Document Your Quilt

Posted on January 28, 2018 by edges

This week, I finally finished my Splendid Sampler quilt. (And I promise, this is the last post I will be writing about it. If you are still working, I would love to see yours…post to Instagram #SplendidSampler.)

Anyway, I got to thinking about the way we document quilts. Everyone does it differently, and plenty of folks don’t label their quilts at all. What a shame! I think all quilts deserve a label, even if it’s just your signature at the bottom. They take so much time and effort. While we are working on them, we spend time thinking of the people who will receive them. Life is going on around us while we are sewing.

I remember one of the first quits I ever made was done in the aftermath of 9/11. So much of the news, the change in our lifestyles, the culture, all got sewn into that quilt. It’s nothing special, just a Christmas quilt sewn in flannel and hand-tied. But I never made a label for it. I just tucked it away. Even now, when I pull it out, it brings me back to that time when we were all huddled around our TV sets getting information. And it brings me comfort.

So now, when I create labels for my quilts, I try to capture the moment or at least the sentiment that carried me through the project.

You can do this many ways.

I have embroidery software and am comfortable using it. However, I know a lot of people who create their labels in Word or something universal and print it out onto fabric. Printed Treasures printable fabric works well for this purpose and so does the printable fabric from Electric Quilt. Just follow the directions.

You can also just hand-write the label with permanent ink. Some people like to sew it into the binding in the corner. Others, like me, just like to hand-stitch it to the back of the quilt.

Whatever your chosen process, just make it your own. When you give quilts to people, you’ll find that after enjoying the initial beauty of the quilt, they are always charmed a second time by the label, the sentiment, the love.

It’s like the card, the thought, the capture of that moment in time. And even if it’s only for yourself…ESPECIALLY if it’s only for you and your family. Take the time to document.

Your effort is worth the credit.

(I deleted particular names off the labels for privacy here.)

Splendid Sampler on the Move!

Posted on January 6, 2018 by edges

Finally, I am moving forward with my Splendid Sampler quilt. I wrote about it here and here.

I would like to say that I completed all 100 of the blocks, but alas, life happens and I am a firm believer in stopping while I’m ahead. At first I did every block that came my way, regardless of the techniques.

I quickly realized that I never want to sew hexies. I mean *never*. Especially not 1 inch ones. And I realize that I may make enemies this way, but not everyone likes the same thing and that is just fine. If you love tiny hexies, bless your heart. If you like bunnies and squirrels on your quilt, bless your heart as well. And if you really love tiny paper-piecing, you’re probably going to heaven too.

It is laid out in our foyer, and I am finalizing the way to finish it. As you can see, I was pretty strict about the color palette. Thankfully, I still love the colors. Something about the neutrality of it makes it slightly less traditional. As you can see, I’ll probably stick with the dark inner border and a “piano key” outer border. I have so many scraps left over, I will easily be able to use them up as the border. I gain a little size there too.

I vowed a long time ago not to make quilts that are larger than twin size because:

I have no room to store them.
I don’t want to pay someone else to quilt them and I absolutely cannot handle queen size on my domestic machine, at least not with any quality.

But I did learn some new techniques. And I reignited a love of hand embroidery, which is quite popular right now.

It really does take a lot of time. As you can see, the left side is done by hand, the right side I just digitized and stitched out in machine embroidery. Sometimes the new block would be announced and I would think (I’m being honest here), “Not another hand embroidered block. I don’t have time this week.” At that point I was reminded of Indiana Jones in the scene with the Samarai wielding the giant sword. Indy, exhausted, whips out his gun and shoots him. After days of finishing one hand-stitched block, if another came up, I just went to the computer, digitized it in software, and within an hour, machine embroidered the next block. It’s cheating, I know.

But it looks great.

Over 20,000 quilters started this project back in February 2016.

I would love to know how many finished a quilt!

Chasing Cats with Machine Embroidery

Posted on September 10, 2017 by edges

Doesn’t everyone have a Halloween tree?

It’s a silly thing, I know. But we get a kick out of it. I make all the ornaments in machine embroidery as in-the-hoop projects.

First, the actual embroidery design is stitched out.

A placement line is stitched, so I can see where the backing will be placed. Before the backing, I tape down a ribbon for hanging. Then the backing is laid down with right sides together.

The backing then gets stitched down with an opening at the bottom which allows for turning the item inside out. Once the backing is stitched down, I can take the whole thing out of the hoop and trim 1/4 inch around the outside, clipping the corners, and turn it inside out.

