs UP and don't change the stitch length ever

5. I started quilting because I love to dye fabric

6. I was a contestant on the Price is Right

7. I love dill pickles.

Okay hmmm. . time to pick 15 amazing bloggers!!!

Lets see lets seee. . . .

1. For my number one I will have to choose my dear friend Jonua Besnard from France. She makes beautiful jewelry and I just love her to pieces!!!

2. Vic and her Park Hill Farm blog - I love following along on her quilting adventures!

3. I would like to award one to Susan's Texas Adventures. .because she hosted an awesome giveaway and I WON! ;c)

4. The Bitchy Stitcher - because of her 8-step HSTs and . . well. . gotta love her blog name! LOL

5. my Friend Summer's blog "Crazy Days of Summer" . . I love following her crazy mommy adventures!

6. Jaime McCumbers just started a new blog "Welcome to MommyLand" and her stories of mommyhood are hilarious!

7. Summer's Sister Holly also has a crazy Mommy blog "Welcome to My Life"

8. A fellow WVian and quilter - "At Home in the Heavenly Hills of WV"

9. I've been a follower of "Beth's Blog" for awhile. . always full of beautiful photos of nature and quilts and her dyed pretties.

10. Almost forgot about my Husband's Blog- all about the grateful dead lyrics, music, etc.,

11. Visit Kat at Scrapbox Quilts to check out her latest projects!

12. I have to list Sue Dario in here too. . . I love reading her blog!!

13. My Aunt LINDA's slacking on her blogging and I miss it!

14. CHARITY's also been slacking on the blog job ;c)

15. I haven't heard much out of JESSICA in a while. . she needs to get back at it!

So if you've made the cut. . try to play along!!! Or visit these other lovely bloggers for some eye candy or a laugh.

Adrian's T-Quilt

2012-02-08T10:36:00.004-05:00

Adrian's T-Shirt Quilt finished!! I love the Reds and Tie-dyed shirts. . I love having at least one tie-dye in a Tquilt . . it really brightens up the whole thing.

Here's a closeup. . Hearts in the burgundy areas, I quilted some little pebbles in a few of the narrow strips, outlines in some of the black areas and ecchos in the white areas.

Even closer Closeup:

I eccho quilted around Adrian's embroidered name this time. . . I really like how it turned out.

I did extra small stippling in this white area. . . curvy lines in between each row of text. Pebbles in that one "Poca" logo. Paisleys in the grey areas. . . hearts in the burgundy areas. For this quilt's Year/Date I used burgundy T-shirt material and I LOVE HOw it turned out. The last couple quilts I used regular quilting fabric. . but the t-shirt material gives that fun raw-edge look to it.

Paisleys in the grey areas.

Squiggles in the tie-dye areas in Red thread and hearts in the burgundy areas.

I almost forgot to quilt this little white strip! So I pulled the quilt down and decided to do a small bit of Mc Tavishing. . . oh does it show up nicely on the t-shirt material!!

I quilted a feather in one block for each girl.

Here's the back - we used Red this time because the majority of her shirts were red (Poca High School) I was having some tension issues with this backing material. I'm not sure why. The first thing I did was applique the year "2012" on there and it was really giving me problems. I decided to do the whole thing with matching threads from the front. I used same color thread in the bobbin and in the top. So the back is a quilt in itself. . showing off the quilting stitches even more!

Here's a closeup of the back and all the fun stitches

Jonua's having a contest!!

2012-02-07T12:21:00.003-05:00

My good friend Jonua from France is hosting a giveaway/referral contest over on her BLOG and FACEBOOK page!!! Be sure to hop over there and check it out. You have the chance to win some amazing hand-made jewelry from France!!!

Not into contests? You can at least check out her etsy shops.

FRENGLISH

~or~

J RACHEL BESNARD DESIGNS

Again here's the link to her blog -> CLICK HERE

=cD

I changed my blog - what do you think?

2012-02-01T12:36:00.001-05:00

My blog has been a sickly yellow/orange color for several years now. I'm ready for a change.

I love plum! So plums, pinks, and greys are going to be my color for awhile. I also changed my header photo. That tie-dyed quilt was very old.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hand-Dyed Contest Winner

2012-01-28T10:17:00.003-05:00

Congrats to Judy!

I've emailed you . . . send me your snail mail address and I will get these mailed out to you.

Project Quilting #2 Making Music

2012-01-25T11:36:00.004-05:00

Here it is. . TADA. . my "Project Quilting" challenge entry.

The song I chose for this project is "The Music Never Stopped." The original artist is John Barlow but the version I like best is when Bobby Weir sings it from the Grateful Dead.

This is a Reversible Quilted Tote.

I used my grated hand-dyed fabrics for this tote and quilted it with my new machine using variegated metalic thread.

Here are some shots before the tote was assembled:

For the red contrasting pocket I quilted a "hearts" motif. - one of my favorite stitches.

I quilted a large feather on this side

The blue contrasting pocket holds a treble clef, and stippled background

For the musical notes I used Steam-a-Seam II light. The fabric is a fuzzy fabric I hand-dyed brown. . I used a raw-edge applique stitch to secure.

After I had assembled the sides, straps I was ready to turn it RIGHT-SIDE OUT. Since I used batting on both the lining AND the outside . . to make it reversible and have both parts quilted. . it was a bit of trouble getting it turned. This part reminded me of the old "Popples" dolls. tee hee.

Alright. . all done!

I'm not certain which side is the correct "outside" and "inside" . . But here is the RED sides:

and here is the blue sides:

Closeup of the treble clef pocket

You have until Sunday at Noon to join in the "Project Quilting" Challenge over at Kim's Crafty Apple!

Oh and BTW, go HERE to my previous post to WIN a "jelly roll" of these exact hand dyes. Leave me a comment on that post by Friday for a chance to win.

Small Giveaway - hand dyed "jelly roll"

2012-01-23T14:20:00.006-05:00

I would like to share a small bit of my hand dyed fabric with someone.

Here are some photos:

There are about 23 different fabrics gradating from light to dark and blue to red. They are HAND-cut (by myself) into 2.5" strips. The red group of strips are a bit shorter than the blue and they are different lengths. What I'm saying is this is NOT a perfect group of strips, but I would love to see what someone else can do with them.

As you can see by the photos, the dye within each strip will be lighter on one end, and darker on the other. Some will look more solid, and some more dyed/marbled.

Leave a comment on my blog by Friday January 27th telling me what you think you could do with the strips and I'll pick a random winner and mail them out the following Monday.

Giveaway only open to US residents (I'm sorry.)

Please include your email in the comment if you're signing annonymously so I can contact you if you win.

TQuilt Finish

2012-01-22T13:18:00.005-05:00

2nd GWHS Tquilt finished . . just stitched the last few stitches on the binding. . but wait! OOPS. . I see I missed a small grey rectangle. HAHA. . this is where I was going to put my feather. Welp.. back to the machine I go!

Another shot of the previous quilt. . where the light is right to the side it really shows the quilting

My little strip of paisleys. . so cute!

another closeup

In the black areas i did an outline stitch.

both of the quilts together

Closeup of paisleys or as someone on pinterest called them: "Melty Teardrops" LOVE IT!

Look how awesome the pebbles showed up on these green shirts!

Another photo of both of the quilts:

I just love T-shirt quilts . . it's like my canvas. Thread is my paint.

This week I will be working on a memory quilt for a lady in Texas!

I'm trying to incorporate the "TExas Tears" Quilt block in there somewhere. . just because the name is so appropriate.

Also this week. . Project Quilting's new Theme "Making Music"

SO EXCITING!

Finally got my new sewing machine working!

2012-01-21T15:49:00.001-05:00

Here she is in action!

"Screw" IT

2012-01-19T21:35:00.009-05:00

See that little black screw that holds the needle in on my new machine? THATS what's holding me back from quilting with it. I know exactly what size screw I need, I just have to find it. I have'nt had time to go to the hardware store and look, but I HAVE looked online and wouldn't ya know it. . they're all sold out everywhere!

I went to Mr Sewing Machine in Dunbar, WV on Tuesday. They ordered me a darning foot for this machine. They're really nice up there and he took the time to show me how to attach it how it operates. He also WARNED me that I would need a new screw for it. The screw is appropriately named . "Juki Walking Foot Screw"

I love the little greeter they have up there. This is what you see when you walk into their little shop:

So. . . what else has been going on. . .
I recently had a birthday, and my sister got me a new cutting mat! It's AWESOME. 24" x 36" Here's a photo of my OLD self-healing mat on top of my NEW one.

Also . . as a late birthday gift . . I got my HAIR done. . here's a before/after shot:

And here are just a few photos I wanted to share. .
Isn't this the cutest thing? I like to stay up late and sleep in. It's hard to get my body and mind to relax when I'm in the middle of a quilt project. But looking at my two boys so comfy wrapped in a quilt SURE helps!
This quilt is my Carolina Christmas (a Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville mystery pattern)

I was walking the other day and it had just stormed. The Sun was setting and the street lights cast this eery glow onto the building they're doing construction on down the road. I was out walking Louie and had my iphone and took some photos:

There's quilt inspiration everywhere... I only wish you could somehow take photos of your dreams.

OH! and one more thing. . . Today i finished the Top of the 2nd Tquilt for the GWHS girls. I think it turned out GREAT . but like I said. . they had VERY colorful shirts to work with.

I have the whole day tomorrow to do the quilting and should be done by tomorrow.

Project Quilting #1 Architectural Elements - "Tin Roof, Rusted"

2012-01-15T16:15:00.006-05:00

This Quilt is called "Tin Roof, Rusted"

Yes, I know it's corny. . but I love naming quilts after songs and lyrics.

My inspiration comes from the original tin Roof in my apartment. I live and work in a 3,000 square foot apartment which is the upstairs of a VERY old building in Milton, WV. The Tin roof has the most amazing pattern in it and I have always wanted to design a quilt after it.
Project Quilting Gave me that opportunity!. . or lit a fire under my butt. . however you want to look at it!

What did I learn from this ? I learned how to do MITERED CORNERS! As many quilts as I have made in my lifetime, I have never once attempted mitered corners. This quilt has SIXTEEN OF THEM!!! The inner miters are 1/2" fINISHED. . not a good beginning project to learn . . but I managed. ;c)
The Miters took me a bit longer than I anticipated so I didn't get as much quilting in as I had hoped. I'm going to add a bit more quilting today.

this is the photo I sent in to the contest. I added a bit more quilting to the quilt since.

Here's a closeup of the added stuff:

I added some pebbles in the center squares and echo quilting around the edges.

Here's some photos of my roof in my apt.

I have just been informed that this should NOT be called a "roof" (LOL) it should be called a ceiling. BUT, I've always called it my tin "roof" so I'm sticking with it and you can just consider me blonde.

GO HERE FOR ALL THE "PROJECT QUILTING" ENTRIES:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1401824@N21/pool/with/6702466149/

They are ALL so good!!!

Go HERE for more info about Project Quilting

1 Tquilt done!

2012-01-13T15:29:00.006-05:00

Finished Molly's T-Shirt Quilt

I embroidered the name free-motion with a wide, zig-zag stitch in burgundy thread

I used the background fabric to applique "2012" and a raw-edge applique stitch.

For the burgundy parts of the quilt I used a HEARTS quilt motif.

The light blue areas I used a paisley stitch

In the blue areas I did an echo motif.

I couldn't get a good photo of the black areas. . but I used pebbles in those areas.

I put a little feather in this area. . SO CUTE!

Happy Birthday to me ;c)

2012-01-12T17:01:00.004-05:00

It's mah birthday!

And what will I be doing today?!

I've been working on a T-shirt quilt for a customer. These quilts are made up of some GORGEOUS t-shirts . . so the quilts will be awesome.

The blank areas of the quilt I filled in with some fancy quilting. There were two plain white areas I added to this quilt. In one area I appliqued "2012" with raw-edge applique. In the other I free-motion embroidered the girl's name "Molly" with a wide, zig-zag stitch.

The school colors are Burgundy and White. I'm using burgundy as the backing fabric and right now I am planning on binding in black. Just because I think black will look much better than white. ;c)

Project Quilting - Architectural Elements

2012-01-09T21:33:00.003-05:00

(Photo courtesy of Florian Besnard)

Has anyone seen this? This kind of thing totally excites me! It's like taking a free art class.

It's like project runway except for quilting. Head on over to Kim's Crafty Apple for all the details.

Basically you have one week to make a quilt based on specifications or a certain theme. Then you share at the end of the week and there's a chance to win prizes even if you DONT win!

The thing I look forward to most is having my work professionally critiqued.

The first challenge theme is "Architectural Elements"

I have repeated these two words over and over in my head since yesterday. I've asked around to different people and asked them what this phrase means to them. Basically everyone came up with the same answer . .

"Things that make a building unique"

I've had some really great ideas thrown my way, but haven't settled on anything quite yet.

The main thing holding me back is.. I don't want to use a photo from the internet. I would rather use something closer to home as inspiration.

Again go to Kim's Crafty Apple to join in the fun.

I'll post more of my progress later in the week. ;c)

Thank you DAD for assembling my new sewing machine!

2012-01-08T21:03:00.006-05:00

Here she is! All assembled. My new Quilting machine.

It's a Juki DDL 8700 - industrial strength lockstitch machine.

You may be wondering why I chose this machine of all the machines out there in the world? Well, for starters, it's an AMAZING price! You can't get the speed, accuracy, reliability, and throat plate space for less than 1,000 on a DSM.

I can proudly say I would never have been able to assemble this on my own. Thankfully, my Father is a contractor. He is amazing when it comes to these things and he was able to get it done in a little over 4 hours total. That's impressive folks!

This is my Dad, Keith Hager. When he first arrived at my flat, he said to me "just as long as I don't lose any hair I'll be okay"

He's always the jokester! lol

My Dad's Wife, Donna Hager, is assisting him across the table. She has more patience than I can comprehend. She kindly sits and helps as Dad constructs my sewing machine, table and motor. She would hand him various tools that I don't even recognize by the name.

Dad gets the table and frame together at last!. He has attached the motor to the underside of the table, the bobbin winder, and the foot pedal at this point.

He has the instructions (with photos) on the table.

