Will Work for Fabric

going seperate ways....

oh, it's not a bad thing!  My Lollypop Quilt is on it's way to MQX in New Hampshire.  Yeah! it was accepted into that show too, and Jeanne gets to showcase her work.

And me , I'm heading to Lancaster next weekend with some of the sisters....for some misbehavin'.  Ok, maybe it's for the Quilter Heritage Celebration, but we will certainly fit in some laughter and mischief too.  So I worked on picking out fabric for my class with Lisa DeBee Schiller this weekend and getting organized around the house.....a losing battle I'm afraid.

I also prepped the next Aunt Millie's block.  It took me some time, I had to break through that "should I stop at six?"barrier.  But finally, I have and now we are on to the newest block
I very often get questions about how I prep my applique....so here it is:

for this quilt I am using heat resistant mylar template.  I cut the templates the finished size of the pieces.
Then I cut the fabric 1/8" larger than the template.

I apply liquid starch to the seam allowance with a q-tip or paint brush and then I use by little clover iron to fold the seam allowance over the template and leave the iron on til the starch dries.  This leaves a nice crisp edge that does not come unfolded from handling.

I find if I use my regular iron for the seam allowance I need to turn the heat down a bit, the mylar can get a little wrinkly from the heat of the big iron.  I also find that my fancy french manicure does not always agree with the heat, so I sometimes use a bamboo skewer to hold the seam allowance in place when I'm working the piece.

I like this method cause when I lay the block out I can place everything exactly where it's going to go and not worry about fitting later on.

I use Roxanne's glue to glue most of the big pieces down but I don't like to use it on the bias stems.

When I finishing applique-ing a block , I rinse it gently to get the starch and glue out and block it to dry it.

So there you go....thats just me,  you do what works best for you....

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Whadyaget at the Quilt Shop?

What did I get at Cozy Quilts yesterday?? 

I got to spend National Quilt Day with quilters

I got that happy feeling when the students "get" what I'm teaching

I got to give little gifts to some "sticky fingered" friends....see there are these ladies, 2 of my favs, that take all my classes at Cozy quilts, but last month when I taught there, they tried (accidentally on purpose) to take some of my quilts home.  Although I don't like to encourage bad behavior in quilters, this month I brought them each a little quilt  to take home to live with them.

I got to see unexpected joy

Now that's a good trip to the quilt shop!

And I started a new project with a little fabric help from the shop....it from the Material Obsessions book, here's their version

I love their colors but I've the Aunt Millies going in the browns, so I thought I'd try a different route...

these are 18" blocks so the pieces are huge! 

This is a great project for the beginner appliquer and it's a nice break for me from the millions of little tiny pieces in Aunt Millies.

But really, did I need a new project?

.....no I did not, but goodness gracious this book just sucked me in. 

If you don't have this book already, go see our friends at Amazon, they'll hook you up.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Red and White all over

It's been a crazy week so far, class after work, parent-teacher conferences, etc.  So it's nice to be able to look at  my finishes from the weekend instead of the unfinished projects so far this week....

Here's a little gift for a friend, hopefully I will get to see her soon to deliver it in person

dontcha just love bias binding?

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Halfway there

This was a great weekend for finishing, we were up in the woods, still 4 feet of snow on the ground, but warm enough to enjoy it......and still fit in plenty of "sittin in front of the fire" time.

So the first finish of the weekend was the 2 prepped Aunt Millie's blocks.  And I'm just tickled at how nicely they all go together.  Now it's 6 down, 6 to go!

more of the weekend finishes later...

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan
 

Happy Pi

I'm sorry, just couldn't help myself....any day I can make into a desert related holiday is a good one!

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Hopping

So a while back I was asked to design the shop hop quilt for the LQS.  In this shop hop, each shop has package of 8 (or 10, I can't remember) squares of red.  Each comes from a different manufacturer, thus ensuring that no two shops will have the same fabrics in their bundles.  So the challenge for me was to use all of them  and to use most of the square provided.  I did not want people to cut a little 2" square of each fabric, I wanted them to use the whole 10" square they bought.

So true to form, I finished it and neglected to take a picture, and it went right over to the magical Jeanne for quilting and she sent me some pictures....so now that the quilt is "going public", I can show you Jeanne's pictures (thank goodness she's more organized than me!)

and look at her quilting.....boy, she makes my simple design look gooooood.

So now I guess I better to writing the instructions, just in case any of you NJ Hoppers want to make one too.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Whadyaget?

Last weekend was the Mancuso Show, Quilt Fest of NJ, and I took a trip down on Saturday with a friend.  What fun!!!  I saw so many friends there, the firehouse ladies, Aardvark friends, guild friends, Bergen County ladies.... Sorry I didn't have more time to talk, my credit cards were calling!!  And my quilt got a really good spot with lots of light on it.....you know how that can be, there are sometimes dark spots in these halls, so I was happy with a nice bright light.

And it was crowded!  So clearly quilters are doing their patriotic duty by spending!  I mean, lines at nearly every booth. Yeah us!!  And me, I hate to miss out on anything, so whenever I meet up with someone, I make them show me "whadyaget"?  I might need it too you know....

So here's what I got:

There was a great booth with all sorts of handles, I got these

they were a little pricey, but hard to find, so I was willing to pay the price.  The little one will be used for a special occasion bag for a special young lady.

And I got this book cause I'm exchanging strips with a little group (the Crazy Eights)

I just love this quilt in the book

And I got this book too...cause you can never have enough books on quilting designs

And a bunch of little notion stuff  and only 2 FQs!!!!!

So I did my part, I feel proud, and charged up....it's been a long winter and seeing people out spending money, enjoying themselves and each other definitely is a boost to the spirit if not the economy.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

I've been bad....

Yesterday the lovely Miss Rita wagged her finger at me and told me it was too long between posts, so I apologize....life.  crazy.   you know how it goes.

But it was a very quilty week considering....last Saturday I spent the day at Cozy Quilts in River Edge.  This is the quilt shop version of Cheers.  It seems that everyone that walks in is a long lost friend,  it's a pull up a seat, have a cup of coffee, hang out for a while kind of shop.  You know they are not all like that, every one has it's own personality.  And thank goodness, cause it would be very boring if they were all the same.

And I'm always inspired to come home and sew after hanging out in the shop all day.  So I came home and sewed up this little table topper for a friend.

the borders are extra big 'cause I think they will be scalloped after quilting.

And I was able to bring home a quilt top from the shop that I had hanging as a class sample, so now I can start hand quilting on this one... (this picture's for you Mary!)

I think I will quilt it with pearl cotton for a little change....I'll show you a close-up as soon as I get started on this.

More about my general quiltiness later....now I must go and prepare the feast...our solution to the time change and adjusting to the new dinner time?  appetizers for dinner, and a movie---for tonite, all nutriton rules are suspended onaccounta daylight savings time.

Feel free to suspend a rule or two in your house too!

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan