Lars and Megan's wedding

We are off to our son's wedding in Scranton PA.
Lars and Megan will be married on Saturday February 28, 2009.
Send them a happy thought and a silent good luck.

Deckle Leaves

This is one of the quilts that I made for the QA TV show. It is called Deckle Leaves. I have used the Deckle decorative blade from Fiskars to cut out the leaf shapes from "wicked" fabric and placed on a violet background surrounded by a mottled "Frieda" green border. It has a pillow case finish and is mounted on 1/4" clear plexiglass. I have used velcro dots to attach it to the plexiglass.

Quilting Arts TV

Yesterday Laura Wasilowski and I were outside Cleveland OH, filming for the upcoming season of Quilting Arts TV. We had a great time with Pokey and the crew making fun and informitive segments for the quilters of all levels to enjoy.

Keeping your machine clean

No matter the size of the quilt the way I hold the "sandwich" is the same. You want to use your left hand to hold all the scrunched up fabric and guide it where you want it to go, and use your right hand to keep the area flat and smooth. I recently lectured at the Ottawa IL guild and was asked a very familiar question -"How do you get your stitches so even?" There is a very simple answer and you all know the answer to it - PRACTICE! The more you do something the better you get at it and the more you understand how something works best for you. So get in there and practice. I keep a stack of quilt sandwichs next to my machine and before I start in quilting on anything I do a practice warm up.

I also test out my thread and design to make sure that is what I want to put on that quilt surface. And I always try to start with a new needle on every new project.

I also make sure that I clean out my bobbin area. Even if you are using polyester thread you are still using cotton fabric and batting and alot of lint builds up in a quick amount of time inside the bobbin area. So I take off the throat plate and clean out the bobbin area with every new project as well. And on a very big project I clean the bobbin area in the middle of the project.
Remember our sewing machines are the tools we use and a good clean machine is going to work better than a beat up dirty one.

Packaging your large quilt

Now that you have the quilt all pinned and ready to quilt, it is important to "package" it correctly so you can fit it in your sewing machine. The first thing I do is roll it on two sides to make it smaller.

Then I roll it into an even smaller "package to start quilting.

I work from the center out to the edges, stitching in the ditch any elements that will help stabilize the whole sandwich.

It is very important to have a large work surface to support all of the quilt while you are working on it.

Basting a large quilt

I was at my PAQA (Professional Art Quilters Alliance)meeting last week and a discussion came up about basting a large quilt. So I thought I would share with you guys how I do it.

First thing I do is set up two or three large plastic molded tables that I have, you can get these at Home Depot or Menards, I have lots of them and use them for all sorts of stuff. I put these in my living room, because is is light and warm and easy to do it here, rather than a dark or dank garage or basement.

Then I roll out my batting and let it rest. I also iron it flat on top of the two or three tables that are pushed together. I like to iron it so it gets all the wrinkles out of the batting.

Next I iron out my backing fabric. I use a spray sizing when I am ironing it so that the back of the batting is kinda slick and slides around easier on my surface when I am quilting.

After the batting and backing have been ironed I tape the backing to the top of the tables. I use packing tape to do this so it holds firm to the tables. I stretch the backing fabric so it is nice and smooth. Then I place the batting on top of the backing and smooth it out.

Finally I place the quilt top on the batting and iron it smooth from the center out to the edges.

I use 1.5 size safety pins to pin it every 4-5 inches across the whole top. I start in the center and work my self out to the edges. I pin a large X across the center and then go back and fill in each quarter from the center out.

Once it is all pinned I cut the sandwich off of the table leaving a good 2-3 inches all around the edges. Then I take my sandwich to a comfortable chair and sit in front of the TV and while I am watching some thing interesting on TV I close all the pins. I am always looking for things to do in front of the TV so that I don't feel like I am wasting time watching the tube.

Happy Valentine's Day

Warm Hearts

Over the course of my quilting career I have made many heart pieces. As I've mentioned before I love the heart shape and was attracted to it early as a teenager. All of these pieces are pieced rather than fused. Sometimes it is just nice to sit and piece a quilt. Piecing gives the surface of the quilt such a different appearance.

Red Hot Lovers

Hearts in a square

Emily's Heart

Love and kisses to all of you out there!