Day 4 .... Handwork - * While You Wait Week *

There is a wonderful tutorial on english paper piecing today offered by Janet M Davies. Janet does superior needlework.  You can see it here:
http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/Handwork/main.htm

I hope everyone has a blessed and creative day.

Day 3 .... Handwork - * While You Wait Week *

Can you take a moment to check out the new tutorial being offered today?  A close-up in the art of hand piecing!     http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/Handwork/main.htm

I hope everyone has a blessed and creative day.

Day 2 .... Handwork - * While You Wait Week *

There is a handy Thread Holder Tutorial offered today for the Handwork-While You Wait. It has some helpful, clear photos to make this project. You will find the tutorial here:
http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/Handwork/main.htm

Be sure to visit all the links and check back every day this week for more projects.

Links for EPP Supplies

Hello everyone. I am happy that you took time to comment about my english paper piecing methods. 

I have acquired my cardstock templates from these sources. It was an excellent on-line shopping experience in all cases!  If you google for it, I know you will find several other reliable sources for epp supplies.   ***  NAYY ***

• www.connectingthreads.com
• www.cddesigns.com
• www.paperpieces.com
• http://www.paperpieces.com/contents/en-us/d30_02.html   -  free pattern sheets

I learned of a logical way to assemble the diamonds using partial paths, from these pattern sheets at paper pieces.com. That was soooo helpful.  There is also a gallery of pictures to inspire all sorts of projects using epp shapes.

I have approx 1200 cardstock templates. It is my preferred way to make hexagons. I am hoping this supply will get me through my queen-size diamonds quilt, but time will tell. First I need to see if I can recycle the templates enough to complete the quilt 'top'.  If I make it thru that step, I have another plan for assembling the border designs .  

I will be updating MyLinks page, to include links for epp supplies.

Thanks for stopping by. Please come again soon.                                      

Day 1 .... Handwork - * While You Wait Week *

Today kicks off      * Handwork - While You Wait * week!  

Be sure to click on the button in the sidebar or    http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/Handwork/main.htm

There will be great tutorials to enjoy and you can  enter for a chance to win the prize. 

Your comments matter.  Thank you for stopping by!

Handwork - * While You Wait Week *

Handwork - * While You Wait Week *   begins tomorrow!

It all takes place with Benita Skinner at http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/VictorianaQuilters/Handwork/main.htm

Be sure to visit her site each day this week for all the tutorials and enter for the prize, which will be drawn on Saturday!

Oh, and my post is on Monday.  LOL   You won't want to miss it!  

I Remember

There was a heartwarming ceremony in church service today. We were reminded of those heartbreaking images and stories of many heros. I am truly humbled.

Mostly, we were reminded of the unity our country held together on September 12. Do you remember?  If only we could always have such character for mankind. If that 'Unity' was our mainstay, I believe things would be much different in America now.

I think of all the other countries who also mourned for us during this tragedy. Some of these countries were already struggling with their own sacrifices, yet they expressed comfort, love and grief.                   I  Thank You.

Little Dresses for Haiti

Today I've been working on more dresses for Haiti children. I set a personal goal to reach 50 dresses.  The deadline is early October, so I have made my deadline for September, specifically by end of next week!  LOL

I am  working from yardage now. I  have 8 dresses ready for the neck and armhole treatments. I used some decorative stitches along the hemline. I hope to have pictures to post tomorrow. I believe there will be a few more pillowcases brought in for me to pick up at church tomorrow.

Tally.........I have finished 23 pillowcase dresses so far. I have 5 pillowcases waiting to be made into dresses, I have 8 dresses waiting to be finished. I wonder how many I'll get to pick up tomorrow?  :D There is alot of bias tape to be made!

There will be a special service at church tomorrow, in remembrance of the 10 year anniversary of 9-11.  How somber that will be.  We look to God and Jesus for our comfort and peace.

Christmas Rose Wreath

There has been some interest in the Christmas Rose Wreath pattern, so I created a project file for anyone who wants to make it for themselves. It is a paper pieced project. No sewing directions will be provided. There are no fabric requirements listed since it is made from your scrap box.

I drew the blocks and re-numbered them for you. I have provided 2 download files. One file is a miniature size, 12 inches, before borders. I think I'll do this one for my tabletop frame. The other file is 18 inches, before borders. This makes a nice size table centerpiece or wall hanging.

