Tag Archives: Machine Quilting

Mar10

Scrap Quilting is an Experience! / Bonnie Hunter is Fantastic!

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bonnie hunter tulip time block

Had a really great time last week at Bonnie Hunter’s workshop in Cypress, Texas. She is the most down to earth, friendly teacher!! What an experience. She will be speaking at the Coastal Prairie Guild in Missouri City, Texas next February. Yeah, I know, way to long to wait. Bonnie is an avid collector of vintage machines as well as a scrap quilt gal. She has a great scrap saving system and you can read about it on her website, http://www.quiltville.com Lots and lots of free patterns as well.

I am not a scrap person and was really unsure about “scraping”. I did her Easy Street mystery over the holidays and had such fun with it that I have attempted to get into scrap mode. Wow, that’s harder than you would think for a non “scraper”. You would not believe the pieces she was confiscating from the trash bin at the workshop! Look on her site for her little bitty “ruler” that has tiny holes in it so that you can check any machine you are sewing on to make sure you have an accurate 1/4 inch seam. I bought one, but it is so tiny I’m not sure I got home with it. I may have to buy another ($3). I highly recommend getting yourself one. So Cool!  The block is my first of many for Bonnie’s Tulip Time quilt.  It is in her new book “String Fling”.

Until Later
BE HAPPY…Karen

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Mar9

Mug Rugs are sooooo cute!

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bird mug rug Owl mug rug

Well, here are my swap Mug Rugs for the Quilting Gallery.com swap. They are so much fun and so quick to do. I did the owl with hand applique, the Scharon Schamber way with foundation paper; and, the bird with fusible and a small machine blanket stitch. I love them both. I made the blanket stitch super small to reflect the overall size of the design and love the way it came out. These patterns, along with several other really cute designs are available on the Craftsy site. I will spend some time this weekend trying to learn how to upload buttons to make it easier for you to find things.

Wouldn’t this be a really fun guild exchange?

Meanwhile, I found a great thought today and it really fits me…. “if I were more organized I’d be able to keep up with my organizational list!” Trying to catch up this weekend after a great week of quilting with friends, two workshops, and a guild meeting! (not to mentions allergy issues-sigh-got to love Houston!).

BE HAPPY….Karen

Feb14

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! and freebie notice

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A big Valentine hug to everyone! Hopes for lots of candy, dinner out, and especially quilty stuff!  A great pattern for hearts is a free download on Sarah Vedeler Designs site.  She is the designer that has designed the BOM for The Quilt Show for 2013.  She has made hers out of the Dupioni Silk fabric mix that is available in quilt stores (at least thats what it looks like to me).  It is very nice, modern, and very colorful.  Take a look at her site.   www.sarahvedelerdesigns.danemcoweb.com/    Click on the SHOP tab and scroll down to the Free Downloads pic, click there and you’ll find the heart quilt.  I love color!

New tool – to me! Well I finally stopped by the closest Harbor Freight in Sugar Land. Forever I have been wanting to stop by and pick up some 18″ long magnets that help hold the quilt tops I am quilting. I did manage to get several and really like them. BUT, as important, hanging right next to my magnets was a small magnetic wrist band.  It has wide elastic with a velcro closure and is advertised to hold screws, etc. that one might be working with.  HOWEVER, look how wonderful it is to hold a small pair of thread snipping scissors as well as pins.  FANTASTIC…this way I always have my scissors, don’t always need a pin cushion handy, and don’t have a pair of scissors poking me in the “girls”!  Whoo Hoo!  What a find.  I love both things!  Probably only longarmers would use the magnets but the wrist band is super!  I have researched and find that the claim of a magnet near our computerized machines not being good is a false assumption.magnets in use

Packaging of long magnets

Magnets in Use on My Longarm

magnets

My fantastic new find – the wristband.  It is truly comfortable!

wrist magnet

Until Later…BE HAPPY ….Karen

Feb10

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Well I’ve finally recouperated from a fantastic retreat. Got lots done and had a ball. Also had way to much Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla! Check out the crew with the fancy cow – all ready for partying. On Wednesday evening we had to have dinner at Goodson’s Cafe in Tomball – well known for their Chicken Fried Steak – and it was “sew” good.

