I've Got Your Back....(ing)

Hey there quilt peeps....got a quick and useful tutorial to share.

Quilt Backing 101

Every quilt needs one and sometimes the perfect fabric is not available in a wide width.  You know what comes next...wrestling with multiple yards of 44" wide fabric as you cut and sew it into the correct size and shape for your quilt. Often the ends don't match up and if you take your quilts to a professional for machine quilting that is often not their favorite thing to see.

I have a super easy method that yields great results that I would like to share with you.

 

 

Note:  This is a fabric that is printed with two different prints on the same width of the fabric. Same color just a different print on each "half" - I share that with you so you will know that there are not 4 lengths to the back I am preparing but rather two.

First up is the long length of fabric - unfold it and lay it on the floor or wherever you have space. It's not necessary to press the center fold out at this point. The right side (pretty side) should be facing up.












 Next up is to pick up one end of it and fold back on top of the fabric matching up cut ends.  It will still be 44" wide but half as long. Right sides will be together.

You probably can't tell but the fold is now at the bottom of the photo and the cut ends are at the top.  Selvages are on the left and right in this photo.







Next you take the cut end and match the two pieces as closely as you can.  The folded edge should be at the opposite end (at your feet). 

Take care to line up the selvage edges.

Set your stitch length to 1.5 and sew for about 1 to 2 inches.  Switch back to 2.0 or even 2.5 to make it go quicker.









Remember that you will be trimming away the selvage edge so be sure to sew far enough away from it to allow for cutting that edge away.  You don't want to leave that in your quilt.

Keep sewing until you get to about 2 inches from the folded edge - change your stitch length back to 1.5 and sew off the edge.


Now what you have is a perfectly aligned backing that is even at both ends.


Just a couple more steps...

 Take the backing to your cutting table and with a ruler trim away the folded edge.  You can see why you change your stitch length on both ends.  I would go back and stay stitch across this cut end after I've pressed the seam to one side - yes to one side.  If you press the seam open it leaves a weak area in the quilt and if you have a few popped stitches your batting will peek through. 

Ta Dah!  Quilt backing with just one seam where both edges are perfectly aligned and you didn't have to pin anything or wrestle multiple yards of fabric hoping it would turn out even and straight.  Trim off the selvage edges next to the seam and press to one side.  If you want to make your longarm quilter really happy go back and stay stitch the seam just and inch or so on either side of the seam along both edges so it does not pull apart as they load your quilt. 


Hope this makes it easier to prepare a large backing for your next quilt. 

Blessings,

Linda T.

PS: There is one disclaimer, this will not work if your fabric is directional because half will be going the right way and half the wrong way.

 

A Fun & Easy Quilty Gift and Cookies!

And it has begun ~ Christmas gift making and baking is underway!

Today I'm going to share my favorite Christmas cookie recipe and a fun little quilty project you can make for your friends.

Christmas Cookies 2013

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year.  I love the food - especially baking; the time with family, the decorations and most of all the celebration of my Savior's birth. Normally I begin baking about two weeks before the big day and use my freezer (or if it's cold enough - the workbench in the garage) to store the goodies until I make up gift trays and baskets to share with family and friends a few days before Christmas.  

I make several different kinds and many are old family recipes that my mother made when I was a kid and one is my grandmothers Chewy Ginger Molasses cookies which I will share below.  One year I even kept track of the stats:  16# of butter 14# of flour and after that I was too depressed to add in the amount of sugar.  The count ended up at 120 dozen.  95% of which were given away, donated to a cookie walk where my sister Em lived and the rest eaten by my husband and me 😊😊😊

 We had a bit of a letdown this Thanksgiving weekend and our plans to travel to Nebraska to be with the family were cancelled when the ski racer (aka: husband) came down with a nasty bug.  We didn't want to infect everyone so we decided the best choice was to stay home.  It was hard.  We don't get to all be in the same place at one time so I admit to being a little depressed.

Plus my nephew and his darling wife just had a baby girl and she was to be baptized on Sunday and we were going to miss that too which made me very sad. (Isn't she just the most beautiful baby?  I love her already and we haven't even met yet!)  Add in missing the newly engaged niece and wedding dress shopping (thankfully she was texting me some pics from the bridal salon - OMW there is one dress I loved!) and you can see why I was in a funk.  Plus we had no fresh food in the fridge and no turkey for Thanksgiving since I had not planned on cooking.  I managed to make Chicken soup from what I had in the freezer along with a loaf of homemade bread and that was our dinner on Thanksgiving, which the uber sick ski racer loved. It was a pretty low key day for sure.


