Friday, September 30, 2016

I'm Teaching at QuiltWorks in Belevue in October

QuiltWorks Northwest located in Bellevue, is a great destination for all things sewing, quilting, and beading!  From fabrics and notions to batting, books, and embellishments, we offer an extensive selection of high quality sewing, quilting, and jewelry supplies to spark your imagination and satisfy your creative needs.  You’ll also find a full line of BERNINA sewing machines, embroidery software, and sewing cabinets, as well as an on-site service department that specializes in expert maintenance and repair of all sewing machine makes and models.

Located at 107th Avenue NE, we’re a casual, welcoming gathering place where handcrafters of all skill levels can enjoy a wide range of classes and fun store events. When you need assistance, our friendly, knowledgeable staff members are always on hand to offer personalized service, helpful product advice, and continuous project support throughout your creative journey!

Finishing School
Oct 8, 2016 at 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Discover the joy of transforming unfinished projects into amazing quilts. We will explore construction techniques and setting blocks and delve into designing and sewing the perfect border, all while engaging in a lively problem-solving session that will convert challenges into marvelous, artistic solutions!

Thread Toppings
Sat, Oct 8, 2016 at 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Thread is no longer a 'Plain Jane' necessity - it's now available in many luscious colors and types. Steering your way through the sea of threads out there can be a bit daunting. Experiment while you learn how to match thread to the appropriate needle, make the tension setting your best friend and troubleshoot your way to fun and fancy sewing.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

My Best Machine Quilting Tips

I love to quilt, I especially love dense stitching. I have some tips and tricks to make your machine stitches, quilts the best ever.

Batting - I prefer cotton batting because among other things:  Cotton tends to stick to the quilt top and the backing, allowing for easier machine stitching. Thin cotton batting rolls up compactly (a nice quality for machine quilting).


Safety pins – The 1” size work the best. And if you have bent quilter’s pins work even better. Use lots, I place the pins about 4” apart. I remove them as needed.
Basting - First, lay the quilt BACK on a flat surface, right side down. Use masking tape around the perimeter to hold the edges in place. The fabric should be taught but not distorted. Next, place the batting on top of the quilt back. Smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles with your hand. Finally, lay the quilt top on the batting, right side up. Once again, use your hand to smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles in the fabric.
NOTE: Take the time to make sure all the straight lines that should be straight are straight.

A walking foot - It has built-in feed dogs that help move the top layers of fabric through your machine,
while your machine's own feed dogs move the bottom layers through. This helps ensure the layers don't shift while you are quilting. (FYI: If your walking foot doesn't seem quilt right, it might need servicing!!)


On a sample, test the tension and stitch length.

If I can hide the starts and stops in under the binding, I backstitch at the beginning and end of each line of quilting to lock the stitches.

When I start quilting, I use the edge of the fabric as a guide, keeping my walking foot placed along it as I stitch.

Use the needle down, if possible, so the fabric doesn't shift.

I use the previous line of quilting as my guide for the next line, keeping the edge of my walking foot against it while I work on the next line of quilting.

Before you know it, your beautiful quilt will be beautifully quilted!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Exploring Color - Red



Red is one of the primary colors of visible light, along with green and blue, which in Red Green Blue

(RGB) color systems are combined to create all the colors on a computer monitor or television screen.
Roses are Red
Reds can vary in shade from very light pink to very dark maroon or burgundy; and in hue from the bright orange-red scarlet or vermilion to the bluish-red crimson. Red is the complementary color of cyan.

Since red is the color most commonly associated with heat, activity, passion, sexuality, anger, love and joy. In China, India and many other Asian countries it is the color of symbolizing happiness and good fortune.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Stitching Through the Layers

Should I say it? Christmas is just around the corner. Need to finish those gifts?  Stitching Through the Layers: The Art and Elegance of Straight Line Quilting is just what you need!

Quilting for me is part of the original design idea. It’s as important as the color or piecing design. I like
all the parts of quiltmaking, but design and fabric selection are my favorites. As I travel and teach quilting design workshops, it became obvious to me that many quilters find choosing a quilting design to be very challenging. Most realize that a good design can make or break a quilt. But free motion can be very intimidating. There had to be a better way. 

