Monday, March 18, 2013
Mug Rugs Complete
Here's just two of the 6 mug rugs I made. Two for my swap partner, two for my friend Bonni, and two for me to keep. That way, I get to keep my obligation, share the love, and treat myself at the same time.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Mug Rug Swap
Normally, I don't do applique, but since one of my New Year's goals (or rather, a Bucket List goal- something to do once before I die!) has been to try an applique project, I figured a Mug Rug swap is about perfect. It is a smaller project, and also, it has a time frame which forces me not to put it off until later.
You can enter here.
It's due by March 11 and so this will give me a short term project for February.
Doing Blog updates regularly was also on my New Year's resolution too, so I guess I am hitting two birds with one stone with this Mug Rug registration.
Long term projects that I still need to finish are:
- Quilting Janetta's Memory Quilt for a lost soldier to be given to his widow
- Finishing the memory quilts for my cousin's children (she died of cancer about a year ago. One just needs the final row added, and both need put on my long arm for quilting.
It's due by March 11 and so this will give me a short term project for February.
Doing Blog updates regularly was also on my New Year's resolution too, so I guess I am hitting two birds with one stone with this Mug Rug registration.
Long term projects that I still need to finish are:
- Quilting Janetta's Memory Quilt for a lost soldier to be given to his widow
- Finishing the memory quilts for my cousin's children (she died of cancer about a year ago. One just needs the final row added, and both need put on my long arm for quilting.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Love Note Pillows
The project is simple, really. Here's the short version: Cut two hearts out of the same fabric,and then cut a "half-heart" (bottom part only), and a strip of contrasting fabric. Fold in half the strip of fabric, sew it to the top of the half-heart, and it's best to sew on any bling or decoration at this point. Layer the fabric of the full heart up, then the half-heart up, and finally the back, full heart face down. Align all edges, pin together and sew all around the edges, leaving an opening to stuff the pillow. Stuff and sew closed. I don't show a card slid between the heart and it's pocket, but the tutorial someone else did for this project does. They also added a ribbon for a hanger, but I forgot to add one to mine. They are still cute anyway.
Love Notes Tutorial
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Most beautiful quilt to date!
Wow, I see I need to make a weekly commitment to update my blog. New Year's Resolution?
Well, Alene, your quilt is done. Here are pictures as promised. So far, I have to say, this is the most beautiful quilt I have had the pleasure to long arm to date. Alene did such a good job on the quilt that it stayed square, row after row, without buckling or needing to be stretched in places, or starched to make it shrink. Excellent workmanship indeed! :-)
Log cabin, Thimbleberries fabrics:
And here are close ups on the quilting. Alene originally wanted a simple meander, but I persuaded her to go with the swirls instead. In the end, the character the swirls add just complements this stunning quilt.
Well, Alene, your quilt is done. Here are pictures as promised. So far, I have to say, this is the most beautiful quilt I have had the pleasure to long arm to date. Alene did such a good job on the quilt that it stayed square, row after row, without buckling or needing to be stretched in places, or starched to make it shrink. Excellent workmanship indeed! :-)
Log cabin, Thimbleberries fabrics:
The back is a cream, with the same brown thread that the top was quilted with. This makes the lines stand out a little bit more.
And another pic. The color is grossly distorted toward the orange with the camera so close, but it really shows the quilting detail, more so that the pictures whose colors are true.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Too Early for Christmas!
They are reporting on the news that retailers already have Christmas displays up. I thought I was upset when they started putting them up before Halloween, and now they have them up right after kids are going back to school?!? To me, it's perversion of what the Spirit of Christmas is, and it makes me sick. Not to mention that many of these displays contain cinnamon and cloves for smell, and that makes me sick for real! (Allergies!!!) So, it just cuts down on my shopping, and doesn't do what they intended, which was to make me spend more.
So, oddly enough, what is the subject of today's blog entry? It's pictures of a Christmas project! I actually have a purpose for posting these pictures, and that is to show off one aspect of detail work that can be done on the Avante: writing of words. I have a client who would like an inscription written on her quilt, and rather than do a label on the back, the name of the quilter and date is going to be incorporated into the quilting itself.