When I got home I was able to stay on track and quilted Judy’s two quilts. The first is gorgeous and has soft colors in teals and corals. The picture really doesn’t do it justice and is way off in color. I think I need a photography lesson!! The second is a sweet little baby quilt done in blue and yellow with butterflies. Some baby will smile over that one.

A picture of my completed red bird block. I started over and got it right this time. Soaked it and it definitely works..you cannot see the machine stitches at all! Very cool. This is a technique I will continue to use.

Lastly, on the way home Sally and I stopped at the Galleria in Houston for a luncheon for Bo’s Place. Our guild has been working for four years with Bo’s Place. It is a grief counseling facility and part of their counseling is having the participants make quilt squares. We have been putting them together and they hang on every wall in the building. What a great group!

Been making lots of fleece blankets today for my daughter’s dance team. The are gold with the name of the team “Golddusters” embroidered in green. It takes 31 minutes to sew out the name since it is rather large. The edges are finished with a wave stitch in green and gold (from the Babylock Evolve). They look nice but…only 26 of them!.

Until later

BE HAPPY…Karen

Feb5

Day Two at Retreat

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It’s happy Tuesday at Retreat today! Bonnie has finished her One Block Wonder Quilt – we named it THE FINGER! She is working on her second quilt top built from the special Creative Grids ruler, the 4 1/2″ quarter square triangle…Looks like it will be really neat!

Carole has been slaving over her blocks for two days now…maybe a glass of wine for dinner. She is one of the happiest quilters I know!

Sally gave up on her workshop project for a while and has resorted to crocheting. Grandbaby coming soon so she has an excuse. Can you tell she doesn’t want her picture taken – she hasn’t “styled” her hair yet!

Sandy finished this great quilt today. Looks really great especially the opposing corners!

Last, but not least, is our esteemed crew Captain – Judy! Her baby quilt is coming right along – a disappearing 4 patch.

The bright project is my finished top from a workshop several years ago. It is a Cara Gullati pattern only I made it with all of my hand dyed fabrics – super happy!

So…busy Retreat -lots of laughs and sewing and fun!

Until later…BE HAPPY

Karen

Jan31

TESTING A MACHINE APPLIQUE TECHNIQUE

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I have been wanting to test this machine applique technique for a long time. I also have wanted to work on this quilt “Red Delicious” by Esther Alieu. It is all done in multiple red prints and I just love the finished product. That being said, however, I just don’t have the time to needle turn applique and have watched Sharon Schamber use this technique of applique on most of her award winning quilts. The pieces are prepared with a specific foundation and edge turned with Elmer’s Glue. Here is the biggy…using monofilament you machine stitch a very small blanket stitch around all edges. As a prep Sharon instructs you to wash all of your applique fabric but NOT the background fabric. After completing the machine stitching you soak the block – this disintegrates the foundation into a soft fibre – and let the block dry. The background fabric, because it has not been prewashed, will shrink just a tad and thereby pull the stitching under so that it is completely invisible. Thats how it’s supposed to work anyway. I will soak my block tonight and let you know tomorrow how it does. I hope the picture of the bird is close enough for you to see the stitching before it is soaked. On this bird I was experimenting with the stitching. I started with a simple zig zag stitch but wasn’t happy with the way the thread pulled to the top no matter what tension adjustments I made. I then changed to a very small blanket (1.0/1.0) and it looks lots better. We will see tomorrow…..

Meanwhile, off to lunch with some good friends and then to the local quilt shop to deliver a couple of quilts.

Until later, BE HAPPY!

Karen

Jan29

EVERY QUILT IS “SEW” DIFFERENT AND SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!

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Well, I have one more quilt to go and I will be caught up with my schedule of quilting customer quilts. These last few have been fun and I think their owners will like them. One has a minkie back. I really love the way quilting shows up on Minkie. I have worked on quilting these the past few days and when I finish one more T-shirt quilt I will be on schedule again. The costumes were worth the effort though, my daughter and her team loved them and they went on to win a banner for top team in the contest. Their next contest is this Saturday and then one in mid-February. Hope the rest of the season goes as well for them.