The Sewing Cottage Issue 7 April 2012
In this Issue
digital goodies, vintage pattern, Q & A, My Creative Spot & Quick Stitch
The Sewing Cottage Magazine Issue #7 April 2012
Spring is finally here and I am ready for it! Warm sun, cool wind and longer nights. Enjoy the spring rain quilt, a little bunny quick stitch, & Puddle the Duck Stuffie and more~
Table of Contents Q & A~ Paper Piecing Paper and Favorite Blocks Quick Stitch – Bunny My Creative Spot with Barbara Spring Showers Quilt Digital Spring Printables ‘O’ is for Owl Wall hanging Vintage Patterns Monthly Calendar Puddle Duck Stuffed Animal
printer paper I use foundation paper that I purchase, and it's not cheap!
Phone book pages are great. I really like the 3" log cabin block.
My guild made these as tags for quilts in a show a couple of years ago. printed on coloring book paper I like printing on C & T paper best. For English paper piecing I use waxed paper, for foundation paper I use either printer paper or sandwich paper
Tissue I did have success with a mini log cabin block that was stamped on muslin.
I do not paper piece, I'm missing that sewing gene... 8x 11 1/2 sheets of paper that is like newspaper ( not printed) my friend got it for me. Carol Doak paper, add a quarter rulers I have been making a New York Beauty and using something people use to make patterns with. It is like an interfacing but a little stiffer. I draw the archs on there and sew away. I tested it first by washing it. I also use the phone book pages in another project I am doing. Simply sewing my scrap strip pieces to it. I try never to paper piece anything. If I do strings, I use old telephone book pages. Shorten my stitch length and the taking off of the paper is much easier. I hate to paper piece! Regular, tissue and sometimes I draw the pattern out on muslin. I do not paper piece. I really don't like all that ripping apart of the paper from the cloth, so I just don't do it! I use the paper piecing paper that you can put through your printer and then stitch on it and it will WASH off when project is done. It saves me TONS of tedious work and the extra $ is well worth it. I love to paper piece, but tearing out the paper after is quite a chore. Tissue, coffee filters (if pattern is small enough) I am new to paper piecing, but I absolutely love Faith Wellman patterns. Very easy to make. She came to our Guild last summer & did a workshop. As of now, I have made to Aspen leaf wall hangings, & 7 'Forest Night' quiltlets for Christmas gifts for my family. As for paper I use, I like the Carol Doak's foundation paper.
Papers from Sue Dayley in Qld Australia. I only hand piece hexagons. I always use freezer paper. I couldn't buy any around here, so when on a recent holiday in Maui, I saw it and bought two rolls of it....LOL My husband shock his head at the weight of them...
I either use regular paper or the paper packs put out by Ricky Timms. I have a direct to garment printing machine so I print my patterns from there on regular paper and use a very small stitch on my Bernina. nope don't care to do it.... but if i were I would use water soluable paper the printable stuff. I just use plain paper to paper piece. I love the Sunbonnet Sue and Sam blocks! I work in a Dr.'s office, so I use the pap.er used to cover the exam tables. It is sturdy, yet tears easily to take off and doesn't shread like crazy. I try to pre-cut my strips based on the largest width across the section, plus 1/4 inch on each side. Then, if doing multiple pieces, the same, I strip piece them Regular Paper - I love the log cabin block reg paper, christmas tree My favorite block is Star 28 Nevada from Carol Doak's Simply Sensational Stars. I love any paperpiecing and I usually will use a foundation piecing type of paper although I have used tissue if I can get it to behave going though the printer I use regular paper run the my computer most of the time. I have a love for very involved paper piecing projects, like Quilt Mavens! I have only done one paper pieced mug rug and I used tracing paper. I have used special paper for paper piecing. If I must use regular paper, I use the lightest paper per pound. I also adjust my stitches smaller for easier/cleaner tearing.
I avoid paper piecing blocks as much as possible--not exactly my favorite method. Sometimes I use regular paper if it's something I've gotten free and printed off the computer printer. I like to use stabilizer that I bought on a roll normally for machine embroidery. I've also used coffee filters for some projects. I like Carol Doak paper-pieced blocks and I'm into more complex paper piecing projects. I just finished a Tardis from the website "fandom". Awesome! My tip: Keep small pieces of fabric from other projects. You'll have more variety of fabric to use in your paper piecing which makes it more interesting.
