The “Take a Break from the Quilt” Quilt

So, this is what happens when you need to find room for some newly purchased thread and you come across the forgotten and untested Bernina walking foot.

As soon as I saw it, I went straight to my box of quilting fabrics. Minutes later, I had a bunch of 5 1/2" squares that I stitched into nine-patch blocks.

Each nine-patch block was cut in half both vertically and horizontally. After rotating the upper left and lower right squares 180 degrees, the blocks were sewn back together. Yes, you are correct. This is the called the disappearing nine-patch block.

It didn’t take long to get to the quilting part and that walking foot really did keep the layers together. Granted, some of the stitching lines are wobbly but I can’t fault the walking foot. I marked a few of them with chalk, but due to impatience, I mostly eyeballed it. Just so you know, chalk works…guessing? Hmm, not so much.

Once the binding was on and all loose threads clipped, I tossed it into the washer and dryer. I love the wrinkly transformation!

The crib-sized quilt is 45” x 60” and will become a gift.

It makes me smile.

And I Thought a Ruler and a Darning Foot Would be Enough…

The Bernina has returned. It had a thorough cleaning, a check-up/tune-up and, fortunately, nothing was seriously wrong. Something had come loose on the inside on the hand wheel and it just needed to be tightened. It works great and I am delighted to have it back!

The more I read quilting books and blogs (and watch YouTube quilting videos), the more I realize the same tools keep showing up and I get to thinking that maybe I could use a few of them. Now, don’t you worry, I haven’t gone and bought a mid-arm sewing machine, but the following have made their way to me:

• A Supreme Slider free motion machine quilting mat (has a Teflon top to allow the fabric to easily slide across the bed of the machine)
• Machinger gloves (the fingertips have a polyurethane coating to get a better grip on the fabric sandwich as it is being quilted)
• Teflon bobbin washers (placed in the bobbin case before adding the bobbin, they encourage better tension and stitching)
• Pinmoors (easier to use than safety pins to keep the layers together)

I'll let you know how these work for me.

My current strategy has the blocks joined into three strips with each strip two blocks wide and seven blocks long. I am hoping it will be easy to quilt the strips leaving about two inches unquilted on the inner edges. Once the strips are connected, I’ll come back and quilt those blank areas. It works in my head…

While waiting for the Bernina, I put together a new top using a pattern I've been curious about. The fabric is from a FabricMart.com bundle and the pattern is the Style Arc Cate’s Cousin top. Both pattern and fabric have been here awhile – and with winter about over, my timing is definitely off. However, I’d rather have a top waiting in the closet than folded fabric on the shelf.

Next? A free motion quilting experiment involving a block that did not measure up. Stay tuned.

Cropped Jeans with Hem Bands – Burda 7669

The growing t-shirt provided many laughs but hasn’t done much to encourage me to sew more tops. No, not much time or fabric was invested and my ego wasn’t damaged, yet I haven’t felt like giving the pattern another try. Eventually, I will - I just need to find some other knit fabric first. Cotton knits are what I’ve been looking for but I’m not coming across many that aren’t printed with little hearts, puppies or trucks.

Consequently, no new tops to tell of…however, I did sew some denim. I made myself another pair of cropped jeans using Burda 7669. The hem bands are what got my attention and this time I didn’t deviate too far from the line drawing. I left off the belt loops, topstitched a bit more, and added some rivets. I also sewed twill tape into the pocket seam to keep the bias-cut pocket from stretching out. The lighting I had to work with was terrible and the photo above is the best photo produced. The details don't show up very well but I figured it was better than no photo...

The new cutting mat, by the way, is wonderful and I wish I’d gotten it sooner. I didn’t because it is just too easy to buy sewing things I don’t really need and with little space, I work hard at keeping non-essentials away. In spite of this, I want to use my sewing time wisely and if there is a tool available that will speed things up and/or help produce better looking garments – well, I’m willing to do some rearranging.

My goal for this coming week is to sew a comfortable summer-weight top. Fabric? Makes no difference - as long as it isn’t matte jersey…

Tammy and the Growing T-Shirt

What with the new job and the heat, I haven’t felt much like sewing this week. Still, I was able to put this t-shirt together. The pattern is Simplicity 3571, view A. I shortened the sleeve and also lowered the center front neckline about an inch and a half.

The fabric is a matte jersey from FabricMart.com. Being only $3/yd., I wasn’t expecting much but neither the serger nor the coverstitch wanted anything to do with it. To deal with the skipped and loose stitches, I changed out needle types and sizes, trying out everything in the drawer. Absolutely no improvement in stitch quality came of my attempts, even with tension adjustments thrown in. I finally just sewed the thing up and didn’t look back.

Once completed, I took it to the laundry room for a visit with the steamer. Before my eyes, as soon as the steam met the fabric, the shirt began to grow! I’d never seen that happen before. Have you? The bottom of the armhole is now well on its way to the waist. I’m going to leave it on the dress form for a few days just to see what happens. Maybe it’s gonna turn into a dress…

In other news, I finally bought myself a cutting mat - the big one that they have at JoAnn’s. I used a half-off coupon so it was really quite reasonable. I knew from measuring my little fold-out cutting table that the mat was going to be too long but that didn’t stop me from getting it anyway. I used it, full-length hanging over the edges of the table, to cut out this t-shirt. It didn’t work very well and half-way through I took the scissors to the mat. I know, I was shocked too at my treatment of the brand new mat, though it was the right thing to do. It is now the perfect length and might just fit between the filing cabinet and the wall when I’m not using it.

Yeah, it has been an odd week…

Actually, There is a Better Way…

And I thank my mom! Our telephone conversations have been filled with stories about our roll of denim and the garments I’ve been making. Along the way, she has listened as I’ve whined about my unfortunate hammer skills and the resulting smashed and distorted rivets.

Her answer arrived late last night via UPS. What a simple yet ingenious gadget, not to mention incredibly kind gift! It came from Grommet Mart. You can buy additional dies to attach jeans buttons, snaps, covered buttons and, of course, grommets.

I tried it on a scrap. Simple perfection!

DD#1’s skirt is almost complete. It just needs the belt loops sewn on and then I can attach the rivets. Can’t wait!