QUILTsocial Fall 2014 Premiere Issue! by A Needle Pulling Thread

social UILT Q Diagram 2

…eat, sleep, quilt, repeat

projects & tips

Premiere Issue!

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Perfect stitch quality. *On average versus creative sensation model. Average speed varies depending on hoop and type of embroidery.

PFAFF® exclusive Perfect embroidery on a wide variety of fabrics, even with novelty thread.

PFAFF® exclusive ActivStitch™ technology Perfect embroidery on a wide variety of fabrics, even with novelty thread.

The Original IDT™ System Absolutely even fabric feed from both the top and the bottom.

© 2013 KSIN Luxembourg II.S.ar.l. All rights reserved. All statements valid at time of printing. Printed on environmentally friendly paper. Patents protecting this product are listed on a label positioned underneath the Sewing Machine. PFAFF, PERFECTION STARTS HERE, IDT (image), CREATIVE, CREATIVE SENSATION and ACTIVSTITCH are trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l.

Realize your potential Are you searching for new inspiration, the highest level of precision, and modern technology? You will find all of this and more in the new expression™ line of sewing machines from PFAFF®. Two models, each with exceptional features, are waiting to be discovered by you.

Realize your potential www.pfaff.com/ca/en Realize your potential

Great Financing Packages GreatFinancing Financing Packages Great Packages Top Available OAC. Available OAC. the highest level AreFeatures you searching forAvailable new inspiration, of precision, and modern technology? You will find OAC. ©2013 KSIN Luxembourg II.S.ar.l. All rights reserved. PFAFF, PERFECTION STARTS HERE, IDT, ® ® Ask for details! ™ Ask for details! Ask for details! CREATIVE andfrom CREATIVE are trademarks KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. The IDT™more System, from PFAFF expression line of sewing SENSATION machines PFAFF all Original of this and in only the new . Twoofmodels, each with

Are you searching for new inspiration, the highest level of precision, and modern technology? You will find from PFAFF®. Two models, each with

exceptional features, to be discovered by you. Large Space ™ line of sewing machines all ofSewing this and more inare thewaiting new expression Over 200 Beautiful 9mm Stitches exceptional features, are waiting to be discovered by you. Top Features Thread Snips, cuts the threads automatically The Original System, only from PFAFF® Automatic ThreadIDT™ Tension Top Features Large Sewing Space The Original IDT™ System, only from PFAFF® ™ quilt expression 4.2 also Over 200 Beautiful 9mm offers: Stitches Large Sewing Space Thread Presser Snips, cuts threads automatically Automatic Footthe Lift Over 200 Beautiful 9mm Stitches Automatic Thread Tension Electronic Thread Knee-Lift Snips, cuts the threads automatically Wide variety of different quilt stitches Automatic Thread ™ Tension quilt expression 4.2 also offers:

· · · · ·

expression line

Automatic Presser 4.2 Footalso Lift offers: quilt expression ™

Knee-Lift Automatic Presser Foot Lift · Electronic Wide variety of different quilt stitches · Electronic Knee-Lift · Wide variety of different quilt stitches

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Great Financing Available OAC. Ask for details!

QUILT

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Available at KSIN participating Canadian Dealers. © 2013 Luxembourg S.a.r.l. All PFAFF, rightsPERFECTION reserved. VIKING, DESIGNER DIAMOND ROYALE, DELUXE, SEWING ADVISOR, EMBROIDERY ADVISOR and EXCLUSIVE © 2014 Luxembourg II.S.ar.l. All rights reserved. AllKSIN statements valid at timeII of printing. STARTS HERE, IDT (image), EXPRESSION and QUILT EXPRESSION are trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. social SENSOR SYSTEM are trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. HUSQVARNA and the ”H” Crown Device are trademarks of Husqvarna AB. All trademarks are used under license by VSM Group AB. .com

It is with great enthusiasm that we launch the first edition of QUILTsocial eMagazine.

ditor's letter

When does an obsession become therapy? It’s been said before, quilting was born centuries ago out of sheer necessity, and has become an obsessive hobby no one wants to be cured of. For those of us who quilt with every thread of our being, quilting is what keeps us grounded, ultimately soothed by the hum of the sewing machine. So maybe we should call it ‘therapy’ instead of - obsession. If you’re like me, being obsessed with quilting pushes us to further our knowledge of it, ever-searching for practical techniques, and learning all about the best tools that help us accomplish our favorite quilting projects with little frustration. And so QUILTsocial blog was created as a daily dose of quilting. QUILTsocial focuses on the very details of quilting, the essential tools, the sewing process, quilting techniques and the finishing touches. It talks about the tools of the trade, like unboxing sewing machines and how they differ from one to the next. I mean, how many of us have actually read the manual in its entirety before plugging it in? Why are there so many sewing feet, and should we use them all? Why are there so many rulers? How many scissors and cutters do we really need and why the big variety?

I’m just scratching the surface here, but the same questions can be applied to thread, stabilizers, and what I obsess the most over…fabric! I get this floating sensation when I come across awesome fabric, then my head spins with ideas. These are serious symptoms only a sewing machine can cure. This is a place where quilting knowledge is readily available to all quilters and hopefully inspire more to pick up the therapy of quilting. Consider QUILTsocial eZine as a book of projects that reflect the topics covered in the last three months including new ones! Join me on this thrilling journey of discovery across our quilting universe. Cheerfully,

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QUILTsocial Introducing!…

.com

…for those who gather with thread and fabric to ‘eat, sleep, quilt, repeat’.

PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ART DIRECTOR Carla A. Canonico carla@QUILTsocial.com PUBLISHER, ADVERTISING SALES John De Fusco john@QUILTsocial.com PHOTOGRAPHERS John De Fusco, Carla A. Canonico, Alessia De Fusco BLOGGERS/CONTRIBUTORS Jennifer Houlden Quilts by Jen jennifer @ quiltsbyjen.ca http://quiltsbyjen.ca Nancy Devine Heaven is Hand Made nancydevine@rogers.com nancywhiskeynancyo.blogspot.com Christine Baker www.FairfieldRoadDesigns.com Christine@uppercanadaquiltworks.com christinebaker-fairfieldroaddesigns.blogspot.ca www.facebook.com/FairfieldRoadDesigns Elaine Theriault crazyquilteronabike.blogspot.com GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGN Carla A. Canonico carla@QUILTsocial.com Derek Goode derek@ANPTmag.com WEBSITE / BLOG : www.QUILTsocial.com Like us on Facebook : QUILTsocial Follow us on Twitter : @QUILTsocial WHERE TO GET YOUR COPY QUILTsocial is a quarterly eMagazine published by A Needle Pulling Thread. It is available free for personal use online at www.QUILTsocial.com. A limited number of printed copies of QUILTsocial are available for purchase at select quilt shops and specialty stores. Ask for it at your local shop. QUILTsocial is not available by subscription. QUILT SHOPS If you are interested in carrying QUILTsocial in your store, please email john@QUILTsocial.com. EDITORIAL Designers and other contributors who would like to be considered for future issues please email carla@QUILTsocial.com with a brief description of your work and your proposed project for the magazine. ©2014 QUILTsocial. All rights reserved. Issue #1. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. All designs, patterns, and information in this magazine are for private, non-commercial use only, and are copyrighted material owned by their respective creators or owners.

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daily blog weekly bulletin monthly newsletter quarterly magazine Facebook page Pinterest page ALL of the above!

Advertiser Index

ALL

FREE!

Elaine’s Quilting Tech Tips! 4

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60 A Needle Pulling Thread Magazine 58 Business Directory 57 CreativFestival 11 Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby Royale 13 Inspira STUDIO by ClosetMaid 39 Oliso smartiron 2 Pfaff expression 59 Professional Appraisal Services 55 Ruby Pearl Quilts 55 Sew Fancy 55 The Quilt Store 49 WonderFil Specialty Threads

c o n t e n t s Cheryl Stranges

Donna Housley

Drunkard's Path...The Easy Way Quilt

Lucy Garvin

We've Got You Covered!

Nancy Devine

Happy Hall-Whoo-Ween Door Quilt

Elaine Theriault

Crazy about Zippered Pouches

Nancy Devine

The Doctor Travels from T-shirt to Quilted Art

Jennifer Houlden

On-the-Go Place-mat

Christine Baker

The Back Porch Pillow

The Vintage Postcard Handbag

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the

intage Postcard handbag

he Vintage Postcard H a nd b a g fo c u s e s on many techniques that are so enjoyable to stitch. Make it in a color palette that gives you a splash of bright color, a sof t pa lette or a ver y bold one. Explore the many design elements using the latest and greatest sewing tools, threads and stabilizers and of course 6D Software. These embroideries, the design placement and the Crazy Patch Quilting techniques are a personal choice and a ca l l to your creat iv it y. z

Cheryl Stranges

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Husqvarna Viking® provided the following materials to make the sample: Designer Diamond deluxe™ sewing machine HUSKYLOCK™ s25 serger 6D Embroidery Software with 6D Sketch & 6D Stitch Creator INSPIRA® Stabilizers TrueCut cutting tools Embroidery Design # 270 Vintage Postcard Robison Anton Threads Sulky Blendable threads Circular Attachment Tool Extension Table Hand dyed 100% Soya Silk thread provided by Linda Palaisy for embroidered hand stitches www.lindapalaisy.ca

skill level intermediate

finished measurements 9¼" x 14½" [23.5 x 37cm] materials fabric Note: The ideal fabrics for this project include: silk, cotton, linen. Otherwise, any medium weight fabric will do. Other than the fat quarters required for the project, this is a great time to use leftover pieces. 2-3 Fat Quarters printed batik 1 silk Dupioni piece for hand stitch embroidery 1 solid cotton for swirl embroidery and circular attachment 1 cotton tone on tone for texturing 1 piece of fabric solid for machine embroidery 1 piece of INSPIRA stabilizer 1 piece of INSPIRA Tear Away for machine embroidery 1 piece of INSPIRA Fabric Magic sewing feet used embroidery foot ¼" piecing foot with guide zipper foot seam allowance guide foot general sewing foot topstitching foot multi-line decorative foot decorative stitching foot strap and belt loop foot serger cutting tools TrueCut rotary cutter TrueCut cutting mat TrueCut rulers INSPIRA scissors Circular Attachment extension/quilting table for circular attachment use software 6D Software (6DStitch Editor Plus and 6DSketch) Embroidery Design Husqvarna Viking # 270 Vintage Postcard Swirl design created in 6D software e.g. 6D Sketch to create swirl design using morphing tool needles INSPIRA cutwork needles for machine embroidery New INSPIRA microtex needle size 80 or 90

threads Robison-Anton rayon threads assortment 40wt 30wt Sulky Blendables Cotton for stitching decorative stitches and embroidery hand stitches 30wt Sulky Cotton solid used for piecing multi-purpose thread assortment hand dyed 100% Soya Silk thread by Linda Palaisy for embroidered hand stitches 60wt bobbin thread for machine embroidery

A special thank you to Betty Biberdorf for her creative idea using the INSPIRA® Fabric magic.

Other 80mm x 80mm hoop for single design or larger hoop if you are embroidering multiple designs marking tools 1 8" zipper covered buttons, approx. 2" in diameter 1 strand of yarn for artistic oval

i n s t r uc t ion s

Materials used and yarn used for felting.

cutting instructions front & back Cut all fabric pieces according to the list below. The following measurements are approximate and generous and will be trimmed to size later.

