Bits and Pieces

      Well, I finished the crazy quilt blocks finally. It is a fun project for the first week or so and then you just want to see the end of the last block. When I finished, I just had to count (I had no idea how many there were as I went along) and I made 75. That will make 3- 25 block quilts for charity or any new baby girls that may join my family.

      Speaking of new babies, we had 2 babies born less than 2 weeks apart in May--my great nephew Jackson, and great niece Natalie. I am in the process of finishing their quilts and thought of 3 things to share as I am putting on bindings.

      #!. Making the binding

When I make a crazy or scrappy quilt I like a pieced binding with lots of fabrics. The important thing about this is that the pieces MUST be sewn together diagonally on the bias. After making the strip, press all the seams open and fold the fabric in half with the seams inside. This spreads the extra fabric bulk over a couple inches and is really not noticeable. 

If making a one-color binding, you still piece diagonally for the same reason.
(Edited note: I cut my binding strips 2 1/2 inches wide)

       #2 Sewing down the binding. USE THE WALKING FOOT. This is something I wish someone had told me when I started quilting. I have several quilts with really bad ripply borders because I did not do this. It was really pointed out to me at a major quilt show when I saw a beautiful Baltimore Album Quilt with the worst border/binding I ever saw. If you do not use the walking foot, the border fabric slides and ripples and really looks BAD. 

        #3 BE THANKFUL FOR THE PEOPLE WHO TAUGHT AND MENTORED YOU!  Every time I sew by hand I say a thank you to the first lady who taught me quilting. I don't remember her name, the shop is no longer there, but she was a slave driver who taught hand piecing and quilting the right way. She taught how to choose the right needle for you, and how to use a thimble. I can not hand sew without a thimble to this day and really wish I had known this back in the Sandie's Specialties days! I had permanent callouses and pain in my fingers back then.  So thank you, quilting teacher in Waltham!

    

Pressing Matters-I remember what I forgot the first time I posted this!

Crazy blocks in pastels

I have been working on these blocks for well over a week, at least an hour a day and at this point I have finished a whole 12 blocks. Many of them are getting close to finished and to be honest, as it gets warmer it gets harder to sit under the hot lights sewing and pressing. So I am getting ready to be finished!!
Basically this project is just cut, sew, press, repeat. Last week a non-quilter friend came over and offered to help so I had her press. I didn't realize how much there is involved in pressing because after all this time I just do it without thinking so I thought I would share the important points in case anyone needs to teach someone how to be a "sous-presser:"
1. Press seams to one side. For people who come to quilting from garment making, this is hard to get used to because with garments we press seams open. Place the fabric that will flip up on the top and press toward the seam.
2. Press in the direction the fabric wants to go. In this project I am sewing one piece of fabric onto a piece that might have 3 or 4 seams on it. The fabric wants to go to the new piece so that the seamed areas are flat.
3. A general rule is to press to the dark piece when sewing two pieces together. The seam is less likely to be seen through the fabric. When I am chain piecing half-square triangles together I always put all the lights on the bottom and the darks on the top so when I chain press they are all the same and I can do one after the other. (This rule really doesn't apply to this project.)
4. Always set the seam before flipping the fabric and pressing the seam down. This really makes a difference. Any ripples will disappear at this point and you help avoid any stretching. You get a nice clean press if you do this.
5. Magic Sizing is your best friend. I really wish I had learned this earlier in my quilting. When you are using lots of different fabrics with different weights and textures the sizing really helps to unify the fabrics. It also really makes a difference with any fabrics that are cut on a bias. It keeps them from stretching and keeps them staying smooth and perfect. It is very important with this project because the fabrics are cut on every possible angle of the fabrics and there would be a lot of stretched, ripply seams without it. It is also great at keeping the pressed seams staying where you pressed them. Nothing is more annoying than to have a seam flip the wrong way when sewing 2 blocks together, and the sizing sort of "glues" them down.
6. Use a dry iron. Steam will cause fabric to stretch. Use the steam to press fabrics before they are sewn together. (it is also safer for your fingers--no surprise steam burns as you manipulate the fabric on the ironing board!)
Hopefully this will be helpful. I feel like I left out something important and if I did, please let me know.
Oh, if anyone wants a little tutorial on making crazy quilt blocks by machine, let me know.

OOPS- I remember what I forgot the first time. This should be #1! Anyway, when quilting using the iron is called PRESSING. That is because you PRESS  the iron down on the fabric, do not move back and forth like when ironing. Moving the iron a lot can stretch the fabric or make the block misshapen. Duh.. Sandie!

