Pandemic Sew-In

Are you bored being "stuck" at home?  I want to say, "Get over it!," but that is not fair.  There are many who go to work everyday to provide for their families and don't have time to learn how to keep busy at home.  I remember that all I wanted to do when I got home from work was to put up my feet and have a good book handy.  Well, we are all learning a somewhat different way of life.

I am retired and have lived a life of busy-ness having raised a large family with lots of different hobbies.  I love sewing and always have, so I am keeping busy with sewing-related activities and some genealogy when I want to sit down at the computer.  The bed in my sewing room is a fertile place for the growth of fabric stacks, but I foiled that problem and put each piece of fabric to bed in it's assigned box out in my "Sewing Shed."  No room in the house to store fabric.

My second table topper is coming along nicely.  I am extremely pleased with the quilting.  I stitched every seam in the ditch and that makes the FMQ go so much easier.  No accidental pleating, but how did I miss that one seam, 1 1/2 inches long?  How did that thread in the topstitiching get cut?  That meant taking out about six inches to tie knots and restitch.  How did I forget to topstitch all those points?  Well, that is the way of it I guess.  Another day or two and I will be ready to bind it.

We had some gorgeous weather, which was great for laundry.  I don't have a dryer and my washing machine is in the garage (now a "guest cottage") with no water in the winter.  On the warm days DH turned on the water and I washed everything that ever thought of getting washed and hung it out on the line to soak up the sunshine.  Easter Sunday it snowed all day and plans to continue off and on throughout this week.  In view of the pandemic I do not want to go to the Laundromat so we are being judicious about the clothes we wear so we can make it to the next bout of sunshine.

We live in a community with lots of retired people.  Senior morning at the grocery store was a bust.  Way too many Seniors there and it was a mob.  The good side is that the virus curve is flattening here and we have had no virus so far in our little town high in the mountains.  I hope you are all doing well.  Thank goodness for quilting.  At least we know how to keep busy and have fun while we are sequestered to avoid this nasty virus.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you time to catch up, to enjoy your family, and to accomplish some quilting.  Stay safe and wash your hands.

Reading or Sewing?

I love my sewing magazines.  They are a source of information, ideas and colorful pictures of other peoples' art.  I get three that lean mostly toward art quilting where I get to see what the supremely talented sewers are creating.  They are my creative stimulation.  I also get some other magazines that provide intellectual stimulation. "Archeology" has many designs from ancient cultures as will as great articles about them.  Mosaics are just quilts in stone.   Love them all.

Unfortunately I don't have room to store them and I have found that when I keep the whole magazine I never know where to find the article for which I am looking.  Sometimes I read a magazine and keep it for two or three months, then go through it again.  Ultimately they are all destined for the recycling bin, but not before I cannibalize them, pulling out articles that I believe I will at least look at again.  I staple an article together in one corner and slip it into a plastic sleeve that goes into a three ring binder.  They are readily available when I am in need of instruction or inspiration.

I also keep a library of books, but rarely buy a new one.  I try to read through a potentially helpful or interesting-sounding book from the library before I buy it.  I have been very glad I did on several occasions when the title was tempting, but the contents did not live up its promise.  Actually, I have donated quite a few of mine to the local library for their book sale.  Some techniques no longer interest me or have gone out of date with the arrival of new methods and tools.

TIP:  There is no point cluttering up your space with things you never use anymore, especially when you work in limited space.

What did we do without the Internet?  There is so much out there to admire and learn.  I have paid for a few Craftsy classes and am not averse to viewing some of the many YouTube productions.  I have learned a lot, incorporated some and discarded others.

A favorite, which I have watched often without cluttering up my sewing room.

So, which do you prefer:  sewing or reading?  For me it is no contest.  I love to read for pleasure and education.  I love to sew just about anything.  I learned to do both in first grade.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you the opportunity to read about something new to you.

How Fierce is Your Bulldog?

All kinds of people make quilts.  Some are more motivated than others about different parts of the process.  The vast majority of us make quilts for pleasure and the amount of time and care spent meets individual needs and goals.  What about quilting gives you pleasure?

I know a person who decided she didn't want to spend time being really careful.  She said, "I am not going to worry about points anymore."  So she doesn't worry about the tip of a point that gets a little clipped.  Her quilts are beautiful.  She makes quilts to be used and washed frequently and we all love them.  They do not have to be perfect in every detail.  That's OK.

Some make quilts for charity using donated fabrics.  The perfection seen in these quilts runs the gamut from quick to time consuming.  One lady told me that this allows her to do the sewing she loves without having to spend her money on fabric.  The important aspect of this kind of quilting is the potential to sell and raise funds for charity and from that is derived additional pleasure and accomplishment.

