FMQ class

A couple of week's ago, I mentioned that I was "off" and asked you to guess where.

I was at a free motion quilting class with Kim Bradley. I loved the class but found a whole day very tiring on the brain and body.

We were shown some lovely work but I forgot to take my camera.

Kim is an excellent teacher. I thought we'd be starting with stippling or meandering and heading into pebbles. I was wrong.

We started by working with our walking foot.

In this version we followed pre-drawn lines then quilted an equal distance from those lines.
Some people did this by pre-drawing, mine is done freehand.

And this is my freehand flower done by a technique called McTavishing.

Then we "graduated" to the darning/quilting foot. All I can say is that it's not as easy as it sounds or looks!

To many people's surprise, we worked with our feed dogs up (to give us more control).

Pattern 1: apple blossom.
Pattern 2: leaves (they were suppose to be rounded with points)

Pattern 2a: gum (eucalypt) leaves

Pattern 3: maple leaves
There were other patterns but I think you've seen enough of my squiggles!

My fall back pattern whenever I'm getting frustrated (this was practice at home):
At least I think this one is improving!

More practice needed here!

needle turned applique

I know I said I was taking a break from blogging but I guess it's more a break from daily blogging!

A couple of people have expressed interest in seeing my practice pieces after I mentioned them in comments on their blogs and if I don't post about them now I probably never will.

It is summer in Australia (although here in Sydney you would hardly know it). Children return to school on Monday after their summer break. A new academic year starts for them and so I thought it would be good to start the year with something new in my sewing class too.

I have been very inspired by both the Mary Lou Weidman books I was given for Christmas so I decided I needed to learn needle turn appliqué.

I can already do fused appliqué with blanket stitch (by hand and machine) but hiding those raw edges was a complete mystery to me.

So my teacher showed me three different ways to do it by hand.

The first way involves ironing freezer paper to the right side of the fabric and turning the edges under using the freezer paper as a guide.

The second way involves drawing or tracing the shape directly onto the front of the fabric, cutting a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance, and turning the edge under as you sew it to the background.

The third way involves ironing the freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric, tacking through the fabric and paper, sewing it to the background and cutting a hole through the backing fabric to remove the freezer paper.

I have done all of the above methods in the same background and labelled them in pencil.

At home I did two shapes by the second method. Both were drawn free hand and are a bit whimsical but it was the practice I was after, not perfection.

Next Monday I will lean how to work with inner curves and points and then I'll be ready to tackle a project. I already have one in mind but that's a whole new post.

And I'd like to learn how to do needle turn appliqué by machine too!

I think I need a break

I don't want to be negative and depressing but I've been feeling a bit "blah" for the past week or so.

Sure, my sinuses are still playing up and my ear drums are distended and painful (and the antibiotics prescribed on Thursday haven't kicked in yet) but it's more than that.

I've lost my enthusiasm.

I'm still reading blogs but I'm not commenting as much.

I'm still sewing and knitting - I've even nearly finished stuff!

I've done more reading lately than is usual; that's what the Kindle is for after all! (Yes, I decided to keep it).

And I've watched more television because the Australian Open Tennis Tournament is on and it's the one time of the year when I can watch matches at a time when I want to be awake!

I have my first sewing class of the year tomorrow and I don't have anything I want to do! That doesn't mean I haven't got any projects on-the-go or ready to go, it just means that nothing fires me up the way the first class back should (shouldn't it?) I feel inclined not to go even though I know I'll love it when I get there.

And I haven't posted to my blog in days and don't really want to!

It's not as if there's nothing going on around here.

In the past five days I've had:
- a free motion quilting class with Kim Bradley
- a toddler's funeral
- a visit to the doctor
- house guests for one night
- a two-day visit from DD and the grandsons
- a Knitters' Guild meeting
- and our grandson's dedication

My nephew is back from the National Baseball Championships and my niece got some good news today!

Yesterday DD and I even managed to get a quilt loaded on to the frame (but no quilting has been done)!

But none of that fires me up and makes me want to write.

I'm tired of fighting Blogger to get my posts written and photos attached.


