Teaching a Saturday Workshop

One participant's scraps

Last Saturday was the Clark County Quilters guild Saturday Workshop day. This is the day members teach members. There was a fabric painting class, a mile a minute piecing class, a how to create realistic doll faces class, a how to create lace with thread class, a how to make a quilted tote bag class, a how to stitch sashiko class, two different paper piecing classes, a how to make a jelly roll rug class, a gifts to make with fat quarters class, a how to make fabric twine class and my bust your stash class.

This is one of the activities that I look forward to attending each year. The cost of the class covers the rent for the facility and the teachers volunteer their time. A half day class is $10 and a full day class is $20. If the teacher has a kit for the class, the participants pay the fee to the teacher.

It is an affordable day, an opportunity to learn new techniques or to practice/perfect those techniques and a chance to make new friendships.

Making nine patches out of batik scraps

Five ladies attended my class. Of those five, I only knew one so I made four new friends! I decided to teach the workshop to support those people who were stuck doing the bust your stash guild challenge which I'm in charge of this year.  It is always interesting to learn why people register for a particular class!

I thought that people would be stuck in the quilting phase or how to attach a binding or a sleeve; but, I learned it was more of a "am I on the right track," "do my fabrics work with what I'm thinking" and "does this sashing work for these blocks" need for support instead. I learned that more people would have signed up for this class had I offered a specific pattern that they could sew. Hmmm perhaps, I will do that next year!!

I loved seeing all the beautiful scraps, two inch squares and fabric options that arrived. One participant said that her husband used to eat a lot of ice cream and that she used the clean and empty plastic tubs to sort her scraps by color.

Getting to work on the projects

One participant had sewn a number of kaleidoscope quilts over the last 20 years. She was ready to sew the bits into a useable project. She said she was able to cut one two inch square from each of her kaleidoscope leftovers. She was excited to use the yardage that she had accumulated and petted over those years.

She brought a small plastic rectangular organizer container with two layers.The top section contained a tray of her sewing supplies.  Her fabric squares were in the bottom section. She had named this section the "randomizer." She would "stir" the pieces a bit and then select five mediums for her nine patch block. She would sew the block and repeat the process. Her nine patches were beautifully sewn.

I recognized many of her fabrics and couldn't believe some of them were the age she said. Time moves quickly! She was making a pattern from one of Bonnie Hunter's books. Her quilt is going to be stunning when it is finished. She plans to hang it on a wall in her home.

Leftovers becoming a plan

A second lady shared her story about the first quilt that she had machine pieced. She said once she had the top together, she took it to a fabric store to learn how to put the "stuffing" in it. She laughs now. . .realizing it was batting and backing that she needed; but, at the time she thought quilters pushed the fiber in the middle of the layers somehow.

She ended up taking her top to a longarm quilter and the longarmer commented how her quilt wasn't square and wasn't flat which the quilt creator had no idea that square or flat mattered! The lady said she finished the quilt and even made a second quilt for a grandchild.

I loved her story. I admired her can do and see what happens attitude. She spent part of her time cutting  squares and parts for blocks. Then she sewed the pieces together intuitively. She said she couldn't follow a pattern and that she was more of a painter or potter. She said she that one of her friends told her to come to class to get ideas on what to do with her scraps. I so want to see what her project becomes!

The third participant brought samples of scrap quilts that she had made which gave us a great opportunity to talk about how to choose fabrics that work well together and to see different designs. She is a machine embroiderer and she brought samples of stitch outs that she was picking scrap fabrics to use as sashing. I sure want to see those quilt/quilts finished! I'm thinking that I might invest in some of those embroidery designs. . .

The fourth participant had participated in a 52 week block challenge with a friend last year. The participant completed all of the blocks. Her friend dropped out after a few weeks.

One nine patch finished

This participant used fabric that she had loved a number of years ago and which she had moved several times. The block challenge was a way for her to finally use the fabric she loved. She decided that the guild challenge was the way to get the blocks set and the quilt finished! She designed sashing using two inch squares. Her blocks were shades of blue and yellow which were so pretty and so beautifully made.

She made some choices regarding fabric so that her block setting would be more modern. She made a sample sashing and then decided to adjust it a bit. She was at the point to stitch a coping strip around her blocks when class ended. She too is creating a beautiful project.

