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Tag Archives: machine piecing

My first 2014 project

04 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by sewjournal in Uncategorized

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Tags

fabrics, foundation paper piecing, machine piecing, patchwork, quilt, quilting, quilting blog, sewing blog, sewjournal blog

I’ve finished the coverlet I started in January. It’s all bound, washed, ironed and I’m using it and it feels so soft and lovely.

Here are a few photos.

P1070131 P1070132 P1070135Now I’m working on some foundation paper pieced stars from Don’t Call Me Betsy’s 2013 and 2014 Lucky Star Club. Here’s where I’m up to so far. I’ve done two quarters of the practice star.

P1070136

Fabric challenge update

All the fabric for the coverlet came from my stash and scraps and all the fabric for this first star also. I didn’t buy any fabric in January at all. So far in February I’ve bought 1.6m of an Echino extra wide bird print that was only $16.80 per metre. I’ll tally up at the end of the month and donate 50% of my spend to charity as I promised.

 

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The Modern Quilt Guild’s Riley Blake Challenge

10 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal, Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

#mqgrileyblakechallenge, Andalusian tile templates, applique, hand-piecing, handwork, machine piecing, Modern Quilt Guild, patchwork, quilting blog, Riley Blake, sewing blog, sewjournal blog, textiles

RB fabricsThe Modern Quilt Guild is hosting a Riley Blake quilt challenge. All members who applied were given 6 fat eighths of Riley Blake fabric and they could make whatever they liked as long as it was quilted.

The rules were that you didn’t have to use all the fabrics you were given, that you could use any solids with them and any other Riley Blake prints.

I didn’t use the blue gingham and the turquoise chevron in my quilt. This actually surprised me as these are my favourite colours. However the whole process was organic.

P1050616I began with the centre and I used my Andalusian tile templates with the dark grey and the grey and white stripe fabrics and hand-pieced them to make this.

centre

I had then intended to pair them with the blue and turquoise fabrics. I looked for a suitable background to put the central medallion on but none of the greys I had did anything at all for it. I didn’t have a suitable blue or turquoise solid so I opted for this really bright yellow.

I hand appliquéd the medallion to the background and then had to ponder my next move. I cut a star out of the white spot on yellow fabric using my templates and appliquéd it to the centre of the medallion.

bordersI bought some grey Riley Blake small chevron and used it for the first border and then decided to use the white spotted yellow fabric as cornerstones and make a Riley Blake white solid border with four hexagons from my tile templates made from the orange design fabric and hand appliquéd them on. 

I then added another grey chevron border. I almost finished at this stage but I really have no use for small quilts so I decided to keep going.

I sewed two fabrics together in strips to make a wide border – a Riley Blake white solid and a Riley Blake grey solid. This looked unfinished somehow so I decided to make a zigzag of the white spot on orange Riley Blake fabric I had bought. Here’s how I did it.

I had bought a large grey chevron but it’s size just didn’t fit this quilt so I used it as a template to make the zigzag. I ironed some freezer paper onto the large chevron and traced the zigzag through it with a small ruler and pencil.

P1070087
Then I peeled off the freezer paper and cut the zigzag out. Once this was done I ironed the freezer paper to the orange fabric, wrong side up.

I cut around the zigzag with the freezer paper still attached to the fabric, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance. I then pressed the allowance down before removing the freezer paper. I removed a little at a time fabric glueing as I went.

P1070089P1070091

P1070094

P1070095

I hand appliquéd the zigzag at the join of the white and grey borders with Aurifil 50wt thread. The borders were all only as long as the square of the quilt as I was planning on cornerstones as I didn’t have enough fabric – oops! This meant leaving loose ends of zigzag at each edge to appliqué together once the corner stones were in place.

P1070101

The outermost border is a lovely grey and white Riley Blake fabric called Shuffle. I didn’t have enough of this and had to fiddle around but luckily you can’t tell. I added cornerstones of the yellow spotted fabric and then bound the whole thing with Riley Blake solid orange. Want to see the whole quilt?

