Machine Fridays - I'm Sorry

Is it Friday already? Where has this week gone? I'm missing a few days and I would like them back please.

I'm sorry, so sorry.  There is not going to be a machine Friday post this week because management has decided that we will do machine Friday post every other Friday starting immediately.  We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you, but leave you with this.  



Don't forget about my my Quilt room dillema and help me design a usable room and I will choose the best design and the winner will receive a copy of all three Qubee Quilts patterns.  I will choose a winner sometime in the first few weeks of August.

Only a few more days left to vote.  Have you voted today? Vote For Me # 82 - McCall's Quilting Quilt Design Star: You may vote once per day.... http://fb.me/Eahpnv76.  Thanks for all your votes.  I couldn't do this without you.   

Until next time,

Quilt Room Dillema

I've been in our new house for a little over two months and I'm just not happy with my quilt room yet and I need your help.  I need someone to design my quilt room for me.  I have a blank canvas for you to work with.  I'm waiting to get my yard goods out to where I can use them.  I think that if they are in the closet I will forget about them and not use them. This room is only 13 ft x 9 1/2 ft.

Here is the wall behind my sewing machine.  I had thought about placing shelves on wall, but that would be difficult to access with the desk and sewing machine in front of them. This wall has 7ft of usable space.

These are the shelves that I was looking to get, but thought better about it.  By the time I got everything to put the shelves up it would have been right around $100.  I'm thinking that is just a bit much. 

Here is the wall above the ironing board that is next to my sewing desk.  This wall has a little over 5 1/2 ft of wall space.

Dresser where I keep some items, but with the items in the drawers I forget what is in them and they never get used.  There is a mirror that will go above the dresser.  I think I will just hang quilts on the small wall in the corner.

The wall behind the door to the room.  I'm thinking this would make a great spot for my design wall. It's out of the way and otherwise unused space .  We have a little over 4 1/2 ft on this wall.

My FQ wall and book storage area.  I'm thinking this wall will stay the way it is. 

Here is the closet for this room.  My thought is to remove the door and install some shelves with hanging space for quilts ready for quilting and/or finished quilts. What are your thoughts?

Overview of the room.  As you can see I have a nice u-shaped work area.

There is no space on the floor.  It has to go on the walls. 

Help me design a usable room and I will choose the best design and the winner will receive a copy of all three Qubee Quilts patterns.  I will choose a winner sometime in the first few weeks of August. 

Until next time,

Machine Fridays - Stacked Coins

What does Stacked Coins have to do with a machine Fridays post?  I am wondering the same thing.

If you have been following the Qubee Quilts fan page on Facebook then you know that I was looking for a mindless quilt to work on and found a stack coin quilt on the Moda fabrics web page from their free pattern download section.  As you know I'm not one to leave patterns as they are.  I have to change them up somehow. 

This quilt pattern can be found here

In my version of this quilt I'm going to use a left over Botany jelly roll by Lauren + Jessi Jung for Moda.

This fabric will be my sashing for the quilt and the binding


Then I'm going to mix in some Grunge Sugar Cookie  from Fruitcake by Basic Grey for Moda 

Once I mix all the above together I'm going to end up with a quilt that will look something like this:

I'm going to make my sashing 4" and the coins 5".  As you can see I have mixed up the white by going every other coin. This quilt will be 68" x 78".  Not bad for using only half a jelly roll that was left over from another project.  :-) I think this has some pop to it.

Here is a snip it of the actual quilt

I've got the machine all cleaned, threaded with Aurifil thread and ready to stitch up this quilt.  Join me again next week and see how much of this quilt I've get done.  Feel free to sew along with me if you wish. 

In closing I was thinking how this might work it's way into the machine Fridays post and I can tell you all these great things you can do with your machine and give you tips and tricks, but why not a project that you can do with your machine that is easy and fun to make.  Just remember to keep your machine cleaned, with a new needle and your machine will hum right along with you on this project.  

Have you voted today? Vote For Me # 82 - McCall's Quilting Quilt Design Star: You may vote once per day.... http://fb.me/Eahpnv76.  Thanks for all your votes.  I couldn't do this without you.  

