Melody Crust - Fiber Artist: May 2018

Monday, May 28, 2018

Memorial Day

Honoring those who have sacrificed everything for our freedom is important.Memorial Day is a reminder for us all not to take our everyday freedoms for granted. We honor those we've lost and hope everyone takes the time to thank a veteran for their service.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Tip

I like to finger press many seams as I sew. I tried using a wooden tool meant for finger pressing. And while it worked very well, it kept getting lost in my notions drawer. So one day in desperation I started using my screw driver. Works great and the bright orange handle makes it easy to find.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

More Bits

In the same bag I found this cute square. And the heart fabric. This one was quilted with my walking foot and straight lines.

While playing around with Long Arm rulers, I had an 'aha' moment. I realized that instead of marking all my straight lines with tape, I could use my 'cutting' rulers with my walking foot. Works very well especially for short lines. PLEASE NOTE; Cutting rulers must NOT be used with a free motion foot.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Simple Quilts from Leftover Bits

Sometimes I just want to sew. That's when leftovers come in handy. My friends save their scraps for me, sometimes I find interesting pieces. This doll quilt started with the heart blocks.I hunted around and found some pink & white squares. And quilted with my favorite flowers.

Friday, May 18, 2018

Sometimes a Girl Gotta Do What She's Gotta DO!

Spring? The flowers are everywhere! I am sooo inspired.

Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks.

So I grabbed a piece of pretty fabric and stitched!

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

2018 QUILT FESTIVAL HOUSTON TEACHERS ANNOUNCED!

We're excited to share the lineup of talented professionals teaching at this year's Quilt Festival in Houston! Classes are offered November 5-11.

That's seven days (and hundreds of opportunities) to learn from 131 of the quilt world's most popular artists and teachers!

Quilt Festival Houston - 2018 Festival Faculty

NOTE – enrollment for the Houston festival will not open until mid-summer. This guide is for planning/preview purposes only.

Look for the 2018 Houston class catalog online in June. You can also order a printed version to be mailed to you HERE .

My classes???

Wednesday #349 Paint Stick Magic

#383 A Fine Line—Creating the Quilting Design

Thursday #438 Fantastic Fabric Foiling

#478 Beads Are a Blast

Friday #533 Bead a Bag

#570 Borders—The Final Chapter

Saturday #750 Saturday Sampler

#765 Super Fast Binding And Piping

Sunday #805 Joining the Blocks—Quilt-As-You-Go Style

I will let you know when class registration begins

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

A Recient Visit to Faithful Circle Quilt Guild, near Chicago

We did Color with A Fine Line trunk show. Lots of fun was had by all!

With a fabulous show and tell!!!

Friday, May 11, 2018

And a Coupke More!

May 11 - Debby Brown

May 12 - Cheryl Sleboda

Thursday, May 10, 2018

My Turn

Old windows with view.

After many years in the same studio, I moved. Sold the house and now live in a beautiful condo in a lovely Seattle 'walk' neighborhood. I think the real estate agent thought I was nuts not to mention the electrician who installed the recessed lights. My number one request for the new place? The master bedroom had to have a window low enough that I could sit at my sewing machine and see out the window. Believe me it was easier said than done. Number two, something pretty to see out that window.

It was 13' x 9'

A small studio means that I rapidly learned to keep everything in it's place. Note; the design wall outside the studio in the hall. My friends loved this because they could see what I was up to when they used the restroom.

I ordered twelve recessed LED lights. The electrician convinced me that was too many. I have nine which is plenty. He didn't have a clue what was going on, he insisted that I should have two switches, I told him one was enough. I did notice that my one switch has an absolutely unnecessary dimmer. So I guess he got his way in the end.

My new space is large and I assumed that it would be easier to keep tidy! Wrong! I just have too much stuff! The cabinets in the background are full of fabric. I admit they're tidy. It's just too much trouble to sort and re-shelve fabric.The pile of stuff in the front, is a horizontal surface, what more can I say. It is supposed to be for cutting and ironing!

Junk room, I mean closet.

Then there is the closet. When I moved I thought what a perfect place for my pretties. You know thread, beads, sequins, doilies etc.. And some larger stuff ie: batting rolls. Again I just have too much stuff!

UFO's to GO!

So here's what I did; started by purging. I have a theory about UFO's. If I didn't like them well enough when I started them, why do I think I will finish them now? I mostly believe that but I do or should say did have, lots of left over bits and pieces. They have now been found, bagged and are on their way to community service.

Then there were the duplicates, mostly papers. Off to recycle they went.

I spent quite a bit of time labeling the drawers and doors. I will use them to help me remember what's where until I don't need them any more. (Or Forever???). I put like things together. All the marker, interfacings, stabilizers, etc are now together.

New view from the window

I love the new view, besides the trees there are people, lots of them means people watching is great! And if I drank coffee, Starbucks is just a block away.

The view from my machine

I have two work walls inside the studio, which means that when I am finished for the day, I can close the door!

Probably my largest hoard (I mean collection) is the thread, here you see size 50 neutral and colored thread. I use it mostly for piecing, but some quilting too. The other five boxes of thread are in the closet.

I know it doesn't look like it, but I did clean it out. The batting seems to be the biggest problem...guess I need to sew more!!!

What do I love about my studio? I feel at peace there.