Thursday, September 23, 2010

New Ideas.....

If you ever have the opportunity to take a class from Pam Clarke, I highly recommend it. Today I took two classes from her at the Portland Quilters Expo. She has a machine quilting technique that is unique. It is called Lines by Design, and wow was I impressed. This is her websitehttp  http://www.homestitches.com/  .

Today I saw some amazing quilts. The vendors were great as always. I found a cute little pattern and some quilt stencils, and some thread at a great price. I also ran into several quilty friends.

And now I need to finish binding my daughters quilt to take to Denver this weekend.I will post pictures when I get the binding done. I leave you with a picture of a great quilt from the the Expo. I loved this quilt!



                                                                                                         Jeri

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Today.....A little applique.....

Today I finished putting the pieces on the center medalion of my quilt along piece. Next we stitch it down. I think I will use a brown thread to define the pieces. Here is a picture of it with the border pieces. I am still trying to figure out what to use in the outer edges.....


Here is a link if you want to join in, or just want to see what the others look like.

http://patsloan.typepad.com/quiltershome/pat-sloans-lucky-charms-sew-along-part-3.html

OOOOOOh I am liking this so far................ Jeri

Monday, September 13, 2010

Yellow Brick Road Quilts

Tomorrow I will be sending these two quilts off to my sisters. They made them over the summer and sent them to me to quilt. I enjoyed quilting them. I simply stippled them, and am happy with how they turned out.


This is Jills'




and this one is Judys'

Hope you enjoy them girls!   Jeri

Friday, September 10, 2010

Bias Bars

Today I am working on part of a Quilt Along project. http://patsloan.typepad.com/quiltershome/pat-sloans-lucky-charms-sew-along-part-1.html. This next part calls for an appliqued piece. I haven't done any applique in a while, so this should be fun. So far this is where I am.....


That large piece in the center is where my applique will go.To make stems in an applique piece you typically use a bias strip because it is flexible and can curve. The quilt along called for a 1/2" bias tube maker made by Clover. Instead of going out and buying another notion, I decided to use what I had. I have these metal bias bars that I bought many years ago and have only used once or twice. I also have a plastic version, but I like these. They work well and are easy to use....


 

This set includes a 1/2" one which is what I needed. The directions are simple.

First you cut your fabric at a 45* angle to start hour strips.



Use the 45* marking on your ruler and line it up with the straight edge of the fabric, then cut along the straight edge. This makes a nice bias cut to make your strips out of.



In order to make my bias tubes 1/2" I cut the strips at 1 3/8". You then sew these strips right sides together with a 1/8" seam. Place the bars inside the strips and press the seam open down the center of the strip. Carefully move the bar up the strip as needed until you get to the end of the tube. Be careful cause these babies get hot! I like to use steam in my iron as well.



This only took me about 20 minutes and I have more than enough bias strips to make my applique stems.



More on this project later.......I have to finish quilting my sisters' quilts......Jeri

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Sock Monkey 2

I have started to put blocks together for a second scrappy "sock monkey" quilt. I started making crumb chaos  blocks and finished this quilt......


It contains a few scraps of sock monkey fabrics and I intended it to go to my daughter, but I took it to work and someone offered to buy it, so........ I sold it ! I had also made enough extra blocks to make a second one and so today I am finishing the second version.......



A few more blocks to add to this quilt.....



I have decided to make this one a little wider. It's almost ready to quilt.


I even had a little help with fabric selection today! :)

 
(sorry this is sideways, I can't figure out how to fix this)


and I also had time to finish this bag. I had made one for my daughter and thought I needed one too.





The weather has changed here to cold and wet. It makes for a nice day to sit and sew..../Jeri