The Holidays…

Posted on January 7, 2014 by quiltify

We had lovely company for several weeks over the holidays so the festivities lasted a bit longer than usual.  Things have settled down now so I’ll get back to blogging a little more regularly, I hope.  If I made new year resolutions, more frequent blogging would probably be one of them.

I did manage to sew periodically. I threw together this project during the holiday for wrapping a consumable present.  To facilitate the reuse of this bottle carrier, I did not use holiday fabric.  This way it doesn’t have to sit around and wait for next Christmas to be used…because most of us don’t need more things in our closets.  I had purchased this fabric with no project in mind, so I was happy to be able to use it.

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resized for emailunknown

Basically, it is one strip with differing fabrics for the inside and the outside along with interfacing.  Then put in a grommet on each end, sew the sides partially down so the bottle can slip in on the lower side in case it is a fat bottle. Voila!  I don’t know who designed this project because the pattern was provided at a function at Anns Fabrics.  It is quick, easy and I should make more of them.  I also have to say there is no quilting involved, but I am posting it here anyway.  Happy January!

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Card making …

Posted on December 24, 2013 by quiltify

Here’s the finished baby quilt mentioned in my November 6th and 18th posts.  B. made this lovely card for me from his photographs.

IMG_3216 IMG_3217Here are my not so fancy pictures of the quilt.  I like it, but gender neutral?  What do you think?  Quilted with the Leaf and Scroll pantograph by Keryn Emmerson.  Is anyone ever fully satisfied with the finished quilt?  I’m not…I critique them to shreds!

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Bobbins…Thread

Posted on December 13, 2013 by quiltify

I’ve been trying to figure out the best longarm bobbin and thread for me, if there is such a thing.  I had been told that the pre-wound bobbins are best for tension issues because they are wound consistently.  Here is some of my selection of bobbin types so far:

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The first two sets of bobbins are Bottom Line polyester pre-wound with cardpaper bobbin.  I liked these.  The thread rarely breaks and the tension remains consistent.  I will continue to use these for the commonly used neutral thread colors.

The third set of bobbins is the same thread but with a plastic bobbin case.  I find these harder to get a consistent tension, but it seems the smaller orders of bobbin thread come with the plastic bobbin.

I also have some magnetic plastic bobbins which, I admit, I am not eager to try and have not had the opportunity either.

Another sample that I didn’t include in this picture is a cotton thread with a plastic bobbin case.  I don’t like these at all as the bobbin thread continually breaks, and as I mentioned, I have tension issues that I attribute to the plastic bobbin.  So this product was a double negative whammy.

Because the polyester thread does not break and because I was frustrated with the cotton thread and plastic bobbins, I broke down and wound my own bobbins.  I think this will be the way I go in the future for colorful thread, at the very least.  There was no tension issue.  There was no thread breakage. I did have to change the bobbin more often due to less thread on the self-wound bobbins, but I can live with that.  Now there will be no guessing on matching the bottom color of pre-wound bobbins with the top thread color.  BTW, for the top thread, my favorite is Omni poly wrapped poly, which has the appearance of cotton, but has the strength advantage discussed above.

IMG_3175So this is the way of my future…for now.  What type of thread and bobbin do you prefer?

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The beginning of a design…

Posted on November 22, 2013 by quiltify

I’ve been busy with odds and ends. I did get my Etsy shop open:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheQuiltifyShop.  So that’s exciting.  It’s been interesting.  There’s a learning curve certainly; particularly with my usual problem: good photographs…still working on that one.  The photographs in the shop presently are too dark, although the dark photographs showed the colors most accurately…there lies my dilemna.  I need more practice and patience in this area.

Because I have a quilt sandwich on my longarm, but no thread (the thread I need is ‘in the mail’), I moved on to designing my next quilt.  Specifically, I am working on a design for my next baby quilt.  The fabric is in my prior blog entry.  So I started drawing.  This is what I got:

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I’m working toward a shadowing effect.  Then I figured out I wanted a twelve inch block.  From there I came up with the sizes of my individual pieces.  Here’s my prototype block:

IMG_3154IMG_3155 I should have photographed this on white because I am hoping the squares appear to jump from the white background in an attempt at a three dimension effect.  I changed the measurements so we’ll see what affect that will have in the overall picture as light does not keep within dimensions but maybe quilt-top pieces should.  We’ll see if this works.  I think I am happy at this stage so it is now time to make eleven more blocks.

Lo and Behold, this is what the quilt should look like, per B’s creation from the photograph of my one block above: unknown

I don’t know how B did this, but it’s pretty neat.  Do you think the dimensions are OK or would you be consistent?