"Color, Pattern, Texture, Shine"

"Color, Pattern, Texture, Shine"
       
     Anyone who watches "What Not to Wear" regularly knows the "rules" Stacy and Clinton go by in putting together an outfit. I am a huge fan, and watch the reruns while eating lunch every day that I am home. (I am also a bit happy they are no longer on because I would definitely be a candidate for nomination!)
     Anyway, what does this have to do with quilting, you may ask? I am working on one of my favorite techniques, which is crazy quilting on machine.        

Crazy Quilt for Kids

I love to do this because it is fun to mix and match so many fabrics, and it just feels good to use up scraps!

Right now I am making blocks using pastels for girls' quilts. I have certain rules for making each block and recently realized that these rules are pretty much the same as Stacy and Clinton's rules and now I can't get the mantra out of my head as I work on the blocks! So let me break it down-------

1. Color

My Great Grandma's quilt

It is important that each individual block blends in with the others,. You don't want a "galloping horse" anywhere. So I have a rule that each block must contain at least one piece of each of the main colors. It is especially important if using yellow or orange that a bit is in each block  In the pastels I am making now, I am  trying to include yellow, pink, white, lavender, blue and turquoise in each piece.

2.Texture

This one seems a little more difficult for quilting. We tend to use only 100% cotton fabrics and they are all the same texture--smooth and flat. One day I was snuggled under Great Grandma's quilt and I found myself doing what I did as a kid--rubbing the pieces of flannel that are scattered in there. I realized that the flannel has lasted over 50 years and as a kid I used to rub those pieces so why not use the flannel? I have lots of scraps of cute flannels that were used to make pajamas so now I put them in also so some other kid might find them and rub them too. My Grandma quilt also has corduroy but my corduroy is pretty thick and too heavy to use, but a soft corduroy would be good too. 

3. Pattern

After color, pattern is probably the next important thing quilters look at when choosing fabrics. In the crazy quilt blocks my basic rule is to have a variety of patterns in each block. I have solids, plaids, stripes, dots, florals, and the very important novelty prints to add fun,. They need to be balanced in each block so all the blocks will blend. I also have an obsession with fabrics with words on them that I can sneak in there and I look for them in every shop I visit. 

4. Shine

I am not really a "shiny" person but I do appreciate a bit of "special" in each quilt. I throw in fabrics with some gold or silver if I have them. Also I have a few pieces of chintz which adds a shine. 

5.Shape

I am throwing this one in because it applies to clothes and crazy quilt blocks too. When I am making these blocks I look at the shapes of pieces-squares,triangles, rectangles, trapezoids, and try to blend them in each block.

If anyone is interested in learning how to make these machine made crazy quilt blocks, let me know and I will do a tutorial.

When you ASSUME you make a @#$* of You and Me

      Today was my last day off before Emma comes home from college next week and I have to clean up the "Command Center" in her room. I want to get as many quilts pinned as I can and really want to finish the big quilt I have been quilting before I have to take down the big table.  These are both pretty boring projects at this point so I quilted a while and then I pressed the tops and backs of 2 more quilts. One of them, the bug quilt, was the perfect size for a piece of butterfly fabric for the back so that was a quickie project
.   The other one I chose to do is a Pinwheel Star because I already had a back pieced together and put aside for it. Most of my quilts, especially the charity ones, have pieced backs, which are often as interesting as the front.
       I stretched out the back, cut the batting to fit and layed out the top, and here is where the ASSUME comes in. The top and the back were not even close to the same size! What the heck was I thinking? I had made that back, folded them up together, and put them into the UFO tote months or even years ago. I ASSUMED they were the same size. I had to unclamp the back, add 8" to the side and 20" to the bottom (see, not even close!). Then of course the batting didn't fit any more so I needed another piece. Good thing I had just bought a king size batt for these projects so there was enough left for this one without having to piece it together. I will be able to use the other piece for one of the other quilts in the pile. Anyway, the day has slipped away and all I accomplished was quilting another border on the big quilt and layering the bug quilt. (Oh and I made cupcakes to distract myself from the boring-ness and I now have a "Cupcake Stash" in my freezer.) This picture is the way I am leaving it for the night. Tomorrow is another day!

Pinwheel Star ready to pin, Floral border in progress, pinned quilts hanging
What a mess!

Sometimes with quilting you can't get from A to B without a few detours along the way

   

I liked this one because we are into Sherlock at my house!

