Black Creek Pioneer Village!

School's out!  June end-of-school madness is OVER!  Yaaaay!!

To celebrate, I took my daughter to Toronto's Black Creek Pioneer Village.  Of course, there was quite a bit of quilty goodness there.  Check out these lovely old Log Cabin quilts!

The first one was in the building with the man making brooms.  He informed me that the Log Cabin design was considered a manly one for a quilt.  It is very scrappy (then again, they all were), with the logs about a half an inch wide, six deep all around the centres- hefty and substantial with all that wool.

The next one I found had traditional red centres.  I couldn't get my grabby paws on it, though.

And look!  A Log Cabin puzzle for kids!  This was part of a hands-on exhibit.  I love how under each "patch" there is a little title of where the fabric came from.  So smart!

I'm really looking forward to teaching my Log Cabin workshop at the workroom this month!  Seeing all these old lovelies was extra inspiring.

Tutorial: Mitered Borders for Quilts

Give your quilt top a classy touch with an elegantly mitered border!  Here's how...

Just work with me for a moment with sketches for the first few steps to get us going.  Step-by-step photos are included.  (Think if it like the opening scenes of The Wizard of Oz in black and white, followed by glorious Technicolor!)

Ready?

Here is your quilt top, face down so I can show you more clearly where you will stitch.

Cut your 4 border strips to the required width.  The examples in the photos are with borders that are 3 1/2" wide.

Now, determine the length of each border strip by adding the length of a side PLUS the width of the border times two PLUS a little extra (a couple inches).  If you have a square quilt, all 4 will be the same.  If a rectangle, then you'll have two short and two long.  But you already figured that out...  never mind...

 

Use a 1/4" seam allowance.  Sew each border strip to its correct edge on the quilt top, right sides together, matching centre of quilt top edge to centre of border strip.  Begin a 1/4" in from the starting end and stop 1/4" from the other end.  You'll have an equal amount of overhang on each end.

Turn over to right side, open out your border and press seam allowance away from the quilt top so it sits under the border.  Press.

Attach opposite edge's border strip in the same way, making sure you start your stitching 1/4" in from starting end and stop 1/4" before you reach the other end.  Turn over, open out border and press away from the quilt top.

Add remaining two border strips the same way.

Now you have all four border strips attached, but with free-flapping ends at the corners.

(Cue the pretty photos...)

Work on one corner at a time.

Overlap the corners, nice and square.

Pin together so they don't shift while you trim.

Trim off extra fabric as shown.  Just trim carefully with scissors and skip the rotary cutter.  Now your two strips will meet perfectly in the corner.

Carefully un-pin so the corner will lie flat while you mark.  On the wrong side of your overlapped corner,  mark a fine pencil line from the outer corner to the inner corner where the stitching line from attaching the border strips form a wee little right angle at the corner of the quilt top.

Now un-lap the corners, fold your quilt top on the diagonal (right sides together) and match up the corners of the border strips.

Pin along the pencil line for stitching, making sure to keep the border seam allowances free where the meet at the corner of the quilt top.  (We want to keep all the seam allowances free and not caught accidentally in other seams.  We are constructing a "Y seam.")

Start stitching at inside border corner (1/4" from the edge) and stitch along pencil line right to outside border corners.

Open out the borders.  Finger-press the corner seam open, then press.

Trim off excess fabric, leaving about a 1/4" seam allowance...

...and VOILA!!  Look at your pretty mitered corner!

Now do three more just like it.  Easy peasy!

New York!

I just got back from a weekend in New York! Wheeeee!!! A friend and I had been talking about going forever, and so we had to jump on the opportunity when her friend generously offered to host the two of us for a weekend.

Where to begin? Purl Patchwork in Soho, Kate's Paperie, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building- I could go on and on (and on...)

This is Robert Rauschenberg's "Bed"- painted on a quilt.

Everything was fabulous and exciting, but I have to say that the art museums were overwhelmingly awe-inspiring. After all those Art History slide lectures back in art school a million years ago, to see many of those famous works in person was just incredible. Walking through was like, oh look! Famous painting! And another! And another! And, hey, I wrote a paper on that! And, oh! I didn't realize how gigantic that piece is in real life!

Utterly amazing.

Betrayal!

I noticed a while back that Coats & Clark had done a huge overhaul of their threads, with brand-new display racks and a new spool design. C & C thread has always been my favourite thread for general sewing and quilting. I loved visiting the fabric store on a thread-buying mission, and seeing row upon lovely row of delicious colour, made even more appealing with their slight, shiny-cotton sheen.

