Saturday, December 18, 2010

Ideas for Needle Books

For Christmas, I wanted to make a friend a Needle Book that was a bit more..

First, I had to hunt for the perfect fabric. One of the cats looks like her furbaby that loves to spend time in her craftroom with her. Not to mention try to get into mischief.. :)

For the outside of the book, I sewed together two pieces of fabric with a thin piece of fusible flannel in the middle, cut out felt pages smaller thant he outside cover, put a ribbon down the center, and sewn them all together in the middle to tie everything together.



Then I wanted to personlize it for her, and used Jewelry pins, glass heart beads, buttons, and letters of her name that I used to make the items below..



I created fobs for her rotary cutter, and scissors, so it doesn't get mixed up during quilting retreats.. and pinned them to the first page.



Second page, I added button straight pins, that are heat resistant.. I left the third page open for her to add items to.



Last page, I put letter beads to safety pins. This she can use to keep her patterns and rows straight when there are so many different pieces to a quilt.



It was a fun day creating all these different things, once I was able to wrap my mind around what I wanted the end result to be..

Merry Christmas Lisa!

Cougar Pillowcases!!

I was so excited to be able to make these pillowcases for my friend, who is a True Cougar Fan... There are some things you just can't find in the stores, so you have to make them.. This was truely a fun sewing project..




I watched this YouTube video on how to do it a very easy way..
Making a Sausage Pillowcase with Judy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLnrC9yo8tY
Enjoy!!!

Guild BOTM for February 2011 Drawing

February block of the month will be a bit different..

I started with the Bear Tracks patch work block.. from http://www.quilterscache.com/



I always put one patchwork and one applique up on the board..
So, I came upon an idea.. There is this cool site with stencil patterns for use.
http://spraypaintstencils.com/

For the applique block, I have them using two patterns, the bear and the bear paws.
The instructions are, to do it how they want to. :)

Here are two examples..



What I have been trying to do when I choose or make the blocks each month, is if they want they can make a quilt from the patterns that I am choosing. To give someone a few base block ideas to work with..

Basic Fusible Applique Workshop

We had a great time at the workshop..

Basic Fusible Applique Workshop


for the instructions.. click here..

Basic Fusible Appliqué Instructions

Items you will need:
Fabric for your appliqué
Iron and Ironing Pad
Sharpie Pen (permanent marking pen)
Freezer Paper
Teflon (Appliqué) Pressing sheet
Steam-a-Seam 2 ~ Double stick fusible Web.

A great place to find appliqué is http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/
Patterns that we are using are from this site.

Sindy provides them free and has some wonderful appliqué blocks and ideas.. You will see her patterns off and on in the Block of the Months to come. She also has a PayPal account for donations..:)

First, have the pattern you want to create (I am attaching four patterns, Gecko, Schnauzer, Cairn/Westi, and Christmas lights) and fabric in the colors you want them to be created in. We will be doing the Gecko and the Cairn.


First take out the gecko pattern, you will need to put two pages together because the gecko is larger than the page... Cut one side on the line, and then line it up with the other page and tape.

Then take some freezer paper, and lay it over the top of the pattern with the shiny side down.


Use a sharpie pen to trace the pattern you want on the paper side of the freezer paper. No need to add a quarter of an inch, as you will not be turning the edge and then stitching it. Using a sharpie pen will not run or bleed on to your fabric or iron. If the pattern expands over two pages, you will need to tape the pattern pages together to trace one whole piece. This is the nice thing about freezer paper, as it comes off a roll and can be as long as you need it to be.

Make sure you label each piece with the letter that corresponds on the pattern as you go along. Cut out your pattern, you can leave extra as you will cut them off in another step.

Look at the pattern, and decide what colors of fabric you want it to be. Make sure the fabric you choose will be large enough for the appliqué piece. Set aside your pattern.

Take your fabric and your steam-a-seam and cut a piece of steam-a-seam slightly smaller than your fabric. You may have more than one piece that will be of the same color/fabric so you will want to decide how much you will need. The reason the steam-a-seam needs to be slightly smaller is when you iron the fabric to the steam-a-seam, you do not want to get the glue on the iron.

Put the steam-a-seam on the ironing table, with the shiny side up, and the paper side down, then lay the fabric on top with the right side up and the wrong side next to the steam-a-seam. Iron over the fabric to adhere the two pieces together. Note: Read the package to guide you as to how long it should be pressed and what setting your iron needs to be on. Different manufacturers have slightly different settings.

Place the cut out patterns you have traced and place them on the fabric, shiny side down on top of the fabric that is right side up. Place other patterns that need the same fabric also at this time. Iron this (these) into place.

Now you should have you should have Freezer paper on top, Fabric next, then the steam-a-seam.

Cut the pattern out.

Continue the rest of the pieces in the pattern.

On to the next steps...

Lay out the instructions/pattern layout, and arrange the pieces so you will know what is what.

Depending on the pattern you are creating it will depend on what you will do next.
If your pattern is one piece as in the “gecko” pattern, you can peel the freezer paper from the front, then remove the paper from the back, place it where you want it and iron it directly on the fabric you are using.

Peel the freezer paper away from the front. Save this as it can be used again.

Remove the backing by scratching it with a straight pin.

Grab where the scratch is and peel it off. Do not try to peel it from the edge, as you may separate the interfacing from the fabric and fray the fabric, instead of the paper backing.

Place the appliqué piece where you want it and iron it directly on the fabric you are using.

If you are having to build the pattern from many pieces as in the Cairn & Westi you will need to use the Teflon/Appliqué pressing sheet..

Lay down the Teflon preshksing sheet on the ironing area.

When looking at the pattern you will find you will start with the A piece, and build on the other pieces from there. You will need to peel the freezer paper off of the front , remove the paper from the back and lay it on the Teflon pressing sheet and use the iron on it to hold it into place. Continue on with B, C, etc..

Once all the pieces are where you want them and are ironed on to the Teflon pressing sheet, peel the whole pattern off of the Teflon sheet, and lay it where you want to press it down on the fabric.


Now you have the choice of sewing, by hand or by machine. Enjoy!!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Guild BOTM for January Drawing...

Here are the blocks for January's drawing. I fell in love with the Cairn/Westie applique pattern that I found on fatcatpatterns.com, so I chose this for one of the blocks. The other block, I couldn't find one that I liked, so it was time to open up Electric Quilt and create one.. What I came up with I am calling "Many Dog Bones" to go with the Cairn/Westie block..

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Working on Finishing up UFOs.

YAY.. I finally finished the last two buck-a-blocks..
On to finding fabric to assemble it.
Sad thing is the quilt shop isn't there anymore,
but the good thing is, she is spending lots of time with
her grandkids and enjoying retirement.. :)




Thursday, October 21, 2010

2010 Green Piece Block of the Month...

Wow.. I can't believe how I'm getting things done, and getting them done early!!!



October's Block of the Month for Pacific Fabrics.. 4 Saturdays early!!!LOL

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Portable Ironing Pad..

Ever needed something to take with you on retreats or sewing classes so you can iron next to your sewing machine.. Here is a portable ironing pad you can easily make and take with you anywhere..

Take one placemat, make sure it is cotton.



Sew a silver teflon fabric to the one side.


Sew on a ribbon on the opposite side of the silver teflon fabric side to tie it up and keep it rolled up

Guild BOTM for December's Drawing...

I'm getting an early start on getting some of the blocks done..
Here are the ones for December's drawing, A Christmas Tree and Wreath.

Diva Essential Designer Bag©

Wow.. now this was an experience in sewing..
It's a great fun bag..




Diva Essential Designer Bag©
http://www.thumbuddy-special.com/