Squaring-up Backing Fabric

Cowtown Quilts7 Comments

For those of you who don’t quilt on a large quilting machine frame, it is extremely important that when you attach the quilt top to the frame, the first thing you do is to first makes sure the backing is squarely attached to the frame.  Then the batting needs to be centered on that and then add the quilt top.  Make sure the quilt top is squared up as much as possible and then keep it squared up as you unroll the top during the quilting process.  But, like I said, MAKE SURE THE BACKING IS SQUARE!  It’s the foundation for the finished quilt.

But, how on earth do you square up backing fabric that is 118″ wide?  I ran into this problem recently and was met with a few problems.  First off, you get the fabric folded up several times, and it’s not folded up enough for your 24″ ruler to span across.  I felt very confident when I had added plenty of extra fabric and then cut the fabric.  When I was ready to attach it to the leaders, this is what I found.  Yikes!

back fabric squaring 004

 

So, how do I fix this?  It is too wide for my ruler to fit across and too big for my multiple cutting mats, too, if I open up the fabric at all.  So, I tried tearing across the fabric.  Imagine my horror when I found this after ripping what I thought was the straight of grain!  This messed with my whole belief system of what is true in the fabric world!

 

back fabric squaring 008

 

Can you believe there is that much leeway between the selvages?  That’s about 9 inches.  Needless to say, ripping the fabric was not going to work, and now I didn’t have enough fabric for the backing of the quilt.

I remembered my laser square and how I  had used it to square up a finished quilt and also to make sure the quilt is square as it is on my quilting machine frame.  I decided to at least try it, and I’m glad I did.

 

back fabric squaring 006back fabric squaring 007

I lined up the laser with the selvage and then tried it to see how far across the top of the fabric it would go.  The laser line hit the wall, so I was thrilled!  The above pictures show the “too short” fabric, but I now had a strategy for squaring up all backing fabrics.  I could shine the laser light across the fabric and run my ruler next to and along the line and cut straight lines along the laser line.

So, if you are a longarm quilter and you don’t already have a laser square, you might want to purchase one (or “borrow” your husband’s).  It’s a small price to pay (they run from $30 to over $100) for fixing mistakes before they happen.

How to get out of a creative rut, aka my 2 minutes of glory…

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Last week Mark Lipinski contacted me and asked if I would be willing to do a 2-minute segment on his radio show, Creative Mojo.  He wanted me to talk about how I get out of a creative rut.  Me?  Why me?  And, what’s all this talk about a creative rut?  I have to admit that I felt like I didn’t have much to contribute when he first asked me, and then the more I thought about it, some things that perhaps I do differently from others probably helps me stay out of a creative rut.  The problem is… how do you explain it all in 2 minutes?

First off, let me explain that I was raised a poor kid.  We didn’t have much, so we had to be creative in making up our own fun.  Lack of things forces you to use your imagination to creatively come up with a solution for that which you lack.  For example, I was the youngest of 5 kids in my house.  We seemed to keep everything, but sometimes that glue would dry out.  Mom would take flour and mix some water in it to make glue for us to use.  It might have been different if we’d had the money to just buy more glue, but we didn’t.  So, how many filthy rich people do you consider to be creative?

I was fortunate to be raised with a sense of humor.  My dad was the oldest of 15 kids.  When the masses of us get together, there is a ton of  jokes, tricks played on others, and laughter.  We can act very childish, but it’s good-natured and cheap fun.

Also, remember that I’ve had some of the strangest experiences in my lifetime.  Take, for example, the $&!# on top of the chest of drawers story.  You have to keep a sense of humor through all these experiences, or you will make yourself crazy.  Several years ago, I lost my mother; my dog, who was also my best friend; my daughter’s Godmother and left my job only to not get another when we moved that year.  Actually, all that had happened in the span of about 6 months.  I had 6 eye surgeries in 18 months (it’s been almost 7 months now since my last eye surgery).   On top of all this, I have gotten some pretty scary migraines over the years.