There are many talented quilters who make a business of quilting.  Those with longarm machines see tremendous variation in the quality of their customers' quilts.  Some clearly have no knowledge of "proper" techniques and their blocks don't even meet at the seams, but they love doing it or they are doing it for love.  Other customers pay to have beautifully constructed quilts quilted by a professional.  Still others prefer to do it all themselves, not wanting to share the glory, so to speak.  Pattern-makers transpose their quilts onto paper that others can make the same quilt.

I have one daughter who wanted to join the family enclave of quilters.  She made the attempt, but came to me one day to say, "Mom, I'm sorry, but I just don't enjoy quilting."  I am sorry she put that pressure on herself, but her considerable, artistic talents show in every other area of her life.  She just doesn't like to sew.

There are some of us who have fierce inner bulldogs and go above and beyond to achieve perfection. This can be frustrating because it is an unattainable goal.  So goes my quilting with a lot of ripping last week.  Why?:

• I wasn't satisfied with what I had done.
• I tried a new idea on the actual quilt because I didn't have a suitable tester on which to work (quilting the spiral).  I saw a portion of it that could turn into a more interesting sub-design.  Satisfied now and glad I re-did it.
• I stitched a bunch of motifs with the wrong color thread.  Just plain careless.  

I have an insatiable bulldog in me, but I still can't achieve perfection.  It's the same when playing piano.  There are some small glitches here and there that I consider too small to bother with considering the time it takes to rip carefully.  I have been known to use permanent marker to hide a small defect where possible. However, if a glitch bothers me I leave it overnight, and if it still bothers me by the next afternoon I pull out my ripper and redo it.

Ripping is really time consuming because you have to pull out enough loose thread beyond the defect  to tie off the ends on both sides.  Then more ends to tie in after you re-stitch the affected area.  Sometimes it is worth it and other times it is not.  How do I rip?  It depends.

• For quick and easy (not much danger of damage) I use the seam ripper to cut about every third stitch, top or bottom.  Then I yank the uncut thread from the other side and all comes undone.  The downside is a lot of tiny pieces of thread from the cut side.

Pretty obvious right?

• If you need to preserve enough thread to tie off the ends, use the seam ripper to cut one stitch on top and one on the bottom and then carefully pull the thread out of every stitch.  Sometimes you can pull two or three stitches out at a time without breaking the thread.  When you have enough out to tie a knot, do so and bury it.

• For really touchy spots where there may be other thread in the way such as SID work or tiny stitches I do one stitch at a time, using the top thread to pull the bobbin thread loop to the top , then slip the top thread out of the loop.  This can be done from the back if  you choose.  This is slow, but very safe.

Once the loop is up (red), pull the green thread free of the loop.
Do the same for each stitch.

Sew a happy seam this week.  I wish you no reverse sewing.

All Better Now

Both my health and my Phoenix are better now.  I missed five days of sewing, but was productive in other, less intense creative pursuits. See my coat of arms.  Somehow sitting at the computer working with Adobe Illustrator was more energy efficient than wrestling a quilt through the sewing machine, but I am back on track now.  I have 3/4 of the bird attached to the quilt now.

Wings sewn down with thread painting.

It takes a lot of thread to cover the rather thick edges.  Remember the bird has its own fabric, batting and backing and those thick edges have to be covered up with thread painting.  The total comes to 4-5 layers of fabric, 2 layers of stabilizer, and 2 layers of batting.  For definition and stabilization of the interior feathers I outlined with dark red thread and a straight, free-motion stitch.  Elsewhere I free motion with a zig-zag stitch.  It took a bit of practice to learn to aim it right, but it is a great way to do bird feathers.

The only problem that arose was frequent thread breaking.  I am using Isacord thread and figured a #12/80 needle should be good because needle size is determined by thread size.   However, since there are so many layers to go through I changed to a #14/90 needle and it works much better.  Needle holes are not an issue because there is so much thread being laid down.

TIP:  If one thing doesn't work, get creative and try something else.  My bird would be dead if I hadn't done that.  It has taken a long time to re-do, but so worth it.

Sew a happy seam this week.

Making Selfie Bias Strips

I made a lot of of bias tape for the stained glass and lattice work on Fenestra Rosa.  I prefer to make my own, but first I'll clue you in to what helps are available.

You can use the ordinary double fold bias tape sold in most stores selling notions.

You can now buy fusible bias tape in a roll.  I have not tried this, nor have I seen it in the stores.  However, I have never looked for it either.  I just know you can get it online
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Clover, and maybe other companies, produce a tool in different sizes for making bias strips.  I have read that people really like this, but I had no luck with it.  Some like it, some don't.

