Invader In My Sewing Room

Yes, there was an invader in my sewing room. My husband had the day off yesterday and he decided he was going to make an apron from a pair of old jeans. So I set the machine up for him. So for the first time ever using the sewing machine he made himself an apron to wear out in his workshop. On the left side of the apron you can see where he added a pocket. He sewed the raw edges and added the apron tails. He was pretty pleased with himself. I was too.

We got our first snow for 2009.
I am going to add this fabric each time it snows to my calendar quilt.
With Passion, Carrie P.

Failure is only an opportunity to begin more intelligently. Henry Ford

No Applique Today

No Applique today. What is that all about? Today I am going to show you some blocks I have finished that are embroidery.
All caught up on my combination Calendar Quilt.
Here is my Verandah View. I just love that word. Maybe we will build one on our next home. Check out these pictures of verandahs. I know a lot of you would like to be sitting under one today.

Here is the Christmas Wish BOM. I am going to wait to put the borders on until I see a few more blocks.

If you would like a little bit of embroidery to do check out Bird Brain Designs. They have a free designs that you embroider on a tea towel. They will be doing this each month.

With Passion, Carrie P.

A friend will joyfully sing with you when you are on the mountain top, and silently walk beside you through the valley. Anonymous

Freezer Paper Points Tutorial

Thank you all for your kind comments on my first tutorial. I was a little unsure about how the first one would go. It is a lot different when you have actual students in front of you to teach.
Before we go on to freezer paper let me just say that a lot of you use the toothpick to turn your fabric. One thing I did not mention but was mentioned in the comments was to put the toothpick in your mouth. Getting the toothpick wet seems to help turn the fabric more easily.

First you will cut out your freezer paper shape. Iron it to the wrong side of your fabric. Cut out leaving 3/16".  Then carefully pull of the freezer paper. Place the freezer paper waxy side up. This is the side you will now iron the fabric edges to.

Now iron one side of the fabric up around the edge of the paper.  The fabric will stick to the waxy/shiny side of the freezer paper. I really like to use the small Clover iron when I am doing applique.
Then I go to the other side and I place my fingernail at the edge of the paper and iron up the opposite edge.

Here you can see the little tails sticking out.
Next I take some Magic Sizing and spray a small amount in a small container. It will turn into a liquid shortly. Take a paint brush, dip it into the sizing and paint the little flag. Take your fingers and fold the wet flag over to the back so that when you turn it over to the front side you can't see any of the fabric.
This is what it should look like.
Take your iron and press it down.
Do that to the other side and you will have some great looking points.

Here you see a star which has a much sharper point than a leaf. This star has freezer paper underneath and you can see the little flag that I need to tuck in.
Sorry this picture is blurry but I think you can see that handy dandy toothpick. Use the toothpick to tuck that flag in under the point. I don't trim the flag like I do in needle turn.
Trying to iron the flag on sharp points just doesn't seem to work as well as just leaving it and tucking it in. I will take a stitch right at the tip of the point and continue going around. When I get done I will cut a little slit in the back and pull out the paper. Now you can leave the flags on the leaves and just tuck them in just like the star but it sure is nice to have it all prepared so that you can just sew.
One more thing, if you will cut your seam allowance smaller than 1/4" you won't have so much fabric to fight with. 3/16" is good to work with.

With Passion, Carrie P.

The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything... or nothing. Lady Astor

Applique Points Tutorial

My first tutorial by request. I am going to show you how to do points on needle turn applique and tomorrow I will show you how to do them using freezer paper. My daughter took the photos, so give her a hand.
Here I am approaching a point.
When you get to the point I take two stitches right at the very point to hold it in place.
Now I have this little bit of excess fabric. This little bit of fabric can make it hard to get a good point. So...
I will take my small sharp pointed scissors and snip that little bit of fabric away.

Here is where a toothpick comes in handy. This is one of my favorite tools. It works great turning the fabric and when you are having trouble turning the fabric with the needle, try using a toothpick. Take the toothpick and fold the tip under so you have a straight horizontal edge, then...
continue to use the toothpick to turn under the fabric. Once you get a little fabric turned under use your other thumb and finger press it down and you are ready to sew again.
Take one stitch at the very tip of the point and continue stitching down the side.
And here you go, pretty decent points if I say so myself.
With Passion, Carrie P.
Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it. Rabindranath Tagore

January 15, 2009

There are a lot of things going today in blogland. New BOM posted, the Winter Giveaway will be drawing names, and the deadline for the Time for Tea swap. The Red Delicious BOM is up and ready for you to go get. You might have noticed two more buttons on my sidebar. These are embroidery BOM and they are very pretty. So if you like to embroider go check them out.

This is going to be a short post because I am getting ready to go teach my beginner applique class but I have two pictures for you. I received some money for Christmas and I have been wanting these two books and finally got them.

Look at this quilt. It is my favorite in the book. (When the Cold Wind Blows)
And speaking of books, go check out Ginger's blog. She has 200 quilt books for sale. Maybe she has one you are looking for.

With Passion, Carrie P.

Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you'll still land among the stars. Anonymous