is the bobbin half full or half empty?

i wanted to share a 'lightbulb' moment that i had last week. i made a quilt that i'm hoping to make my first payfer pattern...it needed to be quilted (duh). it's a muli colored top with a neon pink solid colored backing. i use my favorite thread in the needle (maxi-lock tye dye punch) and i usually pick bobbin color by which ever thread i already have many bobbins wound. as i started looking at my bobbins (i wind my own btw) i noticed i had lots of half full bobbins that were of similar colors to the top.

i used all my 1/2full bobbins on the back! i just popped one in and when it ran out, i just threw in another- paying NO attention to that one's color! (i did knot and bury 'cause the backer fabric would of showed it off in a bad way)

the result: a great looking backing that looks like i used a varigated thread and i emptied out some bobbins of colors i rarely ever used!!

to be honest- i wasn't sure this would look good once finished, but after i finished quilting, unloaded, and flipped it over *grin* it looks better than anticipated!
it's hard to show in a picture- see the all the different colors! it looks better in person- now the back has visual interest as well!    that's my quilty 'happily ever after' :)

i found one drawback to blogging- i DVRed the royal wedding to watch later today and everyone is talking about it. i've gotten good at throwing my hand up to block the pictures til the next blog loads...*lol*

i want to remind those that are collecting my BOMS...sunday is the day that april's block will be retired. AND *a little grr* i got tons of emails of people wanting the retired block's instructions so i posted them in my Etsy store and not a single block has sold, so i have decided- get while it free or it's gone...forcver. not being snarky, but did you know it costs to post items for sale on Etsy whether they sale or not???

wrinkles

wrinkles are only cute on shar pei puppies

(say it with me- "awww!")













where are wrinkles not cute? in the backing fabrics for quilts.

i hate ironing backings.  murphy's law -my iron will decide to spit out the most nastiest of stains only when i iron a customer's backing.

i have a trick to eliminate having to warm up the spitting beast.

i keep a spritz bottle with water in it by my machine. when i get a shar pei backing, i give it a nice mist of water and roll it onto my frame as usual. the water along with my smoothing it as i roll will remove most wrinkles.

however- this method will not remove stubborn deep creases or the bolt fold...

burying thread tails

i'm going to share how i bury thread tails. this technique will work for burying threads in a LA frame or freemotion with a DSM. (this technique should not be used if your thread color is contrasting to the fabric color and will shadow through the quilt top fabric. rememeber the varicose thread post?)

the tools i use is a 9inch doll needle and that threader thing. i use the doll needle because it's long and is easier to manipulate through the quilt sandwich while it's still in the frame. it also has a large eye which makes getting the thread tails threaded easier (read: it is eye strain friendly). i bought the threader (all metal) at my local hancock's (in the embrodiery aisle). i had a plastic one before that really didn't work as well. make sure the one you buy will fit in the eye of your doll needle's eye.


this technique will work with long or short thread tails...take the two thread tails and tie a knot in them (i use a simple square knot, going thru the loop twice in the second knot) insert the needle in the same hole the last stitch is in. slide the needle in the batting so that the buried threads will be in the batting. slide the needle down until the eye is even your knot.

use the small end of the threader and gently pull the tails through the eye of the needle.

carefully pull the needle to fully bury the threads. 

wha-la...buried tails...i would do the same with the thread tails from beginning a line of stitches, burying all four tails at the same time.

i bury tails where if i did the little backstich knot it would be too noticable. (ie: high contrast between the fabric color and thread color)

i used the self-threading needles and found that the eye pinched the thread and tended to break it to the point of being too short to bury anymore.

save your shirt!

when i get to the bottom of a quilt, sometmes the pinned edge of the backing hits perfectly where i lean up against the machine (belly bar) it took ruining a tshirt or two before i had a lightbulb moment and figured out a very simple fix:

since i unpin the bottom of the quilt top from it's canvas to quilt the last pass anyway; i unroll the canvas enuf to cover the tpins of the backing....now i won't have little holes cross the belly of my shirt!

