Borders for Sunny Side Up

This quilt has been sitting on the counter in my sewing room for several weeks.  The top was pieced but it needed borders.  I was considering a couple of options for the borders but couldn’t decide whether to play it safe or use a little brighter green in the middle border to give it a little pop.  I ended up going for the brighter green and I’m still not sure it was the better choice.  I like it well enough though so it will stay like it is.  It took almost as long to cut and piece the borders (over 6 hours!!) as it did to make the quilt center.  The back is pieced, batting is cut and it has moved on to the quilting pile.

Technorati Tags: Sunny Side Up,borders,piecing

One Thing Leads to Another

On Monday I noticed we received the new Kaffe Fassett stripes in the shop.  Some people really love his fabric, collect and covet it but it’s not ever been anything I had to have—until I made the striped football table runner and started thinking about sewing stripes together with a 90 degree angle.  So on Tuesday I went back to the shop and bought those darn stripes and started cutting.  I have most of the blocks made and I’ll just put them together with sashing and cornerstones.  Then THAT will be out of my system.



I truly believe every fabric in the world calls my name!!

Technorati Tags: piecing,Kaffe-Fassett,stripes

Are You Ready for Football?

Here in northeast Wisconsin people collectively obsess more over the Packers than probably anything else.  The games are always a festive occasion and when this striped football fabric came into the shop I knew it would be perfect for a game day table runner.  This is the easiest runner ever—just a few cuts with a 60 degree ruler and five seams to make the top. I don’t even bind it; just pillowcase it and hand stitch the opening.

Karen Montgomery has a pattern for this called (what else?) Easy Striped Table Runner but I’m sure there are many online tutorials for making it since it is such a simple idea.

While I was in table runner mode I finished up this Spicy Spiral runner.  I think, FINALLY, this is the last class/demo sample that was unfinished.  It seems like I started a hundred of these as demos but it was probably only 20 or 25!  Luckily they are fun and easy to make.

Now it’s on to something else.  It’s rewarding to do a couple of fast ones in between some of the more time consuming projects. 

Technorati Tags: 2013 finishes,table runner,football,spicy spiral

Five Favorite School Supplies for Quilting

I’ve always loved shopping for school supplies even though it’s been a few years since I’ve been in the classroom!!  While selection is good and prices are low I always stock up on a few things I use for quilting.  Here are some of my favorites.

1.  Fiskars and/or Crayola scissors.  These are sharp enough to cut fabric, but blunt-tipped so you don’t accidently cut a hole where you don’t want it.  I mostly use these for clipping threads and trimming the “dog ears” off half-square triangles.

2.  Crayola Washable Markers.  Many years ago I was talking to Lora Rocke at Quilt Market and she said she used these markers to mark quilting lines on her quilts.  I wash my quilts after I finish them and the lines have always washed out.  I’ve never had any problems with them but you should always test ANY marker with the fabric you’re using under the conditions you treat and wash your finished quilts.

3.  Avery Dennison glue sticks.  I really like these for fabric.  The Avery Dennison glue sticks have silicon and glide better across fabric.  I use them to glue down the edges for applique and to hold applique shapes onto the background.  If the Avery Dennison glue sticks aren’t available I will use the Elmer’s in a pinch but I’m not crazy about the purple ones.  Again, I wash my quilts and I’ve never had any issues with residue from glue sticks.

4.  White board.  I usually pick up a couple of these during back-to-school sales because the marks tend to shadow after using them for awhile.  They are really cheap this time of year.  I use them to practice quilting designs and have a couple hanging in my sewing room to use for lists or keeping track of where I am on a project.

5.  Pencil case.  This is my favorite travel sewing kit.  I always have one in the car for binding.  It’s small and has a hard case so needles don’t poke through.  A needle case, scissors, thimble, thread, and a container of Thread Heaven fits perfectly.

I also stock up on little notebooks—love the quilty designs!

Pens—can’t have enough and I’m always color-coding stuff.

And calculators—I like to have them everywhere I might sit so I don’t have to go hunting for one!

What are your favorite school supplies for quilting?

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