Around The World

November 26, 2013November 26, 20134 Comments

Sad to say, the Great Canadian Blogathon is now over. I hope that you

participated and met lots of interesting people. I did! Lots of quilting

talent across this great country of ours. Around The World quilt is now

over as well. I am really happy with the quilting and I think that Gail is as well.

Around the World Quilt

Gail decided that she would like 2 different fills done on this quilt.

The backing is made up of a small burgundy print so that it blends well with

the fabrics on the front-alot of small prints as well.

Stitch in the ditch was out of the question because of the age of the quilt and

because of the hand stitching.

Before I even began to stitch, I fixed seams that were popping open. Then I

basted the whole top because I wanted to start in the middle of the quilt and

quilt my way out, following the piecing of the quilt top.

I did this so that I would not get mixed up in the quilting patterns.

Square stitching -up close and personal

I divided up the quilting into 2 different designs to add interest to the top and

to create texture as well. In the photo above, I stitched in each square in a wiggly

sort of manner-very descriptive, I know. If you look closer at the picture,

the stitching does resemble a square but with wiggly lines instead of straight lines.

Straight line quilting

In the second area, I stitched straight lines. These seem to be very hot

right now in the “modern quilting” style. So, who would have known that

an older, very traditional, hand pieced quilt would get “modern stitching”

added to it? What great flexibility we have in quilting.

Another close up

I used a light tan Superior 50 weight thread on the top and backing.

This thread is very thin but will hold up nicely. The fabric itself is very thin

so I didn’t want to use a thicker thread to cause more stress on it.

The backing does show the texture and quilting beautifully.

Back of the quilt

Now, that my trip around the world and across Canada is done, on to more

exciting things. Such as trying to prepare for Christmas. It is less than a month

away. Eeek!! Too much to do and too little time to do it. Isn’t that always the case?

Have a great week.

Check out the Needle and Thread Network as well.

Ruth

The Great Canadian

November 19, 2013November 22, 20139 Comments

This week marks the 2nd Great Canadian Blogathon.

The Great Canadian Blogathon

Sew Sisters, in Toronto, approached me and asked if I would like my blog

to be linked in with the Ontario bloggers for that day, Saturday, Nov 23rd. Wow!! Yes!!

I was thrilled! I have only been blogging for 10 months but it is alot of fun. I

enjoy writing and quilting, so it is a good fit . And I have met so many people online

who love what I love too.

You can check out the Blogathon here: http://www.sew-sisters.com/

Lots of cool prizes to be won too.

For those of you who don’t know me: I am a longarm quilter, living just outside

of Barrie, Ontario. My business, Stitching Impressions has been up and running for over

8 years now.

My booth at local Quilt Show

I love all aspects, forms and types of quilts and quilting.

Now, on to more exciting things. This past week, I have been working

on a large hand pieced (94″ x 94″) Around The World” Quilt.

Gail’s hand pieced Quilt

All the squares are 1″ and were hand pieced and cut out by hand too. That

fact alone, makes me giddy.

Justs a few things to remember when working with hand pieced quilts: when

they are on the frame, some of the piecing will “pop” open.

Example of piecing that has popped open.

When this happens, you have 2 options: ignore the hole and keep

on trucking or repair it. It does take some time but well worth the effort

to fix the repairs first. I am also going to try to sew the binding on this quilt

while it is still on the frame. This will be a first for me.

I am also getting very excited to being close to finishing all of the 16 blocks for this

quilt.

Lily of Rosenberry

Sue Garman is the pattern maker. I am debating whether to add the

border or not. What do you think?

I had to make some more bias strips last night and here are a few photos of that

procedure.

My binding strip-at the beginning

The binding strip needs to be cut on the bias, as later it will be

easier and more manageable to stitch on a curve. 1/2″ is the size of

the cut piece of fabric. Also, remember to spray starch this piece of fabric,

before you put it through the bias maker. It will help the bias strip to stay folded and

make a nice crisp, clean, straight edge for you.

My bias strip gadget

Here is the gadget I use to make a 1/4″ bias strip. I would recommend

this gadget over any metal or plastic bar.

Old bias strip bars.

This is alot faster and no burnt fingers.

Fabric strip before going into bias gadget

This is how you put the fabric into the bias gadget. Make sure that

the end is angled, making it easier to go into the bias gadget. Sometimes, I use

a sharp object, such as a metal awl to push the fabric through to the other side.

Fabric coming out the other end.

This is what the bias strip looks like when it is beginning to come out the

other end. Please remember that the right side of the fabric is on the bottom

of the gadget here. This tip is very important or your bias strip will be inside out.

The picture above shows you the bottom side of the gadget.

How to iron using the bias gadget.

Now, you are ready to iron -not press. Use your left hand ( I know, I am right handed)

to pull the green bias gagdet to the left. As you do so, keep pushing

the iron right up to the tip of the gadget maker. It does have a metal tip

so it won’t melt or burn. Just remember to go slow. It does

make beautiful bias strips quickly.

Finished bias strips

As you can see in the photo, the strips are fast, straight and crisp.

