Quilter's Favorites!

I'm joining in the fun at Geta's Quilting for Quilter's Favorites. Bloggers from around the world are sharing there best quilting tips and tricks!  Can't wait to check it out!

 List a few of your favorite quilting notions. 
1. Tweezers that are fine enough to pull thread and have a pointed end to use like a stiletto.
2. QTips for cleaning out under the bobbin case. It captures more lint than any brush I've ever used.
3. Queen Supreme Slider for free-motion quilting. Helps your quilt slide easier while your quilting.
4. Elmers washable glue, instead of pins for bindings. Here's a tutorial of what I mean.
5. Pinmoor pin anchors - little silcone pin anchors used for pin basting with straight pins.

Any advice for a successful color scheme of a quilt ?
1. Use what appeals to YOU!
2. Keep your colors in the same level of saturation (also called purity or chroma), i.e. not try and mix a bright clear blue with muddy fall colors. (unless you really, really like it)!

3. Personally, I'm not a big fan of lots of prints. I like one or two standout prints surrounded with a lot of solids.
4. Again: Use what appeals to YOU! - You will have a lot more fun working on your project.

Some thoughts about thread and needles, batting, fabrics ? 
Thread: I have been bitten by the Aurifil bug. It's my latest addiction. I'm afraid it's worse than fabric for me. Just can't help myself. Then of course free-motion quilting (FMQ) is my favorite part of quilting.

My stash! Shhh, don't tell my husband.

Needles: Schmetz Microtex (sharps) 8/20 is the most common one I use. But I'm very fickle here, I switch to a different type of needle anytime I'm having a problem FMQ or anytime I work on something different.


Batting: I have two current favorites (I like to try different battings), both are Quilters Dream. QD Request (a low loft cotton) and QD Puff (very puffing polyester). It really depends on the look I'm going for, it's part of my design.

Tips for easy piecing
Did I mention my favorite part of quilting is FMQ? The only tip I have is piece with Aurifil 50wt. It's a lot less bulky, seams press flatter. I also press my seams open, better for FMQ!

If you enjoy other quilt techniques than patchwork, could you share some tips with us ?
Did I mention, my favorite part of quilting is FMQ???

Machine quilting tips 
1. If you can draw it, you can quilt it. Practice drawing what you want to quilt.
2. Make up a whole bunch of quilt sandwiches to practice on.
3. Get a sewing table that you machine drops down into so that you have a flat surface. This made the biggest difference in the world for me. I got a very inexpensive Gidget II table and insert. Really, it's less than the cost of fabric for a king sized quilt.
4. A Supreme Slider helps
5. Relax, enjoy drawing, doodling on your quilt. NOBODY's  quilting is perfect, get over yourself and just enjoy the process.

Hand quilting tips
Sorry I machine quilt!

Other tips related to quilting
Make things that speak to YOU! Don't quilt to make other people happy, quilt to make YOU happy. Along the way, you will find out that others like things that you do.

Do you have free tutorials on your blog? Share the link.
I have a whole page of tutorials.

Here are a few that I've gotten quite a good response on.
1. Basting with boards for pin basting and spray basting. Takes up less room and no kneeling on the floor.
2. Faux Piped binding. Looks cool and it's all done by machine, no hand stitching.
3. Two methods for QAYG (quilt as you go), wide sashing and narrow strips.

The sewing machine - share a few things you love at your sewing machine; what makes it special? What features do you think are the most important to a sewing machine used for quilting?
I have a Pfaff Quilters Expression 4.0. I love the 10" throat space, the thread cutter, the built in IDT (walking foot). But the BEST thing is the fabulous service and support I get from Quilters Corner , my local quilt shop where I bought my machine. Nothing beats great service and knowledgeable technicians.

What about modern quilting tools? Quilt software, die cutting systems, other tools? Why do you like them ?
I have an embroidery sewing machine and I love Urban Threads designs - not so cutesy

Tips for organizing the sewing tools, the fabrics, the sewing studio?

Bobbin storage - Dritz bobbin box. The foam inside is soft and it holds the bobbin securely.

Solution; "Mini Bolts" stored in a double Martha Stewart bookshelf. This represents over 175 pieces of fabric ranging in size from a fat quarter to multiple yards.Wrapped on acid free "comic book" boards. I still need to wrap more fabric.

Could you recommend a book to someone who just started quilting ? A quilting bible ?
I have to say that I inherited a ton of quilting books from my mom and I never look at them. I generally look things up on the internet.

List one or two of your favorite quilting techniques and a tutorial/pattern/book where you learned about them ?
So many fabulous bloggers. Thank you to all of you.

Do you have a favorite quilt designer ? 
I can't just pick one.  So many fabulous designers. I tend to like the modern minimalistic quilts the best. I almost never use a pattern.


