My Turn at Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop

Hello, my name is Pat! I think it's always best to start off by introducing myself and to tell you a little about me. I live in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York (over 300 miles from NYC). I'm definitely a country girl. I have been married to the most wonderful guy, Joe, for over 11 years and we have the best Corgi, named Humphrey Bogart.  I have 2 grown stepdaughters, 2 grandsons, 2 acquired granddaughters that include my acquired son-not-in-law, and 2 granddogs.

Humphrey on the dock greeting the kids and grandkids coming in for the day on the lake.

I have a day job that I really do love, I'm a Quality Engineer at a local college (I do surveys and other statistical analysis). Any of the various hobbies I have (or had) require gloves. I'm not sure why this is, because I'm not particularly fond of gloves.

I don't have a horse any more, but I still love dressage.

(1) How long have you been quilting?
 That's a good question, I have no idea! I have been sewing since I was a very little girl (way back in the 60's). I used to take my doll dresses apart and use them as patterns to make them new dresses. Does anyone remember polyester double knit and stretch and sew patterns and classes??? I made some of my own clothes at one point. My mom started quilting in the late 70's, but I was in high school, then college and only reaped the benefit of her work. I didn't have time to sew, but I did like to paint.

 In the 90's, I bought a sewing machine at a garage sale for $25. It was then that the idea for quilting sounded like fun. I love design and color. My mother was still quilting like crazy, but she only made quilt tops and had them long-arm quilted. So I made a few quilts, maybe one every few years. What turned me into a fanatical quilter was my mom passing away two years ago. I inherited her stash (truckload upon truckloads of quilting fabric, notions, and machines). I decided then and there, if this was coming into my house I was going to use it. Then I started playing around with FMQ. A love affair was born!

(2) Favorite quilting tip
 Hmmm, I would probably say be fearless and quilt what YOU love. Sometimes certain patterns or techniques can appear daunting, but for goodness sakes, in the end it's just fabric and thread. Give it a try. For me it was FMQing. The thought of lowering the feeddogs, my mom was scared of it, yikes,  how could I do it. But I did, and now I piece to get to the quilting stage! The other thing is that you need to quilt what you love, not what someone else wants. Don't make a quilt you are not excited about making, even if a loved one asks you. It makes quilting drudgery!  Feel free to check out my Tutorials and other Tips and Trick page for more quilting tips.

(3) Favorite blogging tip
 Link-up! Join QAL's! I didn't understand this when I first started blogging. The quilt blog community is one of the nicest, most supportive groups I have ever known. Blog consistently (3 or 4 times a week). Blogging pushes me to quilt because I want to join in the community!

(4) Favorite fabric 
I'm really starting to obsess over solids. I just love them. I made my first all solids quilt this summer. You can even vote for it over at The Bloggers Quilt Festival! ;)

(5) Favorite craft book 
 I'm really not a craft book kind of person. I'm much happier looking things up online. I love Leah Day's FMQ fills, her blog, the Free Motion Quilting Project, is a fabulous resource. I did just recently purchase Angela Walter's new book Modern Free Motion Quilting.

(6) Favorite books 
 I don't have much time to sit and just read, but I do listen to audio books while I quilt. I'm a huge fan of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, I have listened to all of their books.

So now you know me! I love to quilt, I love the blog quilt community! I hope you will come back and visit!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

A huge thank you to Beth at Plum and June for organizing this Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop! What fun it's been!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Time to VOTE.....for my Baby Quilt!!!!!

It's Election Day, I'm going to shamelessly beg for your vote! No, not in the U.S. Presidential Election, in the Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012 for my Baby Quilt! Squee... I got nominated in the top five Baby Quilts and you get to vote November 5-8.

Urban Nine Patch baby quilt, approx. 40"x 40"

Made with a Quick Curve Ruler and quilted on a domestic machine (by me).

The quilt will be donated to a local hospital to the NICU! Think how nice it would be to wrap a sick little baby up in a winning quilt (Yes, shamelessly pandering for the sympathy vote!)

How to vote, you say???? Hop over to Amy's Creative Side (click HERE). The Baby Quilts are the first group of quilts. Under each quilt you will see....

Click on the word "vote" to vote for your favorite baby quilt.

Now, I'm going to link up to A Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday (this quilt was featured on A Quilt Story in August) and Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday and Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted! Now GO VOTE (oh, and if you are a U.S. Citizen, please go vote today in the U.S. Election too).

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Watch Out for Turbulence!

Well, I canceled my trip to Indianapolis, I was to fly through Washington, DC (coming home on Tuesday). The thought of sitting in an airport for days, with no power, nope, just couldn't do it! I'm a wuss! So I took this time and did a little FMQ on my Expanding Possibilities.