I will say that the photos don't do much good at all though. They are written in Japanese and then translated.. . . badly. Here are some of the examples of the instructions:

"Tight the pulley" and

"Put the Belt"

We HAD to get a photo of Dad scratching his head. Please let there be a few hairs left!!

Here he is tightening the belt. Isn't that attached lamp awesome?!

By George I think we've got it!

A photo of all the boxes the whole package came in...

This photo is of all the "extra" parts! hahahaha

I know . . SCARY right?!

I took this shot sideways to show you the WHOLE machine.

My new Jukibaby. She runs like a dream! She is kind of hard to thread, but once you get her threaded she goes and goes. This machine has a "servo" motor, as opposed to a "clutch" motor. It's supposed to be more quiet than regular industrial motors. I was skeptical. BUT, once I got her humming along. . she IS INDEED quiet!! As a matter of fact, quieter than my little Janome home sewing machine that I USED to do all my FMQ on!!!

I still have to get a high-shank darning foot for this machine. I'll let you know how my free-motion quilting goes once I do. I'm SOOOOO excited!

It's NO longarm. . but I think this badboy machine will last me for QUITE a few years until I can afford one.

Thank you SOOOOO much to my mom, Terrie Bowen for my Christmas present.

This was NOT a cheap machine to purchase as a gift and I am so appreciative.

Thank you to my Dad for buying the table and installing it for me for my birthday. I am so VERY blessed and grateful to you both!

NYE Mystery Quilt Top w/o Borders

2012-01-06T23:32:00.005-05:00

This quilt. . was very difficult for me! I think it was just something about the construction method that was not like my usual piecing methods. You can see it was difficult for me because many of the seams don't match up perfectly LOL

Oh well, it's like that song by Cathy Miller. . "you can quilt that out." ;c) Hopefully some intricate machine quilting will bring it to life!

I'm thiinking about doing a few different borders for this. I was thinking about doing a thin-line of blue, and then a wider outer border of brown or burgundy. I have paid projects coming up though, so I'll have to quilt this at a later date.

This quilt was made using all 2.5" strips from a Quiltville Swap. I swapped Neutrals, and Civil War strips. What I noticed alot of is this:

and this:

In the first photo you can see that some of the strips were 1/8" wider or 1/8" smaller than 2.5" As you know this can add up over time. . I trimmed the ones down, and still used the too-small ones.

In the 2nd photo you can see how crooked some of them were cut. This is what I would like to talk about. If you lay out your folded fabric (folded once) on your cutting mat, I really don't know how this problem can happen. You line up your folded edge on the "1" line, and use a clear 6" x 24" ruler to cut. If you cut from the right edge of your fabric, you will have several inches of ruler holding down your fabric in place as you cut.

I believe you need at least an 18" x 24" self-healing cutting mat to effectively cut strips!

I know that some of my friends use a smaller mat, and have to fold the fabric MORE than once. Of course if you are going to have more than one fold in your fabric it would make it THAT much more likely to have curves/lumps in your strips.

And here's the thing, these swapped strips are HALF width-of-fabric. Therefore, you shouldn't have any lumps at all. What you could do if you're swapping half WOF strips is this: FIRST cut your fabric in half at the folded edge. Press smooth WITH STARCH. Then you can fold THAT piece of fabric. This will allow you to JUST be dealing with ONE fold in which you can line up on the "1" marking and cut with a wide acrylic ruler.

I know there are several other reasons why there could be these large curves or lumps in long strips. Sometimes people tend to "iron" their fabric instead of "pressing" it.

My biggest suggestion there is STARCH STARCH STARCH!!!

Press your fabric by lightly pressing down, starting at the folded edge, and then going up the middle of the fabric. Then out toward the edges. If you're using starch, you will see where yo'uve previously pressed.

I know alot of fabric companies now don't pay as much attention to grainline, but if the original cut of fabric isn't cut along the grain line, that could cause stretching and problems too.

This is why, when I get a new cut of fabric, I will unfold it and press it as a whole piece. . then RE-fold it for cutting on the mat.

Sorry for that small rant. Swapping fabrics is a great way to build stash and not spend a "whole" lot of money.

To sum up: Every quilter/fabric swapper SHOULD have a large enough self-healing cutting mat and 6" wide acrylic ruler. If you don't have a large mat, cut at the folded edge first and THEN fold one half at a time to cut your strips.

PRESS your fabrics, don't iron.

STARCH IS YOUR FRIEND!!!

Updated my Facebook and Etsy Shop!

2012-01-06T17:29:00.004-05:00

I added a couple new Custom Items to my etsy shop and updated my facebook page.

I know most of my blog readers make quilts on their own. This is for those who would like to have a t-shirt quilt or memory quilt made by me!

Find me on Facebook:

facebook.com/KatiesQuiltsandCrafts

Etsy:
KatiesQuiltsNCrafts.etsy.com (used to be KumQuatMae.etsy.com)

Also find me on PINTEREST!!! I am constantly updating my boards with FREE tutorials for Quilts and Craft patterns!

Pinterest.com/Krati

Ann M Smith New Years Eve Mystery Fabric Strips

2012-01-01T23:47:00.006-05:00

I have been at this all day. One would think I would have already started sewing on this already. Or at least pressing or cutting into the fabric!!! Nope, because I believe this is my favorite part! Sorting, organizing and generally playing in my fabric. ;c)

This mystery calls for 3 fabrics and a background.

Fabric #1) (Medium) =Medium Civil War Prints from a swap

Fabric #2) (Pop?) = Dark Civil War Prints from a swap

Fabric #3) (Medium) = Medium Civil War Prints from a swap

Background - Neutrals from a swap.

This quilt is going to be totally, and deliciously, scrappy!

The first thing I had to do was dump out all of my swapped strips onto the table.

Here you have the neutrals on the left, and all the yummy civil war prints on the right.

These are all swaps from quiltville!

The next thing I did was organized the prints into Darkest, Medium, and lightest piles.

Here are the CW prints . . I didn't get a photo of the neutrals. . but those were separated too.

After I seperated them, I grouped them by mystery CLUE.

I had the PERFECT amount of CW strips for a LAP-sized quilt. I wanted to use just the dark and medium neutrals for this quilt and save the lightest ones for Orca Bay.

This worked out pretty perfectly too. I'm going to need to cut about 4 more 2.5" strips from my stash of neutrals. . but I think it is worth it to save all the pretty Xtra LIGHT neutrals for another mystery.

Here are my leftover Xtra light neutrals ;c)

It's midnight now so I'm headed to bed and will start pressing and cutting for this quilt in the morning. Anyone else doing Ann Smith's NYE mystery?

Purses - Ann Smith mystery

2012-01-01T15:37:00.005-05:00

I just finished a couple purses/totes. I tried to add them to my dECEMBER list but unfortunately could not finish them until today.

Oh well I still had a very successful december.

Here they are made with scrap civil war prints:

Now, in keeping with the birthday theme. . and until I get some definite orders. . I'm going to be making "me" stuff. It's my birthday month!!!

So I'm now starting the mystery by Ann M Smith in the fabricaholics anonymous yahoo group.

Fabrics I'm using? surprise surprise. . CIVIL WAR PRINTS! lol

I can't help it I love them and just thing they are delicious!

So here they all are . .. Civil War 2.5" strips and Neutral 2.5" strips from a Quiltville swap. I've been itching to use them together in a quilt. This mystery is the perfect opportunity.

In case you're wondering about me and Orca Bay.. I'm waiting just a bit to start that one. I want to wait until I receive my strips from a brown swap on quiltville. which should be at the end of this month. I don't have many blacks and would prefer to use dark brown for that color.

Besides brown IS my favorite color!

Merry Christmas!! -JUKI DDL 8700

2011-12-26T12:49:00.005-05:00

I think I got everything I asked for, for Christmas and more. I am truly blessed. . TRULY blessed!!! Christmas morning I woke up with that song in my head by the Gaithers "Greatly Blessed, Highly Favored, Imperfect but Forgiven Child of God!"

It's been such an amazing year for me. So SO many quilts finished. . and what more could a quilter ask for?!

For Christmas this year. . I got . . . THIS:

It's a Juki DDL 8700 - Not sure how to assemble it. . and I can't even LIFT the thing by myself. It weighs 80lbs!!!! I know these machines go really good on a table/frame but I'm just using it as a sit-down machine. . I'm trying to find the perfect sturdy table to put it on right now. Because once it gets situated I canNOT move it!

Can't wait for DH to get home and help me with it!!! He also had to help me with my new iphone. . still not quite sure how to use that either. something tells me that I'll have more luck with the sewing machine than the phone though. . LOL

Here's some other QUILTY things I got for Christmas:

3 large spools of cotton quilting thread from C&C

One package of Neutral thread from Connecting Threads

Fiskers rotary cutter and blades (I'll probably stick to my original olfa cutter though LOL)

Colored and white chalk pencils

A blue quilt marker

A SQUARE quilt ruler. . YAY!!!

and some bobbins for my new Juki!!!

Some white and darkbrown/burgundy fabric yardage!

And look at what my sister did for me!!!!

She has ALL these old magazines . . I kept hinting to her that I really could use the subscription cards out of the magazines for my English Paper Piecing projects. . .

Well I never expected this. . . I get the box and she says to me. . "this gift took the most time for me" LOL. . . . I open it up and she has pulled out ALLL of the index cards out of her magazines for me!!1 Is that not the most thoughtful, sweet, awesome gift ever?! My sister is awesome!

So yes, it's been an amazing Christmas for me. .

Has anyone used this machine before? I can't wait to get'r going!

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December was a super busy month for me. . I finished more projects this month than ever before.

Here are all of my finishes for December, 2011 -

4 memory quilts - these were made with their father's clothes and photos - I embroidered sayings in the borders. This was such a special project to be a part of, and when they sent me this photo of them with their quilts, I cried!!

A memory quilts for my moms secret sister at Church Joyce Jimison.

A memory quilts for a lady in NY's daughter. We used her daughters photos and really BRIGHT colors. . this was a super fun quilt to make!!

A tote with contrasting pockets made with Kate Spain fabric for my friend Megan Howard's sister.

I didn't get a pic of the finished and bound quilt. . but here is one with the quilting finished. This is a lonestar I made for my friend Jaime's mom for Christmas.

I also made a round table cloth for my mom.

So all of these were finished in the month of December. Can you believe it??

Needless to say I am now finally catching up on my sleep. But there is NOTHING in the world I would rather have done with my time. What a great month and a great feeling!

I hope everyone had a successfull and Merry Christmas!!!

Looking forward to another great year full of sewing and Quilting!!

SUPER Busy

2011-12-10T09:55:00.006-05:00

I have been super duper busy this month. . but I would like to take just a moment and share my latest two quilts. Both of these are memory quilts. The colorful ROYGBV one was for a lady I met through etsy. The photos were 4" x 6" with feather quilting in the colored "framed" areas.

The civil war colored one was for my mom's secret sister at church. The photos in this one are 1.75" finished. In the blocks I used CW strips from a swap I participated in on quiltville. My mom picked out two coordinating strips to use for each block. I cut the strips to 2.25" for the "X"s and the background areas I had to use the companion angle ruler.

The borders were a civil war print we got from WV Quilts in Barboursville, WV and I quilted a large feather in the border FREE HAND. ;c) so I'm very proud of myself for those feathers ;c)

The Motherload

2011-11-29T17:43:00.005-05:00

Ya know I have been truly blessed this year!!!!!

I have secured enough quilt orders to make it a great Christmas for my family. I feel so completely blessed that I can do WHAT I LOVE SO MUCH for a LIVING!!! Of course I'm also thankful for my hardworking husband who pays the "real" bills. I am so thankful for him that he goes to work each week and allows me to quilt all day!!

So I am totally booked for the holiday season. I cannot commit to anymore projects until about mid-January. I have actually had to turn a few people away this year, so next year please contact me EARLY if you would like a quilt made before Christmas ;c)

I want to be able to devote enough of my time an energy to each individual project without feeling stressed or pressed for time. I want everyone to walk away with something spectacular.

I ordered the fabric for all my upcoming projects right before Thanksgiving. I think since it was ordered around a holiday it took a little longer to ship. While waiting on this fabric shipment I UFO'd all my current projects and have been anxiously awaiting their arrival! ;c)

But today my first fabric shipment came and I'm very excited to get started.

Look at all the pretty fabrics!!!

Just yesterday I had a friend ask me to make some curtains. This was great because #1) I've never made curtains before and have always wanted to try. #2) I owed her a birthday gift, and #3) It filled up my day before my motherload shipment of fabric arrived!!

She wanted a lighthouse theme and I happened to have some fabric with lighthouses in it already in my stash!

So now I'm going to work on a quilt, and I also have a quilted tote to work on. Next week I'll be working on 4 matching quilts with a blue/white "ford" theme. I'm excited. . but I'm going to be VERY busy in the upcoming weeks!

My First Quilt

2011-11-26T10:12:00.004-05:00

Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville is hosting a Show-And Tell with theme "My First Quilt." FUN!

This is my very first quilt I ever made. Before I started quilting, I was only a dyer. I started dyeing tee-shirts and then moved to old cotton sheets and then to cotton yardage. I had ALL this fabric leftover from dyeing which prompted me to try my hand at quilting.

It was ALL over from there!!!

The center of this quilt was made with 4 different shades of fuchsia tie-dyed fabric in a rail fence pattern. There is a small tan border around that, then, i cut squares from different shades of blue tie-dyed fabric and use that for the outer border. I think I quilted this extremely minimally. Maybe just a sparse in-the-ditch.

My room was messy when I took this photo. If I had known the significance of my FIRST EVER QUILT PHOTO back then, I probably would have tried a little harder to take a nice photo!!

That's my baby boy Louie the Dachshund on the bed. He is such a hamdog! ;c)

So head on over to QUILTVILLE and join in the show-and-tell!! I'm sure there will be some fun photos to come!

Black Friday!!!

2011-11-24T20:20:00.003-05:00

I have never in my life participated in the mad rush of Black Friday Shopping. I do most of my Christmas shopping ONLINE (LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE) hahahahaha.

