ABC-123...

ABC-123 Pattern

Ohhh, what to do with the tiny little scraps of binding leftovers, or pieces of bias strips?  How about making taggies?  This little pattern ABC-123 Blocks is perfect for any kinds of leftover odds and ends. 

~Look how nice Olive plays with the Alien Babies~

Pair it with some bigger pieces of flannel or minkee squares and you have the perfect little quick gift for your next shower, or welcome baby gift.  (I think for now my Olive might get to play with these!) 










Do you want to make some ABC-123 Blocks?  We have a class coming up soon!
Friday, March 4, 2011. 

10am-12pm we are going to be creating the embroidery designs.  Do you have software, or are wondering if you want software for your embroidery machine?  Come to this class to watch how to make this hand embroidery into machine embroidery.

Then, stay for the afternoon class of making these blocks!
1pm-4pm ABC-123 Block construction.  Any level of sewer can easily construct these blocks, and we are going to look at different filling options, we have some cool new stuffing to show you!  Come and join us, let us "fill" you with ideas!

E-mail, or call to sign up
therese@pineneedles.net
319-373-0334

~therese

Society Meeting Month #2

The focus for Month 2 has been Precision Piecing, or Clean Piecing.  We took a good look at the tools that we are using, and the techniques for sewing our pieces together.  We already know that our cutting is good and clean as you learned in Month #1.  Now we are focusing on getting those pieces put together well. 

Universal, or Quilting Needles. 75/11 or 80/12

First how are your tools looking?  Do they look a little worn out and tired?  Do you think you should probably change your needle this month? :)  Ok, seriously, put a new needle in your machine, right now!  These are the tools that I like to use...






Freshly Baked Aurifil 50 weight Thread Box.  Love, Love, Love this stuff!  I use this ALL THE TIME for my piecing, it is so fine, and clean that it doesn't even lint my machine up, and so that means my BERNINA also Love, Love, Loves this stuff!

Kaye picked these thread colors to match specifically to her Bread & Butter Fabrics, get your little "candy box" of thread today!

Straight stitch plates, oh soooo important.  Have you ever tried to piece some triangles, and the feed dogs eat half of your point off?  How annoying!  I bet you weren't using a straight stitch plate.  Straight Stitch plates, or Single Hole plates help support your fabrics so your points aren't sacrificed to your lowly feed dogs.  Straight Stitch plates also help tremendously with keep your straight stitch nice and well, straight!  (This is also the plate that is recommended for doing your machine embroidery, lots of uses for this little guy...)



 Now, here is my tip about how to get your *PERFECT* Quarter inch on your machine (As shown on my BERNINA)  Attached in the picture is my #37 foot (1/4 inch piecing foot) I ALWAYS use this for piecing, check out the notches on this foot, they are so helpful when piecing.  Now, the key... The dash on the stitch plate is where I line up the edge of my fabrics for piecing my 1/4 inch seam.  If you line up your fabrics here, they will be lined up with 1/4in edge of the foot.  If you wait until your fabric gets to your presser foot to line up the fabric, it is too late, you can't easily adjust your fabric once it is sandwiched between the presser foot and the feed dogs.  Make sure you are sewing slow enough that you can take the time to line this up.

Are you using your Free Hands System?

 I always piece with my Needle set in Needle Down Position, and I typically lengthen my stitch out.  Kaye says, "you don't need the added thread of smaller stitches in your piecing, so don't add it".  I usually lengthen my stitch to about 2.5-2.75 mm.

Is Easing allowed, even with Smart Piecing?  Yes.  I ease parts of my blocks together, ONLY because I do not hot iron press the blocks until the entire block is finished.  This is how I ease...
I line up the top corner of my two pieces.  I don't worry about the bottom corner, because I am not there yet.  I do not use any pins when constructing blocks.

Then, take 3-4 stitches into the block.  Stop with Needle Down, and then line up the bottoms of the blocks, allow the more heavily pieced portion of the block (in this example, the top piece) to be stretched to fit the size of the bottom piece.  Try not to let the bottom piece be stretched, as this will distort your block.
After your block is completely pieced.  Then I hot iron press it.

Quilting Detail from my project.  *Note, this was done with my embroidery machine.  Come to Embroidery Secrets in March to see all the details of this!

 

happy sewing!
~therese

Kaye's College-Day 2 & 3

What a whirlwind of activity here in somewhat sunny Florida!  We have had guest lecturers, new patterns, old favorite, new friends, good stories, some tears, more laughs and still more to come!  We have seen some beautiful new ideas for Kaye's Bread & Butter fabrics, and are so excited to come back and share some of our creations with you.  What Jill and I have found is that the entire line works so well together that you can mix about any two or three or four or twelve colors together, and the combination always looks great!


We were given step two of the mystery quilt, and I have been working on the next progression of blocks.  However, I don't know if I want to show the final product when I am finished, as I think we may need to do this mystery for ourselves at Pine Needles, and I would so hate to ruin the surprise for you. 