Through my grieving and health experiences I have had a lot of time to think, and when you think too much, it can make you crazy as well.  Or, your mind will go into an altered state to try to turn your focus into a healing direction.  Sometimes this is as basic as getting in touch with your inner child (yes, I know… cliche… and another is on its way).  You’ve heard the saying, “when one door closes another opens”?  Well, I’d like to believe that is what happened to me.  There were a lot of signs that it was time for a new direction in my life.  Looking back, I’m glad my life turned out the way it did.  I’m happier now and more at peace with myself and life than I have ever been.  And, I’m okay with acting like a kid now, too!

THAT is what I was thinking of today when I tried to explain how to get out of a creative rut.  For me, the mundane routine of day-to-day life can get me into a rut.  I had a lot of stress in my life in the last 10 years, stress that was making my body revolt and basically kidnapped my spirit when I lost so many things I felt were important in my life.    My routine and my spirit were broken, so my creative mind took over.  You, too, can stimulate your creative mind, but in a healthier way.

When I was training to be a school teacher, I learned that I could best reach all my students by having them use as many of their senses as possible.  If they don’t “get it” one way, take them to an altered way of thinking through one of the senses that is not dominant in that child.  Have you ever noticed how your memory is better if your emotions are involved?  When we get so busy with our day to day lives, we tend to be cognitive instead of emotional.  Our rational side is that nasty little voice in our heads that tell us that we can’t do something, it’d be stupid, we’re not good enough.  But, when we focus on our senses (touch, hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, and feeling) our emotions get aroused.  Think about all the social events where food is involved.  Do you remember any of those events?  What do you remember about the ambiance of the room?  What did you smell and taste?  Who was talking?  Do you remember what people said?  What were you feeling?

So, today I had 2 minutes to tell people to get in touch with their inner child, to play and explore things in a way that is not “routine” for them, to use their other senses.  If you’re an artist, your strong sense if most likely visual.  And, if you are in a rut, take a break from your visual cues.  Do something else for awhile.  Close your eyes and let your creative mind take you to new places using one or more of your other senses.  Finger paint with pudding.  Listen to music and dance.  Sleep. Dream.  Write down some ideas.  By the way, writing is also a tactile/touch sense.  Okay, so your cognitive mind is telling you that you are not capable of doing a good job.  So what?  Do it anyway and have fun.  Keep your sense of humor and go play!!!  You will feel like a child again, and it will feel wonderful!

creative adult

 

You can read more about Mark Lipinski and his show, Creative Mojo here.

And, you can listen to how I stumbled through 2 minutes, probably not making any sense at all, by listening to the Creative Mojo Podcasts.  Look for the one for Jan. 16th here.   It may not be up yet; I’m not sure how long it takes for them to post.   I’m at about the 25/30 minute mark (no pun intended).  But, really, you should listen to the whole thing.  He’s got some good stuff to listen to, especially while you’re quilting.  😉

There’s $&!# on top of the chest of drawers!

Cowtown Quilts3 Comments

You’ve heard the saying, “Truth is stranger than fiction,” haven’t you?  As a military wife, my life has been full of events that can be described as stranger than fiction.  I married young.  When I say young, I mean “teenager young.”  And, I am still married to the same guy after all these years and everything we’ve been through.  Being military means you “get” to move around a lot.  This isn’t as glamorous as it sounds, but we’ve had our share of adventures.

I was married young, and I had children young, so I didn’t get much of a chance to grow up before I had kids.  However, one thing is for certain.  I took my responsibilities very seriously as a parent.  I have always been that way, taking responsibilities seriously, and to a fault.  I may not have been the best parent, but I was the best I could be.  I read all the how-to-parent books I could get my hands on.  Lacking maturity, I tried to be the best self-taught parent I could be.  But, God has a sense of humor, and children, in my opinion, are born with personalities intact.  Oh, sure, you can try to shape and mold them, but they will end up who they are because of a mixture of the personality they are born with and the way they were raised.

Being a military spouse also means that sometimes your spouse will be deployed overseas and beyond for extended periods of time.  That leaves you to raise your kids alone during this time.  When my oldest was 5 and my youngest was 2, my husband was deployed for 6 months to Japan.  Lucky him!  While he was gone, I moved place settings on the table around so that I could reach each child easily.  This becomes important as a “helping” parent.  I sat at the head, or some call it the end, of the table with a child on each side of me.  I was so happy when my husband came back that I fixed a nice supper and served it on good china.  Don’t ever do this the first night your husband comes home after being away for so long.  Not only will you be too busy and too tired to enjoy him, it is easier to just pick something up to eat or go out to eat and then come home to relax.