BUT, a few years ago I stopped into a Jo-Ann's on the weekend after Thanksgiving. My life was forever changed. I realized I could stock up on all of my necessary items for my quilting for the whole year in one weekend. Most everything is on sale for at LEAST 50% off. Then, the store offers an additional 25% off sale items coupon from 6am - Noon. That = dirt cheap quilting supplies!!!

I will be at the Dunbar Joanns tomorrow, and the Barboursville Joanns on Saturday. I have a VERY long list and will also be using a buggy ( a rare thing for me.)

So. . . if you haven't signed up for email coupons I know you can sign up online and also via text. If you sign up via text they will send you their most recent coupons via text immediately. You just show the cashier your phone and will get the savings.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. . I sure did!!

Where will you be shopping tomorrow?

;c)

Finished Minky/Fleece Quilts!

2011-11-20T19:07:00.005-05:00

Freshly Washed and Dried Minky Quilts!!!!

For these quilts I PIECED MINKY. . yes it's true! It can be done!!! You can see more details about these quilts in my last few posts. ;c)

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

The backs are both the same. . A plain white fleece backing was used for both of them.

Mitered Self-Binding with Fleece

2011-11-17T22:27:00.005-05:00

I finished my quilts for a friend. I talked about the piecing of these quilts in THIS POST.

Now I'm going to discuss how I finished these quilts.

When I had completed the quilting, I started pondering how to bind the quilt. I decided that I did not want to use a regular quilting cotton for the binding on an all-fleece quilt. I ALSO did not want to have those bulky seams from fleece in the binding.

I decided to use the backing and do a self-binding.

I found a way to do this that worked out quite well. Here's how it was done:

Cut off all the excess backing except for 1" all around.

When you get to the corners, you want to cut 1" chunk out of each of the corners.

When I did this myself, I didn't pin it, but I'm pinning it now, to show you each step.

First, Fold in the corners like this:

Then fold the sides down a 1/2" (in half) making them level with the quilt's raw edge.

Then fold down the folded edge again over the quilt.

Take a needle and thread and hand-stitch this corner together.

Once the edges are sewn, I buried the threads inside the quilt.

I did all the corners first and pinned those down, and then

I folded the rest of the edges down just the same.

I'll post a pic of the finished quilts in a bit! ;c)

My Quilt-y Xmas Wishlist!

2011-11-09T12:25:00.002-05:00

http://www.ConnectingThreads.com/cfCart/viewWishlist.cfm?wishlistid=895A994C-98BA-742E-2E67FA5D40356EC5&media=WLBL

If you go to Connecting Threads, and make a WISH LIST, then share it on Facebook, on your blog, and to a friend via email, you will be entered to win $50 of goodies from Connecting Threads!

Minky is the Devil!!!

2011-11-07T11:11:00.007-05:00

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit but it sure feels like Minky is out to get me!! LOL

For the last couple weeks I have been working with Minky. There is no point in trying to clean it up because the mess just keeps making babies and accumulating all over the place!!!

So my friend has commissioned me to make her two quilts that utilized her grandmothers old house robes. There are 3 robes that are made out of a print fleece. She and I mapped out a design and I graphed it out and we ordered complimentary fabrics to go with it.

I'll admit that before I started these fleece projects I've never felt quality fleece before. It's definitely that fabric that just says "KEEP TOUCHING ME" LOL. But it is a BITCH to sew! So some of the fabrics ordered were Minky, and I'm telling you it is EVERYWHERE!!!

Since fleece is stretchy, I decided to use Freezer Paper to keep its shape while I worked. I cut out the pieces of freezer paper based on my graph (1block=1inch) then ironed it to the back of the fabric. I then cut out 1/2" seam allowance around the fabrics with my rotary cutter.

Now, as you can see. . . as you cut out the MINKY, it leaves this residue in the grooves of my cutting mat!! This stuff is VERY DIFFICULT to get out - but what I found did the best was just taking a scrap piece of cotton fabric and rubbing it off.

This WAD of fluff is just the stuff I pulled out of the cutting mat from JUST the CREAM minky. . LOL

I sewed them all together. . . the freezer paper really helped. I did have a bit of trouble squeezing the seam allowances through the machine. ..AND it's almost impossible to match the seams perfectly ;c) But since I"m a brilliant genius. . We are going to FINISH these quilts and they are going to be amazing. I'll keep ya posted!

J Rachel Besnard's November Referral Contest ~ NEW!

2011-11-06T18:25:00.003-05:00

My dear friend Jonua Besnard is having another contest. The most referrals wins . . . . "A jewelry set, a cute recycled tote bag (with my logo), and a bag or box of gourmet treats from Paris! You won't be sorry you participated in this one."

So head on over to Jonua's Blog BUMBLEBEEBEAD for all the details!!

Halloween and Owl Baby Quilt

2011-10-30T16:45:00.007-04:00

With minutes to spare, I finished mine and DH's Halloween costumes. We went as the Yip-Yip aliens from Sesame Street. We found the INSTRUCTABLE but made a few adjustments. First of all, we stitched up the sides for a better fit, we used a baseball cap turned around backwards and we also added a zipper on the mouth piece. I felt the zipper was a necessary addition for the consumption of adult beverages, BUT, we found that there was plenty of room INSIDE the costume for hands, beer, and whatever else! ;c) It was nice to unzip the mouth piece so that you could have a slightly better view of the ground when walking where there was not much lighting.

Before the Halloween party, there was my friend's Baby Shower. My friend Tiffany soon will be the mommy of "unbornbabynoname." It's always the correct assumption that anytime a gift is necessary, the gift will aLWAYS be . . a quilt. I would have liked to have been able to personalize the quilt . . but since the baby still has no name, I made a little quilt with an owl applique on it. She likes owls.. we both do!

I just used scraps of fabric to make up this little quilt. I was going for a more "modern" look, but after the applique was added it leans more to the traditional side. . my quilts seem to do that no matter how hard I try otherwise!

I quilted the background (white) areas with my version of McTavishing. . I really need a name for this stitch since it is far different than how the amazing Karen does hers.

I quilted the colored blocks with alternating feather plumes.

I went ahead and layered the quilt sandwich, fused the applique shapes, and then just free-motion stitched down the applique pieces with a narrow zig-zag stitch. My goal was to do the 3 layers and then add minky to the back as a 4th layer. THIS DID NOT WORK OUT AT ALL! I pinned them RST and stitched around the edges leaving a whole to flip it right side out. The edges turned out all lumpy and it was just way too thick. I do'nt know what I was actually thinking.

Oh well, it was a learning experience. So this is what the back looks like. . NOT what I originally planned, and NOT the prettiest, but it still has an interesting effect.

I might come back and do a tutorial on this little quilt in a few days - Right now I'm trying to figure out how to add a .pdf file to blogger. =c/ Without using scribd (i do not care for that program at all.)

One more thing - I just finished another Tee-shirt quilt for my friend Beth. She wanted to use up all of her college and high school running shirts. They were alot of fun to quilt around! ;c)

Fall Quilt - "Awesome" Fabric FQ Bundle

2011-10-24T20:51:00.011-04:00

Last year for Christmas "Santa" got me the WHOLE line of "Awesome" fabrics by Sandy Gervais for Moda as a Fat Quarter Bundle. What I first did with those is I cut 1/4 of the short edge off of the FQ and then cut again to where I had 4 "charm" squares out of each FQ of the bundle.

With these squares I'm making a hexagon charm quilt. So this is what I have so far:

This is my hand/travel project I've been doing for awhile - It's coming along slowly. I think the English Paper piecing templates are about 3" wide.

So anyway the remaining bit of fabrics I was waiting for the Fall season to break out and do something with them. I came up with a plan do to Broken Dishes Blocks for the center - and have a big fat border with some fun appliques, using ONLY these fabrics.

I started out by picking out 18 fabrics from the bundle and cutting those into 16" squares.

Then I took each square and cut that up into 4- 8" smaller squares.

My pretty stack of 8" squares ;c)

I then arranged them by color ~

Then I paired them all up-

With a thin-lined pencil, on the back of the lightest square of each pair, I drew my stitching line 1/4" on each side of each diagonal.

I just lined up the square on my mat, and placed the ruler 1/4" away like this:

After all the lines were drawn, I pinned them Right Sides Together. I just used two pins on each side like so:

I then stitched on each line. Some people do this by just drawing ONE line on the diagonal, but I find I am more accurate if I draw the two stitching lines.

Now I press on both sides.

Then I cut on each diagonal, and also across each way.

I found a more efficient way to cut - by laying out your 4 sewn pairs on your mat like this. The red lines are where you would cut.

Then you have all of these cut in less strokes.

Then I took all my little HSTs and pressed them with starch.

There was 8 of each pair. and I laid them all out to make the broken dishes blocks.

While they were in order, I pinned them.

Took them to the machine and stitched ~

After the pairs were stitched, I then pressed those.

Pinned the pairs together and stitched. . .

Pressed with starch. . .

I pinned all the blocks up on the wall, if you use the same formula as me, you can get a center quilt that's a 7 blocks X 8 blocks layout.

I am almost finished with my Fat, Applique borders and should be able to update you soon with the result. The second half is even more exciting then the first. Also, I would like to add that this quilt WILL be done with the quilt -as-you-go method. . as usual ;c)

Chewy Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

2011-10-23T13:28:00.003-04:00

This is a recipe that was passed down to me by my Great-Grandmother on my Father's Side. I've altered the recipe a bit to be what we know today as "dumplings," but she called them simply "homeade noodles."
My Great-Grandmother's name was Myrtle, but since none of the kids could accurately pronounce her name, she was called Moo-Moo by everyone. Moo-Moo lived with her sister Peggy after both of their husbands passed. Every Christmas and Easter all their kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids would come and occupy their tiny house in Campbell's Creek, WV.
No matter what the meal was, Moo-Moo would always make her homeade noodles, and I loved them so much! I would beg her to give me some leftovers to take home with me. Then on the drive home (which took about an hour) I would sneak and eat them with my fingers until they were all gone!
To honor Moo-Moo's memory, the "Top Secret" homeade noodle recipe will stay in the family, but the slightly altered Chicken and Dumplings recipe I would like to share with you!

You Will Need:
*Cooked & Ready Rotisserie Chicken from the store ~or~
3 or 4 Bone-in Chicken Breasts baked at 350 for 1 hour.
*6 Large Eggs
*1/4 Cup of Oil
*1/4 Cup of Milk
*Pinch of Salt
*Pinch of Sugar
*Pinch of Pepper
*1T Baking Powder
*All-purpose Flour
*2 large cans of chicken broth (48oz?)
*1/2Cup Margarine (I use Country Crock)

In a large bowl, beat the 6 eggs until they're fluffy.
Add a pinch of Salt, Pepper, and Sugar. Mix
Add Oil and Milk, and Beat until foamy.
Start making your dough by sprinkling about a cup or so of flour over the liquid mixture and sprinkle your baking powder over to of that. Mix in with a large fork.
Continue adding flour a bit at a time, until you have a sticky dough.
When you're ready, dip your hands in flour, and work more and more flour in until you have a roll-able dough. YOu want it to be still a BIT sticky, but not too much.

Set your large bowl aside, do NOT wash it yet.
On a large clean surface, generously cover with flour. Lay your dough on the flour and with a rolling pin, roll until your dough is about 1/8"-1/4" thick. The thicker your dough, the fatter and chewier your dumplings will be.
Also, if you don't want to work directly on a kitchen surface, you can always tape down parchment or waxed paper and work on top of that.

Let your dough sit while you debone your chicken. Pull off the chicken into bite-sized strips.
In a large pot, pour in your chicken broth and set on high heat.
Add in 1/2 C of Margarine.
While your broth is heating, cut your dough into 1-2" squares.
In the large bowl that you set aside, take whatever leftover flour is on your surface and throw that in, and layer your pieces of dumplings, and flour. . The extra flour will help to thicken the broth/gravy.

Once all the dough is cut, and your broth is boiling, drop you dumplings in one at a time, picking up excess flour with them. What I mean is, do NOT shake off the excess flour from the dumplings before adding them to the broth. =cD
After 10 or so dumplings are added, make sure to STIR. Your dumplings will probably float to the top at first.

After all the dumplings are added, drop your chicken in there a bit at a time, while stirring constantly.

Turn down the temperature to low/simmer and cook for about 1/2 hour. After 1/2 hour turn off the heat and let the Chicken/Dumplings set for about 15 minutes to thicken up.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable for a yummy comfort dinner!

Store the leftovers WITH the liquid in the pot - the gravy will be even better the next day!!!

WV Bridge Day Festival Camping Trip and Geocaching

2011-10-16T20:26:00.013-04:00

Every year, on the 3rd weekend of October, my husband and I go up to the Bridge Day Festival. It is held in Fayetteville, WV and celebrates the Northern Hemisphere's Longest Arch Bridge. The Bridge is truly an AWESOME spectacle to behold and during October the foliage is at its peak.

Here's a photo of the bridge I took from Wikipedia - of course, on Bridge Day, it is covered with mass amounts of people, arts and crafts vendors, and LOTS of yummy unique food!

The festival is only open from 9AM - 3PM, therefore there are LOTTTSSS of people crammed into a relatively small space. Oh, and did I mention, that along with the vendors and people, this is the one day a year when you can legally parachute off of the bridge? Yes, you can also repel. Bungee jumping is no longer allowed, too many . . .accidents.

Here's some photos of us on the bridge from last year:

But we don't go to watch the death-defying acrobats. No, we go because this is our home. It's a celebration of our state and its beauty. We love this area so much we even got married here!

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I will now bore you with lots of photos of our recent Bridge Day/Camping/Geocaching Trip.

We started out Saturday by going straight to the Bridge for some lunch. We first had to brave all the traffic.

James was craving a turkey leg and roasted corn.

After our a short time on the crowded bridge, we went to pick out our camping site. We now love staying at the "Gorge Gateway Center." Lots of beautiful camping sites, clean bathhouses, and not too crowded. You can also choose between the "loud" and "quiet" camping sections. We chose the quiet section because we're old fogies now-a-days. LOL

James went to the bathhouse to freshen up, and I started a fire. I was very proud of my fire that I started by myself. I just used twigs and logs laying around the campground, and for kindling I used some scrap paper from my EPP quilting bag ;c) I knew all those subscription cards with hexagons cut out of them would come in handy one day~!