So, I've decided to take a break from blogging - just until I can find my enthusiasm again. If you see it, please send it back; I miss it!

another funeral

WM and I were at another funeral today. We don't know our neighbours very well, just that they have three children. Their youngest one was born with a heart condition. Last week, his fight for life ended. He would have been four in April.

I have never been to a funeral for a child - it was incredibly sad.

I haven't got a photo to show you; I don't have his parents' permission to use the one from his funeral service sheet.

Harley David

26 April 2008 - 11 January 2012

Rest in Peace

I'm off...

Here's a hint:

• a pile of 14" square quilt sandwiches (calico front and back with Warm and Natural between)
• quilting gloves (Ansell Hyflex)
• spare bobbins
• lots of thread
• walking foot (built in to my Janome)
• darning foot
• sewing machine
• miscellaneous sewing tools (scissors, spare sewing machine needles, etc.)
• pencil and paper

Where do you think I am today? :-)

a little bit sad

The last few days have been a little bit sad for me - last Friday was the anniversary of my maternal grandmother's birth: she would have been 103 but she passed away in 1989. She is the one who taught me to crochet (even though I'm left-handed), bought me my first sewing machine and taught me to use it. She would be proud of quilting efforts.

And today is would have been my FIL's 83rd birthday. It is the first birthday since he passed away last April so it's a bit weird not calling him today - WM will call his mother instead and make sure she is okay!

In addition, yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of my father's death. It brings tears to my eyes just typing that - I miss him so much!

other crafts

A long time ago, when I was a "winter" knitter, I decided I had to find a different craft for summer because it was too hot to knit!

I had tried embroidery which I showed you in this post. I enjoyed it and thought I might do some more of it.

We were going away for a few days because our cork floor tiles were being recoated and the smell of polyurethane is unbearable. We had some long-forgotten reason to visit a local store and, though I looked all over their small craft department, I couldn't find an embroidery kit. However, I did find a small cross stitch kit. Ideal! Everything I needed (except scissors and a hoop) was in the package. It was small so I could work on it in the car and it was inexpensive so if I didn't like it, it was no big deal!

I finished that first cross stitch, framed it with the embroidery hoop I had used to stitch it and gave it to my mum for Mothers' Day. It's still on display in her china cabinet.

But I was hooked! I started making people cross-stitch bookmarks. I bought "waste canvas" and began embroidering on tee-shirts and socks. I bought a couple of kits and worked those. I think people even began to expect that they would receive small cross-stitch embroidery from me for presents.

But then came Big Project #1. DD and I still smile at how I finished it and was washing it in the bath while she stood lookout for Daddy coming home from work. It was his Christmas present and I needed to block it! He loved it.Then my sister got engaged and I began a cross stitch of blue and white crockery on a dresser as a wedding gift. I have no photo of that one to show you but I know it still hangs in my sister's dining room (even though that marriage is long over).

DD was given a cross-stitch for Christmas one year but she outgrew it and we had to take it from her room and hang it in the hall. She says she still loves it (or maybe she has renewed her love for it) so maybe, one day, she'll hang it at her place.Mum's 60th birthday came next and what better thing to give a "new Australian " (she had become a citizen just six years before after living here for thirty one years) - Australian wild flowers! I took this photo over the mantlepiece, way above my head so please forgive the funny angle. The photo below shows some detail (if anyone is interested it is 14 count Aida cloth); the big red flower is called a waratah.It is the floral emblem of my state and grows only in sandy soil. We have clay soil so, unfortunately, have not been successful in growing one (WM dislikes pots). You can read more about waratahs here.

Then mum and dad gave me a pattern for a piano done in cross stitch (yes I do play - badly). I never finished it, I think all that cream (on the left) was just too much for me! It has become one of my many UFOs about the place!
What about you, did you once have an obsession with another craft?

a funny way to quilt

DD and the Grandsons usually visit on Friday, stay overnight and go home on Saturday evening after dinner. We make our plans based on this schedule, but we have to fit them in around the wants and needs of a nearly-two-year-old and a demanding six month old.

This weekend we planned to get our first quilt on the frame.

MIL came for lunch on Friday and wanted to see how the quilting frame worked. We gave her a demonstration on the sample calico (muslin) we still had on the frame. Just as well I hadn't decided to take it off the previous day.