Our “perfect” supper was soon to be ruined by an angry 2-year old who didn’t like being moved down a notch on the seating arrangements.  She threw her china plate onto the vinyl flooring that we had in base housing, and it shattered.  My husband then looked at me and said, “Is this what you’ve been teaching my children to do while I’ve been gone?” <sigh>

This 2-year old was the second child, the strong-willed child, the one took up all my energy so I never gained weight when she was small, and the one I didn’t have any answers for nor had a clue how to discipline her to get her attention.  You have to find their weak spot.  My oldest child loved being alone in her room with a book, so Time Out didn’t work for her.  My youngest loved being around others and in their business, with her fingers under the bathroom door when others were using it.  So, Time Out, as I LATER learned, did work for her.

My children have taught me a TON over the years.  Not only did I shape their personalities, but they molded mine as well.  Not long after the China Plate Revolt, my husband came home in the middle of the day.  He NEVER came home in the middle of the day.  I was trying my best to potty train her.  I even succumbed to the M&M Bathroom Bribe – you know the one, where you give the kid and M&Ms for each successful potty pee or poop.  I said I’d never do that, but I did.  Before you have children of your own, there are a lot of things you say you will or won’t do as a parent, and then reality sets in.  Such was the day my husband came home in the middle of the day…

I was busy in the kitchen and hadn’t checked on the kids in almost 10 minutes.  I knew better than to let it go that long, but they were making happy noises, so surely they hadn’t gotten into anything.  It’s when they are quiet that you have to be worried.  When I went to check on them, I could not believe my eyes.  The 2-year old was on top of the chest of drawers with nothing on from the waist down.  Next to her was a pile of poop, obviously hers.  The drawers were all open with clothes strung all over the place.  I can only imagine this is how she got up there.  There were toys scattered all over the floor of the bedroom.  The 5-year old had a tube of Desitin in her hands, Desitin that she had smeared all over 3 walls.  Do you know what Desitin is?  It’s that greasy stuff you put on babies’ bottoms when they have diaper rash.  Do you know how hard that stuff is to remove from walls???

I was in shock and very upset.  As a good mom, the first thing I did was get the 2-year old down from the top of the chest of drawers (safety first) and then I went out to the hallway, shut the door, hugged my back to the wall with my arms outstretched and hands clinging to the wall, and counted to 10.  I needed to be calm before braving that room.  Before I got to 10, in walks my husband.  I was so upset; I didn’t hear him come home.  I asked him what he was doing home, and he said he was changing out of his uniform and into civilian clothes because the colonel was having a Goodbye Party off the base.  I was trying to hurry him along, so I could get back to the mess in the bedroom.  Also, I didn’t want him to see the mess, because I didn’t want him to think I taught our children to do THAT, too, while he was deployed.

I don’t know why God plays these tricks on us, but the timing of events was impeccable that day.  Just about the time that he was emptying his pockets of the change he had and was getting ready to take it into the 2-year-old’s bedroom to put in her piggy bank, there was a loud crash; the sound of a ceramic piggy bank breaking.  My husband asked, “What was that?” to which I replied, “I didn’t hear anything.”  Trying to hurry him along, I offered to take the change and put it in the bank myself.  He wasn’t having any of that and was going to see the kids before he left.

<pause and sigh>

You know… there is one thing you should NEVER do if you don’t want someone to do something.  Don’t tell them not to do it.  Foolishly, I blocked the entrance with arms spread wide and said, “Don’t go in there!”  Idiot me.  Now he was insistent that he was going in there.  He moved me out of the way, swung open the door, eyes skirting the room and then the disbelieving bulge came from his eyes as he jumped back.  “There’s SHIT!!!  On top of.  The chest of drawers!!!  HOW?  Did it get up there?”  At that point in our marriage, after he had accused me of teaching our kids to throw china plates and other ill behaviors, I figured I had nothing to lose.  If he hadn’t yet figured out this parenting thing was hard work, he was not living in the real world.  I replied, “Well, darling, I put it up there just for you!”   Stunned, and not having time to deal with what he had just witnessed, he left.

