“tagged”?

Impera Magna, over at The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe, was tagged to answer 11 questions and then posed eleven more for anyone who wanted to answer them.

I thought they were a bit of fun so here goes (I’ve reordered the questions, Freda, I hope that’s okay!):

1.  How long have you been quilting?
DD and I bought fabric and cut out our first (string) quilt (with scissors) in March 2010.

I bought a rotary cutter soon after and we cut out pieces and began Elizabeth Hartman’s Modern Sampler Quilt in April 2010 but it didn’t get finished until we began to take classes in 2011.

So, I guess the short answer is just over two years, but we have been taking it seriously for about fifteen months!

2.  What quilting/sewing tools do you find most useful?   
I would have to say my sewing machine closely followed by a stitch ripper, my rotary cutter and cutting mat. And scissors – I have four pairs in different parts of my sewing room and another pair on my quilting frame in the garage; almost all the scissors are paired with an empty container for throw-away scraps (there are other scrap bins for usable scraps).

3.  Do you belong to a quilt guild?  
DD and attended the inaugural meeting of the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild last October but have not been able to attend either of the two meetings since.

4.  Do you have a local quilt shop?  
Four – I attend weekly classes at one of them!

5.  Do you quilt your own quilts or quilt "by check"?  
So far I have quilted all of the quilts we have made – either on my sewing machine or on the quilting frame. I can’t see this changing in the near future.

6.  How many finished quilts do you have in your home?  
Three. The first two quilts we made (both seen above) for DD’s sons; and this one which belongs to the “Caring Hearts Community Quilting Group”.

7. What's the farthest you've been from home?
England, in 1983. WM and I plan a return visit to the UK in 2017 to celebrate our 60th birthdays and 40th wedding anniversary.

8. I'm going to take you out to dinner and I'm paying... where are we going and what will we have?  
Lobster please!

9. When was the last time you bought fabric?  
Tuesday – the local chain store has a discount of 30% off all fabric; this included a discount on the clearance stock which was already marked down to $4 a metre (normally $12.99-$19.99 a metre). I went to buy one and a half metres of fabric to line the bag we are starting in class next week; there was 1.9 metres on the bolt; the other fabric had 3.8 metres on the bolt and I bought the lot! At $2.40 a metre, I can never have enough neutral fabric!

10. Thread... more than 100 spools or less?  
Way less. I used to buy a different coloured thread for every project, now I have only white, black, charcoal, two tones of grey, two tones of beige and a spool of brown. Of course, I still have part-spools in other colours but way under 100 spools.

Come back tomorrow when I’ll answer the 11th question!

additions to the fabric stash

There are two Big Box Craft Stores in my town. One of them I rarely visit - the customer service is non-existent and the one time I looked for quilting fabric the choice was very limited! They used to have a wide range of Australian-made knitting yarns but over the past few years they have introduced their own range - all made overseas!

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the other Big Box Store had a "30% off all floor stock" sale. How could I resist? LOL

And, because many people I know speak in derogatory terms of this Big Box Store, I have to say this: the last three times I have bought something in the store, the staff have been friendly and very helpful; yes, that's right fellow Aussies, I got customer service with a smile! And not just me - every person who approached the fabric counter was treated very well. On the other hand, I can rarely find anyone in the knitting/craft department. Usually they are at the "party" counter and don't know anything about knitting or craft. But the ladies at the fabric counter know what they're talking about and share their knowledge willingly!

So, on Monday, after class at my LQS (where I bought enough wool/polyester batting to make twenty four more string blocks), I visited the Big Box Store. One of the reasons for my visit was thread but I forgot to buy any! It took me ages to decide on a colour for the sashing for the Wonky String blocks. I think I auditioned every solid or near-solid on the shelves. Finally I settled on this one. I had to photograph it between two blocks to get something approaching the right colour. It is actually more purplish than shows here; I call it "royal blue", the fabric label calls it indigo".


The Wonky Strings quilt is a collaborative effort between DD and I. She wasn't able to go to the store with me so I had to make the choice alone. If DD doesn't like it (which would be unlikely since blue is her favourite colour), I'll keep it for the Scrappy Strings quilt.

I also picked up half a metre of each of these five fabrics. They were already discounted to $6.00 a metre, but I got 30% off - what a bargain!


And finally, I bought three metres of this purple fabric for a quilt idea I want to try. More about that later!


So, quilting has resumed at Never-Too-Hot-To-Stitch!

Speaking of which, do you like the new look (and the modified title)? 

one way to join pre-quilted blocks

Experience has shown me that there is almost always more than one way to do anything.

