Ever had one of those days? That was me yesterday afternoon. I was busy working on my scrap challenge and was cutting out and pressing the backing for all the balsam pillows. sachets and hot pads that I had made the fronts out of from the scraps and that was going well. Then it was time to start sewing the backs onto the balsam hot pads. The backing is a black solid so to make the backing 2 pieces that will overlap need to be cut out and then hemmed. Next I placed them properly with the overlap and placed the black ribbon I use for the hanger in the corner and attached it. After ripping the backing off of the first hot pad 3 times do to various and sundry problems, I quit for the day
You may have noticed a new logo on my site. I am pleased to announce that I am now a part of the Artful Quilters Web Ring! A big hearty WELCOME to everyone who finds my blog via this link. Make yourself at home and browse around the site!
My trip to Babybibville took a bit longer than expected. Once the fabric was spread out it seems a shame to make just one so there ended up being 4 baby bibs.
It just wouldn't be right nor to post a picture of the final result of all that playing with scraps. My friend Margaret, who saw the photo of the pile of scraps, said what she sees when she sees something like that is a fabric bowl, since that's what she makes. I guess I am the same, when I go into a fabric store what I see when I look at all the bolts of fabric are aprons.
Today's Challenge? Take a pile of scraps and make something out of them. One of the best use of scraps is the log cabin block. One only needs narrow strips to make it happen. Why not make a few log cabin blocks, sew together 2 for a apron pocket and any left over can be made into balsam hot pads. I pulled out the scraps that looked best with the turquoise and blue fabric knowing that the outside dark logs would be the dark blueberry fabric. With these parameters, I started planning.
Time to make a dark blueberry apron. This is the first time I have combined this blueberry print with purple. It started out as a tri-colored apron but I threw in a couple of more fabrics and made a crazy block design for the bib and pocket. The close up of the two block sewn together ended up as the bib. The method I use to make these crazy quilt blocks I described in a previous blog. see 9/4/12 - Crazy for Crazy Quilts. This particular method yielded 5 blocks. I chooses 2 other blocks, sewed them together then lined the pocket using a black solid so there would be no raw edges.
New England Fiber Arts has been on Pinterest now for a couple of months. Every now and then, I download a picture of one of my pieces but I must admit I haven't done much with it. I noticed that "Sue" has been pinning some of the item that I have posted on Facebook. It is true, I am fairly new to this whole social media thing so I have signed up for a Pinterest workshop in Shelburne Falls, which is where the Arts Co-op is that I am a member of. The Workshop is March 15th. The person running it is a fellow quilter so I am hoping to get some tips on how to better us Pinterest.
You are looking at what will be my last white print blueberry apron. I have run out of this wonderful fabric. It is like loosing an old friend since this fabric has been a part of Maine collection for years. Will make a few balsam sachets with the scrapes but it is the end of line for this print. There were actually 3 fabrics in this collection. One had a bright yellow background which i have been out of that for quite a while. The other sister print has a black background and I am down to the last yard of that. To the best of my knowledge (which isn't always reliable) this particular blueberry trio are no longer in printed. If anyone knows where I can get more of it at a REASONABLE price, please let me know!
My great grandmother was a quilter. I was fortunate enough to inherit one of her quilts. On my husband's side of the family, his father's aunts all quilted and we were thrilled that one of the auntie's quilts came our way. Which auntie made this quilt? We have NO idea since it was not labeled. My great grandmother's quilt is also not labeled. I have NO idea when she made this quilt. So, this brings us to the subject of this missive. ALWAYS label your work!
The sun is out, it's turkey mating season - trust me , I know because there is a large herd that lives in the woods around my house so that is why it is a bit noisy here on Fay Road. I have been working on the binding on the baby quilt when I set down to watch television but no new projects! Paper work will be the name of the game until I get the tax information organized and off to the CPA. BUT I thought I would take a picture of the cubbies under the stairs in my basement to show how some of my stash is stored. That's right, this is just part of it!
Yesterday was machine quilting day. I finally made the decision on where the quilting would go. There is the main block with the black triangles and the colorful kites and then there is the secondary pattern that emerges there all the kites come together. I took a close-up of this pattern to show where the quilting was done using green thread. Cotton thread is traditionally used with machine quilting. Adjusted the stitch gage to 3.5 (regular sewing...2.5) and the tension down a little for the thickness. The next step is to clip all the dangling threads and cut the access backing and batting and square the quilt up the best one can.