Just add a bit of stuffing, stitch up the bottom and you’re done! Three at a time at this size. When I make them even smaller, six at a time is just as easy!

Finished and ready to hang on the tree.

I hope this gives you some ideas for the holidays. Happy stitching!

Chicken Soup and Embroidery Software

Posted on September 4, 2017 by edges

It’s a chicken soup kind of day.

My son came home after his first few days of high school with a nasty cold. I’m not surprised. The place is a breeding ground for experimental teenage germs.

On top of that, the weather turned cooler today…for how long, I’ve no idea. But it’s cloudy and cool right now.

Furthermore, like everyone else in the sewing industry, I read Nancy Zieman’s latest blog with a heavy heart. Whether you watched her show or not, you know Nancy. You buy her notions or you attend Quilt Expo in Madison. I’ve learned many tips from Nancy along the way, but my favorite line was this: ” I sew at least one quilt a year for charity.” She never said “You should…” She told us what she did, and then she did it, among all the other wonderful charitable contributions she made within the industry (and outside of it).

So, yes, it’s a chicken soup kind of day.

While the soup bubbled away, I sat down with my laptop and organized some of the Halloween designs I want to make in the very near future.

I use Bernina Embroidery Software 8, and I’m planning on making tiny pillow-like ornaments to hang on my Halloween tree.

The designs I’m using came from urbanthreads.com, a favorite of mine for cute and/or spooky embroidery.

It’s hard to see the design in this shot but it is a single thread color of a cat. I used a feature that people rarely take advantage of in the ‘design” menu. Click on “background” and change the background color in the hoop.

Now you can actually see what the design will look like stitched out on dark grey or black fabric. In the prior shot, you can see where I added stitching in a square around the outside. Before I stitch that, I will add a square of fabric and a ribbon for hanging. I’m not stitching out today, but I promise to share when I do.

In this design, I’m stitching the profile of this cat, but it has multiple thread changes for each cat. For some reason, the.exp file I’m using has changed all the colors from shades of purple to random colors. I did not take the time to fix the thread colors on screen because I will just use the correct ones as I stitch out.

The important thing to note here is that on the side, in the color film, I used the “Sequence by Color” tool. This way, I’m able to stitch all the same colors at once instead of changing threads each time for each color on each cat. Whew!

It makes a big difference in the amount of time it takes to stitch out. Also, I will have to cut the jump stitches in between each thread change, as I have the thread moving around quite a bit.

Still, I have loaded all this onto my USB stick and am ready to stitch as soon as I prep some fabric, stabilizer and fabric for the backs of these cute little ornaments.

Can’t wait to get started, but I won’t have time for a couple of days.

My Halloween quilt is complete, and ready for its debut! Stay tuned. It may be early September, but it’s already time for a cool change.

Dueling Woolies, and a Couple of Tips

Posted on June 6, 2017 by edges

I’ve been working on these two wool hand embroidery pieces. One is for the shop, the other for home. By the time I finish them, I will either have gotten wool completely out of my system, or I will have started a dangerously addictive habit. I really like working with wool and have learned a couple of things.

(An acknowledgement of the patterns: The first comes from a Moda book called Moda Mini Marvels. The second is a Wooly Lady pattern called Kaleidescope. Sadly, it no longer seems to be available. But check out their site as they have many more patterns and kits that are similar.)

Tip Number One:

Use a long-arm stapler to attach the pieces of wool and hold them in place while you stitch. Seriously. Skip the fusible. Skip the pins. They add bulk and distortion and take all the fun out of the smoothness of attaching wool to wool. I was struggling with it and our tech came over and said, “Do you want to know what the Australians do?” Now, honestly, who doesn’t want to know what the Australians do. She suggested the stapler and I was struck by the simplicity and brilliance of the idea. Why didn’t I think of this? Try it.

Tip Number Two:

You need this tool. Clover Press Perfect Roll & Press. Your local quilt shop will have it and if they don’t, ask them to order it! If you ever do piecing, this is one of the best investments you can make. I work in a quilt shop and try a lot of tools. I like them for different things, and we all get addicted to different gadgets…it’s part of the process.

But the project I’m working on requires 1 in. half square triangles, finished size 1/2 in. I need 84 of them. That’s a lot of sewing, cutting and pressing of tiny pieces. But this little roller works SO WELL! I did not need to use the iron once…it lays the seams so flat. Get it, try it, find out for yourself.