1. upper band 4" x 11" [10 x 28cm] L cut 2 2. machine embroidery A – fonts & wording 240mm x 150mm hoop size – cut stabilizer same size 3. machine embroidery B – swirl design 80mmx 80mm hoop size – cut stabilizer same size 4. machine embroidery C – hand stitched look 260mm x 200mm 5. INSPIRA Fusible Fleece 6. circular attachment fabric 80mm x 80mm – cut stabilizer same size 7. textured piece 14" x 14" [35.5 x 35.5] 8. Fabric Magic larger oval felted piece approx. 6" x 6" [15.5 x 15.5cm] 9. lining front and back cut 2 - 14½" x 11½" [37 x 29cm] 10. handbag back piece 14½" x 11½" [37 x 29cm] 11. handbag front piece after crazy patch work is completed 14½" x 11½" [37 x 29cm]

Decorative threads

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It’s important to use stabilizer behind all of the decorative and machine embroidery stitches. Audition each of the technique pieces below to explore the layout, of the handbag. Determine how you want to cut the crazy patch pieces as you go. Creating yarn art felting and embroidery

Stitching using the circular attachment

Multi-line decorative foot

Fabric Magic

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felting techniques 1. Draw lines on the front fabric to mark the placement of the yarn strips using a marking tool, or be creative freehand. These lines can be drawn oval or circular. Place the yarn on the fabric front. 2. This yarn strand can be machine felted into position, or it can be stitched down using a decorative beading foot 2-3mm and invisible thread using a small zigzag stitch or decorative stitch to accommodate the width of the yarn strand. Remember have fun. 3. If the artistic oval piece is to be felted, select rectangular cotton print fabric, and machine felt yarn right to the fabric. You’ll have the opportunity to choose which side you like the best after it has been needle felted, front or back of fabric. Cut the fabric to the shape desired. In this case it’s oval, however create any shape desired. Add this to the front of your handbag after all of front handbag is completely assembled. Stitch this into place. 4. Felting fabric for covered buttons can be done creatively using assorted threads, wool pieces, or yarns on the background fabric. And the fabric used for these techniques can also be from a great selection of cotton, silk, linens and any other natural fabric you can think of. Remember, it’s easier to shape it around the covered button if the fabric is light to medium weight. See manufacturer’s instructions for covered buttons.

circular attachment techniques 1. Choose your fabric to be decoratively stitched using your Circular Attachment. As with most techniques it’s advisable to always experiment and have fun with stitches before going to the project fabric. Select an assortment of stitches to explore. 2. The top layer is your fabric, behind is a tear away stabilizer or stabilizer of choice. Select a decorative stitch. Determine how large you would like the circle by moving the measurement guide to desired measurement. 3. Place your circular attachment in place and push the special pin into the fabric and through the stabilizer. Place the push pin into the circular attachment located along the measurement guide. See manufacturer’s instructions. Stitch decorative stitches in circular motion or shape desired using templates. 4. You may choose to use a portion of this decorative stitching for the handbag, or you may use the entire piece. Cut to desired size. Remove excess stabilizer. fabric texturing techniques 1. This technique was achieved by placing Fabric Magic under the cotton fabric for the front of the handbag – red fabric in bottom right corner. 2. Cut the Fabric Magic larger than the cotton fabric choice. 3. Use the multi-line decorative foot on the sewing machine, select a stitch and decorative stitch that will show well on the surface. 4. Use the guidelines on the multi-line decorative foot, stitch row after row of decorative stitches. Create a grid of stitches. Serpentine stitches work well, zigzag, straight, and a variety of others. Experiment. 5. When the stitches are complete, use the burst of steam from a steam iron and hover over top of your fabric surface. The Fabric Magic will shrink as will the cotton fabric with it. This creates a wonderful textured surface. Cut this to desired size for your crazy patch design.

machine embroidered techniques Use 6D Embroidery Stitch Editor Plus program. Draw stitch points in desired pattern on the screen. Photos 1 to 6 are a few examples of the various stitches in the software.

Once this embroidery is completed, cut the fabric to desired size for crazy patch design. If you choose to create additional embroideries, to make covered buttons, cut the embroidered fabric to desired button sizes and use manufacturer’s instructions to create these buttons. Or the alternative is to use cutwork needles in Software and incorporate this into your steps to cut the fabric button out right after embroidery is complete using either scissors or cutwork needles. Explore. stitches that look hand-stitched using the 6D embroidery sketch INSPIRA fusible fleece was used under the fabric and was hooped. For the sample, a combination of Sulky 30wt Blendable thread, and 100% Soya Silk thread was used for this machine embroidery. 1. Machine embroidery technique using HUSQVARNA VIKING Design Card #270. 2. Select desired stabilizer and hoop using appropriate hoop size for the design card. 3. These embroideries were done using 40wt Robison Anton thread for embroidery thread. 4. Load embroidery design onto the screen, and embroider the design. Once the embroidery is completed, tear away excess stabilizer. Cut the embroidered fabric design to desired size. 5. Audition this piece with all of the other pieces to create your exquisite handbag front. Once all of the pieces have been auditioned for placement, stitch them together using crazy patch technique and a ¼" piecing foot with guide. Stitch each placement and press each one lightly on the surface.

Stitch Editor Plus A

decorative topstitching techniques Use the decorative stitching foot and select a decorative stitch that will best suit the fabric design and stitch the seams on the surface. A serpentine stitch works well in combination with Sulky Blendable thread.

Hand stitches in software

free style design

Covered buttons using felting, decorative topstitch and machine embroidery techniques

spiral built-in design

80mm x 80 mm hoop

new size

twirl morphed

Multiple embroideries

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Pictures show the evolution of the creative process. Audition pieces of fabric, decorative stitches, and sewing notions to make your handbag a favourite!

crazy patch quilting and piecing This is an area of quilting that is totally amazing when it comes to creating artistic pieces. 1. A background fabric or stabilizer, or quilt batting is necessary. 2. Start with a piece of embroidered fabric, and in this case it was the embroidered handstitches. 3. Add piece by piece of embroidered swirls, circular stitching, textured cotton and of course maximize the embellishments to your heart’s desire. 4. Stitch one down at a time and flip, stitch another one down and flip. Attach each fabric to the next fabric. creative zipper Use your zipper foot that's designed with a fairly wide opening on each side, and select a quilting stitch to stitch down each side of the zipper. Once the decorative stitching is complete, stitch this zipper on your project anywhere you like as embellishment using a straight stitch. Make upper band for front and back in contrasting printed cotton fabric. shoulder strap 1. Cut fabric to desired length by 2" [5cm] wide to simply fold and stitch tubular. Or use your Coverstitch wide. 2. Trim the end of the long strip on an angle. This will make it easier to insert into the fabric strip into the foot. If you're using a Coverstitch wide, determine the width for a strap and belt loop foot and stitch down the strip. This foot automatically folds the fabric around guides inside, and makes a wonderful strap. 3. See Serger instructions for Coverstitch wide. completing the bag Back piece and batting 14½" x 11½" [37 x 29cm] Front of handbag completed and crazy patched will also measure 14½" x 11½" [37 x 29cm]. Shoulder Strap 1" or 2" x desired length 1. Fold upper band in half lengthwise, press and place upper band on upper front piece right sides together. Stitch in place. Repeat for the back piece.

2. Right sides together, sew fabric and lining. Fold so that lining and front are wrong sides together. Repeat for back. 3. Determine location for strap and place each front and back right sides together and serge using a 4 thread serge all around except upper band area. Include the strap in the seams.

Cheryl Stranges 4. Turn right side out. 

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Product & Event Specialist husqvarnaviking.com seecherylsew.blogspot.com

EXCLUSIVE FEATURES: • Experience more beautiful embroidery than ever, even with challenging metallic threads, thanks to the innovative deLuxe™ Stitch System. • Use the first in the industry Dimensional Stitches to add appliqué fabric. • The largest embroidery area in its class*, allowing you to stitch spectacular designs with just one hooping.

* Non-turnable; as compared to leading brands in similar price range.

NEW!

Great Financing Available

OAC. Ask for details!

© 2014 KSIN Luxembourg II. S.ar.l. All rights reserved. VIKING, DESIGNER RUBY ROYALE and DELUXE are trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. HUSQVARNA and the “crowned H-mark” are trademarks of Husqvarna AB. All trademarks are used under license by VSM Group AB. © 2014 KSIN Luxembourg II. S.ar.l. All rights reserved. VIKING, DESIGNER RUBY ROYALE and DELUXE are trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. HUSQVARNA and the “crowned H-mark” are trademarks of Husqvarna AB. All trademarks are used under license by VSM Group AB.

The HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER RUBY Royale™ sewing and embroidery machine is our heir to the throne, a true princess. It makes it easy and rewarding to create anything your heart desires!

The Love of a Lifetime The Love of a Lifetime ove The of Love a Lifetime The of a Love Lifetime of a Li

The HUSQVARNA VIKING® The HUSQVARNA DESIGNER RUBY Royale™ VIKING The HUSQVARNA VIKING® sewing and embroidery DESIGNER RUBY Royale™ DESIGNER RUBY Royale™ machine is our heir to the and embroidery sewingsewing and embroidery throne, a true princess. It machine is our heir to the machine is our heir to the makes it easy and rewarding throne,throne, a true princess. It a true princess. It to create anything your makesmakes it easy and rewarding heart desires!it easy and rewardin to create anything your to create anything your heart desires! EXCLUSIVE FEATURES:

heart desires!

• Experience more beautiful EXCLUSIVE FEATURES:

embroidery than ever, even with EXCLUSIVE FEATURES: • Experience more beautiful challenging metallic threads, embroidery thaninnovative ever, more evendeLuxe™ with thanks to the • Experience beautiful challenging metallic threads, Stitchembroidery System. than ever, even with thanks to the innovative deLuxe™ • Use the first in the industry challenging metallic threads, Stitch System. Dimensional Stitches to add thanks to the innovative deLuxe™ • Use the first in the industry appliqué fabric. StitchStitches System. Dimensional to add • The largest embroidery area appliqué fabric. in its• Use the first in the industry class*, allowing you to stitch • The largest embroidery areaone to add Dimensional spectacular designs withStitches just in hooping. its class*, allowing you to stitch appliqué fabric. spectacular designs with just one • The largest embroidery area hooping.

NEW!

in its class*, allowing you to stitch spectacular designs with just one hooping. * Non-turnable; as compared to leading brands in similar price range.

* Non-turnable; as compared to leading brands in similar price range.

NEW!www.husqvarnaviking.com/ca * Non-turnable; as compared to leading brands in

similar price range. Available at participating Canadian Dealers. © 2013 KSIN Luxembourg II S.a.r.l. All rights reserved. VIKING, DESIGNER DIAMOND ROYALE, DELUXE, SEWING ADVISOR, EMBROIDERY ADVISOR an SENSOR SYSTEM are trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.ar.l. HUSQVARNA and the ”H” Crown Device are trademarks of Husqvarna AB. All trademarks are used under license by VSM Grou

NEW! NEW!

eat Financing Available Great Financing Available

NEW! TRY THIS GEM AT YOUR LOCAL RETAILER!

www.husqvarnaviking.com/ca/en Q

OAC. Ask for details! ● social fall 2014 www.husqvarnaviking.com/ca/en TRY LOCAL RETAILER! TRY THIS GEM AT YOUR LOCAL RETAILER! TRY THIS UILT GEM AT YOUR LOCAL 11 RETAILE AC. Ask forTHIS details! GEM AT YOUR .com

Available at participating Canadian Dealers. © 2013 KSIN Luxembourg II S.a.r.l. All rights reserved. VIKING, DESIGNER DIAMOND ROYALE, DELUXE, SEWING ADVISOR, EMBROIDERY ADVISOR and EXCLUSIVE www.husqvarnaviking.com www.husqvarnaviking.com www.husqvarnaviking.com © 2013 KSIN Luxembourg II S.a.r.l. All rightsofreserved. VIKING,II,DESIGNER DIAMOND DELUXE, ADVISOR, EMBROIDERY ADVISOR are andused EXCLUSIVE SENSOR SYSTEM are trademarks KSIN Luxembourg S.ar.l. HUSQVARNA andROYALE, the ”H” Crown DeviceSEWING are trademarks of Husqvarna AB. All trademarks under license by VSM Group AB.

BANNERS OF nd:

Visit our booth a

e of banners by th View a display Charity Wings r fo e d a m rs e n h CHA Desig or their outreac )f rg o s. g in w y rit Banners of Hope (www.cha are small fabric banners with program. inspirational messages that are on ti c ru st n o e “C th displayed in hospitals, shelters and in e m ti e m r Spend so u o y t c ru st charity locations that greet members u can con Zone” where yo of the public in times of challenge. Hope. own Banner of

fabric ational yed in harity mbers allenge.

Coming to a craft show near you! t can be used in c je ro p is th w o al Learn h te loacdisplay promoVIEW to ss of banners by the CHA e n si u b r o your store re ourage mo Designers ts. causes and enc in their projec ric b fa se u to consumers ENJOY some time in the “Construction Zone”

booth #1654

where you can construct your own Banner of Hope. Offered at some of our events.

OH how this project can be used in your store, .org/BLEARN www.craftandhobby business, guild or community group to promote

local causes and encourage more consumers to use fabric in their projects.

For more information on events in 2015 visit

www.craftandhobby.org/Canada

Banners courtesy of Paula Jones, Ana Araujo, Kelly Goulder, Susan Pyrcz Weckesser.

MAKE IT EFFORTLESS ORGANIZE SEWING & CRAFTING WITH THE PERFECT PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

INTRODUCING THE NEW INSPIRA STUDIO™ COLLECTION: 8 REVOLUTIONARY PIECES OF MODULAR SMART FURNITURE, DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR SEWERS & CRAFTERS Developed with ClosetMaid®, this system has exclusive features designed for the unique needs of sewers and crafters. When tools and materials are organized and easy to find, you have more time, space and energy to create!