Here is some guesses that I have for the blocks, it's not looking very hopeful for me, I don't think any of these options would work.

30 & 60 Degree Rulers

I saw a great quilt made with the new 30 and 60 degree triangles, made by my friend Rosemary, and I think I may start a bit of a smaller version of this myself.  I don't know that I will do something quite as elaborate as what Rosemary did, but I will let you know the end result.

Trio Top, T-shirt & Pant Pattern

Our friend Linda Lee also came for a visit, and as usual, inspired me to try some different ideas with some of her patterns.  Here Linda is showing her Trio Top from her Trio Top, T-shirt and Pant pattern.

Bells & Whistles Top

My favorite was her mixing fabrics on the Bells & Whistles top.  I have made this pattern before, and now I will definitely be going home and making a new style, I am already thinking of some fabrics for this new creation.

Ikina Jacket

My other favorite style was the Ikina jacket.  This is one that I would never have picked up for the cover of the pattern, and when she showed this, she showed how she removed the vents from the sides, and gave a funky side slit.  This is also a definite one to make.

The other day, the weather started off really nice, and ended beautifully, but it rained all day in between.  I got some beautiful sunset pictures with the remnants of storm clouds.

Kaye's College-Day 1

Ahhh, Florida.  Although only 52 when we arrived Thursday, by Friday it is in the 70s with beautiful sun, and a nice warm breeze.  This morning we were able to watch the dolphins playing just past the beach in the Gulf of Mexico.  It's hard to catch them on camera though, those little buggers are fast!

First night, all of the students of Kaye's College got together to each dinner by the pool, catch up with old friends, and meet some new ones.  Then it was off to the sewing room for our first Pep Rally by Kaye.  Already, we have our first project that we can do.  Kaye gives us lots of ideas of projects that we could work on, and we can choose to do all or none of them.  This year Jill and I packed our bags VERY differently.  We were determined to only take one suitcase each, and in this suitcase we had to fit all of our clothes for 8 days, as well as sewing supplies.  Our machines were shipped to Florida, but everything else had to fit in 50 pounds or less.  What a task.
So, I was quite frugal on what I brought.  Small cutting mat, rotary cutter, rulers, thread and needles.  And only 2 different fabric group options!  I have Kaye's Bread & Butter collection and a small collection of funky scraps that I may have an idea for, but that might change when I see some of the projects that Kaye has.



First task, find a project.
Task completed.  Kaye handed out the first of a three-part Mystery Quilt.  This is just basic cutting, and block construction, we will have a few days to work on this on and off, and then will be given the next step of instructions. 






Second task, pick a fabric collection.
Task completed.  This was pretty easy, either funky, weird leftover pieces that I brought from home, or my Fat Quarter tower of Kaye's beautiful Bread & Butter Collection.  We found an obvious winner for this.








Third task, pick fabrics for mystery project.
Task completed.  I wanted to finished project to be a bit different than any of the other 47 college students that may also be working on this project.






Fourth task, iron all the fat quarters that I will be cutting up in the morning.
Task completed.  I want to be ready to go on Saturday morning when we start at 7am.  Lots to do, lots to see, and lots to learn.
Fifth and final task for the evening.  Relax and get some rest.
We have already enjoyed so much during this trip.  This is my fourth time being at this resort and it is always such a wonderful experience.  It is quiet, and relaxing with fabulous views, and always something to see or do.

Why don't you create a little retreat for yourself?  Go get some sand out of the sandbox, or off the snow pile in the road, and sprinkle it on the floor in your sewing room.  Crank your furnace up to 85, turn on some ukulele music, throw a little salt on your face, and sit with the sun floor lamp shining on your face.  I am sure by now you can already hear then coming with your margarita...

Society Meeting Month #1

Ok, it's official.  We had our first Society meeting, complete with sewing lessons and baked goodies.  Mmmm Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars.  Really, how can you go wrong with that combination?

So, here is a re-cap of some of the most important precision cutting tips.

#1 Check your sewing equipment-When was the last time you changed your rotary blade?  If you don't remember, it is time.

Use a Square Ruler for cutting squares, a rectangle ruler for cutting rectangles etc.

#2 Use the right ruler for the job.  Don't do overkill by cutting 2 inch squares with your 14 inch ruler.  It is just too hard to navigate.  Let's not try to make this harder on yourself.

1st Cut - Over cut.  (We are cutting a 3 1/2in strip here)

 





#3 Over-cut the first cut, then go back for your precision cut.  This is a much easier way to square up your fabric then trying to cut off just a sliver to square your fabric up.

2nd Cut - Precision cut (3 1/2in strip)

Cutting 3 1/2in strip into (2) 1 3/4in strips

This helps keep your fabric straight.  Rather than cutting 2 individual strips

#4 Use your Sight Lines!  Do you know where they are?  Is your fabric going through the centers of each of the circles?  This is what your Sight Lines are for.  Use them!