Bias Tape Maker

If you want to make your own bias strips you must cut your fabric on a perfect diagonal in order to get the maximum and consistent amount of stretch.  There are good directions in this tutorial for both finding the bias and creating a tube for continuous binding.  That is, you don't have to sew the individual strips together because they come out all sewn when you cut.

Another method for cutting bias strips is by folding a rectangle in a special way.  It is pretty slick and very easy. You can see a video here.  Another video shows how to sew the strips together in addition to cutting methodology.  I have chosen not to go into all these details as they are already well done on numerous sites.

What I want to address occurs after all the cutting is complete.  I did not need to sew my strips together because I didn't need really long strips, and did not want to deal with the bulk of seams in the strips. There are three ways to finish the strips for sewing as taught by Harriett Hargrave:

1.  Cut the strip the desired length and width.  Fold in half lengthwise wrong sides together and stitch the raw edges together in a narrow seam.  Press the resulting tube flat with the seam folded to one side underneath.  (I do not like the added bulk in this method.)

2.  Do the same as in #1, but slide a bias bar (available where you buy notions) through the tube and press.  (Again, not my thing.  My tubes ended up either too tight or too loose for the bar and I lost patience.)

3.  My favorite way is to fold the bias strip in thirds lengthwise, but only at one end.  Keep  the raw edge just shy of the fold so it will be underneath and hidden when applied.  Press about 2 inches.

  Assuming you want your strip to finish about 1/4 inch wide, mark two lines on your ironing board 1/4 inch apart and position a pin across these lines so that there is a 1/4 inch space through which you can thread the folded fabric.  Position another pin in the same manner about 3-4 inches from and parallel to the first pin.

Pull the folded fabric through both pins as shown above, coaxing the folds to the left of the first pin into submission if they get disobedient.  Now you will have a perfect 1/4 inch fold ready to iron.

Then pull another length through and press it, and so on.  It will automatically fold as you gently pull.  A little starch as you go will give crisp folds.

Because there is no seam the edges will be a little loose as shown below.  I did not starch this strip, but that would have settled the edges.  They will be on the underside when the strip is applied to your project.

TIP:  Instead of spraying starch all over the ironing board, spray a little into the cap and use a paint brush to lightly brush some onto the fabric.  A press cloth will save the iron from starch gunk.  P.S. It is not helpful to try to save the ironing board cover if you dump the cap of starch onto it, like I did today!

You could also glue the edges down with Elmer's School Glue and then press (I don't bother.)  I do use the glue to secure the bias to my quilt before sewing.  Pins distort the bias strips and they look much nicer and smoother when glue basted.

For this demo I cut my bias strip 1 inch wide and the finished strip is 5/16 inch finished, which works nicely with stained glass.  Now your strip is ready to appliqué by hand or machine.  I applied mine with a tiny zig-zag stitch and a fairly small stitch length, but not close together like satin stitch.  It doesn't show unless you look very, very closely.

TIP:  If you plan to machine appliqué bias strips, allow some time for practice.  Try the zig-zag with different widths and stitch lengths.  See what looks best and write down your findings.  Every machine has its quirks, and you'd be surprised how fast you can forget the numbers.  Every machine is different.

Happy stitching this week.

Spiral Quilts - Sew it Together

You have finished all the paper piecing and are admiring the completed shapes on your design wall.  Now you get to sew those shapes together, which is exactly like sewing the pieces of any quilt together. First, you sew the shapes (pentagon and triangle here) of the wedge together until you have all your wedges complete, then sew the wedges together.  With only two shapes this is a relatively simple matter.

You will have points to watch along the seam lines.  Be sure they look the way you want them to before you go on.  Some of my points refused to behave at the seam line so I cut out little flowers from one of the fabrics and appliquéd them over the offending areas (see right side of photo).  This was a better solution than redoing seams until the fabric died.

TIP:  Covering up faults is not cheating.  It is called artistic innovation.

Another problem area may be the very center where all the wedges come together.  This design has a lot of seams jammed up tight at the center point and it was impossible to put them together nicely.  My solution was to make a 4 inch kaleidoscope of six small wedges from my feature fabric, and appliqué it over the bulky center.  From the back I cut away the bulk.

TIP:  One way to avoid problems in the center is to use a single fabric at the point of the wedge and choose a hexagon or octagon for your design (6 or 8 wedges).  That chosen fabric could be fussy-cut to yield an interesting design.  This solution would have to be included as part of the original design.

