Rainbow Dresden

I taught a Dresden Plate pillow class at Sew Complete on Wednesday.  I only had two students, which turned out to be a lot of fun (Hi, Donna and Kay!)  It was such a relaxing day and I think both ladies liked their pillow.  Kay did her pillow like the class example, and Donna picked a stripe that reminded me of a Mexican fiesta.  Wish I had thought to snap a picture!  Prior to the class, I made the pillow pictured above.  I used some hand dyed fabric from my Cherrywood collection and some medium grey linen I had on hand that I bought from Purl Soho.  The Cherrywood fabrics are dyed to look like they could be wool or suede or flannel - such a great look.  I used the Dresden Plate template from
Anelie Belden's fast2cut Templates.  I have made quite a few Dresden Plate quilts over the years and I find that I don't tire of making those folded blades.  I have "pinned" quite a few ideas to my Pinterest board and think this will be a good pattern to use up some of my fabulous fabrics.  Low volume quilts are also calling my name, so maybe I will make a Dresden Plate quilt with low volume fabrics.  Too bad this morning's schedule includes helping Carl seal a wall from a big hole he dug yesterday.  The mosquitoes are going to love my ample frame to bite!  Jerilynn  P.S.  I forgot to  mention how much I love working with the linen for the pillow.  Too bad it is a pricey fabric.  After my no-more-new-fabric year is over, I may just have to search around for a good deal on some linen.  Such pretty texture, very classy.

What Type of Needle Do I Have on the Sewing Machine?

Thursday I am teaching a Threads and Needles class at my favorite Bernina store, Sew Complete.  I have a doctorate in Threadology, don't you know.  You can read about it way back on my first few posts in the fall of 2010.  Actually, anyone who pays the class fees and spends a few days at the School of Threadology at Superior Threads in Utah will get the diploma, so the "degree" should not impress you too much!  I used to teach a  Threads and Needles class at Sew Complete a lifetime ago, or so it seems.  I think it really was only 15 years ago, but it seems longer than that.  The most amazing thing, however, is that I still have my notes from that class, the "bad needle and bad thread" examples, and the little magnifying glasses I hand out to students so that they can see, up close and personal, the bad needle tips.  Where I lived when I taught the classes was three houses ago.  Think about it.  Three moves.  You may not be surprised that I have the class info, but I was pretty pleased.  I also used to teach a class called "Beyond the Basics" on a Bernina 1630, the top of the line back in the 90's.  One of the projects was a Needle Keeper.  You programmed your machine to stitch out the names of the different types of needles, and the most popular sizes of those needles.  You can store slightly used needles in the right spot, or mark what type of needle you currently have in the machine.  So, blog readers....what type of needle do I have in my machine right now?  Yep, a 90 Topstitch.  The above Needle Keeper is one that I designed just today in my Bernina V6 software.  The original one that I taught in the "Beyond the Basics" class is missing.  I can't find it.  I have moved three times, after all.  What do you expect?  Jerilynn

Circles!!!

I think I mentioned the circular attachment tool for my Bernina a few posts ago when I talked about the round potholder. I thought that the next time I made one, I would do the quilting with the attachment and the circles would be actually round (a good quality for a circle to have.) A couple of my students were making a bag project and put a few circles on their bag, rather than the square design of my sample. I thought they looked really good, and suggested the circular attachment that would make life a bit easier. Sure enough, the circles are a breeze to make, and fun to see how different the stitches look in the round. BUT, about halfway through the project that I was trying to get done by my Thursday deadline, I BROKE THE ATTACHMENT!!! Yep, not good. Carl looked closely at it and identified the teeny tiny area that broke off. I pushed it together the best I good and carefully continued to use it, even afraid to breathe too hard. It worked good enough to get the circles done. Tomorrow (I guess it will be later today!) I will call Sew Complete to see if they have a replacement in stock. Cross your fingers for me, blog readers. As I said, my pattern deadline is Thursday and I am trying to get everything done. Also cross your fingers for that!!! Jerilynn P.S. Sorry about yesterday's very short post and horrible potholders! Reviews today confirmed the show wasn't all that great. By the lack of comments yesteday, it has been confirmed the potholders were not all that great, either. I will make sure I spill something gooey on them quite soon.

Tote Contents Protected

Greetings from The Red Chair. I decided to show you a picture of the zippered lining in the Folkart Clothesline Tote. It isn't quite perfected yet, not ready for prime time. But, it is not too bad. I will keep trying to come up with a simpler way to insert the zipper. This way looks not quite finished on the inside, and I don't like how that looks. Notice I didn't show you a shot of that. Again I picked reds and blacks and greens. What is with that? I have two classes of students tomorrow for this tote. It always is a fun class to teach - students have such a variety of fabrics and I should learn from this. I think my favorite bag so far, still, was the linen, muted bag. Sew Complete in Eau Claire just got in several bolts of neutrals, a few with dots, that would make a great bag for summer. I also am tempted just to zigzag rows of plain clothesline together with a black thread. Line it with a cream and black print. Could be really interesting. Aaron, our grandson, continues to improve. He has started rehab and may get to go to a facility near their home by this weekend. He is a strong, and determined kid and I know he will fight as hard as he can. What a scary time it is! Jerilynn