After MIL left, I ironed the backing for our Disappearing Nine Patch quilt. I took it to the garage to put on the frame - and Older grandson grabbed hold of it and wouldn't let go! He just loves all our quilting fabrics, and this one was big enough to play "boo"! Of course, I had to iron the backing all over again!

This time, I realised that the bottom of the backing wasn't quite square because I had not squared off the end of the fabric that had been cut (with scissors) in the store. I needed to wait until OG went to sleep (or Grandad took him somewhere to play) so that I could lay it out on the floor and trim it. Friday afternoon was very hot and muggy and we abandoned any attempts to get into the uninsulated garage and attach the quilt to the frame.

Instead, DD and I went into my sewing room. Not to sew - oh no! WM had shampooed the carpets on Tuesday and the boxes of stuff that had been hiding in the corner in front of the wardrobe (closet) were now stacked on my cutting table. This meant that we had clear access to the wardrobe for the first time in months so DD began to look through her stuff (it used to be DD's bedroom). She threw away piles of stuff (mostly paper from courses she has taken in the past), filled a small box with stuff for the op shop (thrift store) and managed to move all of her stuff into less than half of the space. This operation took most of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning but hey, I now have some space to store things I want in here! And with design wall rolled up, we can admire the front of the wardrobe doors (WM and I assisted an artist friend to paint these as a surprise when DD was a young teenager!)

After lunch yesterday (Saturday), WM went to our neighbour's house because OG wanted to play with their little boy and WM always supervises our grandson. DD and I took advantage and finally tried to load our first quilt onto that frame. And guess what?

It was too big for our small set up. We had to wait until WM and OG came home. I entertained OG inside the house, while DD attempted to assist her dad and look after her nearly-crawling-and-therefore-grizzly six month old!

To make a long story short, WM finally finished extending the frame just before dinner but the screws that hold the middle section together are too long and the cart that holds the machine can't pass over them smoothly so we still can't use the frame!

At least I can get my cutting table cleared off and get onto some sewing!

works in progress?

Or at a standstill? Then they'd be UFOs, wouldn't they?

So, what have I carried from 2011 (or before) into the Not-So-New Year?

And what do they need to be completed?

I'll start with the most recent and work backwards (according to date of cast on), knitting then quilting.

knitting

I finished mum's socks on Wednesdayand immediately cast on another pair. I turned the heel on the first sock last night so am powering along with those. William's blanket: the knitting is finished, I just need to sew the ends in and block it. I stopped working on it for two reasons: the weather was not conducive for blocking at the time I finished it (about ten days before Christmas). When the weather warmed up I had house guests for nearly three weeks so it wasn't appropriate to cover half the living room floor with blocking boards,etc. I became sick a week before Christmas and didn't want to share my germs with baby William so put it aside to do the ends later (and forgot about it until now). Sideways Striped Baby Jumper I finished the body of this and need to pick up stitches around the neck to do the collar. I can't remember why I stopped; probably I just didn't feel like picking up all those teeny tiny stitches (sock yarn).

Soft Blue Socks knitted from the toe up; I have no idea why I stopped working on these. Purple Cocoon Socks knitted from the toe up; I was questioning whether to knit the second sock or rip the first because they were a bit too snug for me and I though the Cocoon, although 75% wool/25% polyamide, was too loosely spun to wear well as socks (it was designed for baby knitting). I might finish them and give them to mum; she'll wash them by hand!Merlot Socks need to find the instructions for Jeny's Super Stretchy Bind Off and get them done! My computer is always turned off when I'm ready to knit. Hey, I could use my Kindle, couldn't I?intarsia blanket - I was working on this just four weeks ago but it's too hot to knit blankets/afghan from 8ply (DK) now. This project is 40" (1 metre) wide so don't be fooled by the small photo. striped garter stitch afghan: this is the project that I had to rip because something had eaten big holes in the acrylic; I was still working on this project four weeks ago too and have put it aside for the same reason as the intarsia blanket - I work on them alternately: the intarsia requires more attention to details than the garter stitch afghan

I have other projects on needles but they are hibernating for one reason or another - they are certainly not WIPs; just UFOs. If you really want to see the list of them, here is a link to my Ravelry projects page!

