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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The New Machine




We braved near blizzard conditions to go and pick up my prize sewing machine. It's amazing! I have to do a bit of studying before I can try the embroidery on it though. I think it's the top of the Husqvarna line. I love it already!

Acronyms



  • I love this list from Heart and Hands especialy TOADS. I have a few of those...


  • BOM=Block of the Month
  • Charms=Small pieces of fabric, usually squares or hexagons, all different fabrics
  • Charm packs=package of pre-cut squares
  • CQ=Crazy Quilting (traditional quilt pattern with embellisments)
  • COC=Cream on Cream
  • DJ=Dear Jane (a traditional quilt pattern)
  • D4P=Double Four Patch
  • DIC=Double Irish Chain
  • Dimes=10" squares
  • DIY=Do It Yourself
  • DSM = Domestic Sewing Machine
  • EQ=Electric Quilting software, now EQ5,6, or 7
  • F8=Fat 1/8th or 9"x 22"
  • FART = Fabric Acquisition Road Trip
  • FIU=Finish It Up
  • FLIMSY=pieced top
  • FQ=Fat Quarter
  • Frog Stitching=rip it, rip it....ripping stitches out
  • FW=Featherweight (Singer) sewing machine
  • FW=Fusible Web (be care to iron this one, sew with the above)
  • Giterdone=Get 'er Done! Term most often used for ancient or dreaded projects
  • GFG=Grandmother's Flower Garden, a traditional quilt pattern
  • HP=Hand Piecing
  • HQ=Hand Quilting
  • HST=Half-Square Triangle
  • HSY=Haven't Started Yet
  • Jelly Rolls=pre-cut fabric strips, rolled up and sold in a set
  • LA=Long Armer, professional machine quilter
  • LAQ=Long Arm Quilting machine
  • LQ=Liberated Quiltmaking, free form quilting without striving for precision or perfection
  • LQS=Local Quilt Shop
  • MAQ=Mid-Arm Quilter
  • Nickles=5" squares
  • NQR=Not Quilt Related, as in board or group off topic, topic and it's oppostie QR
  • OBW=One-Block Wonder
  • OSMG=old sewing machine guy, your go-to fellow for repairs
  • PFD=fabric that is Prepared For Dying
  • PHD=Project Half Done
  • PIGS=Projects in Grocery Sacks
  • PIM=Project in Mind
  • PIPs=Project in Progress
  • PITs=Projects in Totes
  • PIW=Project in Waiting (not yet a WIP)
  • PP=Paper Piecing
  • QAYG=Quilt As You Go-A quilting/piecing process which incorporates sewing together a block and quilting it at the same time.
  • QUIMM=Quilt In My Mind
  • QUTD=Question Of The Day: quilting group or board top for discussion that day
  • QR=Quilt Related and NQR: it's opposite
  • Quilt Candy=Small charm pieces of fabric, folded up to look like candy
  • QST=Quarter Square Triangles
  • RR=Round Robin (quilt exchange, passing around a group taking turns with it)
  • SABLE=Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy
  • SAQM=Small Arm Quilting Machine
  • SaS=Steam a Seam iron on double faced interfacing/non stitching product
  • SEX=Stash Enhancing eXperience (or eXcursion)
  • SID=Stitch In (the) Ditch, quilting technique
  • Siggies=Squares of fabric with signatures and other info on them
  • SnW=Stack 'n Whack, pile them up and cut them all at once block pattern
  • SQ=Simply Quilts
  • Squishy=Envelopes filled with swap fabric or gifts sent/received in the mail
  • STASH=Special Treasures All Secretly Hidden
  • SUI=Shopping Under Influence (usually with a friend)
  • SWAN=Swap Without a Name
  • TBQ=To Be Quilted
  • TGIF=Thank Goodness It’s Finished!
  • TIC=Triple Irish Chain, a traditional quilt pattern
  • TOAD=Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust
  • TOT=Tone-on-Tone
  • TUFO=Tuesday UFO night, also WUFO etc.
  • UFO=UnFinished Object
  • USO=UnStarted Object
  • WHIM=Work Hidden In Mind
  • WHIMM=Work Hidden In My Mind
  • WIP=Work In Progress
  • WISP=Work In Slow Progress
  • WIVSP=Work In Very Slow Progress
  • WIWMI=Wish It Would Make Itself
  • WOA=Work Of Art
  • WOF=Width of Fabric
  • WOMBAT=Waste of Money, Batting, and Time
  • WOW=White On White
  • WWIT=What Was I Thinking
  • VIP=Very Import Project
  • YBR=Yellow Brick Road, a popular quilting pattern
  • YoYo=a circle of fabric, gathered and sewn into a puffy circle; also one who makes them
  • 401 F=Fabric for Retirement
  • 401 P= Patterns for retirement
  • Monday, November 29, 2010

    Kokopeli Problems


    I finally decided on a border for my Kokopeli quilt. I measured the turquoise rick rack and it looked as it it would just fit. Unfortunately, it didn't .


