The Pressing Matter of Pressing

Posted on by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Quilting, Sewing / Leave a comment

At some point in their creative process, most quilters try to refine their technique and increase their precision.  Achieving an accurate seam allowance is the first place we tend to go when looking at precision, but pressing seams properly is just as crucial.  Today for the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge we were asked for our top tip, and I am going to talk about a few tools to help make your pressing easier.

  1. A starch alternative gives your fabric a slightly firmer hand that makes it easier to sew without stretching.  This is great for all forms of piecing, but it is especially useful for fabrics that will include piecing or applique on bias edges.  I pour my starch alternative into a mist dispenser to get a more even spray across the fabric I am pressing.
  2. This flat metal hem gauge is great for turning back a specific amount of fabric along the edge of a piece of fabric. As a quilter, I use this most when turning back the edges of quilt labels, but I find it extremely useful in constructing garments and bags.
  3. A wool pressing mat allows you to press seam allowances with very little distortion to the block.  The wool holds it in place just enough to prevent movement as you press that seam allowance flat.  The wool also has just enough give to it to absorb the thickness of the seam and prevent an unsightly bump in the quilt top.
  4. Go with the best quality iron that you can get. I recommend one that can be used dry or with steam.  This is a Hot Steam gravity fed iron. This means that a water reservoir is suspended above the iron, and you get steam by tapping a button with your thumb. This is a fantastic iron choice if you have a place you can permanently set up your ironing space.
  5. If you make clothes or bags, a tailor’s ham helps to emulate all sorts of curves to make your pressing look great!
  6. There are certain instances that you need to press a seam in a long narrow tube, such as a quilt sleeve. At these times, I use a large dowel rod on the inside of the tube to press the seam allowance open.
  7. My newest favorite pressing tool is a wool pressing bar and clapper. It is perfect for pressing any seam allowances open, and the wooden base also functions as a clapper to set a seam allowance.  If you press a seam with steam, you can help it set nicely by holding the clapper over it as it cools, similar to using the cool air function on your hair dryer.

I hope that these tools help you up your pressing game!

I am excited to be participating in this year’s 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com, and I hope you will have the chance to check out some of the other awesome blogs that are participating this month.

Spoonflower Panels

Posted on by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Aurifil, Fabric, Quilting / Leave a comment

For a couple years I had received requests to teach my plaid matchstick technique, but I was hesitant because I was afraid the class would end up being more about piecing the quilt top than the quilting technique. Earlier this year it occurred to me that there was an easy solution to this issue- Spoonflower.  Spoonflower is a company that prints fabric, among other items, on demand.  I designed a mini quilt panel that fits on a fat quarter of fabric, and printed it in two different color ways for my classes.

The blue and green panel is intended to be quilted with Aurifil 2525 (Dusty Blue Violet), Aurifil 6737 (Shamrock Green), and white. I recommend using either 12wt or 28wt on top and 50wt in the same color in the bobbin. The blue and green matchstick panel can be purchased here.

The pink and orange panel in intended to be quilted with Aurifil 2530 (Blossom Pink), Aurifil 2145 (Yellow Orange), and white. I recommend using either 12wt or 28wt on top and 50wt in the same color in the bobbin. The pink and orange matchstick panel can be purchased here.

I also developed a panel to use for the intermediate free motion quilting class I occasionally teach at one of my local quilt shops.

I recommend quilting this panel with 50wt Aurifil 2810 (Turquoise). Any of these panels are great for mini quilts, table toppers, or pillows.  You can purchase the free motion panel here.

These panels worked out so well, I just had to try a repeating design.  Here is my first printed repeat design:

There are endless possibilities with this type of printing, and I can’t wait to explore them more in the coming year!

I am excited to be participating in this year’s 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com, and I hope you will have the chance to check out some of the other awesome blogs that are participating this month.

Show Jury Results for AQS Daytona Beach and Road to California

Posted on by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting / Leave a comment

Most major quilt shows require you to enter your quilts online well ahead of the actual show.  During this online entry, you upload two photos of your quilt, one full shot and one detail photo.  Using these photos, and sometimes the written description you provide, a group of jurors select the quilts that will be on display at the show.  Once the selected quilts are shipped to the shows, judges assess the quilts and choose the winners.  But a judge never sees the quilts that don’t get juried in, so this is a critical step in the life of a show quilt!

I always like it when show acceptances come in around the time I’m entering more shows.  Its encouraging to have something accepted when you’re putting yourself out there. This year both Road to California and AQS: Daytona Beach had jury results come in around late November, which is right before QuiltCon and AQS: Paducah entries are due.

This was my first time entering Road to California.  In 2020, I am hoping to add a couple new shows into the mix, and this is one of them.  I entered two quilts for my first attempt, and both were accepted! Complementary Convergence was will be in the Other Large Quilts category.

Lateral Ascension was accepted into the Abstract category.

AQS Daytona Beach had an entry deadline in October, and the notifications came in before Thanksgiving.  I entered two quilts, and they were both accepted!

