My Home Town Border

May 11

Posted by sharon in Applique, SKD Patterns | 3 Comments

Hello Everyone

After all the wet and horrible weather we have had recently, we have a beautiful day here. Part of me is thinking I should  be outside in my garden enjoying the sunshine but I could not keep away from my sewing room. I have been busy today sewing the border for my quilt. I am eager to see how this will look, and hope my plan works. It is always exciting to see if what you envision works out.

I have decided to make the border from two inch squares, I have always loved this ( organized ) scrappy look. I say organized because I have to admit to being a bit of a control freak. I cannot relax and just sew these together randomly. I like to organize the colours and make sure there are not two of the same fabric sitting together. ( famous last words as this usually always happens and you do not notice it until the quilt is finished ) Therefore I cut the squares individually and I do not try to save time by sewing strips together, then cross cutting. Cutting the squares individually also gives me a more random look.

This border also gives me the chance to use all the fabrics in the fat 1/4 bundle. It has amazed me just how far this bundle has stretched. Don’t we all love Fat Quarters.

Here is my progress so far.

My organized pile of squares

My organized pile of squares

Sewing the squares into pairs.

Sewing the squares into pairs.

Sewing the pairs together.

Sewing the pairs together.

Now to sew these together, until my border is the correct size.

Now to sew these together, until my border is the correct size.

So much fun !

I can’t wait to show you the finished result in my next post.

Happy Stitching

Sharon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Design ( My Home Town ) Part Two

Apr 25

Posted by sharon in Applique, SKD Patterns | No Comments

Hello Everyone

I have been addicted to this design, I am having so much fun with it. I feel the need to confess that I am truly addicted to working on my quilts. I love every stage of the process, and each quilt is a favorite. ( oh there may be a concession to that statement, I am not a fan of sewing down the binding ) I get caught up in the design so much that it wakes me up at night and I find I am calculating measurements in my sleep. ( there’s a true confession ) You probably all think I am nuts now. Haha Well this little ‘My Home Town’ Quilt is no exception.

I have been loving the Lynette Anderson fabrics, they are full of cute whimsical pictures, the fun thing has been to fussy cut some of these as with the cats in the doorway of my houses. So Cute!

Take a look at the progress so far.

Centre Block

Pieced backgrounds always give interest. A good excuse to use more fabric. In this design originally I thought it would give the look of the town square, but I have used subdued fabrics that blend into the background so not sure if I have accomplished the town square look. I am happy with the look all the same.

Red House

You can see the cute little cats in the doorway of this house. I have made two red houses and two blue ones. So much fun.

Blue House

With the blue houses I have used the heart fabric for the doorway, ‘Home is where the heart is’.

I am looking forward to working on the corner blocks and have decided to piece the background for these as well.

I am enjoying sharing this design process with you all and love to hear your comments. I would love to hear any suggestions you have along the way.

Happy Stitching

Sharon

 

 

 

New Design

Apr 19

Posted by sharon in Applique, Fun Projects, SKD Patterns | 3 Comments

Hello Everyone

I cant believe I am organized and on the ball early today. I have had a design floating around in my head for a while and have finally committed to making it.

I found the perfect fabrics for this project at the Melbourne Quilt Market from Lynette Anderson ( Follow my Heart). I purchased a fat quarter pack and they are just so lovely. I am really looking forward to using these in this design. Lynette has always been a favorite designer of mine.

LAD

I have also found a great new photo editing site called Pic Monkey, don’t you love what I was able to do with this picture. Such a lot of fun and so many options to choose from.

Well I bet you are wondering what this design is ? Well I have played around on my computer and come up with this to start with, the size of my quilt design may grow as I progress as there are loads of fat quarters in this bundle as it is the whole range so I am not limited to the size of the quilt.

My-Home-Town

I have thought of a name for this project. ( My Home Town ) I thought this would be a good tribute to the little town I grew up in.

I would love you all to follow along with me on this project and share each step, the decisions and changes I make along the way. I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and comments.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, mine will be hopefully weather permitting filled with getting my garden into shape.

Happy Stitching

Sharon

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Peg Board Storage Wall

Apr 17

Posted by sharon in Studio | 2 Comments

Hi Everyone

I am one lucky girl, my lovely husband has made me the most fabulous peg board. I just love it. All my tools are right where I need them, and amazingly they stay tidy.

I re-arranged me sewing room ( Studio ) a month ago and its been great. I even have my computer right where I need it.

I will share more photos of the rest of my sewing room in an another post.

