Episode 187: Follow the Wonk

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vfwstarquilting1

Straight-line quilting–it’s all the rage!

bita2

The blocks are piling up for my Civil War-era Birds in the Air quilt!

(Please overlook the threads–they will be snipped.)

 

Jacquie Gering’s Craftsy Classes:

Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot

Next Steps with Your Walking Foot

I’m taking the first one now; the second comes highly recommended by a lot of people I know.

 

Jaye’s method for making half-square triangles can be found here: http://www.artquiltmaker.com/blog/2011/09/triangle-technique/

Books:

Marie Bostwick’s new book: From Here to Home, the sequel to Between Heaven and Texas.

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

You Should Pity Us Instead by Amy Gustine

15 Replies to “Episode 187: Follow the Wonk”

  1. I took DEBBIE CAFFERY class on craftsy on learning to cut and it really improved my cutting techniques. Frankly I have enjoyed 90% of all my classes on Craftsy.
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  2. Listening to the podcast between tasks ….
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    Jenny Beyer …. said she made spit knots … like the ones we were taught as kids on her cD …. the kind I still make when I sew my bindings. I learned the QUILTER’s KNOT but always forget about it and revert to spit knots when I sew.
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    Difference between quilting and knitting ( yes it is snarkey) Quilting has museums dedicated to the craft…. never saw a museum dedicated to knitting. WITH quilts you do not have to worry about fitting over the hips …. with knitting things often do not fit.
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  3. From what I have been reading on line that MODERN QUILTERS do not like the muddy colors that is found in batiks …there was a discussion about this on FB earlier this month….. ModQuilters want what they called is CLEAR COLORS and that is one of the reasons they like using solids. They also seem to gravitate toward the MODERN fabric designers such as TULA PINK, ANNA MARIE HORNER … they are very brand conscious.

  4. Hello Miss Frances – you are lucky I love you so much because my comment was just eaten and sent to the place where un-posted comments go to die and I usually walk away when that happens…
    None the less, here is a link to the quilt knot tutorial I followed in 2005 when I started quilting. I not have forgotten it nor the source since then, which says a lot because I do forget everything.
    http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/my_favorite_knot/knot1.html
    PS. I just copied this comment so if it gets sent away again, I will simply paste.

  5. Well, I thought I was behind since I saw 4 comments, but when I saw they were all from Nonnie I didn’t feel as bad. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Remember to make visual decisions visually. Once you do your straight line quilting, look at the spaces and try some designs with a chalk pencil.

    How did you and the Man actually start talking if you are both introverts? Were you introduced?

    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t run yourself down. We all make mistakes because we are distracted. Have you listened to Pam’s latest podcast? Also, you are a big picture person. The little details like the size of blocks is a detail that your liberal arts brain has to stop and be focused on. I know this because this is how I am as well. I work the way I work – on many projects at once – because I also have the liberal arts/big picture brain. If you saw me reading patterns you would think I had no reading comprehension whatsoever. You are awesome. Work the way you work not the way you think you should work.

    Please don’t make a decision about the symposium when you are tired and have had a lot of interactions with people. I don’t think that is the best time for you to be making decisions. You will learn a lot and I think it will be good for you to go, not only to learn, but to hand out cards and marketing collateral for your book.

    Donation quilts are great for practicing a lot of techniques and patterns including free motion quilting. A very smart lady said “The Muggles Don’t Know”. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    How did you and Joann get back in touch? Were you in touch all this time? So nice that you didn’t cringe meeting each other again.

    Thanks for your kind words about my comments. I love it when you review comments. You sound like you genuinely love your listeners and I know you do.
    Have a great weekend.
    Jaye

  6. hi, frances! you mentioned that you were messy, and as a fellow messy, i wanted to share a quote that i have hanging in my sewing room…”one of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”

    this may be my first comment to actually make it to you…there have been dozens before this, that may or may not have been written down. i love your podcast and as far as i’m concerned, you can ramble away! you are fine company for my quilting adventures! can’t wait to read the new book, too.!

  7. Just wanted to let you know what a good influence you are on my quilting. I completed a quilt top today and before I went to the next step of making the backing, I made the binding, pressed it and stored it so it will be all ready when I get there. It may show what a good influence you are on me or how much I hate making pieced backings. Let’s go with the former, shall we.

  8. I have to say that I am an introverted- self- taught- at- many- things too. I am left handed. I think we have to approach things differently, lol. I am new to your podcast and I am enjoying it. I wanted to say that the straight line quilting is very nice on your star pictured on the blog. I thing straight lines are the hardest thing to do! You should be proud of what you have learned and don’t demean yourself in saying “self taught” skills. I have only taken a couple of quilting classes over the decades and most of what you need to know you already have in your heart ! I love hand quilting but I have had to give it up due to arthritis and now i longarm, a very nice blessing from my mother. Frances, I feel your pain on getting out with others, it is truly exhausting!!!!

  9. The straight line quilting is perfect for this! You are right about straight being the hardest – it is the most obvious if it isn’t perfect. I took a longarm training class so that I could (in theory!) use the machine at my LQS and that was one thing the instructor told us. She said straight lines are the last thing we should try unless we use the rulers or some other feature that I can’t remember now.

    I had other comments but I listened two days ago and am just now getting around to posting so I can’t remember them all!

  10. Hi Frances, I was having a Frances marathon today, starting with this episode ๐Ÿ™‚ So nice to see your quilting, you made the perfect decision to use the straight line method. I am intrigued, and thinking about using straight lines on a quilt I’m planning to make for my sister. Just a one big block quilt, on a navy-ish, or dark blue background.

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