Here it is…

P1070115quilt

Hand quilting

I hand quilted the whole quilt and rather than describe it all I’ll show you some photos of the individual pieces, and the back. You might have to click on the photos to be able to see the details.

P1070116
P1070118
P1070117

photo 5 photo 4photo 3 photo 2 photo 1

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My ideal sewing machine – manufacturers please take note – :)

11 Saturday May 2013

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

machine piecing, machine quilting, quilting, quilting blog, sewing, sewing blog, sewing machine, sewjournal blog

If you could have anything you liked in a sewing machine, would it be fancy with lots of bells and whistles or pared down but sturdy? Would it be single purpose e.g. digital embroidery or would it be multi-purpose?

I’ve been thinking about this a great deal recently and here’s what I’d like in my ideal sewing machine:

  1. Three types of stitches – straight, zig-zag and buttonhole.
  2. Clip on feet
  3. Easy needle clamping, no hard to hold, fiddly little screwdrivers
  4. Reverse stitching
  5. Needle up/needle down
  6. Auto threat cutting
  7. Slide in/out plate – no screws!
  8. Easy to load bobbin
  9. Easy bobbin winding
  10. Sews multiple thicknesses of fabrics easily, without jumping – almost industrial strength.
  11. Easy top and bottom thread and presser foot tension adjustments
  12. Automatic buttonhole
  13. Drop down feed dogs for free-motion quilting
  14. LARGE THROAT for quilting – at least 15″
  15. Free-arm and extension table
  16. Hard cover or comes with it’s own “wheelable” storage bag
  17. Good storage for bobbins, feet and all the tools etc.
  18. Under $800
  19. A decent light that actually illuminates what you’re sewing
  20. A 10 year warranty

That’s not too much to ask is it? It probably is but I guess I can dream.

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Half a bed of roses

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bed of Roses, machine piecing, patchwork, quilting blog, sewing blog, sewjournal blog

I’ve called the quilt I’m making for daughter Bed of Roses and I’ve half-finished the quilt top. These are definitely not my style of fabrics but I’m quite pleased with the result so far. Take a look.

P1050633 P1050634

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Newspaper cuttings…

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

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Tags

foundation paper piecing, machine piecing, patchwork, sewing, sewing blog, sewjournal blog

EDIT: For those who’d like to know, this block can be found here, courtesy of Beth from Piece By Number. She has a heap of free blocks, take a look.

I’ve been taking some machine-piecing lessons lately and I’m starting to make friends with my machine. Yesterday we did foundation paper piecing. I can’t tell you how many times I had to undo it and redo it and then cut the wrong piece etc.,etc. I managed to finish two quadrants of the block at the lesson.

Today I finished the other two at home and wonder of wonders, I didn’t make a single mistake.  The thing that made it easy for me was trimming the excess to the next to be sewn seam line so I could easily line up the next piece. I used a tailor’s awl to score the paper so that I could fold it back before sewing to trim and suddenly everything just flowed.

So here’s my foundation pieced “newspaper cuttings” block.

P1050601

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Ever had one of those days? (Or – when is a 1/4″ foot not a 1/4″ foot?)

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

1/4" foot, machine piecing, patchwork, quilting blog, sewjournal blog

Ever had one of those days where you plug away and plug away but still nothing goes right? And you know it’s your fault because it’s always your fault and you just know that it’s something you’re doing wrong and yet it isn’t!

I had one of those, well two of those, if I’m honest, this week. On Tuesday I went to a sewing class because sewing machines and I don’t play nice together. I wish we did but we don’t. I thought if I went to a class we could make friends and cooperate. Hmmmmph!

machine

Tuesday!

I spent four hours trying to sew a rail fence block with accurate 1/4″ seams. First it seemed that the problem was that the guide on my 1/4″ seam foot wasn’t flush against the foot. So my teacher kindly lent me a universal foot which was slightly better but not a huge improvement and the fabric ruffled as I sewed.

