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Showing posts from April, 2012

Quilt Show!

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MESA VERDE MEXICAN RESTAURANT 618 Congress Street, Portland, Maine, 04101  

Rain day quilt

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I wanted to make a double sided quilt. It started to rain and I knew that making a quilt out of my polyesters with two sides and no batting would make a perfectly weighted quilt for a rainy day. I love big blocks of color in a quilt. I hope you enjoy the next rainy day.

Dont be afraid of using polyester!!

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Here are some pics of 100% polyester quilts Ive made... All of those quilts are 100% polyester from the 70's - I bought out a grandmothers stash last summer at a yard sale. The fabrics have great color fast-ness and are easy to quilt with. Please dont be afraid to quilt with any fabrics you have around your house or have access to.

I just finished this --

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My old blanket was falling apart. It was so thin that it was tearing down by the feet. I interfaced it with a fusible interfacing and that made it strong again. I cut out the torn part and put some crazy "flip and sew" squares in the part where I cut out the weak part of the blanket. I also did lots of free motion quilting on the finished quilt to add more strength. I think it came out nice.

"Get out!"

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Yesterday, I got so sick of my couch breaking all the time that I decided to throw it out. I guess the thing lasted three years, I bought it because I needed a bed. It was a fouton couch. I moved it around my house a few times, and slept on it for a few years.. I dont know if I think three years is long enough for it to have lasted ... but, I was tired of pretending that it was not broken. Both arms were falling off, I had put them back on a few times.. and it still was falling apart. But, now its gone! My tiny house feels so much bigger now! But, where are my dogs going to sleep? I guess they will have to cuddle up with me!! (shhh dont tell them Im thinking about moving my bed back up into the loft!!)

House cleaning -

My little house was so full of crap I could not deal with it anymore. Today I decided to haul my broken couch down to the street. Such a mess. This tiny house is 250 sf. and, for the last few years Ive sorta given up on doing anything to it. When I first bought it I was so ready to make it mine ... then, every color I painted it looked ugly. Every idea I had to make it better just failed. Then, the economy crashed and messed with my wallet. But, I feel a little past all of that. I feel like trying to make my house work for me! More later.

Finished ugly quilt --

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It turned out very nice! Im in love with it. Its HUGE - king size. I free Motion Quilted the whole quilt. I had to work hard doing the Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) for some reason the thread kept messing up. I kept working, though.  See how an ugly quilt got pretty at the end? Everyone wont like my thing and will still think the quilt is gross - but, I like it. I love it.

Out in drag last night

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I had so much fun last night. I found a big piece of lame fabric and made a dress. I went out and danced like crazy. It was crazy fun. Today Im even a little tired from being so nuts last night. I also spent lots of time reading posts online about sewing machines. Im obsessed with machines. Im pretty sure I dont want the Pfaff C-1100 pro. I dont like a few things about the way the computer is set to work. I think it could be a fine machine - it is a very strong machine. It works well. I would still tell people who are looking at machines to go and look at the C-1100 pro. I have to say - part of the reason I bought a Pfaff is because the Pfaff dealer here is wonderful! I love the Pfaff dealer. I also really like 9mm stitches and the idea of the IDT (built in walking foot). I may talk to the dealer and see if I can trade out the C-1100 pro for a used Q.E. 4.0 she has in the store. But, I dont know what I will do. I'll talk to the dealer Monday and see what she is willing

I got some trim put up in my house!

           A few years ago I tore down a wall in my tiny condo and found some old trim to cover the corner with. I never got it put up, just yesterday - I got it put up! It looks great. Its rough and recycled. Its sorta like a barn in here. Im in love with it!             I have a pile of old wood here to use as trim to cover my wall with, too.              It will look so great in here!

Smarter by Pfaff c1100 pro review

I wanted to add some thing to my review of the c-1100 pro. I still like the machine. But, there is something going on with the low bobbin light. It is coming on all the time. Its at the shop to get fixed as I type. I see that some of the Singer l-500's have had the same problem. And, some other Pfaff owners have had issues with the sensor going off at odd times. Also, I messed the timing up. I used the quilting foot with a straight stitch needle hole and accidentally put the machine on a zig-zag. Instead of just breaking the needle it messed the timing of the machine. The bobbin thing was happening before I messed up the timing and then started again after I got the machine home from being fixed. I guess its just a rocky start, its been in the shop twice in the three months Ive had it. Once was my fault, though - I should get over that. But, Im having a hard time. There are two other things that are bothersome about the machine. They are hard to explain in words. One

Things are going great!

