Episode 111: I’m a Craftsy Girl!

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Yep, I’ve started my class, Beyond Basic Machine Quilting. Here’s the practice top for quilting:

IMG_0415I didn’t notice that spot until this very second. It must be Best Press, because it’s not on there now.

Anyway, clearly that’s the wrong choice for the outer border, but since this is a practice quilt, I’m moving forward. Nonetheless, I would love to hear what you think the right choice would have been. Live and learn, I say!

Tami asked for the pattern for the Irish Chain quilt. Here it is:

http://www.simplicity.com/t-free-quilt-patterns-Irish-Chain-Quilt.aspx

0 Replies to “Episode 111: I’m a Craftsy Girl!”

  1. Okay.. this is my own personal opinion so take it with a grain of salt…. I personally do not like grey and brown tones together… I think they clash. I do not even like greys with beige or off white. I think it looks better with a bright white. For dark values for the grey, it would be better with charcoal or black.

    I also think there is a VALUE problem … as both colors seem to read medium; although the brown batik is lighter than the grey. I would have gone with a much darker shade of the grey ( Yes, I see green tones to it but still looks grey.) or a black instead of the brown batik.

    This is just my opinion.

    Nonnie

    I will be back after I finish listening to the podcast.
    .
    .

  2. Glad to hear Will’s team won their game. I remember many a good and bad coach. Eric refs U8 basketball now and tells lots of funny stories about the players and coaches.

    Glad to hear you got your own iPad. I love mine.

    All the best.

  3. Hi Frances, I like your quilt top. If you use orange thread or variegated orangy thread for quilting I think it will be fine and lovely (Just an idea.) I use 505 Spray Baste for small quilts. When you said how much it cost, I was shocked and thought – wow – it is expensive on the East Coast. And then I looked at the sticker on my bottle and it WAS $15.99. When did it get so expensive? I think I used to spend $9.99 for it at my LQS. I doubt I will get another bottle – that is way too much $$ and I am retiring soon – so definitely not where I want to spend my dollars.

    Cindy Needham teaches her students to use Vanish Lite to further or second baste small quilts in a grid. First you pin the quilt. Then you use the Vanish thread to baste the quilt in a grid pattern a few inches or so apart and remove the pins as you do the second baste. The thread baste holds it together for even very tiny quilting designs that pull on fabric. After you are done quilting, a warm bath dissolves the Vanish.

    I feel a little nostalgic warmth when you speak of teens and how much they enjoy their mothers. I remember once saying, “Don’t you roll your eyes at me. I saw you roll yours eyes at me.” I think the teen told me he was getting an eyelash out of his eye. And then he rolled his eyes again. Little….angel!

  4. A word of caution about spray baste. My old machine did just fine with it. My newer machine HATES it. There’s not really a good way to get it off of a quilt that isn’t finished, so be sure to do some sandwich tests before putting it on a quilt you care about. Also, everyone I know who uses it swears by the 505. I think you may regret saving a couple of dollars and going with the cheap stuff. Better to just stick with your pins.

    As for your practice quilt, I agree with Nonnie. I think it’s more of a value problem than anything else. Also, that big blank space you are saving for quilting looks very plain right now. Maybe use a high contrast thread to give it interest. This will have the added bonus of making your successes and challenges more visible and easier to correct.

  5. I’ve used spray baste for years. I almost invariably use it for smaller projects because it’s much faster and some art quilts have too much going on to be able to pin easily. I also really hate having pins in my quilt while I’m quilting–they sometimes catch on the edge of my cabinet and cause me to skip stitches, plus the time involved in getting them in and getting them back out slows me up too much when my time for quilting is often too short to begin with. I use pins a lot too, don’t get me wrong. I just prefer to use spray baste when I can. I’ve read about using water soluble thread to baste but haven’t tried that yet and that wouldn’t work on quilts I don’t want to wash. I agree with Quiltin’ Jenny–if you’re going to buy it, spring for the 505. It’s worth the cost to have it work as well as it does. I’ve never really tracked how long one canister lasts but it seems to be a decently long time–you don’t need to use much for it to hold. I think I’ve only bought one canister a year on average but don’t quote me on that! The other spray bastes don’t work at all, in my experience. 505 held a quilt firm for me for several months until I was able to get back to it. I can’t, of course, speak to archival matters yet so that’s something to consider. Ask me again in 30 years. 🙂 And for what it’s worth, I actually think your practice quilt could work very nicely as-is if you’re using a contrasting thread (white? light yellow/orange?) for the quilting. I don’t really think you can judge this one until it’s quilted, since it’s all about the quilting!

    1. Greetings from the Texas Coast, On my computer I only see only see a sea of green and a gray green at that. I am a great fan of green but I think one can have too much of anything even greens. Kinda like my opinion of Pea Soup…..should have left it at just peas…..
      Know this:
      I did a Triple Irish Chain for my MIL ….I used a royal- purple and yellow floral print…and yellow and purple blocks as the go- with fabrics.. I was so good at matching my colors that my Sweet GiGI thought the back was front….all that piecing and cutting and the whole cloth back made more of an impression on her than the front did. shelly beth
      works on facebook fibermoon
      flickr fibermoon and or shelly grappe

  6. Hello Frances! I’ve enjoyed your podcast for a while now (enjoyed is too mild a word….I absolutely LOVE your podcast). This is my first time commenting.
    I’m a fellow quilter. I’ve been a sewist for many years, but only began quilting about 3 years ago. Not sure what took me so long!
    Just wanted to say thank you.
    Angela
    (i’m also a hobby cartoonist, which is what my link is to)

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