marking a quilt for quilting

LAers use many marking utensils for, well, marking and they all have their favorites. i love a simple little chaco-liner. i use two colors: white and yellow. i don't use blue because it has a reputation of not removing completely and staining. i also use the Magic chalk in a pounce pad. magic chalk is water and steam removable. i also use a light hand with the chalk- i don't need it to be seen from across the room, i just need enough to see while i'm quilting. 

i've always been a bit apprehensive to use any kind of marker pen (water soluble, air erasable) because i never know what happens to quilt after it leaves me.  if i do have to use one on a quilt top, i test it on the wrong side of the pieced top on a seam allowance. i have learned the blue water soluble one can be tricky to remove from the paint on white-on-white fabric. the air erasable one is tricky too- with our humidity, the purple line is gone before i'm even done drawing it. 

there are numerous ways to remove chalk from a quilt top and i've tried a couple. first, i used a dry Mr Clean Magic Eraser which worked okay...but left a lint looking powder. then i tried a microfiber cloth which kindda did the same thing. then i read somewhere about the 'old fashioned' tried and true red fabric lint remover! i have found my one and only.

i found a well made, good quality made one at Wal-Greens. when shopping for one, look for one where the red sides are slightly convex with the red fabric wrapping slightly around the edges.

a simple swipe (or two) across the fabric and the chalk disappears.

whatever you use, test to make sure the marks remove to your satisfaction!


have fun stitching!

varicose threads

let's face it- quilters come with strings attached and sometimes they end up where we don't want them....

i consider any thread that shadows through the fabric of a  quilt a varicose thread. 9 out of 10 times, i notice it after i get right up on it with my machine.


(p.s. - judges HATE varicose threads and seam shadows!)

so this is the easiest way to remove them. first, you'll need a Clover crochet hook...size 14/0.50mm and a pair of tweezers. (i have to wonder what the hell someone would make with this micro-hook...dollies for mice???)

(ETA: silly me, i forgot to add a link for the crochet hook....click here )

carefully poke the crochet hook through the fabric of the quilt and ever so slightly pick up the hook under the fabric. do this gently or you'll bend the tip of your hook (see my tip) by slightly picking up on the hook, you'll minimize the amount of batting you catch in the hook.

then very carefully pull enough of the varicose thread  to be able to grab it with a pair of tweezers. be especially careful pulling the thread if you have already stitched over it- you could break those stitches if you pull too hard. if you pull out some batting with the varicose thread, just snip it close to the surface of the quilt with a pair of scissors and run your fingernail across the hole to close it up.

using the tweezers, carefully work the thread out of the quilt sandwich.

it might take a couple times to coax that thread out, but the end results are worth it.

wha-la, no more varicose thread....now i can continue quilting...

i've used this method to bury short thread tails from knots, to hide the tails of embroidery/applique threads, and to flip twisted seam allowances.




now, if it were only that easy to get rid of varicose veins....

light and shadow....

the quilt i'm working on is a BOM that has a white background....i thought it needed pebbling....with white thread.  even with my eyes, it's hard to see. can you see the pebbles?

the on-board light on my machine is absouletly great! except for white thread on a white fabric (same for black thread on black). the light bleaches out any detail....

solution: turn the light off. i know, it's just that simple, huh? i have enough overhead light to see what i'm doing, but not enuf to bleach out my quilting. the side lighting gives my freshly stitched designs shadow which allows me to easily see where i am....

...or where to go....

happy stitchin! blessings for balanced tension!

how i load my quilts

last tuesday i gave a LA presentation to the Spirited Quilters Quilt Guild in Duluth...i had a blast...i was nervous at first, but the friendliness of the group soon put me at ease...i would totally love to do it again.
i was asked how i loaded my quilts into my machine, and i explained it, but i promised to post a photo tute. it took a couple of days cause i had to wait til i finished the one on the frame and load the next....so here goes... honestly, loading a quilt is the most fundamental process of LAing.