See the entire INSPIRA STUDIO™ collection at myinspirastudio.com. Patentpending

THREAD CABINET

FABRIC CABINET

COMPARTMENT CABINET

MAT & HOOP CABINET

3-DRAWER SUPPLY CABINET

ACTIVITY TABLE

MOBILE NOTIONS CART

MOBILE PROJECT STORAGE

View product videos and discover what the INSPIRA STUDIO™ collection can do for you at

myinspirastudio.com

Drunkard’s Path ...the Easy Way Donna Housley

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skill level beginner finished measurements 35" x 44" [89 x 1.12m] materials fabric circle and background fabrics 1yd [90cm] x WOF each inside border 10" [25cm] x WOF outside border 16" [40cm] x WOF backing 46" [1.17m] x WOF binding 15" [40cm] x WOF Sulky Soft ‘n Sheer Extra 1yd pkg fusible quilt batting 36" x 46" [90cm x 1.17m] 40 wt rayon thread Komfort Kut Rotary Cutter 18mm Quilting Ruler 6" x 24" Kai Scissors 9.0" (1000) series Kai Scissors 4.5" (1000) series Glass head pins Clover Fabric Folding Pen True Cut 360° Precision Circle Cutter 505 Temporary Spray Adhesive Note: The sample was done using a 6" [15.24cm] diameter circle. It’s encouraged to play with this technique and make the blocks whatever size desired. The quilt was made with 6 red circles on a blue background and 6 blue circles on a red background.

instructions 1. Trace a 6" [15.24cm] circle onto the back of a piece of Soft ‘n Sheer then place fusible side to the right side of the circle fabric. Pin in place and sew directly on the line. 2. Trim seam with pinking shears to ¼" [6mm]. With a pair of small sharp scissors make a slit in the Soft ‘n Sheer. Run Clover’s Fabric Folding Pen over the stitches. Turn right side out through the slit and finger press. Repeat 11 more times to get 6 red circles and 6 blue circles. 3. Cut 6 red and 6 blue squares 12" [30.5cm]. 4. Centre the circle on a square. Using a medium hot iron fuse the circle into place.

5. Stitch around the circle with half of the decorative stitch on the circle and half on the background square. 6. Use a ruler and rotary cutter to cut each square into 4 pieces. 7. Square up each piece to 5½" [13.97cm] square cut only the 2 sides of the outer edges of the square. 8. Arrange the blocks in a design you are happy with – this may take longer than the sewing! Once the design is decided on, carefully sew the blocks together in rows with a ¼" [6mm] seam. 9. Press the seams in Row 1 (and other uneven numbered rows) to the left then Row 2 (and other even numbered rows) to the right. This will reduce the bulk where the seams meet. Sew all rows together. 10. Press all seams and square up finished block. Borders Cut 4 strips WOF 2½" [6.35cm] wide for inside border. Cut 2 strips to length of quilt and sew to each side of the block using a ¼" [6mm] seam. Press seam toward border. Cut 2 strips to width of quilt and sew to top and bottom of block. Press seam toward border.

Cut 4 strips WOF 3½" [8.89cm] wide for outside border. Cut 2 strips to length of quilt and using a ¼" [6mm] seam, sew to each side of the block. Press seam toward border. Cut 2 strips to width of quilt and sew to top and bottom of block. Press seam toward border. finishing 1. Layer the backing, batting and quilt top. 2. Secure with temporary spray adhesive and pin to hold. 3. Quilt as desired. Note: 40 wt rayon thread was used on top and bottom and a feather stitch was used along the seams. binding 1. Sew the 3" [8cm] binding strips together to make one strip long enough to go all around the table topper. Press seams open. 2. Fold the binding strip in half lengthwise with wrong sides together. Press. 3. Using a walking foot or even-feed foot, sew on the binding using a scant ½" [1.3cm] seam allowance. 4. Fold the binding over to the back and hand-stitch in place. At each corner, fold the binding to create a 45° mitred corner. This can be stitched down or not, as desired. 

Note: This is a great opportunity to play with the decorative stitches on your sewing machine. A variegated thread and a feather type stitch. Playing with different weights of thread is also a great idea, the heavier the thread the bolder the stitching.

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Embroidered Tablet and Journal Covers

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Got You

overed!

ab lets and e- readers a re everywhere th es e days an d th ey co m e i n a ll s h a pe s and si ze s. By fo llo w in g a fe w si m p le i n st ru ct io n s, yo u ca n crea te a pa tter n fo r a ny de vi ce . G la m u p th e project by using free mot ion em br oi de ry on th e fr on t pa ne l. Th e ric hn ess of th e rayon and the shine of the m etallic co m bine to crea te a st un ni ng cu stom co ve r. Luc y Garvin

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instructions skill level intermediate – advanced finished measurements (closed) iPad 8" x 10" [20.5 x 25.5cm] Blackberry Playbook 8" x 5½" [20.5 x 14cm] Kobo Wireless 7½" x 5¼" [19 x 13.5cm] Journal Variation 7" x 5½" [18 x 14cm] materials fabric 11¾" [30cm] tone-on-tone navy fabric 11¾" [30cm] heavyweight non-woven fusible interfacing 11¾" [30cm] thin fusible fleece – OR – quilt batting 19½" [50cm] muslin or factory cotton threads assorted WonderFil threads Splendor (1166 Dark Punch, 5112 Dark Purple, 7118 Bright Rust, 3141 Pacific Blue, 4148 Dark Moss, 2120 Medium Gold) Mirage (SD04 Mediterranean Blues) Spotlite (8847 Burnished Gold) Deco Bob (DB 301 Navy) notions 11¾" [30cm] ¾" wide grosgrain ribbon 1 pkg – 1" wide no roll elastic (black) 1 pkg – ½" wide braided elastic (black) basic sewing and rotary cutting supplies sewing machine with darning foot, ¼" foot and zipper foot #80 topstitch needle other brown paper for template 1 piece mat board 9" x 12" [23 x 30.5cm] or enough to cover both sides of your tablet (if a mat board is hard to find, book board or board salvaged from old binders will work) navy blue acrylic ink or fluid acrylic 1" [2.54cm] foam brush small dish to mix ink plastic to protect table metal ruler utility knife pencil ultrafine marker parchment paper Photos courtesy of Lucy Garvin.

Cutting the Inserts 1. Place tablet on the mat board and trace around the device. Clean up the lines, and then use a ruler and utility knife to cut the mat board to size. Trim corners. Photo 1 2. Place insert against the device to ensure accurate sizing and adjust if necessary. Cut a second insert to match. Preparing the Template 1. Place inserts side by side on a piece of brown paper. 2. Put the tablet on the edge between the inserts. 3. Mark outside corners of the inserts, then use a ruler to square up the lines. 4. Place inserts and the tablet back on the paper to check the dimensions. 5. Adjust sizing if necessary. Photo 2 6. Add 1" [2.5cm] to the length and 1½" [4cm] to the width. Photo 3

cutting insert

creating pattern

Note: When using thicker boards and/or battings, you may need to add an additional ¼" [6mm] to the width of the template. TIP It’s strongly recommended to follow the directions and make a test cover first. This allows you to fine tune the fit and make any adjustments necessary before you cut into the embroidered fabric. Preparing to Embroider 1. Fold template in half and place on the interfacing. Cut interfacing larger than the pattern piece, approximately 1" [2.5cm] on all sides. 2. Place interfacing glue side down and use a marker to draw around the corners of the template. 3. Place interfacing on the circle template, centering the design within the drawn outline. Depending on the size of the tablet, it might be necessary to ‘fudge’ the position of the circles. 4. Draw in the circles. Photo 4 5. In a small container, place approximately 6 drops of acrylic ink and 1 teaspoon of water. Mix. 6. Place interfacing on a plastic sheet, glue side down. Paint interfacing with the thinned ink and set aside to dry. Photo 5

template final

tracing circles

painting cover

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Embroidering the Cover 1. Cut muslin approximately 2" [5cm] larger on all sides than the interfacing. 2. Fuse the two pieces together. 3. Prepare machine for free motion embroidery. Use a top stitch needle and a darning foot, set machine to straight stitch, stitch length of 0 and drop the feed dogs. Refer to photo for color placement. Photo 6 4. Fill in the circles with free motion embroidery. Photo 7 embroidery gold highlight Note: As you go around the circles, the fabric will draw up and cause some distortion. 5. Use Mirage in the needle, set machine to zig zag (stitch width 3.5) and move the piece forwards and backwards to fill in the background. Try not to stitch into the circles, aiming for a loose but even coverage of the entire background. Photo 8 6. Rotate piece 90º and repeat the zig zag fill. Rotate piece 90º again and repeat the zig zag fill. Work in layers and rotate the piece each time, will blend out the color changes in the Mirage and give a dense background fill. Photo 9 7. Dense stitching will draw up the fabric. Check the piece against the folded template and if necessary, add more stitching to the outside edges. 8. Use metallic thread in the needle and set the machine to straight stitch to outline the circles. About five times around the circle works well. Add rays embroidery finish around the blue circles. Photo 10 & 11 9. Place embroidered fabric face down on a towel and lightly press. Use the folded template to cut the fabric to size.

color placement

FME circles

creating pattern

9 zig zag fill

Sewing the Front Cover 1. Lay out the full template on the fusible fleece. 2. Cut out the fleece, leaving an extra ½" [13mm] on all sides. 3. Use parchment paper on top to fuse the embroidered panel to the fleece, lining up the right edge of the panel with the right edge of the fleece. 4. Cut navy fabric larger than the exposed fleece. 5. With right sides together, line up the edge of the fabric with the left side of the embroidered panel. 6. Sew using a ¼" [6mm] seam allowance, then flip the fabric over and fuse it in place. 7. Quilt navy fabric as desired, and then cut the cover to size.

cover with elastic

cutting lining

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8. On the quilted side, mark the top and bottom 2½" [6.5cm] in from the edge. Cut a piece of ½" [13mm] braided elastic the same length as the fabric. Pin the elastic in place and machine baste. Photo 12

Preparing the Lining 1. Use the full template to cut one lining from fusible fleece and one from the navy fabric. Fuse the layers together and cut the lining in half. Photo 13 2. On one lining piece, mark 2½" [6.5cm] in from each corner. Cut the 1" [2.5cm] elastic into 4 – 4" [10cm] lengths. 3. Use the marks as a guide and pin the elastic at 45º angles across the corners. Photo 14 4. Machine baste. Test the fit and adjust the position of the elastic if necessary. 5. Trim off the excess elastic. This creates the back lining. 6. Cut ribbon to size and pin along one edge of the front lining, overlapping a scant ¼" [6mm]. Photo 15 Use a zipper foot to edge stitch in place.

elastic corners

Putting it all Together 1. Place front lining against the embroidered panel right sides together and pin. 2. Pin back lining against the quilted panel. Photo 16 3. Sew all around using a ¼" [6mm] seam allowance. Note: Too generous a seam allowance and the inserts will not fit. Too narrow and the inserts will move around. Trim corners Photo 17 and turn right side out. 4. Insert mat boards into the pockets created between the lining and the cover. Photo 18 5. To secure inserts in position, place the zipper foot on the ribbon. 6. Sew layers together by sewing along the edge of the inserts. Tie off the threads. Photo 19 

ribbon trim

trim corners

add insert

sew ribbon trim

pin lining

TIP Depending on the size, you may not be able to fit the board between the needle and the side of your machine. If it doesn’t fit, insert the mat board into the back pocket only. With the board to the left of the needle, edge stitch on the fabric next to the board, making sure to leave the ribbon free. Insert the mat board into the front pocket and sew hand tacking stitches next to the board, going through all layers. To finish, hand sew the edge of the ribbon to the fabric.

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HAPPY

WHOO -WEEN!

HALL-

Halloween Door Quilt Greets Trick or Treaters Nancy Devine

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“By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. Open locks, Whoever knocks!” – – the second Witch, MacBeth, William Shakespeare

he days of colorful leaves and crisp fall air has arrived, and that can mean only one thing: Halloween visitors knocking at your door on the last night of October. Say hello to your callers with this cheerful owl Halloween door quilt, which has strong neodymium magnets sewn in the corners to adhere it to metal doors. The design layout can also be used to decorate a trick or treat bag that features light reflecting gross grain ribbon to help make your little goblins more visible as they make their nighttime rounds. You will need: 20 inch wide x 24 inch long quilting cotton in night sky color 14 inch wide x 20 inch long cotton batik in brown fat quarter yellow or gold fabric 18 inch long x 20 inch wide piece of tear away stabilizer muslin HeatnBond Feather Lite iron on adhesive appliqué press sheet quilt batting two black or amber colored buttons embroidery floss sewing machine threads: sew all and holographic embroidery bobbin threads basting spray micro tweezer snips Inkjet printer fabric neodymium magnets (found at large craft stores or home improvement stores) Wash, dry and press all fabrics for this project. The design layout is intended as a guide only. Feel free to make the layout your own.