James unpacked the car, and I made our bed. The WV Mountains get very chilly at night so I brought 3 tubs full of blankets and quilts.

Here is our bed complete with the James tee-shirt quilt I made.

And Here is James the sleepy head the next morning. We were awoken by crows. . the really noisy ones!

We stopped at a gas station near the bridge for our morning coffee - pumpkin spice cappuccino and coffee. This is what I saw on the rocks near the gas station. Does anyone know the name of this quilt block?

On our way back from Bridge Day - we wanted to do a little geoaching. Geocaching is like a high-tech scavenger hunt. More info about this can be found HERE. We drove down beautiful Rt 60 from Fayetteville, to Charleston. Our first cache was GC260JM - "Coal Heritage GeoTrail #1.

This was an absolutely breathtaking hike along a trail that ran along a stream. There was a long wooden bridge, dripping cliffs, lots of waterfalls, and all the Fall colors one could imagine.

Here are some of my favorite photos from this:

Our next cache was near Hawk's Nest - which is another beautiful area with lots of overlooks and photo ops. Look what we saw here?! Another Quilt Block!

We got a few other caches on our way home. I am now VERY tired and have a busy week of quilting ahead. =cD

I am right now in the process of making a tee-shirt quilt for a customer, and I also am trying to finish another QAYG quilt pattern/tutorial. It's a fall-themed quilt so hopefully I can get that for you before the END of Fall ;c)

It's Sew Kiki Giveaway

2011-10-03T21:40:00.001-04:00

Head on over to "It's So Kiki" for an amazing giveway. TWO chances to win!!!

Fonts

2011-10-01T23:31:00.004-04:00

I finally broke down and made myself a chart of all the fonts in Windows PAINT.

Yes, I really am that sick!!!!!!

And here's a short list of some of my favorites.

So. . for all of you out there who have been meaning to do the same thing (yeah right) YOU'RE WELCOME! I've done it for you. LOL

FYI I use Windows Vista version of Paint and so these fonts may not be available on all Paint Programs.

Have a nice day. . I'm going back to crazy town.

Bias Tape Applique

2011-09-25T12:25:00.002-04:00

I'm working on a quilt right now that is going to require a bit of bias strip applique. . or "Celtic" applique. I've made lots of bias tape - by HAND, but it's usually no smaller than 1" wide. This quilt requires a bit more delicate bias tape. Right now it looks like I will need the bias tape to finish at no larger than 1/2".

So, today I've been looking around for different techniques to do this. Right now it looks like the easiest way would be to go out and purchase a Bias Tape MAKER.

THIS BLOG has a bunch of great tips, most of them being done by hand stitching and basting. I might try one of her techniques but just use my machine and add some stablizer behind it.

Not only am I searching for a method that would work well with MACHINE stitches, but that also won't be a lot of fabric waste. Most of these methods work well if you're using at least 1/2 yard of fabric. I would like a method where you can work from Fat Quarters or less.

I need 21 bias applique strips that will be in the shape of hearts that are no larger than 5" wide. I also want the hearts to be semi "scrappy" and don't want to cut into 5 different pieces of yardage. This seems very wasteful. I may not have another choice!

THIS BLOG shows you how to use bias BARS to make bias strips for applique. I think this would work well also. I'm STILL Trying to avoid breaking down and PURCHASING anything ;c) Yes I am THAT cheap.

How do you do bias applique? Does anyone have any cheap/frugal methods for doing this? That don't waste alot of fabric and work well with machine stitching? Please share your tips with me in the comments section I would greatly appreciate it!!!

Double Delight Done!!

2011-09-15T20:20:00.011-04:00

Okay, so here are the photos of my Double Delight.
I pulled out all my neutrals, greens, and a few darkish blues and reds. For the constant color, Bonnie's "Cheddar" color, I used a gold print. The gold print included those dark blues, reds, and evergreen greens.
For the small inner border I used scrappy reds for the top, and scrappy greens for the Back. I used the same blue floral print for both Top and Back. The photographs make the blue look a little more BLUE it seems than what it looks like in real life.

Like I said previously, I constructed this quilt totally using the QAYG method. I have written a tutorial on how I do QAYG and it can be found in the TABS section . . just look UP! ;c)

And a couple more closeups -

I did these little flower quilt designs with NO FMQ. . just my regular straight stitch. . . yes. . .

I don't know what I was thinking with the quilting on the setting triangles - spiderweb quilting maybe?? LOL

Some absolutely horrible fabrics for the back setting triangles. . .

The back has a 'butterfly' theme I guess . . LOL.

The fabric I used for the 9patch blocks was this pretty autumn fabric.

When I said this was totally scrappy. . . I MEANT it!!! ;c)

Bonnie should be so proud of me!!!

AND the quilt is BIG . . I know she approves of that too! LOL

I had, and STILL have, TONS of green fabric. . . So I used green throughout this quilt.

oooo. . . I just thought of something1!

GREEN BEAN DELIGHT!!! THATS IT!!!!

***Update. . . someone suggested a better name for this quilt

"Double Trouble"

LOL

Finally Done with DD

2011-09-14T22:55:00.004-04:00

Just about an hour ago I put the finishing stitches on the binding of my LONGGGGG overdue, UFO'd Double Delight Quilt!!! To be quite frank, this quilt has been absolute HELL. Nothing to do with Bonnie, or her pattern. In fact, this pattern was quite wonderful. . . as is ALL her designs. However, I started the quilt with an old Singer (el-cheapo, crappo) sewing machine. I did not have the high-tech fancy stuff and was unable to free-motion quilt back then. I got so frustrated with the thing I stuck it in a bag for a year. . or two. It's done now though, it took 3 whole, long, FULL days of doing the borders.
I think my frustration had to do with #1) The crappy sewing machine and #2) Doing QAYG with an ON-POINT setting. Yeah, can you even wrap your brain around that??? It was just problems galore.
Oh well, it's done now. NOO I will not be selling this or gifting this. THIS quilt will have a new home in my usual gallery of quilts. . . aka MOMS house. ;cD
Quilts just look so much better at her house rather than in my musty old apartment. =cP

After I sweated and cussed through the finishing steps of this gigantic quilt this evening. . . I stuck it in the washing machine. After several months of being cooped up in a bag with little to no attention. . it needed a good cleaning and airing out.
I will have photos for ya tomorrow. . . stay tuned ;c)

PS - what shall I name her??? I do believe the name should have either the word "Double" OR "Delight". . NOT both . . and have something to do with the painstaking process this has been for me.
Blood Sweat and Tears Delight?
Double Sweat and Tears?
Double Curse?
Cursing Delight?

Ah well, I suppose you should actually SEE the quilt before you can actually assist with a name for it.

Double Delight UFO progress etc.,

2011-09-08T23:59:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned before, I have two "big" projects coming. Both of them are memory quilts (quilts that will utilize inkjet printing on fabric.) I have finished all my current-running projects and didn't want to start anything new or "big" because I knew these two quilts would require my FULL attention and were going to be started very soon.

So as I'm here, twittling my thumbs in a way. I can't start anything new, so I've sorta been FORCED to dig into my UFO pile. . .which everyone knows is a GOOD thing. I knew I would dig these things out ONE day. . and the day has come!!!

UFO #1: String Quilt.

Remember the string blocks we swapped on quiltvilleswap yahoo group? I paired these, with my (now ufo'd) RRCB neutral string blocks and stitched these into an odd top. I say this is odd because there are many more neutral blocks than colored ones. I don't have a photo of this just yet, but will have very soon and will share it ASAP.

UFO #2: Double Delight.

I pulled this baby out today, and this is what I saw.

I was constructing this quilt using the QAYG method (as usual) and since it was on-point it was very INTERESTING to put together... Here you can see that all my blocks were put together in rows, and the sashing already added. All I had to do was put the rows together and the center would be done.

I don't know why I UFOd this in the first place. Yes, I just used UFO as a verb. I was SO CLOSE. So close in fact, that I finished the whole "center" of the quilt in just a couple hours!!

Here's a few more photos of the finished "center" section of the quilt:

Tomorrow, I will wake up, get my coffee, turn on the latest episode of "WEEDS" that I'm watching on netflix, and start on the borders. I had a pile of new fabric in the same bag, so I'm assuming that's what I had already chosen for the borders. Hey, works for me! One less thing I have to think about.

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Last week, I finished another batch of hand-dyes that I was hoping I could use for Sindy of FatCatPatterns.com's BOM "Fiesta"

I made a Flickr Slideshow of all the gradated fabrics and you can view them here.

I only used 4 colors, and did 2, 12-step gradations.

Brown -> Red -> Ecru

Brown -> Blue -> Ecru

I used procion mx dyes by jacquard and the actual colors are called "Carmine red" and "MEdium Blue" just in case you were wondering.

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One more thing!!!

I'm SUPER excited about the upcoming quiltvilleswap yahoo group CIVIL WAR swap!!!

FatQuarterShop had a sale of the eXACT fabrics I was eyeballing at the eXACT time I was wanting them!!!! So I bought a yard of each so I could have about a 1/2 yard of "leftovers" for me ;c) The other 1/2 yard I cut up into 2.5" by half WOF strips to swap. I took some photos of them just because I think they're so awesome. . . .

Look at all the squishies!!!!!!!

Art---> Quilt---->Tote

2011-09-01T18:31:00.004-04:00

A while back, my sweet friend Tamara, did me a huge favor by giving me her old blackberry cellphone. I go through many phones and the one she gave me has lasted longer than any other.

I wanted a way to thank her for her generosity.

Tamara is quite the artist, and one day she posted this photo on facebook:

Isn't it beautiful?? I told her that one day I would make it into a quilt....well, a quilted TOTE actually ;c)

Here is my interpretation of her piece of art, and the resulting quilted tote.

Here's a step-by-step:

Leaves and STems

adding flowers

Adding Birds

Basting

outline quilting/ raw-edge applique

Quilting the heart background

Quilting Paisleys in the tote background

Opposite side of the tote - quilted with paisleys

The "wrong" side of the "quilt" - This orange fabric will be covered up with lining.

Finished Tote!

Back of finished tote

again

Lining/Pockets

Tamara's ARtwork once again

My interpretation - can you see the little beaded embellishments? I used beads as the flower stamens, and eyes of the birds!

Cheap and Easy and YUMMY Chili (for 2)

2011-08-29T18:58:00.005-04:00

It has been a cool 70 degrees today, and around 50 degrees in the evenings here in South Eastern West Virginia. Weather like this makes me crave for Fall, and everything that comes with the Fall Season. I love a good, thick, spicy chili on cool evenings. This recipe is super fast and easy and can be whipped up in less than 1/2 an hour. It is also delicious, and to me, it tastes better than all those fancy chilis that cook all day and have 100 ingredients.

Needed:

*1 package McCormick's chili seasoning (I like the HOT, but it IS HOT)

*1 lb Lean Ground Beef

*2 -15oz cans tomato sauce (or undrained crushed tomatoes)

*1 can kidney beans drained

*1 small onion - chopped

*1 bell pepper - chopped

1. In a large saucepan brown the beef adding the onions and peppers while cooking.

2. When beef is browned and veggies soft, add the dry McCormick's seasoning packet and stir.

3. Cook for 1 minute and then add both cans of tomato sauce.

4. Add kidney beans and cook for 5 minutes, or until hot.

5. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or crackers!

Makes 4 small bowls or 2 large bowls.

2 Quilts in 1 Week

2011-08-26T19:20:00.004-04:00

I'm on a ROLL!!! I have finished two quilts in 1 week!!! I'm so proud of myself. It just goes to show that when you pull out a UFO or WIP and actually FINISH it, how much it motivates you to keep going.. and going. . and going. So if you're lagging behind.. . . . just START. . it's the hardest part. Then, when you're finished, and have that overwhelmingly happy giddy feeling of Pride and accomplishment, you'll have no trouble picking out another UFO from your ever growing stack.

I'd like to share what I just recently finished and I hope you like it:

This one, which I simply have titled "Red, Black and White" Quilt, is now available at my etsy shop for a very humble price I must say. To just be able to finish them I'm very excited. But to earn a wee bit of cash and know that someone else will enjoy them is just enough for me!! So I just ask for approximately what I have in materials. . that's it.

Please visit my etsy shop for this quilt HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what else have I been into as of late? I also just recently finished 3 amazingly quilted/embroidered totes. I can't show you those yet, but I CAN show you another tote I just recently finished. My dear dear friend Megan, who will be moving away to Florida soon (so sad) ordered her most probably very last item from me. She requested I make her a quilted laptop case. I have made TWO so far including this one. The first, was for my mother, and I believe it turned out rather well. To check out the one I made for my mother click HERE.

The tutorial I used was THIS ONE although I did add to Megan's bag an outside pocket. For both Megan AND my mother's bags I added quilting, AND a handle/strap. This makes the bag less like a "sleeve" and more like a "tote."

Here's the end result of Megan's Laptop bag:

Megan found the fabric from fatquartershop.com and the tote required 1/2 yard each outside and lining fabric...with no leftovers. Instead of using fusible fleece, I just used regular old cotton/poly batting. I did however iron/press my batting down so it wasn't so "fluffy." I believe it does sort of the same thing as fusible and even STICKS to the fabric!

Doesn't her new laptop bag SCREAM Florida?!?!

NEW Quilt for Sale

2011-08-22T21:39:00.005-04:00

I just finished a UFO!! It was the 3rd in a series of Grey study quilts which used a combination of Bright rainbow-colored fabrics as well as grey print fabrics.

To see all the grey study quilts go to www.Facebook.com/KatiesQuiltsandCrafts ~ be sure to "like" me while you're there ;c) OR you can see them on my flickr slideshow on the sidebar to the right ----->

I quilted this quilt VERY densely with an ALL-over pattern that could be sorta described as McTavishing. It's my own little twist on McTAvishing. . should I call it McKatying? LMAO juuustttt kiddding.

Since I used this quilt for practice quilting I'm not charging too much for it on etsy. But it DID take a VERYYY long time to finish. I think I started this quilt. . . hmmm. . . . 6 months ago maybe? I know it was before Christmas last year.

To view the BRAND NEW etsy listing for this item go here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/80298141/rainbow-grey-quilt-no-3-double-sided

Love Affair with My Brother ~ Giveaway!!!

