Posts

Showing posts from March, 2012

boy content .. 'flip and sew"

Image

Bad sound - but, good content.

Image
Hey, I made a little video showing some of the work Ive been doing. I hope that people who have old fabrics and a sewing machine laying around will feel like they can make some cool stuff for their house, friends, kids, ups man, bank teller --- seriously. I love my U.P.S. guy. He and his wife seem to be nice people. Hes been my U.P.S guy for prob. 7 years and Ive never tipped him. I feel like I should and I want to - but, Im so poor. He and his wife like my quilts (they are facebook friends) Im gonna give them one. I can afford that gift - it means something. I would love to have all kinds of money to give out - but, I dont. I know lots of other people dont, too. Lets make things. The audio is terrible - but, content is good. I hope you are doing well.

My dogs are snoring.

Image
Its really late at night. Im kinda pooped. It has been spring break but, now- its time to get back to work. I went out tonight and had some good laughs. On Tuesday, I made a video about sewing machine basic parts but, it took so long to load and then the up-load failed anyway. I got mad. I made a new video tonight using the camera on the computer. The sound sucks. But, there are some cool quilts in the video - straight edge and zig zag - raw edge applique.

Frame

Image
I found this frame the other day. I love the glossy pink and the designs all over it.

Process

Image
I like pics of works in progress. Im working on a large scale quilt of this wall hanging. I made that little quilt a few weeks ago - and now - Ill take the parts I like and make it bigger. Here, Ive cut some pieces and put some onto a foundation. Again, Im using recycled fabrics - and a straight stitch to raw edge applique the pieces onto the foundation. 

Im having a art show!

Image
MESA VERDE MEXICAN RESTAURANT 618 Congress Street, Portland, Maine, 04101 Shane Boyington Quilts by Taffy Quilts Coming in April, Quilts by Taffy. A funky and ecclectic artist, Taffy will be displaying her unique, hand made quilts this Apri ...opennight april 6!   www.mesaverdeportlandmaine.com    

Recycled Tee-shirt quilted stuff.

Image
I decided to turn some of my old tee-shirts into small quilted pieces. Im planning on using them for place mats and wall hanging's -- I know thats boring. Im also going to use them modern crochet things. You know, Il put them under plants. Ill put them on the back of chairs. Ill also use them as tea/snack treys. They can be on my bureau, under lamps - EVERYWHERE!

2 threads - one needle?

Image
Do you guys ever use two threads in one needle? Ive been wanting to try out some of the thicker threads available for free motion quilting and haven't got around to buying any. Today I had the idea to try putting two threads through the needle to get some extra thickness and its working out great! Ive added two of the same color (orange) and it looked great. Here is how that came out. It was easy to load the thread and I had no problem with shredding using a 100 needle. Each of the threads were 40 wt. I also liked the greater impact the double threads made. I also used two threads but different tones. One thread was deep forest green and the other thread was a chartreuse. I love the way the two threads mix. It almost looks like a variegated thread - the lighter and darker threads are bolder together than they would be on their own. Here is what they look like on a bigger surface. I had bought two spools of thicker thread to try this method. But, I need to p

Wall quilts.

Image
Recycled fabrics, raw edge applique.
Image

Doggie love

Image
My mom come to visit last weekend. She layed on the couch with my doggies in the morning. They looked like they loved making a new friend!

New work. Wall art.

Image
I finished up this wall quilt tonight. It is raw edge applique using a zig zag stitch. Every fabric is 100% recycled fabric. I did the free motion quilting.

Ive been busy!

Image
Last week it was HOT! I cleaned out the garden and took some quilts outside to see them in the light of day. I love the way they look on the side of this fence.

More raw edge applique.

Image
Im putting together some things for a show, new stuff. This is going to be something. All raw edge applique, with a zig zag, on a foundation. I was locked out of my house for a few hours today - it was very nice out. Sunny and warm.. crazy weather for this time of year in Maine. My dogs were thrilled we got locked out! I did not mind.. it was nice out!

Recycled fabrics and Bed Bugs !?

Image
I love sewing with my recycled fabrics! Where can cheap old fabric be found? How do I make sure I dont bring home bed bugs? I find fabrics on the street (in bins and bags), at resale shops, friends drop off clothes, people catch up with me on facebook to give me scraps....  used fabric is everywhere! There are free clothes on craigslist sometimes, too. Most resale shops that are not for profit will have days where a certain color is 1/2 price. I shop on those days or, for those colors. I buy prints, solids, and stripes and patterns. I buy brights and whites and everything else. I havent had good luck finding recycled fabric quilters online that seem legit. Maybe, I just dont like that say words like "scrappy" and "wonky". I dont like "whimsy", either. Dont get me started with "upcycle." That quilt is made from a red sheet and a while sheet. There is an old blanket in the middle and a sheet on the back. Guess what else? Used

National Quilting weekend!