When the switch-over to the new look happened, many shops tossed all their old C & C spools in clearance bins and marked them down. I stocked up.

Today, after looking through my thread stash and not finding the colour I wanted, I headed out to Fabricland, and bee-lined to the Coats & Clark rack. As I was holding up spools next to my little fabric swatches, I noticed an odd thing- the thread was all sort of dull. No hint of shiny-cotton sheen. Hmmm...

Then I took a closer look, first at the rack labels, then at the paper spool sticker... My beloved Dual Duty was no longer composed of cotton-wrapped polyester, but was now "polyester-wrapped polyester." WHAAAT? The entire display was now 100% polyester!! And dull, dull, DULL!! My choices are now 100% polyester (which boasts the biggest variety of colour), various weights of 100% cotton (not always a fave), and one small section of the old cotton-wrapped polyester, which is labeled for machine quilting, and only comes in a comparatively few colours.


Look at the bigger spool (the dull "polyester-wrapped polyester"- redundant!) compared to the smaller spool (shiny and pretty). Also witness the tragic black "X" on the little spool- the mark of clearanced, unwanted thread!!

I really really liked the old, slightly shiny threads. Why, why, WHY? I'm sure my indignation will fade eventually, but for today, I'm crabby and resentful.

What's the deal, Coats & Clark?!

New Things

An envelope from eQuilter is like Christmas, only better!! This Paris print made my heart skip a beat, and I had to jump on it! And there's a few other prints in there, too... ahem...


A trip to Cloverdale Sewing Centre for snaps only resulted in a few other tiny, happiness-making purchases, too. New sewing machine needles- totally necessary. But this little wee tin that houses a measuring tape? Had to have! I'm a sucker for a cute tin!!

Double Wedding Ring

Okay. The show is up, and I can start digging through the stash again. Bliss! My first order of business was an idea that has been buzzing in my brain since the fall. On one of my visits to the ever-delightful Quilt Sundays at the workroom, I got into more than one conversation about a certain popular quilt pattern that looks absolutely fantastic, but turns out to be challenging to make. Make that extremely challenging. Challenging as in "I'm losing the will to ever sew again."

Not on my watch. No, Ma'am.

How about this: Easy. Quick. Fun. Yes, I'm talking about the diabolical Double Wedding Ring!! I have tamed the beast! This evil Bridezilla has been cut down to size and made simple and fun. In fact, this just might be the new "potato chip" of my quilting repertoire. I can't stop at just one!

This is destined for a class at the workroom... Wheee!

The Big Show!

Hey, everyone! Contrary to popular belief, I have not dropped off the face of the earth...

I've been getting ready for my solo quilt show at Greenwood Quiltery!! Hooray!!

It's running from January 14th through February 28th, and I'll be there this Saturday the 17th from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. So, drop by and say Hello and eat some snacks! Or I will have to eat them all myself, and that is never a good thing. Plus, you can check out this lovely shop with bolt after bolt (and skein after skein) of gorgeousness.

And... Happy New Year! I resolve to be a better blog poster and also to carry fewer bags around with me. Lately I've been feeling like a pack mule on a mountaineering expedition. Too many bags!! Edit, Johanna, edit!!

See you Saturday!

Janome love

Remember this?

This quilt is the one I was honoured with a Judge's Choice award from fibre artist Anna Hergert at the 2008 CQA National Juried Show. Since Janome sponsored the award, my quilt is now on view on the Janome Canada website! Yay Janome! And thanks!

A place for everything...

With new craft obsessions come specialized tools and accoutrements. (And, in my case, random embroidery floss purchases. Can't... resist... pretty colours...) Since I end up stitching in the living room, my supplies should be attractively housed, no?


So... embroidery box! I started with a naked, plain wooden box, painted it, glued on some cut-outs from an old pattern envelope and some Martha Stewart craft paper, and now my stitching supplies are stored in style.


I splashed out and bought a flower-shaped Martha craft punch to use, too. I couldn't help myself. (It is so much fun to play with!)

Obsession du jour

After spending my crafty time this past spring/summer attempting to clear the backlog of incomplete quilty projects, I found myself in need of a breather. Not a non-crafty breather (that's crazy-talk!), but a change-up from patchwork. Something new...

...like cross-stitch and embroidery!

The embroidery and I are getting along like a house on fire, let me tell you. I started off with a wee tiny alphabet sampler, then moved on to two small Halloween projects from the "Just Cross Stitch" Premier Halloween Issue. Now I'm blazing along on a much larger project (which is a gift, so I can't show it) and getting others cued up and ready to roll.