2011-08-22T14:13:00.002-04:00

Love Affair with My Brother in combination with Fat Quarter Shop is hosting a giveway of a beautiful Jelly Roll of fabrics "Hometown" by Sweetwater.

Head on over to thier BLOG now . . you have 5 CHANCES TO WIN!!! WOO HOO!!!

I might just have to make a Bento Box if I won! ;c)

Rachel's Tee-Shirt Quilt

2011-08-13T12:21:00.005-04:00

I finished my sample tee-shirt quilt for the class I will be hopefully teaching very soon.

My dear friend-of-the-family Rachel was kind enough to let me use HER tee-shirts as a sample for class. She will of course receive her finished quilt AFTER the class has been completed ;c)

She had a very nice mix of tee's - alot of color! I think every tee-shirt quilt should have at least ONE tie-dye ;c)

So here it is:

This is the front/top of the quilt.

For the back I pieced together some pretty Amy Butler Teal-colored fabrics.

Closeup of one of the "blocks" -

Closeup of the tie-dyed block -

Closeup of another one of the blocks -

I call this style of tee-shirt quilt "tetris" style. which means it does NOT use uniform-sized blocks and it does NOT use sashing.

If I get enough interest, I might offer a tutorial on how to do this . . but not until AFTER the class is over... ;c)

The tutorial for how to prepare your tee-shirts for a tee-shirt quilt can be found HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

What else am I working on??? My friend JRB has put me to "work" making some beautiful totes as seen HERE. Of course I can't consider this "WORK" at all because I absolutely LOVE it!!

Also on my TODO list - I'm making a quilt as a secret gift for a friend of mine and his wife but I can't say much about that at this point ;c) TOP SECRET.

One other project that is in the works right now is "Lucia's Memory Quilt" I am making a snowball signature quilt for a lady who is adopting a daughter from Mexico. She is raising funds for the adoption fees and this quilt is one way we can help. There are several sponsorship levels and options. You can choose to just have your signature in one block, a Bible verse, or even a PHOTO. If you would like to be a part of this very special project you can go see Tracy on her blog HERE.

Preparing Shirts for Tee Shirt Quilt

2011-08-07T10:18:00.006-04:00

Here is a small photo tutorial on how to prepare your tee-shirts for a tee-shirt quilt.

I am in the process of making a tee-shirt quilt class available and want for my students to be able to finish the whole quilt IN CLASS. In order for us to finish the whole quilt, you will have to do your fusing at home. This is not a difficult process at all, just time consuming.

What you will need:

*1 bolt of of Pellon Fusible Stabilizer (Available at Jo-Ann's for $9.99 - look for a coupon)

*Tee-Shirts

*Scissors

*Iron

*Spray bottle with water

*1 yard of cotton quilting fabric (you can just use a scrap piece, this is just to protect your iron)

*An Ironing board or several towels to protect your ironing surface

~~Click on any of the photos below to view them larger~~~

**Make sure to wash all of your tee shirts thoroughly with hot water especially if they are new. Do not add any fabric softener or spray starch.**

Cutting the Shirts:

1. Lay out your Tee, and smooth it out.

2. Make a small slit in the armpit of one of the sleeves.

3. Stick your scissors in the slit and begin cutting - cut just INSIDE the seam until you have the whole arm part completely cut off.

4. Here you can see where the seam is cutoff WITH the arm piece of the tee.

5. Repeat this step for the other Arm piece - your tee should now look like this:

6. Pick up your shirt like this, you will now be cutting the shirt along the shoulder seam

7. Cut along Both shoulder seams, it doesn't matter which side the seam is on - you can even cut those off if you wish.

8. Carefully fold your shirt in half lengthwise to find the side seam. If there is no side seam try to just eyeball it.

9. Cut along the side seam and repeat for the opposite side.

Fusing the Shirts:

~~You will only be using the side of the shirt that has a logo on it. Sometimes there will be a logo on the front AND back, in that case you will fuse BOTH sides. ~~

1. Lay out one of your tee shirts, Right-side down, WRONG side facing you. Smooth out your shirt with your hands.

2. Get out any wrinkles by PRESSING with your iron on medium-high heat.

***You will not be IRONING at all, what you are going to be doing is PRESSING. Start in the center of your shirt and press down slightly with your iron. Press for a few seconds and then pick your iron all the way up, and lay it down next to the indention you just left. You will be able to see the indention the iron made previously, and so you will be able to see where you have already pressed and what has NOT been pressed. Please try to avoid ironing, (sliding the iron back and forth over your tee shirt) we are working with knits which are easily stretched. Once the woven stabilizer is fused, it will keep the tee shirt from stretching. If the shirt is already stretched when the stabilizer is fused, it will be stretched permanently. . . which is not a good look! ;c)

3. Place the stabilizer *rough* side down on your tee shirt. Cut the stabilizer to fit just inside your tee-shirt, because you don't want any fusible on your ironing surface ;c)

4. Spray a generous amount of water over top of the stabilizer. You want it damp but not soaking wet. Remember that if it doesn't stick the first time, you can just go over it again.

5. Lay a piece of cotton quilting fabric over top of your work, wrong side down. Press your fabric like in step 2 above. This time you will want to use medium-high heat, and press each section for at least 5 seconds.

6. Now your piece should be nice and smooth and look a little something like this:

*BTW, you can use scraps of stabilizer if your piece doesn't fit the whole shirt. Just overlap the scraps just a bit, and it will be just fine.

7. Check all corners of your stabilizer to make sure they are all thoroughly fused. Pull gently on the stabilizer - if it comes off easily like this - then you need to re-fuse. Spray a little water, cover and press again.

8. If your stabilizer doesn't come off - or tries to shred like this - you are finished.

If you have any questions - feel free to email me - or ask in the comments section, I will respond ASAP.

Bark For Your Park

2011-08-03T19:51:00.003-04:00

Could everyone do me a big favor?

My city, Huntington WV, has been chosen as a finalist to win a $100,000 grant from Pet Safe Brand to go towards a dog park for our town!!!

We have been neck-and-neck with Lynchburg, VA. Today is the LAST day to vote. You can vote 2TIMES Per EMAIL address.

Once via the barkforyourpark website http://www.barkforyourpark.com/

and once via their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PetSafeBrand?sk=app_173470509369363

PLEASE VOTE FOR HUNTINGTON!!!!!

i APPRECAITE IT SOOO MUCH!!!!!

and that's a photo of my doggie Louie the Piebald Dachshund up there. He's the one who REALLY wants the doggie park!! THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN!

"I'm a Lurker"

2011-08-03T18:23:00.003-04:00

I just had a random thought and wanted to rant about it.

So here it is... I'm sure all of you... my fellow quilters and crafters..... are on SOME type of yahoo group or forum of some sort.

Don't you love it when someone begins their reply with "I'm usually a lurker. . but. . . "

Why do they feel the need to begin their reply with this?

To me, it seems like you're saying "I usually don't say anything. . . so since I am replying to this particular message. . . you should pay attention. . .because what I am about to say is VERY important.."

LOL

Just MY THOUGHT OF THE DAY!!!!!

The first rule of quilting.....

2011-07-27T18:13:00.003-04:00

This is an adorable little post that was done by the Onion. It's a "fight club" reference. So if you haven't seen or don't know of that movie, you might not "get it." ;c)

http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-first-rule-of-the-quilting-society-is-you-dont,10795/

I know they make some stereotypical references of what a quilter should be or what a quilter should look like, but it's still humorous. Check it out ;c)

My string blocks have arrived!

2011-07-27T11:13:00.010-04:00

YAY! So exciting! They're all sooo beautiful. I get my mail at my mother's house because I don't have a physical address at my apt. So the strings that I stitched are in a separate photo. Check them out. . aren't they awesome????

And here are my string blocks before I sent them out:

I still have quite a few of my neutral string blocks left from my UFO'd Roll Roll Cotton Boll. I'm sorry . . . yes, I gave up on it. I hang my head in shame. =c(

So I'm planning on using the Neutral string blocks along with these Colored ones from the swap. Wouldn't that make a cool quilt? Here's my neutral strings hanging on design wall:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, I just finished a little project I am quite proud of. My mother, just got a new Macintosh computer. It's so cute!! But so complicated when she's spent the last 40 years perfecting her use of PC. I couldn't imagine going from PC to Mac. . . I doubt I could go very far. I might start small, like she did. . and get an iphone.

So the Mac came in this elaborate shipping box and LOTS of padding, but NO case for it! I took it upon myself to make her a little laptop carrier. I used THIS TUTORIAL from "sew mama sew."

The tutorial is actually for a plain laptop SLEEVE. But I altered it a bit, made it a QUILTED laptop carrier, complete with strap. If anyone would like a tutorial on this I would be happy to make one. It has no pockets even though I would have liked to have added some. I found that with these bags you can EITHER do quilting, OR add pockets. One or the other NOT both.

I asked my mom what colors she would like and LUCKY FOR ME she said black/white/maybe some red. WELLL I am currently working on a Red/White/Black quilt so I already had the fabric scraps ready to go! You can see my RED/WHITE/BLACK work-in-progress quilt HERE.

I was quite torn as to what to use for the lining. I kind of wanted something soft, or fuzzy. I went through my scraps of fleece, flannel, and fuzzies, and couldn't find anything to match. But then I remembered my Michael Miller KNIT black polka dot fabric that I used to make my friend Heather's dress ;c) I was kinda scared to use a knit for the lining, but I just added some Pellon fusible stablizer and I think it worked quite nicely. Here's some photos of the finished bag:

Oh and here's the dress I made for Heather using the same knit fabric by Michael Miller ;c)

Next Project - Spa Quads

2011-07-19T13:03:00.011-04:00

Okay so yes, I do have several UFOs and MANY WIPs hanging in the back, but I want to start something NEWWWWWWWW.
Oh brother, I know.
Well, I just have the urge and I can't help myself! LOL
I have several black and red print Fat Quarters that I purchased at the IQF Cincinnati. They're calling my name I tell you!!!
SO! I have spent the last couple days pondering what to do with these fat quarters. . I originally thought about designing something myself, but I'm feeling kinda lazy right now. I'd rather just use someone else's pattern and then add my touch of sparkle with the quilting! So I choose a design that would let the quilting shine through. This pattern looks like it would finish rather quickly too. . .so less time piecing and more time quilting. Always a plus in my book!

If anyone would like to give this pattern a GO, CLICK HERE to go to the pattern from Windham Fabrics. All you need is 24 fat quarters. I have exactly 24 FQs of Black, White, and Red prints!! It's meant to be?! ;cP

So here's all my pretty fabrics I am going to use for the quilt. The top 3 fabrics will be borders... *maybe* lol

I would also just like to add that I very rarely PRINT anything. I'm very ~~cheap~~ ahem, I mean Frugal, so I like to save all the paper and ink I can in my quilting process.

Here I just wrote down the general idea of the quilt on a half sheet of paper. This is the basics and I should'nt have to pull the pattern .pdf back up.

Okay I'm going to get sewing! What's everyone else working on right now?? ;c)

UPDATED 7/7/2011 -

A have all my blocks done, but that will be another post - here's a photo of the 1st block completed:

***Updated 7.29.2011****

Finished all my blocks - Now I'm just trying to find a way to arrange them in a pleasing manner.

How-To Flickr Slideshow

2011-07-17T10:41:00.005-04:00

I had a really hard time figuring out how to add a flickr Slideshow to my blog. Once I figured out how to do it, I realized I was trying to make it much more difficult than it really is.

If anyone out there is curious as to how to embed a slideshow from flickr onto your blog I will try to explain it here.

1. Go to Flickr and open and account if you haven't already done that.

2. Choose "upload" and upload any and all photos you wish to include in your slideshow.

3. Once the photos have been uploaded you have the option to add a description and tags. . go ahead and do that now.

4. While you are still on that same screen - at the top right hand corner there will be an option to "add to set" or "create new set." You will want to create a NEW set. Choose a name and description for your set and save.

5. Once you have saved, go BACK to the flickr homescreen. (Just click on FLICKR logo.)

6. Click on the link that says "YOUR PHOTOSTREAM" now all of your photos will show up to the left, and your SETS will show up on the right hand column of the screen.

7. Click on the set that you just created. Your set will show up and in the top right hand corner there will be an option to VIEW SLIDESHOW.

8. Choose the VIEW SLIDESHOW option and then you will get this screen:

9. At the top right hand corner there will be an option to "SHARE"

Click on "SHARE" and then click the 2nd code that will give you the HTML "embed" option.

Copy to your clipboard and then go to your blogger screen.

10. If you would like to include the code in a Blog Post, Copy-Paste the code here.

Now you have you can preview your Slideshow, and Publish your Post! ;c)

This is a slideshow I just made that includes all of the quilts and things I have created since 2006.

You can also add a slideshow to your blog by adding a GADGET.

Go to your DASHBOARD and click ADD GADGET.

Choose the HTML option. Enter the embed/HTML code from flickr and then save.

Now the slideshow will be on your sidebar of your blog for everyone to see.

I am a FMQaholic.

2011-07-16T17:59:00.003-04:00

I recently was awarded the "FAN OF THE MONTH" from Wonderfil's Fan of the Month Contest. I was only the 2nd winner of this contest and I think it's mainly because not many people are aware of the contest. The WINNER gets a fabulous thread package from Wonderfil.

Go here to check out the rules and to find out how to enter the contest: http://www.facebook.com/wonderfil

I received my thread package/winnings in the mail this week. It didn't take hardly ANY time to arrive! Well I opened the package and . . . . started drooling. ;c)

So many beautiful threads to try! As a matter of fact, they include one large spool of each type of thread they offer. Lots of Cotton, Rayon, Metalic and variegated threads.

The threads along with my friend Tiffany having a birthday inspired me to start a new project. I started thinking about what I could make for Miss tiffany. I just finished making another friend of ours pot holders and didn't want to do that again. I decided to go with a TOTE, but not just any tote. I decided to make a FMQ'd TOTE!!!

I still have almost all of the fabric left from my last batch of hand-dyes. Since the dyes didn't turn out very bright, they made the perfect backdrop for some FMQ practice/playing.

