
Today is the first day of our “Mosey Through The Year” BOM Calendar.
Photos of the number-making process, below:
Today is the first day of our “Mosey Through The Year” BOM Calendar.
Photos of the number-making process, below:
If you have been following my blog over the last year, you know how much I’ve struggled with this quilt. It should NOT have been hard. But I used metallic thread, and as much as I love the shimmer of the gold on the quilt, I hated sewing with it and would probably not use it again. If you click on the photo below, you can see a larger version of it.
Cudos to my hubby for rigging up a quilt hanging system in the basement so I could get photos of even my largest quilts. This is not a big quilt, but it’s nice to get the whole quilt on one wall for pictures. Now to get better lighting so it doesn’t look washed out. The colors aren’t right… the wall is yellow.
Some of you might know that from the mid 1980’s until the early 2000’s, I worked as an elementary teacher / principal and university instructor. I’ve taught all grades 1-8 and at the undergraduate and graduate level.
This gives you some idea of what I’m talking about.
Do you want to be alerted when a quilt show is coming your way? How about when something exciting quilt-wise happens? Or maybe you want to know about car shows in your area? Whatever it is that you want to know about, Google Alerts can notify you every day about what you are interested in. It’s easy to set up a Google Alert. Here’s how.
Even with quilt shows displaying tons of machine-quilted quilts, there are still a lot of quilters who quilt by hand. I see photos online all the time of quilters crawling around assembling their three-layer quilt sandwich on the floor. OMG, why? I have been hand quilting all of my quilting life, which has been since around 1975. Here’s how I do the same thing, which is much easier on the back and knees. It does require a little investment of money at the start, but after that, it’s free and ready.
What you need:
Using a staple gun, your four boards and the four fabric tubes you have made, Staple a tube on each board so that at least an inch and a half of the tube extends beyond the edge of the board. See photo. Notice how this isn’t rocket science? Perfection does NOT matter here. I did take a huge marker and write the lengh of the board on the end to make life easier later on.
Find a space in your home, garage, outside, etc. that is large enough to work in. Set up four chairs facing each other in a rectangle larger than your quilt. Balance your boards on the backs of the chairs so that the fabric flap is on the inside of the rectangle. Use your c-clamps to loosely secure the corners while you measure and square everything up. It is VERY IMPORTANT that your corners be square, and opposite sides measure the same distance. When everything is square and measured correctly, tighten down your c-clamps.
When I started quilting, my husband made me these neat gadgets to replace the use of chairs (Windsor-back chairs don’t work, since the back of them is curved.)
Lay your backing across the boards wrong side up. Begin pinning at one of the corners of the frame, working your way down one edge. Stop, then do the OPPOSITE edge the same way. Pull tight, but not too tight. Repeat with the other two sides. You should now have a trampoline for a fly. (Note: cats love it when you have made this trampoline. Ask me how I know. Keep your cats out of the area! )
Spread your batting on top of the backing. Smooth it out as you go along. If you have patience, you will let the batting rest on the backing over night. If I use cotton batting, I take a spray bottle of water and lightly mist the entire batt. It seems to help it relax and get rid of the fold lines.
Place your quilt top over the batting right side up. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Stretch your top a little to square it up. Measure your sides, look for square corners. Pin along the edge of the quilt top every inch and a half. This is the most important step here, so make sure you don’t hurry through it! With a needle and thread, sew-baste along your pinned edge through the top, batting and backing. Do NOT sew through your fabric tube on the frame. Again, I know this from experience, and I am happy to share this tip with you for no extra charge. Remove the straight pins as you sew around the edge of your quilt.
Using your little brass pins (remember, the finer the pin the smaller the holes they make), pin through the sandwich every 3-4 inches all the way around the frame and as far into the middle as you can reach. Your pins will last you a lifetime. Find a pretty container to keep them in.
When you can’t reach to the middle of your quilt to pin anymore, it is time to roll the quilt from one end. Using one of the sides that has a board ON TOP of the other two boards, release the C-clamps and a few pins from around the edge of the boards. Roll under tightly, then c-clamp back into place. See bottom photo. When the entire quilt is pinned, you can remove it from the frame.
The bottom photo shows my latest quilt after it has been rolled a few times. I have purposely not shown the quilt top so as to not distract you from your lesson, and so that the recipient will not see it before it is given.
In the materials list above, I mentioned that your backing should be at least 8 inches wider all around than your quilt? That is very helpful if you will be quilting in a hoop on your lap. You want straight edges on your quilt that do not wobble. This extra fabric (and batting) will allow you to quilt the edges much more easily.
Hope this helps… and saves your knees!
FINALLY, I am at the end of my Paper Lanterns quilt. I know, you’re sick of hearing about it. It’s been on my frame for months, and it’s not that large of a quilt! I was running out of ideas for quilting the lantern portions, but I only have three more to go, and they will be done tonight. YAY!
I think this is my favorite of the patterns used in the lanterns. It’s just so easy to sew, all free-form and innocent-looking. With any luck I will be able to post a pic of the finished quilt by Sunday. Finished, as in with binding. Hopefully.
Are you signed up yet for the “Mosey Through The Year” Mystery Block of the Month Calendar? It begins October 1st!
See this post for further information.
If you are visiting my blog, chances are pretty good that you are a quilter. Why do you quilt? Is it because you
For most of us, the first three choices all fit (although you are stressed when someone calls a quilt a “blanket”!)
Stress can do terrible things to your body. Here’s a good article to learn what stress does and how your body handles it.
When are you most stressed? What do you do? I do two things: eat and quilt. If I don’t have something to stitch by hand, I go nuts. Absolutely nuts! In the cold months, that means I need to have a quilt in the process of being quilted. In the warm months, that means that at any point in time that I want to stitch something by hand, I need something portable that I can take with me to the deck, in the car, to the lake, etc. This week I am in the process of preparing a quilt for quilting for those cold fall days in Michigan.
Are you ever stressed WHILE you sew or quilt? I have learned that not all stitching is stress-free. Sometimes things go wrong. Pieces do not always line up. My brain does not always function the right way, and sometimes I do stupid things and realize them as soon as they are done. I’m good for two problems in a sewing session. I’ve had to learn that after correcting two problems that I have caused, it’s best if I turn out the light and walk away. By telling myself that the sewing gods are busy working with someone else and not me, the stress is removed and I go on to something else. It used to really bother me. Now, I just sigh, say “OK, now is not the time,” and stop.
How do you handle stress? Talk to me. It’s a good outlet for your frustrations. Click on comments below and release your tension.
I just returned from spending the morning in downtown Flint, Michigan. Yes, you read that correctly. Downtown Flint Michigan. Today is the last day of the Flint Festival of Quilts, all located in buildings downtown Flint. Downtown Flint is undergoing a big renovation – and for the first time in I don’t know how long, I felt pretty safe being downtown… and by myself!
If you know the Flint area, you probably remember the rundown Berridge Hotel on Garland Street where the drunks, wine-o’s and derelicts hung out. Well, it’s gorgeous now!!! It has been turned into beautiful loft apartments, and they are stunning.
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