The fifth participant had left over HST triangles from different projects. She stitched them together in a couple of sizes. She too made nine patches with her two inch squares. Her plan was to set the some of the nine patch blocks in the center and then follow up with larger squares. She is planning to gift the quilt to a great niece arriving in the spring.

All in all, it was a good day. I sure look forward to seeing their projects hang in the show in April!

Basting and Quilting Tips-Bust Your Stash post 4

Sample of a pieced back

I hope you are making great progress on your projects. This month our topic is basting and quilting tips.

Backing:

You’ve finished your top and selected your back. Personally, I like to piece my backs because often I’m able to use the leftovers from the front! I also LOVE using chunks from my stash because it is like a walk down memory lane as I remember making the quilt that used those fabrics.  I like creating an interesting backs. Rarely will I use just one piece of fabric!  At first, it took me a long time to piece a back. As with any process, the more you do it, the better you become at it. Angela Walters has a video of one way she pieced a back. The link is here. 

Batting:

Choose your batting. There are lots of choices. In fact, there are so many choices that you might be overwhelmed with what to choose! Carolina over at Craft Test Dummies posted a video and talked about some questions you should ask yourself before you buy. The link is here. In her video, she referenced a test that she had done on the Fairfield battings. The link to that test is here. 

A sample of my preferred basting method

I have tried cotton batting (Warm and Natural), wool batting (Hobbs and Dream), polyester (Fairfield), silk (Hobbs), bamboo, (Dream) and a blend of 80%cotton and 20% polyester (Hobbs and Pellon). My favorite battings are 80/20 and wool. Sometimes, I even use them together, although, not often! I like the 80/20 for the crinkle factor and I like the wool for the drape factor. Both battings are great to quilt. 

Basting:

A spray basting video link is here. Pin basting (floor), temporary spray basting, board basting options link is here. You could also take your project to a longarmer and ask them to baste it for you. I’ve done that a couple times and I asked the longarmer to use a wash away thread. I have tried all those methods of basting listed. 

Sample of QAYG

My knees object to kneeling so I use a modified version of Cindy Needham’s basting techniques in which she uses a table. I took a Craftsy class long ago that she instructed. Craftsy has since become Bluprint. The reason I stick with pin basting is that I’m not putting in a product in my quilt that I need to remove with washing later. I once over sprayed my kitchen floor with temporary adhesive spray. That spray was a bugger to remove! I decided it might not wash out as easily as I had envisioned. The smell of the spray bothered me and using it added cost to my quilt project. I can reuse my pins!!! 

Quilting:

Once your quilt is basted, you are ready to quilt it! Our quilting is like our signature, it is a symbol of our identity! This is the part I enjoy the most. It is also the part that sometimes leaves me stymied because I don’t know what to do! For me to start, I stitch in the ditch in every seam. I find the ditch stitching to anchor the quilt well enough that I can “play” in other areas without having to quilt from the center out to the quilt edge. This was a tip I learned from a Barbara Shapel class. Ditch quilting also gives me time to think about how I want to play in other areas of the quilt.

Sample of custom free motion quilting

Angela Walters in a video shares three tips about quilting designs.You can find it here. Laura Ann Coia from “SewVeryEasy” in a video shares how the letter “C” can become an all over design. You can find the video here. Wendy Gratz from “Shiny, Happy World” in a video shares how to quilt a big quilt on a standard machine. You can view the video here. 

If you haven’t stitched your blocks together yet, you could use the Quilt As You Go (QAYG) method. You can view a post from “Instructables Craft” here for more information. I’ve quilted a couple quilts using this method. Planning ahead is the key to making this option a success. 

If free motion quilting has you stymied, you can quilt with your walking foot. Leah Day has a tutorial about walking foot basics. You can find it here. You can even use your walking foot and your built in machine stitches to quilt your project. Carol Ann Waugh of “Stupendous Stitching” shares a video here. Carol also spends some time talking about threads. 

My tips for machine quilting are:

*Make a sample of your quilt sandwich and use this sample to test and to practice your stitches.

