Movie Monday 8/29/2011

Missouri Quilt Company

Have you visited this site yet?  They have a lot of great quilting tutorials.  I picked this one because you don’t have to buy a special ruler.  Enjoy!

Movie Monday 8/22/11

Today I have two videos for you! The first is a tutorial for a cute wallet from Thimble art.  They actually have lots of tutorials on dimensional paper piecing.  In fact I want to order a couple of the patterns.  Really, check out this site!

Wallet Tutorial

This second video is not quilt related- just super cute.  The dog reminds me of my Buddy-he is always happy when someone comes to visit!

I need to update some of my projects-hopefully this week!

Direct From Japan

Before we left for vacation, I received a very nice surprise.

My husband’s intern was traveling in Japan for a month.  Before she left, my sweet dear gave her some money and asked her to bring me back some fabric.  She made some wonderful selections!

I think this bird fabric has some linen in it- I can use it with my daiwabo fabrics.

This fabric below is a mid-weight cotton.

The two fabrics on the left (below) are a lighter weight but I know that I will use them-in fact I bought a package of 3” hexies in VA that will work perfectly with them!

This little guy will have a special place on my shelf to remind me of lucky I am to have such a thoughtful husband!

Movie Monday 8/15/2011

Hello Everyone!

This past week my husband and I were on vacation.  We spent 4 days with Mimi and John in Virginia and then overnight with Adrienne and Joe in Baltimore.  We had a wonderful time. Of course I have lots and lots of pictures to share. I will be posting them later this week.

I am in a foldy kind of mood.  Here is an interesting way to make Cathedral Window blocks.  You may recognize the same technique I used to make my folded bowtie block but it goes one step further. Enjoy!

Movie Monday 8/8/2011

Here is a nice video featuring quilter Anita Shackelford. 

Enjoy!

Hexagons: Part Two

As promised, I will show you how I sew my hexies together.  Thanks to my daughter Katie, who took the pictures for me.

OK-in this first picture I am holding 2 hexies right sides together. I start right in one corner and pick up a couple of threads from each hexie, avoiding the inside paper.

I do a whipstitch across the top of the two hexies. You are just skimming the tops of each hexie, just picking up a few threads of the fabric. If you hit paper, you are going too deep into the hexie.

Do you see how the green hexie is peeking out from behind the red one? That happens sometimes.  After you do a couple stitches, pull the shorter hexie a little so that it is lined up at the end and continue sewing.  They will ease together and then play nice at the end!

Here is another picture showing how I whip stitch the two together.

When you get to the end (see how nicely they meet up?), take a couple stitches but don’t cut your thread!

Here are two hexies sewn together.

Now we are ready to add the next hexie.

In the next picture, I am sliding the needle through the top of the hexie to get ready to sew again.

Imagine that the red is the center of your “flower” and the green hexies are the “petals”. In the next picture I am sewing the two green petals together.

At the end, take a couple stitches…

You will have something that looks like this:

Now take the hexie you just attached and line it up with your center hexie…

…and continue sewing.

Take a couple stitches at the end…

Two hexies attached!  Continue in the same manner, and add another hexie,

add another.

One more to add,

and you’re done!

This is what the back looks like:

I tried to get a close-up of my stitches.

Remember the hole we punched in each paper?

Just stick your scissors in the hole…

And pop out your paper to use again!

Remove the papers only when you have sewn all around your hexagon.  This occurs when you are sewing several pieces together

I am planning to make this little flower into mug rug.  I will give it a good press, carefully take out the papers and attach it to a piece of wool felt.  I will show it to you when I finish.

Oh!  Look for Movie Monday on Sunday this week.  I will explain later!

Something Old….

I have been feeling lazy lately so I pulled out a project I started two years ago. It is an English paper-pieced (EPP) table runner.

I thought that I would highlight how to make them with this week’s video, but none of the videos I looked at showed the way I do them.

So here is a tutorial!

EPP is ridiculously easy but here are some hints(I have learned along the way) to make the process go more smoothly.

Two good notions to have are a paper punch and straw needles.  I love the straw needles! they are comfy in my chubby hands and long enough to use easily.  Much nicer than sharps.  Use the paper punch to pop a hole in each of your papers.

You can make your own papers; this site has several sizes available.  You can also buy your papers (there are several sites-and your local quilt store; I won’t list them here).  I use card stock.  They are reusable; also since I don’t sew through them, they are more stable (this will make sense in a bit!)

I have cut fabric to shape but now I use squares of fabric.  Hexagons are measured by the side.  A one inch hexagon is 1” on each side.  That is the size I am using.  I cut a 2 1/2” square for a 1” hexagon.

OK! Let’s start!

Center your paper hexagon on your square of fabric.  I angle mine a little to give me more wiggle room.  Pin the paper to your fabric through the hole.  This allows the paper to float free.

Thread your needle with thread-but not too long!  18” is good.  This is a good time to use up that old thread.  Unless you use very dark thread on very light fabric it will not show through.

Fold the fabric at your first corner under and take a stitch.

Do not go through the paper!  We are only basting the fabric. I take two stitches at each corner; one would probably be enough but my luck does not always run that way..

Go to the next corner.  Fold the fabric under and take a stitch.

Remember-just go through the fabric! Can you see the basting stitch between the stitches (sorry about the thumb!)

Stitch the next corner…

…and the next..

2 more stitches…

You’re done!  I take 3 stitches on the last corner and then just cut the thread.

Next time I will show you how I put the pieces together.

Oh! did I show you this yet?

It is a placemat I crocheted last month.  I got the pattern from Purl Bee, but I changed the edging row.