My friend Bonni made this piece, and then passed it onto me to quilt. I put a Trapunto layer beneath the JOY letters, because I wanted them to stand out from the rest of the project. To accent that puffiness, I wanted the background to be tight, and so I thought that greetings of the season would be appropriate. The lines are 1/4 inch apart, and on them are written: Blessings, Love, Joy, Peace, Noel, Silent Night, Merry Christmas, and Hosanna. My quilting on the side probably violates every rule of a traditional quilter who's meandering means you should never cross over your stitching, because instead it is a series of loops! I think it looks good on this project, and that's all that really matters in the end. I had a dark green that was perfect for the binding, and I ended up being really happy with my perfectly mitered corners. (Thank you Sharon Schambers and YouTube!) Bonni never expected to get this project back, but she will get it returned anyway, since it's a way to advertize that she has a friend with a LA machine, if she is so willing to refer people to me for quilting.
So, oddly enough, what is the subject of today's blog entry? It's pictures of a Christmas project! I actually have a purpose for posting these pictures, and that is to show off one aspect of detail work that can be done on the Avante: writing of words. I have a client who would like an inscription written on her quilt, and rather than do a label on the back, the name of the quilter and date is going to be incorporated into the quilting itself.
My friend Bonni made this piece, and then passed it onto me to quilt. I put a Trapunto layer beneath the JOY letters, because I wanted them to stand out from the rest of the project. To accent that puffiness, I wanted the background to be tight, and so I thought that greetings of the season would be appropriate. The lines are 1/4 inch apart, and on them are written: Blessings, Love, Joy, Peace, Noel, Silent Night, Merry Christmas, and Hosanna. My quilting on the side probably violates every rule of a traditional quilter who's meandering means you should never cross over your stitching, because instead it is a series of loops! I think it looks good on this project, and that's all that really matters in the end. I had a dark green that was perfect for the binding, and I ended up being really happy with my perfectly mitered corners. (Thank you Sharon Schambers and YouTube!) Bonni never expected to get this project back, but she will get it returned anyway, since it's a way to advertize that she has a friend with a LA machine, if she is so willing to refer people to me for quilting.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
LoriEl's Quilt, Final pictures
It's done, and it's past time I updated the pictures for it. Sorry, Lori, I am so late in doing this. The post office estimates you should have your quilt back on Thursday.
First, the final bundle as it went into the box. Lori wrapped the quilt in Saran Wrap when it came to me, and I found this method kept the finished quilt wrapped into a tidy bundle that would fit in the box nicely.
First, the final bundle as it went into the box. Lori wrapped the quilt in Saran Wrap when it came to me, and I found this method kept the finished quilt wrapped into a tidy bundle that would fit in the box nicely.
Next, the finished edges, with a matching motif from the centers, stitched the same way as before, with paper
transferring the pattern:
And, more final pictures of the quilt off the frame:
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
LoriEl's Quilt Continued
Work in progress: here's how part of it looks stitched:
Because I had to modify the store-bought template to fill the space that I had, I scanned in a good copy of one section of it, then Emilie, my daughter, cleaned the edges up in GIMP, and then copied the sections to make one full pattern. I found that AVERY LABEL SHEETS leftovers (labels used up) make excellent transfer paper. The backs can be printed on, making the pattern 100% consistent for all blocks without having to chalk them and eyeball putting sections together, and it was the easiest of all the papers I tried for transferring patterns. This product rips away cleanly, if you increase the number of stitches per inch. (16 or 18). I have tried several expensive papers meant for this purpose, even the "wash away" ones, and I was frustrated by every single one. Wasted money, unless I find another use for them. This (free!) recycled Avery label paper works great, and since my friend George does a lot of mailings through his business, I have an endless supply of this paper to recycle for patterns. I printed them out on my HP inkjet printer.
Because I had to modify the store-bought template to fill the space that I had, I scanned in a good copy of one section of it, then Emilie, my daughter, cleaned the edges up in GIMP, and then copied the sections to make one full pattern. I found that AVERY LABEL SHEETS leftovers (labels used up) make excellent transfer paper. The backs can be printed on, making the pattern 100% consistent for all blocks without having to chalk them and eyeball putting sections together, and it was the easiest of all the papers I tried for transferring patterns. This product rips away cleanly, if you increase the number of stitches per inch. (16 or 18). I have tried several expensive papers meant for this purpose, even the "wash away" ones, and I was frustrated by every single one. Wasted money, unless I find another use for them. This (free!) recycled Avery label paper works great, and since my friend George does a lot of mailings through his business, I have an endless supply of this paper to recycle for patterns. I printed them out on my HP inkjet printer.
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