Proper Rotary Cutting

In my recent Craftsy blog post, i demonstrate the importance of proper rotary cutting.  Whether you are a beginning quilter or experienced, you may want to take a moment to read this post.  I believe it's worth a look. Find it HERE.

 I am also happy to report that my Farmer's Wife Quilt Revival classes are doing well. I'm excited to share a very nice testimonial....from Sharon:

"I am doing your Farmers Wife BOM with you. I've wanted to make this quilt forever but the blocks intimidated me. With your directions and easier methods for construction, I'm having a ball. I can't wait for each month to be available. My blocks are perfect and who could ask for more. Thank you so much. It must take quite a bit of time to prepare each month of direction for us, so thank you for taking on the project!"

(Check out Best Seller #2!  How cool is that?!)

The Farmer's Wife Quilt Revival Class Three will be available on March 3rd ....click HERE to find purchase options.  Included in Class Three is a nice 25 block table topper pattern.  It's also the perfect size for a wall hanging or even a special baby quilt.

Cutting 16th inch cuts

Have you ever come across a quilt pattern where there is a need to cut a 16th of an inch?  This may sound a bit intimidating!

It's really not...and you may run across it now and again.

The photo below represents an inch on my Omnigrid ruler.

Locate the 1/2" mark, the 1/4" marks and the 1/8" marks. 

Divide between each of the above markings to find each 16th

Below are a few examples on how to cut 16th's.

Your pattern calls for a 1/16th" cut. 

Line your ruler half way between the full inch mark and the following 1/8" mark.  

 For a 9/16" cut, place the ruler half way between the 1/2" mark and the 5/8" mark

A 15/16" cut is measured half way between the 7/8" mark and the next full inch marking.

Make sense?  Questions?

Clover Wonder Clips

Have you seen these yet?

My favorite new quilting tool!

No issues keeping that mitered corner in place!

I bought the pack of '50' thinking i would need a bunch to go around a big quilt. 
 I found i only really need about 10...

moving them as i work my way around the binding.

With the rest...a great little gift for my quilty friends!

I can't believe the prices either...ranging from $40 to under $20. 
For the very same item.  Crazy! 

You'll find the best prices on Amazon!
See my sidebar for a direct link to
 Best Prices! Products I Love. 
 There are 3 pages of great finds!
Or click the Amazon link below.

Machine Quilting over Applique

There are times when a client may not want to pay for custom quilting even though the quilt lends itself to custom work.  This is one of those times.

An all over simple panto was picked with a blending So Fine thread.   

When quilting directly over applique, it is important that all the applique pieces are securely fastened and stitched down to the background.  If they are not, the hopping foot will catch the 'unstitched' area and a fold will be quilted into the top.
Not so good.

 To avoid this, i run my hand over all the applique pieces to find any areas that need to be secured down.  This is where

 Ms. Roxanne Glue-Baste-It comes in handy.

 The bottle on the left has been used for years and i'm just about to the end of it.  

It can be purchased with a needle nose applicator,

 handy for sticking underneath an area and securing with a tiny dot of glue.  A tiny dot of glue is better than a fold in the quilting.  
I also use 
Roxanne Glue-Baste-it to secure my applique pieces into place when i am working on an applique project or wool applique.  Just a tiny dot is all i need.  I love it!

To keep the glue from drying in the needle nose, i place one of those plastic thingys that are used to attached tags onto garments ..i have no idea what they are called...but they don't rust like a long pin and they are flexible.  Works great.

Need some Roxanne Glue-Baste-It?  Find it here on Amazon. 

How to clean your iron

I've been meaning to talk about my iron for quite some time now and recently my friend Maria wrote a fantastic post on how to clean an iron. 

 You will find her wonderful tutorial here

I use a Reliable Iron which i loooove!  It's heavy and does not leak...that's a biggy!  I've had my iron for almost 4 years and anyone and everyone who comes over to sew with me comments on how great my Reliable feels, presses and steams.
Here's my iron all cleaned up using Maria's helpful tips.  She uses a common baking product to clean her iron...can you guess what it is?  

  You can see just a tiny bit of what was once the word Velocity on the side of my iron.  Even though the word is worn, the iron is not....just used over and over and over almost everyday!  I also love these Dritz ironing pads and cover my ironing board when pressing lots of quilt blocks. 

 Does your ironing cover get as messed up as mine? 

