Quilting, brings me joy. It can be challenging and freeing at the same time. I love to look at fabric in fact I can stay in the fabric isles for hours and not even know it. I look at the fabric colors and textures and imagine what I could do with them when they come home with me. I get so many ideas, and well I have to admit sometimes they never actually happen. But buying fabric well it always makes me smile. And in todays world, we can never get enough smiles.
Fabric and patterns inspire me. But I really enjoy the art if exploration and creativity that flows out of my sole when I start a new project. There is nothing like it. When an idea hits and I start a new project, I can go on for hours and hours. House work, food, and sleep all become secondary to me. Does this ever happen to you?
Over the years, I have met many wonderful people in the quilting world both online and off. When I meet someone who shares the same passion for quilting as I do it is like an explosion of ideas and joy. Quilting used to be something only old ladies did and mostly because they had to, to keep warm. (Sorry not trying to offend anyone here)I am not all that young anymore myself. I may be one of the gray haired cane carrying ladies before you know it. Well maybe not the gray haired part as long as there are salons and hair dye! Gray is definitely not my color. LOL
One thing I know for sure is I need to stay involved in quilting and join as many groups as I can, like guilds or bees, and especially charity groups. Even online groups and forums can give me the fix I need some days. I can find inspirations or get help on something when I need it, or even get criticism on a project. Quilter are supportive and honest. Some too honest. Ha ha.
Nothing says I love you like a quilt. I was a part of a group called "Charity Sisters" a while back and we did nothing but make quilts from scraps for charity. The y fell apart after the quilt shop we met at closed. I still keep in touch with some of the ladies. The feeling you get when you give something you put your heart and sole into to someone in need........well there are no words to describe that feeling. I have not met a quilter yet who has not given at least one quilt to charity. I am so proud to be a part of a group like this. Quilters are the most generous people I know. And I know a lot of quilters now!
Quilters.......take a bow...........now pick up your fabric, thread, and needles and go make another quilt. The world needs you.
Showing posts with label quilters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quilters. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Quilting Made the News!
I love when quilting gets the recognition it deserves.
Quilting is really becoming a big industry as this clip from CBS Morning show discusses. On the video bar, click "Quilts for Sale"
There is an interview with Ricky Tims. He is a talented male quilter and musician. His website is also worth taking a look at.
What type of quilter are you?
There are many styles of quilter. There are the traditional quilters and then there are those who stretch the limits and go off into uncharted territories with unique works of art.
I would have to say I am a bit of both. Although I do prefer to do my own patterns and designs. And art quilts always attract and inspire me. I love to explore new techniques and break as many rules as possible.
What about you? Leave your comments here and let's see which type of quilters are reading this blog.
Quilting is really becoming a big industry as this clip from CBS Morning show discusses. On the video bar, click "Quilts for Sale"
There is an interview with Ricky Tims. He is a talented male quilter and musician. His website is also worth taking a look at.
What type of quilter are you?
There are many styles of quilter. There are the traditional quilters and then there are those who stretch the limits and go off into uncharted territories with unique works of art.
- Do you prefer traditional patchwork and time honored appliqué like the quilters of the past?
- Or do you prefer to blaze your own trail? Creating your own patterns and designs to make unique works of art?
I would have to say I am a bit of both. Although I do prefer to do my own patterns and designs. And art quilts always attract and inspire me. I love to explore new techniques and break as many rules as possible.
What about you? Leave your comments here and let's see which type of quilters are reading this blog.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Check out this hot new quilting community!
This is one of the hottest quilting communities on the web. Full of helpful, supportive people from around the world sharing knowledge and friendships. If you love quilting, or just want to make some new friends then this is the place to be!
Here is a link to their forum. You should be able to read the posts, but will not be able to participate or reply unless you join.
If you are interested in joining in the fun go to the registration page. There are free memberships and paid memberships. If not sure what you want pop in the "instant chat" and ask questions! (That's free)
Here is a link to their forum. You should be able to read the posts, but will not be able to participate or reply unless you join.
