Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

A Day Off...

Guess what I did today? I'm so excited - I sewed!!! DH was out of town, kids were working/busy, mother is doing much better, and NO home showings so I felt I could take the day "off". The first thing I wanted to do was sew. The buyers have scheduled their home inspection for the weekend so we are really close (knock wood) to finalizing all of this and even though I need to keep things tidy I threw caution to the wind and made up a little bear paw block before doing any chores.

This was one of the 'shop hop' kits I picked up last summer and never got around to making. It was the perfect little project for my two hours in the sewing room; the fabric was provided and the simple block was easy to piece. Of course, there were no cutting instructions so I managed to screw it up and had to patch together some background fabric to make up what I needed. I probably won't even do anything with these tiny blocks so it wasn't a big deal. I really just wanted to turn on my machine and stitch. It felt awesome and relaxing to go between the cutting mat, pressing board, and sewing machine. The block came together nicely and my seams matched well. I have three more kits to put together and hope I can steal a bit of time next week to do so. I might see if I can make a little quilt out of them when they're done.

Once that block was put together I plugged in my Sweet Sixteen and continued work on my graffiti practice sandwich. I switched to gold Magnifico thread and even though I think my stitches looked a little weird tension-wise, the overall effect was pretty cool. If one looked closely it would be evident that it's all a bit of a messy dog's breakfast but from a distance, the dense free-form design is rather interesting. It definitely needs to be taken as a whole...or as a whole experience in that it is so fun and freeing to just let the thread land where it may and enjoy the process.

It has been an extremely sad and difficult week as we learned of and shared the passing of two wonderful individuals who are unfairly gone far too early. Of course, such news is always devastating and difficult to process, making the big picture of life take front and centre. The stress of the last few weeks has definitely caught up with my and I am perpetually exhausted but very grateful for the health of my family, the slow recovery of my mom, and the blessings in my life. Please stay well....

Steam-A-Seam 2 is Back!

Steam-A-Seam 2 is back after some production issues took it off the shelves for a while. This product is a double stick fusible web used for applique to adhere fabric together and bonds permanently when ironed. Sewing it is not required but it does work if you choose to and won't gum up the machine needle. It is the preferred brand by many pro quilters and including one of my favourites, Patrick Lose, who is an extremely talented applique artist.

I had never used Steam-A-Seam but when I saw it arrive locally I snapped up a packet of 5- 9x12" sheets. This new version with improved benefits and reliable results has a printed grid to help with tracing, is see-through and you can write on it. It is also printer friendly so you can simple print off your designs on the grid side and avoid tracing altogether.

This fusible web is made by my favourite batting company, The Warm Company, so I totally trust the quality. Thanks to my applique classes at Craftsy, 20 Fresh Appliqué Techniques with Amanda Murphy, Fun with Fusible Applique, with Deb Luttrell, and Inset and Applique Circles by Machine, among others, I have plenty of projects to try the Steam-A-Seam out on.

We are still showing our home to prospective buyers and that is keeping my very busy. The house is always clean and lovely but it makes real life living a little difficult. I have been caring for my mother more and more as she tackles her on-going health issues but I think things are going to settle down more now that she has had a corrective procedure and her care has been transferred to the local hospital and doctors.

Stabilizer Organization

A few weeks before I packed up my workshop for the sale of our home I organized my stash and supplies. One thing that I really needed to get to was my embroidery stabilizer drawers. I have so many different weights and styles and since they are all white and most are on rolls, it's really difficult to tell them apart - especially when you haven't used them in some time.

I re-watched my Craftsy class Stablizer Savvy with Terri Hanson and got some great tips for storing and labelling the products. I pulled everything out and went through them one by one, identifying the type (sticky back, fusible, wash-away, cut-away, tear-away, sew-in, etc.) and weight (light, medium, heavy, stiff, etc.). I tidied up the scraps and edges (my dog had pretty much eaten the end of one Nancy's Notions sticky-back roll I had!), attached any instructions provided, and grouped the rolls according to use.

I added an elastic to keep them from unrolling and slipped on a paper tag with the name and, if I could identify or remember, the manufacturer of each. This method works well because you can continue to use it as the roll size diminishes and there's no need to try to get them back into flimsy or torn packaging.

The Stablizer class may seem like a less than exciting choice of Craftsy class but it has been really helpful for a beginner embroiderer like myself. It can be confusing because there are so many choices of product and Terry gives great instruction on selecting the right one. Her guidance for proper usage is amazing and has saved me a lot of frustration and the storage tips are icing on the cake!

I have all my stabilizer rolls in one drawer unit and fusible fleece, fusible web, and interfacing in another. I feel so organized and it is much easier to find and select the right stabilizer for the project. Once I get in my new space I can have everything in view and ready to go - I can't wait to show it to you!!!!

