Learning to Quilt: Part 2

We left off at pinning, and now we're ready to sew our blocks.

* (Reminder, I'm just a beginner here and this is basically what I've learned from several different blogs, books, google searches, and stalking little old ladies in the batting isle.  Yes, seriously.  I just found a need for some tutorials on the bare bones of quilting.  I'm teaching myself, so hopefully I can help someone else answer their stupid inquisitive questions that I had!)

* Quarter Inch Foot.  I purchased this foot (on the left) for my machine and it makes a big difference when piecing!  I think it was around $20 and worth every penny!

* Really cute dog, sitting at your feet, watching every move- optional!  Oh I love her!

* Sew pieces together with 1/4" seam.

* Backstitch at beginning and end of block.  I've heard you can do it or not, but I found it was better to do it, so the end of your seams have no chance of pulling apart when you join rows together.  Anyone have a better answer for this?

* Press seam before you open it.

* Press towards the darker side.

* This is a good example of pressing towards the dark.  It would drive me crazy to see seams through this white fabric!!

* Sew rows together, making sure that your seams butt up against each other (see how the 4 blocks below meet at a perfect square?)

Part 3 is a comin' soon!

Go Back to Part 1: Choosing Fabric, Planning, & Cutting

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

According to random.org, the winner is #5,

Lindsey Spraggins who said...

"My favorite part of spring is planting flowers and watching them bloom! I planted a few lily bulbs this year and they are sprouting out of the ground right now!"

 I'll be in touch!

Give An Old Shirt New Life!

Do you have a shirt that's nearing the end of it's life?  I love this comfy tee, especially the color, but I didn't like the neckline and it was just hanging out in my closet.

I didn't do a fantastic job, but it's good enough for a couple more wears out of it!  To change the neckline, I pinned where I wanted it, traced between the pins with a disappearing marker, and cut.  I sewed around the edge with a straight stitch- didn't even hem it!

I picked up this extra large shirt at Walmart for $4 and cut into long strips about 1-2" wide.  You don't have to be exact with this!

Start by folding the long strip in half and knotting in the middle.  This is the start of your flower.

Twist the ends together.  Using a hot glue gun, place a dab of glue on the knot and glue down the top of the twist.  Continue wrapping the twisted fabric around the knot, gluing every 1/2" or so.

Twist and glue until you get to the tails.  Fold them under the flower and glue in place underneath.

These could literally go on anything, but for the purpose of my shirt, I pinned them on with a straight pin to see where I wanted them.  Using a needle and thread, I attached each of them to the shirt with a few secure stitches.

Don't forget- One more day for the giveaway!!

 

Tea please.

I will admit, this is the most random post ever. I'm back from the gym, felt like some tea, and ready to make stuff all day. If you are not a tea drinker, you will indeed think this is the most useless post ever.

However, if you are a tea drinker, take this as a good product review. I feel like I've tried them all and this is now my regular selection. The Honey Vanilla Chai is by far the best I've had. Same goes with the Stash for Green Tea. Lipton's Green Tea with Lemon is a great twist on the regular, and if you're a fan of black tea, Twinings is my favorite way to go!

Ok, gotta go, I see some fabric calling my name!

Paisley and Polka Dot's First Giveaway!!!

Wow, I never thought having 50 'followers' would be so cool! In honor of hitting 50 today, I am giving away a custom camera strap cover to one of you!

That means, you tell me what kind of camera you have and some measurements, and I'll make sure it fits, lens cap and all! You can have free reign over my fabric stash and design your own.

It can be one of the combos below, or another.

Alright, you don't have to do 10 things here, just answer one little question (oh and you must be a follower). :)

What is your favorite part about spring or what is the first thing you want to do after all the snow melts?

Giveaway ends Monday at 8pm, Eastern Time.

It's raining, it's pouring...

And I really love my.....

New Walmart really cute bag with my raincoat!

Blue, white, and yellow are just yummy together!

10 Dolla Hollaaa

I stopped at Walmart today....while maybe I should have been working. Shh, don't tell. You see, I spend a lot of time in my car, so I think up new ways to spend money on craft supplies, while trying to justify that it would be way more expensive if I bought the thing I'm trying to make. And then I pass a Walmart, Joanns, Michaels, quilt shop, etc. and I just have to stop.

So today I bought lots of things to embellish that I've been meaning to try. And then I passed this little beaut. Isn't she perdy? It came in black too, but I'm a sucker for anything yellow. Did you not see my flower wreath? Anyway, this bag was 10 dolla. I know, what a steal!

She was a little plain so I added a few flowers from said wreath and there ya go. Can't beat a new spring bag for 10 bucks.

Ok, and then about 100 miles later, I was in this cute little town that happens to have a cute little quilt shop. To be quite honest, then never really have a ton of good stuff...it's so old ladyish, but I stop every so often to check out the sale rack. Well apparently old ladies don't like Heather Bailey because these 2 bolts were almost full and discounted to $3.75 a yard! It's from her Freshcut line. Add some yellow minky and I smell some burp cloths!!

Learning to Quilt: Part 1

I come from a long line of crafty people. These women can do anything with a needle and thread. My Mom doesn't quilt, but all of her sisters do. I have a few baby quilts they made me when I was born, and I just think quilts can span generations and are such a meaningful gift to others as well as yourself! Wow, I can be so corny!

