Category Archives: Notes from a quilter

A big (almost easy) quilt…

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Lorna and Chris have a king size bed and Lorna needs a new cover for it. Not a pieced quilt, but still a quilt. She fell in love with two fabrics that I have (had) on the bolt—one is Tula Pink’s huge dot (printed on wide fabric) and the other is a floral print by Amy Butler  printed on sateen.

After much thinking, I decided that it would be best to make this a quilt without binding. Instead we would layer the top and back right sides together with the batting against the top, sew the edges, turn it inside out, and then quilt it. It was not nearly as easy as it sounds.

We cleared out my living room and vacuumed. Then we placed the batting on the floor. After a few false starts, we did manage to use basting spray to stick the the top to the batting. It took more than an hour and I did let slip a few choice words.

Lorna trimmed the batting even with the edges of the top fabric. Next we placed the backing right side down on the top. I then pulled out all of my mats and many rulers and we squared up the outer edges.

Lorna used Clover’s basting clips to hold all the edges together. I took it to my machine and sewed all the way around this monster, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn it through. This quilt is a lot heavier than I thought it would be.

The walking foot came in very handy.

Lorna had to leave so I trimmed the corners and then turned the whole thing inside out which was surprisingly satisfying.

I tidied and pressed the edges, finished the opening, and top stitched all the way around, 1/2″ from the finished edges.

It’s not done yet because it has to have some quilting. Otherwise the batting will fall apart with use and washing. Steve is going to do a little basting on it this weekend to help keep everything together during the quilting process.

Lorna wants to quilt it and it will be quite a job for a new sewer. We’re thinking of a diagonal grid, between the big dots. I may try to get some of the longest lines sewn for her if there’s time before my foot surgery on December 3. Otherwise I’ll be shouting encouragement from the other room while she sews :-).

Applique in Historic Williamsburg…

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Screen Shot 2015-09-07 at 10.27.18 AM

I hope you can join me February 29-March 5, 2016, at the Academy of Applique in Williamsburg, VA. Registration for classes will open at noon today—click here for registration instructions.

I am just one of a dandy roster of teachers. Between us, we are teaching a variety of applique classes. Click here to open the interactive class schedule.

I hope to see you there!

On filming videos…

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Many of you know that I have a variety of youtube videos online. If not, look for links here at pieceocake.com and on my youtube channel. 

I thought you might be interested to see where I film. As you can see, it’s not fancy:

  
The primary requirement is good light. Surprisingly enough, it’s better if the light is diffuse, and not shining brightly on my hands. 

I’ll be sending a newsletter in a few with a new video and maybe a bit more on the filming process. 

FYI: Work should begin tomorrow on the sprinkler system. I do hope so, otherwise it’s back to a day of moving those hose. 

The Iowa State Capital Building…

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I was told that this was a must-see Des Moines site so yesterday morning Catherine and I went to see it for ourselves.

If you are in Des Moines, you are likely to see the capital’s golden dome gleaming from far away. We took the tour so I can tell you that that is real gold leaf, thinner than a hair, and that it has to be re-applied every 20-25 years.



The architectural details, both in and out, are really amazing and, now that I think about it, the whole place was really clean!

If you look down you’ll notice that the tile designs in the floors are varied and quilt-like…


  
  
But when you look up, your jaw will drop.



If you take the (free) tour, you get to go up to the the balcony high in the dome, just below the banks of lights that illuminate the space. I was standing there when I took the following photo, looking up…


…and then looking down to the floor far below, where the ‘x’ is. That’s a person walking away, to the right of the ‘x’.


Even the smallest details were not forgotten…

door hinge

door hinge

 

thermostat

thermostat

 

window pull

window pull

 

sconce arm

sconce arm

There’s more to share tomorrow but for now let me say that this really is a nice place to visit. Way to go, Iowa!

Keep calm, move fast…

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I set off my oh-shit-o-meter last night. Steve brought me a glass of red wine, setting it down next to my computer, as he does almost every evening. (He is really very good to me.) I knew it was there, the fault was entirely mine when I reached past the computer (exuberantly) and knocked over the glass, splashing/spraying wine everywhere. Well, not everywhere, but there were big drops on the floor as far as 4′ away.