First Graffiti Quilting

I started my first practice graffiti quilt. I used the only cone of OMNI thread I had, which happened to be a cream colour. It actually shows up very nicely on the black fabric but I wish I had more colours to experiment with.

Graffiti designs are meant to be spontaneous and Karlee Porter herself has no plan or prior sketch to follow. She lets the design flow freely from her mind and through the needle to allow for a densely stitched expression of creativity. This is a pretty big departure from traditional quilting and I must say, very relaxing and enjoyable. It is fun to let go and just relish the lack of parameters. I stitched away while watching the quilted area expand and radiate from the centre starting point. The only time I stopped was when my bobbin was empty - I had no problems at all with my lovely Sweet 16 and it felt awesome to really test her out with different shapes of stitching.

I am pleased with how the quilting came out and the more you quilt the fewer "mistakes" stand out. I didn't worry too much about stitch length and my tension looks good, especially since I matched the top and bottom thread. In order to achieve the thick lines I had to go over the lines of stitching many times. I wasn't sure how many to do but Karlee indicates in her QNNtv appearance that it can be 7 or 8 passes. I would definitely like to try a rainbow of colours in this technique but I am not going to buy any more thread before we move.

Speaking of which, we have accepted a conditional offer on our home and keeping our fingers crossed that the myriad of dates for conditions to be met, closings to finalize, and movers to be booked, all gel together. We are getting closer and I am trying to look forward to getting my new studio in order, my frame back in use, and my machines humming again. The whole family is so excited to start this new phase in our lives!

Exhausted!

I have been working from sun up to sun down. Not sleeping past about 4:00 am, up just after 5, and non-stop thereafter. We have made great progress and I don't think my house has ever looked cleaner, tidier, or more spacious! I think everyone should pretend to move every year or so and really declutter and spring clean.

I am totally exhausted and very sore. On the bright side, I have been losing some weight and I was rewarded for my hard work when I found a whole bag of Ethel's chocolate bars from Vegas! I guess I hid them away to make them last and not eat them all at once. Well, it has been about 6 months since our trip so I guess I succeeded on that front! :) No promises for the coming week though...(there's already one missing!).

Tomorrow we list our house and the next day the agents come through and the professional photographer does her thing. After that it should be much easier to keep things clean and sparkling. I miss sewing so much and my workshop is so inviting with all the counter space and floor space. I know I can't start anything big and messy but I'm hoping we get some offers quickly and can get back to living until closing. Until tomorrow, my friends! I do have one last project to share and I'm really excited about it!

Matching Scrappy Napkins

...and here are the matching napkins for those scrappy placemats. I only ended up making four of them but they are pretty big (21") and I was running out of fabric. They are pieced in a log cabin design and then sandwiched right-sides together and stitched, leaving an opening for turning. Once the napkins are right side out they are finished with a simple edge stitch. I love how they turned out! However, it might just break my heart when someone wipes spaghetti sauce on them...

Remember to get the pattern for both the placemats and napkins from the Sew Along at Sew Mama Sew, HERE. 

We firmed up our offer on the house and the 'SOLD' sign is posted. We have been working like dogs getting our home ready for sale - non-stop cleaning, purging, sprucing, and gardening. It looks so darn good and spacious (especially after our garage sale!) that I might just wish I'd stayed! Wish me luck for a speedy sale so I can get back to sewing. :) 

Scrappy Modern Placemats

I have been wanting to make a set of placemats for ages and finally had the time to do it. I searched my library for a pattern but didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I found a couple of good designs on-line and then hit upon this Color Blocks Placemat tutorial. Not only did this 'Sew Along' offer step-by-step instructions for making modern and simple placemats and matching napkins, the designer is none other than one of my favourite quilters, Elizabeth Hartman from Oh Fransson. I have done several Elizabeth Hartman projects from her awesome Craftsy classes, Inspired Modern Quilts and Creative Quilt Backs, I have her books, and I love her style and techniques so I knew this was exactly what I was looking for!

I am so proud that I used scraps from my stash to make the set of mats. It took a little fiddling but I found enough fabric to piece each one so that it co-ordinated with the others. A fat quarter bundle of 'Clouds & Sunshine' from Connecting Threads had a good selection of greys and yellows to choose from. I love the pop of colour here and there. I had a yard of periwinkle fabric that was perfect for the backing and binding and as luck would have it, I picked up a very close match at the quilt festival I went to which made up the balance of what I needed. This design is very similar to my Low Volume Tiles quilt.