While I was re-sizing the blocks in the word file, the sizing became distorted with the seam allowance included. So I have provided the block patterns without seam allowance added around the outside edges. You will have to remember to extend the fabric pieces 'at least' 1/4 inch beyond all the block edges and trim the block to include the seam allowances.   Also remember to have your printer settings set to "no scaling".

I have prepared the file so you can save paper and ink!  The color illustrations are on the first page. The patterns you need to print are arranged on pages 2 and/or 3. The patterns  have been provided in multiple units, for efficient printing.  Please check that your blocks have printed at the correct size before sewing.

      12" Christmas Rose Wreath pattern:
 http://www.box.net/shared/4igs1g1fkxtcdojnda84              

      18" Christmas Rose Wreath pattern: 
http://www.box.net/shared/21tv71abfg0tpvzv1ypu

Other options:  cutting a whole in the center and rounding off the corners would make a festive skirt for a table top tree.  A wreath doesnt have to be made up in reds and greens. How about some autumn colors or whatever compliments your room decor.  Using a multi- print for all the piecing, except the background would have an interesting effect also.





*** If you make up this pattern, please send me a photo!  I will display them on this page.***

Gun Adrian, Sweden
 http://rutigt.wordpress.com

Hexagon Tutorial - Assembling the Diamond

Part 2 - Joining the Hexagons


This is all the supplies you need to make one diamond!

• strong quality cotton thread
• fine sewing needles
• scissors
• thread conditioner (opt)
• fridge magnet (opt)
• 9 pre-basted hexagons in printed fabrics
• 7 pre-basted hexagons in white fabric

I begin by sewing my pieces into the grandmothers flower garden pattern. Then,  I add the two hexagons on the ends. Finally,  I'll  add the white 'path' pieces. When the diamonds are joined together, the white path will make a smooth path, diagonally in both directions, around the diamonds.



Overcast Stitch

Step 1

I use a fine quilters knot on the end of a single strand of cotton thread. 

Weave the needle through a edge of seam allowance, weaving toward where you want to begin joining the pieces.

Begin by joining the first piece to an edge of the center hex, right sides together.

Joining piece1& 2

I use a very tight overcast stitch (at least 22 stitches per 1-inch edge). Insert the needle  through the top threads of both pieces, NOT going through the paper template.  I still use a slip knot at both edges of the joined pieces, even though I began weaving the thread with a knot.












Join two more hexagons to the center (yellow) hexagon by  skipping every other edge.               








You can use a continuous thread to join the next hexagon by weaving the needle into the seam allowance and scoot to the next corner.








Now we can insert the other 3 hexagons with continuous stitching along 3 sides for each hexagon.

To insert another hexagon, start at an outer corner, stitch to end of that side;

Align next side in place, this will cause the paper template to fold while you stitch another side.            

After you have all six pieces stitched around the center hexagon, it is time to add the final 2 pieces to create the diamond.  **For correct placement, be sure your gfg flower is positioned  'on-point'. **  Stitch another hexagon at the top and bottom of the flower. You now have one of the diamond shapes.

Now it's time to add the first white path.  Whipstitch 3 white  hexagons into a single path.

     

Whipstitch this white piece to the side of your diamond, so it is positioned exactly as in this picture.

Whipstitch another white path of 4 hexagons.   Whipstitch this   piece to the right side of the diamond, in the  exact position displayed here.   

Flip the diamond over and remove the 4 templates which are in center    and surrounded by other templates on all edges.









When you join completed diamonds together in diagonal rows, the pieces will interlock together.

You will find Part I Tutorial - Supplies and Basting here:

http://scrapboxquilts.blogspot.com/2011/08/hexagon-tutorial-supplies-basting.html

Purse Tissue Covers II

It's amazing what a photograph will tell you.  I should take more pictures. I should have a photographer on hand to take clear quality pictures for me. 

When I looked at the photo of my first set of purse tissue covers, all I saw were blues and pinks. I know I dug into my scrap box to make these items, but the photo told a story!