      Sometimes when I am quilting I think of those old Family Circus comic strips where it takes little Billy forever to get from A to B.   That has been me in the quilting department the last 2 weeks. After Emma went back to school I set up the big table in her room which I have dubbed "The Command Center" (her term not mine). I have several quilts which need quilting so I started layering with the big one. The table is only 3'x6' so the quilt has to be moved several times. After 3 days of shifting, pinning, back aching I got to the last section and guess what--the top had shifted so the backing was 1" too small. So I unpinned most of it, shifted, and repinned for 2 days and it was ready. Side note: when I pin a quilt I don't shut the pins until the whole thing is done. This way if something like this happens it is not so bad and also I can shut pins while sitting comfortably in a chair or in the car while waiting in a carpool line (that't what I did when I was a nanny). I also layered the second quilt and you guessed it right again--it shifted! I was so careful too!
      So then it was time to start stippling but I discovered I didn't have the right thread to match the backing or enough variegated thread for the top of the second quilt so a trip to JoAnn was in order for thread. Ok, now it is time to sew. After a couple hours I decided I should check the back and guess what--you got it--a pucker. This is because I don't have good clamps that fit my table so I can stretch the backing well. So I decided this problem had to be solved before layering quilt #3 so a field trip was in order to Home Depot. Well, they didn't have the kind of clamps I need in the size I need so I came home defeated and ordered clamps from Amazon (3" spring clamps). So I am ready for quilt #3.
      Now it is time to tear out the puckered area and fix it and guess what--my seam ripper point is broken off and I can't find the other seam ripper so now I have to make another trip to the fabric store. This time I went to Emma's Quilt Cupboard down the street and paid full price and bought 2 seam rippers in case I lose or break one again. So I get the pucker fixed and get back to stippling and CRUNCH. The presser foot came off, broke the needle and guess what--I am out of the needles I like to use. I already know neither store carries the needles I like (Jeans size 80) so back to Amazon to order needles. I put in a different needle which is working ok and I am still waiting for the needles to arrive.
      Meantime I have been stippling on both quilts and making good progress and since the clamps have now arrived I am ready to layer the next ones! GOOD GRIEF!

Thanks for all the help, quilters--it's done!

     I really want to thank everyone for your input into the Emma Block dilemma. I was really frustrated and took everyone's comments into account before I sewed those blocks together. Thanks Nancy and Kim for pointing out that not all teenagers like wallhangings. I pondered that one a while and decided to make the thing so it could be either a pillow or a wallhanging, whichever she decides.She decided on a pillow, which will always come in handy in the dorm!
      As you can see I went with the blue pinwheel. It had a lot of votes and the more I thought about it the more it made sense. You see, she made this in a class that she hated. The professor with the French accent was making her nuts at the beginning of the semester telling her she needed more "jazz" and movement. She is a person who likes things to be neat, realistic, and in order and the concept of "jazz" just didn't make any sense to her! I tried to tell her to tilt things or make something look like it was falling off the page and she just got mad at me and told me she doesn't think like me. So I decided the pinwheel had "jazz".
     I hope you can zoom in and
see the quilting design I did on this. This design is based on another of her dreaded assignments so I thought I would incorporate it too. I took the design and repeated the elements on paper until I had a complete design. Then I used a primary color variegated thread to sew right on the paper. It is such an easy technique (until you have to cut all the threads and tear all the paper).  I used the multi color thread because I figured just one color would disappear into the matching fabric so this way different elements pop. Jazz again!
      In addition to making this for her birthday I also made the craziest thing for her. When she was young she was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz books. She loved the Patchwork Girl of Oz and wanted to learn to sew to make a doll. She sewed old leftover blocks and scraps together (not very well, I must say!) to make a big piece of fabric to make into a doll. It has been haunting me every time I get into the UFO box and I decided to make her a doll. I used to make rag dolls back in the day but my patterns are buried in the bottom of the closet to I made up the pattern as I went along. I lost sleep for 3 nights figuring out how to make the wacky hair but I got it done and here it is.

Help me, quilters!!!

Emma's block

      Hi all you quilter friends out there. I need feedback and I need it ASAP. My daughter designed this "block" for a design class in college. She hated the class and for inspiration I told her if she made something good I would make it for her as a wallhanging. Well this A+ design is it so I made 4 blocks and THEN realized that they were weird to put together. I put them up on the design wall every way I could think of and can't decide what would look best. Stripey? Pinwheel? Red on top? Blue on top? Sashing? Square? Oblong? Ahhhhhhhh! I need to decide and I have 10 days to finish before she comes home for break. HELP!

Blue pinwheel

Oblong

Red pinwheel

Sashing

Blue down the middle