Guild Day

Well, my friend Colleen was here and is gone again. We had a great visit. It’s a new week, and today was guild day. I belong to Piecemaker’s Quilt Guild of Calgary and I always enjoy guild day. We get together, do a little business, visit some friends, but best of all is Show and Tell. I’m never more inspired than I am after a quilt guild meeting. There are always such wonderful things. Bright bold colors, subtle patterns, geometrics, florals … so many projects to delight the eye and rev up the mind.

So this afternoon, it will be back into the studio to work on a few projects. Sandra, your quilt goes on the machine next and I’ll fetch it over to you as soon as it is finished. Those of you who are thinking of calling me about booking your holiday project in had better call soon. I have nearly twenty drop-offs this week and the schedule is filling fast.



Bali Briefcase by
Aunties Two



But first, I’m going to putter away on some of my own things. Maybe my cat quilts, maybe my fish applique quilt. Nope, better get my Bali Briefcase finished. I took a class from Marge Tucker at My Sewing Room. Fabulous store and Marge is a great teacher. She is knowledgeable and patient. Especially with those of us who simply cannot make a pattern as it stands. I can’t help myself I alter everything I make. Maybe an extra pocket, an extra row, a different border…

The briefcase is for my sister and I should try to finish it before I see her again. The pattern is by Aunties Two and is fabulous. The instructions are easy to follow, but man oh man does it ever use a lot of thread. I used nearly two full 1000-meter spools of cotton. Now, mine won’t look like the picture here, mine is purple. A purple briefcase… I can just see your shudders. But, sister-mine loves purple. When I give a gift, I want you to love what you get. My other sister wanted a black and pink quilt and that’s what I made her, it just took some time.

I am looking forward to Friday evening. My good friend Allison of Needleworks here in Calgary is having her open house to celebrate their new location. They are now at #10B - 6219 Centre Street N. (just south of 64th Avenue and Centre Street.) The open house runs from 6 to 8. Cake, coffee, prizes and I am guessing maybe some specials too. I can’t wait to be there to visit with my old quilting friends and to meet some new ones. Curious about the new Elna sewing machines too. Stop by on Friday night and see what’s happening.

 QUESTION OF THE DAY: What are you working on? Is your Christmas sewing finished yet?

Displaying Your Quilts

My (as yet un-quilted)
Gordian Knot Quilt.

I’m curious about how you display your quilts. There is always the usual layout flat on the bed. But what about quilts that aren’t meant for beds? What about wall hangings and lap quilts?

I have a few quilts simply pinned to the walls, but they are small and aren’t going anywhere. There are two lap quilts in the living room. One hangs on the back of the couch and the other on hubby’s recliner when they aren’t in use. I store customer quilts that are completed and waiting to go home on top of a lovely antique trunk I picked up in Herbert, Saskatchewan at the Trading Post.

I’ve got lovely shelves with rods under them in my studio that hold quilts. The advantage of these is that it is easy to change out the quilt. You can extend the rod if the quilt is longer than the shelf and center the quilt if it is smaller than the shelf. I’ve even got two quilts on one hangar, side by side. I have a cute quilt rack that my friend Colleen gave me. There are quilts on shelves and quilts on cupboards, quilts hanging on the walls of local shops and don’t even get me started on the piles of table runners.                                                                                            



The Rack Colleen Gave me.
With my rack of quilts to do
for customers behind it.



What I am thinking here is that I may need a better system for storage of those not on display. Maybe a ladder-type rack that holds six or seven quilts all at the same time. Clearly, I need to get after nagging Darling Hubby. He should be busy making me a quilt stand, a ladder stand, another one of the shelf racks for by the front door …. Well, you get my point.

Its funny, all these quilts and not one that fits MY bed. Hmmm.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is your favorite way to store quilts? Do you have a favorite rack? E-mail me a picture and I’ll post it on my blog (and maybe show it to DH to inspire him.) emailcath@shaw.ca

Stability



Chris Moose.
I appliqued this little fella as
part of my Calendar Critters
Series.



When I do machine applique, I like to back the project with a stabilizer to keep it from shrinking up and puckering. For most applications my favorite is a heavy weight tear away stabilizer. For this, I’m not brand fussy. I simply check to ensure that it will tear away nicely and if it does that’s good enough for me. Because it is not remaining in the project, often a generic or cheaper version will serve as well as the top end products.



