Quilt Design Star

Come vote for my entry in the (MQ) Quilt Design Star contest at Creative Crafts Group.  I'm number 83 and you may vote once per day.

You can find the entry here:

Frosted Stars Quilt


Please facebook, blog and tweet this to your friends.  I really want to win. 
Until next time,

Machine Fridays - Titanium Needles

Needles as you know should be changed every four to six hours of stitching, but that is not the case with if you a Titanium-coated needle.  These new titanium-coated needles have an ultra thin coat of titanium nitride layered on the surface to extend their productive life by five to eight times that of conventional needles.  Imagine having a needle that will last 40 to 60 hours. This is equivalent to saving 80% on the cost of needles.

Can be used on home machine and long arms. 

Here are two needles that I would recommend for piecing and quilting.  

Quilting
The quilting needle has a tapered point for stitching through multiple layers and across seams. The shape of the point minimizes damage to the quilting fabric.

Topstitch
The topstitch needle has an extra large eye and a much deeper groove for use with either heavier fabrics and/or heavier threads. It can even accommodate doubling of threads for more pronounced stitching.


Until next time,

MQGKC

Since my article in Quiltposium summer edition entitled Finding Acceptance in A Woman's World I have been welcomed into the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild.  What a great group it is. I feel very welcome in this group.  The president  Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studio ran up to me and give me a big hug.  I just love this woman.  I had been following her work for the last five years and we had talked over e-mails, but never in person.  That was until the quilt guild.  


This guild is only a few months old and has a great eclectic group of people from young to old and everything in between.  They bring all different forms of quilting together to make up this modern quilt group and I love it. 

Last month at guild we did a pot holder swap.  Each person was to bring two pot holders of any size any shape.  You might remember my two pot holders from this post.   

Side note: I had forgot my pot holders at home and my loving and caring BH had to bring them to me. I gave him the wrong directions on how to get to the meeting.  Thanks for doing this.  On his way home he got stuck in construction traffic.  Bless his heart for loving me so.  He is the best man any person could ask for. 

Here are the two pot holders that I revived.  They go great with our new kitchen as the walls are a burnt orange color.

 They both are so fresh and modern. 

 Would you look at that quilting?  I love it. 

Great match.  Don't you think?

I'm looking for some ideas for the Machine Friday post.  Place your ideas in the comment section. 

Until next time,

Shopping trip

I went shopping this week with my friend Amy and look what I found.  

Fleur Nouveau by Dan Baker for Clothworks

Modern Meadows by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit 

I got this off the internet.  Flutterby by Tula Pink for Moda.

I posed this question on Twitter.  Name this fabric line and as a bonus name the block that I'm making?

One person called the block tangled strips.  Thought that was kinda funny with the mess the blocks are in.

It's Blush by Basic Grey for Moda and the block is Dresden. 

Here are my two Asterisk blocks for my Fresh Modern Bee for Jennifer.

Clyde Frog was sliding down the banister and having a little fun.  

Until next time,

Machine Fridays - Scant 1/4" Part Deux

Last week we learned what a scant 1/4" is and how to achieve it on your machine.

Thais week we are going to take a look at how the different weights of threads will also play a role in your scan 1/4".

Bradie of A Quilty Kind of Girl has done an excellent post on thread weight.  Since I'm not trying to reinvete the wheel here I'm going to send you over to her blog to take a look at this.  Don't forget to go back and quilt along with her Summer Star Sampler Quilt Along. 

It is amazing how thread will effect your scant 1/4".   My thread of choice is Aurifil 50wt for piecing.  It has little to no lint and you don't even know it's there once you sew your stitch.  Do I match my thread to my fabric when I piece?  You, bet I do.  Nothing worse then having a seam show and it stick out like a sore thumb because it's a different color than your background.  I match my background color.

SHOCKER ALERT:  For those of you that have followed my blog for while know that I love everything dark, the darker the better, but as of late I have been on a light kick.  Remember how I told you I would never ever sew with a solid color let alone use white?  Well, that has changed.  Now I find I use Moda Bella white as my choice for most of the projects.  Going to have to buy it buy the bolt I'm using so much.  I will come back to the dark side.  I have not forgot about all my friends that love dark.

