October Projects, Bernina Excitement

Posted on October 10, 2016 by edges

Is it really mid-October?

Will this election ever be over?

Like the whole country, I feel like I have had enough. And when I’ve had enough of anything, I turn to sewing. Usually, I find something completely new to occupy my mind…an outlet to create something I haven’t before. But the past few weeks have been spent mainly finishing projects, working, taking walks, and finding mindless sewing work from time to time to de-stress.

Here is a little gallery of images showing some of the things I’ve been working on.

Cross stitch work for halloween

Cross stitch to be made into tiny ornaments

October morning.

Fall 2016.

In the hoop bags.

In the hoop bags completed. I have dozens of these.

All four chairs finished!

In late September, I attended training at the Creative Center at Bernina. They are introducing some new products and I am excited about them.

Bernina 700 Embroidery Machine

Without a doubt, one of the coolest machines Bernina has introduced in a while. It has all the same features as the 790, with these new features:

Pinpoint Placement – you’ll never have to worry about hooping something crooked again. (This is cool…and easy.)
Thread Away – Never stitch over those loose threads.
Programmable jump stitch cutting – it will cut jump stitches as small as 1 mm…no more cutting those tiny jump stitches!
Multiple Spool Holder – Put all the threads for a design in one place.
320 designs included
18 alphabets (I love them.)
New Monogram Alphabet with ornaments (gorgeous!)

Honestly, I loved this machine. The engineers definitely had heart to heart conversations with actual people who embroider. Everything we could have asked for is right here. LOVE!

Pinpoint Placement.

Thread Away Mode.

Bernina Embroidery Software 8

The improvements to the software are worth the upgrade. Even if you don’t use some of the main new features, just the improvements to existing features is worthwhile. For instance, when choosing your hoops, now you tell the software what machine you have and it will only display hoops for that machine. Remember when you had to scroll that long list just to find your hoop? Not any more. Also, for newbies, you can turn on labels for all the icons..how helpful is that in learning the software?? (Very, for those who are not familiar.)

Features:

New! Color Photostitch – This is a vast improvement on Photosnap which was pretty particular in the types of images that would work.
3D Globe Effect – Great graphic effect.
Alternating Pattern Fills
One-click Auto Digitizing – Simplified and made easier to use.
Couching
Quilt Layouts
Automatic Quilt Backgrounds
3D fonts

Prepping an image for Photostitch.

Photostitch design ready to stitch.

3D Globe Effect.

Alternating Pattern Fills.

I spend a lot of time in software, so for those of you who use the software a great deal, it’s completely worth the cost to upgrade. For those of you who use it only occasionally, only you can decide if you need these new features. It is still a very familiar layout, with colors moved to the bottom.

If you are someone who has held out from upgrading for a few versions, especially if you have been holding out with version 5 or 6, now is the time to move up. Version 7 was a big change, and was a very user friendly upgrade. It made the software much easier to use. Software 8 builds on that.

That’s all I have for the moment, with a few new ideas brewing. More to come, as always!

The Back Story of One Quilt in Madison This Weekend

Posted on September 5, 2016 by edges

When you work in a quilt shop, you talk to people. You get to know them, you share stories, you find out their struggles and generally share tips, life hacks, experiences, and sometimes we even talk about quilting and fabric.

Yesterday, a young man walked into the shop. I’d seen him many times before, he does gorgeous and unusual piecing…technical stuff. He likes to bring them in to show us, and we love to see his work. Honestly, we love to see everyone’s work, it’s so inspiring. But his is always a bit different. One quilt he brought in was completely Harry Potter themed, with books and potions and characters all arranged on a series of shelves, with tiny pieced accents and Harry Potter memorabilia. Cool stuff.

I turned to greet him, “Hey, haven’t seen you in awhile!”

He shuffled his feet a bit, as uncomfortable early twenty-something young men do, and said, “Well my mom got sick and had a long illness and died.”

At that, all of us working stopped in our tracks and went over to him. We offered our condolences and then he said, “After she was diagnosed, for the next 9 months we worked on a quilt together, and it’s showing in Madison. She died the day before it came back from the quilter.”

At this point I needed a Kleenex.

I asked if he had a picture of the quilt. It was stunning…gorgeous…meticulous. It reminded me of a Judy Niemeyer. He said he did all the cutting, pinning and pressing, his mom did the machine sewing. He told us that they matched every single thread, and if something wasn’t absolutely perfect down to the thread, they corrected it. He said the medallion in the middle had 24 pieces of fabric coming together at the center and he managed to get it down to about 1/8 of an inch thick. He said Best Press is his friend. When they went to square it up it was 100 inches by 100 inches precisely. They worked on it in the nine months that she was still feeling OK.

I cannot include a picture because it’s in competition in Madison at Quilt Expo this coming weekend Sep 8-10.

