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Pimp My Sewing Machine

Wednesday, May 30, 2012 10 Comments »
Geez, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. 

Several months ago --could have been 6-7 months ago -- someone blogged about vinyl decal sheets you could use to decorate your sewing machine.  I'm not talking about the sets of decals used for Featherweight restoration, I'm talking about flames, and art deco swirls and hot-colored flowers.  As I recall, there were even ones suitable for long-arms.

Do you think I can remember who it was that blogged, or what the web site was for the decals?  Nuh-uh.  Gone from my brain like faster than you can spend a $20 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop. 

 
I googled until my fingers were numb, but all I could find was a link to a DIY site where someone used Modge Podge to glue fabric hexies to their bland Singer.  Interesting and colorful, but not what I want.  I respect my Berni too much to deface her permanently.  I'm thinking more along the lines of some removable flames to help ignite my mojo.  Who can help a struggling sister quilter?  Does anyone remember that blog or that site?

Fancy Fleas

Monday, May 28, 2012 3 Comments »
Let me get the apology out of the way:  I'm sorry not to have blogged in months.  No real excuse other than a lack of time and a lack of motivation.  A friend of mine once described it as losing her mojo  -- not sure if it was my mojo that was lost or if my ADQD (Atttention Deficit Quilting Disorder) just stole my focus.  Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things and be a more faithful blogger.

This weekend was spent doing laundry, cooking and sewing. There are tons of projects in the works that really need to get done (there's that ADQD again), but I had some charm packs of Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy that were calling my name, so that's what I worked with.

 

This is the first time I've gone out of the box and let the quilt design itself.  I've never had the guts to wing it before.  I made a ton of HST's, then started arranging them on the design wall.  The result was this asymetrical top.  I like it -- just not sure if I LOVE it.  Wish I'd made it a couple of rows longer.  And I'm not even sure where it will end up.  Could be a baby quilt, or it might be a gift for someone special.  What do you think?

 

Pins and Needles

Saturday, March 24, 2012 3 Comments »

Happy Cottage Quilter posted a link to the Riley Blake website, where a tutorial for a new (and very nifty) pincushion is posted every Friday.  I checked it out, and those pincusions are way cute -- you ought to check it out too!   All of the tutorials have scads of pictures, and can be downloaded as PDFs. 

And there's a tute for the CHICKEN PINCUSHION I love (cackle cackle)!


Triangle Magic

Friday, March 23, 2012 1 Comment »
I do not advertise products, and heaven knows I'm not on the Blogger with Sponsored Producst list.  I am, however, somewhat shameless about passing on information about products that I think are worthwhile and have made a positive inpact on my quilting.  Triangle Magic, by Quilt Pro, is one of those products.

This little software program allows you to print out triangle paper on your own printer for HSTs in finished sizes from 1" to 7", in eighth inch increments.  They are having a sale now;  the program normally costing $19.95 is now $14.95.  If you like using triangle paper to make perfect HSTs, this represents a significant savings over buying individual packs of papers.  In addition, you can print out one sheet, for making just a few HSTs, or scads of them. 

If you have not used triangle papers before, you might want to give it a try.   Yes, you will have the extra step of ripping the paper off the back of the sewn triangles, but the resulting HSTs are perfect -- no wonkiness and no stretching from having sewn on a bias edge.  I would not recommend them if you need to sew just one or two HSTs, but if you need to sew multiples, they are a great way to go.  And with this program, you don't need to  hunt through your collection of assorted triangle papers only to find that you have 20 different sizes EXCEPT the size you need right then; you just go to your printer and print out exactly what you need. 

The triangle grids can be printed on standard computer paper, using a shortened stitch length (makes tearing the papers much easier) but I prefer newsprint, which is available from a variety of souces, including this one.  The newsprint is thinner, and makes the tearing-off process even easier.  Quilt Pro also has a similar program for quarter square triangles, which I have not tried.  Some of their other products include foundation piecing software and add-ons for Carol Doak's foundation pieced blocks. 

Here is that link again:  Quilt Pro Triangle Magic.  Click on the menu items at the bottom of the web page to see full explanations of what the program is and how it works.  If you end up purchasing the program, let me know how you like it!

I need your expert advice...

Sunday, March 18, 2012 2 Comments »

I am working on a king-sized quilt.  It need it to be generously sized, not skimpy.  So how big should it be?   What is a good proportion for an inner and outer border?
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