Bloggers Quilt Festival

Have you heard about the spring festival?
Click the button on my sidebar!

Whoohoo! :-) It will be a fun time!! :-)

Design Wall Monday~~

~or~

My, My, My~ What is That Crazy Girl Up To?! ;-))


The photo sure doesn't tell you too much! LOL I am working on 3 things at once~ doesn't everyone do that? (say yes) ;-) I am making the rounds on the Diamonds for the Fig Tree Club table runner; I have part of this week's Dear Jane block done~ that's the center of K-2 Grandpa's Chickens. And did you spot a little Astor Manor? That is this month's Schnibble~ you'll have to stay tuned to see how that one develops. ;-)

To be inspired, awed, and delighted~ check out the other Design Walls today at Judy L's! :-)

Now I need to go sew!

Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

Fun Fabric!

Look what was in my mailbox!! :-)

I was lucky enough to win a gift certificate from Quilt Taffy in the April Schnibbles parade and had a hard time deciding what to get! LOL :-)) I gave Corrie a couple choices and she surprised me with one of them. LOL I love surprises! :-) And I really liked this Farmers Market fabric~ wouldn't it make the cutest apron? or tote? Corrie had it wrapped with a fabric tie and the cute little coaster inside too. :-) How fun! Thank you Quilt Taffy!

I hope you are having a fun Saturday and
Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to all the Mom's in blogland! :-)

Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

Bits Of Sewing~

Thank you to everyone for your help with my pillow case! I do think it is 30's fabric, but still not sure if it is from a feed sack, flour sack etc. I may never know~ but I'm going to enjoy using it in my blocks! :-)


I am doing bits of sewing and finished my DJ blocks for the week. The top one is I-3 Family Album, and the lower one is G-11 Decisions, Decisions. I need to make a few decisions too~ so far I've just been making the blocks with whatever fabric strikes my fancy and collecting them in a pile. I need a better system! I don't want to end up with 3 blocks of the same colors side by side, so I need to plot & plan and keep track of what color the blocks are. :-/ I have the EQ program, but seem to lose my design frequently, so I don't think I should rely on it totally. How does everyone else store their blocks and keep track of their colors? Are you making a DJ? or have you? I'd appreciate it if you would tell me your system. :-)

I also got the next block for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along completed. It is called Chain Link.

That's all the news from here~
Until next time~
Happy stitchin'! :-)

Could It Be??

I was shopping for vintage sheets and found a pair of pillow cases.

They have been chain-stitched....
The fabric is soft from many washings. When I took out the stitching, it measures 34 inches from selvage to selvage, and is just a little bit more than a yard in length... did I find feed sack fabric???
I tried doing some searching, but most feedsacks I find are floral. I know they also made geometric patterns and border prints, but I would feel better if someone knew a little more they could share with me. :-)

Anyone know??
Thanks!

Applique?

When Angela and I did our first applique DJ block, she told me it gave her some trouble, so I offered to show her how I do applique. ~I should have a disclaimer here: I am not an applique expert! This might not even be the 'right way' to applique, but it works for me. ;-) For many years I was allergic to hand stitching of any kind. (not medically, but it was my favorite excuse) ;-) Just ask my Mom~ she made some outrageous deals to do hand stitching for me while I cleaned the house, baked, made dinner, etc etc etc :-)) **giggle** I was pretty much willing to do anything to get out of hand stitching! ;-) LOL, oh if only I knew then what I do now! ;-) I now make the same deals with my DD. LOL! :-))

I am a great student of applique and have read a lot, picked anyone's brain who would humor me, and tried it a few times. I discovered I cannot use the needle to turn under the allowances~ too klutzy. :-)) But I love the look of applique on quilt borders!~ I haven't worked myself up to attempting any yet. ;-) I'm taking it slow~ a block here and there is doable. ;-) The best tips I got came from my friend Karen who does beautiful applique and has made whole wall hangings with lovely appliqued blocks~ {sigh} someday. :-) She uses freezer paper and starch. Yes, I know what you are thinking!, I tried it before too but this is what I didn't know~~~ ;-)