    It was about an inch too short once it was sewn. What to do??



    A few yoyos and problem solved. I may change the lower left one. It fades into the background more than the others.
    Tomorrow I get to pick up my new Husqvarna sewing machine. I haven't seen it but apparently it's an embroidery machine. I can't wait to meet it!

    I Won!


    I entered this quilt in a baby blanket contest held here by a local radio station in aid of our hospital and I won a new Husqvarna sewing machine! There were 163 blankets in the contest so I feel pretty excited to have won out over all that competition. The blankets will be displayed at the Southland Mall and they will be sold by silent auction to raise money.

    Sunday, November 28, 2010

    Thanksgiving


    There was a LOT to be thankful for at this Canadian/American Thanksgiving feast.


    I'm getting hungry again just looking at the pictures!

    Saturday, November 27, 2010

    American/Canadian Thanksgiving


    The view out our window this morning. I think the frost is even thicker now...so beautiful and Christmas-like.


    We are invited to our friend's place in North Dakota to celebrate American Thanksgiving a couple of days late because we Canadians didn't get Thursday off work. My contribution is Pumpkin pies, lemon meringue pie, chocolate pecan bourbon pie and bourbon cranberry sauce.

    Friday, November 26, 2010

    Fabric Therapy


    I went to Winnipeg today and managed to get in a bit of fabric shopping. The blue at the top is destined to be sky in some more house blocks and the white at the top will be snow. The white at the bottom could also be snow and the green has little flowers so will be good for grass. The pink dots on brown were just irresistible and on sale so what could I do?

    Thursday, November 25, 2010

    Stormy Weather


    Snowy weather is perfect for quilting. I have made several more blocks with the Kokopeli. I arranged it so that the black with white dots appear to be coming out of the flute like musical notes. I am dyeing some turquoise for the sashing but now I'm thinking the gold musical notes that I got for the cool cats might be a better choice...


    Our studio is cold on the outside but toasty warm inside.

    Wednesday, November 24, 2010

    Another one Done


    I finished the binding on this one this morning. It is the first one I have done with polar fleece on the back. I really prefer cotton fabric and batting. It's easier to handle on the frame and I like the weight of it better.
    I added a row of silver rick rack to separate the houses from the border.


    I started this one today. I got the Kokopeli fabric in Santa Fe earlier this year. I am auditioning sashing fabrics. I lean toward the turquoise but will have to dye some more.

    Monday, November 22, 2010

    More Houses


    I sewed the houses together using a different coloured stripe than the one I auditioned yesterday. Once I had them all together I realized it was going to be too short so I started making more houses. Unfortunately, I ran out of the cute dotted blue fabric so the rest of the skies are darker and slightly ominous. I will add three more houses to the top and then use the striped fabric as a border. I will still need another border to make it large enough. I'm not sure yet what color that will be. Am I tired of making houses? Not yet!

    Sunday, November 21, 2010

    Pastel?



    For a baby quilt contest I thought I should make one with some pastels. This is it so far.

    Art Day (With Cooking)


    Yesterday two of my friends and I had an art and cooking day. We made some cheese (not totally successful because we let the milk for the feta get too hot). Last time I was in China town I bought a soup mix that had all the instructions in Chinese. We decided to give it a try. This picture is the broth steeping. We had no idea what any of the ingredients were but it smelled great.


    Add a few vegetables and voila, a tasty and (I hope) nutritious soup.
    In the studio we played with stamps, paintsticks and stencils. I also did a bit of machine quilting on my latest quilt. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the house. It was a fun day.

    Friday, November 19, 2010

    Houses


    I got the houses put together with the yellow sashing. I don't like the lower right area but not sure what to do about it. The yellow is too wide there. Maybe I can fill it with quilting or applique something on there. The border looks quite dark in the photo but in real life it's quite bright.

    Fabric


    I went to Winnipeg yesterday and of course, had to stop at a fabric store. I got these four pieces of fabric. I like the bright yellow the best. It has very subtle leaves and ferns on it.


    I bring my hibiscus plant outside for the summer. When I bring it in it always goes crazy flowering. Besides the two flowers, it has 11 buds.

