There are only a few days left to register for my NEW online class featuring the MarJen for Error Quilt!! Sign up now by emailing me before October 1st!!
This beautiful quilt features machine embroidery, fabric fussy cutting, decorative stitches and quilting techniques. Learn how to prepare and cut your fabrics for machine embroidery. You will learn hooping techniques, embroidery design stitching tips and helpful hints in stitching decorative stitches while at the same time completing a beautiful quilt!
Changing your sewing machine needle should be more often than just when the needle breaks! I know, we all do it, me included. The needle stays in until it is bent or broken. But to get the best possible stitch results, you should change your needle every 10 hours of sewing.
If you are working on a sheer fabric or satin, you may need to change needles more frequently. A slightly dull needle or burr at the needle tip can cause runs and tears in the delicate fabric.
For machine embroidery, the needle may also need to be changed more often. Stop and really thing about how many times the needle penetrates the fabric -- many times! For every stitch, the needle is being inserted into the fabric. So if your design has 20,000 stitches in it, the needle has gone through the fabric at least 20,000 times. This dulls your needle in a hurry!
But, don't throw those old needles away; reuse them! Recycle used machine needles to hang artwork, quilts and photos. Needles create a much smaller hole than nails or thumbtacks and are longer than the average household nail. And surprisingly they hold quite a bit of weight. I've hung everything from picture frames to thread racks to calendars with old needles.
NEW!!! Summer Wine Quilt from Jenny & Simon Haskins!!
Introducing the newest book with a brand NEW embroidered quilt by Jenny and Simon Haskins!!
Summer Wine is a quilt of extravagance, luxury and total decadence. The designs have been modified from those on Jenny Haskins Bella Fiori design CD and then combined to make this gorgeous quilt. All are included on the Summer Wine design CD that is included with this book, proudly sponsored by Bernina and published by Quilters’ Resource.
The beauty of the Summer Wine designs is not only that they can be made into this glorious quilt, but that the individual sections of the quilt are equally beautiful made into pillows, pillow shams, table runners, wall-hangings and items of clothing – the list is endless (and so too are the number of possible color combinations; a selection of which are shown in the book).
These two designers have also used the designs as easy Embroidery Decoupage on furniture, mirrors, a foot warmer for the bed and matching pillow shams in delightful spring colors of pink and lime green.Summer Wine is a truly glorious quilt and book which is both instructional and inspirational as well as making a great coffee table book with beautiful melt into photography and luscious projects.
For a limited time, purchase the NEW Summer Wine book for only $29.99! Pick up your copy before the price goes back to $34.99!!
In my blog reading this morning, I discovered that Laurel Burch, famous artist and fabric designer passed away this week.
Her work can be recognized with a glance, usually using bright, bold colors on a black background. Her designs such as cats, horses, jungle animals and others have been reproduced in quilting fabric, embroidery designs, t-shirts, scarfs, jewelry, coffee mugs and so much more!
Although I can't say I have absolutely fell in love with her fabrics and embroidery designs, there are some pieces which have captured my eye and I have stitched several of designs from a couple of design collections mirroring her design style.
If you were to take a peek in my sewing room, you would find some unusual items inside. One of them is blue painter's tape! Why would I have this blue tape which is used in conjunction with painting? Good question!
Blue painter's tape is great for taping templates to the fabric with machine embroidery. Why? If you are needing your design to be in a peticular place on the fabric or if you are doing continuous embroidery designs where one design must follow another to complete a pattern, you will be using a template to place the designs on the fabric.
You can use straight pins to hold the paper or vellum template in place, but it will still tend to shift a little as you put the fabric in the hoop. But if you use a couple pieces of blue tape, it will securely hold the template in place. When you are ready to embroider, just gently peel your template from the fabric and start stitching.
I usually put a piece of tape on each side of the template to hold it. And usually the tape can be used several times on the same template before it has lost its stickiness. The great thing is that the blue tape does not leave a residue on the fabric or previously stitched designs like masking tape can do.
