Can You Hold Please?

I apologize that it has been awhile since the last installment on this blog. Three weeks ago, a co-worker who makes handmade jewelry informed me that there was a craft bazaar coming up at a nearby church and I should get a booth because my quilty wares would be a big hit....by the way, it's only $20 for the booth for six hours. She had my attention...so when is this craft show? March 9th. Great. That gives me three weeks. Can I do it? No, but I will make it happen, that's how I roll. So, for the last two weeks I have been creating small quilted home items and cutting quilt kits with original patterns created by my new quilt design software. I will be marathon quilting and cutting this weekend, finishing printing patterns and packaging kits next week and then I will be back on here to discuss what I learned at my last Quilt Divas meeting. We discussed a few easy quilt patterns that you can create in a weekend. I will also (hopefully) have had a chance to get elbow-high (literally) in fabric dyeing and we will have a discussion about that as well. I am sorry to be a bum, but hang in there with me. What can you expect from a Block Head? Until next time, take care and check back after March 9th!

Let Freedom Ring

So tonight's blog was supposed to be on the importance of proper lighting for the quilter. Lighting is something I took for granted when my quilting area was above ground. Once I created my new studio in my basement, I realized that moving my operation underground created some serious lighting challenges. I have since installed track lighting on the ceiling and purchased a fantastic desk lamp for my cutting table by OttLight. The biggest problem I was having was in cutting accuracy because I just couldn't see if my ruler lines were lining up. That problem is corrected now, but I quilted like a pioneer woman in the wild west for a few weeks. If anyone has any input on lighting that they'd like to share, please leave comments on this post. I'm sure there are other great lighting alternatives out there. Once I have my friend/electrician finish installing more electrical in my basement, I intend to install task lighting directly over my cutting table as well. But tonight I really want to talk about free motion quilting. Wow! I had forgotten how fun that was. I am renting a booth at a craft bazaar at a local church in two weeks and I'm making all sorts of small quilted items to sell, so as I went through my stash, I found a ton of Americana fabric that I've been using to create trivets, mug rugs, candle mats, etc. While trying to simply straight line quilt a trivet, I screwed it up and decided to just make it my test piece. I haven't free motion quilted in years. Feed dogs off, darning foot on and I took off making lazy e's and thinking of one of my past quilt instructors saying "just fill the space." My lazy e's are lazier than some at this point, but it came back to me and I did get one trivet completed with a stippled pattern. So exciting, so creative, so fun and I'm proud of my old brain that was able to recall that information. A really great book that I own to reference for machine quilting is "Machine Quilting Made Easy" by Maurine Noble. In this book, she goes into great depth about the different feet you can use for quilting in general, of course, your walking foot for straight line quilting and the various types of darning feet for free hand, or free motion quilting. You really want to be able to see what your stitches are doing when you are free-handing and my particular machine came with a clear darning foot, however, I still felt like I couldn't clearly see what my needle was doing because while the foot was clear, it was a closed circle. I actually purchased an open circle darning foot and I like that much better. In the book, the author suggests making your own free hand quilt sampler with muslin and batting so you can just practice and experiment with free hand quilting. I did this and I think it's a great idea. Free hand quilting is one of those things you don't want to to just wing. You want to give yourself the opportunity to experiment with different stitch lengths, tensions and thread types. The author also includes patterns you can practice such as a feather wreath. I'm really happy that my first free motion quilting experience in about 10 years was not a complete bust, and yours won't be either. Again, if you have any great quilting techniques,tricks or know of some great reference materials you'd like to add, please leave your comments on this post or message me on Facebook. Now get out there, let your freedom ring and get free motion crazy!