What I am about to show you is the way that I am joining my pre-quilted Country Houses quilt blocks. This method does not have any "tramways" where the batting is sewn together under sashing. In fact ,there is no sashing to my quilt. Each block has its own border and I have joined the blocks without any additional fabric.

This method is probably not the most time-efficient. There is a great deal of hand-sewing involved. It's only tacking and slip-stitching, neither of which can be seen (unless one looks very closely) so that's okay with me!So here we go. I'll call this Kerrie's method because I learnt it from Kerrie at Down Patchwork Lane; and I don't know where she learnt it!

Step 1: Trim all your blocks to the same size.

Step 2: Take your first two blocks. Check which side joins with which side. Pin only the tops of the blocks together and machine stitch with a 3/8 inch seam. Be careful not to catch your backing or wadding in the seam.

Step 3: Press the seam open.

Step 4: Go to the cutting table. Cut the wadding on both blocks to the seam line. I am not brave; I draw a pencil line and cut along that!

Step 5: Loosely stitch the two pieces of wadding together at the seam. Don't pull too tight or you will distort your block and the quilt won't lie flat. Be sure to use a light coloured thread so it doesn't show through your top or backing.

Step 6: Lay one piece of backing flat across the back of the other block. You can trim off any excess fabric if you want to - but not too much! Make sure it's completely flat.

Step 7: Fold the other piece of backing at the seam line. Press. Pin.

Step 8: Slip stitch (as you do for sewing down your binding) with an appropriately coloured thread.

Repeat steps 2-8 joining blocks into rows and then joining rows together (two at a time; that is, join Rows 1 and 2, join Rows 3 and 4, etc. When the rows have been paired, you can then join the paired rows together - in my case I will join Rows 1 and 2, then I will join Rows 3, 4, and 5, and finally join the paired rows to the three rows).

Easy peasy - and no tram tracks!

Small New Blogs Meet-up

This is far from being a new blog since I have just written my 500th post.

But I do qualify for the "meet up" - I have less than twenty followers.

I would like to meet some new blogging friends so have decided to join the fun.

The creator of this meet-up, Lynne (what a great name! LOL), from Lily's Quilts, has asked that I start by introducing myself and my quilting.

Warning: it's a long introduction and current followers have probably heard it all before!

My name is Lynne. I have been married thirty four years this year. WM ("Wonderful Man") and I live in the metropolitan area of Sydney, NSW, Australia. We have one child, a daughter (DD), who was married in January 2009. She has two sons, one nearly eighteen months old, the other just five weeks old. In this blog I refer to them as Older Grandson (OG) and Younger Grandson (YG).

I have been knitting (on and off) since I was about five years old. I completed my first garment when I was sixteen - a sleeveless sweater with cables on the body and stripes around the lower band and arm holes. I became a serious, every day knitter, some time about 2006 and started this blog in relation to my hobby (hence the title).

My grandmother, who had her own business as an upholsterer/decorator, bought my first sewing machine when I was seventeen. She also taught me to sew because the high school I attended, despite being girls only, did not teach Home Economics! My first garment was a four-gore skirt in floral patterned voile which Nanna made me line for reasons of modesty! I loved that skirt and wore it for many years.

After I was married and working full time, I took "garment assembly" classes one evening a week for four years at the local technical college; so I have been sewing, on and off, for over thirty years.

In March 2010, when OG was just three weeks old, DD and I attended a craft fair. One of the sewing machine companies was running a hands-on workshop, making blocks that were to be turned into quilts for Haiti. DD and I both made one block each and, after a hiatus from sewing for many years, I remembered how much I enjoy the process.

So, DD and I went to our local Big Box Craft Store and bought fabric to make a quilt for OG to lie on the floor - it would keep him warm and protect our beige carpet from baby "spills". We didn't know what we were doing so we followed what we had done at the Craft Fair and chose seven coordinating fabrics. We didn't know how much to buy (I was overwhelmed by too much choice and was therefore not thinking clearly) - one fat quarter didn't seem like enough, so we bought four fat quarters of each!

We made one very wonky quilt. At that time, DD christened us the "Hacky Packy Quilters" (she loves alpacas).

finished size - 30" x 30"

As you can imagine, we had a lot of fabric left. Then we found the Modern Sampler quiltalong on Elizabeth Hartman's blog, Oh Fransson! We needed twelve fabrics so we supplemented the seven with another five. We made thirty of the thirty-six blocks, and ended up leaving five of those blocks out of the quilt because we just couldn't make them work.

finished quilt was 50" x 50"

We ended up using them in a laundry bag instead.

the fifth block is on the other side of the bag

We still have a small amount of those fabrics left but they will get used in scrappy quilts (eventually). This year in March we attended another Craft Fair and met a wonderful lady called Elizabeth, owner of Aussie Patches. Her warehouse,where she holds monthly "Sit and Sew" classes, is an hour and a half's drive from here. We attended three "Sit and Sew" sessions (April - June) but because DD's second baby was due in July we had to stop attending.