Image
I love love that http://www.thequiltshow.com/ is letting people watch their ENTIRE catalogue for free this weekend! Go watch! I just paid for a subscription - and with my subscription I cant watch old seasons, only the new ones. So, this weekend is a real treat! I got the subscription because with a subscription the entire series "why quilts matter" is free to watch. It was pretty good - but basically its hours of clips of people reiterating that there are no quilt rules and that the entire spectrum on quilt makers are making great products. Yay a pro/rich person/artist said what we all know to be true. Yay. Fine I'll type using capitol letters! That's, George. By the way - I also subscribed to http://www.qnntv.com/ - I feel like that website is a better deal. I paid one price for a year and get access to all the seasons of about 20 different programs. But this weekend all of the shows at quilt show are free - go watch!!

raw edge applique (zig zag stitch)

Image
here is a little tutorial on raw edge applique. the drag queen quilter at work. i love applique - raw edge applique - that is. i have made projects using a zig zag stitch and straight stitch and blanket stitches. ive done small one one piece appliques with a satin straight stitch (also called a button stitch) ill make more videos with more information - but, any how here is a pic of the finished product. i free motion quilted the blocks. again 100% recycled fabrics - these ones were ALL pulled from my scrap bag.

"raw edge" applique sounds dirty.

Image
but, raw edge applique is one of the best ways to make a bold statement, easy! as you can see, i used a blanket stitch to sew scraps of fabric onto a foundation piece. the foundation piece is a giant old sheet. bold enough ? all raw edge applique. dont go crazy if your sewing machine does not have a blanket stitch ... zig zag stitches work great for raw edge... you can also raw edge with with a straight stitch or, a hem stitch. try out whatever stitches u have. try matching thread, contrasting thread.  try everything!

my first applique quilt

Image
this is a recycled quilt. love love this quilt. it was my first try at applique. i quilted it all - three layers of sheets and a t-shirt layer and a blanket - on my old viking 150. it was hard. but, i did it. yes that is a recycled tee shirt quilt top.

flip and sew quilt

Image
the drag queen quilter is not big on rules.  (tonight spell check is not working.) here is my take on making a crazy looking quilt block without measuring or cutting blocks or being anal at all. step 1. pull out some of your crap fabric scraps. get your iron going, close to you if you can. fold a square piece of fabric in half and then half again - iron the piece - open it and poof! use those iron lines to cut out 4 squares. (see my squares, iron and scraps?) step 2 pick out color and sew it right side down, if you want to center your block - sew the seam in the center.. but who cares where it is at. blocks look best messy. step 3 flip the piece over with your iron and iron it flat. step 4 pick put the next color, place it on the unsewn side of the first fabric (right sides together) and sew a seam. Take the block back to the iron and flip the new piece over and iron - repeat repeat repeat in circular motions or however you want until you finish your blocks.

my first quilt

Image
i started sewing in december 2011. i wanted to sew clothes. i thought quilting was for old anal ladies. then, i made some crap clothes - that were better than i expected them to b. i decided i wanted to try to make a crazy quilt. i found a "flip and sew" way to make some crazy looking quilt blocks. i made a bunch of blocks and decided to sew them together - it turned out that my first quilt was a perfect size for a shower curtain. if you are up to date on new fabrics, youll see some new fabrics in there. i hated working with new fabric. i love fabric. but, the new stuff just feels like it has too much earth impact and too much abuse for the workers. so, i started to use used fabrics. anyhow - look at all of the different shapes in there. lots of the shapes here are straight lines and blocks. not really a crazy quilt ... but, my idea of a crazy quilt was...  any fabric / odd shapes. i used a foundation piece and sewed all the pieces on top  what does that mean?

raw edge applique

Image
im working on new projects using raw edge applique - for entire quilts. this is a red and white quilt made from only raw edge applique.

table cloth quilt

Image
the table cloth quilt made it to its new home. this is all made with applique and scraps. the batting is my radical recycled batting and the back is some thick old polyester i found. there is free motion quiting in every block - the straight stitch machine did all of the work with no problems. a standard domestic could not have done some of the thickness.

scarf variations

Image