I went to http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/ for inspiration.... AS ALWAYS, thank you SO much Leah Day for all your hard work. Here's some photos of my finished project, and I'll show you which FMQ filler design I used and give you a link to it. Isn't that nice of me? ;cD

So here's the tote, I sandwiched the pieces together and used variegated thread to quilt them.

I just used some cheap polyester batting for the center, the bottom is squared off so it will be flat. It's a little TALLER than I originally anticipated but that's okay. I see it as a nice beach bag or something. And the Strap is long, so she can throw it over her shoulder if need-be.

***Click on any of the photos to make them larger if you wish.****

Okay for the top design (pink) I used Leah's pattern "GIANT SNAIL"

The bottom design (blue) I used her pattern: "CHECKERBOARD"

The top pattern (green) I used the design "BUTTERFLY FEATHER FLOWER"

For the bottom pattern (orange) I used "PEBBLE MAZE"

For the TOP design on this one (Pink) I used "OCEAN CURRENT"

For the bottom part (blue) I used a simple "STIPPLE" ~ This is the first block I quilted and I wasn't sure what I was going to do . . . you can't go wrong with stippling ;c)

Okay for the top part of this one (green) I sort of used my own little pattern here. I had originally planned on just quilting straight lines and ending it at that. BUT, after I quilted half the lines I realized that plain lines weren't going to satisfy me. So I did a variation of the Giant Snail pattern from above. These "C" or Banana shapes are what you use to fill in your squigglys when you're doing McTavishing. They're one of my favorite shapes to play with when FMQing because there's JUST ENOUGH thread play.. Also, the shape really works nicely with your batting adding SO MUCH texture to your finished quilt! If you've never tried this type of quilting pattern before I HIGHLY recommend it. Feel free to try what I did. First quilt just straight or diagonal lines . . . they don't even have to be evenly spaced. Then just go back and forth making "C" shapes. It's a beautiful look to the finished quilt.

BUT I DIGRESS ;c) for the bottom part of the above photo (yellow) I used Leah's design "SUPER DAISY" ~ This one was my husband's favorite and it was much easier than I originally had anticipated. I can't speak highly enough of Leah and her website. She is SO generous for showing us so many amazing quilting patterns. It's so nice when you're stuck in a spot and lacking ideas. . you can just go to her website and all the photos are all laid out for you and you can just go through and pick the one that you like. She even gives you a VIDEO explaining in detail how to quilt EACH ONE!!! She's done so much for the FMQ world!!!

And finally for the bottom:

I used Leah's paisley design called "MUSSEL SHELL"

So the next time you want to make a tote. . . why not JAZZ it up a little and use some FUN Free-motion designs!!! It makes a beautiful, SOFT tote that's completely washable!

If you make one, please send me a pic!! KRATI@AOL.COM

I would love to feature the photo here on this blog!

Contest ~ BumbleBeeBead

2011-07-13T08:00:00.006-04:00

I have joined forces with the lovely Mrs Jonua Besnard to host a giveaway.

Here's the idea straight from her blog:

Contest Encore!

I said I would post on the November contest, but I have turned it into a NOW contest!

It will run through the end of August. Basically it is very simple.

The point of the game is to see how many people you can get to fan mine, and Katie Wiseman's Facebook fan page. You must tell people, when they LIKE thetwo pages to leave a comment that you sent them, so we will know once we count them at the end of August. The winner with the most referrals wins!

J. Rachel Besnard Design's Facebook Fan Page

Katie's Quilts and Crafts Facebook Fan Page

Again, the good part. The prize. Katie Wiseman will be giving away one of her handmade reversible tote bags. It is simply gorgeous. Katie does very thorough and intricate work. I will be giving away a $30 gift card to my store,J. Rachel Besnard Designs.

We will announce the winner on September 1st. Good luck!!!

Jonua's BIO:

Me. I am from West Virginia in the United States. I grew up in a very small town and went to the same school as Katie. After graduation I started college and left halfway through. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I ended up moving around a bit and had the chance to live in NYC for six months! After I moved back I settled into a job and a year later I went back to school to finish my degree. I ended up with a degree in Geography. I did a short study abroad and met my husband Florian. We had been penpals for five years, and immediately after meeting we were dating, and in less than one year we were married! I moved to Paris and started to learn a whole new language and culture. It was scary at first because I did not know what I would do for work, so I started playing around with jewelry. Over one year later here I am starting a new business and feeling more passionate about this than any other job I have ever done in my life!

Make sure to take a moment and stop by her blog

http://bumblebeebead.blogspot.com/

Almost THERE and Wonderfil Win

2011-07-07T18:32:00.005-04:00

I am finishing up the binding on Jaime's BIG BED quilt. . WHICH I will be using as a QAYG tutorial. The tutorial, as a matter of fact, is almost finished as well! I am SO excited. I have worked VERY hard on this tutorial. I have tried my best to explain in detail the method in which I do quilt-as-you-go. I should have the tute up tomorrow . . . if all goes as planned ;c)

Next item on the agenda I wanted to discuss. . lol:

The WONDERFIL FAN OF THE MONTH CONTEST

This is the 2nd month Wonderfil has hosted the contest, and the winner gets a thread package!! I love love love love love Wonderfil. . . their thread is amazing . . . but what's even more amazing is their customer service. They're also very interactive with their fans/customers on their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/wonderfil?ref=ts

If you're a fan of Wonderfil threads i.e., Invisifil, Tutti, Spagetti, etc., GO NOW to their facebook page. Go to the tab titled "Fan of the Month" You can see a dorky photo of me (lol) and read how you can enter the contest and win a thread package!!!

Okay. . stay tuned and good luck!!!

PART 5 - Finishing the Quilt

2011-07-06T14:25:00.008-04:00

You're almost there!!! You should now have something that looks like a quilt! Congratulations!

All that's left is binding!

If you want to add a label, now would be a good time to start thinking about that.

A quilting sleeve? Now would be a great time to add that too~!

Your binding is already made, so now all you have to do is add it.

I told you this quilt was made totally by machine . .and the binding is no exception. You are going to be adding the binding in a manner that is very similar to the way you did the sashing.

Part A ~ Attaching the Binding to the Back.

Turn the quilt over so the BACK is facing you. We will first be sewing the binding on to the BACK side of the quilt.

1. Start in the center of one side of the quilt. Leave a tail of about a foot, and start pinning the sashing down.

2. Pin until you get to the first corner.

Fortunately, I got lucky and did not run into the problem of a seam landing in one of the corners. You do NOT want a seam on one of the 4 corners of your quilt. If a seam happens to land on one of the corners, you will have to readjust the binding. Un-pin, Adjust, and RE-pin until you have seamless corners.

3. Pin about an inch away from the edge, and then fold the binding away from the quilt, perpendicularly. (click on photos to enlarge) Pin in place, diagonally from the corner.

4. Fold the binding back down, and pin in place.

5. Continue pinning until you get to the tail end of the binding.

6. At this point you should move this side of the quilt onto a cutting mat or wide ruler. With scissors, trim off the diagonal edge of one side of the binding so it is straight.

7. Line up the cut edge of the binding with one of the inch marks on your ruler/grid and pin in place (close to the edge.) Use a large pin so you can see it.

8. Lay the opposite edge of the binding over top of this piece. We cut our binding at 2.25" so there should be 2.25" overlapping. Pin the opposite edge down, and cut at the 2.25" mark with scissors.

9. Remove the pins that are to the left and to the right of your cut pieces. You will need a little "give" for the next step. =c)

10. With Right Sides Together, Pin your binding strips together on the diagonal. The reason I ask you to FIRST pin them on the diagonal is because we are going to TEST to make sure the strips aren't twisted, and we have them going in the correct direction. So now that they're pinned, go ahead and "pretend" it's already sewn, and lay it next to your quilt to ensure that it's correct.

11. Now that you know everything's correct, take a ruler, and draw on your diagonal sewing line with a pen, pencil, chalk or whatever.

12. Pin in place.

13. Lower your stitch length a bit, and then stitch in place.

14. Trim your seams, and Finger-Press your seams open. (You can press these seams open with an iron if you wish, but I never do.)

15. Fold your now sewn seam back in half and finger press. Pin the rest of the binding to your quilt back.

16. Stitch 3/8" seam all the way around, stopping at corners.

17. Once you get to a corner, stop, fold your binding away and pin on the diagonal. Make sure to pin right before your folded binding. (see photos)

18. Stitch until you get to the pin. Remove Pin, and then Stitch diagonally to the corner.

19. Remove the quilt from the machine, and fold the excess binding back up and place the quilt back under the presser foot. Begin stitching over the folded binding 3/8" away. Continue stitching and repeat at each corner until you're finished.

Part B ~ Finishing Binding.

Flip the Quilt over so the TOP is facing you.

1. Gently pull the binding from the back to the front and finger press in place. The binding should just cover the stitching line you just stitched.

Keep scissors near by - remove straggly strings as you go.

2. Pin in place. I use either Pins or plastic-coated paper clips for this step. When you get to a corner, make sure you fold a nice pretty mitered corner and pin in place. This will make it much easier for you when you are stitching.

3. Begin stitching a straight stitch approximately 1/8" from the folded edge. The stitching should just blend into the quilt.

4. Once you have stitched once around the complete quilt, I recommend doing a 2nd stitching line as well. When stitching the 2nd line of stitches, quilt as close to the folded edge as possible. This step will go MUCH faster since you don't have to remove any pins. ;c)

Your quilt binding/corners should look similar to this:

Once you're done with the binding, give your quilt a nice pressing with steam or water. Pay close attention to the sashing and remove any straggly or stray strings as you go.

If you wish, wash and dry your quilt. Once you're finished, make sure you take a photo and name your quilt. I would LOVE to post a photo of your quilt here!!

If you have ANY questions, leave them in the comments section and I will respond to them ASAP.

PART 4 - Joining Blocks

2011-07-05T20:08:00.011-04:00

Part A ~ Connecting the Rows

Before sewing, arrange your blocks in a manner that is pleasing to you. Keep them in order by labeling the blocks. Write the letters "A" through "i" in the top left hand corner with chalk.

Click on any of the photos if you would like to view them larger.

1. Lay out blocks "A" and "B" and butt them next to each other.

2. Pin at each 6" interval like this:

3. Set your machine to a wide zig zag stitch. You can use ANY type of thread for this stitch because it will be covered up later. Clamp the side that will be going through the throat of your sewing machine. This is how it should look before you feed it through the machine for each step:

4. Remove the first pin, and place the quilt blocks under the machine foot, and lower the needle into one side.

5. Begin to stitch a wide zig zag stitch for about ONE INCH.

6. Remove the next pin, and make sure the next two seams are matched. Stitch until you get ONE INCH past the next seam, easing the two sides together so they match.

*****This is the reason I chose this design for a beginner QAYG tutorial. If you are using a different design, mark your intervals at 6" or so with chalk on both sides. This way you can ease the sides to match gently. It is VERY easy to end up with an extra INCH or so hanging off one side if you're not careful.

8. Repeat this until you are finished stitching together sides "A" and "B"

9. Repeat these steps but this time with sides "D" and "E", - and - "G" and "H"

10. Now you will add the 3rd block in the row

"C" gets added to "A/B"

"F" gets added to "D/E" and

"i" gets added to "G/H"

11. Now you should have 3 rows of 3 quilt blocks. "A/B/C", "D/E/F", and "G/H/i"

Part B ~ Add Sashing Strips to Rows

Set your machine up with thread to MATCH the SASHING Fabric.

1. Start with the A/B piece. Turn the row over so that the backing is facing you. Lay a strip of folded sashing on one side of the sewn blocks. Pin in place.

2. Flip the piece over. Lay another folded sashing strip on the front side. Pin in place, in between the pins from the back side.

3. Flip the piece over and remove the pins from the back side.

4. Turn the piece over again, the top should now be facing you. Place the pins from the back, in between the pins in the front. (The more pins the better.)

5. Place the piece in the machine and stitch a wide 3/8" seam. Remove the pins as you stitch.

6. Repeat the previous steps for piece D/E, and G/H.

7. Now starting with the A/B/C piece you will add the sashing strips between blocks B/C, E/F, and H/I

Refer to this grid if you get confused about which side to sew the sashing strip.

Your sashing is now attached to ONE side of BOTH the front and the back of the pieces. Begin the next step with any piece, and you can CHAIN STITCH until you finish with all of the rows. Just keep feeding the 3 rows through until you're done.

8. Starting with the BACK facing you, fold over the folded edge of the sashing to the opposite side of the stitching. Pin in place.

9, Stitch down the folded edge approximately 1/8"

10. Flip piece over so the FRONT is facing you. Do the same for the back sashing. Fold over, pin in place, and stitch 1/8" from the folded edge.

11. the FRONT should now be facing you.. Stitch another row of stitches, as close to the folded edge as possible, or just within the 1/8" line of stitching. This row of stitching is just for security.

12. For the final stitch you will be doing a TOPSTITCH. (stitching line on the opposite side of your previous stitches - This stitching will go over your seams.)

13. This is what it will look like on the front. You should see 2 rows of stitching on ONE side, and one row of stitching on the other side. From the back you will see 3 lines of stitching on one side, and one line of stitches on the other side.

This is the 3 completed rows of stitching laid out on the bed:

Part C ~ Connecting the Rows

Now you are going to join the rows into columns. This is done exactly like the previous steps were done. Start by trimming any excess sashing.

1. Lay out row A/B/C and butt it up next to D/E/F . Fold in the edges, and clamp the side that will be fed through your sewing machine. Start by Zig-zagging, and THEN add your sashing as in previous steps. This is what it will look like pinned and ready for your Zig-Zag Stitch.

2. Take care to not only match up 6" squares/intervals, but also the sashings.

3. Repeat the previous steps but this time you're joining the D/E/F side to G/H/i

GO TO *PART 5 - Finishing the Quilt*

PART 3 - Piecing the Top/Quilting

2011-07-03T15:47:00.010-04:00

Part A ~ Assembling your Top/Blocks

1. Pin your 6.5" squares together in rows of 5.

2. Press seams to one side.

3. Stitch each sewn strip to another sewn strip.

4. You will be joining 5 rows to make one "block."

5. Press these seams OPEN.

6. When you are finished, you should have 9 "blocks" ~~~ each block will include 25 charm squares, 5 rows, and 5 squares in each row.

