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The Sew What’s New Archive
This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
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From: HeyJudee
Date: 10-15-2006, 12:50 PM (1 of 21)
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Since I'm always reading a similar post in the General Sewing forum...I thought I would start one for quilting! I want to learn or at least try paper piecing. I've found lots of sites with instructions and patterns. Have a couple of magazines with them too. But just can't seem to get up the courage to go for it. Maybe it is because I would feel guilty starting something new when I have so many quilting UFO's that need my attention. What about the rest of you all! TTFN from
Judy |
User: HeyJudee
Member since: 01-25-2005 Total posts: 1366 
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From: Patty22
Date: 10-15-2006, 01:37 PM (2 of 21)
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Judy, PM me your address. At the local quilt show I won a door prize and it was the book _Two-for-One Foundation Piecing_ by Wendy Hill and published by C&T. I would love to send it to you. The designs look wonderful (something like a New York Beauty) on the cover and the quilt on the back can be done in an entirely different color scheme than the front. At the guild show, since none of the members volunteered to demonstrate during the show, the charity quilt chairman had the members foundation piecing a double wedding ring quilt for next year. Over the weekend they managed to get the entire top pieced, which I thought was an excellent way to utilize the member's time! The background was black and all the "rings" were made up of bright primary colors from member's scrap bags. They said that the quilt would be going to the local Rescue Mission. However, foundation piecing isn't what I'd like to learn. I honestly don't know what I'd like to learn. Maybe it is because I have always been quite adventurous with my quilting. I started machine quilting back when it was "taboo" and now I'm back into hand quilting - but that is so I can spend time with my husband in the evening. Maybe I'll say that what I miss the most is being part of a friendship block exchange. I participated with GEnie (one of the first online quilters) in the early 90's and made several quilts through those exchanges. I love signature blocks, so maybe that is why I miss that kind of comradery. What can be more exciting than getting a quilt block in the mail? I'll think about this question some more......hmmmmm... Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Magot
Date: 10-15-2006, 03:50 PM (3 of 21)
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spatial awareness - how to line up my triangles when they are upside down and back to front so that the points match... I don't think you can teach spatial awareness but here must be techniques out there that give you the edge. love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: Patty22
Date: 10-15-2006, 07:12 PM (4 of 21)
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I want to do a quilt "in the style of" Susan McCord. She was/still is the epitome of a great quilter. I'm just hoping she wasn't some mean old cuss that poked people with her cane. (I would hate to think I would pay homage to a crank.) Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: HeyJudee
Date: 10-16-2006, 07:24 AM (5 of 21)
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Patty, I've never heard of Susan McCord so had to look her up. Is this the style of quilt that you would like to do? If so, wow, she made some awesome quilts! http://www.amazon.com/Susan-McCord-2007-Calendar-Collection/dp/0977016692 TTFN from
Judy |
User: HeyJudee
Member since: 01-25-2005 Total posts: 1366
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From: Patty22
Date: 10-16-2006, 07:55 AM (6 of 21)
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Judy.....I would like to do a variation of either her feathered star or vine quilt.
Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Hogmami
Date: 10-16-2006, 09:24 AM (7 of 21)
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I would also like to learn paper piecing. I also want to do a double wedding ring.
Carolyn
Michigan |
User: Hogmami
Member since: 09-30-2004 Total posts: 800 
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From: mamahoogie
Date: 10-16-2006, 10:27 AM (8 of 21)
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I've tried paper piecing and it's OK for a small project but not crazy about doing a lot of it - maybe if I did more I would enjoy it more. Right now I'm teaching myself hand applique by doing 12 lighthouse blocks for a quilt for hubby. Interesting! I always have more then one project on the go because some days I don't feel like hand appliqueing so I just start the cutting for the next project - or I skip sewing altogether and make cards or do scrapbooking. Violet I've decided to live forever - so far, so good.