I decided the best thing was to work on some sewing/quilting projects to take my mind off what we were missing. 

I needed to make 22 of "something" for a group I belong to and this was my criteria:  needs to be:  1) Cute 2) Easy to make 3) Made from stuff I already have in the house 4) Useful.  Hmmmmm! 

Mug Rug to the rescue!

Supplies Needed for each mug rug:

Cute fabric:   one 4.5" x 4.5" square
Coordinating fabric:  two rectangles cut 4.5" x 1.5" and two rectangles cut  6.5" x 1.5"
Batting:  one square of cotton batting cut 6 1/8" x 6 1/8"
Backing: one square 6.5" x 6.5"
Ric Rack:  one package of large size in coordinating color (approximately 26 inches - one package will do 3 mug rugs)
Scrap of Wonder Under

Sewing Steps.It's pretty simple.  You start with the center square and add the rectangles on each side, pressing between each addition. 

 

 
Next we need to round the corners of the block we just made.  This is important if you are adding the ric rack.  It will turn nicely around the corners and if you left them square....well I wouldn't want to tackle that.  I have this vintage drafting tool I snagged at an estate sale a few years ago and it makes quick work of marking the corners.  If you don't have this kind of tool a large spool of thread works too.

All four corners are marked and I just trim on the line using scissors

Now we add the ric rack.  You can see that I just line up the edge of the ric rack with the outside edge of the block and sew using a 1/4" seam.  When you get to the start/end spot just pull the ends off at an angle so they are outside the seam allowance area as shown in the photo below.

 

 

Grab your backing square and place it right sides together on top of your block with the ric rack.  Pin and leave about 2.5" open for turning.  I like to sew from the block side and just sew inside the seam line for the ric rack - that way I know my non matching thread won't show when I turn the block right side out. I sew the backing on first and then I add the batting sewing around the edge again.  Seems like an extra step perhaps but I like the precision of being able to see the line I sewed the ric rack on and if the batting is there I cannot as it is covered.  I like to add the batting on the same side as the block as shown below so the batting seam allowance is not facing the block when turned.  Crazy logic I know, but trust me.


Be sure to leave your batting square square.  You will trim it up later after you have sewn all three layers together.  You will notice that the batting square is cut just a tad bigger than the seam you sewed - this is to cut down on bulk and eliminate the step of trimming it after sewing which is tricky and time consuming.  If you catch nothing else but the corners it is OK. I sew with the batting up, using my 1/4 foot on the edge of the block (turquoise fabric here) and I find that you can snag a little of the batting in the seam as you sew you will be fine.

 



After the three pieces are sewn you need to do some trimming.  You trim the corners to match the block and I also trim away as much of the batting in the corner as I can so it turns easier.  Also you need to clip the seam allowance to minimize bulk at the corners as shown below.  Take care not to cut the seam.

Next up is a little trick to make it easier after your turn the rug inside out.  Grab your Wonder Under fusible web and cut a strip a little longer than your opening and about a 1/2" wide. Press back the seam allowance along the opening.  Lay the strip of Wonder Under along the open edge and over the seam allowance and press the strip along the edge as shown.  When cool, remove the paper backing and turn right side out.  You can use a chopstick or other turning tool to get the corners turned properly and I also find it helps to tug on the ric rack to pull the seam allowance into submission. 

 

Once you have it turned and all the corners look nice you can press the rug, taking care to match up the opening so it looks like a completely sewn seam. 

I decided since the fabric was sew cute that it didn't need much in the way of stitching so I just did two rows - once in the border near the edge and the second in the "ditch" of the center square. 

There you have it - a super cute and easy gift that would be perfect for anyone! 

By this time you are probably wondering about those cookies......

 

Grandma's Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

 Ingredients:


4 1/2 cups flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/2 c. butter, room temp
2 c. white sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tablespoons water
1/2 c. molasses 
White sugar for rolling


 
Preheat oven to 350 °.  Sift together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.
 
In large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and well mixed.  Add eggs and beat till combined; add water and molasses.  Mix well.  Gradually add the dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Using a 1" cookie scoop make a "ball" and place on a wax paper covered cookie sheet or tray.  Place in fridge for about 30 - 45 minutes to firm up.  Once firm roll each ball in white sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2" apart.  They spread.  
 
Bake for 8 minutes in preheated oven, turning sheets at halfway mark. Do not over bake.  Allow cookies to cool on pans for a few minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.  
 