Piecing was a breeze and the good thing about making a set of smaller quilts (which is really what they are) is that you can chain piece and really get into the rhythm because you have to do 6 repetitions. The bad thing about making a set of smaller quilts is that you have to do everything 6 times! haha! That also means binding x6 and ugh, 24 mitered corners! (Not my favourite task!). Still, it didn't take long to get them all done and I really like how they turned out. I used a pretty grey Aurifil thread to quilt them with a modern straight line design. I love my Hera marker for giving me guidelines to follow without having to remove any markings. It is a great tool!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Things are about to get crazy over here as hubby and I have bought a new house. There is so much to do but it is all very exciting. I am so thrilled that I will have more room in the basement for my workshop and I can bring back my quilt frame! :) Please don't give up on me if my posts are a little less frequent. I will have to pack up my stuff and probably won't be able to start any new quilts but I will try to post as often as possible!

Craftsy Classes on Sale!

Guess what? Craftsy classes are on sale now until Monday. You can get up to $20 off every single class. That makes a tempting gift for your crafty mom for Mother's Day or for yourself just because you have been waiting for your favourite new class to go on sale.

I can't keep up with all the new releases! There are cake decorating and cooking classes, home and garden classes, and of course, my favourite sewing and quilting classes. There are a lot to choose from so have fun checking out the video overviews and detailed course info to find the best one for you. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Table Topper

I made this trapunto Hawaiian table topper as a project for the 20 Fresh Appliqué Techniques with Amanda Murphy Craftsy class. I've had great success with Amanda's designs and knew it would be an enjoyable learning experience.

This was a quick and fun topper to make and I used some fat quarters from my stash so it was a mini stash buster too. I worked with fusible web, wash-away thread, and FINALLY, my yo-yo maker! There are quite a few techniques to try with this project and I highly recommend Amanda's class if you want to experiment with applique. In addition to the topper there are patterns and instructions for a quilt, table runner, and pillow and so many different topics are covered, from stitching curves, making bias bars, working with decorative stitches, and the trapunto in this Hawaiian inspired table topper, among others. Amanda is a super teacher and answers any questions you have along the way.

I love how mine turned out even though it has quite a different feel than Amanda's bright and tropical theme. The only drawback is that the trapunto is quite puffy so you couldn't actually put a glass or something small on the uneven topper. If you used it purely for a decoration in the centre of a table or under a heavy glass bowl there wouldn't be a problem at all! I ended up pinning mine to the wall in my workshop and addd it to my collection of wall hangings. It was a lot of fun to do and I really enjoyed making those yo-yos. I used the Clover yo-yo maker I bought way back in July of last year and they were very quick and easy to make. I was surprised how small they ended up but they were the perfect size for the project. I didn't like sewing them on by hand much and the centres could have been tighter.

The topper is finished with a facing so that there is no need to mess with binding the scalloped edge. I preferred that method to using bias binding! I hand stitched it closed on the back (which wouldn't be seen anyway).

Here are some other pics of the work in progress. I used poly batting for the trapunto and my flexible ruler to create the shape of the quilting. I used my Horizon to free-motion quilt the stippling. Click on any photo to see it larger.

Graffiti Quilting

One of the reasons I got interested in Zentangle was my exposure to Karlee Porter's Graffiti Quilting technique. This very young quilter has developed an urban art/graffiti style quilting design based on the inner city influence she experienced growing up. I love the way the shapes blend together for a densely stitched continuous design of colour and texture.

I bought Karlee's self-published book and being in Canada, probably paid way too much. I still wanted to have a copy in my library of designs and get a bit of guidance on how to get started with creating complex designs in this type of quilting. The text is limited to the materials Karlee uses for her quilts and the basic elements making up the shapes. After that, there are only samples of the graffiti quilting for inspiration but little in the way of 'step by step' instructions. This is an unstructured art form and is left to the quilter to develop and achieve her own style.

Because Karlee uses a Sweet 16 for much of her smaller quilting, I was particularly curious about her work. She appears in an episode of Quilt It on QNNtv and shares her secrets to graffiti quilting. I found that video very helpful and I am excited to try it on my own Sweet 16. I have no quilts at the moment to actually quilt on the machine and it kills me to see it sitting there not in use. I bought some black fabric and poly batting so that I can experiment (and stitch!) on my Sweet. These are whole-cloth pieces so the thread and the quilting take the entire stage, not just centre stage. I will play with my different types and weights of threads as well and see what I like best. I also anticipate buying the couching feet set for my machine since Karlee also produces amazing pieces using thicker, decorative yarns and metallic threads. She makes it look so easy but as she quotes, one needs 10,000 hours of practice to be really good at something! I hope I can develop my own type of free-form quilting - whether it's a mix of Zentangle, graffiti, or just plain old AngieM stitches.

I'm excited for Karlee as she becomes more well-known in the quilting world. She has revamped her website and is beginning to travel (Western Canada, Australia) to teach and share her technique with other quilters around the world. Go Karlee!!!!