Not only can you use this tape to tape the template to the fabric, but you can also tape the hoop grid over the template to your fabric. You know the challenge of getting the hoop grid lines straight with your template lines, but this tape is a great help for that!
Tape your template to the fabric, where it needs to be. Then place your hoop grid on top of the template, matching your grid lines with the template lines. Tape the grid to the fabric. Pick up the fabric with the tempalte and hooped taped to it and insert it in your hoop. Match the grooves in your hoop with the gooves in your grid and your fabric will be straight in the hoop on the first try!
Not only is blue painter's tape great for taping templates and grids to fabric for machine embroidery, but it also works great to pick up loose threads and lint that sticks to your fabric. After I have broken a needle, I will tear off a piece of tape and put the needle ends in it before throwing it in the trash. This keeps needle points and the jagged edges of the needle confined to the tape and not lost in the trash can.
Note: There are several brands of blue painter's tape available, but I have found that the regular (not delicate) Scotch brand works the best!
Watch a video clip showing you how to tape your template and grid to your fabric and then insert it into the hoop! See below!
Take an exciting quilt journey with me and stitch the MarJen for Error Quilt! This is a beautiful quilt that features luscious embroidery designs, fussy cutting fabric details and creative decorative stitches!
This beautiful quilt features machine embroidery, fabric fussy cutting, decorative stitches and quilting techniques. Learn how to prepare and cut your fabrics for machine embroidery. You will learn hooping techniques, embroidery design stitching tips and helpful hints in stitching decorative stitches while at the same time completing a beautiful quilt!
I will be sharing my favorite products I use for machine embroidery and my own tips and techniques I have learned throughout my many projects. You will gain loads of information that you can use with so many other projects!
I'm excited about beginning this quilt journey and I hope you will join me in this adventure! There are several files with class notes, fabrics needed, supply lists and a video introduction to the quilt that you can download by visiting my class schedule page. Also, you may look at the quilt with all its detail by clicking here.
Please email me with any questions or comments! If you would like to join this class, please email me to register by October 1st!
I hope you decide to join me in this quilting adventure! I'm excited and look forward to seeing the color combinations and creative ideas you can create with your own quilt!
...OESD today, tomorrow and Monday for a free design each day! Their block party, buy-one-get-one-free sale last until Monday. If your embroidery design collection is in need of a few new collections, now is the time to stock up!
I sent over 20 different items to the state fair this year. For some of them I didn't really expect to win any ribbons; in fact I didn't really expect to win what I did. But it was fun to go through the domestic arts building looking for those familiar items with my name on them!
I'll be doing several posts in the next week or two, after the fair is over and my items are returned to me, showing you the items I entered and the results of each one. One reason I like to enter several of the things I've created, is to get another opinion on it. I see it for what it is. I know the meaning behind it. I know what I'm trying to create.
But is that conveyed to someone else? How are my standards of workmanship and creativity viewed through another pair of eyes? That's one of the great things about entering projects - you can see areas of your projects that need improvement and that may cause you to think about things you might not have otherwise thought about.
I will say I was surprised and excited with the ribbons I received for everything I entered. But I want to show them to you, pointing out to you the good points and areas that need improvement. Hopefully you will pick up some ideas that you can use in your own quilting projects! So stay tuned for a State Fair Project Parade!!
Yesterday was the day I spent at the state fair! I was really looking forward to attending and of course my main destination was the domestic arts building! How I love to browse through the aisles of quilts, pillows, needlework and other sewn items! I always come away with way too many ideas that I want to stop and do right now!
This year was no exception! There were several quilts that caught me eye and I probably spent way too much time looking and trying to figure out each technique that was used in the quilt! Needless to say I came away with a camera full of ideas that I will never ever get to all of them in my lifetime, but at least I can try to incorporate a few ideas into my own projects!
Looking through the quilts was especially fun since I *just happened* to meet one of my quilting buddies when we stopped to get something to drink on the trip to Hutchinson! I couldn't believe it! We couldn't have planned it any better!
