How about letting us know, in the comments, what your questions are.  If you only have one question, that’s okay?

For instance, I wonder how many people do traditional quilting and how many have branched off into mixed media.

What is your favorite quilting pattern?

Do you like to make large bed quilts or smaller wall hangings?

Are you into quilted and patchwork clothing rather than quilts?

Let us know what your questions are!

Image: sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

What Are Your Quilting Questions?

Instead of having to meticulously plan every seam, paper piecing gives you a little more freedom and it’s a lot less intimidating to begin.

One of my favorite books on the subject is “Paper Piece a Flower Garden” by Jodie Davis.

The book is filled with patterns for leaves, flowers, bugs, birds and animals – in short, anything that you could find living in a flower garden!  It doesn’t give you a set pattern for putting the blocks together, instead the book encourages you to be creative by making your own design.

I’ve made quite a few motifs from the book and have had excellent results with the finished blocks.  You have to be careful with paying attention to the numbered seams, but I highly recommend this book – it’s a great way to get an intricate quilt.

image: Amazon

disclaimer: This is not an affiliate link, nor do I receive any benefit from posting this review

Post from: Blisstree

Book Review: Paper Piece a Flower Garden

Image: sxc.hu

(This is that handy household item that’s plain on one side and slightly waxy on the other.  We called it waxed paper when I was a youngster and used it for wrapping sandwiches, covering bowls in the refrigerator and a heavier version for wrapping items for freezing.  There were no plastic baggies nor plastic wrap available.)

Penny Halgren has a great article, Using Freezer Paper to Make Quilts, at her How to Quilt site that gives information on using freezer or waxed paper for quilting…for tasks such as applique and making templates.

It’s available at the grocery.  However, many quilting supply stores carry it now.

How have you used this paper for your fabric art?

Check out

Post from: Blisstree

Freezer Paper for Quilting Tasks

Image: sxc.hu

I was fascinated by the four stylish ladies with umbrellas and brought them home from Texas with me.  Each is signed by the name of the quilter.  However, I’ve not discovered just what I should do with them.  I hesitate to cut them apart.  So I pin them to the wall and ponder.

Perhaps I should write a story about the quilters and/or the ladies.  Does each personify the quilter?  I don’t think I want to make pillows.  These ladies need to go into a quilt or wall hanging.  But a story of their lives would be fun to accompany them.

What would you do?

Post from: Blisstree

What Do I Do With The Dancing Ladies?

When you’re quilting your quilts or fabric art, do you prefer a hoop or quilting frame?

 I started out thinking I MUST use a quilting frame and purchased one that took up our entire very small living room (the only room in our apartment in which it would fit).  I put a quilt on it, but had to roll it out and then up whenever I worked.

I got a large hoop for quilting a small project and found this worked well in my sewing room or the living room.  Then I wondered, “Why not use it for a large quilt?”

I tried it and met with success.  I also found it much easier to manipulate the quit for quilting in the hoop.  So for all my quiting projects after that I used the large hoop, even when I was quilting entire quilts.

I basted my projects in preparation for quilting by using many safety pins.  I’d put a few stitches here and there but discovered the large safety pins held my work in place well for the hoop.

It’s all a matter of personal preference and logistics.  Some projects work well with a quilting frame, especially if a number of quilters are working on them.  Other quilters may find the hoops unwieldy on their laps. Also, do you have space for setting up a quilting frame? 

Post from: Blisstree

Do You Use a Hoop or Quilting Frame?

Image: sxc.hu

They are passed down through the years.  So we try to discover their stories and learn more about the quilters and their place in our lives.

However, what about the quilts we make?  Won’t they be heirlooms for our children and grandchildren?  These could be:

• Quilts and fabric art you give as gifts
• Those that you show and win prizes for
• Fabric art you simply use around your home
• Quilts you make from fabrics with special meanings
• Those that use fabric from our children’s lives.
• Quilts we make from the fabric and memorabilia of a family member’s life – mother, father, aunts and uncles, grandmother and grandfather

Make sure you record the stories of these quilts, why and how you made them, where the fabric came from.  Is there a special occasion associated with them?  Take photos of the quilts to go along with the stories.

This makes me realize I must do this about the quilts of my ancestors and those I’ve made, as well as daughter and granddaughter.

What heirloom quilts have you made?

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Are You Creating an Heirloom Quilt?

Image: sxc.hu

Here are 13 that seem interesting:

1. Yo-yo maker
2. Mini quilt display stands (shaped like room dividers)
3. Needle sharpener
4. Compact travel sewing machine
5. Seam ripper and thread cutter combined
6. Pre-wound bobbins
7. Buttonhole spacers
8. Bendable sewing machine mini light
9. Sharpener for rotary cutter blades
10. Lazy Susan spinning carousel for holding thread
11. Wax pastels for enhancing landscape quilts
12. Rotary cutters to prepare fabric for hand stitching
13. Easel caddy for sewing/quilting tools

What are some of your favorite tools and gadgets?

Post from: Blisstree

Thursday 13 – Sewing/Quilting Gadgets

My daughter has experienced the same situation in recent years in our multi-generational home. Now she’s looking forward to gaining the loft area for her sewing and quilting space as we juggle rooms around since her daughter has gone to college away from home.

I share an office/writing space with my husband. Sometimes I write at the dining table, but I’ve learned that writing can take place anywhere. But my quilting and fabric are has come to a standstill except for small projects because I simply don’t have the space.

What do you have a for a studio or work space? A room or your own? A small building of your own? Shared space with other family members?

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Do You Have an Arts Studio?

Image: sxc.hu

Soon after the disasters associated with 9-11, many quilters turned to their needlework for solace for themselves and to bring comfort to others.  They also have used quilting, fabric art and mixed media to commemorate family members,  friends, and other heroes of that fateful day.

Here are a couple of sites you may want to check out to learn more about some of this art.

9-11 Memorial Quilts

World Trade Center Quilt 

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9-11 Quilts for Commemoration

They’re hosting a retrospective of 300 years of British quilts, from 1700 right up to the present day.

The exhibit will begin in March 20th,  2010, and continue through until July 4th, 2010.  They’re going to be showing quilts from their archives that have never been shown before.  You’ll have a chance to see heavily embroidered silk & velvet bed quilts from the 1700s, as well as some of the best in contemporary British art quilting.

There are 65 quilts in the show, divided into five different sections.  I love the fact that they’re also providing information about the quilt makers themselves.  For instance, a cot quilt is being exhibited along with the maker’s diary and photos of the children that slept under it.

The curator, Sue Prichard also has a fascinating blog where you can catch up on behind-the-scenes shots and lots of interesting tidbits about the collection.

image: Stock.xchg

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300 Years of Quilts at the V & A in England