So, onto the next task at hand, clean up the shards of ceramic piggy bank and the coins small enough for a toddler to choke on.  Right as I was finishing up the Bank Bamboozle, and before I was able to put a diaper, panties, or clothing on the bottom half of my 2-year-old, her Godfather shows up from his secret mission in El Salvador, him and his 2 kids who were several years older than mine.  You just can’t make this stuff up, folks!  Seriously!  He had gifts for the kids, but I couldn’t let them out, because the 2-year old was half naked.  Finding this out, T (my 2-year-old’s Godfather’s son) decided that he HAD to run outside and look into the window of the notorious bedroom.  <sigh>  What can you do?  I then was able to get her dressed and there were no more misadventures that day.  You know how bad things come in threes?  I was waiting for a 3rd unexpected visit that day, but we never got it.

The lesson learned from this was humbleness.  Before I had kids I was a “cool chica.”  What happened after kids was that my hair wasn’t what I aimed for and neither was life.  Life can throw you some curve balls, but in the end, the experiences are what makes it worth it.  Yes, I have had a lot of unbelievable experiences and stories to share from my life, but, looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.  What has happened to me has made me into a better person, one who is more patient and accepting of others.  At the time it wasn’t funny, but God was probably saving my kids’ lives.  😉  Now I can look back on it, shake my head because we tend to hear about stuff like this happening to others and not us.  And I can laugh my fool head off, especially when truth is stranger than fiction.

*Editor’s Note & Disclaimer: The Desitin Daughter is now a published author.  And the 2-year-old?  She is now a Paramedic who has cleaned up more than her fair share of poop and people’s messes.  She is also studying to be a doctor of Chinese Medicine.  So, be patient, Moms.  There’s hope yet for both you and your kids!

How NOT to machine sew a binding onto a quilt

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A couple of days ago, I finally finished quilting my UFO Letter Challenge Quilt (Letter Challenge) and still was not happy with it.   I think I just wanted to get it done, so I tried a couple of shortcuts.   Here is the link to Part 1 of my experiment (How NOT to machine sew your binding onto your quilt, pt. 1) and here is the link to Part 2, the results (How NOT to machine sew your binding onto your quilt, pt. 2).  My apologies for parts of the quilt that I was talking about being cut off.  Once again, I set the camera to “roll” and then got in front of the camera, so I could not see that I needed to zoom out.

As you can see I was not happy with the results.  In fact, I had to lay it down and walk away from it for a couple of days before coming back to it.  I did not like the quilting, but I was not about to frog it (rip it, rip it, rip it out), so I just added more quilting outline stitches around the applique.  I can live with it now, I think.

Letter Challenge 001

Remember, as you are learning how to quilt to not be afraid to try new things.  You learn by trial and error; what you like and what you don’t like, what works for you and what doesn’t.  Even after you think you’ve got it mastered, you will still be learning new things.  And, what works for one person may not work for another.  So, don’t be afraid to take a risk and just try it.

How to attach bias ends of binding

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Since my old camera has gone to the camera cemetery, I bought myself a new camera.  Yes, I had it on my Christmas wish list.  In fact, I had the same camera in 3 different colors on my wish list (at highest priority), hoping someone would get me ANY of them.  But, no.  I don’t know if the THREE cameras threw them or what.  It was a decent price!  Really!

Anyhow, to make a long story short,  I used my new camera to video tape myself sewing on the binding of one of my UFOs (UnFinished Objects) today.   You might remember this little quilt (Letter Challenge).  One of my quilt guilds was having a quilt challenge, and I wasn’t happy with the colors.  Well, I didn’t get it done in time for “the reveal” of all the challenge quilts (I was too sick of it by then and still didn’t like the way it turned out), but I did finally finish it.  I did a crappy job of quilting it, but at this point, it’s done.  So, why not show you how I add my binding?  I tried a new procedure, which I will share with you soon.  For now, though, let me show you this video on YouTube.  When I downloaded my videos, they saved into QuickTime, which I don’t normally use.  So, I sent this one to YouTube so we could all see it.  I warn you, though, I tried to zoom the camera in so you could see what I was doing.  Unfortunately, there are a couple of spots where the camera is too close, because I’m moving things around, and you can’t see what I’m doing… you can only hear me.  I had no help with the video taping, so I couldn’t see that it needed to be zoomed back out.  Anyhow, I hope you learn something from this video, even if it’s just to zoom out a bit when you are taping.  Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPwrQKo1cHU&feature=youtu.be to watch it.