Wednesday!

I took the offending sewing machine and feet to the local repair shop to ask for advice. The first part of the advice wasn’t helpful. Words to the effect “It’s just what your machine does you should have bought a blah,blah,blah…”

The second more serious investigation involved changing the shank of the machine and using a foot made for another machine. This foot was acrylic which was nice because it was easier to see what was happening under the foot. It also had guides for 1/8″, 1/4″ and 5/8″.

The perspex was staggered so it was easy to line up the edge of the fabric with the appropriate seam allowance. It worked well. I tried it and it worked for me. So it wasn’t me like it always is.  Phew. Great result but would cost $48 for the shank and $36 for the foot. Ouch!

So then I thought well what if I move the incorrect seam guide out of the way of my foot? We tried that and it sewed better but it still wasn’t 1/4″. What “engineer” and I use the term loosely “engineered” this piece of equipment and had the audacity to call it a 1/4″ foot?

Then the kind lady in the sewing machine shop suggested I move the needle to the right one position. Great idea! Better result but not perfect. So perhaps move it two clicks to the right? Perfect! So now I can sew a 1/4″ seam as long as I remember to move the needle each time I switch on my machine as it resets itself when you switch it off.

After all this drama and feeling like I was a hopeless case because I couldn’t sew a simple 1/4″ seam like any 12 year old can do I was feeling somewhat better. Then I read this wonderful blog post by Night Owl Sally and I feel totally vindicated! I’m not stupid, not uncoordinated, not at fault as always, it was THE MACHINE’S FAULT!

Part of me is wondering if this so-called 1/4″ foot was developed by a misogynist engineer to make women like me feel inadequate? Am being paranoid do think? 🙂

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How to avoid the sewing machine chewing up your fabric without using leaders

26 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

machine piecing, quilting blog, sewing blog, sewjournal blog, tips

Does this happen to you?

P1050453This happens to me all the time. Even when using a leader, as I did this time, the sewing machine chews up the beginning of the fabric.

I have the answer

P1050456

This small piece of paper can avoid all these hassles. This is what I worked out. I place the fabric to be sewed on the edge of a small piece of photocopy paper, slide it under the presser foot and start sewing. It’s like magic! It sews beautifully and when you’ve finished you just remove it like you would if you were foundation paper piecing.

P1050458 P1050459 P1050460

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Progress and supplies for the GAZ Blanket

24 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

fabric, fabrics, GAZ Blanket, machine piecing, patchwork, quilt, quilting blog, sewing, sewing blog, sewjournal blog

My fabric for the GAZ Blanket arrived this week and I made a start on the top two blocks. here are the fabrics I’m planning to use:







And here’s the minky that I’m planning to use on the back.

And here are some progress photos of the top two blocks under construction.

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The GAZ Blanket

17 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

GAZ Blanket, knitting blog, machine piecing, patchwork, quilting blog, sewing, sewing blog, sewjournal blog

My soon-to-be son-in-law Gary likes to watch movies on the TV. So I’m making him a blanket with a movie theme. I had to break my fabric fast as I didn’t have any movie themed fabric so I’m waiting for this to arrive but in the interim I’ve pieced the name GAZ using Elizabeth Hartman’s Fridge Magnets Alphabet pattern and embroidered a shirt pocket with a Hollywood star. The pocket will hold the remote. I’ve bought some lovely soft, warm, white spotted red minky for the back which I’ll show you when I get all the fabrics.

In the meantime here’s what I’ve done so far.


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A new baby quilt

14 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by sewjournal in Sew journal

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

hand quilting, Jelly Roll Baby Quilt, machine piecing, patchwork, quilt, quilting, quilting blog, sewing, sewing blog, sewjournal blog

I have friends in DC who recently had a baby boy and so I made this little floor/wall quilt for him. I used a mixture of Kaffe Fassett and It’s a Hoot Jelly rolls and some animal fabric that I got in the Travelling Stash. For the backing I used a Dick Jane print.

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