I have not tried it yet on a spiral quilt, but on my next one I am going to glue baste the seams together instead of pinning.  See Christy Fincher's tutorial on this process.  I tried it on a recalcitrant border on my current work in progress and it was fabulous.  When you think about it, no matter how careful you are with pins, they distort the fabric.  I have spent way too much time redoing seam junctions, and with spirals there are often more than two seams coming together.  RaNae Merrill likes to keep the paper in until the seams are sewn.  I prefer working with the fabric without paper so I tear off at least the seam allowance.  You'll have to find what works best for you.

TIP:  Take your time, work slowly and carefully, and it will be beautiful.

Pressing is a major issue as the bulky seams have a mind of their own.  I just let them play their own game as long as the piece looks nice on the front.  The only time I try to control them is when I have three or more seams at a junction.  Then I like to have all the seams flat in the same direction so I end up with a nice little rosette at the center.  That often means that a seam will have to twist somewhere along its length.  To tell you the truth, I have never noticed those twists when the quilt is done and they don't interfere with the quilting.  They are less bulky than the seam junctions.

Finishing requires placing the circular design onto a background, and I leave it to you to figure out how your special design will be displayed.  I put mine onto a square or rectangular background by sewing large pieces of fabric onto the edges of the spiral however they will work and be easiest to sew.  You can face the mandala, cut away excess fabric after it is turned, and appliqué it to a background.  If you do this, you will have a circular border around the finished spiral.  The heavy seams of the spiral will not turn under neatly so they have to be sewn in a way that allows them to lay flat.

This is the finished quilt that I have been describing.  In my next post I will talk about quilting this type of quilt.

Reverie

Spiral Quilt IV: Organization

One of my readers wrote that she is confused by what I mean by "flipping" the pentagon (see Spiral Quilt - Part III).  This means nothing more than creating a mirror image.  If you put a mirror along the the A-B line you will see the pentagon reversed/flipped in the mirror.  It is not rotated although the pentagons give the illusion that they are rotating because of the layering of the internal triangles.  Once the internal triangles are drawn the pentagon is no longer a completely symmetrical design.  Even if the outline is the same, the internal design has definite right and left sides.  In the example below I colored two triangles to clarify.  I tell the computer to make a copy and flip/mirror the copy horizontally across the A-B line.  If you are drawing on paper you will have to draw a copy, and turn it over across the A-B line.  Of course this is difficult if you are using opaque paper so I would suggest using tracing paper.  Does this clarify or confuse?  Let me know.

TIP:  The only bad question is the one not asked.  Please share if you don't understand, and I will do my best to clarify.  These designs look very complex, but are really not hard to draw or sew.  One step at a time.

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Now on to the organizational aspects of creating a paper piecing pattern for this.  I add 1/4 inch seam allowance markings on my major shapes using a ruler for accuracy.  This will be your basic pattern.

TIP:  Using a ruler to add 1/4 inch seam allowance and trimming after you have sewn your pieces will work, but it is very easy to forget that little bit of a 1/4 inch when cutting.  It also helps you to be sure that you use a big enough piece of fabric to include the all-important seam allowance.  Ask me how I know!!  I highly recommend that you add and clearly mark the seam allowance on the pattern so there will be no question about where to trim the finished piece.

Below is my pattern almost ready to print.  Notice that I have reduced the transparency of the colors, but still have enough color to serve as a check on my fabric choice.  You will also see that I have made sure the sewing lines are dark enough to see clearly.  If you are drawing your design on paper you can color a swatch in each little triangle with colored pencil or marker.  This will be the wrong side of your finished shape.  If right or wrong side is important in your design be sure to reverse your pattern at this stage.  If you print it on translucent paper you can sew from either side.  Just don't get mixed up!

TIP:  Whatever way you decide to do it be sure to be consistent or you will end up with a different looking design in your finished product.  Remember that when holding the paper in front of you, the right side of the evolving fabric piece will be facing away from you.  (Note:  I did not reverse this design so either my piece will be the mirrored version, or I will sew with the back side facing me.  (Choices!!)

In order to cover my bases even better I next add text to each and every little triangle as below.

You will start in the middle and sew the first ring so I label that ring "A."  The second ring is "B," etc.  The other notation refers to the color with a lower case letter (r for red, g for green....) and a number, which refers to the shade of the color.  Look at the purple:  p1 is the lightest shade of purple while p5 is the darkest shade of purple.  The stars on some of the triangles refer to the starting place for each ring.  These notations keep me on the straight and narrow so I don't make mistakes.  Ripping is not really that much fun.

If you have not done paper piecing before, I highly recommend that you give it a try.  You can make incredibly intricate designs and achieve perfection so much more easily.