#5 On the Jelly Stars pattern, pay attention to the Asterisks'.  Pattern is written for traditional piecing, however the asterisks tell you how to cut for Smart Piecing.  Sooo much better.

#6 When cutting your half square triangles either - A. Cut two layers together (right sides together OR wrong sides together) or B. Cut one set of half square triangles right side up, and the next one wrong side up.  This will give you two triangles with opposite ends.

#7 When I sew Flying Geese units, I start on the blunt end on the right side and sew down to the point.  When attaching the left side, I start on the pointed end and sew up to the blunt end.

Line up the pointed ends and the blunt ends

See that little triangle hanging over the edge?  Your needle should pierce that very first.

Where the seams intersect, should be 1/4in in from edge

#8 Become a Smart Piecing genius.  Check out Kaye England's More Smart Piecing DVD.  This covers cutting with all of the rulers in the Smart Piecing collection, as well as piecing tips, and lots of Kaye fun!

#9 Sign up for some Smart Piecing classes.  Download our calendar at www.PineNeedles.net and sign up today!

#10 Have fun with your first two projects, and don't stress.  This Society should not equal stress.  Call us, e-mail us, or stop in with questions.  We love to help  Enjoy!

Scraps + Quick Pattern = Christmas!

Eye will Revive Eye Pillow

When the holidays come around, I always have good intentions of having sewing gifts made, however, somehow it is always creeps up to 1 week before Christmas when I actually get started.  Case in point...Today is the 22nd, and I have about 4 gifts left to finish.  Hmmm...do I think I can get this done?  YES! Why?  Because I am inspired to get these done.  If I wasn't inspired to make these gifts, I shouldn't even try and you could then call me The Grinch, because there would be no way of them getting finished prior to the 25th.

However, I am hopeful, I am listening to some of my favorite Christmas music, drinking my coffee with egg nog, and gazing at the sky, willing more snow to come falling out of it.  I have officially psyched myself up.  So, I am sure you are asking "what kind of project can I possibly get done between now and the 25th?"  Well, here is a really quick and easy gift, no seriously, REALLY EASY gift, like "1 hour to make 4 of these", Easy Gift.

I got my inspiration from this book-

Denyse Schmidt Quilts

This is the Eye Will Revive Eye Pillow, it is filled with Buckwheat, Flax Seed and Lavender for a relaxing break to anyone's day.

I made 4 of these, all the be given to 18-30 year old women.  These would be really nice to be paired with a hand written note about the importance of self-care, and taking time out of their busy schedule for themselves.  It would be such a nice personalized gift, and really low fuss, also very economical, as we are using SCRAPS!



There are so many great ideas out of Denyse Schmidt Quilts book, and they lend very well to scrap projects.  I took the general idea of the Eye Pillow, and the finished sizes and then went to my twice-leftover scrap bin to use up all the tiny little pieces.

Ok, so what is that?  Twice-leftover scraps are the little weird shaped pieces of scraps that are created after you think you have used your scraps up as much as you thought you could.  These are pieces that are odd shaped, or sizes, and would have to be pieced together with lots of other pieces to work well in most projects.  You will have lots of these especially if you are using your scraps for things other than quilts.  Like stuffed animals, pillows, or pincushions.

My scrap bins are wire bins that I sort my scraps in based on style.  So all of my fabrics that are New-Vintage, like Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry are all in one bin.

When I go to pick for a project it may have a piece from each different designer in the project, but they truly work together because the style is similar.  This is really convenient for finding a storage spot for all my leftovers.


Here are some of the bins that I have:

New-Vintage
Batiks
Brights
Flannels
Civil War
Pastels
Whites/Creams-Backgrounds
Garment weight-knits, rayons, wool

Some of these bins grow to two or three bins, and then I work with them for awhile, and they shrink back down to one bin.  But it is so much easier to be able to work out of one bin at a time, then trying to sort through ALL of your scraps every time you want to work on a project.

 I love these little surprises that can happen with scraps when you are working on a project.

I saw this opportunity with the stripes when I was trying different layouts with the scraps, and knew that I had to try to match these up!

Keep your imagination open when looking at different combination options for your scraps.

  

The backs and fronts of each of these eye pillows are different fabrics, and designs.

When I was finished with the layout of the fronts and backs, I fused Shear Magic to both sides.  This is a knit fusible interfacing to help reinforce the fabrics, and keep the contents from working their way out.  Then I clipped the corners, turned and filled with the relaxing combination of natural filler. (Complete instructions, and quantities of filler product can be found in the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book)

Eye will Revive Eye Pillow

Here is another really important step for me when sorting my fabrics: Sort them often.  Since all of my scraps are stored in bins, I am able to just sort one bin at a time, and every time I sort them, I am checking to make sure I still love all the fabrics in them, if I don't, they go into a bag to be donated for making charity quilts.  This is called "Scrap Management".  Have you always wanted to be in charge of something, but never feel like you are?  Well, now you can be.  I am naming you Official Scrap Manager of your stash.  There, now go and sort your scraps, you will feel better...