Binding

In an attempt to get things cleaned up and more organized around here, I decided that I needed to start tackling that "Tub of Shame" that has tops ready for quilting. The backing and binding fabrics are with each top, so what is the problem? 

 

I say that I have been super busy and not had time to do much, but in reality it's just that I really stink at time management. Yes, I've been busy and have had deadlines to meet, grand kids to watch, classes to teach, etc. but I'm sure I could have used my down time more wisely. I'm not beating myself up here, I am just admitting that I really could empty that tub if I tried. I have other tops ready for quilting as well, but in most cases I don't have the backing yet so they have not been put in the tub.

This past weekend I had quilting and embroidery that needed done for other people, so I decided to grab a quilt or two from the tub and work on those as well. Since it had been a while since I've actually quilted, I figured that I should "practice" or get back into the swing of things on one of my small quilts before working on one for someone else. Great plan, right?

I thought so until I had issues with the machine and couldn't quilt. Good thing I have a wonderful friend who came to the rescue and let me use her machine! I was able to finish the three quilts promised to others and even quilted one of mine! (By the way, the machine is "in rehab" and I'll be without it for at least 2-3 weeks. YUCK!!)

Two of the quilts are delivered and the third one will be later today. (I had to bind that one so it took me longer.) Mine is ready for binding, which I hope to machine stitch down tonight and have it ready to hand stitch Sunday evening. 

The picture isn't great, but this is a variation of a 1600/jelly roll race quilt that I made quite a while ago. It was made using a number of Kaffe Fassett fat quarters and I began this when Jack and I were in Washington Island. (I don't even want to try to figure out when that was. I just know it's been a while.)

It's quilted with the Alfresco panto and I like how it turned out. It measures 66" x 84," so it's a decent size. I have no plans for this, but am sure I'll figure out something. Maybe this is will be a sample I'll use when I host the "Strip Club" charity sew-ins. One of the groups always makes one of these quilts and I think the other sample is kind of boring. 

I have binding to hand stitch down on the mini teal swap project I made, but I can't show that yet. I don't want to ruin the surprise for the recipient. I also have binding to add to my project for a Halloween blog hop in which I'm participating. 

Being at this stage on these projects makes me very happy!

Hooking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict today. Check out what other quilters have been finishing up as well.

Tip Tuesday! Videos

"Tip Tuesday!" - Videos

I love learning new things and then sharing that knowledge with my quilting friends. So, every Tuesday I'll provide some tips, hints, tricks, tutorials, shortcuts, etc. that I've learned over the years and share them here on the blog. 

"Tip Tuesday" will be a collection of information about a wide variety of subjects garnered from a large variety of sources.  I am not an expert by any means and do not take credit for being the great wizard behind all of these hints and tips. I will gladly give due credit whenever possible.

These tips will be archived and accessible to you just by clicking on the "Tip Tuesday" tab above. 

Read, enjoy, and be inspired!

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I was recently introduced the some videos that I thought were pretty well done and decided to share them here. They are from Craft Academy (in England) and are geared to beginning quilters, but I'm sure you'll find them interesting, no matter what skill level you are. 

“This is a Know Nothing Quilting Beginners MUST WATCH Video! Includes Details On The “INFAMOUS” 1/4 Inch SEAM!

There is one long video that covers a basic introduction to patchwork, cutting strips, squares, half square triangles and finally quarter square triangles.

Besides the basic information video, there are two short video that deal with perfecting the 1/4" seam allowance.

http://www.keepnuinstitchesquilting.com/a-must-watch-for-know-nothing-beginners-includes-details-on-the-infamous-14-inch-seam-1-long-2-short-videos/

Take a look and tell me what you think.

I'm always looking for good video for my students, and I think I'll be sure to pass this along to them.

That's really one of the things I love about quilting. Most people are so willing to share and help other quilters. :-)

Embroidery

It seem that this time of year is the only time I embroider any more. 

Quite a few years ago I started making the Homecoming sashes for our local high school. They are nothing fancy, which is what they want, and they are a heck of a lot cheaper than ordering them as they did in years past.

So, once again the embroidery unit of my machine is getting a workout. 

It's doing a nice job and I'm happy for that. Perhaps I should use it more often, It's kind of like calling an old friend. I think of it often, but just never take the time to do anything about it. Mmmmm, maybe I should embroider some quilt labels or embroider some towels for Christmas gifts.