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Ever had one of those days? That was me yesterday afternoon. I was busy working on my scrap challenge and was cutting out and pressing the backing for all the balsam pillows. sachets and hot pads that I had made the fronts out of from the scraps and that was going well. Then it was time to start sewing the backs onto the balsam hot pads. The backing is a black solid so to make the backing 2 pieces that will overlap need to be cut out and then hemmed. Next I placed them properly with the overlap and placed the black ribbon I use for the hanger in the corner and attached it. After ripping the backing off of the first hot pad 3 times do to various and sundry problems, I quit for the day
You may have noticed a new logo on my site. I am pleased to announce that I am now a part of the Artful Quilters Web Ring! A big hearty WELCOME to everyone who finds my blog via this link. Make yourself at home and browse around the site!
It just wouldn't be right nor to post a picture of the final result of all that playing with scraps. My friend Margaret, who saw the photo of the pile of scraps, said what she sees when she sees something like that is a fabric bowl, since that's what she makes. I guess I am the same, when I go into a fabric store what I see when I look at all the bolts of fabric are aprons.
Today's Challenge? Take a pile of scraps and make something out of them. One of the best use of scraps is the log cabin block. One only needs narrow strips to make it happen. Why not make a few log cabin blocks, sew together 2 for a apron pocket and any left over can be made into balsam hot pads. I pulled out the scraps that looked best with the turquoise and blue fabric knowing that the outside dark logs would be the dark blueberry fabric. With these parameters, I started planning.
Time to make a dark blueberry apron. This is the first time I have combined this blueberry print with purple. It started out as a tri-colored apron but I threw in a couple of more fabrics and made a crazy block design for the bib and pocket. The close up of the two block sewn together ended up as the bib. The method I use to make these crazy quilt blocks I described in a previous blog. see 9/4/12 - Crazy for Crazy Quilts. This particular method yielded 5 blocks. I chooses 2 other blocks, sewed them together then lined the pocket using a black solid so there would be no raw edges.
New England Fiber Arts has been on Pinterest now for a couple of months. Every now and then, I download a picture of one of my pieces but I must admit I haven't done much with it. I noticed that "Sue" has been pinning some of the item that I have posted on Facebook. It is true, I am fairly new to this whole social media thing so I have signed up for a Pinterest workshop in Shelburne Falls, which is where the Arts Co-op is that I am a member of. The Workshop is March 15th. The person running it is a fellow quilter so I am hoping to get some tips on how to better us Pinterest.
You are looking at what will be my last white print blueberry apron. I have run out of this wonderful fabric. It is like loosing an old friend since this fabric has been a part of Maine collection for years. Will make a few balsam sachets with the scrapes but it is the end of line for this print. There were actually 3 fabrics in this collection. One had a bright yellow background which i have been out of that for quite a while. The other sister print has a black background and I am down to the last yard of that. To the best of my knowledge (which isn't always reliable) this particular blueberry trio are no longer in printed. If anyone knows where I can get more of it at a REASONABLE price, please let me know! 
My great grandmother was a quilter. I was fortunate enough to inherit one of her quilts. On my husband's side of the family, his father's aunts all quilted and we were thrilled that one of the auntie's quilts came our way. Which auntie made this quilt? We have NO idea since it was not labeled. My great grandmother's quilt is also not labeled. I have NO idea when she made this quilt. So, this brings us to the subject of this missive. ALWAYS label your work!
The sun is out, it's turkey mating season - trust me , I know because there is a large herd that lives in the woods around my house so that is why it is a bit noisy here on Fay Road. I have been working on the binding on the baby quilt when I set down to watch television but no new projects! Paper work will be the name of the game until I get the tax information organized and off to the CPA. BUT I thought I would take a picture of the cubbies under the stairs in my basement to show how some of my stash is stored. That's right, this is just part of it!.JPG)
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Yesterday was machine quilting day. I finally made the decision on where the quilting would go. There is the main block with the black triangles and the colorful kites and then there is the secondary pattern that emerges there all the kites come together. I took a close-up of this pattern to show where the quilting was done using green thread. Cotton thread is traditionally used with machine quilting. Adjusted the stitch gage to 3.5 (regular sewing...2.5) and the tension down a little for the thickness. The next step is to clip all the dangling threads and cut the access backing and batting and square the quilt up the best one can.