    Wednesday, November 17, 2010

    Baby Houses


    They extended the baby blanket contest for an extra week so I thought I'd enter another one if I can get it finished in time. I made these houses today. I'll use quite wide sashing because they are all different sizes. That way I can also bring it up to the required 40 inch size. The fabric on the left is my first audition for the sashing and borders. It looked not bad in the studio but now that I see it on my monitor, I don't like it much. It's too busy and will detract from the houses. I want it to look baby-like but not pink or blue. I have a nice bright yellow that may work or some dot fabric. Or I may break down and buy new fabric if I don't find the perfect one in my stash.

    Saturday, November 13, 2010

    Cool Cats


    Here are the Cool Cats pieced together. I don't have enough music fabric to make the back so I may have to piece some other fabrics together. I'll quilt it with loops and maybe some music notes thrown in.

    Friday, November 12, 2010

    Froggy Day


    I am almost finished this quilt for a baby blanket contest being held by our local radio station. The winner gets a nice new sewing machine. Then the blankets will be auctioned off to benefit our local hospital. Either way there are winners!


    And the back.

    Cool Cats Encore




    Sorry for such a dark picture. I have made a few more cats but meanwhile have been working on a baby quilt for a contest. I'm not sure if I am allowed to show it before the contest ends so you'll have to wait until the end of November to see it.
    The cats are coming right along. I'm not sure about the top right one. I find the blue strips too light for the rest of the blocks. I may go at it with paintsticks and if that doesn't work I'll just discard it. The sashing will be the same musical fabric as I used on the mice.

    Monday, November 08, 2010

    Today's Baking


    I pre-baked a pie crust for a lemon pie a few days ago so it was time to bake it today. I don't like to heat up the oven for just one thing so I made these savory muffins that turned out to be very, very tasty. I got the recipe at Cooks.com

    Saturday, November 06, 2010

    Cool Cats


    The cat apartment is all quilted, bound and ready for the hand sewing.


    These cats are from the same fabric as the mice in Musical Mice. They are a bit too big to fit in the doorways of my houses so they get a crazy block instead. I'll be adding sashing, probably the music fabric from the Musical Mice.

    Friday, November 05, 2010

    Musical Mice


    I went with Musical Mice. I liked Mouse Minuet but it seemed too formal for these mice. They are more Blues Mice, which, now that I think of it, would have been a good title too. I found the perfect musical fabric for the border at our LQS. I added a thin strip of gold ribbon, which looks silver in the photo for some reason, just inside the border. It's finished now and in the queue for the quilting machine.
    Next I'm going to work on some Musical Cats that were on the same fabric. They are much bigger though so they won't be in houses. I like small characters for the houses. The cats will be in wonky log cabin blocks a bit like the bugs were. Stay tuned...

    Thursday, November 04, 2010

    Which Words?


    I can go horizontal or vertical. I can use either Musical Mice or Mouse Music.


    I want to find some fabric with musical notes or some other music theme to use as sashing.

    Wednesday, November 03, 2010

    Cat Apartment


    This is the quilt I finished for the friend whose mother had pieced it. It is huge. It barely fit on my frame. It is beautiful although not my style. I quilted it with all over loops.


    This is the cat wall hanging made into a cat apartment as suggested by my critique group. I decided not to put any horizontal lines in the side strips to keep the apartment look. I had to search a long time through my stash to find the right fabric for the roof. Now to decide how to quilt it. I'll probably do this one on my DSM because it's quite small, only about 10 inches by about one yard long.

    Tuesday, November 02, 2010

    Musical Mice


    I found some fabric with cats and mice playing musical instruments. The mice are a lot smaller than the cats so they are getting houses built around them. The cats may end up in the middle of wonky log cabins or some other setting. Meanwhile, the mice are practising for their next gig.

    Monday, November 01, 2010

    Pattern Making

    Pattern Making For a Perfect Fit

    If you have an item of clothing that is a perfect fit but is worn out, or you would just like another one in a different color, this is the book for you. Steffani Lincecum shows you how to "rub off" a pattern without destroying the original. She shows two methods, one using paper and the other using muslin.
    The first section explains the two methods and then goes on to discuss the tools and equipment, fabrics, measuring and even how to estimate the yardage needed.
    The rest of the book goes into details of patterning skirts, dresses, blouses and even handbags. She not only tells you how to make the pattern, she goes into detail on how to construct the garment and how to re-style parts of it for a new look. For example, in the blouse section you can convert the pointed collar to a round one, or change the blouse into a halter top or tunic.
    In the handbag section she takes a pattern from the source purse and makes several different looks by changing the fabric, handles and details.
    It is well illustrated and the instructions are clear and consise. I did a lot of garment sewing before I started quilting and I would have loved to own this book back then. If you enjoy sewing garments but are tired of buying patterns that don't fit, this is the book for you.