(i shouldn't have to say this, but:) this is how my frame is loaded. different LA company frames will load differently. (my machine is an APQS Millenium- the best machine on the market...but i am a bit bias in the opinion :) )

1. i have a four bar frame, plus my homemade batting bar. i have labeled each to what it 'holds' the leveler bar doesn't 'hold' anything. it keeps the quilt sandwich horizontally straight before the quilted sandwich turns and goes up to the takeup roller. three of my bars have canvas leaders. a leader is what i attach the various layer edges of the quilt sandwich to.

2. i start at the bottom and work my way up. i spread out the backing fabric over the frame with the wrong side looking at the ceiling. also, if it's possible, i load the backing with the pieced seam running parallel to the roller. this means that some quilts will be loaded (and quilted) sideways. if you are using a directional quilting design (panto), you'll need to keep that in mind....also, directional fabrics will play a role in how a quilt is loaded, so double check that as well.

3. i fold the bottom edge of the backing in half to find center and match that to the center mark on my leader. loading a quilt is like pouring the foundation to a house: if you are off on the foundation, your walls will not me straight. i pin the backing to the leader starting in the center and working my way to the edges. i am careful to not stretch the backing fabric. i pin through the canvas to the backing fabric. that puts my Tpins against the canvas, not the fabric. it allows the canvas to lay smoother againset the roller bar, plus it makes unloading easier.

4. i roll the backing fabric up on the roller, gently smoothing out any  wrinkles. on my APQS Millie (Nemo) i turn the roller towards me (from the side: clockwise) the fabric should come off the top of the roller bar.

5. pin the top edge of the backing fabric onto the take up roller's leader. notice i rolled the backing "tight' you don't want to be able to bounce a quarter off it...i was told you should be able to push down on it one inch and it should spring back up. if one of the pinned edges was not straight/square, one side (or both) would be bowed. this is a good time to find this out because you can just unpin the backing fabric and re-pin pulling out any fullness. ideally, your backing show look like mine- nice and flat! when it comes to loading the pieced quilt top, having the backing already loaded will give us a shelf to sit the top on and it prevents puling from it's own weight draped over the rollers (see pic for step #7) also, i load my quilts in what is referred to as a partial float. a partial float means i do not pin the top edge of the batting or quilt into the take-up roller. they 'float'.  bear with me, it'll soon make sense...

6. this pic shows that i turn the left edge pin backwards. (i'm right handed) i learned this lesson the hard way. when you go to 'smooth' the layers, if the sharp point is sticking out it will bite....and it usually draws blood...and it hurts to cut your palm open on the tip of a Tpin. now i know that not all LAers use Tpins to load their quilts, but this is my blog and my tute 8>)

7. open the quilt top and lay across the frame with the right side looking at the ceiling. fold the bottom edge in half to find center, match to the center mark on the leader, and pin from the middle out towards the edge. notice how loading the backing first gives us a surface to lay the quilt top on so it's not being pulled by it's own weight and creating puckers (puckers are bad). if your loading the quilt sideways- you will be pinning in either the left or right side of the top.

8. carefully roll up the pieced quilt top. the quilt should be come off the bottom of the roller (from the side- counterclock wise). smooth out any wrinkles and work in any fullness. stop the quilt just below the pinned backing fabric edge.

9. this is where i load the batting onto my homemade batting bar. if it's a small quilt and i'm quilting an E2E on it that i know i'll have finished quickly, i don't load the batting.  i'll just let it hang or lay in the floor.

10. carefully load the batting. i roll the batting edge up and carefully tuck it between the quilt top and backing rollers. then i flip the quilt top outta the way and gently smooth the batting out on the backing fabric. when the batting is where it needs to be, i flip the pieced top back over and smooth it out. if your batting has a scrim then you'll want the scrim side to lay against the backing. if your batting doesn't have a scrim, but is needlepunched (read the packaging) closely observe the surface of the batting to see if you can determine which direction the batting was needle punched. you want the side that the needle went into the batting first to lay against the wrong side of the pieced top. this will prevent the batting from 'bearding' through the backing fabric. (bearding means that little wads of the batting travel through the fabric with the movement of the needle, then stay stuck out when the needle retracts with the formation of the stitch. it can ruin the overall look of a quilt in a hurry)

11. then i place my clamps on the sides of the backing in the section between the rollers. the rollers give me lengthwise tension, the clamps give me crosswise tension. there are two per side and are attached to my frame with elastic.  this is why LAers ask for 4"-6" extra backing on the sides; it keeps the bed of our machine from hitting the side clamps.

