A Must-See Video for Getting the Most Out of the Thread in Your Quilts! Quilters spend a lot of time selecting fabric for their quilts. We pay close attention to the properties of the fabric as well as the color and overall pattern. If you’ve been quilting for awhile you can probably tell whether a …
Kathy’s Summer quilt…the pattern is from the McCall’s quilting mag. and she wanted the quilting to be similar…I could not see from the photo what they had done in the appliq…
A little bit of a Christmas house tour with these photo's today! For the last week or so I've been working on another EPP project in the form of these super cute stockings. They were really enjoyable to make and I'm so pleased that they turned out exactly as I'd hoped :) I was completely inspired by these stockings I came across on Etsy, they are made from a recycled vintage quilt, which is such a great idea! Since I don't have a collection of old quilts I thought I would make new 'old' ones. I used 2" 8-point diamond paper pieces to baste the diamond shapes and then laid them randomly on the white stocking background (although they were placed to look like they would form a quilt, so they would have joining intersections if you catch my drift?). I then machine quilted the paper pieced sections, and hand quilted a petal design using this quilting stencil. To give it a nice vintage feel, I wiped it with a clean wet cloth and gave it a good scrunch and left it to air-dry naturally. I did the same for the back too, and tried my hand at baptist fan quilting. I love the effect it gives, and it's quite a manageable quilting style so I'm hoping to try it on a full size quilt soon :) I hope you like our little house too! It's been fun decorating it for Christmas this year as I've made a few more quilty things to have out on display, including the Radiant Star mini quilt on the wall. I was so excited to hang this! and my red and white pillow. I think you can tell it's a quilter's house! xo
This was one of those happy accidents that spring up from time to time. I had been feeling pretty quilted out, so I definitely hadn't been considering making yet another quilt for Dylan's birthday this year. I was actually going to make a Liberty fabric wallet (maybe not the most suitable weight, but we wanted to give it a try), but matters were complicated by the Canada Post strike, which prevented me from being able to order the fabric I needed online. Eventually, I got to thinking about the printable fabric I had, and I wanted to make sort of a gag gift that had printed pictures of his face incorporated into it. I was really into the idea of making patchwork slippers, but my "eureka!" moment came when I thought of pieced houses with photos of him/his family/us in the doors and windows. His sister snuck me these photos, and I had a lot of fun cutting into many precious, previously unused fabrics in order to make this. (Some lovelies I used up big-time include Daiwabo/Junko Matsuda's Brioche Perdue print, which became the sashing; Windham's Storybook VIII pink/blue flowers, which are the small squares between the sashing; Paige Stanley Miller's Bon Vivant map print for the border; and a lovely scrap of Hello Kitty fabric that I received from Ayumi last year. The Hello Kitty fabric is especially awesome since Dylan's birthday quilt from last year is directly themed around Hello Kitty!) My piecing is nowhere near perfect...but I'm over it!
I feel like this post should alternatively be called OMG, I finished this freaking beast, let's have a party! Better yet, a fiesta. (Beca...
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is a wonderful time to celebrate and give thanks for all of the blessings that fill our lives: loving families, good health, deep friendships, freedom and happiness... the list is endless. And somewhere on my list is quilting! Quilting offers all of us something. For some of us, it offers us creativity and art. For others, it offers friendship with fellow quilters. For others, it offers an opportunity to share one's talent with friends and strangers alike. No matter what your reason is for quilting, I hope that it gives you great satisfaction. Over the past couple of weeks I have had the chance to work on finishing up several projects. Here is a sampling - enjoy! Lily Rosenberry, 83 x 83 inches This quilt was originally done in red and green on a warm off-white background. This version was done in bubble gum pink and soft green on a rich chocolate background. Denise Green and I collaborated on this quilt and made it together. The Walkaway Star Quilt, 60 x 74 inches I am going to teach participants how to make this quilt at the annual February 2009 Quakertown Quilts retreat on Galveston Island (and yes, the island recovery is going great -- lots of work ahead, but the retreat site is in great condition!). The block is one that I designed, based on an antique block. I call the quilt the "walk away" star quilt because the quilt really CAN be done in a day, if one stays focused. That pleases me; I do not think that I am alone in saying that I don't like coming home from classes and retreats with more UFOs! The Walkaway Star Quilt (#2), 60 x 74 inches Okay... I liked the first Walkaway Star Quilt so much that I made another one. This time, the blocks are made from a dozen different blue prints and a dozen different shirting fabrics. I like "scrappy" quilts. The Walkaway Star Quilt (#3), 60-1/2 by 75-1/2 inches In fact, I liked this block so much that I made a pint-size version of it (7" blocks) with 