If you are interested in joining in the fun go to the registration page. There are free memberships and paid memberships. If not sure what you want pop in the "instant chat" and ask questions! (That's free)
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Design Choices or Mistakes?
Design choices or mistakes, how do you see it?
I say in quilt making there are no mistakes, only design choices to be made. (These are some very powerful words to live by in your quilt making). And something I learned many years ago in a quilt class I took. I used to point out all the mistakes I made in my quilts, before the viewer even had a chance to admire the quilt. You may ask why would I do that? The answer is simple, I though that the mistakes were the only thing anyone would see, and I felt I needed to justify why I continued making the quilt even though there were such obvious mistakes being made. You see, as the quilt maker, all I saw were the problems I had in making the quilt, whether it was a seam that didn't match, or a point that got cut off, or wobbly quilting lines. But to my surprise most of the viewers only saw a beautiful quilt and were amazed and impressed with the workmanship in the quilt.
Quilt making is a process, and a journey so enjoy the ride. As long as you continue to make quilts, you will improve your skills, and continue to learn and grow along the way. This I can gaurantee! So the next time you feel the need to point out a mistake, think about what you improved on or what new skill you learned. Try to talk about that instead of the mistakes that might have been made. (You will feel much better about your quilts, and your viewers would never dare point out any mistakes I can assure you of that!)
Go ahead, look past the mistakes and see what you've learned and accomplished on your previous quilts!
This is a post from the news section on my website. Quilting Weekly. This website is dedicated to helping quilters. It is an online quilting classroom, where you can always get an answer to you quilting questions!
I say in quilt making there are no mistakes, only design choices to be made. (These are some very powerful words to live by in your quilt making). And something I learned many years ago in a quilt class I took. I used to point out all the mistakes I made in my quilts, before the viewer even had a chance to admire the quilt. You may ask why would I do that? The answer is simple, I though that the mistakes were the only thing anyone would see, and I felt I needed to justify why I continued making the quilt even though there were such obvious mistakes being made. You see, as the quilt maker, all I saw were the problems I had in making the quilt, whether it was a seam that didn't match, or a point that got cut off, or wobbly quilting lines. But to my surprise most of the viewers only saw a beautiful quilt and were amazed and impressed with the workmanship in the quilt.
Quilt making is a process, and a journey so enjoy the ride. As long as you continue to make quilts, you will improve your skills, and continue to learn and grow along the way. This I can gaurantee! So the next time you feel the need to point out a mistake, think about what you improved on or what new skill you learned. Try to talk about that instead of the mistakes that might have been made. (You will feel much better about your quilts, and your viewers would never dare point out any mistakes I can assure you of that!)
Go ahead, look past the mistakes and see what you've learned and accomplished on your previous quilts!
This is a post from the news section on my website. Quilting Weekly. This website is dedicated to helping quilters. It is an online quilting classroom, where you can always get an answer to you quilting questions!
Friday, January 4, 2008
This Quilt is where it all started part 3
I know I started this story awhile back, and I do apologize for taking so long to finish it. I can make excuses for my delays, but really do you want to hear them? Or would you prefer I just get on with it? Ok I hear you, I will get back to the story.
If you have not read part-1 and part-2 of the story you may want to check that out before continuing on. (Even if you did read it, you can refresh you memory if needed by clicking the links above.
The rest of the story behind my first quilt
A I continued to sew the 2" inch squares in rows, I soon realized I had a lot of squares to sew! In the process of sewing these squares, I also learned about the all important 1/4 inch seam allowance. Now mind you, at the time I was sewing on a very basic sewing machine. It was a machine that my sister-in-law had given me sometime ago. Just to give you an idea of the machine I was using here is a link to the manual along with a pretty good picture of the Kemore I was using. By the way, this site is a good resource for finding manuals, and parts for your older Kenmore machines, as I know I am not the only one out there with an old Kenmore! Please tell me I am not.