I continue to carry on, with more fun projects on the horizon. But I find that at this time in my life, a little handwork is cathartic and soothing. I like my wool to be bright and cheerful, but who knows? That can change at any time. When all is said and done, we’re all evolving, aren’t we?

Freestanding Lace for the Holidays

Posted on December 6, 2016 by edges

I found these wonderful designs on Urbanthreads.com. I immediately thought of Valentine’s Day, although these were likely meant for the Christmas Season. I have not yet whip-stitched these together, but I love the look of them.

If you are not familiar with freestanding lace, a lot depends on the density of the designs and the stabilizer you use.

I used OESD Aquamesh, 2 layers for each piece. Each envelope has 3 pieces.

You can see the double layer of washaway stabilizer in the above photo. Each section of the envelope took at least an hour to stitch out, so be sure you start with a full bobbin, a well-oiled machine, a new needle and plenty of thread. I matched the bobbin thread to the top, using Isacord on everything.

There were two different envelope designs to choose from, one was roses, as shown above. The other was holly leaves, and I stitched that out in red. Both of the envelopes I stitched were about greeting card size.

But I do have a smaller size design that would be perfect for business cards or a gift card.

Once the design was complete, I trimmed away all the stabilizer, leaving 1/4 inch or so around the outside.

Each piece gets rinsed in warm water. Some people recommend filling the sink and letting the lace soak. That will work, but I usually keep the warm water running and rinse it thoroughly until all the stabilizer has dissolved.

The design needs to dry overnight, and I use a piece of florist’s styrofoam as a base, and flatten each design and pin in place. This prevents any curling as they dry.

After that, it’s just a whip stitch to assemble the front and the back, and then the top to the back.

I had the most fun searching for just the right button for each of envelopes. I plan to make a few more…I want the rose design in red. (Shhhhh…I think that’s part of this year’s Valentine’s Day gift.)

Finally, I thought I’d share my scarf, which is moving along nicely now. In fact, it’s probably twice as long as this photo shows…but not quite long enough to be complete.

The scarf will also have to be gently washed and stretched flat to dry. That way it will hold the shape.

If you enjoy designs from Urban Threads, you’ll get a kick out of their new holiday Look Book.

They also have their own line of fabric from Spoonflower now.

I actually have created my own fabric on Spoonflower with some of my black and white photography. But I’ll have to save that for another post once I come up with how I’m going to use the fabric!

Machine Embroidery Valance

Posted on October 23, 2016 by edges

I love one-of-a-kind.

If it hasn’t been done before, I’m in. Even if it has been done before, but it can be done slightly differently, I’m in.

What I’m not really interested in doing is creating exactly what someone else has already created. Let’s be honest, here. Nothing under the sun is really new any more. We all receive our inspiration from someone, or something, or some technique. Original ideas come from many places, but they almost always require inspiration from somewhere, and we all learn from one another.

That’s OK. As long as it’s new to you. I don’t judge people who take a pattern and re-create it exactly as the book dictates. That’s how we learn. We aren’t all designers. I’m not…at least I don’t get paid to be one.

But my favorite projects come to me like a whirlwind, and I have all to do to scribble them down before they disappear. The end product is not always exactly what I had planned, but I know when I have a starting point.

My challenge: To create a project based on some digitized rulers created in Artwork Canvas within Bernina Embroidery Software 8.

I started with the 3 black ruler shapes, wondering how to place them in an interesting project.

I knew I wanted to use a sewing theme, and I also wanted to incorporate Amanda Murphy’s Sewing Room embroidery designs. I thought they were cute and fresh. (See the link below).

Sitting at the computer one day, I had an idea. I don’t ever design on a computer. It’s just not fast enough to capture the idea before I talk myself out of it.

So I grabbed the back of the closest sheet of paper and scribbled out this initial design.

I thought I’d make a table runner, with all the embroidery designs lined up in a row. I thought about adding buttons scattered around the design, since the theme has thread spools, scissors , rulers, etc.

I didn’t have any fabric at home that was close to my reach that was in the right shape to hold all the designs.

So I stitched a number of half fatquarters together (fat-eighths). I think they were leftover from this project.

And I printed out some templates to see if I was getting close to my original thought.

It was going to work.

I began embroidery, and once the embroidery was complete, a friend at work (hey Bobbie!) asked if I was making another valance…this time for my sewing room. (You can check out the last time I made a valance here.)

I had actually been thinking of it as a table runner, but when she said valance, I suddenly saw that too!