Preparing the fabric 1. Use the design layout as a guide to free-hand draw/or trace the tree branch onto a piece of tear away stabilizer. Cut out on the drawn line. 2. Place the wrong side of the tree branch fabric onto the stabilizer. Pin or spray the fabric to the stabilizer. Cut out the branch shape you have traced or drawn, adding 1⁄4 inch seam allowance around the whole branch. 3. Leave the stabilizer paper in place and fold the edges of the fabric crisply around the edge. Use a running stitch with matching thread to baste all around the tree branch shape and stabilizer. 4. When the whole shape is basted, thoroughly press it. Allow it to cool and then tear away the stabilizer. Leave the basting stitched in place, as they form part of the branch texture. Set this aside for now. 5. With right sides together, pin the gold fabric to the same amount of muslin. Use a large dinner plate to trace a circle on the muslin. 6. Use a small machine stitch to sew the circle all around the traced line. Cut out, ensuring you have a 1⁄4 seam allowance. Clip curves every 1⁄2 inch. 7. Cut an X in the muslin. Turn the circle through this X. 8. Use a chop stick or similar to smooth the curves. Wiggle the seams between your thumb and fore finger to ensure they are smooth curves. Press. 9. Pin this moon to the night sky fabric, using the layout illustration as a guide. Pin, and slip stitch to the night sky. 10. Add the branch to the scene. Pin and slip stitch to the night sky. 11. Load an inkjet fabric sheet into the printer, and print the words onto the sheet. 12. Use the cloud template to trace the cloud shape around the words. This is easier to do it you tape the word print out to a sunny window or a light box. 13. As you did with the moon, match the inkjet printout with the same amount of muslin. Sew along the traced shape of the cloud. Cut out the cloud shape, clipping curves. 14. Use pinking shears, or a rotary cutter with a wave blade to cut out the words. Place the words on the lower edge of the moon. Use a tiny appliqué stitch to attach the word cloud to the door quilt, overlapping the moon slightly.

Use stabilizer to help create crisp edges on the tree branch

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4. Clip curves and turn the shapes through the X. When all the shapes have nice smooth seams, press them well.

Use a seam ripper to make a slit in the muslin that backs the moon appliqué. Turn to the right side through this opening. Sewing it together 1. With right sides together, sew the muslin and the owl body fabrics together. Use the same fabric for the face piece. Back the eye and the wing pieces with muslin as well. (Remember to reverse one of wing pieces.)

5. To make the beak and the feet, cut 1 1⁄2 squares from scrap fabrics. Fold in half diagonally and then in half again. All raw edges are on the long side of the triangle. Press each resulting triangle. You'll be folding a gold colored triangle to create a beak. 6. Tack this triangle to the lower portion of the eye piece. Stitch buttons to the eye piece. Stitch the eye/beak piece to the face piece. 7. Use a brown or gold triangle for the owl's feet. Stitch these to the bottom of the owl's body. 8. Fuse the owl tummy piece to the body, just under the chin area. To protect your ironing surface, use an appliqué mat. Do not use the steam function. Over time, steam breaks down the Teflon surface of the mat, and ruins its antistick properties.

9. Using dark brown embroidery floss, outline the tummy piece, the wings and the eyes with a line of running stitches.

2. Trace all the shapes onto the muslin sides. 3. Machine sew around all the shapes, using a small stitch. Cut out all the pieces, adding a 1⁄4 inch seam allowance around all the pieces.

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10. Hand stitch the face to the body, ensuring the face covers the tummy piece. 11. Press the owl element on the reserve side. 12. Attach the owl to the tree branch. Embroider the owl's legs and feet from the body to the branch. 13. Our Halloween door quilt is taking on a cheerful – – and almost spooky – – personality. Adding some shimmerrrrrrr What this picture needs is some texture! Coming right up, using Sulky embroidery Holoshimmer embroidery threads. Technically, these beauties are more like filaments, so some extra care must be taken when using them. 1. Use a machine embroidery needle – – a new one for this new project – – and a slightly loosened top tension in your machine. It’s also important to change to a new bobbin, filled with bobbin thread. 2. Switch to your machine's darning foot. 3. We're going to paint some bark onto the tree branches. 4. Drop your machine's feed dogs. 5. Place the door quilt top into a large embroidery hoop, but rather than having the work sitting on top of the hoop like a drum, reverse the installation so that the inner hoop is on top of the quilt and flat to the machine bed. 6. Grip the sides of the hoop and move the tree area up and down in a random way, "drawing”, as in free motion quilting, some lines up and down the branch, to create the illusion of bark. 7. Trim the threads away as you stop and start to get all the branch areas covered. This is an easy task using 4 1⁄2 inch EZ snips. The blades curve upwards, away from the work, and the simple squeezing action is a perfect way to get a precise snip without any hand fatigue. I love these little snips. I've become a pretty big fan of the Holoshimmer threads. The thread effect is quite subtle, but effective. It picks up just the smallest bits of light and creates a noticeable shimmer. It's just perfect for the spooking cheerfulness of our door quilt. It reminds me of dewy spidery webs – – EEEK! I added some plain black thread to the tree bark too.

9. Switch to your machine's clear embroidery foot, and engage the feed dogs. Change to a yellow-gold Holoshimmer thread. Select a decorative stitch and outline the moon. I used a combination of two decorative stitches. 10. Cut 3 2 1⁄2 inch coordinating sashing strips. Attach them first to the bottom edge and then to the sides, pressing the seam inwards toward the dark sky fabric. Our Halloween door quilt is looking spook-tac-ular! We finished embellishing the Halloween door quilt with some fancy threads and stitches. Our spooky little scene is ‘free-motion quilting’ with some spooky air currents. After all, the wind should always blow a little mystery into Halloween night. 1. Make a quilt sandwich with a backing, quilt batting, and the quilt top. Spray baste and smooth the layers together.

Use a marking pen to create some swirls to suggest air currents. This will be your free motion quilting motif. It helps to draw a few strategically placed motifs on the quilt, then you can bust loose on the wider areas of the quilt.

8. Remove the quilt top from the hoop and press on the reverse side.

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2. Cut 3 inch binding strips. Attach them first to the bottom edge and then to the sides. I like to machine stitch the binding to the front of the quilt, then fold the raw edges to just the edge of the quilt. Press and then fold pressed strip to the back. Press. Slip stitch the binding strip to the back of the quilt. 3. This quilt will stick to our steel door using super strong magnets encased in four fabric pockets. Using an off cut from the binding strips, right sides together, sew a four inch long tube, turn right side out. 4. Cut four more or less equal squares from this sewn tube. 5. Slip a magnet into each pocket. Stitch closed, using a zigzag stitch.

how-to 1. Cut out the bag main pieces and the lining pieces. 2. Trace all the owl pieces onto the paper side of the HeatnBond Feather Lite iron on adhesive. Protect your ironing board with an appliqué mat. 3. Fuse the HeatnBond to the fabric scraps. Cut out the parts and remove the backing paper, and iron them onto an 8 x 11 piece of night sky fabric. Use a zigzag stitch to attach the appliquéd night sky fabric panel to one of the bag's main pieces. 4. Cut out triangles from the reflective tape. 5. Fuse a reflect tape triangle beak under the eyes. 6. Zigzag triangles onto the owl's eyes. 7. Outline the owl's eyes in decorative threads. 8. Outline the owl's wings in decorative threads.

This step is a bit tricky, because you're going to convince the fabric to go through the feed dogs, even though the magnet wants to stay put. 6. Tack the pockets to the corners of the door quilt.

Making the Loot Bag Trick or treat is in the bag! Of all the loot bag ideas, our Halloween loot bag is the most important fashion accessory for October 31st. It uses up many scraps created from making this week's Halloween door quilt. Generally, trick or treat loot bags are often quite informal things. They can range from cute little pumpkins to your very best pillow cases. The little pumpkin doesn't hold much, and those pillow cases aren't easy to replace, this is a good plan. This is a sturdy bag that also features grosgrain ribbon with reflective properties, which is great because Halloween activities are fun, but they need to be safe too. You will need: canvas 18 inch wide x 20 inches long lining fabric 18 inches wide by 20 inches long fabric scraps reflective tape HeatnBond Feather Lite applique mat

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9. Sew reflective ribbon to the top of the bag front and back. I used a strip of ribbon near the top of the front of the bag, and three strips of the same ribbon on the back of the bag. 10. Sew the bag front to the back.

15. Turn the bag through the lining opening and slip stitch the opening closed. Press the top of the bag, and top stitch two lines of stitching along the top to ensure the handles are very secure.

Match the bag side and bottom seams and pin together. Measure 1 1/2 inches from the corners of the bag lining, and draw a line straight across. Sew along the line and then cut 1/4 away from the sewn line. Repeat with the main bag. That's a boxed corner, y'all. 11. Cut handles that are 4 inches x 8 inches. With right sides together, sew two tubes and turn them right side out. Press the tube so that the sewn seam is the center. Stitch the tube ends closed. 12. On the right side of the bag, measure 3 inches from the edge on both sides of the bag. Mark this and pin the handles so that the center seam matches the mark. 13. Sew the lining pieces together, leaving a 5 inch gap at the bottom for turning. 14. With right sides together, sew the lining to the bag top, taking care ensure the bag handles are hanging straight down inside the bag.

Photos courtesy of Nancy Devine.

16. Give the whole bag a good press. Wishing everyone a safe, happy, and candy filled Halloween!â&#x20AC;&#x201A; z

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Word Cloud

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Owl face Owl wings

Owl Tummy

Top

Owl body

Owl eyes

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Craz

about

Zippered Pouches Elaine Theriault

Leftovers

A zippered pouch can contain anything we'd like to carry around. It's a relatively simple item to sew up, but it gets more interesting if we decide to quilt it. Here are several ideas on how to add flair to this practical item and still satisfy our love for quilting.

Orphans

Upholstery Samples 28

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Once you’ve mastered the pattern basics for the zippered pouches – the sky is the limit. You’ll be crazy about zippered pouches too! Change the size of the zippered pouch, choose a novelty print that highlights a favorite hobby for friends and family, embellish the pouches using some of the decorative stitches that can be found on the Husqvarna Viking Opal 690Q. Leftovers again? You just finished the most amazing quilt ever and now you have scraps. What to do with them? Piece them together and make a zippered pouch. If the quilt is a gift for someone – then you can always give them the pouch to match their quilt, or keep the pouch for yourself. While on a quilting retreat, I was working on a paper pieced project. A friend took some of my scraps and made a cute pouch which she lightly quilted instead of interfaced. A scrap of fabric was used as a zipper pull. It now holds the letters for my magnetic Scrabble board which goes on retreat with us! Another friend of mine made a bargello quilt. When she finished she was going to toss out the leftovers. Oh my! That won't do! I took the scraps and rejigged them as necessary and made three zippered pouches from the leftovers. When I was done – there truly was nothing left. Even though the entire bag had seams – I still made the bottom gusset and there was no problem with the extra seams. Orphans in the closet? Everyone has orphan blocks. What are you going to do with one or two orphan blocks? Make a small pouch the size of the blocks or add some fabric to the sides to make the blocks into a size that will work for a zippered pouch. A friend of mine gave me a huge bag of orphan blocks which I added to my orphan blocks. I dug through the bag and came up with this pair of blocks that would be perfect for a zippered pouch. I added a large piece to two sides of the block and a smaller piece to the top and bottom. I trimmed both pieces so they were the same size. You can have fun with colored zippers and use up leftover fabric for the inside or a coordinating fabric.

Instruction photos by Elaine Theriault.

Samples? Use up some of those upholstery samples. I seem to always have some of them on hand and I grabbed one to make my next zippered pouch. Isn’t this a gorgeous bag. I cut off the top part of the bag where the grommets were and used a section of that cut-off for the ends of the zipper. Size Matters! Once you make your first zippered pouch, you will get an idea of how the dimensions work out. Then you will be able to make a bag that is custom fit for what you would like to put in it.