Until next time, 

Proud Papa

 If you follow me on Twitter then you might already know this news.

I am proud Papa of a 15 pound miniature Schnauzer mix.  His name is Zeus.  We got Zeus from our local pound called Half Way Home.  He was the only dog that did not bark or run around when we were looking.  Because of that we did not think he was still a puppy.  He is around six months old.  

Zeus is getting used to life around the house.  Definitely better than he was the day we brought his home, he was a little loopy that day.  

Zeus has already learned to jump on the couch and is a licker.  I just wants some lovin'. We have yet to hear Zeus bark.  He did take a look at himself in the mirror last night and start to growl.  That was kinda funny. 

Were going to try and not spoil Zeus, but with such a cute face how could one not help and spoil him. He's a  little princess. He slept in our bed for part of last night and did really well.  We're going to crate train him and his crate is about five times the size he needs!  I have a quilt I made in there for him to sleep with and he takes right to it. He not much of a crier yet.

 

Until next time,

Machine Fridays -???

Due to the heat and working on two top secret projects there will be no Machine Friday post.  It will be back next week.


I give you these yummy photos of fabric I got this week. 

Botany by Lauren & Jessi Jung for Moda

 Early Bird by Cosmo Cricket for Andover

 Moda Candy Bar

City Weekend by Liesl Gibson for Moda

Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda

Origins by Basicgrey for Moda

Arianna By Jennifer Young for Benartex

Until next time,

Big things are happening at AccuQuilt!

AccuQuilt is unveiling its Barn Quilt and they would be honored to have you in attendance. See the huge 17' x 17' and 6' x 6' designs in person and stay for a tour of their headquarters.

 

 What: Barn Quilt Unveiling Ceremony
When: Tuesday, July 20, 2010. 11:00 a.m. CST
Where: AccuQuilt
            1035 E. Dodge Street
            Fremont, NE 68025
            (25 minutes west of Omaha, Neb.)
If you are able to attend, RSVP to 888.258.7913 or barnquilt@accuquilt.com by July 16

Wow! What a great idea.  AccuQuilt shows their support for the quilting community in a big way. By having a giant quilt block on the side of their building it displays their commitment to quilters everywhere.

If you can't make the event and are ever in the area why not stop in for a tour by calling 888.258.7913.  They would love to have you stop by. As a visitor you will also get to meet AccuQuilt CEO Steve Nabity and see the rolling pin that inspired him to create the AccuCut line of die cutters.

Also in the area is the International Quilt Study Center & Museum that is located in Lincoln. They have over 3,500 quilts, with some dating all the way back to the early 1700s, and are the largest museum of their kind in the world.

AccuQuilt will be posting pictures and videos from the unveiling on Facebook, so be sure to watch their page on the 20^th and 21^st for updates from the big day.

I did not know this was in my own back yard.  I might have to make a road trip and go see all these neat things.  Might even be neat to make a modern style barn quilt.

Leave me a comment if your going to this event or ever been to see AccuQuilt or International Quilt Study Center & Museum, would love to hear your thoughts. 

Until next time,

Machine Fridays - Ruffler

The ruffler creates tiny pleats or gathers in light and medium fabrics.  A ruffle can be quickly made and reached in one step or you can simply gather a single layer of fabric.  The ruffler actually pleats the fabric.  Since the depth of the pleats is adjustable, it is easy to achieve a gathered look.  This foot is wonderful for creating ruffles or pleated fabric for clothing, pillows, sheets, curtains, etc. 

The flat pleat lever at the front of the ruffler will allow you to adjust how often the foot will pleat.

1 = a pleat at every inch.

6 = a pleat every 6th stitch.

12 = a pleat every 12th stitch.

0 =no pleating.

Here is a simple piece of fabric that has the pleat lever set at 6 and taken with my iPhone.  I like the closeness and the death of the ruffles. 

If you own a ruffler and never played with it like me then I encourage you to get it and play with.  If you don't own one then you may want to go and buy one because I'm sure you will find a lot of uses for this foot. 

