Water Torture

I was the guest speaker at the meeting of The Quilters’ Guild of NSW Inc today. In a “world exclusive”, I showed them my water-themed Twelve by Twelve quilt. The rest of you will have to wait. (Only two more sleeps)

If you weren’t able to make it to the Guild meeting today, perhaps you can join me for my “show and tell” at The Cottage Quiltworks at 11.30am on Friday, 5 June? Alas, if you live overseas, it’s a long swim.

PS: Here is the listing of alternative quilt finish tutorials if you are looking for it.

More Little Folk

Only 3 more sleeps until the Twelve by Twelve water quilts are revealed. (Can you tell I am excited?)

Green prevails

I auditioned some purple binding but olive green prevailed:

Only four more sleeps until I can show you my “water” quilt for the Twelve by Twelve Collaborative Art Quilt Project

Crafty Quilting with Pamela

Late last week I received a phone call from my friend Pamela seeking advice about setting up a website to display her quilts. As a computing novice, she was concerned about ease of updating and the expense involved. I pointed her to WordPress.com and, just a few days later, here is the result - Crafty Quilting with Pamela:

While there are limits on the extent to which you can customise the free WordPress.com themes/layouts, one of the real advantages of the WordPress platform is the ability to set up separate pages. I prepared the banner image and tweaked the layout but Pamela did the rest. If she can set up a website, you can too!

Mitred Facing Tutorial

I finished Dandelion Meadow using a variation of the mitred facing technique outlined by Melody Johnson. I find it much easier to make the mitres before attaching the facing strips to the quilt and you might too. A full tutorial is set out below.

Preparation:

1. Using a rotary cutter, trim quilted piece to 12 1/2 square (or desired finished size + 1/2 inch per side).
2. Cut four strips 1 1/2in x 12 1/2in (or whatever the length your quilt sides are).
3. Place the strips in pairs with right sides together.
4. Mark a line at a 45 degree angle across the end of each pair of strips and mark another line 1/4in from the edge as shown.

 

Mitre Frame:

1. Sew each pair of strips together by stitching along the marked angled line, stopping and backstitching 1/4in from the edge (ie where the two marked lines intersect).
2. Trim the seam to 1/2in. Press seam flat and open to create an “L” shape as shown

3. Mitre join the two “L” pieces together to form a frame.
4. Place the frame right side down and press back a 1/4in seam. (I mark a line 1/2in from the raw edge and fold the edge back to this line.)
5. Pin the mitred frame to the quilt top right side down and aligning the raw edges.
 
6. Using your walking foot and 1/4in seam allowance, stitch through all four layers (ie quilt and facing) around the edge of the facing.(You might like to stitch angled corners but I just sewed seams at right angles.)
7. Trim the corners (to remove bulk) taking care not to cut through the stitching line.

1. Turn the facing to the back of the quilt and gently poke the corners flat (I use my sewing machine screwdriver).
2. Press carefully so that none of the facing can be seen from the front of the quilt and slip stitch the facing in place.

See my Free & Non-Binding: Alternative Quilt Finishes post for a listing of other online tutorials for alternative quilt finishes.

Why so quiet?

Behind the scenes I’ve been busy with Sydney Quilt Show preparations including: designing some new webpages to more attractively display the prize winning quilts; finalising layout diagrams and construction notes so that our volunteers can put together the necessary equipment and hang quilts on set-up day; and liaising with quilt show entrants regarding delivery of their quilts to me as a Drop Off Lady.

This year I have been allocated a number of quilts from interstate members. Thus a weight-training element has been added to the morning regimen as the long-suffering Laundry King or I return from our walk and swim laden with quilts from the Post Office. It’s so exciting to unfold the quilts and, I confess, conduct a review drawing upon the matters covered in the judging workshop I attended last year. It will be interesting to see how “my” quilts stack up with the rest of the exhibition.

Esprit de corps

I hand stamped lots of people fabric when I was working on my community-themed Twelve by Twelve quilt. Here’s another piece quilted and awaiting binding. I’m thinking something purple.

Our water-themed quilts are due to be revealed on 1 June (US time). Then it is my turn to choose a theme. Ah, the pressure!

Show & Tell at the Cottage Quiltworks: 6 June

This is a reminder to readers in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney that I will presenting a show and tell at The Cottage Quiltworks at 11.30am on Friday, 6 June. Bookings are essential, so call Jan and Chris on (02) 9918 7550 to make sure you get your place and a bite of morning tea.

Water Quilting

The effect is subtle but I’ve started quilting one of one water-shibori pieces:

Quilting Karma

I dispatched my selvedges from Kaffe Tapestry to Erica without a second thought and look what comes back to me, albeit delayed by a couple of weeks courtesy of Australia Post. Thank you Erica.

Today a quilt I made from simple squares also found a good home with a young widow who lost her husband to cancer. I was pleased to have some suitable on standby.