Friday Show and Tell with a Twist

This week I thought I would show some easy quilting designs that are favorites of mine.
These are really just doodling with your sewing machine. The best tip I ever heard was to practice doodling on a piece of paper before heading to the machine, this gets the design in your brain first.

One of the easiest designs to quilt is loops - I find this easier than meandering, because you can cross over lines. It is easy to get out of tight spots with loops - that is why it is my favorite. The important thing to remember is to loop one way and than in the other direction.

Loops are a great design to add to other designs.

Butterflies.

These are pretty small.

They make a great over all design with loops.
This mini quilt can be seen here.


Holly leaves, the loops become berries (I noticed that the arrows are in the reverse direction, hopefully you will figure it out).


Any size works well.


These are bigger.
This Christmas tree skirt can be seen here.


Candle wick leaves and loops.


Leaves or Hearts.


Dragonflies and loops.



Candle wick leaves make a great border design. As with the loops, they look good in opposite directions.

Stylized flower in a border.

The possibilities are endless in machine quilting!
Remember to use the correct needle for the thread being used and try slowing down. I do a better job when I wear quilting gloves (rubber gloves work in a pinch).

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

Echoes Today

Today on my machine quilting practicing I worked on echoes.


It amazes me how much better the feather (and other shapes) look with an echo.



and so the more the merrier -


I used 100% cotton Gutermann thread and a #70 jeans needle. The batting is wool.

Diane Gaudynski says to look at the space between the lines and not at the line you are sewing.
I wear quilting gloves when I quilt and I have found when I am doing this type of detail work I really use just my fingertips.
I am trying some quilting patterns that are from 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting too.

I hope you join my friend Wendy and I in sewing everyday for the month of April. ☺

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

Todays Sewing

Today I tried "DG" machine quilting style with a Sulky 30wt blendables thread.


I decided that I don't like this thread for the "DG" style, but it is good for meandering (I tried stipple, loops, leaves, butterflies and dragonflies).
This is one of my favorite threads for machine embroidery. I use a #90 needle when I sew with it. When I quilt with it I really need to slow down as it tends to break when I go too fast or through seams.

This is a pillow cover that I made last year to try out embroidery stitches on my new machine. The thread is much better for this application.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by!! ♥

Daily Sewing

Yesterday I mentioned that I had seen on someones blog (sorry I can't remember whose) how their goal for April was to sew everyday, and that I was going to try this for the rest of the month. My friend Wendy said she was going to join in. Maybe other people would like to join in?
Today's sewing was finishing my stool cover.


It is also my first finish for April.


I also set up a pile of practice pieces for machine quilting - muslin layered with scraps of different types of batting (wool, cotton, poly-cotton). Diane Gaudynski recommends practicing machine quilting everyday to get better and so I thought I would keep something handy for the days I didn't have something to sew.
My family were surprised that I didn't already sew everyday!! I don't know who they think does all the cleaning, cooking, laundry......! Maybe they think little fairies come in at night - oh no, that's my fantasy!!

Have a great day!! ♥

Happy Easter

Made this stained glass a few years ago, the pattern is here.

I hope that every one had a wonderful Easter. I was lucky enough to have some family over. Now my kitchen is all clean and I still have time to blog and blog surf!


Today I also had time to finish machine quilting this stool cover.
I forgot to mention on yesterday's post that most of the machine quilting is not marked.
This has always been one issue with machine quilting that has scared me, and stopped me from trying fancier machine quilting. I don't like to follow lines and I don't want to waste time marking - I want to be quilting!! Being able to free form feathers (among other designs) is amazing to me. There seems to be no right or wrong!! Very liberating!!
The only area that I marked is the Diane-shiko section at the bottom, just as a guide.


A close up of the bird. Tomorrow I will finish up the stool cover.

I recently read on some one's blog that for the month of April, they were going to try and sew every day. I thought this was a great idea. I already messed up, as I did no sewing on April first, but maybe I can keep up for the rest of the month?! Worth a try.

Have a great day!! ♥

Machine Quilting

I have been machine quilting today. Yesterday on my sample piece I learned a few things.

I liked the way the sun was shining on this
and showing the dimensions - not a tip!!

1. Make sure to take breaks and rest your eyes!! I worked for over an hour, last night, trying out Diane Gaudynski's tips and I don't think I blinked once!! My eyes are still recovering! Today I have just been working for little bits of time.


2. Slow down the speed of the machine!! Yesterday when I was blog surfing I came across the name Charlie from qubeequilts, mentioned several times by various people. He has fantastic tips on his blog. One thing I tried was slowing down the speed that the machine will sewing!! WOW, this made such a huge difference to my quilting!! I had a lot more control.

You can't really tell, but there is a bird quilted where the light is shining. I got the idea from Ivory Spring, from the bird feather motif in the Freebies, Ideas, Tutorials section of the sidebar. There is lots of other machine quilting tips there too.


3.Reduce the amount of pressure that the presser foot exerts. When I machine quilt, I don't change the settings on my machine (I have a Husqvarna 870 Quilt and I can change to a free motion setting), I don't even lower the feed dogs. I find that I have more control. This only works when I use the free motion foot with the spring on it. I have ordered the open toed foot - apparently it is supposed to be better.

4. Use a sharp pointed needle (not a universal). Try to find thread that works for you and your machine - there is nothing more frustrating than thread that breaks constantly!!

I am so pleased with this Diane Gaudynski book that I purchased (I know that I have mentioned this before, but now I have tried it out).

It is spiral bound, and so lays nice and flat. It also is nice and small, so it is easy to keep beside you when you are working.

I can't say enough about this book! The book is a fantastic read (very rare in any do-it-yourself book). It seems to incorporate years of experience and many lessons learned -lots of advice for a beginner and more experienced quilter. I was also thrilled to sit down and work from the book. I was so surprised at how my quilting improved. Thanks Diane!! ♥

Some one else learned a lesson today -

- don't try going down a black dirt road after a day of rain!!

Have a great day!! ♥

Friday Show and Tell with a Twist

For this weeks show and tell I decided to talk about a tool that I have and love.

The Tri-Recs tool from EZ Quilt.
I originally bought this tool to make this table runner.

It is from a kit that I bought here. The pattern is "Candy Corn Cotillion" by Willow Berry Lane.



The Tri-Recs is used to make this block (I don't the name).

I have made a couple of variations of this pattern.



I have also made a couple of other quilts with the tools (I only have a picture of one of the quilts, the other is a similar variation).

Only the half triangle is used.

The blocks are made up of two halves and a reverse block is also used.


Today I tried making another pattern with the tool. I have seen similar "tumbler" or "thimble" quilts around and thought the tri tool would work.


I used 2½" strips of fabric. The tape helped me remember which lines I was using to cut.

I ended up with this.

I alternated the seams to reduce the bulk by using the little trick of unpicking a couple of stitches.


I added some applique. It will be a seat cover for a stool. There is lots of room to try out some new techniques in machine quilting.

This is my first practice piece since I bought Diane Gaudynski's book. It was lots of fun!!

Today my DH made a chocolate desert from my friend Wendy's blog, and it was delicious. He said it was easy to make. Thanks Wendy!! ♥

Have a great day!! ♥

Spring is Arriving

No time for sewing today, big plans for tomorrow!

I have noticed signs of spring.

Snow is almost all gone.

Green grass starting to grow.



Tulips are coming up.

Robins are back.

Flock of robins passing through.

The yard is also hopping with juncos, and killdeer are running around.
It is amazing the difference a week makes!

Have a great day!! ♥