As part of the show, he’ll be having his picture taken with the quilt. He said he’ll be bringing a picture of his mom to hold up so she’s in the shot.

If you will be at Madison Quilt Expo this weekend, you may want to send a little love and encouragement his way.

And, I don’t know, his quilt may or may not take Best of Show or any award at all.

But it sure is a winner.

Are You a Happy Glamper?

Posted on June 14, 2016 by edges

You can’t fool me with colorful new fabrics and joyful projects and slick looking retro-styled trailers and chef-inspired meals on Pinterest, cooked over wood-burning fires with tents and campers lit softly with warm beds and bathrooms and lighting.

I have been camping. And there is nothing “glam” about it.

I pitched tents that required directions and patience to assemble…long before they snapped together in minutes. I canoed down a muddy stream in a strange state in the pouring rain with a boat partner who had no idea how to steer. The couple behind us had a large black snake slide into their canoe. That’s the definition of horror.

I’ve slept on air mattresses that flatten completely by morning, on earth that slopes and slowly rolls me downhill all night till I’m shoved up against the door.

I’ve cooked real meals over an open fire and inhaled more than my share of campsites (especially in a state preserve where everyone is close to the next campsite and all are burning God-knows-what all night long.)

I’ve bathed in lakes and cold community shower stalls, discovered 5 ticks on one foot, and been terrified of the fierce growling in the middle of the night no more than 6 inches from my head on the outside of the tent.

Yes, I’ve been camping. Or do you say glamping.

Love it or not, the trend is hot hot hot.

And sewists are all over it! Take a peak at this link to hand embroidery that everyone is into these days.

Since I’ve been obsessed with in-the-hoop bags, here’s another.

I purchased this design from an Etsy shop called Disorderly Threads. You can purchase the design here.

It’s a lot of steps for a small design but the instructions are pretty clear. I love how it turned out and made a couple of them.

The idea of glamping is 100% fun, and retro and cute.

And if you’re looking for me, I’ll just be enjoying the whole trend vicariously from under the covers in my cozy, warm, dry bed.

Lilacs and Chaos

Posted on May 24, 2016 by edges

When the chaos in my mind and in my sewing room reaches the breaking point, it helps for me to get out and smell the lilacs.

This is my favorite time of the year. The promise of warm weather, the anticipation of wonderful, summery things. Those last few days before the kids are out of school, when expectation runs way ahead of itself. Lemonade and carnivals and rides on golf carts.

Green leafy things and colorful blooming things, and thunderstorms and sprinklers and fresh sweet corn and tomatoes. Farmers markets, and sandals, swimming pools and vacation adventures. Road trips and plane trips and hikes in the woods. Barefoot feet and long conversations on patios, decks and kitchen tables with air conditioners humming.

Trashy novels with no deep meaning, except maybe a lovely or surprisingly sweet ending. Grilled chicken and kabobs and sun on my painted toes. Lawn mowers and bicycles and screen doors. Red, white and blue, or basically white with any color.

Big juicy watermelons and fruit salads for breakfast with a warm croissant. Sunsets and bug spray, sparklers and beach towels. Water slides, hoses, and ice cream trucks.

Parades, tears, laughter, dirt.

Lilacs open the door to it all.

My sewing room is in chaos. I have at least 3-4 projects running simultaneously.

But all is well and all will be well.

The lilacs are in bloom.

Participating in The Splendid Sampler

Posted on January 27, 2016 by edges

Why am I participating in this project?

Partly, I think, because I like the designers who are contributing, partly because it sounds like a great way to slowly put together a quilt and share ideas with others.

6 1/2 inch blocks sound doable to me. Even 2 a week. But if you were to tell me I need to create 100 blocks and do this sort of “surprise” mystery quilt, I might not have signed on. But 2 blocks a week sounds like a doable discipline. Care to join me?

Here are the details for anyone who wants to participate.

Also, here’s a link to the blog.

The project begins Feb 14, so you have plenty of time to get ready. Although all you really need in order to start is a decent stash of fabric.

I am going back and forth about which color scheme to use.

Black Tie Affair by Basic Grey for Moda

I love the neutrals. They would make an elegant and timeless quilt. But another part of me wants to use more colorful fabric and go with more of a “farmgirl” theme.

Morningside Farm by Darlene Zimmerman for Robert Kaufman

Here I would use the scenic fabric as a border with all the other fabric as the piecing in the middle.

What do you think? They are both so different. I will probably wait til the block patterns start coming in to make a decision.

Dust off your sewing machine, and get ready to join in this creative collaboration. The project will have a Facebook page too, The Splendid Sampler, moderated by Pat Sloan.

I’m sure you’ll have access to plenty of online show and tell, so why not be a part of it? All the patterns will be available throughout all of 2016 for free, but then they will be put into a book in 2017.