12. i go to the end of the frame and look longways down the quilt. any curves or dog legs in the border seams will show and i can correct them now. i do not square up a quilt using a ruler- i 'eyeball' them using this method.

13. using "crafter's pins" purchased at JoAnn's (they are very thick and stiff) i pin the edge of the pieced quilt down, going through all three layers; top, batting, and backing fabric.
i stitch around the edge of the quilt top carefully stitching over the pins. yes, i have broken needles by hitting a pin....but it's only happened three times in 6 years/ 1000+ quilts.

when loading a quilt, haste will make waste (of time) take your time. trust me, there's not a trophy for loading a quilt the fastest. taking your time will make quilting the quilt fun and easy. you will develop an eye for seeing problem areas while loading, and it will get faster the more you do it. honestly, i could load a quilt without having to think about it in about 6 months, but i was quilting one or two quilts a day...i had a little cheat sheet taped to the frame that told me what order to pin what....it's like anything- the more you do it, the better/quicker you'll get.  you can not place a dollar amount on experience time...


as always- if you have any questions, email me. my add is in the right sidebar.

happy stitching!

LA tip: stitchin around applique

i think the "A" word equally strikes fear into piecers as well as LAers. it's not really that bad. i have motto in my studio: whenever you are scared of something- stop thinking and do it anyway! (that's just one of many, we all need cheerleaders!)

so i was working on carolyn's Be Attitude quilt designed by Nancy Halverson, and it has it's fair share of applique, so i thought i'd share how i tackled SIDing all those letters.

now i'm a 'lazy' LAer, i don't mind stops and starts (S&S), but i will try my darndest to avoid them...so i knew i was going to do my doodlebug filler in the background an that meant i could use the filler to 'camo' my SID....i wouldn't have to S&S for each letter...

first, i have to show you some tools of the trade for ruler work.  first you'll need a ruler base....i have an old version of the hartley base but it wasn't making me happy, so i saved my pennies and bought Donita Reeve's RulerMate (click on machine accessories in the left hand column). let me tell you...i wish i had gotten it sooner....i love it! it screws to the base of my machine making a nice study base for ruler work....i leave it on all the time....i don't even notice it anymore...and to be honest- my outlining of applique improved just by changing my base...you're only as good as your tools....

second, i use what i call a 'appli-key' it is basically an acrylic 'micro-drive' for my machine. it has all those cut outs that fit around my hopping foot perfectly. i use it in the 'push/pull way' that means i push against my hopping foot with the key, while i pull my machine's handles. it takes alot of PPP, but you'll get a good balance and have better control of your machine. (this one is also from Donita Reeve....click on rulers/templates. she calls it an Appli-guide)


(i want to add this: depending on the quilt and my mood- i might actually dig out and attach my microdrive handles)

i quilt my background design and when i get close to the letters i stop and grab my key.

you can see where i came up to the bottom of the T and went over and around the top and where the edge of the T got close to the S, i just 'jumped' over and quilted around the S and so forth to the beginning of the word. (you can click on the pics for a larger view)

then i just came back under the letters, using my filler design to 'jump' from letter to letter, and then when i get back to where i started i just quilt back into the background with my quilting.....wha-la! the lazy way of SID- it's all camo-ed by the background filler....and i only have one or two S&S  per pass.

it's amazing how resourceful you can be when your lazy.... *giggle*

(i did S&S for the inside of the Bs, As, Ps, Os, and Ds. i did not stitch the inside of the Es)

here's a shot of the whole quilt. you can see that there are alot of letters....



maybe i should say i quilted it 'smart' not lazy...yup, i like that better....i quilted it smart.

thread tip....