Think toiletries, school supplies, small electronic devices and their accessories. toys, travel bags for the car – there are limitless possibilities as to what and who you can make a zippered pouch for. And let’s face it – the zippered pouches are way more attractive than a Ziploc bag. These zippered pouches are a breeze to make with the Husqvarna Viking Opal 690Q. Make your customized ribbon tag using one of the decorative stitches. The zipper foot makes the installation of the zipper a breeze. But if you want to take it further – why not decorate the outside of the bag with some of the decorative stitches, try some crazy fabrics like denim or leather. All you have to remember is to use the Exclusive Sewing Adviser to make the necessary changes to stitch length and tension so you don’t have to worry about that. While I love making quilts, I find making these small projects way more fun. They don't take long, they use up scraps and you get to try out new techniques that you may never try on a quilt. Plus you get to use more of the features on the sewing machine! If only there were more time in the day – I have a lot more ideas and no more time! I am crazy about zippered pouches! I hope you enjoyed some of the variations.

Here is the original bag that I made. I started with a 10 inch square.

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Zippered Pouch Tutorial

You can modify this pattern to make any size pouch that fits your needs. It’s so easy and there are so many fabric options, that you’ll find yourself making a customized one for each of your friends.

TIP I often have to use the hottest setting on my iron in order to get the interfacing to stick properly. Make sure it is well adhered over the entire surface. The interfacing gives the bag some body and without it or without it being well adhered, the bag can look wimpy. Prepare the Zipper Take the 2" x 4" piece of outer fabric and fold in half lengthwise (wrong sides together) and press.

Insert the Zipper Lay the zipper face down on the right side along the 10" side of the outer fabric. You may want to baste the zipper in place. Take the lining and lay it on top of the outer fabric – rights sides together. The zipper will be sandwiched in between the two layers. Make sure the zipper is centered along that edge. Carefully stitch through all three layers using the zipper foot.

Open the pressed edges and now take the long raw edges and line them both up to the center line and press.

Materials TWO – 10" x 8" rectangles of outer fabric ONE – 2" x 4" rectangle of outer fabric (for the zipper) TWO – 10" x 8" rectangles for the lining TWO – 10" x 8" rectangles of interfacing ONE – 9 1⁄2" zipper ONE – Fabric tag (that we made last time)

Fusing Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the outer fabric. Alternatively you can fuse the interfacing to the lining especially if the outer fabric is pieced or is of a heavier weight than quilting cotton.

Now one last fold – fold the piece in half along the center fold. You now have a long narrow unit. The raw edges are tucked inside – the piece is four layers thick. Tuck the end of the zipper into one edge of the folder unit. Top stitch along the open end to secure the zipper in place. Repeat the process on the other end of the zipper. Be careful when you insert the end with the zipper pull. Make sure the two edges of the zipper are lined up.

The zipper unit is placed face down on the outer fabric. The lining will go on top of these two pieces – right sides together. Press the seam towards the outer fabric.

Trim the ends of the zipper tabs so they are flush with the edge of the zipper tape.

If the ends of the zipper tape are too long – simply cut them off before you stitch the fabric tab to the end of the zipper. If your zipper is too long, cut the zipper at the length you want and sew the zipper tab to the end. This will act as a stopper.

Lay the remaining edge of the zipper face down on the right side of the last piece of outer fabric. Baste the zipper if you need. Take the lining and lay it on top of the outer piece. Right sides are together. The zipper is now sandwiched between these two layers. Make sure the zipper is centered along that edge and that the raw edges of ALL four pieces are lined up. Carefully stitch through all three layers using the zipper foot.

Do the same for other end if it's also too long.

The unstitched edge of the zipper tape is lined up with the edge of the second outer fabric piece. Lay the other piece of lining on top of these pieces with rights sides together.

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Turn the bag inside out Turn the bag inside out and inspect your handiwork. Is the tag in the right direction? How did the matching go at the zipper ends? If you are happy – there is one last step.

I like to do a very narrow row of top stitching – very close to the edge of the zipper. Gives it a much crisper look to the zipper.

Close the opening in the lining While you could close the opening in the lining by hand, it’s just as easy to use the sewing machine to stitch that opening closed. It’s in the bottom of the pouch after all and will probably never be seen.

Cut the Corners! Cut out the spacing for the corners. This will give you a nice flat bottom bag. Mark the pouch top – I cut 1 1⁄4" from each corner. Make sure you are cutting through BOTH the pouch top and lining. I marked with a pencil and used scissors to make the cuts. Make sure you cut from all FOUR corners of the pouch. The side seams are sewn, as well as the top and bottom. Note there is a gap in the lining material so you can turn the bag inside out.

The FINISHED Zippered Fabric Pouch Now wasn’t that easy? Get your materials and make your own bag. Remember you can modify the sizes given to whatever size and shape you want. This was so easy to make on the Husqvarna Viking Opal 690Q. I used many of its features.

Stitch the corners Bring the cut corners together – reversing the side seams in the opposite direction. Stitch across that seam. I reinforce this seam by stitching it twice. Repeat for all four corners.

The Side Seams Lay out the bag with the two outer layers right sides together and the two lining pieces right sides together. Stitch along the four sides (but NOT into the corner cuts). Leave an opening on the bottom of the lining so you can turn the pouch inside out. If you made the personalized labels, insert one into the side seam before you sew them. Carefully line up the center where the zipper is. You want that intersection to be nice and smooth. NOTE: Open the zipper or you will not be able to turn the pouch inside out.

This method of inserting a zipper is fool proof and it looks good too!

Match up a side seam and the bottom seam at the cut corner. Push the seam allowances in opposite direction and stitch.

The customized ribbon tag made on the Husqvarna Viking Opal 690Q. I LOVE that tag! QUILTsocial

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Nancy Devine

The

Doctor

r f s l e ...Trav

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t r A d e lt i u Q o t t r i h s om T-

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Begin by ironing the shirt. This is necessary because this is a quilt project, and the edges need to be straight, not because I’ve taken leave of my senses. I don’t usually iron T-shirts. This task will be made much easier if you use an ironing spray like DYLON EASY IRON. It isn’t a starch, but it helps smooth out those wrinkles that have been buried in the closet since last September. Line up the bottom edges of the shirt and give it a good shake. Smooth it out on the ironing board. Give it a light spray with DYLON EASY IRON and press. (Put a pressing cloth over the shirt if the design has been ironed-on and not silk-screened. Most T-shirts are silk-screened, so you should be okay).

Keep calm! There’s a way to preserve a special T-shirt.

When the shirt is more wrinkle-free than it has ever been before, take it to the cutting mat. Line the ruler up to the sides, within about three inches of either side of the design. Using a temporary pencil, mark these lines.

Following the marked guides, slice off the shirt’s sides and arms. Then, measure and mark about two inches from the top and bottom of the design. Cut along the marked lines to remove the neck and the bottom of the shirt. The back of the shirt will make a nice dust cloth or cleaning rag, if you like that sort of thing.

But sadly, they sometimes just don’t make the cut.Such was the case for my son’s favorite Dr. Who T-shirt.

Place what’s left of the shirt onto the fusible interfacing, so that the fusible side is attached to the back side of the shirt. Take it to the ironing board and fuse the interfacing to the shirt, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Be sure to press, not iron back and forth. You don’t want the shirt material to stretch.

very July, it’s the same thing. We start gathering up the things that we take to the cottage for vacation. These essentials of life on the lake are tucked into the closets during the long winter, emerging wrinkled and bedraggled, hopeful of a summer of fun.

For those unfamiliar with Dr. Who, he is the title character in a long-running British show about a time-travelling good guy who takes mere mortals on fantastic adventures through time and space. His spaceship is a vintage UK police call box that has been retrofitted into the “Time And Relative Dimension in Space” device, affectionately known as the TARDIS. Although the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, the same cannot be said of the T-shirt: it has become too small. But, it’s still precious to my boy. I know, because I found it sort of folded on the chair in my studio. He asked me to preserve it for all time in some way. I decided to make it into wall art, in the same way that more ambitious quilting mothers make T-shirt quilts for their children.

Trim the interfaced design so that all the edges are straight. Use a narrow zigzag stitch on your sewing machine to finish all the edges. In the spirit of re-purposing, I tried out GUTERMANN’S rPET RECYCLED thread. It worked wonderfully well. It’s made from recycled plastic bottles, which is great, because this quilted wall art will be made from a recycled shirt and re-purposed scraps. Finish the edges with a zigzag stitch on the interfaced T-shirt design, as your special shirt becomes wall art.

Let’s get started. You will need: •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••

505 Temporary Fabric Adhesive Dylon Easy Iron HeatnBond Feather Lite iron-on adhesive Truecut rotary cutter and its ruler Gutermann’s rPET recycled thread six-color marking pen free motion quilting gloves very lightweight interfacing quilt batting iron and ironing board safety pins fabric glue stick utility scissors straight glass head pins inkjet printer fabric artist’s stretched canvas

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Quilted Wall Art Scrap Bin Diving Leads to Design Let’s dig out some scraps. If you love fabric, you have them, it’s inevitable. In this quilted wallart – scrap bin diving leads to design and creative endeavor. I was sort of unsure how to proceed with this quilted (T-shirt) wall art. I have one style, my son has another. I ended up putting together a collection of scraps I believed would work with the shirt design, and then let him have the final approval. I think he chose well. They were a motley crew of random sizes, so I decided on measuring them to fit a 14 x 20 stretched artist canvas from the hobby store. For my canvas, they measure 3 1/2 inches wide. The length will be determined largely by the side length of the canvas used. As this is a scrappy project, it’s hard to be precise. Just keep adding scraps of the same width until you have enough to cover the sides. Trim up the scraps to the desired width. Then play around with the arrangement. It took me a few tries to get one I liked. Then, pin the scraps together to make the bands that will frame the shirt design.

Those who love fabric have scraps.

Although quilters normally press the seam allowances to one side, I opted to press the seams open so they were as flat as possible to reduce the bulk around the frame. However, it will also work if you use the traditional method. Once you have the bands pieced together, sew the top and bottom bands to the design first, and then trim them so they are flush with the sides of the design. Next, sew the side bands to the design. (I used GUTERMANN’S rPET RECYCLED thread in this project. I like the notion of using threads made from recycled pop bottles to upcycle a t shirt into wall art.) Press the whole quilt very well, paying special attention to the front of the design. Those seams need to be as flat as possible.

Free Motion Quilting aka Free Mo is Preemo!

Press the seams as open and flat as possible.

ree motion quilting is indeed preemo, let’s discover why.

When we last left our too-small T-shirt, it was on its way to a new life as a piece of quilted wall art. Today, let’s make a quilt sandwich of well-pressed foundation fabric, batting and the quilt top. The foundation fabric can be simple quilter’s muslin or a large piece of lightweight cotton. I like to use cotton quilt batting for art projects because it’s relatively flat and can be quilted quite closely without bunching.

There are several ways to baste the layers of the quilt sandwich together before you begin free motion quilting.

Smooth out any wrinkles in the quilt sandwich and pin with safety pins. You could do this with straight pins, but moving them through the machine is a dangerous and painful plan. You could also spray baste with 505 Temporary Fabric Adhesive to baste the layers together, or use a fabric glue stick. I tend to pin larger quilts and use temporary adhesives on smaller projects. I like all the methods, but the safety pins might be my favourite because you have to stop to remove them now and then. It makes me a be a bit more careful when I am machine quilting a design. The wall art can be quilted in any method you choose. If you want to use your machine’s quilting foot, install it according to the directions and quilt in the ditch along the seam bands. I decided to use free-motion quilting. Free Mo gets a bad rap. It’s not that difficult, but it does take some practice, and some familiarity with the accessories that came with your machine. Once you get the hang of free mo, you’ll think it’s preemo. If you can drop the feed dogs on your machine, do that. If not, look for the darning plate that came with the machine and replace the plate according the sewing machine manual. Now, install the darning foot on your machine, according to the manual. Set your stitch length and width to 0. This is because you are going to control both. Pin a practice quilt sandwich together with safety pins — or whatever basting method you like. Free Mo requires a good grip on the fabric. Machine quilting gloves look a bit like gardening gloves, and the ‘grippy’ material on the palms maintains good control of the fabric. Raise the darning foot and place the practice material under it. Lower the foot. This seems weird because there’s so much room under the foot, even when it is lowered. Do it anyway. Thread issues will ensue if you don’t. In Free Mo, the needle is moving fast, but you are moving the material relatively slowly in a random pattern. This takes some practice. You can do a meandering pattern, swirls, loops — whatever strikes your fancy. You’ll have to stop to remove some safety pins as you journey around your quilt top.

Tools used in free motion quilting include quilting gloves to provide a good grip on the fabric.

There are those who say you should never cross stitches and loop back over them. I am not one of those people. For me, it’s more about achieving a good stitch length and having fun. If you’re comfortable with the idea of free motion quilting, go ahead and rock out on that T-shirt quilt top. Pick a matching thread, just in case you make a mistake. If the thread matches, no one will notice. Do your practice run on remnant fabric. It matters when doing free motion quilting.