Maybe the thought of turbulence was on my mind when I stitched this out, but I'm quite pleased with the effect.

Back of the quilt

back of one of the birds

In life we all meet a little turbulence, we just need to learn to rise above or go around, but continue to expand our possibilities. I still have quite a bit more to quilt on this quilt, but I'm making progress.

I hope that everyone is prepared and staying safe if you are in the path of hurricane Sandy! Keep Calm and Quilt on!

Today, I'm linking up with Sew Happy Geek for Manic Monday and Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Dusting Off My Embroidery Machine

One of the main reason I got my Pfaff (in JULY) was so that I could set up my Babylock to just embroider. So I guess it was time to dust off my embroidery machine, set it up, and get stitching.

Miss Ellie can now sit here, ready and waiting anytime I want to embroider, without having to break her down from regular quilting and set her up for embroidery.

I got the last two blocks for my library quilt, embroidered and pieced. Now I just need to quilt and join the blocks. I think I may see light at the end of this tunnel (I hope it's not a train or a librarian trying to "shhhhh" me!)  ;)

I'm linking up with Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted and Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Quick and Easy Table Runner

Flip and sew table runner

 I had about an hour to sew last night and I needed to prepare a project for my Leah Day homework for this week. And you know, it's getting close to Christmas, every project (and homework) has to count! So, I whipped up this cute little table runner all ready for some FMQ  "Paisley Snakes".

I cut backing 23" x width of the fabric (WOF) and a piece of batting approx. the same size

Then I cut a center strip about 11" x WOF and two side border pieces 4.5" x WOF. Centered (by eye) on the backing and batting.

Flipped the borders, pinned and stitched through all of the layers.

You will see the seam stitches on the back. Instant stitch in the ditch!

Pressed both side down. Ready for some FMQ!

In less than an hour, I picked fabric, cut, switched my machine from FMQ to regular sewing, wound a bobbin, stitched up this table runner!

You could put borders on the ends in the same manner, but I plan on cutting mine to a point after I FMQ it.

Now Humphrey is feeling a little left out lately, so here is a little gratuitous picture of Mr. Humphrey Bogart! I love my little Corgi!

Humphrey Bogart!

I'm linking up with A Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday, Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted and Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Only the Good Dye Young!

Well then, I'm probably not that good!  

So here's my disclaimer: I am by no means an expert at dyeing, this is just a primer on how I dye! There are many different methods that are all wonderful.  If you feel brave, give this a try. No guarantees that you will get the exact results you want!!!  But along the way, you may get some happy accidents!

This is a Low-Immersion technique:

Supply List: All utensils used in dyeing will be FOREVER AFTER used ONLY for DYEING)!!!
Procion  MX Dyes  - I have Yellow, Gold, Orange, Fuchsia, Blue, Black (almost never use black)

Soda Ash (100% Sodium Carbonate, can be found at a pool supply store)
PFD (prepared for dyeing) white cotton fabric
Synthrapol
White vinegar
Squeeze bottles (hold at least 8 oz. +, I found condiment squeeze bottle at a restaurant supply store. One for each dye color - I have six)
Lots of paper towel (this is a messy business)
A Set of Measuring spoons
Liquid Measuring Cup
Dry Measuring Cup  - 1/4 cup
Plastic basin
Plastic Gallon Jug (clean empty milk jug)
Small funnel may be handy 
Black Sharpie marker
Disposable plastic table cloths (I buy it on a roll and cut to the length I need)

Gallon baggies - these will be your dye pots (I used five)
Short clear plastic cups - one per dye pot (measure 1/2 cup of water, pour into cup and mark a line on the cup)
Plastic picnic spoons - one per dye pot


Personal Protection:
Rubber gloves
Dust mask (just need this for mixing the dye powder into liquid, you don't need to wear this through the whole process)
Garage, unfinished basement or outside, unless you are very neat, this is a MESSY JOB! A hose or sink (water source will be really handy, otherwise you will need several gallons of water handy)

Preparing the Fabric:

Cut fabric into the size pieces you want, I always cut mine into 1/2 yard pieces, (but you can do 1/4 yard or 1 yard pieces, but for the sake of this tutorial I will describe using 1/2 yards pieces)
I like to dye a fair amount at a time, because it doesn't seem worth all the work to dye just a tiny amount of fabric.  I had 5 dye pots (5 - 1 gallon baggies) with 3 - 1/2 yard pieces of fabric each, 15 - 1/2 yard pieces in total.
If your fabric is PFD, you just need to wet it and wring it out - best done on a rinse cycle in the washer. (If you are using regular white cotton fabric you need to wash it on hot with detergent, in the final rinse add in a 1/4 cup of soda ash.).
Your fabric should be damp, not wet! I put mine in a plastic laundry basket while it's waiting to be dyed.