7. Give each BLOCK a final pressing with STARCH.

Part B ~ Assembling the Back

You need 9 blocks equaling at least 33" square.

Cut these blocks out of yardage, or piece leftover fabric together to equal 33"

Press seams to the side. Press the RIGHT side of your backing squares, and use starch.

Here is two of my pieced backings I'm using for this quilt:

Do these however you want! ;c)

Part C ~ Batting

Cut batting squares to equal approximately 31" square

Batting can be pieced from leftovers, just please always use the same loft and preferably the same BRAND of batting throughout your quilt. You don't want different weights of batting in one quilt ;c)

To piece batting, use a needle and thread. Fold one long piece of thread in half, and stick two raw ends through the eye of the needle. Stick the needle through a 1/8" of one side of the batting, and pull thread ALMOST through. There will be a small loop, so just put your needle through the loop for a clean knot to start your sewing.

Start with batting butted together. Take your needle through a bit of the batting on the opposite side from where you started. You can make very large, relatively loose stitches. Once you quilt the quilt, the batting will stay put. You just need to stitch a few stitches to hold the batting together.

If you have a lot of batting that you want to piece, you CAN use a large, wide zig-zag stitch on your machine. Just make sure you're using a thin thread, and the batting isn't overlapping.

Part D ~ Quilting

1. Lay down one of the backing pieces, wrong side facing UP.

2. Tape down edges/corners to your table/work surface. You want to keep the backing piece taut, but not stretched too much.

3. Next lay down your batting piece in the center and smooth out any bumps or ridges.

4. Next Lay down one of your top pieces (30.5") on top of your batting piece, RIGHT side facing up

5. Starting in the center of your piece, begin to pin with large, safety pins.

6. Pin toward the sides, and then out to the corners. As you are pinning, gently stretch the top to where it is TAUT, but not stretched. You want the top to be the same tautness as the backing.

7. Once the sandwich is pinned, go to your machine, and stitch 1/4" from the edges.

~~you may have to remove pins as you sew ;c)

8. Quilt as desired - this method is PERFECT for free-motion practice! ;c)

9. Trim off any excess batting and backing. There should only be 1/4" or less past the stitching line.

*PART 4 - Joining Blocks*

PART 2 - Assembling the Binding and Sashing

2011-07-03T15:28:00.010-04:00

Press your Binding/Sashing fabric ~ Use starch if needed (I just used water in a spray bottle )

The first step is to make your bias binding and your sashing for the whole project. Both will measure 2 1/4" wide. I have provided a link below to a detailed bias binding tutorial if needed.

Part 1 - Bias Binding

1. Cut off 5/8th yard off of your Binding/Sashing Fabric and make sure it is pressed well.

2. Fold down one corner and then cut on the diagonal.

Place the cut piece on the opposite side of the piece of fabric and pin in place.

Sew Right sides together.

Press seams open

3. Draw lines parallel to the bias-cut edge of the fabric 2.25" on the WRONG side of the fabric. You can use chalk, a quilt marker, or a thin pen or pencil.

4. Now you will line up the draw lines of one side, to the opposite side, skipping the first line on one side. For a detailed Bias Binding tutorial go HERE.

5. Pin on each drawn line

6. Stitch

7. Press seams open.

8. Cut along the drawn lines with scissors. Warning: this part is boring and tedious ;c)

9. Trim your binding, and press in half lengthwise.

Once your binding is pressed, I recommend wrapping it around a toilet paper or paper towel center to keep it neat. Set this aside for later.

Part 2 - Sashing

This is what will connect your quilted blocks, and hold your quilt together!

1. Press the rest of your fabric and use starch or water if necessary.

2. Cut 2.25" strips from the fabric.

3. Pin each strip together on the diagonal (to reduce bulk) Draw a diagonal line with chalk or a pen.

4. Stitch and press seams open, and trim dog ears.

5. Press the whole long strip in half lengthwise.

6. Wrap your pressed strip around a paper towel center to keep it neat.

My binding is wrapped around a Toilet Paper center, and my Sashing is wrapped around a Paper Towel center. There will be MUCH more sashing needed then binding. . ;c)

Set Aside for later.

Go to *PART 3 - Piecing the Top/Quilting*

PART 1 - Materials/Supply list

2011-07-03T14:53:00.009-04:00

QAYG - Charm Quilt

*Finished Quilt size = 90" x 90" - QUEEN-sized

*Size of Charms - 6.5" UNfinished, 6" Finished

*225 Total Charm Squares

*9 Sections = 30.5" square each - 25 Charms in each Section

~~~ I used several different sizes of yardage and Fat Quarters to get the 225 Charms that I needed for the quilt. But if you want to buy fabric specifically for the project, here is a general idea of what you will need:

*1 1/2 yards of 5 different fabrics

*1 yard of 9 different fabrics

*5/8 yards of 15 different fabrics

*3/8 yards of 25 different fabrics

~~~Generally, with a charm quilt, the more variety the better. I used 19 different fabrics in my quilt.

~~For the back of the quilt, you will need 9 different squares measuring LARGER than 30.5" Feel free to do a scrappy back, and piece some fabric together to equal at least a 33" square. If you would like to purchase yardage especially to use for the backing, you will need 8.5 yards.

Materials Needed:

225 - 6.5" squares

9 - squares measuring at least 33" (can be pieced from scraps)

9 - squares of batting measuring at least 31" (also can be pieced)

2.25 yards - Fabric for sashing and Binding.

Piecing thread - I recommend Aurifil 50wt or Invisifil 112wt

Quilting Thread - Should compliment your charm squares

Sashing/Binding Thread - should blend well with binding/sashing fabric.

LOTS of long, quilting pins

Large Quilting safety pins

Quilting clips, Bag Clips, or Hair clips

Walking Foot - it is HIGHLY recommended you use a walking foot during the whole process.

Sewing Machine with a straight stitch as well as a wide zig-zag option.

Thin line ink pen or pencil

Chalk or Quilt marker (invisible ink)

Rotary Cutter

Self-Healing Mat

Quilt ruler

Scissors

Iron

Tape

Plastic-coated Paper Clips (optional)

1 Paper Towel center and 1 Toilet Paper center (optional)

Needle and Thread (if you're piecing your batting)

Assume all seams are 1/4" Seam allowance unless noted ** We will be adding the sashing and binding with a 3/8" Seam allowance. **

To begin, set your sewing machine up with your walking foot and your piecing thread.

Go to *PART 2 - Assembling the Binding and Sashing*

Quick and Easy QAYG Tutorial - INTRO

2011-07-01T14:47:00.014-04:00

Yes, it's true! Quilt-As-You-Go can be QUICK and EASY.

Here is a slideshow of past QAYG quilts I have made:

I have decided to divide this tutorial into several parts. I want to be very thorough with this tutorial. Not only will I be showing you the QAYG method, but I will also be showing you a very easy quilt pattern to make.

If you are new to QAYG, I strongly recommend you use this simple charm square pattern for your first attempt at QAYG. There are MANY reasons why this pattern will benefit you as you are learning the technique. ...more about this later. . .

This is very important: Finishing your quilts with this method will NOT give you "quilt show" quality results. There is absolutely NO HAND PIECING at all with MY QAYG method. Everything can be done with your domestic sewing machine. Quilting your quilts with this technique will give you FAST, and EASY results. You could easily finish a bed-sized quilt in a few weekends. Trust that if you follow my instructions properly, you will have a quilt that will withstand years of washing. These are the techniques you use if you want the quilt to be snuggled with and loved for lifetimes.....

This QAYG technique was formed from necessity on my part. I am not a rich person, so I have never been able to afford a longarm service for my large tops. I also love the satisfaction of quilting a quilt from start to finish by yours truly. I absolutely love the look of the intricate quilting the longarm quilters can provide, but it is nearly impossible with a DSM (domestic sewing machine.)

Although this QAYG method is easy, there will still be lots of standing and stretching involved when you get towards the end. SO, the challenge is YOURS if you so choose to accept it!

Click the links below to begin and GOOD LUCK!!

*PART 1 - Materials/Supply list*

*PART 2 - Assembling the Binding and Sashing*

*PART 3 - Piecing the Top/Quilting*

*PART 4 - Joining Blocks*

*PART 5 - Finishing the Quilt*

Please Vote for My Quilt!!

2011-06-24T20:11:00.007-04:00

Right now I am neck-and-neck with another quilt for the win!! Every vote counts!! It would mean so much to me!!!

Remember the name of the quilt is called "GOLF COURSE FOR DADDY" ~ Katie Wiseman

PLEASE VOTE FOR MY QUILT!!!!

This is one of the first quilts I ever made and it was for my Dad for his birthday.

I told him I was making him a quilt and asked him to pick the "theme" of the quilt. He of course requested a gOLF COURSE quilt!! hahahaha. My dad is a BIG golfer . . .and he's really good at it! So, it's not exactly a GOLF quilt, BUT I think I accomplished the COLORS of a golf course anyway. . .hee hee

I went to the fabric store looking for golf course colored fabric. . . I found lots of Green for the fairway, water hazard, sand bunker, sky, etc., ;c) ;c)

This is my dad and me at my wedding ;c)

THANNKKKK YOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/06/24/vote-now-quilts-for-fathers-2/

Stella Top

2011-06-23T11:02:00.003-04:00

I have just finished my top "Stella." It's the Jinny Beyer pattern "Crystal Star" but I left the jagged edges off and the thin pale yellow strips off the pattern. I was thinking of adding some applique but I think some clever quilting would soften the edges.

If anyone has any quilting suggestions I would greatly appreciate them!!!

This quilt was stitched together VERY quickly. It only took me 3 days from start to finish. Probably because the Jinny Beyer palette strips were pre-cut, AND, the instructions were so nice, and clear. VERY easy stitching for amazing results. I am in LOVE with the Jinny Beyer palette strips!!!

I will be hanging this in my sewing area to use as a guide. Isn't it amazing? I am thrilled with how it turned out. The colors almost illuminate in the quilt! I love you Jinny Beyer! hahaha

Following The Lamb Wherever He Goes: Lucia's Memory Quilt - Will you be a piece of brin...

2011-06-20T21:18:00.001-04:00

Following The Lamb Wherever He Goes: Lucia's Memory Quilt - Will you be a piece of bringing her home?: "I am so excited to share Lucia's Memory Quilt fundraiser with you! I am having a snowball signature quilt made for Lucia. Here is a genera..

Please visit my friend Tracy Morgan's Blog, to view my next (upcoming) project.

Tracy is in the process of adopting a child from Mexico with down-syndrome. She has named her "Lucia" which means "light."

As we all know, adoption fees are insanely expensive, and Tracy has been working endlessly to raise the money for all fees upon fees that it takes to bring Lucia finally home to her.

Her latest effort is a quilt project in which the supporter will have the opportunity to sign a quilt block in return for a donation. We collaborated and felt the snowball block represented best what look we wanted Lucia's quilt to have.

It's going to be a scrappy snowball quilt, and some of the signatures will carry onto 2 or 4 "blocks." I think this will add aLOT to the usual hum-drum snowball quilt. This option is especially nice since this is such a unique situation.

Would you like to help bring Lucia home? Stop over to Tracy's blog, and make a donation to have your signature included in her quilt. I will be posting the final quilt and my step-by-step process here, on my blog.

MY FRIEND IS HOSTING A GIVEAWAY!!!!

2011-06-16T14:13:00.004-04:00

I want EVERYONE to go check out my friend, J Rachel Besnard's blog RIGHT NOW!!! =cD

A little bit about Jonua ~

Jonua and I were friends when we were both children, and we are now reconnecting as adults. She is one of the most amazingly creative people I know. Jonua makes GORGEOUS jewelry. When you see it I just know you'll agree - her pieces are so intricate and just stunning. She has an amazing eye for color and design and utilizes that gift when making her beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Jonua lived very close to me, in a small town in West Virginia, until she found the love of her life, got married, and moved to Paris. Yes, her husband is French!

So go check out her stuff right now at her ArtFire Store:

When you're done with that, make sure to go to her BLOG, "follow" her, so you'll be entered into the giveaway drawing.

Again, click HERE to go to her BLOG!!!

Covering Joplin with Love

2011-06-01T22:31:00.002-04:00

~~Repost from Fellow quilter of Scratchingpost yahoo group~~~~~~

Most people are aware that an extremely destructive [EF-5] tornado struck Joplin, MO the evening of May 22, 2011. In the 10 days since, many of us who reside in southwest Missouri have been responding to the urgent need for assistance to that community at every level. Sindy has kindly approved my posting this message with regard to a call for help from quilters. I am personally involved with the project described through the church with which I am affiliated, and will gladly answer any questions anyone should have. Please carefully consider this plea to get involved with Joplin, Missouri tornado relief.
Dee-MO, aka Lighthouse-MO

*****
"Covering Joplin With Love"

Quilters all over the country are invited to send one or more quilts for distribution to persons whose home was damaged or destroyed in Joplin, MO when an EF-5 tornado struck on May 22, 2011.
The need is urgent and enormous. Quilts of all sizes are needed: light-weight summer quilts for babies and children, youth and adults for this time of year would be especially useful. Crib, twin, double, queen king....any weight batting. ANY and ALL SIZES will be put to use immediately and in the months to come as thousands of people have been left without housing and furnishings. We ask that you employ the quilter's high standard of quality please only send an item that you would be pleased to receive. Contributions may be personally delivered or send to:

"Covering Joplin with Love"
c/o Brentwood Christian Church
1900 E. Barataria
Springfield, MO 65804-3835

Quilts may be sent by UPS, Fed-Ex or United States Postal Service. For more information, call the church at 417-881-0144, Jeanne Nixon, 417-883-5182 or Charlie Bahn, 417-234-6826, or email
CoveringJoplinWithLove@gmail.com

Deconstructed Tee Skirt Tutorial

2011-05-27T23:39:00.005-04:00

One of the 1st items I crafted a looooong time ago was a deconstructed skirt project. . . Those skirts are still in rotation today and I LOVE them! Thank goodness they're coming back in style.

Here's a Tute for a very Basic version of my Decon Tee-skirt pattern.