Sample of quilting with a walking foot

*Use the same thread top and bottom if you are having tension issues. Superior Threads has a great reference guide available for troubleshooting and tension. You can find the main reference page here. Sometimes you can rethread the machine or change the needle and that solves the challenge!

*Check the back regularly. It is maddening to find out you’ve quilted a tuck or a piece of fabric into the back when you hadn’t planned it!

*Plan that the quilting will take at least as long as the piecing did.

*Take breaks every 15-30 minutes. Your body will love you for it!

*Keep quilting, the more you quilt the better your skills become. You really can quilt!

Next month, our topic will be about finishing touches.  Don’t forget to post a comment at #2020bustyourstashchallenge on instagram or on my blog here. Thank you to those that have posted!

Cutting and Sewing Tips--Bust Your Stash post 3

Cutting and Sewing Tips—An Article to Support the Bust Your Stash Challenge

To prewash or not--I prewash

For those of you that are participating in this challenge, I hope that you have a pattern and fabric in mind. The post today contains a few tips designed to make the next steps in your process more efficient and effective.

Fabric Preparation—prewash or not. I prewash because fabrics shrink at different rates. I also don’t want to find out a fabric bled into a background after I’ve finished! If you don’t pre wash, do test the fabric so that you don’t have surprises later. 

Use a sharp blade for rotary cutting

After prewashing the fabrics, I use sizing and sometimes starch with an iron to add back “crispness” to the fabric that the laundry process removed. Click the link to read an article that addresses how to test a fabric for bleeding. Once I’ve ironed out the lumps and bumps, I trim away the selvages for another project. Then I line up the trimmed edges so there are no wrinkles.  

Cutting—

Use a sharp blade. I am lax about changing the blade; but, honestly, a sharp blade allows me to cleanly cut the layers in one pass. 

Line your ruler up on the line rather than just shy of the line. Bonnie Hunter shares a tip about cutting here. You will also be looking at a portion of a block that contains a bunch of two inch squares. . .just saying in case you haven’t picked a design yet!

When cutting move your fingers on the ruler as you cut to maintain the ruler position. The Crafty Quilter shares some tips regarding rotary cutting here. I find that periodically cleaning the lint from around the blade and rotating the blade increases the longevity of the blade. Of course, you get to take the rotary cutter apart for those procedures!

Sewing a thread or two less than a quarter of an inch

Sewing—

Test your seam allowance. Bonnie Hunter has a ruler specifically for testing for seam allowance. You can read about it here.  I personally stitch a thread or two less than a quarter of an inch because the thread takes up a little room in the seam! Do what works for you.

Use leader/enders as these are a great help to start and end your seam on the quarter inch mark. I started a leader/ender project in September. The cool part of the process is that by stitching block parts together instead of a stopping/starting strip, at some point, you have enough blocks stitched for a quilt! 

Check units for accuracy

Check your tension. Use the same weight of thread in the bobbin and in the needle; but, choose a different color for one of the threads. This way, it is easier to determine which of your threads needs adjustment. Superior Threads has an informative article in the education section of their website regarding tension. You can access it here.  

A slightly shorter stitch length seems to work well for me. When I’m piecing, I set my stitch length on my Bernina at 2.5 and at 12 stitches/inch on my Singer Featherweight. Yes, it takes a bit of effort to unstitch; but, I also have less seam popping or unraveling later in the process.

Check your units for accuracy as you stitch. It is easier to unstitch one unit and correct it than it is to unstitch many units!

Pressing—

Press not iron; use a little sizing; let the pressed seam cool before moving; weight it. . .these were some tips I picked up after attending a precision piecing class that Sally Collins taught. You can listen to her tips here.

Press not iron

Chocolate helps! 

Hang in there. Sew a little every week. It always surprises me that I can make progress on a project even if I stitch on it but a few minutes several days in a week! 

Next month our topic will be basting and quilting tips. Don’t forget to post a comment and/or photo at  #2020bustyourstashchallenge on instagram. Comments on this post are welcomed too! 

Becoming a User--Bust Your Stash post 2

Scraps from Martha's floor sorted into like sizes

In September, I listed some ideas about inspiration behind a design. I hope you have an idea of what you want to create or at least have narrowed your options for the Bust Your Stash challenge! This month, our topic is where to procure our scraps. 