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Embellishing the Quilted Wall Art with

Computer Graphics

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ollow the manufacturer’s instructions to print graphics on inkjet fabric. Bond them using HeatNBond Lite Adhesive,then sew them after bonding. Now that the T-shirt top is free motion quilted, it’s time to embellish the quilted wall art with computer graphics. This can be as simple as adding a date, a quote, or even a photograph.

For my project, the T-shirt refers to a set of characters in Doctor Who called the weeping angels. They are truly frightening, but they also have a lot of fan art and quotes associated with them. So, I went on an Internet hunt and found a quote from the show when the angels first appeared, as well as a bit of copyright-free line art. Copyright-free images can be found on several websites, but my favorite is The Graphics Fairy. There are hundreds of images there, and there’s a searchable database. Iron on the images to the design. This little GO-IRON is the right size for these types of jobs because you can see around it. It heats up in a big way and creates a solid bond. I created a file in my computer’s graphics program and played around with shapes, lines, effects and filters until I got what I wanted from these images. Then, I set my printer to “Best Quality” and did a practice print on regular paper. Once I was happy with that, I loaded the printer with a sheet of Inkjet Fabric. This paper-backed fabric has been treated to accept inkjet printing, and is colorfast. It’s fairly expensive, so if I have some extra room on the page, I add random graphics I might need for future projects, rather than waste space on the fabric sheet.

Pick DMC embroidery floss colors to enhance the graphic elements added to the quilt.

To embellish around the graphic elements, I embroidered a line of running stitches all around the element in one color…

The printed fabric should be left alone for a few minutes to dry. Then use decorative edge scissors to cut out the design. Do this while the paper is still backing the fabric, since it’s almost impossible to do once you remove the paper. Remove the paper and apply Heat N Bond Iron-On Adhesive to the wrong side of the design, following the manufacturer’s directions. I used the FEATHER LITE version, which can also be stitched through without gumming up the needle or adding extra stiffness. (I used Rasor’s Edge Utility Scissors scissors to cut the adhesive to fit the graphics. I didn’t want to cut paper with my good fabric shears). Once the graphics are ironed on, you can machine stitch them in place and/or use embroidery floss to add the embellishments I elected to do both.

Aren’t you glad that embellishing the quilted wall art with computer graphics isn’t as hard as you might have thought?

Then weave a second color in and out of the running stitches.

A Power Tool that is not a

Sewing Machine Spray basting with 505 is the best way to make this step work. It’ll keep the layers from shifting as you staple the completed quilt to the artist’s canvas.

This step requires time and patience to keep the tension around the wall quilt more or less even.

We finish up the T-shirt quilted wall art project using some hardware not normally found in a quilter’s studio: a staple gun. Prepare your stretched canvas for the big frame up by spraying the surface with 505 Temporary Fabric Adhesive. Add a layer of quilt batting to the top that has been cut to the exact dimensions of the top. Press the batting down lightly to make sure it has made contact with the canvas below. Now, bring your quilt top to the canvas and center it on the quilt batting. Use straight glass head pins to pin the top to the batting, just to keep it place. Turn the canvas over so that you’re looking at the back. Staple one corner, and then the one diagonal to it. Repeat for the other side. Gently pull some of the side fabric to the middle of the canvas frame and staple. Repeat on the other side. Repeat the process on the top and bottom. Continue gently pulling and stapling — each time repeating on the opposite sides of the frame. You can finish the back with a nice piece of fabric if you like, or use brown craft paper as they do in framing shops. Don’t forget to sign and date the back. Install framing hardware onto the back, and pick a place to display your new up-cycled T-shirt. It has now become quilted wall art to last through time, and quite possibly, space.

Ready to hang and enjoy. The shirt off his back is now on my son’s wall.

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enjoy the journey — where ever it takes you and know that occasionally you can use a power tool that is not a sewing machine for your quilting project. z Photos courtesy of Nancy Devine.

o G Place-mat

On-the-

Jennifer Houlden

he other day when I was meeting with my kindred group we were about to have lunch and one of the members rolled out her on-the-go place-mat. I thought, ‘how cool is that?!’ When I saw it I was thinking that I needed an easy quilt pattern to take a short break from my other bigger quilt project. I always think of neat things to give as gifts and thought of this placemat.

Everything you need for a picnic all rolled up in one place. She had her utensils and napkin right there at her fingertips. No searching for these items when they are all neatly rolled into one package.

On-the-Go Quilted Place-mat all rolled up

The rolled up place-mat would also be great to take along for a pot luck lunch at work, kid’s birthday parties, to stash in the car or camper when you stop at a roadside picnic area for lunch on that long road trip or even to use at home on your deck. The choices of fabrics at your local quilt shop means that you could individualize them for each member of your family so that there’s no squabbling over who gets which color. Perfect as a gift for all the special people in your life as well. The possibilities are endless. I figured why not make one for myself and use the Quilt Expression 4.2 from Pfaff to create this neat little project. I can use many of the cool features I highlighted on QUILTsocial.com in June when I first got the machine. And who knows maybe even discover some more.

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Selecting the Fabric First things first, the fabric selection. If any of you have been to my studio you know that I have a very large stash – well huge in fact, so lots of fabrics to choose from. My criteria is that the fabric had to be something fun, bright and summery. I decided on this dragonfly fabric seeing how dragonflies are only here in the summer. I had purchased it a couple of years ago from one of my local quilt shops and the fabric has been waiting to be used in that perfect project. It has a lovely shimmer to it and I thought I need shimmery fabric to go with it. I had also purchased a whole stack of fat quarters that were shimmery from another shop and figured they would go perfectly with the dragonfly fabric. And they do, don’t you think?

My fabric selection

Easy Quilt Pattern Blocks With so many shimmery fat quarters in awesome colors I decided to create some blocks with them for the center of the placemats. Nothing elaborate, just some fun playing with strips and squares and curves. Since I hadn’t done a lot of piecing with the Quilt Expression 4.2 I figured why not make a few blocks. Strip Blocks I used the green and yellow-green fabrics to create a set of strips. Each fabric was cut a different width to give some variation in the block. Using the IDT system with the quarter inch foot on the Quilt Expression 4.2 makes for nice straight seams and even feed of the fabric. A good idea when sewing strips of fabric together, especially longer ones, is to sew one set of strips in one direction and the next set in the opposite direction. For example, if the one end has the selvedge in place start at that end when sewing the two strips together and then when adding on the next strip start at the end without the selvedge. This just helps to ensure that the whole piece ends up square without any twists or waves in it.

Two green striped blocks

The 2 strip blocks look pretty good. I love the contrast between the light and dark fabrics. Six Patch Block This time using a couple of the purple fabrics, a light and dark to give some contrast within the block I cut up some 3 ½" squares. Still with the quarter inch foot in place and the IDT system engaged I made six pairs each with a light and dark square. I pressed all the seams towards the dark fabric and by doing this when I sewed the pairs together the seams butted together perfectly as they were each going in the opposite direction. This helps to reduce seam bulk where seams meet. Just to be a bit different instead of the usual four patch or nine patch block I made a six patch block which then created a rectangular block rather than a square one. There really is no rule as to how many squares you can sew together.

Two six patch blocks

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Houlden.

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Curved Block And finally but definitely not least of the blocks I could create I wanted to see how well the Quilt Expression 4.2 worked on a curved seam. Curved seams are not nearly as hard as everyone thinks they are. The key is to have a nice gentle wave. Once again two contrasting fabrics are used in order to see the curves. The key is to cut nice gentle curving lines in the layered fabrics with a rotary cutter. Once again I used the IDT system and a quarter inch foot with the needle in down position to sew the curved pieces together. They fed very well under the machine especially when the free ends of the pieces are lifted up slightly off the sewing machine bed. This just helps to guide the curves under the foot to maintain that ¼" seam allowance.

Two curved blocks

When pressing curved seams I press with steam to make sure that everything lies nice and smooth. Using steam to press seams is usually a no-no as it does tend to distort fabric especially cotton but because I usually make my curved blocks a bit larger than needed I can square them off and all is good.

Voila! Two wonderful curved blocks. Decisions, Decisions Now with all of these blocks made in all these wonderful colors and textures I have to decide how to use them in my placemats. At least the fabrics have been picked, as that’s always half the battle.

Sewing Decisions Made I decided that I would use only two of the shimmery fabrics to go with my feature fabric rather than the quilt blocks I made yesterday. I figured it would be easier sewing the first one with plain pieces of fabric rather than with the blocks so I’ll put them aside for now. Feature fabric with complementary coordinating fabrics.

The next decision was which shimmery fabrics do I use? It was a tough decision but I picked my favorite complementary colors of blue and orange to use for sewing this first on the go quilted place-mat. As well I needed to decide how big I wanted the place-mat to be so that I knew what size to cut the pieces. I foolishly didn’t measure my friend’s place-mat so decided to go with a size that would work with a dinner plate. My finished size is 12 x 18 inches. Cutting Instructions All the measurements include the ¼" seam allowance. From the feature fabric (dragonflies) Piece A – cut one piece 9½" x 12" for the center of the place-mat Piece F – cut one piece 14" x 20" for the back of the place-mat Piece H – cut two strips 2¼" x WOF for the binding From the coordinating fabric (blue) Piece B – cut one piece 4½" x 12" for the left side of the place-mat Piece C – cut one piece 5" x 12" for the right side of the place-mat From the accent fabric (orange) Piece D – cut one piece 6" x 5" for the utensil pocket Piece E – cut two pieces 4" x 5" for the napkin holding bands Piece G – cut two strips 2" x 18" for the ties

Double folded edge at top of utensil holder piece.

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Now that the pieces are cut, I can get on with sewing the pieces into a place-mat. I’ll walk you through each step of the way and this is a beginner project so anyone can do it. Let’s get started! Sewing The Utensil Holder Step 1 Fold one end of the fabric over to the back about an inch and press so that there is a very good crease. I use steam for this. You may want to use a stylet of some sort so you do not burn your fingers. Turn the piece over to the back and fold the one inch section back over under itself so that no raw edge is showing. With no raw edges showing the fabric will not fray. Press again with steam. This will make a very nice edge on the utensil holder section of the place-mat. Step 2

Sewing the topstitch line an 1⁄8" from the edge

Topstitch the folded over edge about an 1⁄8" from the edge of the folded over piece. I sew with the wrong side of the fabric up so that I can run the 1⁄8" mark of the quarter inch foot on my Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2, along the edge of the folded over bit. This makes for a nice straight line of topstitching which is about 3⁄8" from the top of the piece.

Step 4 Pin the unit made in step 5 to piece A with right sides together. Sew together with a ¼" seam allowance. Press the seam towards piece A.

Note the placement of the fabric under the foot in the photo below. Step 3 Pin piece D to the bottom of piece C matching up the raw edges. The wrong side of piece D will be facing the right side of piece C. My favorite pins for piecing are the flower headed pins from Clover as they are long, sharp and easy to remove while sewing. I always pin with the head of the pin coming out to the right of the fabric. This makes it easy to grab them and remove before getting to the foot and needle as you never want to sew over a pin. This could result in an unplanned trip to the sewing machine doctor. Sew the raw edges together with an 1⁄8" seam along the right hand side and bottom of piece D. Most quarter inch feet do have an 1⁄8" mark on them. The toe of this quarter inch foot is an 1⁄8" so that makes it very easy to sew this line of stitching.

Utensil holder sewn to background fabric

Stop at the corner and pivot to sew in the other direction. Having the needle in the needle down position is very helpful for this and the foot hover makes it easy to turn the fabric under the foot. At this point only 2 sides of piece D or the utensil holder are sewn down. I used a contrasting color of thread for this but matching thread will work as well. Whatever you wish to use. I decided that I didn’t want to be switching threads and am using the same thread for the topstitching as well as the quilting. In the photo below I even sewed the pieces together with this thread which is not normal for me as I always use a neutral color when piecing. The tension control, stitch length and quality of stitching on the Quilt Expression 4.2 make it easy to use the colored thread for piecing without it showing. Pieces A,C & D sewn together.

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Sewing The Napkin Holders Step 1 Fold the 2 piece E pieces in half with right sides together. Sew a ¼" seam along the raw edge of each piece to create a tube. Make sure to use a locking stitch at both ends to secure the stitching. The Quilt Expression 4.2 comes with a locking stitch function but if your machine doesn’t have this feature then reverse sewing at the start and finish will lock the stitching in place.

Tube folded in half and topstitched together.

Step 4 Place the 2 bands made in step 3 evenly spaced on piece B. I placed them at the 4 and 8 inch mark on the ruler. See photo below. The band pieces will hang over the edge of piece B a bit.