IMG_1930

I love to hear your thoughts, please leave a comment for me.

 

Happy Stitiching

Sharon

Quilt Kits

Apr 15

Posted by sharon in Uncategorized | No Comments

Hello

A much needed rainy day here today, I had forgotten how nice it is to snuggle in and quilt and not feel guilty about the weather outside calling you.

I have had a lovely morning playing with fabric and cutting kits.

My Birds in a Bluebird Tree Wall hanging was in the Australian Patchwork and quilting magazine last year, I love the photo they took of my quilt. I have the fabrics in stock, so I have made up some kits today.

Birds-in-a-Bluebird-Tree-Mag-Picture

I also have some kits for the Autumn Baskets Table Runner. A great on for this time of the year, with all the trees changing colour ready for Winter. I am not sure I am ready for winter but looking for warmer clothes today.

Photo-Layout-for-Kits

Star-Flower-Kit

Take a look at these Kits on the Pine Valley Quilts Website.

Now I am looking forward to sewing the day away.

Happy Stitching

Sharon

 

 

Sewing in Comfort

Mar 26

Posted by sharon in Studio | No Comments

Hello

After spending the past days in agony with a very sore back, I decided it was time for a new sewing chair. Unfortunately my back has been a problem for me at the best of times, I had an accident on the farm a few years back and have had surgery which is semi successful. Most of the time I am fine,  but I do feel it when I am doing certain things and sitting in a chair that does not support my back is definitely not good for me. Also I was finding that at the end of the day my toes were numb and I had an awful pain at the back of my leg just above my knee. The chair was cutting my circulation off.

This lead me to look at ergonomics and here is what I learnt:

When buying a chair look for one that slopes down in the front, this helps with your circulation. Also one that you can tilt the front of your chair.

Look for a chair with lumbar support and one that you can adjust the height of the back of the chair and the tilt of the back of the chair.

Also a chair that you can adjust the height of the whole chair.

One other thing I learnt besides the chair itself is to get up and walk around every 15 mins to stretch your legs and help with circulation etc.

Sit at your sewing machine with your arms at 90 degrees. your legs at 90 degrees and your feet flat on the floor. The needle of your machine directly centered in front of you.

Support your left leg when using the foot pedal with a foot rest or a memory pillow.

The chair I brought is a spectrum three, it has wonderful lumbar support and it feels like a Rolls Royce compared to my old chair. My back pain has gone and and I am happy sewing again.

I have found that I have to think also about my conduct and be aware of my sitting position. It is easy to slip into old habits and find myself slouching and not sitting correctly which also causes the back pain.  My new chair seems to help with this habit also as it is very hard to slouch while sitting in it..

Getting older has its draw backs, I never would have considered these things before. I guess its the pain that makes you look for the solutions.

IMG_1897

 

IMG_1899You can see how the seat is well cushioned and fits perfectly. Haha

IMG_1900

The back has a great Lumbar support, you can make this out in the photo, really comfortable, like sitting in a Rolls Royce. ( Not that I ever have and maybe showing my age LOL )

You can also see where Loki has given it the approval and left his fur to let me know, so I have quickly had to make a makeshift cover as the cats fight for the seat when I am not using it.

IMG_1896

IMG_1293

Loki now has his own chair and he’s loving it.

IMG_1895

Rosie is not the tiniest bit interested.

Happy Stitching

Sharon

 

 

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Playing with the Square in a Square Block

Mar 22

Posted by sharon in Tutorials | No Comments

Hello Everyone

It feels like a long in between posting, the time seems to get away on me. I have been busy working on new designs and finalizing what seems to me old ones, which of course are new to you.

Time for some show and tell. The last three quilts I have made have the square in a square block, these little blocks are four inches square and can be a little tricky. I have some pictures of one of my designs in progress to show you some of the tricks I have learnt to help make these cute little blocks come together a bit easier.

The first thing in making these is it is important to cut correctly, they often have odd sizes as in 7/8′s etc so take extra care in your cutting.

The other very important thing is your 1/4 inch seam, this will have to be accurate to produce good results.

1/4 inch seam

You can see that the edge of my 1/4 inch foot is against the edge of the fabric. It is a good idea to test your seam as not all 1/4 inch feet are accurate.

When placing my triangle pieces onto the centre square I fold the centre square in half and finger press to find the centre, then lay my triangle on top matching the point of my triangle with the pressed centre line on the square. the outside tips of my triangle will overlap the square by 3/8′s of an inch on each side.

Triangle placement_edited-1

Stitch all four of your triangle pieces on in this manner.