I like the tear away stabilizer because I rarely wash my finished projects immediately. (I believe that my studio is clean and neat and that the project is not getting dirty while I work.) The advantage of tear away is that I can tear away it off, add the blocks to the quilt and finish up. Viola. It is done. When tearing away, if you are having trouble tearing, place the tip of your finger against the edge of the stitching and tear with your other hand. This will support the stitches enough to get the ripping started. Tiny bits that are left behind in tight spaces can be pulled away with tweezers or left behind.



Some projects require different types of stabilizers. There are wash away, iron away, cut away, and fusible stabilizers. Fusibles stay in place when the project is completed, adding stability to the finished project. This is fabulous for embroidery on very lightweight fabrics. The fusible helps support the embroidery and prevents distortion of the item.

Iron away turns into a fine ash when heated with the iron and brushes off. I’m not sure what the application for this would be. Cut away can be cut away from behind an applique and the remainder will soften in the wash. It allows you to add a lot of stitching and trim away the excess, but leave the stabilizer behind your work. Wash away will wash away in the laundry. It is great for projects you plan to shape. Instead of washing it away fully, you rinse lightly and shape the object while still sticky. It dries like a starched object.

Now, go and applique or embroider something. I want to hear about what you are working on.

Today I want to discuss the role of quilting in your life.

For me, quilting is my business. It is my bread and butter. It puts food on the table and gas in the furnace. Most importantly, it pays for my addictions. Yes, I’ve said it. I am addicted to fabric. And, silly me, I just tried out a new craft, card making and I think I could become addicted to that too, but more on that another day.

As you know, I am a long arm quilter. I stitch the layers of quilts together for other people. There is a real satisfaction when someone gasps in happy astonishment when I layout their newly quilted project for their viewing. Occasionally they tell me that they hated the quilt before dropping it off, but love it now. I guess that means I must have done something right.

This week, one customer told me that she hated the quilt when she dropped it off, but doesn’t hate it as much now that it was quilted. I’m damned with faint praise. Actually, she was quite pleased, but like all of us, simply had a project whose results didn’t quite rise to its expectations. I am glad that she felt it improved. She’s gone from throwing it away, to giving it away. That’s a huge jump.

I am also a pattern designer. When I finally admitted to myself that I was incapable of finishing a pattern without altering the layout, borders, or entire design, I decided that maybe I should just do my own thing. Sometimes I can create without a pattern. I just pick out the fabrics and make it up as I go along. Usually, I sketch something out and go from there. Occasionally, I design in EQ7. It’s a fabulous program. But usually I have a basic image in my head before I hit the computer. If I don’t, I end up with dozens of variations on a theme, none of them quite right.

But to me, the most important part of this whole quilting thing is the quilting itself. Now by that I don’t mean the stitching of the layers together. I mean the whole deal. Choosing fabrics, stroking fabrics, designing layouts, selecting colors, cutting, piecing and quilting. Yup, I even enjoy binding now that I have it figured out. The whole thing is like breathing to me. Rarely does a day go by without me working on one project or another. It might be cutting, or a little sewing. On vacation, I wasn’t able to quilt at all, but that didn’t stop me from taking pictures of floors, woodwork, tiling, and other things which might translate into a quilt design. You should see the floors in the Louvre!

Lately, its been mostly hand work. I’ve got a couple of hand applique projects on the go and I like puttering away on them while resting in the evening.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What drives your quilting? What motivates and inspires you?

Celebration!!

Congratulations to my quilting friend Heather McArthur of QUILTERS CONNECTION Magazine. She was awarded the City of Coquitlam sponsored Entrepreneur of the Year Award. That's just so exciting.

I first met Heather at Quilt Canada 2010 in Calgary. She's bubbly vivacious and a whole lot of fun. Her knowledge of quilting is astounding and she always has something interesting to say. She is the brains and brawn behind Quilter's Connection Magazine.

Have you ever read her magazine? It is one of only two that I subscribe to. I love it. Its one of the few magazines I read cover to cover. It has articles, patterns, tips and information galore. And its CANADIAN too. Does it get any better than that?

Check out the magazines web page at http://quiltersconnection.ca/. When you sign up, you also get her e-mail newsletter. Its FREE!! And is chock full of patterns and information.

Check her out. You'll be glad you did.