Another Quilting Tip

3/9/2013

Day 2 of the Blog Hop Give-Away. If this is your first visit to my blog, welcome.  And to those of you returning, I have a new tip. Don't forget to read about my give-away described below the tip! Good luck to all of you.

TIP 2

Trimming fabrics or squaring up blocks often leaves little bits of fabric threads or fibers on the cutting mat. And what about those little triangular dog ears cut from the corners of half square triangle blocks?

 

In the past, I have attempted to move these to one side with my fingers, but it sure takes effort and time. 

I discovered that I can use my cutting ruler as a scraper to move these bits to a pile at the side of the mat and then dispose of them.

Holding the ruler edge at "an almost 90 degree" angle and scraping it on the mat, I am able to move the tidbits of fibers to a pile.  This saves me lots of time because I can put the next piece down that needs trimming or squaring and get right to it.

Try it.  Let me know if you find this a helpful solution. 


See TIP 1  by clicking here
See Tip 3 by clicking here
See Tip 4 by clicking here

GIVE-AWAY

My give-away:  Leave a comment telling about a quilting or sewing tip or tool you have discovered.  Share it with us.  On March 15, one random comment will be chosen and that lucky winner will receive 2 of my patterns via email--so make sure you leave an email address so I can send the patterns.  
To leave a comment, click on the words: "links to this page" or the word: "comments" below and a pop-up comment box will appear.

What are the patterns, you wonder?  Here are photos of the projects I made and then developed into patterns: 

Wavy Panel Banner

Love You wall hanging

The banner is able to be modified into a table runner or placemats for a different use.You can use panels you have purchased, make your own, or use a fancy fabric for the top section.  The pattern is able to be modified for various size panels as well.  It is quite versatile. I am binding the table runner I made for Valentine's Day and plan to put a photo of the finished table runner on the blog this weekend.  

These patterns are available for purchase at PatternSpot.com under Patchwork Breeze. 

Look for TIP 3 tomorrow, here at Patchwork Breeze.  And happy sewing!

Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways Starts Today

3-8-2013

I am excited to be participating in the Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways that starts today.  I do hope you have a great time visiting my blog as well as those of the other bloggers participating in the Give-Aways. 

I decided that each day of the blog hop (March 8 - 14) I would share a helpful quilting/sewing tip that I have used in my 30+ years of sewing and quilting. 

I hope you will find one or more of the tips helpful to you as well. 

TIP 1
When sewing two fabrics, right sides together, and turning right sides out with no plan for binding the project (a pillow or a tote bag),  I use this simple tip to make it easy to sew the opening closed with no hassles!

After placing the two fabrics right sides together,
mark the opening's start and stop sewing points.

Begin sewing from the cut edge into the seam allowance (whether 1/4" or 5/8").  

Put the needle down and pivot.  Sew the seam allowance as you normally do.

When you are ready to stop (the opening for turning the fabrics right side out) put your needle down into the fabric, pivot and sew out to the cut edge of the fabrics. 

Then pull the top and bobbin threads out from the machine the length of the opening plus 6".  DO NOT cut the threads near the project piece.  These will become your threads for sewing the opening closed! 

Because of the short stitching you did into and out from the seam allowance, your seam allowance will naturally fold where it needs to.  Give a little tug at both starting and stopping points of the seam and the fabrics will fold--just finger press the seams. No struggling on your part with where to, or how to, line the two layers up.  This even works when a batting is included.

See TIP 2  by clicking here
See Tip 3 by clicking here
See Tip 4 by clicking here

GIVE-AWAY

I have a give-away.  Leave a comment telling about a quilting or sewing tip or tool you have discovered.  Share it with us.  On March 15, one random comment will be chosen and that lucky winner will receive 2 of my patterns via email--so make sure you leave an email address for me to send your patterns.  To leave a comment, click on the words: "links to this page" or the word: "comments" below and a pop-up comment box will appear.

What are the patterns, you wonder?  Here are photos of the projects I made and then developed into patterns: 

Wavy Panel Banner

Love You wall hanging

The banner is able to be modified into a table runner or placemats for a different use. You can use panels you have purchased, make your own, or use a fancy fabric for the top section.  The pattern is able to be modified for various size panels as well.  It is quite versatile. I am binding the table runner I made for Valentine's Day and plan to put a photo of the finished table runner on the blog this weekend.  

These patterns are available for purchase at PatternSpot.com under Patchwork Breeze. 

I look forward to your return each day to read my other tips during this blog hop.  Until tomorrow, happy sewing!

Another Project Ready for Demo Days

March 6, 2013

In a short amount of time I was able to finish the top for this quilted table runner.  I will be demonstrating the Creative Grids Trapezoid Ruler next week.  I used the pattern Braided Beauties by Carolyn Griffin.  I think it turned out lovely. (The edges were not flat against the wall where I hung it, but they are actually sewn very straight and even.)  

Batiks give such dimension.  My daughter said it looked like water over rocks, which is about what I wanted.  Newaygo is a rural area with a great deal of water and wooded areas and this table runner fits the area. 

Today's Quilting Progress

March 4, 2013

I got started early today (7 AM)--housework first--then quilting. 

I am going to be demonstrating some tools at The New Ewe during the Spring Shop Hop next week and had a few items to finish up.  The first was the Circle Savvy Ruler from Creative Grids.  I was quite please by how it worked.  I did find that using my 28 mm rotary cutter worked much better than the 45 mm cutter.  I wanted to show that it could be used to make things other than quilts.  I was quite please with the placemat I came up with as well as the potholder, circular napkin and jar lid cover.  I still have other things in mind, but that will be enough to demonstrate how to use the tool with a rotary cutter. 

I do want to make a sample for a few late spring classes I would like to promote during the shop hop.  

I also took the Mickey Mouse Pinwheel quilt to the longarm quilter today.  She doesn't have many items to do right now, so I may have it back soon, ready for binding and shipping to the little guy I made it for. 

I will be participating in a give-away blog hop from March 8 through 14.  I have added the blog logo to the side bar on my pages.  I hope you will visit my blog after 12 PM on March 8.  I have a nice give-away for someone. 

Now, off to work on a few other things before dinner. 

Making Headway!

March 3, 2013 

I have been working on the Stack N Whack quilt when I haven't been on the go.  I am posting a progress photo and now have to decide if I want to add a final border of color or leave it as it is. 

Let me know what you think.  One friend suggested a muted yellow or teal.  

I am going to start constructing my block for the Appliqued Animal Blog Hop at http://www.beaquilter.com/

I signed up for a live webinar demonstrating  how Margaret Applin creates brushes in Photoshop Elements and how to use them to build out designs  hosted by Quilting Arts/Interweave/FW Media!  

I have Photoshop Elements, have tried to use tutorials on YouTube to learn to create brushes to no avail.  But I sure did learn how to do them watching this webinar.  Margaret did a great job, going slow enough for me to watch and understand.  Can't wait to get going on that.  You may want to visit her site:  http://www.margaretapplin.com/

My EQ Stitch program came last week and I still have not put it on my computer.  That too is on my to do list.  I used my embroidery machine for the first time last week when a friend showed me how to get going--and it was easy enough. 

Ok, off I go to work on some quilt projects.

Happy Quilting to all.