Tip Tuesday! Color Theory for Quilting

"Tip Tuesday!" - Color Theory for Quilting

I love learning new things and then sharing that knowledge with my quilting friends. So, every Tuesday I'll provide some tips, hints, tricks, tutorials, shortcuts, etc. that I've learned over the years and share them here on the blog. 

"Tip Tuesday" will be a collection of information about a wide variety of subjects garnered from a large variety of sources.  I am not an expert by any means and do not take credit for being the great wizard behind all of these hints and tips. I will gladly give due credit whenever possible.

These tips will be archived and accessible to you just by clicking on the "Tip Tuesday" tab above. 

Read, enjoy, and be inspired!

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I know that I've discussed color in past Tip Tuesday! posts, but this one is so good that I just had to share. I found it over at Sew Mama Sew.

Deanna McCool is a writer and technical editor for the sewing and crafting industry and she has shared some color theory tips to help select prints for quilting. She discusses light vs. dark, saturation, complementary colors, and proportion and how each of these impact your quilt. 

It is worth the read!

http://www.sewmamasew.com/2015/08/color-theory-for-quilting-learn-about-color/

Bailey Shae

It didn't all go as planned, but all went well and Bailey Shae was born a little after midnight on Saturday. I think she's adorable, but then again, I'm grandma.  :-)

I love this picture! They were all so tired, but who couldn't smile after the arrival of the bundle of joy?

Even Bailey is yawning!

And just like her oldest sister, she had a head full of dark hair.

We took the other kids to meet their new sister Saturday late morning and they were so excited!

Quinn is already such a good big sister and I think she's ready to do it all over again. 

Sadie just can't believe how cute Bailey is and told us that a number of times. She did tell us that it's ok that her name isn't Apple Blossom. :-)

 

And Ronan gives Bailey a two thumbs up approval. He even gave her the "serious" (mouth-closed) smile. :-) You can't ask for more than that.  

And cousin Avery gives her kiss of approval. 

Lynn grabbed the chance to hold her for just a minute before taking the other five kids to her house for the day and night. (And I thought it was loud with just the three kids at my house for two days.)

Grandpa Jack held her for a few minutes. We'll go back this afternoon so he can give her the "new baby talk" which includes a, "We've already loved you for nine months and we are so happy you're here." 

Zach is already the doting father - again!

And of course, there was one final "sibling time" before heading to Lynn's house for the day. The kids are so excited and they can't wait to get Bailey home. Of course Quinn and Sadie are excited to share the news with their teachers and classmates.

As I said before, life sure is good!

Pure Joy! - Updated

I kind of started a tradition of taking a family picture right before new babies are born. This picture was supposed to happen a few times over the past couple of weeks, but just never did, so last night was a "get it done or just don't do it" time for the picture. 

I have to tell you that it was not an easy task to get this picture! Between kids turning to look at their parents, dancing kids (Sadie is posing, not dancing), babies pulling hair, and closed eyes, I thought this picture would never happen. 

Out of all the pictures I took, there were an awful lot of pictures like the one below. More of these, than like the one above.  :-)

It was pretty funny and whenever my grand kids see a camera, they want to pose, and this time was no different. All Quinn wanted to do was get her picture taken doing a "fancy pose." I think Avery and Sadie had other plans. 

They wanted to wrestle instead.

And after Lynn and her family left, Grandpa Jack had an audience for his reading. Quinn, Sadie, and Ronan are spending the night and this was just the beginning of the reading that was done.

And sometime today we will welcome a new joy into our lives, as Nikki and Zach are headed to the hospital later this morning!

Life sure is good!

Update: Just as Nikki and Zach were heading to the hospital for the scheduled inducing, they were contacted and told that the ward was short-staffed and they should hold off on going in. They were told that the hospital would contact them later to see if there was room for Nikki, so now they aren't sure what's going to happen. 

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that she'll just go naturally, especially since she's been having contractions since last night. Unfortunately they haven't progress much, but who knows.  

I Should Have Known Better

This is what happens when you leave your phone unattended around a fun-loving teenager.  Hahahaha

I'm glad this is the kind of prank she enjoys. :-)

Busy, Busy, Busy

Here's just a picture of one of the things I've been doing the last few days; and if you do any canning, you'll know what this picture is.

End result - 40 quarts of pickled beets!

I know. That's a lot of beets, but they aren't all for me. A number of years ago I worked out a deal with my ex-in-laws. Since they like to garden and I don't particularly enjoy it, we agreed that if they grew the beets, I would can them for all of us. Since I don't mind canning, I thought it was a great idea. 

