Tag Archives: quilting

My week of sewing…Progress being made

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I am loving my new machine. Thank you all, who commented and wished me fun on my new machine – sorry I have not had a chance to reply. I have a good reason though…I have been sewing most nights…

Over the weekend, I finished all my blocks for Carolyn Friedlander’s Mini Aerial quilt. I used various prints of Lotta Jansdotter’s lines (echo, bella, glimma, mormor and sylvia). I plan to finish the top for Friday.

AerialQuilt_FinishedBlocksI am pleased with how it is turning out. I think I am going to add some Essex-dyed Linen around the edge and possibly bind it in an eggplant print or teal print from the Lotta Jansdotter lines.

Monday night, I spent the time redesigning my sampler quilt to include the right colors based on the bundle I selected and adding the sashing. I also simplified a couple of blocks.
SqueekCrafts_Sampler_Quilt
I then moved on to cutting and writing up the fabric requirements and cutting instructions for making the top row of this quilt. This is the fabric selection (check out this post for details), but I have decided to drop the pink and possibly use it for binding.
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Tuesday, I was sewing up the second block of the top row, it turned out fantastic. I am so looking forward teaching the blocks at Spoonflower next month.

The rest of my week, I am planning on keeping up with my great progress:

  • Wednesday – last block of first row of my sampler quilt
  • Thursday – Photograph blocks + sewing together my aerial quilt blocks and finish top
  • Friday – Start 15/30 min. daily practice sessions for FMQ ( I plan on blogging my progress over the next two weeks – 1 month…maybe in a photo a day type style via instagram with a week blog summary??).

That’s it for my week of progress and activities. Keep an eye out for Book Review Tuesday next week – it will be a FMQ special.

Linking up with Lee over @ Freshly Pieced for WiP Wednesday (see button on the right).

Sew Down Nashville: FMQ and improvisational piecing + Winner

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Sew Down Nashville was fantastic. Heather, Elizabeth and Jen, from The Modern Quilt Guild, organized the best weekend activity/conference, I have ever attended.

Friday evening, kicked off our sewing with open sew, where you could sew any project with others, in a social environment….like a giant bee. I worked on my hexagon (EPP) lap quilt which is slowly progressing; perfect when traveling. Can you believe it, I finished around midnight.
Hexagon_OpenSew The weekend did not slow down a second from then on. Each class exceeded my expectations. First up, was Angela Walters Free Motion Quilting class. If you ever get a chance to take her class – do….she has such a great flow and structure in her teaching…..she is funny and down to earth which made it a lot of fun. I know!! FMQ fun!!Angela_Me

This was one of her quilts she had on display….one of the quilts, you say, “When I grow up I want to be able to do this”:Angelas_FMQ

I struggled with the more curvy designs. Pebbling, which was our first lesson and my first time I have attempted it, was hard more due to the fact I got lost and didn’t know where to go next. Pebble_FMQ

My favorite designs for Angela’s class was the more geometric shapes. To get the points to be more prominent instead of rounded corners, she passed on the knowledge to pause and then move on so that the needle/stitch catches well. Great tip!!, now I just need to not keep my foot on the pedal and sew 2-3 stitches in the same place 🙂Geometric_FMQ

Practice, practice, practice. Angela talked about how she would for 15 minutes a day just sit at her sewing machine and practice…I think it will be my next months challenge (Sarah @ Berry Barn Designs….sounds like a 3030SC right??).

Victoria Findlay Wolfe, was up next for improvisational piecing. A fantastic class to take those out of their comfort zone, especially if you are a pattern follower. Of course, this one was right up my alley and loved it!

Victoria_Findlay_Wolfe

These were some of my favorite mini quilts that she had bought with her. I love that she has all these vibrant colors in her quilts. All those small pieces did not start out small, it’s all about how you piece the together…and then trim.Victorias_Quilts

In her class I learned how to do a Y seam…folks nice and easy – why was I freaked out about these before 🙂 Also, I managed to improv two blocks…I now have a new project in my head on how I would use these.Improv_YSeam_VictoriasClass

 

Saturday finished up with another open sew and can you believe it I was almost first one to breakfast each morning (7:30 am – yes hubby, I can be an early rising) and one of the last to leave each open sew.  I finished this open sew with a completed block!!
HST_OpenSewBlock

Final part of business today….the winner of Quilt Essentials (btw, I met the author at sew down!!)…is
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Who is Sarah @ For Russia. Congratulations, I will send C&T Publishing/Stash books your details.

I am linking up with Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts for Let’s Bee Social (see button on right).

Book Review Tuesday: Quilt Essential

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Recently,  Stash Books/C&T Publishing had a sale where they were selling books for $5-10. Of course, I had to take advantage of the sale. One of those books I purchased was “Quilt Essential”, a book I had never seen before….somehow I missed it.

Review

quilt_essentials_lgTitle:  “Quilt Essential”
Author:  Erin Burke Harris
Publisher:  Stash Books
ISBN:  978-1-60705-793-2

This book was not what I expected, but I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. This is probably the best quilt reference book I have read, so far. I wish this was one of the first books I had purchased when I started quilting a year ago.

The book is made up of 4 sections.

  • Section 1: Fabric
    This section covers, in-depth, types of fabrics – quilting cotton, muslin, broadcloth, voile, calico, flannel, lawn, linen, velvet, denim, corduroy, silk, wool and hand-dyed fabrics. It also includes yardage and measuring (cutting and calculating various shapes, sashing/borders, and batting) and caring for fabrics.
  • Section 2: Colors
    Starting with the basics on color theory, this section then goes into more detail with matching fabrics and colors; how to combine prints and textures.
  • Section 3: Designs
    Detailed information is provided on the various shapes that we use in quilting, with information on angle types and examples of how to use the various shapes.  I love the chapters on traditional and modern quilting and how to combine the block types. The various quilt types/styles that people have created, is a great collection for inspiration and introducing people to the various styles….such as  Japanese Sashiko quilts, Hawaiian quilts, Art quilts, Abstract quilts etc. Finally, this section finishes off with various sashing and border techniques and embellishment options for quilting.
  • Section 4: Assembling
    This is the core quilting techniques chapters. Again, such great details and photos explaining various piecing techniques, quilting techniques and binding options.

One of my favorite parts of the book, is the highlighted quilters and fabric designers, that are covered. I love the descriptions of their body of works and where they find inspiration. It is great to get to know some of the more prominent folks in the industry, a little more. These highlights, are great for breaking up all that detail/reference material and personalize it more.

The book is full of details, a great read whether you are new to quilting or not. It could easily be used as a general sewing reference, as well. This would be so great for a school library…I thinking of donating a couple to my son’s elementary school. This book for me is definitely a 3 star book, for sure.

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No project this week, as the book is not a project book.

Give-away

Sponsoring this give away is Stash Books, who will provide the winner an electronic copy of Quilt Essential.  All you need to do is leave a comment on what quilting information you would like more information on.  There is a second chance to win if you are a follower, just leave a second comment. A winner will be chosen at random and announced next Tuesday, 15th April after 6pm.

A disclaimer, all reviews and opinions of the books reviewed will be mine, unless otherwise stated. Please note, I may not respond to all comments due to volume and bandwidth.

Linking up with Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts for Let’s bee social (see button on right side menu).