While there, I designed and began my Country Houses (applique) quilt. Now I am attending weekly classes in my local area and am finally at the stage of joining the quilted blocks together. I have a few quilts on my "to do" list when this one is finished, plus some other sewing projects.

one block of fifteen - unfinished size of each block 17" square

I look forward to meeting many new bloggers - please feel free to leave a comment; like most bloggers, I love receiving them.

And, if you haven't voted on my 500th post yet, would you please pop over there and vote - it's all for a good cause (or three). Voting will remain open until 8am (Sydney time) Saturday 6th August. Thanks heaps.

quilting not finished!

I don't have time to write a long post today.

Yesterday I went to my quilting class, ready to join my quilted blocks.

The teacher said, "You need to quilt (in the ditch) around the frame. I'm sorry; I thought I told you that."

She then showed me how to join two blocks together so that I can work on my quilt at home.

So, that's it, friends; the sun is shining for the first time in ages and I have loads of washing to do

...and I have to quilt those fifteen blocks!

Country Houses quilt update

I have finally finished quilting each of the fifteen blocks for this quilt.

that shadow around the house is caused by the quilting line

close up of quilting 1/4" from the applique house

They are now laid out on the design wall (aka the living room floor) awaiting WM's and my "approval".


On Monday my teacher will show me how to join the quilted blocks together.

I started this quilt with one teacher who advised me to make the blocks 12" square. I made fifteen blocks, giving me a layout of 3 x 5 or a finished size of approximately 48" by 72" (with sashing, border and binding).

But then I changed to another teacher and in the process decided to make it by the "quilt as you go" method. Because the appliqued houses were only one inch from the sides of the block, my new teacher suggested putting sashing around each block to give me room to quilt - now they are seventeen inches square!

So, I hope the quilt shrinks in the process of joining the blocks - it is enormous! That means a fair bit of it will be hidden down the sides of the bed! *sigh*

Ah well, it'll be nice for the Grandbubbies to snuggle under, even if it is too big for the intended bed!

I live and learn!

Country Houses "quilt as you go" blocks progress

Last Thursday, I finished putting the sashing on my Country Houses quilt blocks ready for class on Monday.

In class, Jan and I muddled our way through one block!

the first block quilted - that shiny "line" on the left is a pin

Well, let's be honest. There was talking and eating of chocolate biscuits (dark chocolate mint Tim Tams to be precise).

There was also some preparation for quilting - like determining how much batting I needed and purchasing said batting (wool/polyester) and measuring the batting and cutting the batting (with scissors) and folding the uncut batting (to be used later at home); followed by the pressing of the inaugural "quilt as you go" block.

Then there was the making of a sandwich (no, not more food) involving clearing a space and tearing of masking tape and checking the fabric was taut enough and adding the batting and the quilt top and opening of curved safety pins and pinning and closing of safety pins (with the intriguing addition of a soup spoon handle as a safety tool) and finally the removal of masking tape.


Then, because my "getting to know your machine" class is not until the 20th July, another student (who has the same model of machine) showed me how to attach the "Upper Feed Mechanism" which is the substitute for a walking foot on the 6600.



Upper Feed Mechanism

 There was consultation with the owner's manual.

All this was followed by threading the machine and the needle (fortunately the bobbin was already wound) and determining just how the block would be quilted.



quilting one quarter of an inch from the applique

Take a deep breath (or two, or six, or twenty) - what the heck, Lynne: it's only stitches, it can be ripped out! And the first block was partially done; I had quilted the green stitching, I still had to do the beige around the windows and door; I ended up doing this at home.

quilting around the window (in the ditch)

Yesterday, I quilted the windows and doors of three more blocks - all in different colours, of course!

one window quilted - a view from the back

I have three more blocks to do the windows and doors on, then I can put green thread back on the top thread and finish the quilting on the six blocks that have been turned into sandwiches!

Alas, I have run out of safety pins and am waiting for a mail order which I paid for yesterday. Then I can do the other eight blocks!!

Are you all still with me or have you dropped from sheer exhaustion? ;-)

And now, look at the back of this block: does this look familiar to you (a lot like my knitted squares perhaps)? I still have to tie off the ends then hide them neatly inside the quilting sandwich! I've done half of them in the block in this photo!

threads to be sewn in!