Waving at you!

Cowtown Quilts4 Comments

Hello charity quilt that I’ve been avoiding for months now!  In fact, it’s been about 4 months since I took you home to quilt.  Yes, I’ve been busy with customer quilts, the raffle quilt, my birthday, my anniversary, Christmas, etc. but I finally did get to you.  I’ve been avoiding you because I knew there would be issues with quilting you, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it, to be honest.  Plus, with all the sampler blocks, I wasn’t sure just how I wanted to quilt you.  I know, I know.  Charity quilts are a GREAT way to practice and learn new skills.  From the look of the next 2 pictures, I would say that some one was learning how to piece blocks.  But, maybe not.  Maybe the pen lines are there because that’s just how this person pieces together the blocks with more accuracy.  Look closely and you will see lines marked on the blocks.

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Charity quilts are typically made from fabric that is donated, so we don’t see too much quality fabric in charity quilts.  That’s sad, too, because the charity quilts I typically quilt go to a shelter for abused women.  They need something sturdy, yet soft, to hug them through their struggles.  Most of the fabric in this quilt is fairly thin.  The backing looks and feels like an old worn out bed sheet and is pieced in several places, but the seams are strong because they are serged.  Problem is, this creates a bigger issue for the Longarm quilter.  Not only does it mess with the hopping foot as it moves around to stitch, but it creates issues with how it lays on the quilting frame.  You can see that from this next picture.  See how the far end border kind of waves?  That block in the upper left of the picture is called an “A” or “B” cup block (bra cup size).  It will affect everything from the border to the rest of the quilt if it is not taken care of right away.  That is the reason this row of blocks got quilted first.

Christmas 2012 006

Another angle so you can see it better.  In this case, it’s not just the block (now shown in the upper right of the picture), but it is also the border.  If you measure the border to fit the measurements of a wonky block, the borders are going to be wonky as well.  Best practices for fixing this is to follow my tutorial on adding a border at https://cowtownquilts.wordpress.com/adding-borders-to-a-quilt-top-2/

Christmas 2012 004

As you can see, I quilted out the wavy border.

Christmas 2012 007

But then I got done with that row and rolled the quilt forward and found even more waves.

Christmas 2012 009

Yep, I quilted that out, too.

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I thought I had it all under control.  The wavy borders were now straight.  Then, I got to the last row of blocks and…

charity quilt 006

If you look closely at the above picture, you will see that the grain line of  blue and yellow fabric are at an angle, so the stretchy sides are attached to the sashing and borders.  This is why it’s important to try to keep the straight of grain of the fabric next to the sashing and/or border.  Of course, the problem floated down to the corner of the quilt.  So, we’re not done with that wavy border, like we had thought.

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A tip that I learned from Kim Brunner (www.kimmyquilt.com) was to stitch a straight line across the batting and backing at the top and the bottom of your quilt.  Then, push the edge of the quilt top and bottom next to that line and baste a running stitch across to anchor it down straight.  I do this at the top when I first start and at the bottom after I’ve quilted to the point where I can lift the fabric at the bottom of the quilt   You can see the running stitch on the batting of this next picture.  I’ll pin the top to match that line and will then stitch across it.

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But, to make sure it is square at the corners (I don’t want the bottom to be wider than the top), I use a couple of strategies to square it up before I stitch the top down.  In the picture below, you can see a right angle ruler at the corner of the quilt.  I’ve got that stitching line to line up the ruler along the bottom.  Since there’s not too much on the side of this one, I eyeball it to make sure the sides are straight.

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You can see from the above picture that I’ve got another wavy border along the bottom.  If you try to just stitch through it, you may end up with puckers so I pin as many pins as I need to make it lay flat.

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And, I will make the top fabric a little more taut by “bending” it along the way.

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If that’s not enough to “stretch” the fabric flat as I sew, I may put my fingers on both side of the base of my machine and will remove the pins as I go.

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Voila!  The edge is no longer wavy.