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User: mamahoogie
Member since: 12-25-2002 Total posts: 461 |
From: Magot
Date: 10-16-2006, 12:39 PM (9 of 21)
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Patty, do you suppose she kept cats and swept her front step with a big broom? Those quilts are amazing! I fancy having a go at these too http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ricky-Tims-Convergence-Quilts-Mysterious/dp/157120217X/ref=sr_11_1/026-9055518-6107640?ie=UTF8 love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: Patty22
Date: 10-16-2006, 01:00 PM (10 of 21)
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Bwhahahahaha Jan............I'll make a quilt in homage to Dorothy! Bwhahahahahahahaha ............. I have only done one or two very contemporary looking quilts. One was for Classic Cotton about 10-11 years ago. It stretched my mind and made my brain hurt and I have such respect for quiltmakers/artists that are able to just let the fabric speak to them and they go with it. I am just stuck in the 19th century with my quiltmaking  Another one I entitled "Leave My Window Open" because I said I was going to jump (out of my first floor window onto the holly bush). It was suppose to be funny. I think the Susan McCord quilts talk to me because she found a use for those scraps of fabric by piecing them.....waste not, want not. Are any of you other there in quilting cyberspace interested in doing a block exchange during 2007? We could set up a thread and talk about the different possibilities.  I would find it lots of fun and enjoy making some of you blocks. So (sew) any quilters out there with a passion for friendship blocks?
Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: HeyJudee
Date: 10-16-2006, 06:18 PM (11 of 21)
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Jan, I have that book and have taken a class and made a convergence quilt. It is a really neat method. But unfortunately that is another UFO. It is approx. 30" square, is pinned and ready to quilt. I even know how I want to quilt it. Have to add it to my list and get it done. But I seem to be a class taker...but you never finish the project in class. I have started so many things and only certain ones have been completed! Patty, we did two block swaps in 2005. One was a signature block swap and one was a Christmas block swap. Again 2 more UFOs for me!!!! Brenda (BRG) was the hostess and did a super job. She tried to start another one earlier this year but not too many applied. I know I want to finish the others I have before doing one. Maybe others would be ready. You could post in the SWAPs forum and see. TTFN from
Judy |
User: HeyJudee
Member since: 01-25-2005 Total posts: 1366
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From: HeyJudee
Date: 10-16-2006, 07:28 PM (12 of 21)
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Patty, I was checking my photos and found my pics of the blocks I rec'd in the Christmas block swap. Thought I would post them in case you're interested. I even have the fabric for the sashings and the backing. Bought it at the end of season sales. Just have to get to it! Christmas Swap (http://www.flickr.com/photos/heyjudee/sets/1270230/) TTFN from
Judy |
User: HeyJudee
Member since: 01-25-2005 Total posts: 1366
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From: Patty22
Date: 10-16-2006, 07:58 PM (13 of 21)
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"spatial awareness - how to line up my triangles when they are upside down and back to front so that the points match..." .....well Jan, I think I need to learn spatial awareness after all too. I have been making half square triangles in reds/whites and blues/tans for an ocean waves quilt for my son. I kept getting blocks made and then putting them up on the wall and I kept thinking to myself this pattern is just not working out well ........  duh factor finally hit me and I wasn't making half the blocks in reverse the pattern. Oy...... so it's a tosser into the pile of reject quilt blocks for some of them. For some reason I just could discern the positive/negative directions of the half square triangles. Hey Judy.... your Christmas blocks from the exchange are very nice. Currently I am working on four different quilts (I shouldn't really admit this  ) Fifteen years ago my husband had written to negro league ball players and I am making him a quilt with their signatures. Their letters were very touching in the respect that they were honored that they weren't forgotten and their stories were being passed along to future generations. This past weekend we went through and picked out fifty. This is really fun having my husband involved. So.....maybe I actually get more accomplished when I have so many coals in the furnace. 
Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: mmeblueberry
Date: 10-17-2006, 07:27 AM (14 of 21)
| This may sound silly to the rest of you, but I'd like to learn how to do curved seams! There are some fun-looking patterns out there that require the use of them, like drunkard's path, and I can only sew in a straight line. :p |
User: mmeblueberry
Member since: 03-22-2003 Total posts: 10 |
From: MizJellyBellyTX
Date: 10-17-2006, 08:22 AM (15 of 21)
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I would like to learn/improve my handquilting.
