August 27, 2013
Let the show and tell begin
Jody showed off the doll blanket that she stitched two rows of satin ribbon around it. She didn't have to cut the fabric to stitch the ribbon! She alternated (offset) the ups and downs of the two rows of stitches. Jody noticed that stitching the edges stabilized the fabric so it didn't stretch too much. To secure the bows at the end there were two suggestions: glue 'er down or bar tack it with thread. Which did she choose? Come join us in September to find out.
We thought that this would make a good project for young sewers - especially if they made a scarf! By the time seamstresses are old enough to keep the ribbon 'flat' they'd likely be out of the baby doll phase.
Jody also showed us the quilt she made for one of her grandsons. It has a fabric in common with the quilt his brother has. If memory serves me correctly it is the blue fabric in the middle of the stars.
Michelle made a beautiful wall hanging using shell fabrics. To hang the quilt she glued shells on the dowel. Brilliant!
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| See the seashells glued to decorate the dowel. |
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| Michelle echoed the beach theme when quilting |
Next Michelle showed us her 1600 quilt onto which she appliqued sunflowers, a bird house, and a bird bath. She quilted it using sunflower pattern AND put a special label on it. It is lovely and will be adorning her bed soon.
Laurel showed us her fancy foot work - sewing feet that is. She created these beauties with fancy stitches and stabilizer
She also shared a couple really cool binding techniques that involve piping or a narrow border.
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| The corners come out crisply |
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| If you look closely you can see the piping. Laurel has a spiffy ruler that has a groove for the piping and the edges come out really straight when you apply the binding.... speaking of which.... |
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| You don't need to place strips at 90 degrees to create bindings . Laurel will explain in person again. |
I (Kathleen) remembered to bring the quilt top that I assembled from Melinda's wonderful demo in June. Thanks again for your excellent instructions. I (we) hope you had a great time with the grandchildren. If some of the fabric looks familiar I used some 'left overs' from a French Braid quilt my hubby (David) and I made as a wedding gift for my friend's daughter and son-in-law. They are in the proceess of 'fost/adopting' some children and I thought it would be fun for each child to have a quilt based on mom and dad's quilt.
Round 2 of show and tell
Michelle mentioned a new "app" that she put on her iPad called "You Doodle". She takes a picture of her quilt and then doodles (auditions) different quilting patterns (and thread colors) to help her figure out how she wants to quilt her quilt. Isn't technology grand? Join us September 24th to see a live demonstrationWe were all admiring Michelle's gorgeous purse. She made it. We were all wrangling to have her give it to us:-) Sorry the photo doesn't do the fabulous purse justice.
Kathleen's demo: How to strip piece an Around the World Quilt
Another quilt to make from 2 1/2" strips. Two blocks give you a hint what the quilt will look like.
Sew six (6) 2 1/2" x 16 strips together. There is VERY little waste. Be careful. From a design perspective you might want a bit of contrast between the strips. Select a dominant diagonal color (in this case blue). That will be strip #1. Press all the seams in one direction.
Fold the fabric (right sides together) in half (parallel to the seams) and sew the first strip to the last strip. This will make a tube.
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| Yes... the seams are not all pressed in the same direction, Translation do what what I say not what I do. Also you need to pretend this is 16" long. |
Cut six 2 1/2" strips "across (AKA perpendicular to) the seams". You will have six loops each 2 1/2" wide. (note: this just shows three)
Separate the first loop above the dominate color. Lay the strip down with the dominant diagonal color on the top left. Look at the bottom two squares and separate the next strip between those two colors. (Pictures to come)
"Rinse and repeat" for the remaining strips (3-6).
A tip from my friend who showed me this technique - sew the strips in pairs. Sew the first two strips together (placing strip #2 on top of #1). Place the even numbered strips on top of the odd number strip before. Strip #4 gets put on top of strip #3. Place strip #6 on top of strip #5. This helps keep the strips in the correct order and seems to keep the seams straighter.
When there is an oops: In the picture on the left you can see on the right side of the bottom square that I didn't separate the blocks correctly. The blue is on the bottom but the purple is out of place. It was not the end of the world. I reassembled the loop and cut between the bottom two colors of strip #5 and all is well.
After I finish this quilt I will try it with the red/white/black fabrics for my friend's children.