This will be the first contest for Zoo Family Portrait!

Ice Cream on the Beach will also be making it’s first contest appearance!

Entering new contests and quilts is always exciting.  It will be fun to read the judges comments for a new show, and see how my new quilts do at a show I have entered before.

I am excited to be participating in this year’s 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com, and I hope you will have the chance to check out some of the other awesome blogs that are participating this month.

Entries for QuiltCon 2020

Posted on by thenotsodramaticlifeadmin / Posted in 100 Day Project, Aurifil, Finished Quilts, Quilt Shows, Quilting, Quilting Community / 1 Comment

The QuiltCon show entry deadline was earlier this week, and, as always, it seemed to sneak up on me.  This year I decided to aim for five entries, which is the maximum number of quilts that one person can have accepted to the show. I managed to get four entered in October, but one (there is always one) didn’t get entered until the last day.

My first entry is the only quilt that I have ever re-submitted.  Resonance was rejected from QuiltCon 2019, but I love this quilt, so I thought I would give it one more chance. It is entered in the Applique category.

This year we had 450 characters for the description of each quilt.  This is the description I submitted with Resonance:

Resonance uses colorful quilting thread to create a sense of outward movement and reverberation from central points.Thread that coordinates with each fabric creates a blending sensation as the quilting merges the appliquéd circles with each other and the background.This quilt was my first 100 day project that ran from New Year’s Day 2018 to my birthday, which fell on the 100th day of the year.

You can read more about Resonance here.

This year, the special challenge category was stripes.  All of my remaining entries could arguably be entered in this category, but I like to spread my entries out in different areas.  Stripe Club is the quilt I selected to enter in the American Patchwork and Quilting Stripes Quilt Challenge, and this was also the quilt that got submitted on the final day!

Submitted description:

All solid fabrics are cut and pieced into the stripes forming the basis for this semi-improvisational design.Stripes of various widths, and as small as 1/8 inch, were stitched together to create a piece of fabric before being cut and assembled into the blocks that make up the quilt top.The circular blocks were devised as stand alone units and placed on a design wall to develop the overall composition with the addition of more striped units.

You can read more about Stripe Club here.

34x34x34 is entered in the Negative Space category.

Submitted description:

This quilt is an exploration of randomness in the design process.An arbitrary line drawn on a sheet of graph paper was 34 squares long, and that determined the repeating numbers for the quilt.On a 34 x 34 square grid, I placed 34 colorful squares.The placement was determined by using a random number generator to decide the coordinates.Six colors were each assigned a number and a game die was rolled to select the colors for each square.

You can read more about 34x34x34 here.

Forward and Back is a mini quilt that I made for a guild challenge earlier this year, and it is entered in the Small Quilts category.

Submitted description:

Two simple blocks are cut into strips and reassembled to form this small quilt.The first block was a simple circle in warm colors. The second block was made of wedges in cool colors.Combined, the two blocks evoke the feeling of a sunset over the sea.

You can read more about Forward and Back here.

My fifth and final entry for QuiltCon 2020 is Zenith.  Zenith has been to several shows in the past year, and I am so excited to enter it in QuiltCon.  I submitted it in the Improvisation category.  I have never had a quilt accepted to this category, so my fingers are crossed.

Submitted description:

Using improvisational construction, Zenith combines the 2018 Pantone color of the year, Ultra Violet, with the Kona color of the year, Tiger Lily. With these colors as a starting point, the overall palette was expanded to incorporate the hues found in a vibrant sunset. The inclusion of strong diagonal lines, triangular shapes, and a combination of hand and machine quilting further enhances the energy of the quilt.

You can read more about Zenith here.

Waiting for the jury results is always hard, but I’m very grateful that QuiltCon has a relatively short turnover time.  I will let you know the results in the next few weeks!

I am excited to be participating in this year’s 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com, and I hope you will have the chance to check out some of the other awesome blogs that are participating this month.

Throwback Thursday: First (Modern-ish) Quilt

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Today, I thought I would share my first modern-ish quilt that I made before Modern Quilting was called Modern Quilting.  If you have ever seen my guild trunk show, you may have seen this quilt, but not many other people have.  I made this quilt as a 4-H project in the early 90’s, and it was on my bed until I graduated from high school.

The design is based on a pattern in the book “On Behalf of Chickens” by Mary Tendall and Connie Tesene, but I decided to place the chickens among solid blocks instead of pieced ones.  Selecting solid fabrics wasn’t a common choice at the time, but now I like to think of it as my first foray into the Modern aesthetic. It is all hand quilted, which explains how little quilting I actually put on it!  The stitches that are there are pretty good, especially considering my age at the time.  They all fit into that 10-12 stitches per inch ideal.

I am actually impressed with how well this held up over the years.  Looking back on your work, do you have a quilt that was “Modern” before its time?

I am excited to be participating in this year’s 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com, and I hope you will have the chance to check out some of the other awesome blogs that are participating this month.