as a piecer, i stash fabrics to use in quilts...as a LAer i buy thread for my quilting....so how do i keep up with what colors i have to show my customers?...i don't want to have to get out some 100+ spools of thread to help pick thread color for a quilt so i do this:

this is not my idea- i saw it somewhere else....i went to my local craft store that carries Xstitching supplies. i bought the little plastic cards that you wrap the DMC floss skein to keep it neat and wrapped my quilting threads around it instead. i wrote the name of the color on the card with a fine point sharpie and put them on two large binder rings: one for all the solids and the other one for neutrals and variegated. doesn't it look pretty...

when i have a customer drop off a quilt, i grab these and we narrow down the choices, then i dig out the cones for further scrutiny....makes for a easier consult....

it took some time...about three or so hours, but i think the finished product makes it worth it. it shows your clients that you take your business seriously, so they will (hopeful) see you in the same light...

long arm trick/tip

here's a trick i started doing a while back....it has to do with keeping my canvas leaders 'straight'. if you LA then you know that having your leaders off by even a little will cause problems down the road...

i know there are LAers out there that have instructions where you cut the edge of your leader and using your channel locks, sew a straight line, fold it on the stitched line, and all that....*pbbbt*

there's a saying: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...well, what if you did 'something' to keep your leaders square all the time??? (my brain is constantly thinking like this, btw) so it came to me....here's my solution:

after i pin in the quilt top and backing (i use t-pins) , i place a couple of extra pins along the leader egdes all the way to the ends (about every four inches)....that way your leader edge will stay straight and square, it won't 'pull' out of place....just poke a pin into the layers of the leader itself. this is especially useful for those newbies with brand spanking new machines with fresh new [straight] leaders. you have to pay attention once you get to the bottom of the quilt. if you advance the quilt and get to the edge of the leader and forget to take out the pins, you maybe could rip your leader. i haven't ripped my leaders, the way i put the pins in they just pull out....i do this on all three of my leader edges (take-up, quilt top, and backing leaders)

this works for me, and i hope this helps you....btw, my leaders are 4 years old (i have a 2005 Millie) and although they have 'shrunk' in, the edges are still straight and square and cause no problems ...

i hate froggin'

i bet if you asked a bunch of LAers what they hated the most about LAing, they probably, without hesitation, would say "frogging" (also known as un-sewing. called frogging because you rip-it, rip-it, rip-it) (friendly borders/too small backers would probably be a close second...that's another blog post one day.)

i totally hate froggin. the reason being- if it takes -say- 20 seconds to quilt something, and for whatever reason, you have to frog it, it can take an hour to pick out all the stitches...no fun at all!

so this is what i do to avoid froggin' my quilting:
i use a mylar template sheet to draw my planned quilting design with a dry erase marker. since it is opaque, i can see the quilt fabric/design through it. that way if i draw it and don't like it all i have to do is erase it with a scrap piece of batting, taking mere seconds (another way to use those scraps). now- i don't use wet erase markers because no matter how careful i am, i get that ink everywhere. also- i found colored masking tape and taped the edges of my sheets. that way i don't accidentally mark on the quilt...(ask me how i learned THAT lesson) this works well also because it allows my customers to see exactly what i visualize in my head. keeps everyone on the same page...no surprises down the road.

for newbie LAers, this a great way to practice also. you can draw it over and over in the actual size you'll be quilting it. it'll build that muscle memory so quickly- you'll be surprised!

for those that panto- you could do the same thing, but trace your pantos with a sharpie, that way your customers can see exactly what the design/proportions will look like on their quilt.

hope this helps you one day down the road....i really hate froggin...did i say that already...:)

NOTE: make sure you get the mylar type of plastic. normal/regular template plastic won't work. it has a textured surface and your marker won't wipe off... i know some LAers that use pieces of plexi-glass for the same thing, but i like the template sheets because they aren't heavy and i can store multiples of them on my frame's table and they don't get in the way. ....if you can't find colored tape- you can use the regular type...i just found colors at the schoolbox here in town (another great 'wander around' store)...also only draw on one side of the plastic. the dust can/could transfer to lighter colors. i drew stars in the corners of each sheet with a pen. any others questions, email me...my address is in the side bar...

happy quilting!