In my machine quilting workshops I try to help everyone get past that apprehension. Sometimes I find that we just don’t have enough hours in the day for all the things we need to do much less want to do, and good free motion takes practice, lots of practice. There just had to be a better way. So Stitching Through the Layers; The Art and Elegance of Straight Line Stitching was born. The slogan became “Move your quilt one big step toward stardom! This book makes it EASY for you to decide how to maximize the ‘wow’ factor by using the right stitching in the right way and in the right places!”

Osterman Media ISBN 978-0-9838274-0-5 paperback
28 pages, 8 1/2" 11".   $19.55

Order Now

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Tips for Machine Piecing

I have been sitting behind my sewing machine this week piecing my next creation and thinking about
Thread for piecing
what makes a quilt successful. The first in a long line of things is piecing accuracy. Here are my tips for piecing by machine.

1. I prefer to use colored thread. It's more trouble but well worth the effort. If this is too much of an investment for you consider using dark gray and beige or light gray and beige. Put the gray thread in the top and the beige in the bobbin. This makes reverse sewing easier. You'll know right away to cut the top ‘gray’ thread and pull the bottom ‘beige’ thread.

2. Sew with smaller thread; I use a machine embroidery thread or one of the newer threads made for piecing like Superior Threads ‘Masterpiece’ or Aurifil cotton 50wt.

3. Use a sharp needle and change it often; I prefer to use a smaller needle Sharp/Microtex size 70/10. Other good choices are Sharp/Microtex size 80/12, a size 75/11 quilting needle or a Jeans/Denim size 70/10 or 80/12.

4. Press seams open; I press as many seams open as possible. Now I’m not totally crazy, if it is easier to have seams pressed one way or the other I do so, but I press seams open most of the time.

5. Use ¼” foot with guide if possible; Many machines have a ¼” foot available. I prefer the foot with the guide. I need a ‘wall’ that allows the fabrics to ride along. If you want to try the guide idea, use either layers of masking tape or moleskin and place it exactly ¼” from the needle.

6. Use the single stitch throat plate; The normal throat plate has an oblong hole which allows the machine to eat the thread tails or fabric.

7. Change needle position; Even though I use a ¼” foot, I still feel that in order to get a scant ¼” seam, I move the needle one very small step to the right. Be sure to check and make sure the needle won’t break.

8. Chain piece; I piece as many pieces as possible one right after another. Saves time and thread.

9. Even seam width the whole length of the seam: Use a stiletto to guide the last little bit of a seam if necessary to get an even seam width.

10. Starch: I starch a lot. I prefer the old fashioned liquid starch that I find at a big box store. I mix it
half and half starch and water for heavy use. The hardest part of doing this is finding a bottle that likes to spray facing down at the work lying on the ironing board. I prefer this to aerosol cans because it never flakes!

11. Press not iron: I do not want any distortion, so I carefully press and lift, not rubbing back and forth as in ironing.

Sunday, September 18, 2016

About Judging



The purpose of judging a quilt show is twofold: one is to award excellence, and the other is to give critique. ‘Critique’ is not criticism. A critique is defined as ‘a critical analysis or review’. A good critique should point out the areas in which the quilter has demonstrated success, as well as suggest areas which need improvement.

Much of my judging is done locally and I sign all judging cards given to the quiltmaker. Sometimes I get comments. 'Thanks" other times there is more of a conversation. One quilt maker just didn't get it. I evidently made the comment the I thought the piece would benefit with more quilting. She said "but it has a warm and natural batt" (this batt requires lines of quilting a minimum of 8" apart). I kept saying "how would I know that?" I don't think she ever got it.

I might make comments like these;


FEATURES OF THIS QUILT ARE:                               

GENERAL APPEARANCE
1.    Excellent visual impact
2.    Stood up well against stiff competition
3.    Edges flat
4.    Colors and fabrics well chosen for quilts style
5.    Innovative use of color
6.    Innovative use of pattern
7.    Well balanced design

AREAS WHICH NEED IMPROVEMENT:
8.    Color impact could be improved
9.    Good effort
10.    Bearding is apparent
11.    Loose threads should be cut (threads shadow)
12.    Remove basting threads and/or pencil marks
13.    Edges wobble or ripple

PIECING
1.    Piecing well done
2.    Points match
3.    Block size is uniform
4.    Straight lines are straight
5.    Curved seams are smooth

AREAS WHICH NEED IMPROVEMENT:
6.    Piecing needs improvement
7.    Corners and points should meet precisely
8.    Block size should be uniform
9.    Straight lines should be straight
10.    Shadowing-through detracts
11.    Stitches should be secure
12.    Piecing thread should not show

