Saturday, November 14, 2009
I've been a bad blogger...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Lazy Days Skirt Sew-Along
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Eden Giveaway
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Stylish Skirt Hand-Me-Down
And the back is even cuter!! Nothing beats a cutie pie in little Levi's! And again, the hand on the hip! LOL
I just had to share this absolutely cute transformation! And so easy!! Oh, and by the way, my little fashionista threw this outfit together for preschool yesterday! How cute is that?! LOL
Friday, September 18, 2009
City Blooms Hot Pad Tutorial
Working with one stack of the 1.25" width logs, start assembling the log cabin block.
Take your centre (1.75"x1.75") and log #2 and sew with 1/4" seam allowance (SA) along the length of the centre block. Trim off excess log and square up.
Add next log in a clockwise position on second side of central square. The third log on the third side, etc. Continue to square-up block and pressing SA away from central block.
When logs are not long enough, sew 2 identical logs together on short ends (this is where I use up the cut off portions from stack #1). Continue sewing logs until the block is about 9"x9".
Press block and square-up to 9"x9". I used two different types of batting: the puffier polyester and the less-puffy cotton type. The puffier is sandwiched between the quilt block and the cotton-type.
Pin the three layers together to hold in place, and trim the battings to just beyond the edges of the block. I chose to use the "Stitch-in-the-ditch" quilting method, but feel free to use whatever you prefer! After you've completed all the quilting stitches, make sure to stitch all around the block in a very narrow SA to secure the edges. Trim batting edges to align with the fabric.
Find a coordinating cotton fabric (for the backing) and cut to the same size as the quilted hot pad. Place good side of backing fabric on good side of quilted block and stitch a narrow seam (about ¼") leaving approximately 2" opening on a side to allow for turning right side out.
Trim corners and turn right side out. Finish by edge stitching around the hot pad; turning opening edges inward to enclose raw edges.
VOILA! Admire your finished project, and make a matching one!
I'd love to hear what you think as this is my first tutorial! And by all means, if there's a better and/or faster way to do the block piecing, I'd love to hear that too! Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stitching!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Thread Tension Stress
And things start to go sideways...
The runner and I are at the machine, we're all lined up perfectly, presser foot goes down, needle goes in, my foot on the gas, and WE'RE OFF!! I always like to check that my finishing stitches are looking perfect, and that's when I noticed...my thread tension is horrific!!! But things have been going so well up to this point!! OK, no biggie, I'll just tighten up the tension dial...UGH same thing! DRAT! What's going on? Increase the tension dial some more...oh heck, all the way, what have I got to lose? Do a few stitches, and GRRR, the same thing, my bottom thread is crazy loose! Huh, ok then, let's try Plan B...perhaps it's time for a needle change! Well, how about trying 6 different needles!!!! Yup, you heard right!
OK, time to back away from the machine! All I want to do is get those finishing stitches on my new table runner! Is that too much to ask?! Didn't think so.
Time to try a new angle -- let's take the bobbin out and clean the hook race and feed dog! I've done this so many times, that I actually enjoy cleaning out all the lints! I have my handy dandy paint brush that is brilliant at grabbing those little lints! OK, so CHECK -- everything is nice and clean.
I didn't mention that the last needle I tried was a brand new patchwork/quilting needle. So here we go again -- presser foot down, needle in, foot on the gas, and...you've got to be kidding me?! What the heck is going on here? I've done everything imaginable to fix the thread tension, what more can I do?!
Hmmm...for kicks, I'll change out the bobbin thread (and return the tension dial to normal)...presser foot down, needle in, foot on gas...AHHHH! Well that's an improvement! Let's try switching out my spool of thread (just for kicks!). AMAZING! We are nearing perfection, once again!!
So what valuable lesson did I learn from all this? What's the moral of the story?
THAT ALL THREAD IS NOT CREATED EQUALLY.
Why did I not know this?