Do you have a favorite quilt blogger? 
Again, so many wonderful quilt bloggers. I do have to call out Leah Day at The Free Motion Quilting Project. She is the most wonderful FMQer and has literally 100's of videos on quilting FMQ fillers. She also is wonderfully helpful at troubleshooting. She just ROCKS!

Would you like to share one of your favorite quilts, made by you ? 
I guess it would have to be my Koi Pond Quilt.

Do you have a favorite online quilt shops ? What makes it special ? 
There are some wonderful online shops, but I seem to keep going back to Hawthorne Threads. Great modern fabrics, good prices, and really great service.

What would be the perfect gift for your best quilting friend ? 
A couple of spools of Aurifil Thread!

Don't Do Like Me!
When I first got my new Pfaff, I had a terrible time with breaking and shredding thread. I did everything I could think of to fix the problem. Somethings would make it somewhat better, but it really needed to go into the shop and be adjusted. I suffered through seven months, fighting with the machine. The folks at the quilt shop were wonderful. WHY did I not take it in sooner???  Lesson, it's NOT always YOUR fault!

If there is something else you would like to share with us, please do it. And please tell us a little about you, we would love to know you better. 
 Here's a blog post that tells my quilting story.   

Thank you Geta for hosting such a great link up. Imagine all that knowledge in one place, phew!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Bad to the Bone!

I've been doing a little machine embroidery lately. I needed something to give my stepdaughter, to thank her for making and canning a plethora of stock for me. She's an absolute wiz at it. Yummy! So when she said she needed some new towels, I set out finding just the right design to embroider. I think I found it!

 Violet (one of my stepdaughter's dogs) posing next to one of the towels. She looks so innocent, but she's "bad to the bone"! No, not really, she is VERY sweet, but she does love to chew on a bone.

The embroidery design is from Urban Threads: "Bad to the Bone"! I embroidered a wash cloth, hand towel and bath towel. The bath towel gave me some trouble, it took three tries to get it done. It was so heavy is kept pulling it out of register. I ended up having to hold it up the whole time it was stitching. But I think it was worth it!


I'm linking up with A Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday and Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday. 

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Queen of Hearts Purse

Every once in a while, I get the urge to make myself a new purse. So, when I purchase some new fabric to other day, it just screamed at me to make myself a new spring purse.

 The purse is approximately 8" tall, 13" wide at the bottom narrowing to 11" at the top. The bottom is about 2" deep. The Queen of Hearts embroidery design is from Urban Threads. The pattern/design is my own. The pocket with the Queen is just perfect for a cell phone.

 The back pocket is perfect for keys, pens and other things you want to just drop in to it.

The inside has 2 large pockets, lots of room to lose just about anything.

I'm quite pleased with my little bag and I'm looking forward to fill it up to take it out and about!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Prince William is Gone...

...And Miss Frances is back. Miss Frances is my Pfaff Quilters Expression 4.0 that has been in for service. Prince William was the loaner machine from the store's classroom.

I haven't even had a chance to set Miss Frances back up!

But there is a new Royal in the house; meet the Queen of Hearts!

Urban Threads has a whole series of Alice in Wonderland machine embroidery designs. I love them all and have been looking for a place to use them.

I'm going to use a pattern I made up quite a while ago and I've made several purses using it. I'm modifying it a bit this time with an outside cell phone pocket. I think this will be a fun purse for spring, and I am so ready for spring!

I did get a bit of FMQ done on the Navy panel of my Elephant quilt, but other than that it has been a slow sewing week. Hopefully it will be better with Miss Frances back home.












Here are this weeks stats:
In-process: (3)
Elephant quilt
Express Your Love
Layers quilt

New projects: (1)
Queen of Hearts Purse

Finished (0)


I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

 

Color Me Quilty!

 

Pat

Finally Getting A Little Back Bone!

I'm not sure why I have been so nervous about embroidering on fluffy towels, but I have totally avoided it. The problem is that it is almost impossible to hoop, if the towel is thick. I know that everyone says to just stick it to the top of the hoop and go, but I was afraid it would shift. So last night I got a little back bone and decided to get it a try!

Design from Urban Threads

I love these spines. One thing you should know, if you don't already, I work at a Chiropractic College. And these spine towels are going to one of the best (probably the very best) student intern I've ever had. She's graduating this weekend and moving to Tennessee to practice (Folks of Tennessee, you are getting one FINE chiropractor and I DON'T say that lightly!!!)

Anyway, here's how I embroidered them, easy as pie!

Hoop water soluble stabilizer and spray it with 505 adhesive spray

Carefully center your towel in the hoop and press it down into the adhesive

Top with another layer of water soluble stabilizer - this helps smooth the top to better embroider.

Insert the hoop into your machine, be careful that the towel does fold under the hoop and get stitched where you don't want it to get stitched.

Start embroidering!