Meanwhile, I also did a freestyle embroidery "sampler" (one floral design that used lots of different stitches), which I really enjoyed working on.

I have to say that thinking about fabrics and threads in a whole new way is a great, gulping lungful of fresh air.

It's that time.

What time is it, you ask? Why, it's Sampler Class time! My seven-week intensive quilt/fabric/colour love-in is about to begin at the workroom! The bolts of fabric will be flying, my friends, flying!

One of the many things I enjoy about teaching this class is finding out how each person decided to take the class and what they bring to it. Some have dabbled in quilting before, others have been focused on garments, and some are brand-new to sewing in general, all of which I find extremely interesting.

So, welcome Sampler students! We're all going to have a great time!

New Season, New Tote!

My IKEA fabric bag was looking entirely too summery, plus I'd made it on the big side. By the end of August it was starting to annoy me with its too-large interior and non-divided outer pocket.

This bag was made with a vintage kitcheny print and a lovely chunk of a Japanese cotton/linen cross-stitch print. It feels great to wear and it's just the right size.

I'm ready for my favourite season now; bring on the pumpkins and changing leaves!

9 Patch class!

Hello, all! Back at last, after all the start-of-school rush and bustle.

I can't believe my three-week 9 Patch class at the workroom is already finished; it just started! What a lot of fun! I get a huge kick out of seeing what fabrics students bring in to work with. Everyone came away with a really lovely quilt, including Josephine, who blew me away with her sheer ambitiousness and the joyful and unexpected choice of classic red and white gingham for her background. This baby is quadruple the size of the class sample!

You GO, Josephine! Well done!

Stuff With Scraps #4

Still continuing my quest to complete half-done, orphaned projects into finished pieces...

The scrappy strips in the centre panel came from the cut-away backs of appliqued fan blocks. The chunks were too big to just chuck in the garbage in good conscience (and the fabrics were really really nice), so- a few long seams here, and some rotary strip-cutting there, and voila!

Pillow tops are a great place to try out some experimental, improvised machine quilting. I like the look of contrasting quilting threads, and I had such a good time on the top I totally quilted the backing, too. All that quilting makes the finished pillow very "tactile"- the kind of thing you want to just hold on your lap and pet...


Umm... that was too much information, wasn't it?

Yo-Yos for Misers...

Don't hate me because I'm thrifty... Did I just say "thrifty?"

Make that cheap.

I've had an idea lately for a project involving yo-yos of different sizes. Having made a few the traditional way (a bit tedious), I was eyeballing the yo-yo maker gadgets at Michaels. They have them in a few different sizes...

for twelve bucks each... HELLO!!

There must be a better, cheaper way, my friends, and I have found it!

So get out those plastic yogurt and margarine container lids, because I know you save your empties, right? Right! Here we go...

[For another project, I had used a compass to draw circles (2", 3", 4") on cardstock and cut them out. Yay! Headstart!]


I traced a circle onto the back of a yogurt tub lid with an Ultra Fine Sharpie marker.


Cut out the plastic circle.


Using a single hole punch, notch out little bites of plastic at north, south, east and west on your disk. Just eyeball it; it will be fine.


Now, make notches in between the ones you just made...


...then notch between those notches. What we're looking for is evenly spaced notches about 1/4" to 3/8" apart. For a larger circle, you might be dividing the space between notches into thirds.


Punch 3 or 4 holes into the centre of the disk (or as far into the disk as your punch will let you reach).


Take some little sharp scissors and trim off those tiny sharp points of the notches so they won't catch on your fabric.


Your yo-yo maker is finished!! Now let's make a yo-yo...

Pin through the holes to secure the fabric to the disk.


Trim seam allowance to about 1/4" to 3/8".


Fold the seam allowance over the notched edge of the disk with your thumb.

With a threaded, knotted needle, take a stitch through both layers of fabric in the space of one of the notches.


Skip to the next notch space, and take another stitch.


Continue around the disk, taking a stitch in each notch space, and end up taking another stitch in the notch space you started in.


Push the needle through the seam allowance once again so the thread is trailing from the right side of the fabric circle.


Put down your needle and ease the disk out of the fabric circle you just stitched.


Gently draw up the thread, gathering the edge of the circle into a darling little pouch.


Holding tight, take a couple tiny back stitches, pull them snug...


... and then push the needle back through to the inside of the yo-yo to hide the thread end. Snip the thread.


Push the gathers flat and shape the yo-yo with your fingers.


There you go! You made a yo-yo for free!! Wasn't that fun? Yahoo for yo-yos!!