Yes, Jan has automatic thread lock and automatic cutting of thread but it only works at the end of the "seam". One has to do reverse stitch or stitch in one spot to lock the beginning of the thread and one would still have to sew in the ends anyway! I'm sure after I've taken my "getting to know your machine" class, I will have a better way to do this!

We're getting there - Jan and I!

older Brother came back / fabric combinations

On Monday, older Brother returned from his ten day stint away from home. He's been serviced and is ready to go!

He doesn't look much smaller than his new sister - but check out the difference in the width of the throats! So far as these flannel fabrics go, Leonie, Jessica and Cindy you were all right: I am going to use the spacemen and the red with white stars together.

Since I love the stripes and WM wants me to use the green star fabric (hi Lara and Inigo), they will be paired together too (right again, Leonie!).

machine-less

Last week didn't go as I had planned. I wanted to finish all the blocks for my Colonial Houses quilt, ready for quilting.

On Sunday, after we returned from the restaurant where we had eaten lunch to celebrate WM's birthday, he went off to watch a program he taped last week, I went to my studio.

I sorted, I pressed, I cut, I sewed, I pressed and sewed some more. Then the machine began making funny noises. I took off the foot, took out the needle, took off the pressure plate and cleaned the machine. Then I put it back together again.

I started to sew. The light flickered. I stopped. I started again. The light flickered. I stopped again. I started again. The light flickered and went out. The bulb had blown.

I still had the original bulb in my Singer sewing machine when it "gave up the ghost" last year. It was then thirty six years old! They don't make things like they used to! (Yes, I did use the machine - quite a bit in my younger days).

Back to this "new" machine. I figured I could sew without the light - my studio has a great fluorescent light and I could see well enough to do straight seams. But ...

I couldn't get the tension right. On a low tension, the bobbin thread made loops. On a normal (mid) tension, it looked like it had been couched by the top thread. On a higher tension it made wavy lines.

I took out the bobbin and reloaded.  Nothing changed. I re-thread the machine. Still not right!

Yesterday the machine went to have the first service in its six year old life (it has hardly been used until these last few months).  I had to use a borrowed (ancient Bernina) during class yesterday.

So here I sit - a quilter without a machine. Luckily, due to my unscheduled interruptions and unreached goals last week, I still have some sashing and the backing fabric to cut.

And on Wednesday, my friend and I are off to the Stitches and Craft Fair to test drive machines.

Then on Thursday, she says hopefully, I will drive to the local dealer and purchase the machine of my choice!

I guess I'll just have to knit in the meantime!

Colonial House blocks nearly ready for quilting

All of the blocks for my Colonial House quilt have been appliqued and squared up. One even has the sashing added.

My layout was provisionally decided before all the blocks were appliqued.

I was hoping to get all my sashing and backing squares cut yesterday but I had to look after GS#1 unexpectedly so didn't get much done in the studio! (Yes, DD is fine; thanks for asking - she still has three and a half weeks before her due date.)

Once I get that cutting and stitching done, I'll only have to buy some batting and cut it and I'll be ready to start quilting.

We had no class at Down Patchwork Lane this week because it was a public holiday on Monday. I am looking forward to next week's class.

I'm already thinking about my next project! Did some way say "hooked"?

Down Patchwork Lane

I have signed up for weekly quilting classes in my local area. I have had two classes at Down Patchwork Lane. It's amazing to me how little I get done in three hours! I know I am a slow worker but really, the output is almost non existent!

The first week I managed to applique around one house and add the top and bottom parts of the frame. Of course, I realise there's more to it - there's winding the bobbin and threading the machine and doing a test run of the applique stitch and pressing and measuring and cutting and talking to the teacher - but there isn't much to see for the effort expended! I didn't take any photos - what was there to show you?

The second week, I showed the finished quilt that DD and I had made and discussed its shortcomings with the teacher (apparently we didn't pull the top tight enough before we pinned it).

Then, I pressed and cut and unpicked several times and finally finished the frame of the first block



This is what the back looks like!



and then  I wound a bobbin and threaded the machine and talked to other class members and the teacher and started the applique on the second block and unpicked some more

At home, I finished the applique on the second block and managed to applique three more of the houses (with more unpicking and bobbin winding and threading of the machine) before I realised that I had done all that machine 'embroidery' without use of the "stitch and tear" stabiliser I had bought just for the purpose!

But that is not the reason why I stopped! Yet again, I have to unpick that pseudo-blanket stitch (it's really blind hemming stitch because DD's machine doesn't have blanket stitch and I didn't want to use zigzag or satin stitch) and that's really difficult when the stitches are a fraction of a millimetre apart!

Delighted Hands, I am even more in awe of your daily output!