Square in a Square_edited-1

When your have all your triangles stitched in place and pressed. trim the block to the correct size before adding the next round of triangles.

I have been playing with these cute little blocks, this is a peek at a design I am working on.

Border_edited-1

 Pressing your seams on this setting is interesting to get a flat center where the blocks meet.  Jo Morton has a great trick in her book ‘Small Quilts with Vintage Charm’. To get your seams to form that lovely little design and flatten out in the center Jo clips on each side of the center so you can manipulate to direction of your seams.

Back psd

I am loving this fabric combination, the floral purple fabric has been a favorite in my stash for a while now and I am finally getting to use it. (Yay) This fabric is from the line by Blue Hill Fabrics Dark Chocolate and Lilac Dahlia Cream. Even the name sounds divine.

The gold print is a Jo Morton fabric Alexandria. The lovely grey linear print and you know I love linear prints is from Generals Wives by Nancy Gere for Windham fabrics.

I have had so much fun with these little cuties, this design is coming together nicely.

Flower 2

Flowers 1_edited-1

Happy Stitching

Sharon

Quilt Patterns

Feb 19

Posted by sharon in SKD Patterns | 2 Comments

Hello Everyone

Where does the time go?  I hope it slows down soon, I have a plan not to let it get away from me this year, although I am not sure it is working.

Last year was full of deadlines which kept me on track but did not allow for much creative time out, so I am hoping to make this year more flexible. However I did get time to have a lovely quilt published in the Australian Patchwork Magazine a two part pattern for January and February editions.

I have been working on pattern writing all last week and have the pattern finished for this lovely quilt. Pattern available here.

My Blue Garden

My Blue Garden

 

 

I also finished the pattern for my Wildflower quilt that I have been working hard to finish. I am soooo happy to have these quilts finished, all the hard work is now worth the while. Pattern available here.

Wilflower

Wildflower

 

My schedule for this year has several teaching engagements.

I will be teaching invisible machine applique this Saturday 23rd Feb at All Things Patchwork. If you would like to do a class with me you can contact Cheryl. If this class is full I will be doing more classes so you can always put your name down for a future class.

I will be teaching my Starflower table runner, you will learn the method for invisible machine applique or if you prefer to stitch by hand this method can also be used. My table runner is in the shop if anyone would like to take a look.

When you have done my applique class, there is a great opportunity for those of you who need extra help, or would like to make any of my patterns to join my group I am going to be running at the shop. I am looking forward to this, it will be loads of fun and a chance to learn and share and make some lovely new friends. For more information on this group contact  Cheryl at All Things Patchwork.

I am also teaching machine quilting classes at All Things Patchwork in March 11th and 18th. This should be a fun class, learning to quilt lovely feathers and fill in designs and quilt those large quilts with a domestic machine.

Wow that is a lot of information

 

 

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Basting and Quilting Penny Rose

Feb 8

Posted by sharon in SKD Patterns | No Comments

Hello Everyone

I am busy quilting my Penny Rose quilt. I am so happy with the way it is shaping up, I thought you might be interested in my way of basting. It is the one thing in the process of making a quilt that I don’t enjoy. But it has to be done.

I do my basting on the living room floor, using the carpet and pins to secure the backing down. When placing the backing fabric on the floor and smoothing it out I like to have it taught but not stretched. I then pin this all the way around the out side to secure. Then I lay my batting down and smooth it out, so it has no wrinkles. My quilt top goes down next and I like to make sure it is straight and the corners are square. I also like to make sure that the backing fabric is lined up with the top so the center is in the correct place. Remember no stretching, only smoothing out and getting it wrinkle free. I then take the pins from the backing and place them on the quilt top all around the outside to secure. I then pin with safety pins and like to have them reasonably close.

Here are a few pictures of my process.

Penny rose 2edited-2

I like my pins are quite close together.

I like my pins quite close together.

 

Quilting

Now the fun part begins.

I have put some thought into how I am going to quilt this while making the top, and I love the look of cross hatch quilting with applique. I thought I would have to use cross hatching in the center block, so to make the applique shapes stand out I tried to quilt my version of McTavishing although I am not sure this is what it turned out like. Then I thought it would be nice to have a frame around the applique design and move out to crosshatching. I have tried to show this in a picture, but don’t you just know that when you decide to take pictures your camera needs to be charged…….