Remove the hoop when your done. View from the back of the hoop

Cut away the excess stabilizer

Rinse to remove the rest of the stabilizer

 Voila! Two towels ready to gift! Happy Graduation Marlee, you ROCK!

I'm linking up with the fabulous Making Rebecca Lynne for TGIFF!


Color Me Quilty!

Pat

2nd Generation UFO

As many of you may know, I inherited much of my fabric, thread and machines from my mom two years ago. I also inherited her UFO's. She quilted for 30 years and she accumulated some fabulous UFOs that really deserve the light of day. This particular UFO, I actually helped her with back in the late 1990's and has been on my to do list since last fall.

Watercolor quilt approx. 23" x 26"

 I know that my mom intended to be the center of a king sized quilt, but never really knew what do put around it without making it feel lost on the bed quilt. I realized when I found this in my mom's stash that it needed to be a wall hanging.  Last fall I picked up fabric for a couple of small borders and this machine embroidery design from Urban Threads.

Embroidery design from Urban Threads.

I love this "love" embroidery design, kind of like saying that my mom's love is never really finished!

Yesterday, I pulled it out, embroidered the border and made up this wonderful wall hanging.

So now the real dilemma (and why I haven't worked on this until now), how in the heck do I quilt this? It is made up of tiny one inch squares and I certainly don't want to take away from the quilt design, I want to enhance it. I figured I could use a light lavender thread, should I use something darker in the bottom areas where the flowers are?  I suppose I could use a large stipple, but I would like to highlight the hearts. Any suggestions?????

I'm linking up with Leah Day for UFO Sunday! Can't wait to see what everyone is working on.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

The Ringmaster: A Look Under the Big Top!

Ever curious what goes into machine embroidery? I thought some of you might like to see, since I had to stitch out the Ringmaster for an iPad case I'm making.

You start be finding a design you like. This one is from Urban Threads called the Ringmaster. When you purchase the design, you can download it directly to your computer.

You transfer the design to you sewing machine with a flash drive (some machines use special cards)

The design is then pulled up on your machine

You have to have a lot of embroidery thread on hand so that you have the right colors for your design.

I like to set the thread out in order it is going to be used as the design is stitched.

I also use prewound bobbins

You need to hoop your fabric with stabilizer (stabilizer help keep you design flat, minimizes puckering)

This relatively small design has 26307 stitches, that will take 49 minutes to stitch (not including the time to change the thread) and there are 11 thread changes.

A look at the design as it is being stitched out. You really need to sit near the machine, just in case there are any problems (i.e. thread jams, birds nests, etc.)

I'm not sure why this design outline is out of register here. The rest of the design was fine. It could be the machine, fabric/stabilizer combo, or the design itself (although I doubt that with an Urban Threads design)

The Ringmaster stitched

A little creative touch up with a fabric marker.

I hope you have enjoyed your look under the big top!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Making Christmas Progress: Co-Worker Christmas

It's hard to believe that a week from today, Christmas will be all over. I'm still stitching and have a few small projects left to do, but the big ones are done. Today I'm giving my co-workers their gifts, my husband is handing his our tomorrow. Sadly, I didn't have a chance to link-up with the fabulous Janine at Rainbow Hare Quilts last week, so I'm happy I can link up with Making Christmas this week.

First, I got the iPad cases done! I think they turned out pretty cool. I hope my co-workers think so.

iPad Cases (Embroidery designs are from Urban Threads)

I used Soft and Stable batting and lined it with the same brown fabric on the outside.

Mermaid Pillows to our Administrative Assistant, iPad cases to my supervisor and co-worker, and tea towels to my work-study student. PHEW! (Mermaids designs are from Embroidery Library)

Making Christmas List:
1. Quilt and bind my Cubic Rhythm quilt - Done (Really proud of this quilt and that I actually finished it in time for Christmas)
2. Mermaid pillows -Done
3. Purple Heart Wall-hanging - X (I have taken this off the list, because I completed the Cubic Rhythm quilt. This was my back-up plan)
4. At least 4 Christmas stockings - 17 stockings Done.
5. 2 iPad covers - Done
6. At least 6 potholders - 4 completed! 
7. 2 doggie mats -Done.
8. 2 pillows for friends embroidered - Still working on this
9. Table runner for Thanksgiving! - Done.
10. Several last minutes ideas that I haven't thought of yet! 
      2 Tea Towels embroidered for my work-study student - Done
      4 Hand Towels embroidered for my husbands co-workers - Done
      3 Tea Towels embroidered for family members
      4 Childrens' fleece scarfs
      1 pair of oven mitts

I'll be linking up with Janine over at Rainbow Hare Quilts for Making Christmas List

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Spine Tingling Machine Embroidery

I will be working on Christmas, right up to the last minute! I did get a little machine embroidery done yesterday.

Humphrey wants to know if I have his present ready!

If your looking for my giveaway, click here. There's still time to enter!


Color Me Quilty!

Pat