Mixing the Dyes (wear your dusk mask! Nope I don't use urea in this mix)

2 Tablespoons of dye powder
1 Cup water (for black use 1/2 cup of water)
I mix this directly in your squeeze bottles. This is where your funnel may come in handy.

Mixed dyes will keep for about a week at room temperature, a little longer in the refrigerator (since I dye only about once a year, I chuck my leftover dye mixer out.) My dye powder is about 15 years old (although the manufacturer will tell you that is too old to work well) works just fine!

Mix the Soda Solution
1/4 cup of Soda Ash
1 gallon jug of water

Dyeing the Fabric - wear your rubber gloves unless you want to dye your hands.

The set up is really wonderful if you have your best friend dyeing along side of you and have a great view.

Fill each plastic cup to the 1/2 cup mark with water

 Place a 1/2 yard piece of damp fabric scrunched into a "disk" shape into the bottom of each baggie/dye pot

Mixing colors - this is the happy accident part, play and have FUN! (these measurements are based on 1/2 pieces and are ONLY a GUIDELINE to get you started)
Blue - 2 Tablespoons of blue dye mixture
Green - 1 Tablespoon of blue and 1 Tablespoon of yellow
Yellow - 2 Tablespoons of yellow
Orange - 1 Tablespoon of yellow, scant tablespoon of fuchsia (or 2 Tblsp of orange if you have it)
Red - 2 Tablespoons of fuchsia, (drop of yellow if you want a bright red)
Purple - 1 Tablespoon of fuchsia, 1 Tablespoon of blue

Now, just go play with the color combinations!!!!

Step 1: Mix the dye mixture into the 1/2 cup of water and pour it into the dye pot, try and cover the whole piece of fabric. Then squish it around as much or as little as you like. The more you squish the more even the color.

Step 2: Wait 5-15 minutes and pour 1/2 cup of soda ash solution over the fabric (just measure it in the same plastic cups you used for the dye. Squish is around again. Wait 15 minutes or so and add a second layer of fabric on top of the first layer. Rinse out your little plastic cups.

 Mix your next round of dye colors. YES the colors from the different layers will mix somewhat, but that is the point. If you want lighter colors, use less dye mixture. Repeat steps 1 and 2. I do three layers of fabric per baggie/dye pot.

Step 3: Let the dye pots sit for at least an hour, (two or three hours is better) but you can leave them over night if you want.

Removing Excess Dye:

Wring out fabric, then wash in machine in hot water with Synthrapol (2 capfuls) and white vinegar (a good gulg! You only need vinegar in the first wash - it stops the dyeing process by changing the pH). Repeat until the water is clear (no dye). Dry in the dryer, press and have fun using it in your favorite projects!

Kate and I wanted some lighter, more even colors this time. We also tried dyeing some white on white fabric. Experiment and have some fun. Check out the color we got last year, click here!

Today I'm linking up with A Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday, Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop , Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday and Happy Quilting for TNT Thursday!

I hope you find this primer useful! Now go dye something!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

P.S. An excellent resource on dyeing is Color By Accident by Ann Johnson

Choo Choo Chugging Along

I love it when I finish a project that has been hanging around just a little too long. My fabulous grandson T has a birthday coming up this month and I love to being able to give him a little something I made.

The front was a Sew Cal Gal FMQ Challenge for May

The back

I love the buttons - all three are different!

I'm hoping that this will appeal to a very hip, cool, four year old. No baby stuff for this boy!

How can you not love that face?!?!?!

I'm linking up with Sew Happy Geek for Manic Monday, Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop, A Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday and Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Wonky/Improv Quilt is FINISHED!!!!

I should really call this quilt my "Learning Curve Quilt"! I learned so much from this quilt, especially the FMQ part. This was my first quilt quilted on my new Pfaff (Miss Frances). And although I struggled getting to know Miss Frances, she now is quilting wonderfully.

This quilt was so much fun because, by it's very wonky nature, it wasn't meant to be perfect! The quilting has some thread blobs, but all in all, it's soft and cuddly. It will make a wonderful quilt for the back of the sofa or down at the beach, it is meant to be used!

If you would like to read about the making of this quilt, click here and here and here  and here.

Today I'm linking up with A Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday and Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted and Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

P.S. My sincerest apologies for not responding to all your lovely comments. I am very slack and sorry! I do read and love each and everyone, but I struggle to find the time to respond to all of them. I really love and appreciate each and everyone that visits and I do try to answer through email. (If you are a no-reply blogger, I have no way to respond to any of your questions or comments).