quilting

Scrappy Coin quilt: this one kind of started itself; I have a 66" panel of small strips left from my over-enthusiastic piecing for the backing of another quilt so I decided to make a Scrappy Coin quilt. Since then I have used up most of my own scraps and most of the donated scraps; I think I have enough for about three-quarters of a quilt! I still have some scraps to cut and then I think I'll have enough. the photo may not look like much but there are 248 little pieces there.Disappearing Nine Patch: top and backing completed; sewing machine on quilting frame hopefully now sorted, this quilt should be loaded and started either today or tomorrow Scrappy Strings II: top and backing completed; waiting to be quilted when the Disappearing Nine Patch is done Hunter's Cabin: pieced and quilted; just awaiting finding the correct flannel fabric to make the binding; flannel isn't easy to buy in the middle of an Australian summer! Country Houses: the QAYG blocks have been sew into rows,

the rows are waiting to be sewn into a quilt top. I have procrastinated on this one because it is too big for the single bed for which it was intended and I haven't yet found the fabric I have in mind to make it into a top for our queen sized bed.

Finally, another work in progress is my newly created family history blog Are We Related? I thought I may as well use every resource available to try and find some long lost relatives!

it appears to be working

Thanks for the advice on dealing with the looping issues on the back of my quilting.

This morning, I brought the machine inside, took it apart, and cleaned it once again.

I wound another bobbin using another spool of thread (which has been using successfully on another machine).

I set the machine for straight stitching - feed dogs up, 1/4 foot on, tension dial set to 4 (where it worked yesterday) - and gave it a test run: perfect stitching top and bottom through two layers of homespun.
I lowered the feed dogs and changed to the quilting foot (which had been lightly oiled as per the instructions in the Brother manual).

But I ran into the a problem - holding both thread above the foot put strain on everything! What was I thinking? This must be the cause of all my looping problems! When my former teacher said bring both threads to the top of the fabric, she obviously meant to hold them under the foot! (not on top of it).

So, I let go of those top threads and put them under the foot, then ran the same two layers of homespun through the machine in a straight line, and lo and behold... tiny, perfect stitches top and bottom.

I changed my two layers of home spun for a quilt sandwich and eased the pressure on the presser foot. I proceeded to try and write my name in cursive. Not bad at all  (my FMQ is improving)
- and still no problems with the machine looping on the back.

So it was time for the big test.

WM took the machine back out to the garage and we loaded it back onto the quilting frame. Making sure that the threads were under the foot plate, I began stitching slowly - such big ugly stitches as you've never seen (unless you've tried FMQ or using a quilting frame or machine)! I sped up the foot pedal and my arms and wow! Things worked - no thread snapping.
Yes, I realise the tension is not quite right but I was more interested in seeing of the machine would work after being re-threaded, re-bobbined, etc!

The real test was what was happening underneath - yep, no loops!

Hurrah!

Perhaps tomorrow DD and I can load our first quilt and get on with it! (We'll practice some stitching first to sort out the tension issues, don't worry).

Stay tuned! And thanks!

advice needed from experienced quilters

(and a gasp/giggle for non-quilters when you see the photo at the end!)

On the weekend, DD and I completely cleaned the Brother PQ-1500S that came with my quilting frame (which I bought on Ebay several months ago).

I rethreaded the machine with new, high quality (Gutermann) cotton thread, checked the bobbin and made sure it was inserted correctly.

I sewed a straight seam. The top tension was a bit loose so I tightened it slightly.

I sewed another straight seam through two layers of homepsun - beautiful!

I sewed another straight seam through a quilt sandwich - even more beautiful!

I changed feet. I dropped the feed dogs. I attempted some free motion quilting. The problems with stitch length and wonkiness are due to my inexperience - the machine appeared to be working just fine.

I carried the machine out to the quilting frame in the garage.

I moved the needle just inside the two selvages of my two layers of calico (muslin) on which we have had successful quilting practice before.

I hand-lowered the needle to pull the bobbin thread through to the top.

I sewed three or four stitches in place to anchor the threads and I tried to sew a straight line.

Why then, having worked brilliantly in the kitchen, did I get this on the bottom of the layers before the top thread snapped?

Please, please help me!!

I do so knit!

Cast on 1st January.