Angela of Moda Home Mom has taken the ruffler to whole new level with her Ruffled Jelly Roll Tablerunner over at Sew 4 Home.   I encourage you to make one of these quick and fun table runners and don't forget to share your finished project with Angela.  We all love to see each others work. 

Have you voted today? Vote For Me # 82 - McCall's Quilting Quilt Design Star: You may vote once per day.... http://fb.me/Eahpnv76.  Thanks for all your votes.  I couldn't do this without you. 

Until next time,

Pillow Talk Swap 3

I keep seeing tweets talk about Pillow Talk Swap 3 (PTS3) and had no idea what it was all about.  So i asked and everyone told me that I should do it.  You make a modern style pillow for someone and someone else sends you a modern pillow that they have made just for you.  When I saw that all my friends John, Ryan, Karrie, Julie and Safieh were joining I just had to join. I sent in my application to join and got in at the very last minute.  Nothing like waiting I always say. 

Now to think up what pillow that I'm going to make.  I might be getting ahead of myself.  I thought about what pillow I wanted first and made a mosaic of my likes. O.k I thought that was easy.

Now I can think about what my partner would like for a pillow.  Here is what I had to work with

My Partner also had this to say,  I  love modern bright colors purples, blues greens, pinks

After much thought I came up with this for her.

I sent off my pillow cover to her.  To save on postage I only sent the top as I made my top 18" and the pillow form could be found just about anywhere.

With that done I moved on to the next big project and kind of put PTS3 out of my head until this arrived on Friday.

I really like how modern this really is and the colors are great together.  Thanks for a great pillow Lisa. 

Clyde frog had to get in on the action too.  He loves how the colors compliment the green in his coat.  I'm like OK what ever.

That frog takes everything I own and claims it as his own.

I came downstairs and saw him napping.  I guess sitting on the couch is hard work.


Until next time,

Machine Fridays - Presser Foot Pressure

Presser Foot Pressure.  What is it and what is it used for?

I found out the answer to that question this week when I was doing some appliqueing and did not like the puckers I was getting in my fabric.  Why did I get puckers?  Here is what I tried first.

1. Checked my needle, it could be damaged.
2. Inserted new needle size and type recommended for the type of fabric I was using.  Cotton = Quilting needle size 75 for piecing. 
3. Rethreaded top and bobbin threads.
4. Made sure I was using thread type to match fiber and sewing technique.  Cotton fabric = cotton 50 weight thread by Aurifil and blanket stitch.  
5. Used quality thread.  Thread Aurifil 50 cotton
6. Use stabilizer.  Heat N bond light
7. Checked thread tension.

Even after checking all of the above my fabric was still puckering.  I just happened to remember a dial on my machine under the lid to the left.  It's was my presser foot pressure dial (yours may be on the top or side of your machine).  I had never played with this.  I lowered the amount of presser the foot was placing on the fabric and it was no longer puckering.

The downward force on your sewing machine's presser foot plays an important part in the feeding of fabric.  Presser foot pressure provides an adequate force to hold the fabric firmly against the feed teeth when the machine is moving the cloth. It also clamps the fabric tightly against the needle plate as the needle penetrates. The presser foot pressure should be great enough to allow the feed to move the fabric through the machine uniformly without slippage.  All right enough of the background crap. 

On my Viking (and this could be different on your machine) The higher the number the more  pressure the foot puts on the fabric.  Knit and soft fabrics (like I was using) should be sewn at lower pressure.

I found something out this week and thought I would share it with you.  If your fabric puckers and you have tried all the above steps first then try your presser foot presser dial it just might do the trick. 

Have you voted today? Vote For Me # 83 Frosted Stars Quilt - McCall's Quilting Quilt Design Star: You may vote once per day. http://tinyurl.com/2uhu4z7


I can't do this alone and need your help.  Please vote daily, blog, Facebook and tweet about this.  Shout it from the roof tops.  I really would like to move on to the next round and maybe win this thing.  With your help I can.  Thank you.








Until next time,