CindyD ~n~ TX
http://CDavis993.photosite.com/ |
User: MizJellyBellyTX
Member since: 10-08-2006 Total posts: 7 
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From: Patty22
Date: 10-17-2006, 10:15 AM (16 of 21)
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_Pieced Curves So Simple_ by Dale Fleming After seeing Dale's method of sewing curves in her book, I don't think I would ever go back to the old methods. By all means, learn how to piece curved seams, but Dale's methods are wonderful for big projects. To briefly condense what she does: Dale uses freezer paper as a template and does all the curved piece sewing by machine. Ohhhhhh......I did a search and found some directions for you to check out..........(Judy would be proud of me!) http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_quilting_instructions/article/0,1789,HGTV_3302_4302936,00.html This is how I am doing all the baseballs for my husband's quilt  I am still trying to improve my hand quilting and I have found if I am tired my stitches become inconsistent and almost on the verge of toe nail catchers. This past weekend I was cleaning out my attic trying to find an Amish doll that I had made my daughter in 1983. The funny story about the doll was that she didn't have a face and the first thing my daughter did was take a crayon and draw one on. How was a two year old suppose to understand the Amish belief of not having their faces replicated or photographed. I scrounged through the attic.......found her little dress......her bonnet........her small quilt..........but no body. I was making up a package for my daughter and sent her the little things because she was telling me how much she enjoyed going through the Amish country in Iowa. I haven't given up.....yet. But, the point of all this was finding the little Amish quilt. I chuckled about how big those quilting stitches were. ........ So hand quilting developes over time - a rhythm to your stitches, how you handle the needle, pull your thread through..... I do think though that if you can find someone to guide you before you develop any bad habits it would be instrumental. Find a quilt shop and see if they teach hand quilting (by all means ask to look at a shop sample of the kind of work). Otherwise, try getting a good book on the topic. Long ago, I think I used Marianne Fons book of Feathers to help me. PS.....when cleaning the attic I found a note written by my son in 1992 telling me that he had to clean the attic out by himself and his sister wouldn't help. When talking to my daughter she informed me of my method of telling them to clean the attic was a form of punishment. Bwhahahahahahahaha....... I thought it was too funny............ Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Patty22
Date: 10-17-2006, 10:18 AM (17 of 21)
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Cindy.....I love your quilts and I want to know where your shoes are????? Do you do mostly machine quilting? Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: MizJellyBellyTX
Date: 10-18-2006, 08:27 AM (18 of 21)
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Yes Patty I only machine quilt at this time but I'm going to start doing better and I'm going to do some handquilting. I know my handquilting will not be very good at first but practice makes perfect so eventually I will get it. My plan is to start with something relatively easy and take it from there. What do you mean "where your shoes are"
CindyD ~n~ TX
http://CDavis993.photosite.com/ |
User: MizJellyBellyTX
Member since: 10-08-2006 Total posts: 7
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From: JoanieB
Date: 10-28-2006, 06:27 PM (19 of 21)
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I want to learn to machine quilt. I only hand quilt right now. I have a small project going right now for my quilt guild that I am trying my hand at machine quilting on but it's trial and error with emphasis on error. I also want to improve my hand applique. I want to make a Baltimore Album quilt some day. The president of my guild does amazing BA quilts and I hope to learn some tricks from her. I have bought a book on it, but I haven't really gotten into it very far yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Joanie B |
User: JoanieB
Member since: 01-28-2005 Total posts: 68 |
From: Patty22
Date: 10-28-2006, 06:42 PM (20 of 21)
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I'm back and forth between machine and hand quilting. For years I only machine quilted (it drove everyone nuts as hand quilting was the "proper" way). Now the last two quilts I have hand quilted (maybe because everyone machine quilts now). I would secretly love a BSR! Ahhhhhh........okay, so back to reality. Funny story. Bought an antique quilt top out of the trunk of a woman's car in the 80's. IT STUNK! It was string pieced and the colors were okay, but mainly it STUNK. The woman needed money, so I bought it. Brought it home, put it in a container with coffee beans for a week. IT STUNK. Stuck it outside on the line for a week. IT STUNK. Finally, I machine quilted the beegeezers out of it. Cotton batt, muslin backing (I figured I didn't want to invest too much if the stink wasn't going to leave) and stippling (very heavy) all over. The stippling really reinforced the seams and some places were the fabric looked "iffy." Bound it in some pink fabric that I tea dyed (I couldn't find double pinks back then) and then threw it in the washing machine. Washed it on hot (YES HOT) with Lestoil. Yes, Lestoil on heavy load. Threw it in the dryer. Took it out and all the dirt and odors were washed away and the colors brightened up. Voila......what a wonderful, old quilt with an encyclopedia of turn of the century fabrics. My kids used it to death because it was so soft and comforting. Now I wouldn't use these methods on many quilts, but certainly this worked for this particular quilt. Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Patty22
Date: 11-01-2006, 08:36 PM (21 of 21)
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I was thinking about the quilt that I washed in the Lestoil and sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words: http://pelkovitch.photosite.com/Album2/?page=4 Now mind you, I don't treat all antique tops in that manner, but this one was so odiferous it was either deodorize it or lose the $15 I paid for the top. Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
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