You can use layers of freezer paper to make a stiff template!~ I press together 3 layers with a dry iron (no steam) on a piece of parchment paper. The parchment keeps the freezer paper from sticking to your ironing surface. (a teflon sheet works too). If they don't stick together, you didn't let your iron heat up hot enough. ;-) Then I cut out my templates. For the block we are working on (G-11 Decisions, Decisions) the pieces are little diamonds. I used the 60º line on my ruler to cut 4 little 3/4th's inch diamonds.Press them to the back of your fabric (dry iron). I tried to lay them with the sides on the straight of grain. If I were doing leaves or some other curved shape, I would press them so the curve was on the bias~ it makes turning them so much smoother. ;-)

Cut out the shapes~ I don't leave a true 1/4 inch seam allowance on such small pieces. I have read that some needleturn appliquer's only leave an eighth of an inch~ I leave a bit more than that. ;-) I trim the points off, leaving a small amount to press under.Here is where I starch. You can spray a small amount in the cap or a little bowl and use a Q-tip to apply it to the seam allowances, or you can just give it a shot. ;-) I'm lazy~ it got a shot! :-)) If you have a small Clover iron, it works really well to press the seam allowances back. I tried this one with my big iron and a wooden toothpick and it worked fine (probably because it is all straight edges). I press with no steam throughout~ it really saves your fingers if you happen to get too close to what you are pressing. ;-)Your first press is the point allowances.
Then two opposing sides.Then the remaining sides. Anytime the starch has dried from a previous press~ give it another shot, or dab or whatever. Use the toothpick to hold the allowances down~ it saves your fingers from the heat. ;-)If the allowance is too big for the point you can either trim a bit more or press it back on itself. I had one that didn't want to cooperate that I pressed back a bit. (sorry for the blur~ I didn't wait for auto focus :-o) I use the toothpick and my finger nails to make those points as sharp as I can. If you mess up, you can easily press it open and start again.When you are happy with your points, give a good press from the front using a pressing cloth or covering them with a bit of fabric~ muslin scraps work well. I use the cloth on the front so nothing gets over-pressed or shiny. Allow them to cool completely.

Then pop out the freezer paper templates. I open the seam allowances very carefully and peel it out... you could make only one and reuse the template for all 4 pieces. Then press them again, they should be holding their shape really well by now, and you are ready to applique them down. :-)
I cut the background a little larger so I had something to hold onto and made registration marks by folding light creases in my background fabric. I put in a pin from the back~ you could use a dab from a glue stick if you wanted. Take little stitches and make sure to take a stitch at each point. I love silk thread for appliquing. I don't have a thread to match every applique, but I find I really don't need it~ the thread sinks into the pieces nicely.
Here we go~ :-)
I'll trim them down and sew them into my block today.
I hope this helped Angela! ;-)
Until next time~
Happy stitchin'!! :-)

My Little Secret~

:-) Yep, I've been keeping one, a whopper~~ ;-)

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my CG&GQClub finishes! Many of you ask how I get so much done, and some of you already know. I decided to 'come clean' to everyone... :-) I really waffled about posting anything on my blog... I got so much done because it was either keep sewing or worry~ sewing seemed like the better plan! ;-) And I had a lot of extra time on my hands! You see, my DH is active duty and has been deployed for the past 7 months. He arrived safely home on Thursday and we have been having a great weekend! Our DD came home from college, so it was like a little family reunion. I can assure you, now that we are getting back into our normal routines, I won't be sewing so much. ;-) As a matter of fact, my temporary sewing 'studio' was the dining room, and now that my honey is back~ it is back to a dining room. ;-)

It is kind of a relief that the Kelly and Joan decided to take a break from goal setting for May and June! Thanks ladies! :-) (I know you had no idea you were helping me out so, but I love serendipity!) ;-)

Sorry~ no photo's for this post~ I haven't been sewing!!! ;-) ;-)

I'll be back tomorrow with a few applique tips~
Until then,
Have a good night!! :-)