I love to paper piece and I use either construction paper or rough feel scratch pad from the dollar stores. It sews nicely and tears perfectly and easily. I have an assortment of blocks that I have done and keep them in a binder ( with a few extra copies). I don't know that I can say I have a real favorite, although I am quite fond of pineapple blocks and square in a square. This past year I have also added various star blocks Depending on the project I use anything from tissue paper to Kabnet Wax! I like to use lunch wrap paper - not waxed - but it is getting harder to buy. I like especially like to piece trees and my other favourite is Storm at Sea. I only ever have done a crazy quilt block with muslin backing - can't get my mind wrapped around the paper piece method yet. I like to use the lined school paper that my kids have. It's thin and easy to tear out. I use regular printer paper mostly and my favorite is the square in a square block. regular printer paper - light weight paper - paper piecing paper - don't like muslin. You need patience and not to be in a hurry. Seam ripper must be kept handy. I like most all patterns. I just recently learned to p.p., I bought 2 different kinds of paper, one is the "proper" paper bought from the sewing store, but the best one is an eco-paper I got at wal-mart. It is thin enough to rip easily, but will take multiple sew/reverse sewing when mistakes ensue!!!! I use Deb Karasik's paper...which is a refined cotton fiber - great stuff! I also use Carol Doak's paper as well. My favorite paper pieced block this year was a cat block by Sonia Callaghan. Have used copier paper but prefer freezer paper and tracing paper. A 'must' for me is the ruler with the ridge to put down the fold to prep the edge for the next seam. I think it is called an add a quarter ruler. Fave block has to be New York Beauty, want to make a pickle dish though, never made one. Sorry BUT paper piecing is my most disliked thing of quilting! I avoid it at all costs! Planning to learn this in 2012. Have been avoiding the issue. Usually I use any paper that I can see the pattern thru when I put the pattern behind it. I trace the pattern off so that I still have the original in tact to use at latter dates. I use butcher paper (also known as freezer paper). I don't have a favorite paper pieced block, but I am fond of iris folding. I USE EITHER STITCH AND TEAR(MACHINE EMBROIDERERS USE IT FOR BACKING), OR VITRACE. I AM A BIT LAZY TO TEAR NEATLY AND VITRACE I CAN LEAVE ON, STITCH AND TEAR TEARS EASILY
My Creative Spot With~
This month Barbara from Cat Patches is sharing her creative spot with The Sewing Cottage Magazine. Thanks Barbara for sharing your beautiful Creative Spot with us! Along with her blog she also has Doll Quilters Monthly. Please take a moment to visit BarbaraBlog: Cat Patches Doll Quilters Monthly: Doll Quilters
My grandmother was a quilter, and it was because of her that I have enjoyed a life-long love of quilting. •My mother wasn't a quilter, but she was a wonderful seamstress. •She taught me to sew, but I didn't actually learn to quilt until 2008 following my retirement from a career as a social worker. •My husband and I will be married 37 years in May. We have two sons, both grown and gone. I have two cats, George and Gracie. We live on seven rural acres in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. We call our place the Three Cats Ranch. I write about our life on my blog, Cat Patches. In addition to quilting, I enjoy cooking, photography, and gardening.
My room is a long narrow room in the back of our daylight basement. •Sadly, I do not have any windows because of where the room is located within the structure of the house, but I am grateful to have a nice large space in which to work. •My husband built this sewing "nook" for me a few years ago. I like to keep inspirational writings framed in various spots in my sewing room. •For example, I love this one about passion: . . . [T]he reason it matters to care passionately about something is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size. It makes the•world seem not huge and empty but full of possibility. ~Susan Orlean, “The Orchid Thief” I like to have multiple projects going at once, and I tend to break them into monthly increments block-of-the-month style. •It keeps all my projects "fresh" so that I rarely get tired of working on anything. •With each new month, I look forward to the next monthly "installment" of a project. •I keep track of them on a white board. •Also, to make up for my lack of windows, I like to decorate the walls of my sewing room with quilts that I have made, and with quilts from the many doll quilt swaps I have participated in.