Can be frozen for a few weeks without losing their chewy texture, just be sure container is sealed well.  These ship well (if they last that long) and are always a hit at cookie exchanges.  If you want to skip the rolling in sugar bit you can add a white chocolate disk to the center of each cookie right out of the oven and let melt while cooling and then spread like frosting.  Personally I prefer the sugared version.  Makes 8+ dozen 2 1/2" cookies.


Make a few mug rugs, a batch of cookies and spread some love among your friends - they will have to supply the cup of coffee though!  Enjoy! 
 

Blessings to you and yours during this season of Advent,

Linda T.

 

Virtual Book Tour ~ Pat Sloan

Teach Me to Machine Quilt!

 

Hey peeps just wanted to let 

you in on some fun.    

 

My friend Pat Sloan has a new book that just hit the streets "Teach Me To Machine Quilt" and you can enter to win a free copy as well as some other fun quilty stuff.  Here is a link to her blog where you can enter to win:  http://blog.patsloan.com/pats-mega-fun-book-tour/ check it out!

 

Many of you know I have been teaching machine quilting both on longarm and on domestic machines for nearly 30 years and this is the perfect book for beginners who have never machine quilted or if you struggle with your machine quilting.  There is a lot of information on not only how to, but also batting, thread, needles and even some fun projects for you to try the different techniques on.

 

Project Alert!   

 

Toward the back of the book Pat includes lots of projects from simple table runners to wall quilts to larger throw quilts and even a darling bed quilt.  Some pieced, some scrappy, some applique and there is something for everyone. 

Here is a simple quilted table runner that would be perfect for the upcoming holidays - do it in fun Christmas prints and since it won't take any time at all you can give it to your friends, your hairdresser or anyone you need a quick gift for. 

 If you have a bit more time this darling "Mini Charm Star" quilt is a fun option.  I love the scrappy look of this one and it would look nice on the wall as shown here or even on your table. 

Lastly my favorite quick project in the book is this darling "Dresden Candy Dish" which gives you a chance to show off your newly discovered machine quilting skills in the "white space" around the block and use up some of your scraps since the blades are pieced and the best part, you only have to make one! 
What's not to love about a Dresden right?


So don't forget to enter the drawing for your chance to win the book but also some fun quilty stuff.

Until next time, may your week be full of  blessings from above.

kind regards,

Linda

Applique by machine

My first "selfie" on Youtube!


You all know I love applique and many of you know I only do it by machine with fusible web.  After seeing photos of some of my quilts I got a lot of questions about how I actually do the stitching so here is my first attempt at filming and stitching at the same time.  Sorry for the wobbles but I'm a newbie!!!  There may be more of these so stay tuned!  Give it a try, it's super easy!

Blessings
~ Linda

The Sky is Falling in the Quilt Universe

Is this the beginning of the end for Quilting?

If you follow any of the things published lately on social media you certainly might think so. 


People are talking about the fact that several giants in the industry are closing or streamlining their operations, iconic quilt shops are closing their brick and motor stores (The City Quilter in NYC is but one example) and magazines are shutting down as well.

Quilters Newsletter Magazine is without a doubt the longest operating quilt magazine in America and sadly it will cease operations after the October/November issue. The magazine has been published since 1969 and Bonnie Leman the founder, certainly was a pioneer in the industry when she published her very first issue written on a manual typewriter on her kitchen table. For me the news was a huge shock - I have been a loyal subscriber for most of my 40+ years as a quilter.  I liked that it covered all the news; shows and historical quilts and new products like no other magazine out there.  Granted the revolving door of editors and the constantly changing direction had me questioning my renewal the past few years but I could not let it go. It will be missed.

Earlier this year I published my first ever quilt book with AQS!  I was so excited to share my quilts with the public and it's first outing after being published was Paducah and by all accounts sales were good. 

Imagine my shock when AQS announced just a few short weeks ago that they were getting out of publishing altogether and going to focus on shows and their magazine. Many authors, myself included are caught in the crossfire and may never see much financial reward for their efforts as AQS tries to sell off every book in their warehouse by whatever means they can as quickly as they can. 





Quilt shops all over the country are closing, many owners say they want to retire but if the business was good and sales supported it then why not sell it and the inventory to the next generation of ownership?  So many just go out and very few find new owners which I find telling.  There is a lot of competition from online sellers who have less overhead and don't offer any of the resources or classes that your local quilt shop provides.

So you may be asking yourself "Linda what is the point of your post today?  Well you can bet there is one and it's big!!!

