Quilting
Next Entries »Titanium Needles: What are the Advantages?
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007Titanium needles are great for machine embroidery! Stop and really think about how many times the needle penetrates the fabric — many times! For every stitch, the needle is being inserted into the fabric. So if your design has 20,000 stitches in it, the needle has gone through the fabric at least 20,000 times. This [...]
A Quick Way to Safety Pin Quilts
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007Safety pins are an absolute must for pin basting quilt layers together to prepare for machine quilting. A large quilt can easily need 500 – 800 pins to adequately keep the layers from shifting. Pinning and unpinning all these pins can be very hard on your hands and fingers. After many broken nails and sore [...]
Open or Closed Foot for Free Motion Quilting
Tuesday, June 5th, 2007Freehand or free motion quilting is a fun method of quilting. Free motion quilting is sewing without the feed dogs moving the fabric through the machine. The feed dogs are lowered and you are in control of moving the fabric to create the pattern of stitches you desire. It takes a bit of practice to [...]
Quilting Tools You Might Need
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007When you have the right tools to complete a project, it goes so much smoother and easier. The same is very true with machine quilting. If you have the tools to make it simpler and easier, your quilting will be much easier and more enjoyable. I’ve listed several items below that I cannot quilt without. [...]
Putting the Quilt Top, Batting & Backing Together
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007There are many ways that you can sandwich the batting between the quilt top and backing to prepare for machine quilting. Whether it is thread basting or pinning the layers together with safety pins, there is more than one way to get the job accomplished!
My favorite place to spread out my quilt top, batting [...]
Pressing & Ironing: What’s the Difference?
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007Is there a certain method to using an iron? What is the purpose of pressing and ironing? Pressing and ironing are two methods for using an iron that are often used interchangeably, but they have different definitions and purposes. The dictionary defines these two words as:
Ironing: The act or process of smoothing or pressing clothes, [...]
Framing Quilt Blocks, Fabric & Embroidery Designs
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007Need some ideas to for home decorating this month? Consider framing your favorite quilt blocks, fabrics and embroidery designs in picture frames. It is simple, easy to do and provides a great way to display your quilting and embroidery talent!
Framing quilt blocks – I almost always have leftover blocks or fabric from quilts I have [...]
Hearts & more hearts
Thursday, April 5th, 2007This is my finished heart wall hanging project. I created several applique hearts I needed and instead of just tossing the blocks into a pile of unfinished projects, I created something with them. The stippling around the hearts really makes the hearts puff up, giving them a raised, 3D look to them.
The binding was fun [...]
Wrinkle Free Quilt Backing
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007Starting with a smooth and sturdy quilt backing is the first step to achieve a quilt with the back free from tucks and puckers. What fabric is the best? Should it be prewashed? How can the backing gain more body after it has been washed? Read on to discover some tips for preparing your quilt [...]
Hearts and more hearts
Friday, March 9th, 2007This is my current project I am working on. I needed to stitch some satin hearts to show and write directions for my method of satin stitching. Instead of just stitching 3 hearts on a block and then throwing it in a pile of unfinished blocks, I decided I would just do something with it. [...]
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