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But, I’ve still got that “B cup” blue and yellow block…

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Okay.  I’ll make sure my inner border is as straight as I can get it by Stitching in the Ditch (SID) along both sides.  I have several tools to help me stitch in the ditch, but my personal favorite is Janet Lee’s Other Favorite Ruler.  Little does she know, it’s my favorite, too!  It’s wide enough for my big hands to fit around (3″) and long enough (12″) that I can aim it along a seam to straighten it out and stitch continuously longer than I can with other tools.

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And, here is the rose colored border.  I love how Brandy Lee (owner of The Quilting Place)  does those swirly things in her borders and sashings, so I thought I would try it.  I’ve got a lot of practice before I ace these!  Go check out her work on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/The-Quilting-PlaceWhere-Quilts-Happen/108563672527385).  Or go to her website at www.thequiltingplace.com.  Like I said, I’ve got a long way to go before I’m as good as she is.

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I put feathers in the yellow, outer border.   If you look at this next picture, here is that blue and yellow block.  It’s not completely flat, but it’s pretty dog gone close.  I think as I quilt more and learn more, I will get better.

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And, the finished product…

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It doesn’t look so bad now after all, does it?  I really did get lots of practice on this quilt and learned a lot.  Hopefully someone will pick this quilt to snuggle up into and will end up loving it.  And the quilt will have served its purpose of comforting and hugging the person wrapped in the safety of this warm quilt.

Hopefully this post has inspired you to make and quilt charity quilts, too.

Quilter Blogs

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Have you heard of the website called “Quilter Blogs”?  With all the web surfing I do, looking for good quilting scoop, I don’t know how I missed them before, but I did.  Head on over to their website to see what quilters are talking about at http://www.quilterblogs.com/.  Their sister site, Quilter’s Daily Special, offers special deals and codes for deals that quilters want.  You can find them at http://www.quiltersdailyspecial.com/daily-deal/.  This site is also where I found out about a fabric website that finds fabric for you via links to other websites.   If you are making something and are down to the wire and then find that you are short on a fabric, you can go here and do a search for it – http://www.findmyfabric.com/.   If you are a quilter or a fabricaholic, you will love each of these sites.  Have fun!

 

 

Last Customer Quilt Before Christmas

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Whew!  The final customer quilt before Christmas is done!  I had SO much fun working on this quilt.  Barbara chose hot pink thread, and it looks so stunning on this quilt.  I hope the person who receives it as a Christmas gift will be as excited as Barbara and I were when we looked at the finished product.

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Close-ups of “Christmas 2012” written at the bottom of the quilt.  The rest may look like scribbles, but they are actually loops and leaves.

Christmas quilts 004 Christmas quilts 008

See how the hot pink pops on the variegated blue backing?  I think she made a good choice with the hot pink thread.  But then, I think all her colors work very well together.

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If you know anything at all about me, by now you have figured out that I like to sneak little surprises into my quilting.  Leaves need bugs, so I added a couple of them on the leaves.  This is a “regular” old bug, but I put a lucky ladybug by Barbara’s name.  You can also see where I put the family members’ names into the quilting.

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Fun, fun, fun!  I love to draw with thread!  If you haven’t tried drawing with thread yet, ya gotta try it!  Now I’d better get to work on decorating the house for Christmas and all the other stuff that goes with it.  😦

New Chair

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So, imagine this chair in your quilting studio and all the threads that it would collect.

I got this chair as a Christmas present last year.  It was one of the best gifts I received.  I love it to this day.  For whatever reason, it makes me feel important, like I am an artist.  However, the fabric seems to catch all my lose threads.  I’m okay with that, and it really doesn’t bother me, but I’ve had this French Country damask fabric that has been patiently waiting to be glorified in something.  Originally I was going to make a purse from it, and I might still do that.  But, I really do love it as a decorating fabric, so I chose to add a feminine touch to my studio by covering this chair with it.  And, here is what it looks like now.

studio chair 001

This is just a slip cover over the seat and back.  Here’s one of the back. Can you see the fabric tie with the black’s sister fabric that matches the front of the seat back and the seat ruffle?

studio chair 004

And, here’s a better look at the black fabric on the seat.

studio chair 005

New decorations make me feel like I have a new studio.  I love that feeling!

P.S. The fabric is Olde World Style by Monique Dillard for Maywood Studio