First some facts....

Many quilters are middle age and older - much older in fact. Many have more disposable income and more time as they may be retired or done raising a family than younger quilters.  Some are dedicated quilters who are constantly working on quilts or some aspect of quilting and others used to be but now other life interests or health issues have gotten in the way of being hyper focused on creating quilts.  

Another factor is that quilting is not an inexpensive hobby - you can easily spend $300 or more on a bed size quilt just on the fabric.  If you are raising a family buying quilt fabric and supplies may not be in the budget. 

Still another factor is that we have more than one generation now that was not taught sewing in school.  No Home Ec classes in many schools across the country means that young people are not exposed to sewing or quilting to the degree that the current largest group of quilters was. For example my grandmother was a quilter, my mother was not but she was an amazing seamstress and taught me to sew garments as a young child. I sewed my first skirt at 9 years of age. 


And that ladies and gentlemen brings me to the point of this blog post!!! 

In April of last year I attended MQX East in Manchester NH. They have a cool program where they provide a starter kit of supplies as door prizes specifically with the goal of a seasoned quilter mentoring a young person.  At the banquet on Friday night a table mate won one of the kits and said she didn't know anyone to mentor, she gave it to me. At the same event, my friend Cathy Wiggins won a Janome Gem sewing machine from SewVac Direct and upon learning that I was going to look for a child to mentor, gifted it to me.  I got home from the show and posted on Facebook what had happened and asked if any of my local friends had a child that wanted to learn to sew.  My cycling pal Erik and his wife Susie reached out to me and said their daughter Georgia was very interested and would I be willing to take her on.  Of course I agreed and we met to figure out a calendar.  School got out and Georgia who also goes by G to those that know and love her; started sewing. The first day we made a book bag out of a pair of jeans I had retired and we continued to meet once a week to work on projects. 

Of course the best part of the day is when the cats come to help out.  Georgia loves cats and we spend almost as much time petting them and playing with them as we do sewing. Here she is with her completed book bag - it has two pockets on the outside and one on the inside and is fully lined.  Not bad for a first project.

Summer progressed and Georgia got to the point where she could do the pedal by herself - this was a big step. She made a place mat for her mom who loves baseball and we used some of the decorative stitches on my machine that she picked. 

She does not use the rotary cutter and the iron only with help and supervision.  But each week her skills improve and she is loving it. 

We decided that she was ready to tackle a quilt. Her mom does not sew and would not have the first idea about choosing fabric for a quilt so my vast-will-not-be-used-up-in-my-lifetime-stash came into play.  We went shopping in my stash for the fabrics for the quilt and I will never even miss the fabric and it made it a whole lot easier for G to make her first quilt.  Many of you have a similar stash so mentoring a child can be easy on the parents of the child as they won't have to buy a thing and you probably won't miss it either!!!
We have a mascot - Hello Kitty!  Here is G with her first row of blocks sewn together.  She did all the sewing by herself. Each week we worked on the quilt and it started to come together one block at a time. Georgia was excited with each step of the way and especially as it grew.   



She told me just a week ago as we were sewing blocks together for her first quilt that she did not like quilting.  I said "well I think it's a little late to be telling me this."  She replied "I don't like quilting, I love it!" and that is the reason for this blog post. 

And here she is with the very first quilt she ever made.  She named it Colorful Confetti and we have entered it into the MQX Springfield show in the Kids category.  Next up we have to quilt it.


The bottom line of this conversation is this:

We as seasoned, dedicated quilters have to mentor our youth. We have to help them fall in love with quilting and sewing as we have or yes indeed this quilt industry will die out and the sky will fall. We dedicated quilters are getting older and many make fewer and fewer quilts every year.

We have to discover ways to involve them in projects they can use and that will spark their interest.  Georgia made a book bag, a dress (you know those pre-shirred ones where you sew one seam and add straps), and a place mat all before we even talked about making a quilt.  They were easy projects completed in one day.  She is excited about sewing and wants to try everything.  My big quilting machine is a bit intimidating to her right now but if I know anything about G she will tackle that with gusto as soon as she learns how to use it.


We have the power to interest kids in one of the greatest hobbies and vocations out there.  It teaches them math and perseverance and lets them be creative and is just down right fun to have something you made with your own hands.  Is it easy being the mentor? No.  While G is a delight, she is only 8 and often loses focus, she often gets off track and forgets what she is doing and quite honestly is just a typical 8 year old girl who some days would rather pet my cats.  