Even if you never sew a stitch, it’s fun to watch the process. What are you waiting for?

Quilt Market Prep

Posted on April 13, 2015 by edges

It’s that time of year again. Quilt Market is coming up and the fabric designers and manufacturers are revving up their marketing engines. Come May 15-17, they will be at full throttle and social media will be abuzz with new product, new designs, new fabric and quilty fun.

But I’ve always loved a good preview.

And fabric manufacturers are getting good at it.

One of my favorites is Art Gallery Fabrics. Young, hip, fresh, at least by my standards. I love what new designers (read: young people) are doing in the industry. Art Gallery has released a Look Book of their new Spring 2015 fabric.

Take a look and let me know your favorites. Mine so far is Sketchbook and Happy Home, but I have to admit, I love them all and would be hard-pressed to choose.

Moda, the pop queen of fabric manufacturers, is also starting to tease some of their new lines. On their blog, we get a glimpse of the new Bonnie and Camille, as well as Minnick and Simpson, Zen Chic and Fig Tree Quilts.

Stay tuned, as I will try to distill some of the quilt market info as it becomes available. In the meantime, quilt on, friends!

New quilt in progress for my grand niece, pattern is free from Me and My Sister Designs. Fabric is Airmail, by Eric and Julie Comstock.

What Have You Done With Machine Embroidery Lately?

Posted on March 13, 2015 by edges

I ask myself that all the time.

My latest project is one I’m doing for work, which will be for a class in April. It’s a part of Bernina’s Software Sampler presentation. I am stitching out a ring of 8 designs to be used (ultimately) on a tablecloth for a round table.

It’s far from complete, but I promise to show you when it’s done.

But what’s new in the home embroidery industry? Well, that’s where this gets interesting.

I have a few favorite sites that I visit, but I’ve noticed some trends and thought I’d share some of the best with you.

Urban Threads, always on the cutting edge (no pun intended) of embroidery, has a new Look Book out. You have to take a minute to browse…very fun stuff.

You’ll notice that lettering, in many forms, has re-emerged as one of the most popular uses for embroidery. I see this trend at work very often as well. Everyone wants an item that is personalized, whether that is for a wedding, or just a simple monogram, the birth of a baby, you name it.

Bernina has just released new, inexpensive software that lets you add lettering to any embroidery design or just create your own lettering in any true type font that you have loaded on your computer.

This is a big deal. In recent years, Bernina’s software with lettering had an entry price of over $1000. The new software, called Customizer, saves to any machine format and is available for under $250 at any local Bernina dealer. But, as I say, anyone with any type of embroidery machine can use this software. Find out more about it here.

And all you techies looking for something new and fun for your machine embroidery?

I found just the thing.

Janome has introduced an app for ipad or android that is called AcuDesign. It’s a $49.99 app. But before you get nervous about the price, you have to see all that it does:

–Comes with 500 designs.

–Allows you to see animated stitch-outs.

–Edit your designs.

–Resize them.

–Send them directly to your email when you want to stitch.

–Save in any format, work in any machine’s hoop.

Might be hard to see on my ipad in this picture, but the way you scroll through the various designs is so easy, and the work screen is intuitive.

And if you ever need more info, Janome has created a webinar, over an hour long, that goes over all the features. (Love these gals in the webinar, they sound like people I should know!)

Finally, I am seeing a bump in interest in crazy quilting. The website mollymine.com has a lovely collection of crazy quilt designs, from quilt blocks to holiday-themed. And our friends at Designs in Machine Embroidery have featured crazy quilting on the front cover of their April issue, with a free crazy quilt design available.

Soooooooo…..what have you done with machine embroidery lately?

We have a world of opportunities in front of us. And we haven’t even looked at Pinterest yet.

(Yet.)

Just another Blizzard/Snowstorm/Super Bowl Sunday

Posted on February 1, 2015 by edges

Yesterday after work, at about 5:30 PM, I stopped at the local Meijer.

You would have thought that none of us had ever eaten before or would ever eat again. The shelves were cleared of chips and salsa, although I found some on an end cap. The stockers were angry and the check out clerks were exhausted. The gal at the counter told me the store had been packed all day.

I couldn’t find any potatoes. They were gone. Yes, all the potatoes were gone.

The Canadian bacon I usually purchase had been replaced by rows and rows of real bacon and Velveeta. And ribs. Sour cream shelves were empty. And I couldn’t even find my son’s yogurt.

The combination of Super Bowl Sunday and a pending snowstorm….excuse me…. BLIZZARD…were seriously almost causing the end of civilization.

Today, the snow IS falling, thank goodness. The plows in the neighborhood have been few and far between. I heard one last night at 3 am, then again once during the day today, and that’s pretty much it.