1/2-inch sashing between each block. I used a variety of civil war reproduction fabrics; the scrappiness of this quilt makes one's eyes dance across its surface. I also like making quilts that don not contain any "background" fabrics -- no white, off-white, taupe, or neutral fabrics, only colored print fabrics. As long as the fabrics contain a good balance of light, medium, and dark prints, the scrappiness adds a wonderful richness to the finished quilt. So what else am I working on? There are a lot of ideas floating around in my head, following the great Houston quilt show -- I saw a lot of antique quilts that inspired me, and so I'm sure you'll be seeing some of those ideas reformulated into new quilt patterns. I met with the wonderful folks from P&B Textiles and I'm working on a new fabric line for them. Once again, it will have a juvenile flavor to it -- think nursery songs! Until next time... happy sewing! Sue (c)2008 Susan H. Garman
My friend, Patty (Petalier on Etsy), sent me an enormous box of vintage embroidery transfers, many of which were the large format designs from Laura Wheeler and American Weekly. I am in the process of scanning the transfers and will be posting them
One thing I love about the quilting community is that we love to “talk shop”. When I’m at my booth at craft fairs, I always have at least a couple of quilters come up.…
Spring finally feels as though it has arrived and wildflowers are shooting up everywhere. Nothing quite says Spring in England than native ...
Kaffe Fassett class at Amitie Feb 2011
Modern sampler quilt - Inspired by Tula Pink City sampler - Mostly Carolyn Friedlander fabrics
Baseball quilt - posted in Quilt Pictures, Patterns & Inspiration...: Just finished making a baseball quilt for my daughter. She is hosting a ball reunion this fall so I made a baseball quilt to raffle off to off set some costs. This was a fun project that I did mostly on the long arm sashed a plain fabric and marked the stitching line with a frixion pen then put on my Maxine my Millie and applied the chenille strips now for the secret to fluffing it up.......Take your shop vac and vac...
So I finished my 4th quilt for the month of January! It came out of the dryer last night and I love it! In the interest of full disclosure, I had some binding issues. I never make bias binding and this quilt reminded me why. I cut the wrong way, or have the fabric folded incorrectly, or sew the strips with the 45 degree angel the wrong way, or the stripes go in the opposite directions, etc. It was a nightmare! I needed about 1/2 yard of fabric for the binding, but I used my whole yard because I made so many mistakes! I was so angry at myself! I know there are tons of tutorials for cutting bias binding, but, seriously, my brain just has issues with this concept. You can find it in my etsy shop. Also, I received my shoe order from Beth yesterday and I couldn't be happier!!! Cian loves his new kicks! If any of you are in the market for baby shoes up to size 24 months, bibs, baby blankets, etc, check out Beth's store!
It’s Even Better For You Than You May Realize! If you’ve been quilting for long, you’ve surely discovered that doing so can help you feel better. Not only can quilting itself lift your mood, there’s also the fun of regularly shopping for fabric. However, you may be surprised by what doctors and scientists have discovered …
Julia Icenogle in her home studio. One afternoon in 2008, while mingling at the opening reception of an art show where her work was displayed, illustrator Julia Icenogle was approached by the editors of the Kansas City Star. The newspaper was looking to create a blog and they’d decided a web comic would keep readers... Read More »
Big news! I’m a little late to the party, but I’m joining and cohosting the 2019 Gypsy Wife quilt along with @ScrappyViolet . And it starts this week! You don’t want to miss this. Trust me.
there are some more photos to share with you, just two weeks on from the exhibition, these were taken by my friend jenny bartley who said that she would love to go back and take some more and have another...
At long last, I have finished Kaleidoscope. Here she is on the fence, all quilted and bound and ready to be hung up in our home. The first picture was merely the top, unquilted, but I like that i…
I saw this on Patty's Blog and just had to add this to my NewFO and 2014 Year's list of 'to-do's. Please feel free to share on your own blog.
One of reasons we took this recent trip is that I was invited to teach at the 2014 Fat Quarterly Retreat in London. I’ve shared a little bit about this briefly, but I wanted to share a little more of the action now that I’ve had time to properly go through my photos. First of all, a big thanks to Brioni, Lynne, and Tacha for inviting me. What a great trio that is. Such fun and funny and talented women. I taught an English Paper Piecing class (which seems a little ironic since I was one of the few American teachers). This class was all about using diamonds and it was so much fun to prepare. These are some of the blocks I made in preparation. I like hexagons, but I have to say, diamonds are so much more versatile! I’m excited to keep playing with them. I’ll write a post at some point with some of the tips I’ve learned along the way about paper-piecing in general and working with diamonds specifically. Here are some of the lovely ladies in my class. For some of the class members, this was familiar territory. For others it was something totally new […]
Explore QuiltyReese's 443 photos on Flickr!