The easiest resource is from past projects! For many years, I purchased my fabrics according to the pattern that I was making. I had one background, one medium, one dark and one light fabric. These days, I may choose a range of fabrics that represent medium, dark and light values. I find the various fabrics make the finished quilts sparkle and these quilts are an ode to the quilts our ancestors created from the scrap basket.

Sorted and bagged into the scrap saving system

The hardest fabrics to collect are the darks. The ones I’m low on the most are the lights! When I started quilting, I was determined not to have leftover bits. As I finished projects, I tossed the leftovers less than 1/4 of a yard or less than a fat quarter size.

Then I got to thinking. . .those smaller bits cost just as much as the bigger bits. I wondered how many possible quilts I had thrown away over the years. So, I started saving smaller bits using Bonnie Hunter’s scrap user’s system. When I’ve finished a project and before I work on the next project, I sort all the remaining bits. I cut the bits into useable sizes and store the pieces into like sizes by color. For example, I have ziplock bags of 2” squares and 2” strips in a variety of colors.

One block cut and ready to sew from the precuts

When the bag gets full, I try to use the fabrics in a project. Our challenge came about because I had many two inch squares. I wondered if others were in my position! Over the years, I’ve been pleasantly surprised when a pattern would call for cutting strips of a certain size and I’d go to my scrap saver system and pull those fabrics needed.  I love it when this works because I’m that much closer to stitching!

When I first started the scrap saving system, I went through past bags of leftovers. I had shoved the fabrics into a plastic bag and crammed the bags into a drawer or a container never to see the light of day. It took some time and it was nostalgic cutting fabrics from previous finished projects.  It was great to have like fabrics together. I was surprised at how much more space I had once I done the cutting and sorting!

If I want to try a specific color combination or I want to stitch a practice block, I’ll go to my “pre-cuts” looking for the sizes of fabrics that I need. As I’ve played with my pre-cuts, I’ve also noticed I’m making better fabric choices regarding value. 

If you are new to quilting, haven’t accumulated scraps, and belong to a quilt guild, check the free table. Often, there are some bits that might fill in the holes in your scrap system. Sometimes, friends will “gift” you chunks that you can use. You can also cut into your yardage that you have stashed. The point is, we all have enough fabrics stashed in our sewing spaces to create lots of projects. So stop petting and start cutting! Using, in this sense, is GOOD! Next month, our topic will be fabric choices.

Remember, comments are welcomed here as well as on instagram at #2020bustyourstashchallenge

Welcome Aboard to Bust Your Stash Challenge

Welcome aboard to the Bust Your Stash challenge!!! 

The outer border fabric said "stitch me"

If you are new to the challenge or don’t know what I’m talking about, you will find the rules here. Read the rules and think about what you want to create.

When it comes to designing, it can be daunting of where or how to start! Inspiration is behind every quilt. For me, inspiration could come from:

—a particular piece of fabric that says stitch me

—an event like a wedding, a birth or a graduation is on the horizon

—nature, the colors of a blooming plant, a sunrise or a landscape

Stitched to celebrate a special birthday

—exploring a technique, a concept, a shape or a pattern (If you’ve a pattern that you purchased, you’re on your way!)

—reading a blog, Bonnie Hunter’s for instance, you might want to try a pattern, tip or technique. You can find Bonnie’s blog here.  

If you are concerned that you won’t have the time to create a quilt, consider a leader/ender project. As you piece your projects, have a stack of parts ready to stitch as the beginning and ending to your pieced sections. It is a way to keep continuously stitching and a way to efficiently use more of your thread! Last year, Bonnie introduced a leader/ender project that used two inch squares. You can access the pattern here.

Preserving a view; exploring techniques

I created a Pinterest board to store some ideas. I might sketch a few ideas with a pencil. I often will make a number of small sketches on a page. Later, I will pick a couple to draw larger. I might even use color pencils to enhance the sketch. 

Believe in yourself and your ideas. Most important. . .have fun!!! Since we are a community, please leave a comment regarding what inspires you to create. I plan to post an article the first Wednesday of the month along with a few examples of past work. You can also check out #2020bustyourstashchallenge on instagram. Next month, our topic will be where to find scraps.