Could I do something creative for myself every Monday afternoon? Yes.  Could I spend time on one of my projects versus coming up with something she can do in one session that I think would be fun for her - yes.  But in my opinion that is not what life is supposed to be all about.  We quilters have been given a gift and many of us have had a lot of success and made money from that gift.  For me the gift would be wasted if I kept it to myself.  So for me the verse in Luke is being applied every Monday afternoon as I mentor Georgia and fall a little more in love with this bright little girl that loves to sew and wants to make everything...."To whom much is given, much is required." 


So my friends, save a quilt shop or a book publisher or a magazine of the future by mentoring a child today!  I can tell you first hand - it will be worth it!

~ Blessings,

Linda T.

 

Cutting Loose

Winds of change....

 Some of you will get this....the last week I have been going in and out of my sewing room (the place I make the quilts) and not really getting much done. Sometimes I just go and sit and look at quilt pictures and projects. Other times I was organizing things that really didn't need to be. I've been doing this for a few weeks. I thought it was maybe the "let down" of the book being done. I have been so focused on that, I wondered if now that it is done if there was anything else for me to strive for. 
 
Then I realized that I had this Dr. appointment this week. 23 years have gone by and yet it's there. Funny how it is in the back of my mind. Until you have faced that giant you probably cannot understand. It's not fear - I'm not afraid to die. It's not even about getting sick again. What I discovered it is about is the fact that a lot of years have gone by and I have lived more life than I have left to live. Something about the ski racer turning 60 this year......maybe? I don't know.  What I do know is I'm taking stock and contemplating cutting things loose.  Not just in my sewing room but in my house. I have so many quilts - show quilts and snuggle quilts and quilts I made when I was just starting out (not that many) and my house is full of them.  This list from my insurance agent for my land and sea policy that covers them is 2 pages long. So I have begun to look for ways to cut some of them loose.

So last night I was going through the lovely boxes up on the shelf above my design wall where I store projects in process (see the pic of my sewing room above and imagine about 2x as many as when that pic was taken) and asking myself questions like "do I even like this fabric" or "do I really plan to finish this" and "will this quilt make my heart sing while I work on it?" Honestly there are so many projects (and so much fabric) that I feel the need to clear out. I'm being brutal with the answers and several projects have already been cut loose. Luckily I have a BFF who loves random blocks and makes beautiful things with them so there is no guilt.  I can give them to her and put the rest of the fabric that was set aside back into my stash.

But I think the whole Orlando tragedy, the fact that I'm getting older and that another cancer anniversary have all converged into "what do I want to really accomplish before I leave this earth" and while I don't have the answer I feel energized at the process. Like I don't want to waste a minute.

So I have come up with some questions regarding my quilting; works in process as well as future quilts:

Will it make someone else happy to see it?
Will it make me feel good while creating it?
Is this show worthy? Do I want to invest that kind of time in the quilt?
Who else in my life needs a quilt made by me?
What charity group that I support could use one of my quilts for an auction?
Do I have any bed in my house that could use a new quilt?
Is there another book in me and is this project a candidate?

I have the answers to a few of the questions but time will tell hopefully about the others.  But it does not end here....


I also have a studio.  

My studio is where I quilt and embroider. It is also where a completed top goes and is no longer considered a UFO. I know that's a bit crazy but it works for me.

My "to be quilted" closet is full to the gills. Charity quilts, a few customer quilts and lots of quilt tops I have made over the years that were just for fun and are still not quilted.  Show quilts have a deadline so they get quilted and are not usually in that closet for long. But it's full.  I need to find time this summer to make a serious dent in that closet or cut them loose for someone else to complete.


And then there is the stash!

I have a relatively small sewing room with a large closet - it is full.  I have a cutting table that has a skirt and under the skirt are wire basket drawers that are full.  Bolts are under my sewing table and there are more in the studio that could be backings...... It's starting to come in on me, not so much that I want to get rid of it but more like "Get busy Missy and make some quilts!"   





I have gone through much of it and culled a ton of fabric that is now in bins for use on Quilted EMbrace quilts.  There is so much, I could make hundreds of quilts and probably not make much of a dent.

 And then there are the bins of string strips.  I love making those quilts but how many strings does one girl need?

So I'm reviewing everything.  Deciding what I'm really interested in working on and with and what I need to cut loose!

Now the question goes to you ~ the reader of this blog:   

Have you been where I am and what did you do to navigate it and did it inspire you to new a greater things and more creativity?  Please share below.

~ Blessings
          Linda