Finishing edges with satin stitch

Ever spent a long time closing the edges of a quilted project with the satin stitch?  Well I found a good way to help that become an easier way, it also looks better.  
Well, it's pretty simple so give it a try.
Once your project is ready for a 'binding' which will close off the raw edges and pretty up the piece, get out some clear  Sulky 'heat-away' stabilizer.  Cut about a 2.5" wide piece to cover all the areas.  I measured my project and had two sides 12" and 2 sides 8", irregular shapes- so my strips were cut 12x2.5" and 8x2.5".  I used a touch of basting spray to one side of the stabilizer, and applied it to the underside of the project, with about an inch hanging off the edge.
Pick the stitch you want to use and go around the piece.  What I found was that the stabilizer gave the needle a place to land and it held much better than when it has nothing to go into on the outside edge. I did go around the project twice and had nice coverage.
Follow the instructions for removing the stabilizer.

Give it a try and let me know how that works for you.
Happy Stitchin'

Ft. Lauderdale

April 15, 2016

Landed in Ft. Lauderdale to a very strong rain storm, mixed with lightening and thunder.  Tomorrow Michelle and I will be boarding The Navigator of the Seas- a Royal Caribbean Ship-
and greet our newest group of cruising quilters.
I love the Caribbean Sea,, it is the most beautiful sapphire blue you have ever seen. On this trip we will have an excursion on the West Indes Island of St. Kitts.  A great Batik shop is on that island, it is also the Batik factory- of which our quilters have the opportunity of going behind the scenes. Each student is able and encouraged to try their hand in performing the traditional method of adding wax in areas that they don''t want color, making a design and then dying the cloth. They will go away from Caribelle Batiks with a piece of their own making. Each time I take the group there, they all tell me it was the favorite of the whole trip.

A scrappy tablerunner

For Christmas table....  I want to make this table runner in some very shiny fabrics- but I didn't want to practice the 'how-to' on the fabrics, so I made it out of my stash fabrics, and now after I bind it, I can use it at Christmas.

The hearts and the 4 leaf hearts are done as in a trapunto technique. All but the putting of parts together were done in the embroidery hoop on my Bernina 830. (I love that machine when it behaves so nicely).
I will be teaching this method in November.
Design by Eileen Roche.

For Adam and Marisa

Finally a quilt for my youngest son and his bride (of three+ years).  Well you know how it is, we get too busy.
Summer of 2012 I was in Washington for a Quilt Retreat at Sea cruise to the Inside Passage of Alaska.  I went a couple of days early to see the family and stayed with Marisa, Adam and Leona (granddaughter). Marisa and I went to the local quilt shop, she showed me fabric she liked and then she said, I can show you what Adam would like too.  She did, and she was right, when I went back to the shop with Adam later that day, he chose the absolute same fabric she mentioned he would like. So I bought a few yards of each of their choices.  Now let me tell you that the two choices were very opposite, Marisa chose a panel, Adam chose a large flower pattern.
They saw a French Braid quilt hanging at the shop and said that was the design they wanted me to use. 
A few months later, my sister and I went to the quilt shop where I was working and we chose 13 fabrics to put in the quilt, along with the fabric Adam had chosen.
I asked my friend and quilt mentor Jean to teach me the technique. Cutting it was the biggest deal, as it has to be very organized in cutting.
After putting one of the strips together, I realized that the two fabrics I had used from Adam's selection just wasn't working, so took it apart and went shopping again. I found that by just adding 2 of the fabrics purchase when shopping with my sister worked best.
Final result is this..... my camera doesn't always take great photos, but here it is

This next photo is a show of the large flower fabric that Adam originally chose.  I love this colorway and plan to make another French Braid design with it.

Metallic Thread Tip

I recently heard of a great way to help stop the breakage issues of using metallic threads. I believe it was from the Anita Goodesign newsletter. So here is the tip of the week.

TRICK- When you are going to sew with metallic threads make sure to:
       1.  Use a metallic needle.  They have a longer eye opening and are usually coated with teflon to reduce heat friction.
       2.  Use a new needle with each project. 
       3.  Put the metallic thread on your thread holder (not attached to your machine)

    

       4.  Now move the thread holder 3-4 feet away from the sewing machine. In this way the metallic thread will have more time to unwind and relax. Thus many of the usual knotting that takes place will not occur.
    
TIP-  Now if your embroidery thread is old and dry then it may have breakage just for that reason. So keep your threads in a cool area away from the sun (like away from the window).
I keep mine in a specially designed thread organizer, not just thrown in a pile, but standing up. Take good care of your supplies- they aren't cheap.
Should you continue to have breakage, clean your machine with your small brush, give it a drop of water in the bobbin area (if your machine requires you to add oil), check the bobbin area for loose bits of thread that could get caught on the hook system.

And now there are 3

I love to teach and share embroidery with others. I recently completed teaching a 3 month class at The Quilter's Market Shop in Tucson, AZ.  These three women were participants. This quilt is entitled 'Lady Liberty' and is a design of Eileen Roche.  This is an applique embroidered wall hanging. Every 2 weeks for 5 sessions we would meet and learn another portion of the quilt.  Between classes the students went home and worked on the project. The final result is spectacular, don't you agree?  If you would like to learn to use your sewing and embroidery machine, let me know, we can work something out.

Red Memory Quilt

I love to do Memory Quillts.  They offer the recipient many fond remembrances of times past.  This particular quilt is a commission from a Father.  He wanted to have a memory quilt done with the clothing of his Granddaughter, she is now 7 yrs old. He asked for 2 quilts- one for his Daughter and the other for the Granddaughter. I received two boxes of clothing to work from. Process began with  hours of cutting clothing into usable sizes, fusing interfacing to the back of each cut piece, then cutting the appropriate shapes for this quilt, and finally sewing all the pieces together have produced this top.  Next I will quilt the three layers together, bind it, apply a label with the stroy of the quilt and send it off to them.
I have a second one to make for him and I have done the first three steps, this weekend I will sew many of the pieces that make up each block. When the second one is completed I will share the photo on this blog.
It is awesome to be doing and sharing what I love.