These will be distributed between a bunch of different people and it really is a pretty sight to have them all sitting on my counter cooling and hearing the popping to signify that they have sealed properly. Out of 40 quarts, only one did not seal and that makes me very happy.

Another thing that makes me happy is that I did NOT wait until this weekend to do the canning. It's been in the mid 90's all day today. That, and that fact that it's Melon Festival weekend and there are a lot of activities going on around here.

Tip Tuesday! Bobbin Info

"Tip Tuesday!" - Bobbin Info

I love learning new things and then sharing that knowledge with my quilting friends. So, every Tuesday I'll provide some tips, hints, tricks, tutorials, shortcuts, etc. that I've learned over the years and share them here on the blog. 

"Tip Tuesday" will be a collection of information about a wide variety of subjects garnered from a large variety of sources.  I am not an expert by any means and do not take credit for being the great wizard behind all of these hints and tips. I will gladly give due credit whenever possible.

These tips will be archived and accessible to you just by clicking on the "Tip Tuesday" tab above. 

Read, enjoy, and be inspired!

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Last week I started a discussion about bobbins, so this week I want to provide a bit more information about bobbins and how they work. 

I know many quilters who don't really care how their machines work. They just want them to work. I understand that, but I think it is important for all of us to have a basic understanding about the actual mechanics of a sewing machine, just in case we are sewing late at night and run into a problem. With a little bit of knowledge, we can do some trouble shooting and hopefully avoid an expensive trip the repair shop. (It's just like a car, but our machines are more fun.)

Here's a diagram that shows how the bobbin works. I know it's blurry, but hopefully you can read it.

Just in case you couldn't read the captions in the picture above, here's another sketch.

Although this sketch is well done, I'm a visual person and need to "see it in action" to completely understand.

Check out this video by Superior Threads about bobbins. It's well done and explains a lot. I especially appreciate the information about cleaning out the bobbin case.

http://www.superiorthreads.com/videos/how-a-bobbin-works/

An finally, you can adjust the tension of your bobbin, even though I know were told told to NEVER mess with the tension of a sewing machine.

The following information was provided by Superior Threads.

90% of the time, we adjust the top tension to achieve the perfect stitch.

We talk a lot about tension settings and tension adjustments on machines. This time, we will discuss the other 10%, the bobbin tension. Many have been told to never touch the bobbin tension. It isn't as difficult as we have been led to believe. If you are one who has been told to never touch it, by the end of this page, hopefully you will realize that is perfectly safe and easy to adjust the bobbin case. Of course you could buy a second bobbin case, one to never adjust and the other to experiment with, but why not save $30 to $40 and learn how easy and safe it really is. Over time, tensions can change with regular use. Even though you haven't physically changed the settings, they can work themselves either tighter or looser. Thread, lint, and even temperature can affect them. There are three times when adjusting the bobbin tension might be necessary. Number one and two are obvious. Number three is the "I never thought of that before" alternative. 

1. When using a very smooth, fine bobbin thread. If the thread is very smooth and fine, the preset setting may not apply the necessary brakes to stop it when you stop sewing. In this case, the bobbin thread continues to unwind, potentially causing backlash, and upon start up again, the thread will break. Tightening the tension will fix this.  
    
2. When using a very heavy bobbin thread. The preset tension might be too tight for a heavy thread, preventing the bobbin thread from unwinding freely. Loosening the bobbin tension will solve this. (Be sure to turn the tension screw in small increments whether you are tightening or loosening the screw.)
    
3. Q: "There are times when the bobbin adjustment is correct but no matter what I do to the top tension, I still can't get a perfect stitch or the thread breaks. When I loosen the top tension adequately low to run a sensitive or heavier thread, I get loops on the back. When I tighten up the top tension to get rid of the looping, the thread breaks."
   A: Looping on the back means the top tension is too loose compared to the bobbin tension so the bobbin thread is pulling too much top thread underneath. By tightening the top tension, the loops will stop, but the added tension may cause breakage, especially with sensitive threads. In this case, it might be necessary to loosen both the bobbin tension AND the upper tension. By loosening both the top and bobbin tensions, both sides of the tug-of-war give in, allowing a good stitch without breaking or looping.

Here's an interesting video by Bob Purcell of Superior Threads. 

http://www.superiorthreads.com/videos/bobbin-tension/

Have a great week and don't be afraid to adjust your bobbin. It just might solve some of those illusive problems you've been having.  :-)