Of course, I have been sewing.

I used a new pattern and assembled a couple of cute table runners for Valentine’s Day. My goal is to get them to the point where I could spend the Super Bowl doing hand work by putting on the binding.

The pattern is called Rock Candy from Jaybird Quilts and the accompanying ruler is called a Sidekick. This is truly a simple pattern to do using the ruler, and a fun shape for a table.

I did manage to get the binding on, and now I’m ready to sit and watch the game.

The fabric is adorable, called Kiss Kiss from moda.

So get out your chips and dip, salsa and sour cream, your chocolates and cheeses and crackers and cookies. Turn on your big screen, enjoy the screaming crowds and the silly, raunchy, depressing, goofy, and tear-jerking commercials and half-time show.

As for me, at 8 pm I switch to Downton Abbey. Pass me the stress-reducing herbal tea.

Polka Dot Finale

Posted on January 13, 2015 by edges

I am crossing the finish line.

Still sewing the binding, but the quilt label is done, the sleeve for hanging is complete and all I have left is the last bit of hand stitching to pull it all together.

The red background is twill, the tree is wool and the rest is cotton, with a wide variety of thread weights for applique.

For everyone who participated in the Polka Dot Fabric Exchange, I THANK YOU! Your fabric is lovely, especially when it’s pieced together with everyone else’s!

I really enjoyed challenging myself with this project, as it was a meaningful way of bringing together quilters from around the world.

For fun, I thought you might like to see the creative journey, step by step in images. Dedicated to quilters everywhere…we’re all on the same family tree!

Scribbling a thought at the breakfast table.

The fabric begins to come in from all across the US and the world.

I am moved by the notes attached to every fabric square, so I saved them.

Testing for applique.

Getting an idea of how the tree will look.

Transferring the drawing of the tree.

Cut out and fused down.

Leaves have been cut out and placed for position.

All appliqued, embroidered, quilted, just about done.

Hugs to my polka dot friends!

Sometimes a Locker is Just a Locker

Posted on August 13, 2014 by edges

One more week and school starts.

Yesterday, my son and I dutifully scrambled over to the middle school to get his schedule, locker, locks, gym uniform and all the stuff that gets done a few days before school starts.

When we stepped through the door, we found a barrage of mom-volunteers, lined up with clip boards and boxes, maps of the school, directives and summaries of where to go and what to do. Bless their hearts.

The noise was deafening, as parents (mostly moms) and students clamored to drag in their wheelbarrows full of school supplies, divvied up into copious plastic bags from Target or Dollar General or Walmart.

Some remembered our son from elementary school. “Don’t worry,” they all shouted, “you’ll love it here.” Good thing I’m not going to school any more. I already hate it.

As we lumbered up the “up” stair case and down the hall, I saw a frantic mom “wallpapering” a locker. Seriously. I glanced at my son. “Don’t even think about it,” he said without slowing down.

Others were furiously unpacking their child’s supplies, taking plastic wrap off of folders and loading up lockers.

When we reached my son’s locker, we opened to a yawning empty abyss. He could barely reach the one and only top shelf. To the right of us, a mom and daughter team had just finished their remodeling job.

Her locker looked like my first apartment.

It was decked out like a California Closets ad. She had a mirror…at the perfect height, a small organizer on the door and on the back wall, shelving, decorations and a tiny chandelier hanging from the top. (My first apartment did NOT have a chandelier). Her books and binders were all lined up neatly on the shelves. She flipped her hair and looked at me.

I looked back at my son who had managed to throw all his Target bags on top of one another on the floor of his locker and was shoving at the door trying to get it to close.

“Where did you get all that?” I asked the mom on the right, shouting above the din. She was on her cell phone. “Container Store!” she yelled back. “And they only have 9 more left! My friend is picking up more shelving for us! Call right away and they might reserve one for you!”

I sighed. It’s been 40 years since I was anywhere near 6th grade. I was not driving 20 miles to the nearest Container Store.

We trudged home. “Don’t you think it would be nice to have some of those shelves?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said. “That would probably help.”

To be honest, I did not even know what to google. Locker shelving? Locker organization? Locker stackers, as I heard someone refer to them? I called the nearest Staples.

“Do you have any shelves for lockers?”

“Oh yes! We have lots of pink ones!”

“Do you have any other colors?”

“hmmm…let me see…ummm…yes there’s one black one. Maybe one more in black.”

“Good! Hold it for me, I’ll be right over!”

I have often wondered why our son just simply does not have huge organizational skills. I don’t wonder any more. Apparently it’s genetic.

But I’ll say this much: At least today in school I learned something.

Here’s a pinterest link to locker organizers!

Multi-hoop project is quilted, bound and finished.

Edgestitch

Sewing is life. Life is art.

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