What more could you want from a bias strip? I showed you both

the front of the strip and the back so you can see how it folds in

together in the middle.

Hope you check out the Canadian Blogathon. I am also linking up

with the Needle and Thread Network.

http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

The Needle and Thread Network

Have a great week and enjoy the Great Canadian Blogathon.

On the Frame

November 12, 2013November 12, 20134 Comments

It is great to always have a quilt on the frame. Right now, I have a quilt with an

interesting story awaiting its turn. Gail, form Gateway Fibreworks,

in GravenHurst, Ontario, picked up this baby at a garage sale!!

Gail’s hand pieced Quilt

Can you believe it?!! It measures in at a whopping 94″ x 94″ and

it is made up of 1″ squares that were all hand stitched together!!

I am freaking out here!!

Because the fabrics are so old, I am thinking that the creator of this

piece cut out each individual square with scissors! Ekk! Thank God for rotary cutters.

Close up of Gail’s quilt-1″ squares

Would you have the patience to do that? I don’t think I would.

Because Gail has Alpaca’s, she gave me an Alpaca batting to try out.

I have never used this before but I don’t think that I will have any problems at all.

Alpace batting

The batting is made up of 60% Alpaca and 40% wool.

When I took it out of the package, it weighed somewhat heavy and smelled

a little like wool, but without the itch. It is a brown color too, so it would be

good for darker quilts. I dont know if it will beard but I will let you know

if it does.

Carol also brought in a quilt that she is giving to an auction. She is very

generous indeed. Carol has teamed up with another lady, named Holly, and

together I call them the “Dynamic Quilting Duo.” They can put together a

quilt top in the blink of an eye – pretty impressive, if you ask me.

Carol and Holly’s Quilt

This time, their quilt had a “Modern” feel to it.

Carol wanted all SID around each block.

I used a white polyester thread and a matching green polyester thread for the top

and the backing. The fabric on the backing was a light white, grey and green

color but mottled. The green polyester thread was a 40 wt, a little thiner but

great for stitching in the ditch and hiding all those stitches.

Border area of Carol and Holly’s quilt.

In the border areas, Carol wanted double straight lines.

I think that it was a great choice, the lines echo the whole pattern

of the quilt.

Have a great week and I am linking up to the Canadian Needle And Thread Network.

http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

Next week, the Great Canadian Blogathon is happening so check it out

to win lots of cool prizes.

Ruth

Hard at it…

November 5, 2013November 5, 20133 Comments

This fall has been so crazy, which is a good problem-if there is such a thing.

Custom quilting has kept me busy so it was a nice change when Carol brought

me this quilt.

Carol’s Quilt

I am unsure of the designer but the piecing process is really neat! Strips or

2 sets of Jelly Rolls are used for the entire quilt. 2 strips are sewn together

and then cut apart in a trianglar shape. Using 6 of these triangular shapes, the circle

is created. It is a pretty neat process. I have made a quilt like this but in

reproduction prints. The Batiks are really nice too.

Close up of Carol’s Quilt

Carol decided to use a pantograph for the top-Large Swirl

is the name of the pantograph. We used a dark blue polyester

thread and a dark batting as well. If the quilt does beard later on, it

won’t be so noticeable with the black batting.

Donna’s Quilt

Donna brought me this quilt. She is a great piecer!

She wanted it quilted simple so I SID around all the Churn

Dashes. Straight lines were added in the sashing areas and another

smaller Churn Dash was added in the middle areas of the sashing, just

for interest and to echo the design of the pieced block.

Smaller Churndash

A dark blue polyester thread was used on the dark areas and I used a white

polyester thread in the white areas.

Eva’s T-shirt Quilt

My friend, Eva, made this quilt out of T-shirts from her grandson’s

collection. She did a great piecing job as well. I was kind of concerned

that the knit in the T-shirts would move alot but she used a knit

stabilizer on the back of each block and there were no problems at all.

The knit did move a little but nothing to cause any major concerns.

I really like quilting kids’ quilts because there is so much inspiration

within the fabrics themselves to use for design purposes.

One of the T-shirt blocks

In this block, I quilted around Spongebob and the lettering. Done-easy peasy.

Spiderman Logo

Again, in this block, quilting around the logo was enough

to complete the block and hold everything in its place.

Spiderman and his web.

This is one of my favorite blocks. I thought that Spiderman

could use a web so I used a silver metallic thread to create the web in the

lower right hand corner of the block. Can you see it?

Tye dye block

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this block so I quilted

around all the dye areas and the design popped out after that.

Not bad, eh?

One of the best things about kids quilts is the fact that they are so

vibrant in color and the designs are so much fun.

I used polyester thread on the quilt top and changed colors often to match the

background colors of the blocks. The backing was a black and white plaid and the

batting was the thin polyester batting. I don’t mind working with that stuff but

it does make getting the tension correct a little bit harder.

I am linking this post up with the Canadian Needle and Thread Network. You should

check them out.

http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

Have a great week.

Stitching Impressions

All aspects of longarm quilting

Month: November 2013

Around The World

The Great Canadian

On the Frame

Hard at it…