Fabric sewn together to create a tube

Step 2 Turn the tube right sides out and press with the seam along the center of the tube. Because a locking stitch was used at each end of the seam the seam didn’t come apart as the fabric was being manipulated to turn the tube.

Placement of napkin holder bands on background fabric

Step 5 Place the utensil holder unit which was made yesterday on top of the pieces from step 4. Take care not to shift the band pieces as you pin everything together. Once again I used my flower headed pins to pin everything together as they are long and sharp making it easy to go through the multi layers of fabric. Sew the pieces together with a ¼" seam allowance. Press the seam towards piece B.

Placemat top completed Tube turned right side out and pressed with seam at the center.

Step 3 Fold the units made in step 2 in half along the seam line. Press flat with a steam iron. Topstitch the pieces together where the edges meet using an 1⁄8" seam.

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Wow!

I love the fabric combination.

Quilting the

o G Place-mat

On-the-

ow that the placemat is all sewn together it’s time to do some quilting. Some people love the piecing process of a quilt while others prefer the quilting stage. I enjoy the whole process and love to see how the piece changes as each step is completed.

I thought about how to quilt the place-mat and decided to keep it nice and simple with straight lines using the IDT system which is the built-in walking foot on the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2. I acquired an open toe decorative foot for the machine which will make it much easier to see my stitching lines and hopefully keep me going in a straight line. This foot is great for applique and decorative stitching since it has a large open area in which to see your work and where you’re stitching. Definitely one of my favorite feet and a must-have foot with any machine I use. Sandwiching the Layers for Quilting The Layers It isn’t a real sandwich but in quilting it’s called a sandwich of layers. Sandwich is kind of appropriate though considering this project is made specifically for picnics and food events.

Layers basted with curved safety pins.

The layers include the quilt top, or place-mat top in this case, batting and the backing. I am using a cotton batting which is nice and thin and will lay flat when quilted. That will make it easier for a plate to sit on the place-mat. Both the backing and batting need to be at least an inch larger all the way around than the quilt top for a small project like this and 2 inches larger all the way around for a large project. This is just in case there is any movement of the layers while quilting. Basting Methods To prevent movement of these layers when quilting it’s a good idea to baste them together. I prefer to baste with curved safety pins made specifically for this purpose and I usually place them about a fist width apart. Yes, I use a lot of pins and I have a lot of pins. The other methods that can be used are to spray baste with a product such as 505 Spray Basting Glue or to hand baste with thread, which I find is very time consuming.

Using the guide to mark the quilting lines.

Note how close together the safety pins are in the photo below. Marking the Quilting Lines Chalk Lines I decided that I’d use lines 1½ inch apart on the quilt top. This will hold everything in place nicely. There are many ways to mark the lines on a quilt. One of my favourite marking tools is the Chaco Liner from Clover. It’s easy to use, easy to see on the fabric and easy to remove after the quilting is done. Because it’s chalk, it usually disappears with the stitching. Remember to always start quilting in the center of the quilt as this will allow for any movement of fabric to go out towards the edges and not create bunches in the middle. If it’s basted well there should be very little movement of the fabric when quilting. Chalk lines mark where the quilting will be.

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Masking Tape Another marking method that I often use is masking tape. It comes in different widths and so I just use the desired width, lay down on the quilt and stitch along the edge of it. Note the amount of space the open toed decorative foot has in the photo below – great for seeing what you’re stitching and where you’re going. Machine Guide Finally most machines come with a guide that attaches to the back of the presser foot shank on the machine. The Quilt Expression 4.2 is no exception and so I put it on and gave it a go. The curved area lines up with the previous line or edge that you wish to follow. Measure from the needle to the curved blade area the length to which the quilting lines are to be apart and tighten in place, then sew. As simple as that. Quilting the Place-mat There are three important items needed for successful quilting.

Quilted place-mat with parallel lines.

Thread I used the same thread for quilting as I used for the topstitching on the utensil holder and the napkin bands. It’s a thread from WonderFil called Tutti. It’s a 100% cotton, 50 weight variegated thread that works in the bobbin as well as on the top. This line of thread has a huge array of fantastic colors. I love them all. Needle I made sure to replace my needle with a topstitch 90 needle prior to quilting. Using the topstitch needle with the layers and variegated thread will make a nicer stitch and help to prevent any thread breakage. For further information about needles check out the Schmetz needle guide – a very useful document. Walking Foot With the IDT system engaged, the open toed foot in place and the needle in the down position I stitched the sandwich layers together. I went right over top of the utensil holder so that three individual spaces would be created for the utensils to slip into. The middle one I made just slightly larger so it could accommodate 2 utensils.

Stitching along the masking tape.

Place-mat

Binding a is like Binding a Quilt

Binding a place-mat is like binding a quilt just on a smaller scale unless of course you’re into mini quilts. I personally have never made a mini quilt but could be up to the challenge with the right project. First though before we talk about binding we need to add some ties to the place-mat so that it can be rolled up and ready to go on a picnic. Hence the reason it’s called an ‘on-the-go place-mat’.

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Making and Attaching the Ties The ties require 2 strips of the accent fabric (piece G). The easiest way I found to make the ties is with the Clover Bias Tape Maker. The bias tape makers come in many different sizes and I use the 1 inch one for the ties. The tape maker is very simple to use and for some step by step instructions check out my tutorial on making ties or drawstrings. The strips in the blog are much longer than what is needed for the ties. I made the strips 18 inches for this project. Once the strips are made then the next step is to fold over the fabric, press it well with steam and topstitch down the edge just as we did with the napkin bands an 1⁄8" from the edge. I zigzagged one end of the tie so that it wouldn’t fray. I had no issue sewing a zigzag stitch on this tiny bit of material using the IDT system and open toed decorative foot. To finish off the ties I tied a little knot at the end of each tie. Now they’re ready to be attached to the place-mat.

Ties sewn to the back of the place-mat.

Attach the two ties to the back of the place-mat between the napkin holders. Stitch them in place with an 1⁄8" seam. When the binding is attached the ¼" seam will further secure them in place. Binding the Placemat The binding requires two strips (Piece H) of which ever fabric you want to bind it in, I used the dragonfly fabric. Make and attach the binding using your favorite method. My favorite method is to sew the binding on the front and then hand sew it to the back. If you’d like some help with binding you can check out these two tutorials on how to make binding and how to attach binding to a quilt. When I’m hand stitching the binding in place I use the red Wonder Clips from Clover to keep the fabric in place. I love these little red clips. Prior to finding these I never used anything and now I don’t bind without them.

Binding clipped in place for hand sewing to the back.

So the project is all done and dusted. Can you stop at just one? I don’t think I can. Using Up the Leftover Bits of Fabric I made a coaster from the left over bits of fabric that I had and quilted it with some decorative stitching. What a great time I had playing with the decorative stitches on the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2 – only 200 + to choose from. I have managed to use a few stitches today and a few last month. The bias binding was a bit tricky attaching the ends together due to the size of the project but I was successful. Where there’s a will there’s a way. The coaster folds in half and can be stowed with the napkin. Adding in the Easy Quilt Blocks I was very excited about this little project and once I made the first one with plain pieces of fabric I decided to use up those easy quilt blocks that I made when I first started. I cut them up and used them for the utensil holder, napkin bands and coasters. It worked out just perfectly and I love how the blocks add just a little bit of pizazz to the placemats. Each one is definitely unique.

Leftover fabric with decorative stitching make a great coaster to go with the on-the-go place-mat.

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On-the-go place-mats and matching quilted table topper make for a striking table setting!

Fun With Dragonflies So I just couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to stop myself and since I had some fabric left over and not really enough to do much with I decided to make a nine patch table topper and add in some applique. A few dragonflies flying in a circle. The machine performed beautifully with the blanket stitch and doing the stitching in black has certainly made the dragonflies standout. This piece is 18 inches square which fits perfectly on the center tile of my deck table. What a great week I had making these on-the-go placemats and accessories with the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2 machine. This machine has so many great features that made the sewing, piecing, quilting, and finishing of this easy quilting project a delight. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be the envy of the neighborhood with my fancy on-the-go placements ready for any picnic or outdoor eating adventure. Binding a place-mat is like binding a quilt and now that the place-mats are all bound I can set my picnic table in style. z

Happy Quilting Dragonflies appliqued onto the nine patch dragonfly table topper to match the on-the-go place-mats!

Selecting the fabrics

sually when I make a quilt, the last thing I select is the thread, and I pick it to match or contrast the fabrics in the finished quilt top. Today, since I have a limited numbers of colors of WonderFil threads to choose from, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m working backwards.

I really love the blues and greens in my selection of threads, so I picked those and started to select fabrics to match. I wanted the quilting to stand out, so I picked a white-on-white for the background and a selection of dark blues, medium blues and teals for my design.

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Back Porch Pillow

Christine Baker

The hexagons have it! If you haven’t noticed yet – hexagons are EVERYWHERE! From traditional grandmothers garden quilts to more modern designs, hexagons are extremely versatile and are popular with quilters who want to hand piece, machine piece or applique. I’ve just recently delved into the world of hexagons and I have to say, I really love the modern look that you can accomplish using bright fabrics and neutrals like white, grey and black. Here is a quilt that I’ve been working on for a little while. Back Porch Pillow supplies list If you’d like to make your own hexagon appliqued pillow, here are the supplies that you’ll need. White fabric for pillow front 19" x 19" Lining fabric 21" x 21" Batting 21" x 21" Fabric for pillow back two pieces 15" x 19" each Twelve scraps of fabric 5" x 5" each Fusible web ¼m 505™ Spray 16" pillow form

My hexagon quilt in progress.

Starting my back porch pillow For my quilted pillow, I decided to do a hexagon design that is appliqued using fusible web. I want to quilt the background first, before I applique the hexagons, so the first thing I needed to do was to make the quilt sandwich. The pillow top fabric, batting and lining were layered and fused together with 505™ Spray. For detailed directions on layering a quilt sandwich, check out my post at this link. Marking the quilting lines Once the quilt sandwich was made, I needed to mark a line on the top, to machine quilt using my walking foot. I wanted to do a 2" grid across the entire top, so the first thing I did was to mark a line on an angle across the top. I used my long rotary cutting ruler and a mechanical pencil to lightly mark the quilt top. Machine quilting with my WonderFil threads Once the line was drawn, I used my walking foot to stitch along the line using my FruittiFT22. I then used this line as a guide to draw parallel lines 2" apart all across the top. I stitched along all of these lines with the same color of Fruitti thread. Once all of these were stitched, I drew one line the other direction, perpendicular to the first lines. I stitched this line with FruittiFT23 and then drew parallel lines to it, 2" apart all across the top. I stitched the rest of the lines with the same color thread.

Marking the first quilting line across the pillow top.

Marking the second group of quilting lines perpendicular to the first set.

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Pillow top with quilting lines completed.

Hexagon fusible applique template. Trace onto paper side of fusible web.

THE QUILTED TOP After stitching one direction with the blue variegated Fruitti thread and the other direction with the teal variegated Fruitti thread, my 2” grid of quilting is all finished. Now I just need to prepare my fusible applique hexagons and decide where to place them!

Placement 1 – scattered randomly across pillow top.

Preparing the fusible applique hexagons To make your hexagons, trace the following template onto the dull side of a square of fusible web, making sure to leave at least ¼” between each of the shapes. Loosely cut each shape out, just outside the drawn lines. Place these fusible web shapes onto the BACK side of the cotton fabrics you’ve chosen and then iron. Once the fabric has cooled, cut along the drawn lines and then peel off the backing paper. To see pictures of this process, check out my blog post. Deciding upon a design Once all of your fusible applique shapes have been made, now comes the fun part of deciding where to place them. I went through a few different designs before I came up with the one I was most happy with. Here are photos of different designs that you could use.

Placement 2 – most of hexagons lined up in one corner of pillow top.

My fusible applique design finalist Most of the time when I am designing, I like to rearrange things quite a bit before I decide what design I like the best. Taking pictures of each version helps with this process. It works well for fusible applique as well as for rearranging blocks in a pieced top. The size of the photo helps too, as the quilt image is smaller and sometimes design flaws will pop out at you better in the photo than when you are looking at the actual quilt. Sometimes looking at a design for a few days helps too. I especially like to do this when I’m quilting quilts for other people. If a quilting design doesn’t come to me as soon as I see the quilt, I’ll often drape the quilt top over the bed of my quilting machine so that I can look at it for a few days – eventually a quilting design will start to take shape in my mind and I’m off to the races. If you can’t decide what design you want to use for your back porch pillow, leave your fusible applique hexagons placed on the pillow top for the night, and you'll see it in a different way – you may decide that you like it, or decide on a different design. That’s one of the great things about fusible applique – it is VERY versatile!

