Quilt As You Go, Simply Done

Simply Done

Marguerita’s Blog

She’s Baaaaaack :)

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Audrey, my granddaughter, is back with me this weekend. I put most of the quilting stuff away and got out the camera. Knowing your priorities is a good thing. We’re going outside to look for some mud puddles to stomp in. See you later!

Sharing Information on Squidoo.com

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I am, at times, overwhelmed with what is available for free on the internet. Squidoo is interesting to me because they give you a nicely formatted place to share information on subjects that you are passionate about – and they give you a choice of donating any profits from the page you create to charity.

I am pretty passionate about some aspects of quilting and I like to share information for free and I am a firm believer in helping others. Squidoo.com looks like a good fit for me. Unlike a blog, where after about a week a post is lost in Label/Archive limbo – my topic is always there, easy to find and always available for anyone looking for it. That’s kind of neat 🙂

If you are passionate about a subject and you want to share it with the internet world, head on over there and create what they call a ‘lens’. Here’s mine on different machine quilting systems.

Cure for Thread Backlash

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I was having a heck of a time with my decorative stitching and thread backlash in the bobbin. I thought it was the thread (no) the stitch (no) and finally just assumed that the timing was off on the sewing machine (no).

I can’t say I know what caused the problem, but I do know what backlash is: bobbin thread whipping backwards in the bobbin case & either bunching up or creating huge globs of thread clusters on the back of the fabric or quilt or winding itself onto the bobbin spring and shredding.

I had read a while ago about a teflon ring that was being sold as a ‘cure’ for backlash and in desperation, I cut a corner off my teflon pressing sheet and trimmed it to fit the bobbin case and guess what? No more backlash and I have been happily stitching ever since! Now, cutting up the pressing pad was an act of desperation – the teflon rings are available at quilt shops and online at Keepsake Quilting. But, if you’re desperate for a solution and don’t want to wait…….

Quilting Tools that I Love

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I just love anything that makes my sewing and quilting easier, and these 2 things do exactly that: Joan Hawley’s Tips DVD and Prym-Dritz curved nickel pins in a size 1.

The first time I saw Joan at Quilt Market, with her booth & business sign that said “Lazy Girl” I stopped in my tracks. Here was a woman I could relate to! I watched her Tips DVD yesterday and it renewed my respect for Joan and my love of her tips. This DVD is mostly about zippers (she uses them in quite remarkable ways on several of her handbag patterns). Lots of sewers are afraid of zippers and Joan removes all the stupid rules I learned in home-ec, back when girls had to take home economics and girls had to wear skirts and dresses to public school (I’m old!). Joan’s DVD shows how to put in zippers faster than putting on a binding, and easier too.

While I was watching the DVD I was also doing the boring task of pinning my squares for a new quilt. I had a few bad pins and I opened up a brand new package of Prym Pins. Heaven. Bad pins are worse than useless (into the scrap bin they went) because they pull at the fabric and distort the smoothness I worked so hard to get! These new pins were smooooooth and sweet and between them and watching Joan, made a boring task better.

BTW, if you like the background fabric on the pins photo, it’s Cherrywoods hand dyed fabric from their ‘Chestnut to Light’ colorway. That’s what I am working on now.

Quilt Contest!

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I just love the Jolly Jabber Blog by the Fat Quarter Shop. They are running a contest right now, using a Moda fabric called ‘Simplicity’. Very pretty (for a floral). Hehehehe. Although florals aren’t my favorite type of fabric, I really like this line and the contest pushed me over the edge on buying some. I have a new idea that I want to try and this will suit it perfectly.

Here’s info on the contest (click here to go to the Jolly Jabber Blog about the contest) and I have received notice that it has been extended until April 6. My challenge shall be to make a small quilt in a day, from start to binding, although I will admit that I bought the Layer Cake, so my first cut is already made. If they send the fabric completely flat then I won’t have to press it, saving another half hour or so. I will keep you posted!

Making cutting & pressing easier

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As with my custom quilting desk I’ve improvised my cutting and pressing tables & surfaces. Here are the things I use and like, and why. This table (Sam’s Club $42) has 3 height settings, so I can sew on it (sitting down) or stand comfortably and cut fabrics and battings at it’s tallest setting of 36″ high.
On the table you see my rotary cutter and my 20½” square ruler made by Omni. I just love this for cutting my quilt-as-you-go squares and for cutting batting squares.

I use this gripper stuff after trying several other brands and I just love it! (Walmart) I use it under my laptop, under cutting pads and under the wooden pressing surface that I improvised with a piece of plywood with Warm & Natural batting and muslin fabric. {Lowe’s used to carry these smaller pieces of wood in bins in the plywood aisle, or you can buy a sheet of plywood and have them make the cuts for you}.

I just put the piece of gripper on the bare ironing board surface and then place the wood on it and cover it with cotton batting and then muslin.

Don’t be afraid to improvise to make your sewing and quilting easier. I like the wood board because it is slightly larger than a fat quarter of fabric (18″x22″).

Laughter

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Audrey loved her new hat and although it is a bit big, it wasn’t too big, it just has room to grow. We had dinner together, Sarah, Ryan, Tom, Audrey and I and it was the most fun I’ve had in a while. Audrey likes to take my jewelry and for some reason she decided that removing my eyeglass holder chain was the funniest thing in the world. She laughed, and I laughed just to see her laugh and then we were both laughing just because the other one was. Life just doesn’t get any better than that.

Audrey’s Hat

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I’ve been working on a secret project….Audrey’s Hat. As you can see from Sarah’s blog, Audrey loves to put things on her head. Her favorite thing is a tupperware toy that she pretends is her hat. That made me think that maybe I should make her a hat.

This hat had no design or pattern in mind, just play and relief for me after refurbishing kitchen floors everyday. So each day for the past 4 days, I’ve cut a little, sewn, agonized over fabrics, tossed my stash around and played. I didn’t take photos of the process because I didn’t think it would work, but I believe that I have a really cute hat here, and I can’t wait to give it to Audrey.

It was hard to make it without her here, to test for size. I used the bear, but he’s just not the same as a baby girl – lol 🙂

So, this weekend I shall see Audrey and give her my gift to her, her very own hat. It’s a secret though, so if you see her, don’t tell!

I am going to make another one and I’ll take photos as I go on that one.