Anyway, my sister is expecting my first niece or nephew this summer and so I thought I'd continue the tradition and make him or her a quilt...or 10. That leads me to this series of posts on what I've learned while teaching myself the ins and outs.

For this series, I am making a table runner instead of an actual quilt, because it's smaller and easier. Some is pretty self explanatory, but it makes me feel better to explain everything. So just deal with it, ok?

* Choose your fabric. Don't be afraid to mix and match different lines, just find whatever suits your purpose. Choose high quality fabric (like from a quilt shop) because I understand you'll pay for it down the road if you use the uber cheap stuff from craft stores. That's not to say they don't have any good fabric, but you get what you pay for. It can be an investment, but you want this thing to last a loooong time, right?

* Plan it out. Don't get all sew happy (like I tend to do) until you have a plan. If you're using a pattern, read it, and read it again. It's easy to miss something small!

For this project, I made my own pattern. You can find a tablet of graph paper at the dollar store, so use it! It makes it easier for those of us that are mathematically challenged. Quilts are made using a 1/4" seam. When planning, you must take this into account!!

In the picture below, there are 3 blocks across that are 5"x5", so 15" across. There are two seams in that row. Each seam is going to eat up 1/2", so it should end up being 14".

* To wash or not to wash? I've read about both options, but I guess I'm being lazy and choose not to pre-wash my fabric.  Also, if you pre-wash, your fabric will shrink slightly.  You want this to happen after your quilt is complete and you wash it.  You'll get the crinky old fashioned goodness!

* Iron. Don't be lazy on this one. Your fabric has been all folded up and you will get more accurate cuts if you iron.



* Cut accurately! Get yourself a large self healing mat, with a clear ruler and rotary cutter. I got this set of 3 from Fiskars on sale for $28 at Joanns. Ok, so about the accuracy thing... Unless you are making a scrappy quilt with no size specifications, you need to be cutting to size. Cut all your pieces before you touch your sewing machine.


* Lay it out. Arrange your blocks on your table or the floor so you can get a preview of what it will look like. Now's the time to switch any blocks around if it doesn't look quite right. Take a quick picture of the layout so you can refer to it later when you are putting it back together.


* Pinning. You can see my pile of pinned pieces in the picture above. While your blocks are spread out, start pinning each row. Place right sides together and insert 2 or 3 pins. Don't be haphazard about this. Just like cutting, it is very important they are accurately pinned so your quilt doesn't end up all wonky and lopsided.


Part 2: Sewing Blocks Together

I've been busy over here.

Here's a sneak peak at what I've been working on. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on that has good tutorials and descriptive directions. Then came the trial and error!

I've been diligent about taking pics so I can document the whole disaster process and share them with you. I'm the type of person who needs to learn about and master every small detail of a project...and I'm impatient (which is why I haven't taken quilting classes yet). With that being said, I thought I'd do a series of posts showing the process of making a quilt, beginning to end. (That is, in my world of quilting)

*Note* If you already know how to quilt and/or you've being doing it since you came out of the womb, please step away from these posts because you are going to laugh, I promise. These posts are for people like me that have lots of stupid inquisitive questions about the basics. And when I say basics, I mean B-A-Y-Y-Y-S-I-C-S.

Stay tuned!

You can never have enough of this stuff...

So... my job often involves travel. And I often pass fabric shops along the way. And I sort of have them all mapped out. In case of a day like today, when I just so happened to have make a few spare minutes to shop.

I added some 'Authentic' to my stash...of plenty. Hey, one can never have enough Sweetwater!

AND, the BEST part of all... MAKE LIFE!! I've been stalking this shop's website for weeks waiting until it finally arrived. I am in total lust with these fabrics. Plenty of paisley and polka dots to go around, and the colors are just oh-so-yummy. Don't expect any projects out of this stuff anytime soon. I have to sit here and look at it for a while.

This lovely little pile is my current WIP. Instead of teaching myself how to baste, quilt, and bind on my big Christmas quilt, I'm going to do this smaller project first beginning to end. (Why didn't I think of that in the first place?)

Perdy Posies in a Rope Wrapped Vase

This just might be the easiest project I've ever done.

I love that instant gratification. Now if only every other project was this easy!

Wouldn't these make great gifts, filled with posies for a friend's birthday?!!

Start with an old, ugly, cheap vase such as the one below I found hidden in the back of my cupboard. It was just screaming 'refurb me'. I can't wait to go find some equally ugly ones at the thrift store!

I used just about the whole package of manila rope from Home Depot, and it was $5. It's still not bad, considering the vase was free, but anyone know of manila rope in bulk? :)

Get your glue guns ready (this can potentially use several glue sticks, depending on how often you decide to glue a piece down).

Start at the bottom of the vase, glue the end down as close to the base as you can, and start wrapping. I would use 2-3 spots of glue for every complete rotation around the vase. As you are wrapping, just keep pushing the rows down that you've already glued so it's nice and tight and you can't see the glass through the rope. Wrap up to the very top and glue in place. Ta da!

I saw this recently on someone's blog, and I really apologize for not giving credit, but I can't find the site for the life of me!