As promised, here is a photo of the finished Washington Medallion Quilt. It feels great to finish a quilt, doesn't it?! After I finished the quilt, it took two long days to machine quilt and another 3 hours to bind. A sleeve remains to be attached, along with a label. Quilters, please don't forget to label your quilts; when I look at vintage antique quilts, I always wish I knew their story... don't let the next generation of quilters wonder the same thing about your quilts! Happy stitching - Sue Garman (c)Susan H. Garman 2008
Explore Your Crochet's free patterns blog and discover inspiring ideas to ignite your creativity. Read our post, 'Charlotte’s Dream Blanket Free Pattern'.
Tuesday Tips have arrived!!Today's tips...Squaring up Metro Rings blocks with step by step detailed picture tutorials.First, we'll start by squaring up the W/P/T block. Position QCR on block and center right curved seam under ruler's 1/8" marks and line up point of block with ruler's 4 3/4" mark. Be sure point on block is lined up approx. with 4 3/4" mark on QCR. You may need to slide ruler up or...
there are some more photos to share with you, just two weeks on from the exhibition, these were taken by my friend jenny bartley who said that she would love to go back and take some more and have another...
Who doesn’t love those illustrated ecards that float around the internet? I’ve seen so many funny sewing ecards, but often when I want to find them again, I can’t. So I went to the Someecards site and below I’ve compiled for you the best selection of sewing humor I found there. You can click on...Read More
Handmade & Vintage Loveliness
I worked all day {don't you feel bad for me :( } on a tutorial for how I made this block.... So here goes....keep in mind you can change the sizes - you certainly don't have to keep the same size block I made.... I started with a 5.5 inch square... you need 4 of these to get one star.... In the center we are going to draw lines to make a kite shape {similar to a spiderweb block}. I made a dot 2 inches from the top point on both sides.... Then draw a line from the dot to the point just opposite the top point on the block... Remember you can cut this block as big or small as you like and you can place the dots where you like as long as you use the same measurement on both sides. This creates a 'kite' shape in the center.... Next cut your fabric strips. You may cut them all the same width or you can vary the width. I cut mine 1.5 inches. Cut a strip that will cover you first line and extend some at the beginning and the end.... lay the fabric {right sides facing} edge next to the drawn line on the kite portion of the block.... Using a quarter inch seam allowance stitch from top to bottom....remember the drawn line is not the stitch line...it is just to line up the strip. Press this strip back... Take the next strip and place it right sides facing - on top of the first strip - raw edges even.... **Just a note** I am not including that selvedge edge in my stitching...it will be trimmed off. Selvedge edges should be trimmed and not included in your sewing as the tight weave shrinks at a different rate than the rest of your fabric. Again, stitch this strip and press back... Continue adding strips until the corner is completely covered... Flip the block over so the right side is face down on your mat and trim the excess strips of fabric. Use the block as your trimming guide. Then begin the same process on the other side of the kite... Line this strip up next to the drawn line and stitch.... Continue adding strips, stitching and pressing until you have this corner covered... Flip the block over and trim the excess.... Here is what all four finished will look like... Stitch the top two and the bottom two....then stitch the two halves together.... If you want to use strips of different widths you get something that looks like this.... This is the secondary pattern. I love it! Hope this helps if you were interested in trying out this block!!! Happy Tuesday! mary
The best stories carry us along with just the right levels of detail, suspense, and revelation. Learn that stories behind the paintings of these five mixed-media artists.
Darth Vader embroidery, originally uploaded by color and pattern. I love a nice bit of Star Wars stitch-geekery. You do too, right? ;-)
I believe that taking part in random acts of kindness is something more should spend time doing. The smallest gesture can make someone's day!
Who doesn’t love those illustrated ecards that float around the internet? I’ve seen so many funny sewing ecards, but often when I want to find them again, I can’t. So I went to the Someecards site and below I’ve compiled for you the best selection of sewing humor I found there. You can click on...Read More
Skip to My Lou - Gather your pretty fabrics and dance to the finish line while making this happy quilt! Uses a jelly roll plus yardage.
Learn how to make this simple and versatile star quilt block. Tutorial from NewQuilters.com. #friendshipstarquiltblock, #quiltblocks, #piecingquiltblocks