I am offering this pattern to you FREE to keep old clothes out of landfills and to help our Mother Earth. Please DO NOT SELL this pattern, and DO NOT SELL skirts you have made from this pattern. Please DO Make or Donate as many as you wish! ...and please. .if you do decide to make one. . by all means share a photo with me! I would also love to share the photo with everyone here on this blog!

If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments section below and I will answer them ASAP =cD

YOU WILL NEED:

1. One Pair of old jeans/Skirt/Shorts of a sturdy material i.e., cordoroy, or denim (Because of this design, you can use a pair of jeans that are 1 or 2 sizes too small )

2. A few old Shirts, can be Tee-shirts or Woven, doesn't matter (I used 5 total)

3. Good, Sharp pair of scissors

4. Iron

5. Sewing Machine (you could do this by hand but it would be a real pain in the *****)

6. Measuring Tape

7. Chalk (or other washable marking tool)

9. Block Ruler

10. Thread/Pins/Needles/etc.,

Optional (but highly recommended):

A friend to help with measurements

Starch

Rotary Cutter and Self-healing mat

Stretch Needles (great for sewing together tee-shirts)

Pre-made Bias binding (for hem)

*Press and Starch all your garments

*Fold your jeans in half by grabbing the crotch in the back with your finger, and then keeping the waiste line straight. Lay your now folded jeans on your cutting mat , keeping the grain line of the jeans parallel to the lines on your cutting board.

* Make a straight-across cut, right below the zipper or right above the crotch area - try to make your cut perpendicular to the grain lines.

*Set your excess jeans fabric aside. . . . for another project ;c)

* With your scissors, straighten out the Center-Front and Center-Back seam areas. In this photo you can see where it goes in a "V". . . just take your scissors and snip that off - You don't want any Angles when you start attaching your shirts.

*Staystitch along the edge to prevent fraying.

*Starting from the Center Front Seam, Measure all around the circumfrence of the cut-off jeans. WRITE THIS NUMBER DOWN (My number was 41)

*Starting at your NATURAL Waiste, measure down your leg to where you want the skirt (bottom/hem) to end. WRITE THIS NUMBER DOWN I like my skirts to end right above the knee. For me this number was 21. (About your natural waiste: Girls, this is not your coin slot, this is the smallest area around your middle)

*Measure one of the side seams on your cut jeans from Waiste to Cut. WRITE THIS NUMBER DOWN (For me this number was 8)

*Now for some calculat'n ;c)

A - - Cut Jeans Circumference: Me (41") You =

B - -Cut Jeans Side Seam: Me (8") You =

C - -Length from Waiste to Knee, or where you want your hem to be: Me ( 21") You =

D - -How many shirts do you have? Me (5) You =

E - -Circumference (41") /Shirts (5) = Me 8.2 rounded to the nearest whole number is (9"**) You =

F - -Length of Hem (21") - Side Seam (8") = Me (13") You =

G - -Multiply results from (E) x2 Me (18") You =

hopefully these next steps don't confuse anyone. . because I used different photos (of different tee shirts) for each step. ;c)

*Use a clear block ruler, or just eyeball it, and try to center your logo, (I am centering between marks 0" and 9" on the ruler) Make a mark at 0" and whatever your result from (E) was. Make an additional mark in the center (Mine was at 4.5")

*Another photo showing the logo centered

*Line the top of your ruler up with the top line, and make a line going from the center, down to your result from (F) My number was (13")

*Next you'll make a line at the bottom, parallel to the line at the top, at the Result from (F) line. So now you can see I have a 9" line on the top, a line going down the center 13" long, and the bottom line is DOUBLE the size of the top line (18".)

*Next you'll connect the sides diagonally.

* Cut around the edges of your marked lines. . . give it a rough 1" additional space around the edges

***This next part is optional, but highly recommended if you're using regular old tee shirts. . .especially if they are very worn and hol-y (like mine he he)

*Grab some fusible interfacing. . I'm using a tricot fusible . . . you could probably use any lightweight fusible for this project though. .

*Lay out your fusible over your rough-cut tees. . Trim fusible so it's not hanging over the edges

*Before fusing. . cover with an old tee shirt or piece of fabric. . . fusible can be messy when hot . A couple things about fusible interfacing: 1. Mist only your cover fabric with water or use steam. 2. Really PRESS your iron into the fabric, and hold for a few seconds. You can see where you've pressed already because the indention the iron will make in the fabric. When you've pressed all areas, leave it sit for a few minutes. . checking it too early will make it lose it's sticky ;c)

*After your fusible has sufficiently cooled. . you can check it by pulling off the cover fabric, and try to pull some of the fusible off from a corner. If it comes off easily. . REPEAT THE PRESSING PROCESS. . if it's good and stuck. . . continue to the next step ;c)

*Trim excess fabric

(BTW I'm missing one in this photo. . =cO)

*Take your pieces, RST, and pin

*Continue to pin until all sides are pinned

*Stitch sides together (You could most certainly use a serger if you have one, I used a serge stitch which worked nicely. . but if you're using fusible interfacing, you might be able to get away with a very narrow zig-zag stitch) If using a straight stitch to connect these pieces, I would recommend top-stitching on the outside for extra "security."

*Press Seams to the side

Measure the top circumference of your stitched skirt. Make sure your circumference is LARGER than your result from (A) I got 45.5", and my result from A was 41". If it is not larger, you've done something wrong. . ;c) Email me and I'll help you. .

*Stitch Last Seam RST and Press to the side

*Check to see which shirts/logos you would like to be showing on the front

*I'm choosing the sparkly mushrooms and the "fairway to heaven" logo shirt ;c)

*Flip your sewn tees up around your jeans part, and Pin RST. Since the skirt part will be a tad bigger than your jeans part, you will have some gathers. Just use LOTS of pins and stitch thoroughly. Take your time.

*Try the skirt on to make sure it fits. If it does, Finish by topstitching, or if you have serged your edges. . . Press the seams to one side.

*Optional* Finish the hem area. . .I used a chocolate brown double fold Bias binding that was pre-made from Joanns. . If you DO choose to bind your hem area. . . Trim the areas that are point or in a "V" Shape (the shirts seams) make sure they're flat, so the binding will go on smoothly. Otherwise, I think the funky "V"s give your skirt character ;c)

VOILA.. you're done!

For more photos of the finished skirt. . . see my flickr page (click any of the photos )

Memorial Day Quilt Shows

2011-05-25T17:03:00.003-04:00

Times are hard, people are broke! Well, I am at least. The upcoming 3-day holiday weekend is usually designated "nature time." DH, Louie the dog, and I pack up the truck and head to the WV Hills for some one-on-one time with Mother Earth. There is nothing more rejuvinating than the smell of campfire and the feel of the cool mountain air against your skin.

Well, all that is just going to have to wait. Gas prices are just now allowing us to go very far right now. BUT, all is not lost! What can compare to the joy nature brings me? QUILTS, Quilting, and anything quilt related!!!

I have compiled a list of local quilt-related happenings. I hope you can get to enjoy this holiday with your loved ones, otherwise. . . join me!

Piecemakers Quilt Show

St Peter Claver’s Piecemakers quilt group will be having a quilt show on Sunday, May 22 beginning at 4 p.m. The show will be in the St Peter Claver Parish Hall 9th Avenue and 15th Street, Huntington. The annual presentations of Quilts to community organizations. The organizations can use the quilts they are given as fundraisers or keep them.

Quilt National: 17th Biennial Juried International Quilt Exhibition

Saturday, May 28. Entries represent artists from 46 states and 22 foreign countries. Questions, call 740-592-4981.

The Dairy Barn Arts Center

8000 Dairy Lane

Athens, OH 45701

740-592-4981

Show is open May 28th to the Public . . . also open on Memorial day and Labor Day! This weekend 12 - 5pm

35th Anniversary Vandalia Gathering*

Friday-Sunday, May 27-29. A celebration of the traditional arts, music, dance, stories, crafts and food of West Virginia. For complete details, visit www.wvculture.org.

West Virginia State Capitol Complex

1900 Kanawha Blvd. E.

Charleston, WV 25301

304-558-3456

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is announcing a call for entries for its annual juried quilt and wall hanging exhibition. The free summer-long exhibition, Quilts and Wall Hangings 2011, will be displayed in the Great Hall of the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston, from May 24 through Sept. 6, 2011

Permanent Display of Quilts*

10 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. A permanent display of quilts in several areas of the 20-building village. The village store and museum has a display of the dozens of different popular Appalachian quilt block types while the Appalachian Heritage Hall is also hanging with full-size Appalachian quilts made in the area. Call 304-522-1244 or go online atwww.heritagefarmmuseum.com.

Heritage Farm Museum and Village

3300 Harvey Road

Huntington, WV 25704

304-522-1244

Quilts in the Permanent Collection*

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. The Highlands Museum showcases many quilts in some of its permanent collections and such historical exhibits such as "Mr. Lincoln's War." Visitwww.highlandsmuseum.com or call 606-329-8888.

Highlands Museum and Discovery Center

1620 Winchester Ave.

Ashland, KY 41101

606-329-8888

Cost: $5.50; $4.50 seniors, students and children; free for children under 2

QAYG - coming soon!

2011-05-22T11:04:00.004-04:00

I've been promising a QAYG tutorial for the longest time. I am in the process of working up a quilt, and a tutorial to go along with it. So stay tuned! It should be ready within the next couple weeks. ;c)

In the meantime, enjoy this slideshow containing photos from my last completed quilt "Carrie's Quilt." I recently completed this signature quilt for my friend Megan's Grandmother Carrie.

HE IS RISEN

2011-04-24T17:20:00.004-04:00

**Yawn** I just woke up from the most wonderful nap. I rarely am able to take naps, it always seems like there's too much to do... indeed. My spontaneous napping was probably induced after consuming a large portion of Mom's Cooking. ; ) Church was awesome and we woke up in plenty of time thanks to a beautiful, and very loud, thunderstorm. Through church and up until now the weather has been a breezy perfect temperature but it looks like another storm is building AWS.

A few things I've been working on ~

I just finished a quilt for my long-time friend Amanda. I know her from my church camp days at Asbury Woods, a methodist camp, where I was a camper from grade school and a counselor in high school. She asked if I could make her a Hot Wheels quilt for her son. I scoured the web for inspiration but only one artist really struck me. The focus fabric print that she and her son picked out was a striped (border) print. I found it especially difficult incorporating this print in the design. The boy's father made it known that he wanted nothing "girly" so I made a special attempt to keep things "manly" for this quilt. I used alot of black, maybe even TOO much, but I think the black will be able to grow with him. Who knows, the quilt might even be kinda 'cool' as he's reaching his teens. . . . that is my hope, and was my goal.

Of course I did this QAYG because it was a large, bed quilt. I quilted the center all at once, but added the borders afterwards. I ordered 108"-wide quilt backing from fabric.com, but they shorted me half a yard. They were out of the green swirl print and they were sending a replacement of a dark mottled blue. I didn't like this nearly as much as the green swirl, but it was the only thing I saw they carried that wasn't. .. "girly." I was waiting for them to send me a replacement, but I got impatient and went ahead and used what I had of the green swirl. I wanted to get the quilt finished. I WAS too short. . so I added a bit of the striped border hotwheels print fabric to TWO sides of the border . .. I got lucky I was only short that little bit of fabric. I like the way the back looks so maybe it was meant to be?! =cD
And a few shots of the back. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been trying to sew garments. Well, let me just say that I have absolutely been SO BLESSED in my sewing endeavors!! I have found an absolutely WONDERFUL lady who has taken the time to help me. .. step-by-step and answer all my stupid questions. I don't know why garment sewing is so difficult for me. One would think that quilting skills could really be beneficial when learning to sew garments. I can tell you first hand. . the skills are NON-Transferable. lol ;c)
Although I have a warehouse full of quilting cottons now-a-days, I am now exploring unknown territory. I have recently ordered ... KNITS! < gasp >

Knits, stretchy fabrics, rayon, linen, garment patterns (ugh!) zippers, buttons, alterations, tailoring, darts, tucks, are all things that were once foreign to me. ; c) Thanks to my sewing Teacher, who is teaching me out of the kindness of her heart, via the web, I am learning more now than I could have ever learned from a teacher locally, if I paid her. Just another reason I am so blessed and thankful!!!
Besides learning how to sew garments, I have a few quilts that I have to finish soon.

1) Remember Megan's Signature quilt? She has commissioned me to make another one for her! I love her quilts, they force me to be creative because each of her quilts are totally designed by me, and from no pattern. They come from an idea. . from Megan, her family, and me. . . and that idea is then transfered to fabric and a quilt. This one has been particularly interesting. . . Poppies and Daisies and signatures ; ) Since the quilts I make for Megan are small, wall-hanging size, I have the opportunity to really get in there and play with embellishment and thread painting. This go around, I might try to add a little Trapunto, Sharon Schamber style.

2) Jaime has requested another quilt from me. This time she wants a queen-sized charm quilt. Together we went to Joanns and picked out a bunch of fabrics and FQs for her quilt. (I told her since she didn't want to order from a quilt shop, that I would just have to quilt it to death due to the cheap nature of the fabrics.) I will be starting this quilt early next month. I'm hoping to use HER quilt, for my QAYG tutorial I have promised everyone.

UNTIL THEN! =cD

What's everyone working on?

IQF slideshow

2011-04-10T16:31:00.003-04:00

A slideshow of photos from our recent trip to Cincinnati for the International Quilt Festival. Please accept my apology ahead of time for the fuzzy photos. My camera aint what it used to be. =c(

This will have been my first big quilt show - I am POOPED~! It was a sensory overload for me. One word to describe how I felt = OVERWHELMED! So much to see and do. I learned so much from the vendors...and experienced inspiration to last me till next year!

I found myself speed walking/racing to see everything in one day. I went so fast that by the 9th hour I was limping. .. LOL. . . and although I was carrying about 6 full bags, at least my wallet was less heavy!! hahaha

Next year, I want to go and get a hotel, spend 3 days, take some classes, listen to some lectures, take my time, enjoy some of the city, and get some rest each night!

1Choice4Quilting Giveaway

2011-04-06T10:29:00.001-04:00

New giveaway of some awesome "Happy Flowers" Fabric as well as some other goodies - 5 Winners and 5 different ways to win! Hop on over to 1Choice4Quilting to enter!