Wannabe Longarmer

Recently I've been reading blogs about using rulers, that longarm quilters use, for freemotion quilting on a domestic sewing machine.  

It was clear that using the freemotion (darning) foot and an ordinary quilting ruler wasn't going to work.  I'd read enough that I wasn't even tempted to try and see if I could get it to work.

The blog I keep going back to is Amy's Freemotion Quilting Adventures in one post (here) she talked about using a combination of Janome feet on a Bernina.  I thought there must be an easier way.  

And there is .. an Australian company Westalee Design has designed a foot and rulers for domestic sewing machines.  After watching their video, I ordered the foot and ruler and a week later it arrived. 

Westalee foot and ruler

For the foot to work on my Bernina 440 a Bernina 'low shank adaptor foot' is required, which I already have. Following their great instructions, attached the foot and was off ...
 
... had a bit of a play ...

Then onto a mini neonates quilt.  While I could have achieved the same result with a walking foot, it was a great trial.  

using Aurifil 50wt thread

I found it easier to hold the ruler when it was on the left handside of the foot.   On the righthand side it tended to move abit - probably as I'm left handed. Would also help it I stuck on the non-slip strip that came with the ruler!

So now more practice and experimentation, although this will need to wait until I've finished my knitted quilt.

K1, P1, rpt

Earlier in the year Maureen at Mystic Quilter blogged about working in a series.  I thought this was a great idea and that I could work through either Jean Wells book 'Intuitive Color & Design' or Elizabeth Barton's book 'Inspired to Design; Seven Steps to Successful Quilts'.  

So instead I've been working on a commission for a second Knit One, Paint One quilt.  

Knit One, Paint One

Same pattern just a slightly different colour.  While I'd kept my original pattern I needed to recreate the freezer paper stencil - this took longer than I remembered with the original quilt!

Adding the colour was relatively fast.  To emphasise the white 'knitted stitches' I add a layer of batting and quilt around the shapes, then trim away the batting.

Stitching the first layer of batting

Freezer paper stencils

I'm currently about half way with the stitching and trimming.  The next stage is to add another layer of batting, the backing and finally quilt it.

Tote Bag

My quilting bag that I use to cart my quilting/stitching stuff around is rather tatty and definitely needs replacing.  The problem was finding just the right pattern that had all the features I thought I required.  

I regularly follow Adrianne's blog (www.onthewindyside.co.nz/), she's had a few posts about making Tote bags.  Finally I thought I'd just do it and make a tote using her tutorial (here). 

Adrianne uses Soft and Stable in her bags instead of batting or interfacing. I happened to be in Stitchbird one Saturday (see here about why I'm often in Kilbirnie on a Saturday) and bought some Soft and Stable.  The fabric is also from Stitchbird. 

Her instructions are excellent and include a number of very good tips.  I added an inside pocket - next time it'll be bigger and maybe with a zip closure.  As I didn't have any tape for the handles I covered the off cuts of the Soft and Stable with some of the bag material.

Using the Soft and Stable was easy, one of the great things about it is the bag is mostly free-standing.  Also, it doesn't need to be quilted although I did.

I already have an order for a second one.  My daughter has chosen the fabric and wants a slightly smaller one - which is fine as I have a smaller piece of soft and stable left over.  Now to convince her that she could sew it or at least some of it!

Finally, for those in Wellington do go and visit Stitchbird's new shop - just a hop and a skip (not even a jump) across the driveway from their old shop.

Some local bloggers

One of the great things about reading blogs is the varied locations the writers come from. 