So I dug into another scrap box and made up some tissue covers in autumn prints. I used leftover pieces of binding to finish the edges. If I didnt have an appropriate binding scrap, I dug into that bag of 2" strips. I used to  wonder why I bothered to pre-cut some strips, but they have come in handy on more than one occasion.

A new batch of tissue covers made with autumn prints.






You can make your own batch of  purse tissue covers. I found the pattern on-line and I share that link here:       http://www.alderwoodquilts.com/shopping/Product.asp?ID=FreeTissueCover

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

Hexagon Tutorial - Supplies & Basting

Part 1 - Preparing the Shapes


Supplies

Click to Enlarge

• single-hole punch
• tweezers
• small scissors
• millners needles
• straight pins
• strong cotton thread
• thread conditioner
• needle threader?
• fridge magnet to hold pins and needles
• cardstock hexagon templates - 1" sides
• fabric pieces

1. Punching a hole in the center of the cardstock provides a place to pin the fabric without pinning thru the cardstock and makes for easy removal with the tweezers when you are ready to  re-use the templates
2. One or two straight pins is sufficient to keep handy
3. A few pre-threaded needles is also handy
4. A needle threader and a mini fridge magnet to keep your pins and needles in place, is optional equipment
5. I prefer a strong, 100% cotton, quality thread. I use a fine, quilters knot for basting and for joining the pieces with an overcast stitch.
6. I always use © Thread Heaven, or you could  run your threaded needle thru a new Bounce dryer sheet or  use beeswax. Conditioning the thread helps keep the unwanted knots under control.
7. I prefer a longer, thin needle. I figure the smaller the needle, the smaller the hole it puts in the fabric. Unfortunately, the eye to be threaded is usually smaller too. You would use whatever needles you are comfortable with.

Pre-assembly: -  Basting the Hexagons

You will be basting on the backside of the fabric only - on top of the template. You will not be stitching through the cardstock template.

Baste a hexagon

You will not have to remove the basting thread. It will remain in the backside of the quilt top and serve to hold the seam allowances in place. So use a good quality thread that you want to remain in your heirloom quilt.

Begin with a single strand of thread with a fine quilter's knot on the end.  Working the needle between the fabric seam allowance and the cardstock template, enter the needle to the right of the mitre, come back up on the left side of the mitre....needle back down to the right side of the same mitre, so the thread holds the mitre in
place; bring needle back up to the middle of the next side and continue in same manner; all the while working around the hexagon counterclockwise.



I don"t  knot the thread again when I get back to the beginning. I weave the needle a few extra paces beyond the knot where I began,  through the seam allowance and snip the thread..

Purse Tissue Covers

Sunday was still spent in service to humanity and I got to sew!  I finished a batch of tissue covers for the purse - 16 in this basket, complete with tissues. I made them to give to the Sisters at Victory Noll, which is a local retirement community for nuns. The Sisters sell them in their gift shop and they give the proceeds to feed the poor. Their gift cabinet contains all hand-made items.

Kleenex Tissue Covers

I hope to make one more batch of tissue covers to take to them on Thursday.  I always like to say " the Sisters welcome me into their community, even tho I'm not catholic. "  LOL   It is a blessing for me to be able to spend craft time with them.  Thank you,  Sisters.

Christmas Rose Wreath

I wonder if I can challenge myself to a very small finish - a UFO. It needs a small outer border, then quilted and bound.  Right now, it is only 21" square - a small table topper or festive wall hanging, for sure. 

Christmas Rose Wreath

The original concept for this project was to use up those christmas scraps. HA!  I have 3 bins of  christmas scraps still screaming to get out.

The log cabin rose blocks were paper pieced and finish at 6" and 3". 







I might gather up some courage to try my hand at stipple quilting for the first time. I'm not a fan of stitching in the ditch, unless it's used to anchor major sections.

More Dresses for Haiti

I acquired 2 more little dresses for the children of  Haiti from another church member, Jeanette Schilling. She trimmed and hemmed these dresses up, added the elastic and a fancy pocket. They were darling!  Thank you, Jeanette.


All I had to do was  add the bias tape ties around the armholes.  I had some tape leftover from my last bias tape-making session. LOL My job was so simplified.  These dresses are so sweet. I would love to get more of them to finish off.