As you can see there were no fancy features, just a basic machine. It was a work horse of a machine and with all mechanical parts. Making it very heavy, but also easy to clean and maintain. Unlike the newer electronic ones of today. But 1/4 foot? I did not even know that existed. Never making a quilt before, or ever reading a pattern for making a quilt, how would I. Most seams I had worked with were for clothing which typically were 5/8 inch and were marked on the plate under the presser foot. My needle only had center, no positions there to choose from either, so I had to figure out what a 1/4 inch seam looked like,and then try to keep it consistent. Not an easy task if you do not have the right foot, or setting on your machine. (oh how spoiled I am now!)
To shed some light on how you can solve this problem (in case any of my readers out there do not have the fancy machines of today)I will explain a way to find and mark this on your machine.
Help me find my quarter inch!
One of the easiest ways to do this is take a ruler (quilters ruler with 1/4 inch markings on it)and place it under the presser foot. If you need a look at what a quilters rule is here is one by Omni Grid. Of course there are other brands out there, this is just one I use. do not lower the presser foot Now turn the hand wheel so that you lower the needle down so it touches the ruler on the 1/4 line from the edge of the ruler. Move the ruler as needed to get it exactly on the line. Now take a pad of "post-it notes" and place them next to the right side of the ruler. Stick them to the bed of the machine. This will help in two ways, by making the 1/4 inch easy to find, and it also gives you a nice edge to but the material up against.
Another method is to find the 1/4 inch spot the same way as above, but instead of using the "post-it-notes" you place a place several layers of painters tape on the bed of the machine. It works the same way. You can also just draw a permanent line on the machine which will show the mark, but there is room for error as there is no edge to press against. Which can result in an uneven seam. (of course that is what I did before I learned about the tape or post-it method. So you know that I had some issues in lining up my blocks later on! Oh yes I said I had to learn things the hard way, as I was too anxious to get to sewing, and did not take time to read the nice book I had, or ask questions at the fabric shop.
Lessons learned here "Ask questions the ladies at the fabric stores all love to help new quilters. And they are full of helpful tips like the one I shared above. In fact that is where I got it from." (and you thought I can up with that all by myself!)
Now the next thing I would like to tell you about has to do with being accurate. It is very important with any project to check and double check along the way. (This is something I still struggle with today) As you cut your blocks take a moment and verify they are all the same. When cutting lots of the same thing it is easy to switch measurements when you get distracted. I like to place a piece of colored tape on the ruler in the spot I need to remind me of my measurements. Hey they even sell tape in the quilters section of most fabric stores now just for that very thing! Check it out here is what it looks like at JoAnn Fabrics. I am sure if you looked in your husbands tool box you may find he has some thin painters tape that would work too, but the ones from JoAnns come in pretty colors!
When it comes to accuracy you need to also make sure you check your seams periodically to be sure they are still maintaining the proper seam allowance. We can tend to slip once in awhile, and better to catch a few off blocks then lot's of them. Sometimes you can press them into submission if the difference is slight, but more times than not, you will have trouble down the road. Especially if you are making more complicated blocks with lots of pieces. So get in the habit now of checking and rechecking with each new step in the block. Trust me you will thank me for this some day.
I thought I would get to the end of this project here, but looks like things are getting longer than I anticipated so I will need to finish off tomorrow with the quilt sandwich, quilting and binding lessons I learned.
I do hope you are enjoying reading this story, and if so, bookmark me, or subscribe to my feed so you will not miss a lesson. Feel free to leave me comments on my page I love to hear from my readers.
If you have not read part-1 and part-2 of the story you may want to check that out before continuing on. (Even if you did read it, you can refresh you memory if needed by clicking the links above.
The rest of the story behind my first quilt
A I continued to sew the 2" inch squares in rows, I soon realized I had a lot of squares to sew! In the process of sewing these squares, I also learned about the all important 1/4 inch seam allowance. Now mind you, at the time I was sewing on a very basic sewing machine. It was a machine that my sister-in-law had given me sometime ago. Just to give you an idea of the machine I was using here is a link to the manual along with a pretty good picture of the Kemore I was using. By the way, this site is a good resource for finding manuals, and parts for your older Kenmore machines, as I know I am not the only one out there with an old Kenmore! Please tell me I am not.