Now this is ready to print.  If you are not using the computer you can make copies.

TIP:  If you are making copies make sure that the copies are exactly the same size as the original, and make 2 or 3 extra to cover possible pilot error.

You can use copy paper or buy foundation piecing paper, which is available any place that carries quilt supplies.  My favorite is Sulky Paper Solvy because I can run it through my printer, and it dissolves in water when the sewing is done.  I usually tear the paper off when I am finished sewing anyhow, but if some gets left in, it will dissolve when the quilt is dipped in water, which I do after the quilting is complete.  Check the manufacturer's directions for information about their product.

TIP:  I print out the shapes for one wedge, do the sewing, photograph and rotate the photo in the computer before printing out the rest.  This avoids waste if there is a glitch in the pattern.  If I like the result I save it and use it as an extra wedge for quilting practice.  Then I go for broke, print more copies, and sew up a storm.

The last thing I do is glue or pin 1 x 2 inch swatches of all my fabrics to a piece of paper.  I label each fabric with the letter and number combination that I placed on my pattern.  I find I refer to this so often that it is well worth the time.  I also put this sheet in a sheet protector and take it shopping with me to use in choosing fabrics I might be missing.  More about shopping in the next post.

Hallelujah Rhapsody

I was planning to show the finished quilt after I explained the rest of the steps that went to complete it.  However, I came across an online Quilt Festival that requires a post showing a finished quilt.  It is at Amy's Creative Side and the entry deadline is May 23.  It sounded like a fun activity so here is my entry.

I learned how to make this quilt from reading Ricky Tims' "Rhapsody Quilts."  I learned new techniques and feel that I am a better quilt maker for the experience.  It has certainly opened up new avenues for designing quilts because I now know how I can sew ideas that once would have seemed impossible.  I used to look at quilts with strange seams and appliqué and wonder how on earth they were made.

TIP:  Challenge yourself.  You'll be surprised what you can do.

Hallelujah Rhapsody

I named it "Hallelujah Rhapsody" because that is how I felt when I finished it.  It was a lot of work, but I enjoy challenge and complexity.

I made the label from a photo of the quilt (address removed):

This quilt was the first one I ever entered into a show.  It didn't win anything and I will tell you why in another post, but it did get juried in.  That is a major first step toward winning something.

TIP:  Don't be afraid to enter a show.  The only thing you can lose is the entry fee, and if you are not juried in take some classes, make some more quilts and improve the quality of your sewing.  Practice.  When you are juried in, it is exciting to see your quilt hanging in the show, and the judges' comments are invaluable.  My competence and confidence were both given a boost when I began to show my quilts.

Today you see the finished product, but I still plan to write a post on sewing the appliqué and another on blocking quilts because those topics are both relevant to this quilt.

Learning to Quilt

I love to create and construct my own quilt designs.  This takes time and does not always go smoothly. I have shown a few of my quilts and won some awards, but I am not prolific as my quilts are complex and take a lot of time to design and put together.

I started sewing when I was a very young child by doing embroidery and then branching out to making doll clothes.  I would sit on my bed for hours stitching together my own designs.  Some worked and others didn't.  What a great introduction to sewing!  Eventually, I made my own clothes and then those of my children.  By the time the empty nest was looming one of my daughters began to quilt and teach others to do the same in China.  Longing for something to sew, I followed her example with a small, simple, Dresden Plate quilt using the English Paper Piecing technique.  It was done all by hand while I watched my grandson at his swimming lessons.  That was a little more than 20 years ago.  Below are a couple of quilts I made as I progressed.  It is important to start with the basics before tackling the more advanced designs and techniques.

"Crossings" is a simple quilt, but I had fun arranging the shading and cutting up a border print.  It incorporates basic, square blocks, made from triangles and thus required manipulating bias.  There are borders to line up, some paper piecing in the sashing, and fussy cutting.  The idea of redesigning fabric by fussy cutting has always appealed to me.

This Christmasy quilt is called "Shining Stars" because it was made during the Christmas season and incorporates some brocade and shiny satin.  My daughter and I were holed up in a hotel room for 2 1/2 months while she was attended by Mayo doctors to repair a badly injured leg.  With one sewing machine we were each able to make a quilt.  It elicits wonderful memories of our special activities together during a hard time.  This was my first attempt at stars, but by then I was able to manage the sewing.  I had more trouble with machine quilting because I didn't know what I was doing, and my thread kept breaking.  I crocheted four little round designs to cover up places where I didn't like the way the seams looked.  Sometimes you just do what it takes to make it look good!

That is enough for today.  I will share some more of my quilts in the next post.