APPLIQUÉ
 1.    Appliqué well done
2.    Design well centered on block
3.    Curves are smooth
4.    Points are sharp
5.    Stitches are even
6.    Stitches are unobtrusive

AREAS WHICH NEED IMPROVEMENT:
7.    Appliqué needs improvement
8.    Design should be centered on block
9.    Curves should be smooth
10.    Points should be sharp
11.    Stitches should be even
12.    Stitches should be unobtrusive
13.    Background shadows through
 
BORDER
1.    Border well done
2.    Border compliment’s central design
3.    Corner miters well done

AREAS WHICH NEED IMPROVEMENT:
4.    Border techniques need improvement
5.    Border should compliment central design
6.    Corner miters should be done carefully
7.    Borders should be straight
8.    Sashing inconsistent (not aligned)
 
BINDING
 1.    Binding well done

AREAS WHICH NEED IMPROVEMENT:
2.    Binding techniques need improvement
3.    Batting should fill binding completely
4.    Corners should be stitched closed
5.    Width of binding should be consistent
6.    Fabric bias more appropriate than commercial bias
 
QUILTING
 1.    Quilting well done
2.    Stitches are even
3.    Stitches on back are even
4.    Straight quilting lines are straight
5.    Curves quilting lines are smooth
6.    Quilting pattern appropriate

AREAS WHICH NEED IMPROVEMENT:
7.    Quilting techniques need improvement
8.    Density of quilting should be consistent over surface
9.    Stitches should be of even length
10.    Stitches should go all the way through
11.    Beginning and ending of quilting threads should be invisible
12.    Quilting design should enhance design
13.    In the ditch quilting should stay in the ditch
14.    Tension on quilting stitch should be even

Friday, September 16, 2016

On Judging

The Rialto
I don't enter very many competitions, but once in a while I want the feedback I can only get from a judge. So I entered one of my favorites The Rialto.
 Here are the judges comments:
Strong use of contrasting colors that 'sing' against each other.
Innovative use of old crochet and embroidered doilies.
Good choice of pieced fabrics in background, but perhaps the proportion of background is a bit large for the purple circles.
Pleasing quilting design.

So I have two questions: What embroidered doilies?
Large pieces? This is all about the doilies the large pieces were chosen so that the background would just be there.




Tuesday, September 13, 2016

The Tear Continues!

Now it is my studio's turn.  Things to toss/delete or just plain remove from my life



UFO’s
Bits and pieces of stabilizers
Quilts I no longer need, want or like
Bent pins
Old rotary blades – starting with the one in my cutter!
Fabric scraps too small for any possible use
The pattern I bought in a moment of weakness and will never sew
Unwanted fabric – the what was I thinking stuff
The squares from my stash of scraps that I know have been there for years, still unused
Duplicate tools
Worn rulers

Monday, September 12, 2016

Recharge your creative juices

I don’t know about you, but I often feel the need to recharge my creative juices. You may be inspired by a walk in nature, or writing ideas for the first 20 minutes of your day - before eating breakfast or talking to anyone. Listening to music or books on tape might also be inspirational.

Creativity has been attributed to everything from divine intervention to chance. Some say it is a trait we are born with; others say it can be taught. I think creativity is letting new ideas into your conscious brain.

For me, new ideas usually stem from new experiences. These experiences often come from

travel. It can happen in far away places or as close as your hometown. On a recent trip to  Puget Sound I saw these kayaks. I remember the shapes and colors.


  
This is a picture I took earlier this year at The Getty in California. Again it's the shapes that I find interesting.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

It is still summer!

I love summertime. The sun shines. It's true the sky is bluer in Seattle. One of my favorite ways to celebrate summer is a quick visit to the local Saturday, Farmer's Market. Today I went to Des Monies Washington.

Set against the backdrop of the Olympics and the Puget Sound, Des Moines Farmers Market is a must-see destination for buying local. Located in the close-knit Marina District of Des Moines, WA, the Des Moines Farmer’s Market offers fresh and tasty seasonal crops direct from the growers, an appetizing array of food vendors, a veritable collection of local crafts people, and toe-tapping live musical offerings.

It fascinates me that what's old is new again. Here was a lady selling macrame jewelry! I used to make the stuff before I dedicated all my time to quilting.  Just so you know: I painted ceramics, made macrame jewelry along with pot hangers. I also crocheted (still do once in a while thanks to YouTube!)


Complete with live music!