On the cutting edge

Since I sell pre-cut quilting kits in my online shop and I am constantly working on my own projects, it's fair to say I cut a lot of fabric. Hence, I burn through rotary cutter blades pretty quickly. I have always been a Fiskars fan due to the more ergonomic handle shape and have had numerous Fiskars rotary cutters. I have always noticed however, that in the quilt shops I have visited from Amish country to right here in my area, the people in the quilt shops seem to favor the Olfa rotary cutter. Last weekend, I was in need of a new rotary cutter blade so I thought I would find out what set these two rotary cutters apart and purchased the Olfa cutter. Well, I am in love. This Olfa rotary cutter cuts smoother than any of my Fiskars cutters ever did even brand new. Since the cutting was smoother, I was able to put less downward pressure on my ruler so everything seemed to stay in place better, therefore, giving me greater accuracy. I'm including a photo of the one I'm now using. I still have my Fiskars rotary cutter, but I think I now have a new favorite. Which brand do you prefer and why?

Like Riding a Bike

This photo is a picture of the first quilt I ever made-it is an American Flag wall hanging made in 2001. I restarted quilting about two months ago after a LONG break of about 9 years. I, along with my daughter have already tackled many new projects in just the last month or so. What has been amazing to me, is how much I remember from nine years ago just in a technical sense. I can't remember something someone told me an hour ago, but quilting techniques that I learned ten years ago have come right back to me like I learned them yesterday. I have marveled at how the human mind is a magnificent entity. Tonight, I decided I wanted to try to do some free motion quilting on my latest project. I was able to go straight to the place on my machine where I needed to turn the feed dogs off,and I just remembered instinctually what I needed to do on a machine that, until about six weeks ago, I hadn't touched in nine years. As it is said, returning to quilting has been just like riding a bike. Things are fuzzy and I'm a bit wobbly, but I'm still rolling and I haven't wiped out yet. Now, I am planning to practice my free motion quilting on a scrap quilt sandwich before I endeavor to do it on my project....I don't trust my brain that much! I'll keep you posted on how the free motion quilting goes and we'll have a discussion about it after I do it. Here's to happy quilting.

Where This Block Head Hangs Out

If walls could talk...

If you've been reading my current blog "A Quilter's Journey," then you know I'm an old, new quilter. If you haven't read it, let me catch you up. The short version is this: I can't sew, but a co-worker turned me on to quilting about 13 years ago. I quilted until my fingers bled, I had a child, I quit quilting. Nine years later, my child asks to learn to quilt and now I'm on fire again. Okay, that's the quick and dirty version. This time around, I not only desire to buy new fabrics, take classes and learn new techniques, but now I'm into selling fabrics, teaching classes and designing my own patterns. As I have been setting up my new quilting studio, one thing I didn't have before, that I found is a total must have now, is a design wall. The picture above is of my new design wall. Built by my husband, it is nothing fancy, but it is a super addition to my studio. My design wall was built out of a huge piece of pegboard like you would find hanging above a garage work bench,but I'd imagine any kind of thin plywood would work. I covered mine in thin cotton batting, but again, you could use felt or fleece or whatever soft material that you have on hand that fabric would cling to. My studio is in my basement, so my design wall is hung with concrete screws into the concrete wall. You want to make sure it is stable, so if you're hanging it on drywall, just be sure it is screwed into a stud. I attached my batting with binder clips so if for some reason I would ever need to, I can remove the batting cover and wash it. My design wall measures 4 feet wide by 7 feet long. You may need something larger depending upon the kind of quilts you're making. This design wall is an absolutely awesome way to get your block arrangements up at eye level and really see if your arrangement works. I used to do my arrangements on my cutting table, so I love having the ability to have my cutting table space freed up to be working on another project. I'd love to hear how other people have incorporated a design wall into their quilting. If you're a quilter with a great idea or insight, please share with the rest of us. We're all old, new quilters everyday and there's a lot we can learn from one another.

Coming Soon!

This blog is a follow-up to my current blog "A Quilter's Journey." In this blog, I will offer quilting tips and how-to information and would love feedback from others in quilting tips, insight, etc. I love to learn from others and share what I know. I'll be adding some new stuff in the next couple of days so check back!