I Won, I Won!

I just found out that I won a giveaway on Melissa's blog. Take some time to check out all her blogs -- she is a photographer, so there is a lot of eye candy.

Thank you, Melissa! It's a wonderful collection of goodies.

Cheater At Work

This is "K-7 Rose of Sharing", a beginner-level applique block and yes, I cheated on this one. In two ways, actually. I don't really care that I've cheated...remember, this is Anya's quilt and Anya will make it any way she darn pleases!

First...I did not want to applique 4 individual hearts and then sew them into one complete block, so I decided to make them as one big piece in the center. When I'm ready to quilt the entire quilt, I plan to stitch across the diagonal lines of the block so it will give the appearance of being sewn in 4 pieces. I've marked the quilting lines in chalk on the photo to show what I mean. The other way I cheated is in using the invisible machine applique method. I had never attempted that technique before, but I'm always willing to try anything to save me from hand applique. I used monofilament thread in both the top and bobbin and sewed very carefully along the edge using a blind-hem stitch. That's where the machine takes four straight stitches and then one very small zig-zag stitch into the applique fabric.

I practiced on two scrap pieces of very ugly fabric in my stash and was amazed at the results. I showed it to a couple of fellow quilters and they couldn't see the stitching at all. Then when I first tried it on the batik fabric I am using for this quilt, however, it was a major disappointment. The needle of my sewing machine made holes that were way too big and noticeable in the dense batik. That meant a trip to buy some silk needles, hoping that they wouldn't make such large holes. The result is what you see in the photo. I still see holes, but it's not as noticeable as before and I'm certain that if I had hand appliqued this one, my stitches would surely show anyway.

I do plan on trying this method again; however, I will be sure to use a darker, busier background, hoping that the holes will be even less apparent.

Yeah...this is block #75! I believe that meets my goal of 75 blocks by the new year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

That's all. No need to spend time on the computer today.

Kids' Quilts

There are 10 young children (ages 6 months to 8 years) on my husband's side of the family and I made them all baby quilts when they were born. They live hundreds of miles away (but in the same general area) and we usually get to see them only once a year around Thanksgiving. Last year I made 9 kids' quilts for all of them, so this year I had to made a 10th one for the newest family member. She got her own baby quilt just a few months ago, but I don't want her to grow up asking "why do all my brothers and sisters and cousins have a baby and kid quilt, but I only have a baby quilt?".

This is the result. The other 9 can be seen here on Webshots. They are all the same pattern, using various novelty fabrics and a different sashing/border fabric and backing for each one. I used a different quilting pattern for each one, too.

This year, all 10 kids are getting Christmas pillowcases (which took a lot less time to make than the 10 quilts)!

Harder Than It Looks

This is "L-9 Walter's Place", an intermediate-level paper-pieced block.
I thought I could whip it up very quickly, but once I had all the paper-pieced sections completed, I realized that I had to sew several Y seams (sometimes called set-in seams) in order to fit the sections around the center red square. I managed to do it and frankly, I'll take dealing with Y seams to hand applique any day.

No More Wrapping Paper

Last year, our guild president challenged members to make reusable bags for grocery shopping. You should have seen the variety of bags that everyone came up with -- all sorts of fabrics and patterns. No two were alike.

I recently read a blog about wrapping gifts in reusable grocery bags instead of wrapping paper, and so I sat down yesterday to make one for the upcoming Christmas season. I used fabric from my stash (probably circa 1995) and followed the basic directions in this tutorial, but I left out the outside pocket. You can see a hint of the red lining fabric up by the handles.

This could also be made using fabric scraps -- that would certainly give the outside of the bag a neat look. Or maybe an orphan block or two. The possibilities are endless. Make up a batch and there will be no need for plastic bags anymore. Keep one folded up in your purse for the unexpected trip to the store.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

I bought this cheater panel (I hear they're called "convenience panels" nowadays) at a yard sale more than a year ago to practice machine quilting on my HQ16. I loaded the machine like I normally would with a "real" quilt and doodled with regular thread on top and water-soluble thread in the bobbin. Recently, I decided to see if my plan for the water-soluble thread would work...

I spritzed the back of the quilt with a spray bottle filled with water and voila, the bobbin thread disappeared and I could easily pull the top thread off. Now I can start all over and quilt this panel again.

There are several companies that make water-soluble thread, including Superior Threads. They recommend using it for trapunto, basting, etc, but warn against using it on swimwear...