I like storing my fabrics by color in plastic drawer-style storage bins. •I have one set for yardage and one set for scraps. •For my tiniest scraps, I have a smaller set of drawers and for my uncut fat quarters and some projects I haven't started, I have two more sets. Plastic drawers are my favorite way to store all kinds of things in my sewing room. I use an empty Kleenex box to catch my thread clippings and an old prescription bottle for my old sharps like bent pins and sewing machine needles. •Everything is •very conveniently located in my little nook. Many of my quilts are raw-edged applique, and I also do machine embroidery, so I like having lots and lots and lots of thread. •I like thread almost as much as I like fabric. My sewing room doubles as storage for a few items of furniture that I haven't been able to part with. •My mother's cedar hope chest, for one thing. •It contains some quilts that my grandmother made, but it also doubles as a table where I store the beginnings of projects I haven't started on yet.
A ladder-style quilt rack holds some of the quilts I've made, and it also acts to divide the sewing room from the rest of the house. My design wall is a Block Butler, which is a great sticky surface. I like leaving my most colorful blocks on the design wall so that I can look at them while I'm working. The colors make the room so cheerful.
Doll quilts are perhaps my favorite quilts to make. A doll quilt takes only a few days to make. Because I haven't invested a lot of time and materials in them, they allow me to stretch my creativity and to try new things that I wouldn't want to try on more time-intensive and expensive projects. •I like doll quilting so much that I recently started a monthly doll quilt swap. •There is more information at my newest blog Doll Quilters Monthly.
Spring Showers Quilt By Patchwork Posse Finished size: 52” X 71”
Materials needed: 6 fat eights- umbrellas 24– 2 1/2” strips- Block sashing ¾ yard Background + 1st border 1 yard 2nd border Tiny ric-rac in 3 different colors
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Owl is for ‘O’ By Patchwork Posse
18” X 24”
Materials needed: Scraps of blue ranging from 1” X 6” - 3” x 6” 1/8 yard border Larger scraps for: Owls including: eye, beak, wings, and belly Branch and leaves Buttons for eyes Blue metallic thread for quilting
Background Instructions: 1) Sew your strips of blue scraps together. They will be stacked on top of each other, until they are 24” long 2) Sew a total of 3 strips using step 1 isntructions 3) Sew the 3 columns together 4) Trim to 17” X 23”
Applique Instructions: 1) Cut out applique pieces– the owl, branch and leaves 2) Pin or glue applique pieces in place HINT~ for 3-D wing: Lay big wing, then medium wing then small wing. Sew around big wing and Small wing. The medium wing will not be sewn down and will have raw edges for a rag look. Leaf: Lay the large leaf and the medium leaf together. Sew around the outside of the large leaf only You can sew a vein down the center of the medium leaf now, or leave it to the quilting/quilter
3-d owl wing and leaf
2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7)
Using matching thread to the piece being appliqued, zig-zag stitch around the outside edge of each piece Cut border strips 2– 1 1/2” X 17” 2– 1 1/2” X 24 1/2 Sew borders on Make a quilt sandwich with the top, batting and back Machine quilt using the following quilting guide or feel free to let loose and quilt it your own way. Sew on buttons for eyes
Machine Quilting Guide:
The background is stitched with blue metallic thread. The moon is heavily swirled with blue and White thread. The branch is quilted with brown matching thread, the leaves with green matching thread. The leaves and branch under the main branch are all machine quilted. The branch using brown, the leaves Using green.
Puddle Duck By Patchwork Posse
Materials Needed: Cutter quilt – a quilt that is raggedy, has holes and is ready for a new life Or 2 fat quarters Button‐ eye Ribbon‐ tie on neck Black embroidery thread and needled
Remember to read all instructions prior to starting. This will help, believe me! All measurements are given in inches. All seam allowances are ¼” unless otherwise noted. www.patchworkposse.com
Foxie Adventures 4th Block By Patchwork Posse www.patchworkposse.com
Materials•Needed: · 6”•X•6” light•cotton•fabric for•background · Various colors of•fabric scraps · Black•thread · 2‐‐ 5” X 5” cotton squares
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