First sock finished second of January (I had a stomach bug so was at home in front of the television alone for most of the day).

Mum admired the sock, tried it on and it fitted! So the socks will be hers.

Second sock cast on 3rd January, heel turned last night. The colours in the photo below are more accurate.

What's on your needles?

not here today

WM and I are at a funeral this morning followed by a light lunch; and then visiting with his mother afterwards. WM's aunt, his father's older sister, passed away last Tuesday aged 84.

Normal blogging will, hopefully, resume tomorrow.

more fun with sewing machines

Yesterday was very hot and humid. DD brought the Brother 1500S machine in from the garage where it has been in use on the quilting frame. We have had some issues with it - notably the top thread keeps breaking. (Any hints?)

While I quilted the change mat I made the day before, DD cleared the kitchen workbench (well lit by a skylight) and opened up Big Brother. Using a standard machine cleaning brush, she took a fair amount of lint and loose small threads from the area under the feed dogs. Then I gave her a pipe cleaner and a straw (something I'd seen on a blog somewhere some months ago) and she was able to reach further back into the machine.

WM then put machine oil in the six insertion points and I put the machine back together. (Isn't team work great?) I carefully threaded the machine with the manual open beside me and set the tension dial halfway. My first attempt on a piece of scrap fabric showed that the bobbin thread was couched, not sewn as it should be. So I changed the tension and before long I had a perfect row of stitches

I grabbed a sample quiting sandwich that I have used in the past to practice free motion quilting, it sewed beautifully. I then lowered the feed dogs, changed to the darning (quilting) foot and attempted some FMQ. It wasn't great but the machine performed as it should.

We have not yet had a chance to try it out on the quilting frame (it was too hot in the uninsulated garage) but hope that the clean and oil have done the trick.

Back in the sewing room I pieced the last five disappearing nine patch blocks from this top into a panel. I then measured and cut some fabric for the rest of the backing. It would seem that inserted panels are my "look of the moment"! They are certainly a classy way of getting around the fact that quilting fabric is not always wide enough in itself to be used as backing!

held by DD while standing on the lounge




The photo below shows some of the detail of panel.

The fabric used for the backing was a donated fabric - two metres from "The American Woman's Home Collection" (pattern #23998). It was very soft and may be too thin for a backing fabric but it was all I had that was big enough.

So, we have two tops and backings ready to be quilted when the chance arises. It will be exciting to quilt a real project instead of practising on calico!

ETA I am linking up with Fun Thread's Sew What Monday

some sewing at last!

DD and I finally got into the sewing room together yesterday. Well, we had been in here in the late afternoon of the day before but we found deciding how to make the backing of a donation quilt with the fabrics that had also been donated too difficult for our tired minds so we didn't end up doing anything!

So, yesterday we came in with the intention of making the backing for another quilt. But we got distracted on the way. For Christmas, WM and I gave Older Grandson a set of skittles which he loves. They were in a plastic carrier which was way too difficult to put together, especially for a not-quite-two-year-old. Yesterday he stood on the lower part of the empty carrier and snapped it in two places. So we decided to make him a drawstring bag to keep the skittles and balls together. OG was given three flannelette fabrics to choose from and chose the one we thought he would. 

finished size: 19" x 13"

While we had the machine threaded up for the bag, I thought I may as well make another change mat for him (he has only one here) so cut out the same fabric as the bag and a coordinating stripe.

It's a bit scrunched because OG loves it and has been carrying it around the house - to sit on or as a skittles bowling lane! DD hasn't even done the quilting yet!

While DD was working on the drawstring bag, I chain pieced and cut some scraps left over from the Scrappy II quilt top to insert into the back. We needed 48 inches of width for the quilting frame and, of course, our fabric was only 44 inches wide. So a panel of scrap fabrics was inserted to gain the extra width. WM had to stand on the lounge (sofa) so I could take a photo - thanks WM!

finished backing 48" x 88"

I finished the final piecing at 11:30pm - I just couldn't go to bed with one seam left to do! Here is a close up of the 4" wide panel.
Only thing was, I made a panel that was 154 inches long - boy that gave us a huge chuckle! Now we have some scraps left to start a "coin" quilt!

Perhaps today we'll figure out a backing for the other donation quilt!