I have also been playing with thread and I am having a love affair with Aurifil 50 weight cotton Mako Thread. I have used this as a piecing thread for some time now, its a lovely fine thread and does not take up a lot of room when stitched, therefore helping with keeping to a 1/4 inch seam allowance. As a quilting thread it just melts into my quilt top and the cotton thread works so well with the muted reproduction fabrics. I love that it allows the applique to be the star attraction while adding another dimension with a beautiful quilted look. The Aurifil thread quilts like a dream, I have not broken any needles or shredded thread, no tension problems and frustration. I have used  it in the top and bobbin and even have different shades top and bottom with no pop ups to worry about. I have used a 70/10 Schmetz Microtex Needle with this thread. There is a great selection of colours to choose from, you can see my choices in the photo below.

Thread colour choices

Thread colour choices

Loving these Star Blocks on the corners of the outside border.

Loving these Star Blocks on the corners of the outside border.

I hope to have this pattern available for everyone shortly, I think you will enjoy making this one it has a lot of variety to keep you interested. Gotta love these fabrics.

Penny Rose by Newcastle Fabrics

Happy Quilting

Sharon

 

 

 

 

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Drafting Blocks, Grainlines and Bias Edges.

Jan 31

Posted by sharon in Tutorials | No Comments

Hello Everyone

A belated Happy New Year wish to you all. January has gone by in a flash, it is hard to believe this is the last day of the month. I have been busy completing tasks so I can start the new year off with a clean slate. Two of my tasks have been to finish the pattern for my Wildflower quilt, as well as finish the Penny Rose Quilt and write the pattern. Somehow I always think I can accomplish more than is physically possible. Am I the only one who thinks like this or is this normal. LOL. Well it seems I am nearly there with both of these tasks and I am proud of my efforts. While busy making the blocks for these quilts, ( It seems I have an affinity with Square in a Square Blocks) I have had to consider accuracy. Now I am not saying by any means that I am a perfectionist or my blocks are perfect, BUT I think with any block a certain amount of accuracy is achievable if you stick to certain principles. With this in mind I have decided to write this post describing the thought process, and the simple guidelines I use to hopefully achieve accuracy.

As a pattern writer, I try to give the cutting directions that suit the blocks so the quilter can make the block with ease. As I was writing the instructions for the two quilts mentioned above I was aware that grain line is important. Grainline is the direction of the woven thread that makes the fabric.

Warp (lengthwise) and Weft (Crosswise)

Lengthwise Grain runs parallel to the selvage edge, it has very little stretch. The Crosswise Grain runs perpendicular to the selvage edge a little more stretch.

 Bias runs at a 45 degree angle, bias is very stretchy.

This is very helpful when making your quilt blocks as it is important to have the straight of grain ( lengthwise or Crosswise grain ) around the outside edges of your blocks.That being said it is now time to get to the good stuff.

Drafting Blocks

I use an eight units to the inch graph paper to draft my blocks, this is available at quilt store and stationery shops. Using the inch guides on the graph paper I start by drawing the finished square of the finished measurement. Then I fill in the lines to complete my block.

I measure each segment to get the finished length needed for each section. ( This then lets me know what measurement each step will be, then I can square up after sewing is completed.)

I also draw a 1/4 seam line around each shape to get the cutting measurement of each piece.

First in order to assess where you need your straight of grain it is always a good practice to draft your quilt block. The other reason I do this is because I can then find the finished measurement of each step, allowing me to square up my blocks at each step. This avoids finding out after finishing the block that it does not measure the correct measurement. (And having to do the dreaded unpicking)

Drafting blocks two

Hopefully you can understand my drafting lines. I have drawn my block to the finished measurement, then I have added a 1/4 inch line around each shape to get the cut measurement.

Drafting Blocks 31.1.2013 _edited-1

I have then calculated the cutting measurements needed for each shape.

Now the other consideration I have, is the grainline. It is important that I have straight of grain on the outside edges of each shape. This helps with keeping the block square with minimum stretch.

This is why I cut the squares on the diagonal only once to get my triangles as I will explain in the diagrams below.

Grainline-for-triangles---Square-Triangles

Half Square Triangle will give me the straight of grain on the outside edge, this is perfect for keeping the outside edges of my block of square.

Grainline-for-triangles---square-triangles

If I were to cut 1/4 square triangles I would then have a bias edge on the outside of my block and this would cause loads of problems, as mentioned above the bias edge has loads of stretch. This is good information to keep in mind when working on your quilt blocks as this can be used for all quilt blocks.

I hope this has been helpful to everyone and if you would like to add any more helpful information please do so.

I am also happy to do my best to answer any questions you have.

Happy Stitching

Sharon

 

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