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A new project

Posted on November 18, 2013 by quiltify

I picked some fabrics from my stash for a baby quilt.  I like my quilts to be gender neutral, but I’m afraid there might be a few people who feel the purple makes it too feminine.  I’ll let the consumer decide that.  This will also be a baby quilt versus a quilt for baby (see 8/26/2013 post).  While there is some contrast with these fabrics, I don’t feel these fabrics substantially cater to the baby’s visual development.  Nonetheless, I am hopeful it will be cute and some little toddler’s favorite blanket.  Here are my fabric choices:

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Now, I need to come up with a design.  Do you pick the fabric or the design first?

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Pantogram Samples

Posted on November 6, 2013 by quiltify

I haven’t posted in quite a while because time flies when you’re having fun.  Right?  Actually, I am having fun, but I have no excuse.  I will try to do better.  So to start, I thought I would make a short post of my latest endeavor:

IMG_2952I have been making pantogram samples for the designs I have in my possession so my customers will have a better idea of how they will look on their quilts.  The above pile consists of the sample blocks, unbound.

IMG_2974The samples were great for further machine binding practice for my quilts.  You can never have too much practice.  Here are the names of the designs, left to right, top to bottom:

Lightly Flowered by Anne Bright

Leaf and Scroll by Keryn Emmerson (although I call this the whale’s tail)

Double Dutch by Anne Bright

Aviary by Anne Bright

The more dense the design is, the more the design costs per square inch.

Of course, this list will expand.  If a customer wants a pantogram design, I will obtain and quilt whichever design a customer chooses.   However, these are the patterns used so far.

Happy quilting.

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still monochromatic…

Posted on October 17, 2013 by quiltify

I seem to be addicted to playing with muslin. Not to bore you, but here is more muslin work.  I really am uploading these because I need to improve my photographs.  I need to get better pictures of the stitching.  So this is what I quilted today and how I photographed the quilting.

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I’m inconsistent with the saturation. I like the first and last photographs the best.  The other two are too yellow.  Also, I suppose if I am going to take pictures I should spray away my markings and clip the threads.  Nonetheless, the stitch definition is much better, which is what I was working on.  I used a remote flash attachment so I could get the light at a thirty degree angle to the fabric, which apparently properly highlights the stitching.  It’s a start.  Feel free to provide suggestions on how to improve my photographs.  One problem I can’t seem to perfect is my impatience with the process.  Happy quilting.

PS: B. came up just after I posted the above photographs.  He took a quick look and indicated my temperature was wrong on the middle two photographs.  So now they look like this.IMG_2848 IMG_2849

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Rulers…

Posted on October 13, 2013 by quiltify

I’ve been playing with rulers and lines.

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I am thinking of ultimately buying a different type of ruler.  This is the ruler that I received with my machine.

IMG_2821As I move my fingers to keep them close to the hopping foot, I find the handle gets in the way.  I would prefer one with no handle.  I would also prefer one that has measurement lines on it, so I only would have to mark one line on the fabric.  The measurement marks would allow me to easily progress from there.

IMG_2826 IMG_2822So I won’t have a chance to play any further.  Tomorrow I will have a customer project on the longarm so further play will have to wait awhile… as will my house painting.  Happy quilting.

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More practice…

Posted on October 6, 2013 by quiltify

Between finishing one section of house trim painting and a party welcoming home my daughter and her husband, I have been able to squeak out two afternoons of practicing my custom quilting technique.  Here’s what it looks like:

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My feathers are rather bold and wanton.  I rather like the hydrangea look in my circles. 

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I have no clue on how to do ruler work.  As you can see, my ruler slips and my stitching is inconsistent.  I will put that on my list of classes to take next April at the MQX in Manchester, NH if I don’t figure it out before then.  What I did find, on the edge to edge part particularly, is I have more of an immediate sense of where I am going and how I am going to get there.  As in life, a good thing to master.  So, except for tomorrow when I hope to sew and unless we are due for a rainy week, I’ll be outside finishing my house painting chores.  When the chores are finished, I will be able to finally spend ample time quilting and sewing and blogging about quilting and sewing.  Ta!  

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ereader covers

Posted on October 4, 2013 by quiltify

In small blocks of time, I have managed to sew a little.  I have been working on various forms of this: IMG_2724 IMG_2734 IMG_2732This is a travel pouch for a nook, whether it be in a purse on a daily basis or in a carryon for trips.  The pouch is quilted to protect the nook as I previously discussed when I made this:

IMG_2451On the original I had ribbons to tie to secure the nook in the pouch.  I thought the ribbons might not be the best or strongest for security, so I removed the ribbons and added velcro to close the pouch.  C. has indicated she likes the look of the ribbons.  Do you prefer the streamline nature of the first three photos? Should I add ribbons for fun, but keep the velcro for function?  Should I make both versions?  Please let me know what you think if you have a minute.  Thanks.  Happy sewing.

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