Over time I've found a number of Wellington quilting/textile related blogs and thought I'd share them here:

thewindyside.blogspot.co.nz/  
Adrianne is an enthusiastic quilter with very interesting and thoughtful posts

junezscrapz.blogspot.co.nz/    
While June covers quilting she also has the most amazing photos, a lot from the Wellington area and elsewhere in New Zealand.
 
thedreamstress.com/    
Leimomi is passionate about historical costuming.  I've been to a couple of her talks/presentations and she is fantastic as are her costumes. 

stitchbird.blogspot.co.nz/   
Local quilt shop with interesting fabric, especially Japanese.

tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/    

lee-annnewton.blogspot.co.nz/   

fificolston.blogspot.co.nz/    

scatteredstitcher.blogspot.co.nz/  

dontwaittocreate.blogspot.co.nz/    

www.mademarioncraft.co.nz/category/blog/   

sentfrommyiron.blogspot.co.nz/

claresmith.blogspot.co.nz/     


There are others that I haven't included as either they infrequently post or seem to have stopped posting.

Researching

A site that I've recently become aware of is www.textileartist.org.

How they describe themselves  ... 

'TextileArtist.org is a place for textile artists and art enthusiasts to be inspired, learn from the best, promote their work and communicate with like-minded creatives.'

While I like the interviews of textile artists that use an interesting range of materials and techniques, they also have articles on topics such as using Pinterest and 'finding an audience for your art'.

Be prepared to spend awhile ...

Other Entries

Lucy Carroll is another Oceania SAQA member with a quilt accepted into SAQA's 'Redirecting the Ordinary' exhibition.  Here is her entry 'Work Ready'

Work Ready

The size of the quilts needed to be between 44"-48" high x 28"-32" wide.  

This is a stunning quilt and it would be amazing to see it.










Thanks to Lucy for this list of other exhibitors:

Bobbi Baugh – bobbibaughart.com/artwork/3468191_Dance_of_the_Survivors.html
 
Sharon Buck – sharonbuckart.weebly.com/1/post/2014/03/sewing-machines-and-redirecting-the-ordinary.html
 
Gillian Cooper – gilliancooper.blogspot.com/2014/03/good-news-and-even-more-completed-work.html
 
Denise Oyama Miller – deniseoyamamiller.com/2014/03/redirecting-the-ordinary/
 
Donna Deaver – donnadeaver.com/gallery/reflection-series/reflection-9/
 
Terry Grant – andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/2014/03/acceptance.html

Some more blogs to read and follow.

A new project

I've decided to make a quilt for a someone close to me.  I don't often make bed sized quilts, the only ones in our house are the ones on the kids beds (or floor).  Actually to be more honest I don't make bed sized quilts!

So this is a project that I'm sure will challenge me and as it isn't for a competition I'll try and document its progress here.  More about competitions in another post - just to say there is a major one due later this year and its rules are just a bit unclear.  So I'm just being a bit careful in what I post about any possible entries. 

My friend Suzy is closing her shop Piece by Piece at the end of the month, I'll miss not being able to just pop in.  So today I went for a visit with the pattern she'd previously given me and the colour scheme.  This is what I came home with ...

I don't think I'd have ever chosen these by myself!  So thanks to Suzy and also Jan, June and the other ladies who happened to be in the shop at that time.

Bit of a dogs breakfast

Back in 2010 my quilt 'Painted Chocolate Blocks' won a merit prize at Aotearoa Quilters Annual exhibition.  

The prize was a $150 voucher from Tulis Batiks.  I selected a range of mostly blue and brown batiks with a small amount of lime green ones.  My original idea was a log cabin quilt, not a traditional style but more like Edwina Mackinnon with her Cut and Come Again quilts (click here to see one on Laura Kemshall's blog).  

For some reason I was a bit intimidated by just having a go and trying this technique so I never did.

After attending Gwen Marston's class last year I looked at the collection of batiks again and thought maybe I could try a Gwen version of log cabin.  I had made a 12by12 that I liked (see here). So off I went.  

The first blocks were good, the ones with too much brown were ok-ish.  When I put them together - hmm.  Some quilting friends have made some polite (!) comments, the most useful being they need to be separated by filler blocks.

From under the tree

Well Christmas has been and gone for another year.  A lovely sunny day with a Christmas lunch picnic at the Botanic Gardens.

 



One of my presents ...

 Fabric Manipulation by Ruth Singer.


I've followed her blog for awhile and enjoyed her work. Now to try some of her techniques.