Now, I have a personal goal to  complete 50 dresses. The deadline is early October? So, I am making my deadline for Septembers' end. I have 23 dresses finished now,only 27 more to go!

Organizing Quilt Books & Mags

Greetings!  While I was on the subject of sorting quilting books, patterns, magazines & everything quilty printable over at my favorite quilting list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CyberQuilters/, I thought I might as well share it here also.

Eventually, I had trouble finding my books, so I spread them over the table, and re-sorted them. The bottom two shelves have mags, sorted into those office binders, so I can pull out a binder and sift thru the mags. The contents of the binders used to be in a nice dated order, but that got away from me.


The next two shelves have quilting books. The small section on the left is being kept separated with a book end. It is a batch of books that I am ready to give away! Next quilt guild sale, I guess.

Then on top, you see all the school binders. They were my organization style in the beginning, in the days of printing patterns and blocks. I tried to toss out some of those contents during my re-organizing phase, but weakened out. I have a binder on seminole, on EQ, on Quilt University classes, some with templates or special patterns, etc. and then the ones I could 'almost' toss out.

Then I sorted my books by   "how I look for and use them".   This seems to be a key phrase in all things we collect and do. I have my Carol Doak books together, my gallery collections, like "Scrap Quilts books", the log cabin design books, applique stuff, paper piecing stuff  right next to the Carol Doak section, books with special techniques together. If I have several books from the same artist, I keep them together. Generally, I know what books I have.

Do you have a special way of organizing your pattern collection?

Cubbie Hole Quilt - UFO Finish!

It's a rare occasion that I can claim to have a UFO finish. Today, I CAN!  I picked a simple one, didn't even add borders.....sandwiched, machine quilted and finished binding totally by machine.  That is okay. It will go to a child at the local hospital, which means it will probably get laundered alot. The best part is, I came upon finishing it by accident. It seemed a better swap from organizing and tidying stuff!

 This UFO is from a monthly sew-in we had conducted over at Cbees, way back in August, 2009. That's only 2 years ago. Does it still count? I was sitting with a small batch of tops that are stashed under my cutting/pressing tables. I'm pretty sure this batch under the table is all from the year 2009.

Benita of http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com encouraged a project from this block which, I believe,  was one of her block of the month patterns at the time.  I think we're also suppose to offer her a pic of our completed project for her gallery.  LOL  Here you go, Benita!  Is it late yet?

I also have a personal challenge from Trish at Cbees, to finish a UFO by Septembers' end.  Whooh, I made it!  No pressure, Trish! We were both on the very low end of  'done'  on our UFO list at Cbees.  I'm still on the low end of  'done',  BUT.............I'm one quilt closer!

Queen of Diamonds Update

Please visit my 'Queen of Diamonds' page to view my update about this long-term project. It is just ALOT of hand stitching for a little update.    LOL
                     http://scrapboxquilts.blogspot.com/p/queen-of-diamonds.html

Christmas Bargello Mantle Scarf

The ladies over at Cbees  'MADE'  me start  another project!  LOL  Cbees is a sister list of Cyberquilters. You have to be a member of cyberquilters, to join Cbees.   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CyberQuilters/

Cbees is our activity list and I try to be an instigator of activity! We have a bucket list. Each month a new skill is drawn from the bucket. The next month we try to incorporate that skill into our own project, big or small is okay.  This month, bargello was the skill drawn from the bucket. 

Now, I've had this pattern from Clotilde for a couple years, intending to make it into a mantle scarf  http://www.clotilde.com/detail.html?prod_id=8738&criteria=bargello. I've had to set aside other projects to put this together, but the process was quite fun.

This is the main piece. It measures 20" x 75". I still need to add some applique, pieces on the ends for the 6" depth and then a backing.

Now it's back to my regularly scheduled projects. I really dont want to get into the christmas projects until next month or even later.

More Scraps from Scraps

When I began a new set of string blocks #2, it was to reduce the scrap bin inventory. Yesterday, I got 36 autumn string blocks all trimmed up and ready for quilting at another time.

Afterward, I had this pile of trimmings to snip and work back into the scrap bins! I just dont know if I have the patience for a miniature quilt. I am tiring of these fabrics.

I did sort them into baskets, one for triangles and one for logs. Probably I should toss them and move on. That might be Step 3 of our 12-step program.