Tag Archives: quilting

Show and tell…

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I have received photos of 3 very different quilts made from Piece O’ Cake patterns recently. I think you all will enjoy seeing them!

The first quilt is Magen’s Flower Garden made by Nadia M., in her own colors. It’s so pretty and I love the way she coordinated the colors between her hex-flowers and the central fabric.

NadiaMassoni-quilt

Linda S. wrote to say that she just finished making Welcome To The North Pole for a friend. She says that this quilt was so much fun and she knows the recipient and her friend will enjoy it for years to come. I would add that everyone who sees it will enjoy it!

LindaSouza-quilt

 

Mannette A. made the next quilt. It’s not from a Piece O’ Cake pattern but she said:

I’m including a pic of my finished quilt that is my first appliqué project. This quilt is hand pieced, appliquéd, and quilted. I would NEVER have attempted the appliqué if it weren’t for your tutorials and advice (not to mention supplies)
Thank you so very much!

ManetteAnderson-quilt

Didn’t she do a great job! And, even though I don’t make them often, I’ve gotta say that I do love to see a quilt made solely from neutrals.

Thank you each for sharing your quilts with us!

Yet another iron bites the dust…

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I’m done with my Rowenta Pro Iron Steam Station (see this post). It works, but the reservoir has an unpredictable leak. When it leaks, it’s more like a flood and that does not mix well with the wood floor below.

Additionally, the Steam Station is slow to heat up (a minor annoyance). Once it is hot, it really puts out the heat. That’s good, except when it’s hot outside which is half the year where I live. When the iron is on, the studio gets uncomfortably warm. And did I mention that this this is big and awkward to store?

I went shopping for a smaller, cheap, reliable iron and got a Black and Decker, model ICR05X. At least it was cheap because it started spitting and leaking water out of the steam holes almost immediately. I am just about disgusted with irons and, if I didn’t have to have one, I would give up.

Luckily, in my last Consumer Reports magazine, there was a short review of irons. Some of the higher-rated irons were light, which they must have considered a plus.

Iron-3

After careful consideration, I bought a Panasonic NI-W950A.

Iron-1

 

The sole plate is pointed in front and back, which I somehow missed when I was shopping. How I missed that I do not know because the photo is huge on the box.

Iron-2

I’ve been using it for about a week and so far, so good. The pointy back is fine—I neither hate it nor love it. The iron gets hot fast, it steams pretty well. It’s heavy, which I view as a plus. I like the way the base of the cord swivels out of the way. It is stable when ‘standing’—more so than most irons.

It has an auto shut off, which I like, and it heats up quickly when moved. Honestly, if there is a year of good ironing from this iron I will be happy. If it doesn’t last, I’m going to consider a classic iron from the Vermont Country Store.

I still wish I had the space (and was willing to spend what it costs) for a Laura Star ironing system. Sigh.

New fabric, big prints…

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If you haven’t looked at the fabric page at pieceocake.com lately, you have missed seeing the big prints that I’ve recently added, along with some interesting smaller-scale prints…

SetGiggles

There are BIG numbers in 4 different colorways, flowers, dots, and more…

SetNavyCross

While I put these together into fat quarter bundles, you can buy them separately. If that’s the case, go to the fabric page and click on the swatch that interests you.

SetWingtree

This is probably the oddest of the fabrics I’ve added. It’s called Junebug, by Alexander Henry. I suspect I will use it on a quilt back, but it could also show up on t a quilt front. In fact, it would be fun to use in the free Really Simply 9-Patch pattern (click here, scroll down, click the link).

JuneBug-400

I put Junebug with a black print and with the saffron Numbers… I have no idea why I like these together, but I do.

SetJunebug

 

I only got one bolt of each of these new fabrics and won’t re-order. If any of them make you happy, order while I have plenty. I’ll send a newsletter in a week or so and there’s no telling how much of any print will be left :-).

An Everyday Best Challenge!

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Valerie Prideaux sent me these photos from a friendly quilt challenge that she and some friends took part in. The quilts were recently displayed at Quilts at the Creek 2014, a yearly outdoor quilt show in Toronto, Canada. Aren’t they great! All the quilts were quilted by Sandy Lindal of Scrappy Gal Quilt Co, who was so busy doing the quilting that she never got hers done.

FYI: I’ve loaded the 6 pictures into a slideshow, which is a new feature I’ve found on WordPress. Hover over the picture and you’ll see a pop-up control bar where you can click to go from slide to slide.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Shirley entitled hers “One Thousand Three Hundred and Sixty pieces of my mind” which cracks me up. I have never taken the time to count the pieces in any quilt I’ve made because, if I knew, I might despair of ever finishing :-).

I do love Valerie’s minimalist interpretation of the design—so very contemporary. Thank you all, for sharing your work!

Chirping pillows…

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Susan (a blog reader) sent me this photo and I thought you all would enjoy seeing her first applique project!

SusansChirpPillows

Susan wrote: “I took parts of your blocks (from Applique With Attitude) and arranged them to suit the shapes of my pillows. I began quilting about a year and a half ago and came across your website quite by accident…..a lucky accident for me! I like applique better than any handwork I have ever done. Thank you for inspiring me…..wish I had your eye for color.

Your work is amazingly bright and beautiful and cheerful, and your website is so easy to navigate and packed with helpful information.  Your tutorials got me off to a good start for the basics of needle turn applique (I “cheat” and use a toothpick.) [FYI—as I wrote to Susan, toothpicks are a great tool and it’s not cheating to use them. It’s just smart :-).]

The buttons on my pillows came from my grandmother’s button boxes,which were an old snuff can and an old baking powder can.  She’s been gone for many years, but she is still with me.  🙂

Thank you for your long-distance help, Susan”

I have to say that I do enjoy getting emails like this. Seriously, who wouldn’t? I’m not saying that to get you all to write to me. No, it’s more of a reminder that we should all, me included, send notes of gratitude. That said, here’s one from me, to you:

Thank you all for taking the time to read what I post. Honestly, it makes my day to know that you all actually do that. I work from home most of the time and our online community is a very nice part of my life. I’ll do my best to not get boring :-).

Have a lovely day…