Show and Tell Tuesday

I've been sewing and creating as much as I can between Volleyball tournaments and taking care of my family...sometimes that means sewing late into the evening which I'm sure you can relate.  Just finished up this messenger bag.

This bag will be a sample bag for one of my patterns called the Techi Tote.  I am updating the pattern so it's not yet on my website, but I will give you a sneak peek at the new sample.  I think it turned out "Crazy"!  I do love it, but not sure if everyone will love it...considering doing another one in calmer tones.  The more I look at it the more brighter it gets. :/

This bag is 13" x 18", will hold lots of stuff.  I used Soft and Stable to make it a bit stiffer and more padded.

Happy Tuesday! janae'

Show and Tell Tuesday...Randomness

Good Morning!  I have to be honest...blogging is a bit hard for me.  I love sharing photos of what I've been sewing on, but I find it hard to write a whole lot.  I think I have Adult ADD...if a paragraph is longer than four sentences I loose interest real fast and don't want to write it or read it.

 

I'm trying to get better, but maybe blogging isn't always about how long the writing is, but more just sharing photos and inspiring others.

 

I have so much to learn about taking photos...I'm for sure not good at it, but I'm trying.  My husband is the photographer of the family.

 

I will press on and take photos and hope someday to achieve the 'look' I'm going for.

 

Having a three day weekend was super nice.  The girls were home and we stayed close to the fire and the TV...although watching the last episode of Season 3 of Downton Abbey really had me depressed.  And I can't even remember the last time I was 'depressed' over a TV show.  If you saw the episode you know exactly what I'm talking about.

 

My daughter and I worked on making bunnies.  This is how far we got...poor little guy needs some assembling.  I will work on him soon.  I plan to make the set...they are so sweet.

 Here are my sweet girls about 11 years ago...

 Here they are this last Christmas...(my oldest is 6'2") 

and lastly....some random sewing.

I was inspired to applique this piece after seeing some kid's artwork at my daughter's school (originaly made from construction paper).  I traced my hand for the tree, and randomly cut out circles and stitched them on.

Happy Tuesday! janae'

Happy Valentine's Day...

 

Hoping today is a good day for you...I know for some Valentine's Day can be hard, but do something for yourself...spend some time sewing, buy yourself a yard of new fabric, take a walk with your dog, etc...I know for me visiting a new quilt shop ALWAYS cheers me up.

I've been productive...got my booth dimensions taped out in my basement.  Now I can visualize how much space I will have at Market.  It's fun to plan, but makes me nervous at the same time.  I feel so new to this whole process...I also have my booth sign on order, can't wait to see it.

 I'm excited to share with you a new product I've discovered called "Soft and Stable"...I'm using it in place of fusible fleece in bags.  I'm still using a light weight interfacing ie. Sheer Knit, but this stuff is so much better than anything else I've ever used and I've tried all the interfacing's out there.  I wouldn't call this an interfacing though, it's a thin piece of foam with a fabricy shell on the outside.  It's very soft and pliable.  It's washable too!  The nice thing is, there is no need for a separate piece for the bottom of the bag...this stuff will give enough support just on it's own.

 So what I did is pieced together some blocks and made a front and back panel for a bag.  Then I quilted some simple straight lines through the panel with the 'Soft and Stable' on the back...no need for a backing piece of fabric.  Topstitch as desired...then the fabric and 'soft and stable' will be attached.  If you don't want to quilt it...just sew a basting stitch around all four edges to hold the two pieces together.

Hopefully in the photo below you can see that the quilting made the panel have some dimension.

 I thought these panels would make great placemats too.

 

I've also seen the 'soft and stable' be used in table runners, it looks fantastic!

 

I wish you could see how cool this is in person.  "Soft and Stable" is a super great new product.  And I'm not even getting paid to tell you this ;)

 

Your local quilt shop should be able to order you some.

Show and Tell Tuesday....Quilt Dilemma Tutorial

I've posted this post before and it was popular so I thought I would re-share it...because, well...it's just valuable stuff! ;)

 

Here's the dilemma...

You've just finished laying out all your quilt squares on the floor in a beautiful pattern they should be arranged in and you're asking yourself..."how do I pick them up and take them to the sewing machine without picking one up at a time, going to the sewing machine, sewing one block, going back to the quilt, picking up one block, and repeating the process about 145 times", because did I happen to mention it is King size ;)

Here's your solution.

Number Flower Head Pins with a Sharpie Pen numbering them according to how many rows you have. If you have 12 rows, then you need 12 pins.

I keep these pins at hand all the time. Not only are they are great pin, they are perfect for this process.

Next...

Lay out your quilt in the arrangement it should be in.

 Stack each row. Do this by starting with block number one on top and going across the row adding number two to the bottom, number three, and so on.

You will end up with a stack of blocks for each row. First block of the row is on top and the last block of the row is on the bottom and the rest in between in order.

Take a Flower Head Pin with the correct row number on it and pin it on the Right hand side with the flower head right side up. This tells me the row number, which edge is the top, and the side I will sew down.

What I love about this method is no matter how much time goes by between stacking and pinning to when I finally sew them...I always can go back to my row and know exactly how I will be sewing the rows.

Next...

When you are ready to sew, take a row and transfer the pin from the right side to the upper left corner, and pin to only the top block. The pin will stay there until the quilt top is sewn together.

Next...

Take block number one and block number two and lay them side by side, flip block number two onto block number one (so that they are pretty to pretty) and sew down the right side. Repeat the process with the remaining blocks in the row, but remember DO NOT twist the blocks or your arrangement could be jeopardized.

Sew all rows together, press each row with an iron so that seams oppose each other...example:

press one row towards your pin, the next row away from the pin, and so on.

Sew rows together to make your quilt top.

Isn't that much easier than picking up one block at a time and taking it to your sewing machine?

Today...

 Today is a good day...a couple of exciting things happening in the life of my patterns.  Have met some wonderful people in the business who are a huge help and mentor to me at this point.



 

Sweet little dolly buried in ribbon.

New Leaf Pattern Distributors are now carrying my patterns...another huge step in pursuing my pattern business.  I've also been working on getting my own website up to date and in working order.



Fabric just waiting to be used.

 A big shout out to One Day Signs who are printing my sign for Market...yes, I'm going to have a booth at the International Quilt Market in Portland in the Spring...very exciting, but scarey as well.

A new hanging rack and paper towel dispenser above the stove...thankyou to my husband.

My front door!

I would love nothing more than sitting at my sewing machine and sewing up something marvelous, but the patterns require a ton of computer time so that's what I'm woring on instead.  Some of my dear sewing students have requested patterns and I must get them written.

New Pattern...Coffee Cup Cozy

Cozy up with my new pattern hot off the presses...


Buy pattern now!

These little cozies are easy to make...simple dimple instructions for any level of sewist.

 

Bet you can't make just one.