One more thing I would like to point out that can be a problem for me even today is pressing.  If you have not pressed the fold in the fabric open all the way then your seams will be off.  This has happened to me more than once.  Remember to press and not iron.  You don't want your blocks getting all wonky on you.  Some people like to use steam when they iron and that is fine, but here again I find that my blocks are all wonky and are bigger than I need.  Therefore they have been stretched out of shape.  Water from your iron can leave a brown spot on your white fabric and you will play hell getting it out.  I am speaking from experience here. 

I had a question come up over the week that I thought I would answer here because I am sure more than one of you might like to know the answer.

The question is:  I own a Viking machine and how do I tell if it is a 6mm or 7mm machine? 

Good question.  I should have told you this last week.  The only machines that are 7mm are the Sapphires, Designer Topaz, Designer SE and Designer Diamond.  All other machines are 6mm and you will need to adjust your needle accordingly.

Until next time,

Pillow Talk Swap 3

I could not wait any longer.  I just had to show you.

My PTS3 pillow.  I wounder who is going to get this?  Maybe it is you?

I almost don't want to give it up.  Almost.

Until next time,

Machine Fridays - Scant 1/4"

We all know what a 1/4" is, but how about a scant 1/4" inch and how do you sew a scant on your  machine?

 To me a scant 1/4" is a couple of thread widths shy of a true 1/4".  This way when I press my fabric open in one direction or the other it is a true 1/4".  It took me years to learn this.  My seams were always just a hair bigger than the 1/4" that I was striving for.  It drove me nuts.  I went around asking people, "how do you get a 1/4" seam on your sewing machine?"  The answers I got from people did not help me at all.  Not one bit.  More than one person told me they don't use a 1/4" for piecing or they just eye balled it.  No help there.
Another person said that they just used the 1/4" inch stitch on their machine.  I had been doing that, but it was still off.  Yet another told me to keep moving my needle position till I got the seam allowance that I was looking for.  With this answer I was getting closer I felt, but that still did not give me the answer I was looking for.  I wanted a correct answer that worked every time for me.

Truth be told us quilters have a very definite preference, as to how scant we would like our 1/4". 

They do make a 1/4" foot that you can get for your sewing machine.  Some of them even have a guide on the side of the foot to help you keep your fabric straight.  Which in my eyes is the only way to go.  Be careful here because some of the feet will not give you a scant 1/4", but only a true 1/4" stitch and when you press over your fabric it could be more than the 1/4".

a scant 1/4" stitch is achieved by moving your needle to the right a few needle positions with your stitch width button on your machine, but you have to know where your true 1/4" stitch is on your machine.  To find it try this:  Draw a line on a piece of paper that is 1/4" from the edge and place it under the presser foot on your machine and line your needle up right on the drawn line.  That will tell you where your 1/4" is on your machine. 

Here is the foot I use and love.  I would not trade it for any amount of money in the world.

   As you can see it gives me marking for 1/8" and 1/4" on the side of the foot.  Which is great for inset seams or placing on binding and always stopping at the right spot.  No more guessing with this foot.  It also allows me to sew an exact or scant 1/4" seam allowance because I can move my needle to a new positions to get the perfect stitch.  Viking owners note: This foot is designed for the new 7mm machines, but can still be used with the 6mm machine. 

• To use on a 6mm machine just move your needle to the far right position and you will have the perfect scant 1/4"
• To use on a 7mm machine use the 1/4" stitch that is on your machine and move your needle to the right two needle positions. 

Next week I will talk more about the scant 1/4" and how the thickness of your thread will play a role in a the scant 1/4"

Until next time,

Pot Holders

Pot holders for my KCMQG tomorrow night

Until next time,

Spread the Word

Have you seen it yet?

It's here!

Rush right over and check it out!

Quiltposium summer edition


Until next time,





BTW you can find me on page 44