We met up to go through the exhibits and we had such a fun time talking and inspecting each and very stitched article inside! I'm not sure what time we started, but by the time we were finished, I figured we had been there for over 2 hours! But we had such a great time! I'm so glad we ran (literally!) into each other! And then it was so funny the times we saw each other during the day as we were walking around! :)
Stitching the binding on your quilt can be one of the greatest joys of your project for several reasons: (1) - Cutting and stitching to binding to the quilt is not that difficult, (2) - Tacking the binding on by hand is something to enjoy if you love doing handwork (and I do, don't you? :)) and (3) - the greatest reason of all - If you are stitching the binding, it means you are almost finished with your quilt!
Tacking the binding on by hand after you have already stitched it to the front of the quilt is not too difficult, although it can be time consuming! When I am hand tacking my binding I like to put straight pins in the quilt edge to hold the binding and mitered corners in place as I am stitching.
This works great except for two major problems - (1) the thread I am stitching with tends to get caught and wrapped around the pins and (2) pins have a sharp point (they are supposed to, you know!) and when you have 10-20 pins in a quilt, you are bound to get stuck a few times!
What's the solution? Quilt binding clips! I discovered quilt binding clips several months ago and have greatly enjoyed using them for holding down my quilt binding. The binding clips consist of a metal clip that you can easily clip over the edge of your quilt.
Not only are they quick and easy to clip on your quilt, but they contain no sharp points or edges! I can put binding clips over an area of my quilt and stitch the binding or I can even put in binding clips all the way around before stitching. They have a holding grip and will grip the fabric until you remove them. Plus no sharp points or thread tangling to worry about! :)
OESD is starting their block party weekend today! Buy 1 design, get 1 free! Buy 1 design pack, get 1 design pack free!
You don't want to miss this fantastic offer on a beautiful array of machine embroidery designs!! Sale is September 13-17th! Also, as an added bonus, OESD is giving away a free design every day, so check back each day to download your free design!
Hooray!! Hooray!! I have the quilt top finished!! I was so excited that I had to hang it up outside last week and get some pictures! The wind was blowing a little, so my quilt top looks a little wavy!
I did add an extra purple sashing right next to the outside border. The magazine photo does now show this border, but the fabrics and colors are different in it also. The main reason being that it needed a color change between the yellow blocks and the yellow background border. I'm glad I added that extra sashing - it really needed it to break up the yellow!
It looks really great and I'm ready to get the quilting done!
It has happened to me and I'm sure it has happened to you also. You have your quilting ruler or template in just the right place, your rotary cutter is halfway down the length of the ruler and your ruler moves! It's one of the most frustrating things that can happen and can have results that make you end of cutting another piece.
What's the solution? Try using scotch tape! Tear off a piece of scotch tape, double it over so it is sticky on both sides and place it on the underneath side of your ruler. Put several pieces of tape in different places under the ruler. Place the ruler on your fabric where you will need to be cutting. If you need to reposition, just lift the ruler and place it down again. You are ready to cut!
Sticking tape to the back of plastic templates also works very well. If you have a template placed on the fabric and then a ruler on top of the template to make the cut, the ruler and template tend to want to slide against each other. Just put on a couple of pieces of scotch tape, attaching the template to the fabric and the ruler to the template. Your sliding problem will just disappear!
You should be able to reuse the scotch tape on your ruler or template several times before the tape needs to be replaced. On some fabrics scotch tape can leave a small residue mark, so try using blue painters tape instead. Blue painters tape is just like masking tape, but does not leave a residue mark and is blue in color.
MarJen for Error - pieces cut and blocks sewn together
The more and more I work on my quilt, the more and more I love it and the colors in it! I was able to get all the blocks cut down, sashing pieces cut and borders cut. It didn't take too long to get the sashing pieces sewn to the blocks.
The horizontal sashing pieces consist of two fabrics. The yellow background with pansies in it is on each side of a purple tone on tone fabric. It was debatable what to use for these two pieces, but the purple in the center really draws out the same color in the blocks.