I'm Stuck on Something to Talk About

One of the pincushions above is not like the others...of course, it is the one that is a coaster. The others, though, are usable pincushions, and they sit by my machines. The one in the upper left corner was made by my friend Kim. She took pieces of wool and wrapped them tightly together. The wool is good for the pins; the ones that live there are very happy! The middle, small tomato, was given to me by my friend Bonnie. She got it at the estate sale of a mutual sewing friend, Lucille. It still has her pins and needles in it. The bowl holding pins is made by a pottery artist, Emily Dyer. Her family members are sewers and quilters. Her pieces have quilterly nods, with painted stitches and applique motifs. Check out her etsy store at Emilydyer.etsy.com. How does this fit in with my other pincushions? My friend Jane always kept her pins by her sewing machine in a little yellow plastic bowl. That system worked great for her, and when I saw this little bowl, I knew that Jane would have thought it a proper bowl for pins. The little knitted pin holder is simply garter stitches, rolled up, and sewed shut with a vintage button. It was a fast knit. I used leftover cotton yarn, but wool would have been better. The natural wool oils would have made the pins living in that pincushion a bit happier. Sew Complete in Eau Claire has a red pincushion as their logo. Whenever you buy a sewing machine there, they give you a pincushion. Over the years I have purchased a lot of machines, and I wish I would have kept all of the gifted tomatoes. I wish I would have written on them the name of the machine I bought, and the date. It would have been a fun record. Sewing memories. Friends that have moved away. Friends that have passed away. Sewing machines that have moved on to other owners. Some people have scrapbooks. I have pincushions. Jerilynn

Big Bottom Bonnie Bag in.....Wool Felt!

As I talked about in an earlier post, I am having fun using the stitches on my machine to make felt squares. Previously, I had designed this type of stitching using digitizing software and then sewing them out on my embroidery machine. I challenged myself to use just the stitches in my sewing machine and am finding out that this is tons of fun! Using different threads is fun, too, and I have been using a lot of King Tut variegated thread from Superior Threads. The above pocket is sewn out using shades of green. The stitches do not have to line up perfectly in the corners...I give you permission just to play with designs and threads and have fun. I also like the zipper that I used. I ordered the Brastique YKK zipper from Ghees. I love the zipper pull and also the "steampunk" finish of the zipper. I am going to be on the lookout for more colors and a bit longer length. I used a charcoal grey wool felt on the outside, and lined it with a red. It is very soft and fits perfectly in the bag that I made (can't tell you too much about that right now...secret stuff!) Go buy some wool felt somewhere - Sew Complete in Eau Claire, WI, carries a bunch of colors, and you can order it on line at Wool Felt Central. Cut the squares into 5" and draw a diagonal chalk line from corner to corner to help keep your stitched squares square. I usually stitch the first one out about 5/8" from the edge and keep making smaller squares. Once you are all done, give it a good steam press and trim to 4.5". Stitch on to another square for a cute coaster or a fun pocket on a Bonnie Bag. What??? You don't have a Bonnie Bag pattern? Where have you been? Let me know and I will gladly sell you one! Jerilynn

My Next Sewing Machine Needs Spellcheck!

Tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow afternoon I am attending the 2010 Sew Holiday Workshop at Sew Complete. What fun! We make three different projects, kits all cut and ready to go, AND get fed! Dinner tonight was a yummy Many Bean Soup (fiber is VERY important for women of age). We get breakfast for tomorrow morning's class, and we get lunch for the afternoon session. Tonight's project was a big bag using the Double Diamond Ruler and a pattern by Jill Hix, Double Diamond Tote. I decided to be "creative" and program my machine to stitch out Sew Holiday 2010. Well, for some reason, a "J" got in front of the "S" in Sew. I didn't notice it until I had stitched the WHOLE strap! I laughed so hard and had the rest of the class in "stitches", too. I corrected the spelling for the second strap, but I have a feeling that this tote may just be a favorite project tote because of the crazy handle. I was using the Bernina 440, which doesn't show the whole line of what is going to be stitched...at least that is a partial excuse. Was I trying to write JERISEW? Who knows. You know, we always wonder what sewing machine manufacturers are going to come up with next - each new model has tons of new features. Well, I think I may have to request a machine with Spellcheck! Sew...I am back home, in the Red Chair, with a glass of wine, looking forward to another sewing day tomorrow. Isn't making stuff just the best fun? Jerilynn

I love Wool Felt!

I am almost at the point where I could be happy just working with wool felt. The colors are pretty, stitches looks great whether they are machine embroidered, machine stitched, or hand stitched. No ravely raw edges. Maybe it is a throw back to childhood craft projects. Years ago I ordered some 100% wool felt from Martha Stewart's web store. I remember it came with some patterns for Christmas stockings. For the longest time I couldn't bring myself to cut into it - it was that beautiful. Well, I got over just looking at it and then started to look around because my stash was dwindling. I found the Wool Felt Central web site and they carry all the colors, and I also discovered that Sew Complete in Eau Claire also carry quite a few of the best colors. I was back in business! Even though the felt I am buying now is part wool, part rayon, it is still very fun to work with. The above little quilt I made for a quilt challenge. The theme was "Baby It's Cold Outside". It is made with appliqued squares sewn on with the blanket stitch in black thread. The snowflakes were embroidered on my embroidery machine. Big red rick rack is tucked between the two backgrounds (rick rack is also a favorite of mine - so cute!). It was a charity fund raiser and the little quilt went for a good amount of money! I was pleased and also pleased that I won viewer's choice. I guess maybe there are others out there that like felt and rick rack. I am working on a new wool felt project, and it is turning out great. I can't really show you a picture yet, because it may become published and I don't want to ruin the surprise! Just know that I am having fun with my big pile-o-felt and lots of colors of King Tut Superior Thread. I promise you will get to see the results soon. Jerilynn