 I need to make a pretty one and keep it that way! 

 These pads are also very portable....love that too!

For either of these products, you can purchase them directly from my blog. Just click on the highlighted products here: Reliable Iron and Dritz Ironing Pad  or you will find an Amazon link on my sidebar.

I've always had this idea for a cutting table, 

but never enough room to pull it off. 

 With my recent move, i now have the space.

 Initially, i thought i would find what i was looking for at an unfinished furniture store...but was surprised at the prices.  

I did not want to spend $400+ per dresser!

  I've never shopped at Ikea before ...i'm more of a junker shopper, but thought i would go online and take a look...found exactly what i wanted!...and  $139 each.  Okay wow, price is good...probably cheap construction, but i'm not putting these in a boy's bedroom...i'll be careful with them.  I sent my handy husband to Ikea to check them out and he was quite impressed.  Of course they come in a box with assembly required....i said "handy husband" didn't i?  Yes i did, and he spent a good portion of yesterday putting them together.  All i can say about these 'cheap' dressers...not cheap at all!!  Price is cheap, but the quality is fantastic.  They are super heavy...draws are heavy and slide nicely.  The assembly went together well...no issues.  There are 2 brackets on the back of each dresser to either fasten to a wall or to each other. This will suck up the gap between them.   My current work space is temporary while we add an addition to our home for my studio...so i told 'Handy' just to wait on fastening them together and he'll just shim them up for now.

 They each measure approximately 63" long 19" deep 35" tall.  Total of 12 drawers to hold tons!!!!  And the best part...i can walk around all 4 sides and the height is good for cutting.  

That's my 36" cutting mat.

I'm a happy girl.

When getting ready to machine quilt your quilt, whether it's done on a longarm or a domestic...batting can be problematic.  

This is my preferred choice...Hobbs 80/20. It has a slight loft which enhances the quilting.

 Once it's out of the bag and unrolled, this lumpy wrinkly mess can create lumps and wrinkles in your quilting unless you do one simple thing...

yup...toss it in a dryer on a very low setting. Just a couple minutes will do.

Now that's better!

Helpful Notions to Start your Week

I'm 'starting my week' a tad early...my hope is to bring a Helpful Notion to you often...if not once a week. I'm in the process of moving...and i know my computer will be down in the next day or two. So...here's the early

Came across this quilting chart recently....i don't know who created this and I'd give due credit if i knew.

To go along with the sizing chart above, I've created a batting size chart, below. It's a good idea to fit your quilt top to the prepackaged batting size of your choice. Remember a longarm quilter needs a few extra inches of batting and backing... 

See my link above or click here: 

 'Preparing your Quilt for Longarm Quilting'

Many times a client will bring a quilt top that is just a fraction bigger than the prepackaged batting size and the only option is to purchase the larger size batt...we all have those left over strips of batting and this will save on some of that waste. 

Helpful Notions to Start your Week

Did you know.....

When cutting fabric for quilting, line the ruler measurement directly ON the fabric. Many of us place the ruler 'measurement line' just off the fabric which results in the loss of a thread or two. When piecing small complicated blocks such as The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt's 6-1/2" blocks, the loss of a thread or two when cutting each 'block piece' makes a world of difference in the end size =The finished block will be much smaller.

Helpful Notions to Start your Week

Triple Triangles

For a more current update on this method, i have a new blog post listed for Triple Triangle Method 

The top left and bottom right sections or '4 patch' of this block are made up of  'triple triangles'.

 This technique can be used in making the Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks:

 #27, #28, #51 and #91.

Here's a tutorial on how...

First...create half square triangles

 Press open to create 2 half square triangles 

(which i forgot to take a picture)

 Sew to a rectangle which measures the same width as the half square triangle plus 1" longer than  the half square triangle.

 Press open

 Stitch these two units together like so...

Make one clip almost to the seam

 and press seams in opposite directions.

 click to enlarge photo for a closer look

 Next, line up a 45* line along the outside of the block and draw a stitching line. Do this again to the opposite side.

  Should look like this.  

 Add a second rectangle measuring the same size as the pieced unit. With right sides together stitch directly on the drawn lines.

 Cut a quarter inch beyond stitched line...between the lines

and again, 

 Press open for a 'triple triangle'.  

Block # 27 (Darting Birds) uses a solid square instead of a half square triangle but the method is the same.