The wine also spilled onto the stool next to the computer. The stool where I stack stuff. In this case, a basted quilt, folded backing side out. This photo is staged—I didn’t stop to take a picture last night. The papers on top of the quilt had been white. They are now seriously wine-stained, along with several other papers that I threw away last night. Luckily nothing much else was damaged.

Oops-01

Steve dealt with everything else while I grabbed the quilt and ran to the kitchen. First I tried drying the backing fabric with paper towels, which sort of worked. But, oh no, the batting was damp!!!

I grabbed a knife (because who has time to hunt for scissors in a crisis) and quickly cut the basting stitches.

Oops-03

I peeled the top back before the wine soaked through to the mostly white quilt top. I found some scissors and whacked out the stained batting.

After I caught my breath, I hand washed the stained backing fabric with Orvus. I was careful not to get it too wet. I didn’t want the wine stain to migrate farther. I can still see a little purple, but no one but me (and you) will ever notice it.

Oops-02

This morning I pulled back both the backing and the quilt top, placing the batting on a cutting mat. I cut a bigger piece of replacement batting and laid it behind the hole.

Oops-04

I used a ruler to cut straight edges through both layers, discarding the excess batting.

Oops-05

Then I basted the edges of the batting together.

Oops-06

I carefully placed the 3 layers together and re-basted that corner of the quilt.

Oops-07

That’s when I noticed a very light stain on some of the turquoise fabric in the quilt top. It wasn’t where the wine hit the quilt and then I remembered that that fabric was stained before I cut it up. I had washed it with something red which had bled, even though I had used a Color Catcher. I didn’t realize until this morning that I had sewn the stain into the quilt.

Oops-08

This stain is almost invisible and I don’t mind it. I suspect it will remind of how lucky I was, this time.

Yet another new iron…

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I recently taught at Quilt Fiesta in Tucson. (It is fun show if any of you can make it next year!) There were lots of quilts, and there were vendors. I walked the vendors at a slow time and darned if Jamie didn’t rope me in…

Jamie-EurosteamIron

How have I missed the EuroSteam booth at every quilt show I have ever attended? Who knows. But this time Jamie had my undivided attention and darned if she didn’t sell me a EuroSteam iron. (Let me just say, she’s good at her job.)

You can buy the iron online, but it’s cheaper at a show. Plus you get to talk to a person who is very familiar with it.

EuroSteamIron-1 copy

This is a heavy iron, which is fine with me. It has a ceramic sole plate that is supposed to never scorch. Dandy! It has an aluminum water reservoir, not plastic, so should last longer.

You see that plastic/silicon thing it’s sitting on? The iron lives there. It should never, ever, be stood up on it’s end. Jamie was very clear on this point. Enough so that I have not forgotten.

Jamie showed me how to use the measuring cup that comes with and was very clear that I should never, ever, (ever!) use distilled water. Irons need the minerals in the water. Without them, they spit (I forget why). There is a very good chance that I have ruined previous irons all on my own by disregarding the instructions to use tap water. The end of the long spout is flexible so that you can fill the iron while it is flat.

EuroSteamIron-2

This iron puts out lots of steam. And it does the job. Here is cotton/linen before:

EuroSteamIron-3 copy

And then after a quick-ish press:

EuroSteamIron-4 copy

The EuroSteam works better than my most recent irons. It cost $200 and, if it continues to work well, I will consider to be money well-spent. If you are interested, look for EuroSteam at your next quilt show and try one before buying.

FYI: If you read the instructions that come with the iron, you will find lots of warnings that lead you to think that if you don’t relieve the pressure in the iron (release steam) every 10 minutes it might blow up. Jamie assured me that I could pretty much ignore that. I didn’t mean to, but I did walk off and leave the iron hot and plugged in, with water/steam inside, for over an hour. It did not blow up. I am not saying that you should ignore the safety warnings, but I personally didn’t let them frighten me off.

And, back to the water: Sherman water is full of appliance-killing calcium and salt. Jamie said to use bottled water if I wanted to, just not distilled. I was about to use what I thought was bottled spring water until I looked at the label and noticed that it said ‘purified’. I googled it and it sounds like purified water has a lot of the particles removed from it, making it similar to distilled water which is not good for the iron. I chose to use tap water instead and will look for bottled spring water for my iron.

And I have promised myself that I will follow Jamie’s instructions and drain my iron when I’m done for the day, every day. Cross my heart :-).