I continued with the quilting which for some reason was a part of the original scribble and I couldn’t depart from it. Here are a few of the detail shots.

I’m sure you can see why I wanted to use Amanda Murphy’s embroideries…but it actually works pretty well with the digitized rulers.

Here’s what it looks like complete. It’s quilted all over using a walking foot, and the back is turned down to form a rod pocket.

It will be at the shop for a while, but I can’t wait to hang it on the window in my sewing room. I moved the random-sized buttons to the middle to give it a look of continuity. I love the Barbie-style dresses.

You can make the rulers if you attend Bernina’s November Software Inspiration class at your local dealer. And if you don’t have software, I’m sure you can find a measuring tape embroidery or replace it with another design. The point is not to make the same valance I made, (although you certainly are welcome to do that) but to make it your own! Have fun with the idea, and create something new and original for your own home.

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!

Splendid Sampler — Half Way Home

Posted on August 3, 2016 by edges

Are there any Splendid Sampler participants still out there?

I know there are. We were in the neighborhood of 20,000 strong when we started last February. I know many of you are up to date and still participating…and many, many more of you, like me, are hanging on…barely.

We knew when we started that this would be a long and unpredictable journey. A yearlong commitment to any project is risky, and in this one, we really had no idea what blocks would be thrown our way.

My special thanks to all the designers who have donated their time and effort to these wonderful blocks. While I have deep respect for all of you, I may not sew out a few of your blocks. Please don’t be offended. Sometimes the stress of learning a new technique, combined with time constraints, just has me putting off a few blocks. Also, in fairness, If I had the same taste as all 75 or 80 designers, I wouldn’t have much of my own. So, every now and then, a block just isn’t my thing. That’s OK. I still appreciate the work, and I probably would take the time to do them under different circumstances.

But, hey, it’s my quilt, and at the end of the day, I reserve the right to be a little choosy. That said, I have ventured into many an area I never thought I’d enjoy–like hand embroidery. Believe me, I still fall back on machine embroidery when I fall behind…or when I don’t really want to do any applique. Then I just digitize the whole block.

But a few of them I’ve done by hand, and while time-consuming, they have that unmistakable “slow stitched” look.

No matter how you look at it, I am still proud that at the end of this year or the beginning of the next, I will have an amazing, interesting, unique and lovely quilt all pieced and ready to be assembled. It will be both a tribute to fellow quilters and a learning process on my part. In this picture, I left the blocks in their cellophane sleeves so they don’t begin to fray from too much handling.

Now back to the business of filling in some of the blocks I missed along the way.

If you are inclined to join, feel free to hop on board. You can find the block patterns and all you need to know right here.

The Splendid Sampler Facebook page is also a great place for inspiration and community–see everyone else’s projects!

New blocks come out every Sunday and Thursday, and bonus blocks are plentiful. The patterns will be available for free for a year and then they will all be assembled in a book. (You know we’ll all want the book!)

Keep going Splendid Sampler lovers…we’ve rounded the corner!

Tiling Your Machine Embroidery

Posted on June 23, 2016 by edges

These days, we’re all finding new ways to machine embroider. From quilting to in-the-hoop, to applique, I’m amazed at the new life coming into this part of the sewing scene.

This past week I spent some time stitching out a beautiful pattern from Embroidery Online. Here’s a link to the collection, called Modern Expressions Tiling Scene.

I started with a great palette and moved on from there. I don’t think I ever would have dreamed of putting some of these colors together without the designer’s keen eye. The pdf printout shows a nice layout of the design, and while my personal colors were slightly different, they were very true to the original colors. I also stayed very true to the thread colors of the original design.

The stitch-out was actually pretty light and easy, as nothing about the design is terribly dense. Even at less-than-top-speed, each block took only about 20 minutes.

The pattern instructions called for two layers of tear-away stabilizer, which worked very well. I had my doubts about how nicely it would press out in the end, but it lays really flat.

The end result is a very modern looking design, great for a wall-hanging or a table runner. This was waaaaay easier than I thought it would be. Read the instructions thoroughly, and you’ll have no problems. At the end, you trim each block 1/4 inch from the final thread color, and it really keeps your block sizes uniform. When stitching together, just hold a decent quarter inch and you’ll be fine….it’s a forgiving pattern. Press your seams open.

While I still have to quilt and bind it, I think I’ll just quilt in the ditch. Still, a great weekend project, and I really fell in love with the finished look of this. Have fun!

Edgestitch

Sewing is life. Life is art.

Category Archives: embroidery