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I had the quilt show and a drag show all in one week! WOAH! BUSY! I made a few drag dresses and wore them OUT! Girl, those things were falling off of me when I got home. I wore those things OUT! I did the song "Im beautifull" by Bette Midler last night at a show for the Birthday celebration of a dear OLD friend. My Drag Mother - ! I feel like people really got a great laugh out of my number and, thats what I do drag for. Here is the quilt Ive been working on. I think its good to show pics of quilts all stages. They can be pretty ugly and scary for much of the quilt making process. Taffys tip for the day ... keep sewing! Just keep going, most of us went through a nasty phase (or three!) .. just keep sewing.

Fabrics pulled for a new quilt

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I pulled a pile of fabrics for a new quilt. Ive got - prints, solids, florals in red, green, blue and brown. Ive also got touches of yellow. Ive also got some angles and curves. I have no idea what kind or style of quilt I want to make. I did sew together some old sheets to make a queen size foundation piece. I DO know Im going to be making an applique quilt.

Washed!

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The quilt did great in the wash. I put a red binding on the quilt. In the rest of the pic - we see ... My dog George is sleeping on the couch - My dirty box fan - those fabrics are the fabrics for my next quilt -

time to wash the quilt.

i want all of my quilts to be machine wash-able. im going to wash my new style of raw edge applique to see what happens. ill post an update later.

Quilt dress.

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The show was fun. Lots of people came. All of thise quilts in one place up on walls. I love it. Its late now - and Im back home with my dogs. Everything is quiet.

Quilt Show tonight!

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My dogs are thrilled! I am, too. If you are around Portland, Maine - come over to Mesa Verde tonight. Ill be there from 5pm on.

Finished!

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Well, I still need to bind. I am in love with this quilt. The free motion quilting is the best Ive ever done. Recycled fabrics - 100%! And recycled soda bottle batting. I love this quilt.

Hard work!

Ive been busting my hump working on getting things done for the show. Its really exciting to have my first show so, it made the work easy. But, I have been working hard for it. I wanted to have lots of new work in sizes and prices ranges that would make lots of potential shoppers happy. I also wanted to be happy with the style and quality of the things I sent out. Ive got another new quilt almost done for the show - but, for some reason in the last half hour of quilting I was having lots of thread shredding. I changed the needle, rethreaded... repeat, repeat --- and nothing fixed the problem. I messed with tension, too and changed threads ... I had to give up and take some time off. Its late so, Ill prob take out the dogs and lay down for bed. I haven't said yet in this post, but - dont forget I sew with recycled fabrics. While I enjoy contemporary quilts. The modern quilt movement isnt totally my thing. I dont really like minimal design. I like max design. Anyhow - tha

Here is a pic of my quilt show...

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New Work - Raw Edg applique - and Free Motion..

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Ive been working on a new quilt. It is another Raw Edge applique quilt. This time I mixed dots and stripes and some bright color. I think I posted a pic of the start of the quilt the other day - but, there is another pic of how I started. I was having a hard time deciding what to do with the rest of the quilt. I decided to put blue and brown dot/stripe in the unfinished part. I had messed up the timing of the Smarter C1100 pro by using a zig zag stitch on a straight stitch foot and it was away getting fixed for a day so, for a day I appliqued using my straight stitch machine, it works out fine. The pic below is the set up I have for free motion quilting. I like to use a corner and have lots of support on the side of the machine. I do not like to use pins or safty pins to baste the quilt. I dont really like to baste. I dont do it. Sometimes I have some small tucks - and I deal with that. The above pic is what the finished quilt top looks like close up. I used a c

Puppy.

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Free Motion Quilting - demo on Grand quilter.

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Funny pic, right? Ha - another vid with bad sound - but, here is some information on free motion quilting. I love the straight stitch machines they are making now. Lots of the old singers are very good, too. I love free motion quilting - and this is a quilt, another made from all recycled fabrics. The batting is the batting made from recycled soda bottles. I think its called dream green. The batting is a nice weight and a good loft. The loft helps make the free motion quilting show up. Here is a pic of the quilt before it was finished. Its all applique.