As you can see there were no fancy features, just a basic machine. It was a work horse of a machine and with all mechanical parts. Making it very heavy, but also easy to clean and maintain. Unlike the newer electronic ones of today. But 1/4 foot? I did not even know that existed. Never making a quilt before, or ever reading a pattern for making a quilt, how would I. Most seams I had worked with were for clothing which typically were 5/8 inch and were marked on the plate under the presser foot. My needle only had center, no positions there to choose from either, so I had to figure out what a 1/4 inch seam looked like,and then try to keep it consistent. Not an easy task if you do not have the right foot, or setting on your machine. (oh how spoiled I am now!)
To shed some light on how you can solve this problem (in case any of my readers out there do not have the fancy machines of today)I will explain a way to find and mark this on your machine.
Help me find my quarter inch!
One of the easiest ways to do this is take a ruler (quilters ruler with 1/4 inch markings on it)and place it under the presser foot. If you need a look at what a quilters rule is here is one by Omni Grid. Of course there are other brands out there, this is just one I use. do not lower the presser foot Now turn the hand wheel so that you lower the needle down so it touches the ruler on the 1/4 line from the edge of the ruler. Move the ruler as needed to get it exactly on the line. Now take a pad of "post-it notes" and place them next to the right side of the ruler. Stick them to the bed of the machine. This will help in two ways, by making the 1/4 inch easy to find, and it also gives you a nice edge to but the material up against.
Another method is to find the 1/4 inch spot the same way as above, but instead of using the "post-it-notes" you place a place several layers of painters tape on the bed of the machine. It works the same way. You can also just draw a permanent line on the machine which will show the mark, but there is room for error as there is no edge to press against. Which can result in an uneven seam. (of course that is what I did before I learned about the tape or post-it method. So you know that I had some issues in lining up my blocks later on! Oh yes I said I had to learn things the hard way, as I was too anxious to get to sewing, and did not take time to read the nice book I had, or ask questions at the fabric shop.
Lessons learned here "Ask questions the ladies at the fabric stores all love to help new quilters. And they are full of helpful tips like the one I shared above. In fact that is where I got it from." (and you thought I can up with that all by myself!)
Now the next thing I would like to tell you about has to do with being accurate. It is very important with any project to check and double check along the way. (This is something I still struggle with today) As you cut your blocks take a moment and verify they are all the same. When cutting lots of the same thing it is easy to switch measurements when you get distracted. I like to place a piece of colored tape on the ruler in the spot I need to remind me of my measurements. Hey they even sell tape in the quilters section of most fabric stores now just for that very thing! Check it out here is what it looks like at JoAnn Fabrics. I am sure if you looked in your husbands tool box you may find he has some thin painters tape that would work too, but the ones from JoAnns come in pretty colors!
When it comes to accuracy you need to also make sure you check your seams periodically to be sure they are still maintaining the proper seam allowance. We can tend to slip once in awhile, and better to catch a few off blocks then lot's of them. Sometimes you can press them into submission if the difference is slight, but more times than not, you will have trouble down the road. Especially if you are making more complicated blocks with lots of pieces. So get in the habit now of checking and rechecking with each new step in the block. Trust me you will thank me for this some day.
I thought I would get to the end of this project here, but looks like things are getting longer than I anticipated so I will need to finish off tomorrow with the quilt sandwich, quilting and binding lessons I learned.
I do hope you are enjoying reading this story, and if so, bookmark me, or subscribe to my feed so you will not miss a lesson. Feel free to leave me comments on my page I love to hear from my readers.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Free Quilting Class Online
How would you like to take a Free class? Quilting weekly is a new website that offers quilters what they need! A place to take a class at your own pace, in your own home and at a time that is convenient for you! No more lugging your heavy machines to class. No more expensive supplies to buy only to find your class has been canceled. (We never cancel classes) And the best part is the site is free to sign up for. Once you register you will automatically be registered for our Free Friendship Star Class. You can hang around as long as you like in our forums and meet other quilters, post questions and get answers quickly as our forums are checked daily. There are many other informational parts to the site, so have a look around and let us know what you think. Simply click the"contact us" and send an e-mail we love to hear from our readers and students.
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