Placement 3 – hexagons lined up along left side of pillow top.

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When designing your own quilted top, playing with fabric and threads has never been so much fun…

Hand blanket stitch diagram.

THE FINAL DESIGN Although I liked all of the design versions that I came up with, when I placed the appliques in a line down the side of the pillow, I was most happy with the way it looked. Because the quilting lines were on an angle, it was hard to make sure that the hexagons were lined up evenly, so I used my long ruler and laid it along the left side of the pillow top so that the 4½” line was along the edge of the pillow top. Then I placed my hexagons down along the side of the ruler in one line. I then placed a second line of hexagons beside the first as shown below. Iron them down Once you’re happy with how you’ve arranged the hexagons, follow the manufacturer’s directions on your fusible web product and use a hot iron to fuse them in place. To prevent the adhesive from marking up your iron, you can use a Teflon pressing sheet in between your iron and pillow top. Machine applique using a blanket stitch Once all of the hexagons were in place, I used the blanket stitch setting on my machine to stitch along all of the raw edges. To do this on your pillow, follow these steps: 1. Test your blanket stitch on a scrap fabric to adjust the length and width until you find the setting that you like best. 2. Bring the bobbin thread up to the top and hold both top and bobbin thread in your left hand as you start to stitch – this will prevent the bobbin thread from bunching up on the back. 3. Do a couple small straight stitches on the side of the hexagon to lock your stitches, then set your machine to blanket stitch and stitch along one side until you get to the corner. 4. Use your “needle down setting” if you have it, or stop stitching when the needle is down on the background fabric (just beside the corner of the hexagon). Pivot and then keep stitching along the next side. Repeat until you’re all the way around. 5. Do another couple straight stitches at the end to lock your stitches then clip your top and bottom threads.

Final placement of the applique shapes.

Ironing down the hexagon appliques.

Machine blanket stitching the applique shapes – Put the needle down at each corner and pivot.

Hand applique vs machine applique If your sewing machine doesn’t have a nice blanket stitch or you’d just prefer to do a hand blanket stitch around each hexagon, check out the instructions on my blog post from last month. The machine applique is all finished I ended up using both the Fruitti and Spagetti threads to machine applique my hexagons and I was really pleased with how nicely the weight of the thread made the blanket stitches look. I’ve used that stitch on my machine before and never really liked the result, but the WonderFil thread makes them look ALMOST as nice as my hand blanket stitch!

Closeup of machine blanket stitch using Fruitti thread by WonderFil.

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Measure and trim There are just a few more steps to do and then the sewing will be finished. The first thing that we need to do is to measure the quilted pillow top. For mine, the quilting has shrunk the top slightly and it is now 18½” square. Next we need to trim the excess batting and backing from the pillow top. Make the backing pieces Cut the backing fabric into two rectangles 15" x width of the pillow. On each of these rectangles fold over ½” along the long edge of one side. Press, then fold the raw edge under the first fold and press again. Topstitch along this edge. Measure pillow top and trim off excess batting and lining.

Pin the backings to the pillow front Lay pillow top on a hard surface with right side up. Place one of the backing rectangles right side down, aligning the raw edges with the edge of the pillow top. Sewing the backings to the pillow front Lay second backing on top, right side down, overlapping the two topstitched edges and aligning the raw edges with the pillow front. Pin along all of the raw edges. Sew ½” in along all of the edges of the pillow. Clip the corners and then turn the pillow right side out. Press.

Fold over long edge of pillow backs and topstitch.

The finishing touch Use the Spagetti thread to topstitch ½” in along all of the edges of the pillow. Insert your pillow form and your pillow is complete. z

Layer the front and backs with right sides together.

Topstitch 1⁄2" from the edges of the finished pillow.

Finished edges of pillow backs are overlapped and then pinned along all outside edges.

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Photos courtesy of Christine Baker. .com

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QUILTsocial bloggers 56

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Jennifer Houlden

Quilts by Jen jennifer @ quiltsbyjen.ca http://quiltsbyjen.ca

Nancy Devine

Jennifer runs Quilts by Jen, a fantastic educational resource for quilters with many great free tutorials ranging from how to choose fabrics, understanding the value of fabrics, pressing, building Bargello runs, pinning, binding, sandwiching, couching, quilting, and much more. Check them out!

Nancy Devine is a devoted user and collector of remnants, scraps, and vintage buttons. She lives in Aurora, Ontario, and can often be found working on her latest project, and playing around with her vintage (and much loved) Bernina machine. Find more of her work and musings on her blog.

Heaven is Hand Made nancydevine@rogers.com nancywhiskeynancyo.blogspot.com

Christine Baker

www.FairfieldRoadDesigns.com Christine@uppercanadaquiltworks.com christinebaker-fairfieldroaddesigns.blogspot.ca www.facebook.com/FairfieldRoadDesigns

Elaine Theriault

crazyquilteronabike.blogspot.com

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Christine has been designing and publishing quilt patterns for the last 10 years under the business name Fairfield Road Designs. Her patter ns range f rom f usible applique and piecing to felted wool applique and punchneedle. You can see all her patterns on her website.

Elaine made her first quilt at the tender age of 13. The urge to quilt resurfaced when her daughter moved from a crib. The rest is history â&#x20AC;&#x201C; she now teaches several days a week, makes quilts on commission and quilts for others on the long- ar m.

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Joyce's Sewing Shop 325 Wortley Rd, London, ON N6C 3R8  519.433.5344  joycessewingshop.com  joycesewingshop@bellnet.ca Our mission is to make sewing fun by providing professional training to teach the benefits of sewing, to provide excellent service and quality products to make your sewing easier and to provide friendly customer service to make you a happy sewer. Log Cabin Yardage 425 Whitevale Road, Whitevale, ON L0H 1M0  416.818.1393  logcabinyardage.com  info@logcabinyardage.com LCY is your source for the newest exciting novelty and designer fabrics, kits and odds and ends. Follow on Facebook for enticing fabric pictures, promotions and programs. Mad About Patchwork Online Store PO Box 412, Stittsville, ON K2S 1A5  madaboutpatchwork.com Online fabric shop featuring modern fabrics from Denyse Schmidt, Patty Young, Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett and more. Great selection of Kona cotton solids, and shot cottons from Westminster. $5.95 flat rate shipping in Canada, free over $150. My Sewing Room 148-8228 MacLeod Trl SE, Calgary, AB T2H 2B8  403.252.3711  mysewingroom.ca  Queenofeverything@mysewingroom.ca Canada's Largest Independently Owned Quilting Store with fabric, patterns, kits, notions, sewing machines and more! My Sewing Room boasts over 10,000 bolts of 100% cotton fabric from designers and manufacturers from around the world. Pine Ridge Knit & Sew 17477 Hwy 2 PO Box 68, Trenton, ON K8V 5R1  613.392.1422  pineridgeknitsew.com  yvette@pineridgeknitsew.com We have knitting machines by Artisan and Silver Reed, embroidery machines by Husqvarna/Viking & White. Sewing notions and supplies, books and software. Hands-on lessons and classes. Wide variety of yarns, threads, dress and pant zippers. Rosalie I. Tennison, Quilt Appraiser Certified by American Quilters’ Society 2005 Newmarket, ON  905.953.1441  R.Tennison@sympatico.ca What if something happens to your treasured quilt? Do you have written proof of its value for your insurance company? Get an appraisal now. Sew Fancy Inc. Guelph, ON  519.824.4127  sewfancy.com  sales@sewfancy.com Your Premier Canadian Source for Specialty Sewing Supplies including Smocking, Heirloom Sewing, Goldwork, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Needle Tatting, Swarovski Crystals, Sashiko, Quilting and more. Visit the website for the latest in sewing supplies. Ruby Pearl Quilts 500 King St W, Suite 8, Oshawa, ON L1J 2K9  905.436.3535  rubypearlquilts.com  joy@rubypearlquilts.com We are your full service source of professional quilting equipment, products, & courses. Led by 44 years of sewing experience & more than 20 years of quilting experience, we have the experience necessary to help you push your hobby to the next level!

Ruti's Needlebed 10 Thomas St, Mississauga, ON L5M 1Y5  905.821.9370  ruti.ca Mississauga's Finest Quilting and Knitting Store!! Come see our huge selection of yarn, fabric, supplies, sewing machines and knitting machines…a local store for all your quilting, sewing, knitting needs! We offer a wide variety of classes. Sew 'n Knit 'n Serge 15 Gower St, Toronto, ON M4B 1E3  416.752.1828 or toll-free 1.800.836.6536  sewknit.ca  info@sewknit.ca Knitting machines, sewing machines, repairs, parts for Passap, Studio, Singer, Silver Reed, Superba, White. Sewing notions and supplies, books, ball yarns, coned yarns, TAMM yarns, Paton's yarns, Bernat yarns, Phentex yarns, Bernat kits & crafts. Sewing Machines Etcetera 4155 Fairview St Unit 3, Burlington, ON L7L 2A4  905.639.5525  sewetc.com  info@sewetc.com At Sewing Machines Etcetera we have been in business since 1992, we will consistently and joyfully adapt to changes in technology and the marketplace, so we can offer the best in sewing related products and service to our whole community. Stitch-It Central 189 Thames Street S, Ingersoll, ON N5C 2T6  519.303.1563  stitchitcentral.ca  sales@stitchitcentral.ca Stitch-It Central is a store to satisfy all your cross stitching needs. We have everything such as notions, books & magazines, project kits, charts, gift collections & certificates, papers & accessories, fabrics and linens, and so much more. Sue's Quilting Studio 22 Main St E, PO Box 427, Vankleek Hill, ON K0B 1R0  613.678.3256  suesquiltingstudio@bellnet.ca  facebook.com/pages/Sues-Quilting-Studio/ 101057286682381 Where Friends gather! Speciality fabrics, notions, courses & long arm quilting in the Gingerbread Capital of Ontario, an hour from Montreal, Ottawa & Cornwall. Join our Wednesday afternoon quilters to share ideas & help promote our quilting passion. That Sewing Place 16610 Bayview Ave #10, Newmarket, ON L3X 1X3  905.715.7725  thatsewingplace.ca  jaret&liana@thatsewingplace.ca Introducing That Sewing Place as your sewing source and Authorized Dealers for Bernina and Brother machines. Jaret & Liana focus on placing your sewing needs first, providing outstanding support, service, and training. The Stitching Corner #2, 185 First St E, Cochrane, AB T4C 2E9  403.932.3390  stitchingcorner.ca  nygabe@telus.net Your Needlework Shop in Cochrane. The Stitcher's Muse 4 – 70 Church St, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5H4  250.591.6873  thestitchersmuse.com  info@thestitchersmuse.com A divine little shop with supplies for all your hand stitching needs! Friendly, knowledgeable, helpful staff. Cross stitch, canvaswork, needlepoint, embroidery, counted thread, lace making and more. Books, patterns, fabric, threads, tools. Upper Canada Quiltworks PO Box 64, Brockville, ON K6V 5T7  613.345.3956 Fax: 613.342.3327  uppercanadaquiltworks.com Visit us online for a wide selection quilt patterns and books. Techniques include felted wool, fusible appliqué, punchneedle, rag quilting and printing photos on fabric.

NE W produ ct Mac® computer users have something to smile about with the recent release of TruEmbroidery™3. This new embroidery software is a fully featured embroidery system for use on Mac® OSX. Available in two packages you choose which level is right for your creative needs. With features like lace and appliqué tools - in addition to all the standard design creation tools you might need, TruE™3 Create is a designer's dream. TruE™3 Modify allows you the ability to edit existing embroidery designs with ease. Even change existing cutwork designs to ones which use the Inspira™ Cutwork needles! Both of these modules are available in TruEmbroidery™ 3 - Elite. If you want to personalize an existing design go to TruE™3 Studio which is available in both the TruEmbroidery™ 3 - Elite or Elements packages. You can add text or extra embellishments with just a few clicks. There are over 145 fully adjustable professional fonts and countless frames, flourishes and borders to pick from. Change thread colours using the Mac® colour wheel tools or pick a specific colour from over 20,000 thread colours included. With TruEmbroidery™3 installed, use Finder to see your design before you send it to a USB stick and Spotlight will search for designs by keywords (file names or notes). If you love your Mac® and you embroider, you can’t do without this software. Go to www.truembroidery.com to see demos, link to the Learning Center or to locate your closest authorized retail location.

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QUILTS WEAVING CROCHET FIBRE ART SAMPLERS LACEWORK MINIATURES NEEDLEPOINT CROSS STITCH HOOKED RUGS

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Get more quilting fun in

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