Special seam stitches

I'm going to do a post on the stitches I'm using on my USA flag crazy quilt seams, as that's really all there is to do now, apart from backing and binding.

Yesterday I rewatched How to make an American Quilt - which you can buy on DVD from Amazon here

http://amzn.to/1b6D2wU

Towards the end of the film they show the quilt that the character have been working on - maybe this needs a spoiler alert! - but there is a crazy patchwork piece. Despite crying like a sentimental fool by this point in the film, my inner quilter kicked in and I paused the DVD to look at the stitching and discovered a variation of blanket stitch that I hadn't tried yet!

Here it is on my quilt.

So you're thinking 'which stitch?' It's the one at the top of the gingham piece, that forms triangles. It's basically a blanket stitch, so here are some other variations of blanket stitch.

Here (above) the blanket stitch forms a fan shape.

Another very similar stitch is this one that forms a bow.

On this stitch (above) the blanket stitches are crossed over each other.

Here the blanket stitch is worked on alternate sides. 

It's amazing how many variations you can make with just one stitch!

By the way I finished the stitching on the seams tonight! Hurray!

Meet Bartholomew J Mouse!

Since term began in September I've had less time for making than I would like, but I'm keeping my USA crazy quilt ticking over, and because I made a lot of progress over the summer, I am now on the penultimate stage of doing the blue stitching on the red and white portion. Of course, that's most of the quilt, so it's taking a while. I still aim to be finished by the end of the year!

Then there are the creative distractions, like deciding we needed a mouse puppet to use for the Christmas Eve service at church. Cue some sketching of ideas, and then re-watching of videos on YouTube to remind myself how to make a puppet using the Project Puppet pattern I have. (I'll try  and add links to these at some point, when I'm using a proper computer, and not my iPad!)

The Roly pattern from Project puppet is very easy to use, but has a round head, not mouse shaped. It's what I've used for Crockford, Brookland and Dexter.

Dexter the rock star!

Crockford with two camels...unusual for him as he prefers crocodiles, as he will happily tell you if you spend any amount of time with him!

I obviously had to make a mouse nose shape for this pattern, which I did using a cone shaped piece of paper. I decided to keep the mouse body thin, and his hands and ears big. I went for a grey tail, not pink, as that screams rat, and that makes me scream!

So here he is, posing with me - Mr Bartholomew J Mouse!

I was concerned he'd resemble Roland Rat (yay, hello rat fans!) which, as much as I like Roland Rat wasn't what I wanted. I wanted him cuddlier than Rizzo from the Muppets, and I guess he's turned out a bit like Tutter from Bear in the Big Blue House. I think he's his own mouse though, and I have some firm ideas about his personality.

I have a puppet board on Pinterest, so follow me on that to see what my favourite puppet inspirations are. (here's some clues...one is small, grey and squeaky, and is best friends with a bear, the other is green and has an 'it's complicated' relationship with a pig!)

Just got to write the script now!

Short burst of speed!

Having posted only last week about the current state of my USA themed crazy quilt, I am now about to post again! This is mostly thanks to the school holidays which means that I am able to get on a little more. (But only a little, as my mornings, a couple of afternoons and a weekend day are taking up with teaching English to foreign students!)

I was very pleased to finish all the red patches, and I made a start on putting the red pieces onto the backing.

As you can see my fabrics are mostly red, with hints of white, and include two fabrics that incorporate other colours. I wasn't sure if this was going to work, so I've just done a small section, and it's only tacked down at the minute. Actually this caused a crafting dilemma for me - all the fabric I've used so far has been from my stash of fabrics. I have only bought thread. I was battling with whether to try and stick with that, hence the fabrics with other colours, and the dominant red, or whether to try and find some white fabric with a red print or pattern. In the end I decided to use what I've got. It looks good, there's variety of pattern, and the white patches really stand out. Crafting can be a very expensive hobby, and I like to try and limit what I buy to stuff that I really need and haven't got in my stash already.

I also started adding the decorative stitching to the blue section of the quilt. My original idea was to use blue and white variegated thread on the blue section, and red and white combined on the red section. (Red variegated thread is inevitably pink...not the look I wanted!) However, when I made a start, I soon realised that you couldn't actually see the stitches. I think it's important that this detail stands out, so now I am using red on the blue section and blue on the red section. As an added bonus it helps the embroidered patches to stand out more.

Here's the first few borders!

What happened to that quilt you were making then Jo?

Waaaaay back in January I posted about a crazy quilt I was planning to make. It had a USA theme, and was going to be based on the Stars and Stripes. I had given myself the year to make it, and after that initial post I haven't mentioned it on the blog. 

So what happened? 

Well, I am very pleased to say that the quilt is ahead of schedule! I used an app called Priority Matrix to plan the quilt and that's helped me stay on track as I could organise what image I wanted on what colour, and allocate it a month.

As you can see, there are lots of green ticks :D 

So where are all these images? I've used the same process as for the eagle - find an image using Google (what did we do before Google?) put it into Adobe Ideas and turn it into a line drawing.

Print, trace onto fabric then stitch using stem stitch.

Here are the finished blocks. The blue and white ones are now stitched onto the backing fabric, which is an old sheet, along with other blue and white fabric.

Map of the USA

American Eagle

The White House

The Statue of Liberty

Chicago skyline

All the blue patches on the backing fabric.

The red and white blocks are still in progress, I've got one underway and 3 more to do. Then they can be stitched onto the backing fabric. Obviously because of the proportions of the flag, there are more red than blue blocks.

Orchard House - Louisa May Alcott's home in Concord, Massachusetts.

Sitting Bull

Fender guitar

Martin Luther King

American football player

Wolf

Mount Rushmore

Baseball player

Cowboy - I added a lasso.

Buffalo (or bison)

Golden Gate Bridge

Navaho pot in progress - you can see the pen lines, which will disappear over time.

Of course, once all the pieces are sewn on, then I will be adding decorative stitches, as I did to the Green Knowe quilt.

Some of the decorative stitches I used.

I think this may take the rest of the year!

Sewing Machine Cover Tutorial

I've never written a tutorial before, but after posting on Facebook that I'd been making a sewing machine cover my lovely daughter in law asked me how I did it.
I wanted to try a photo tutorial and as I had 15 covers to make for sewing machines at work, I decided to take some photos and do a tutorial!

Here's the cover I was replacing - they get a bit of a hammering with all the classes that use them. And here's the sewing machine - it's a Bernina 1008, with a handle at the top. I was able to use the existing cover as a pattern, which I drew onto newsprint (thin paper).

I cut out 7 pieces (measure to suit your machine)

• 2 identical pieces for front and back
• 1 piece for pocket (same width as the front, but not as long)
• 2 identical side panels
• 2 identical top panels

Step 1 - Creating the top and side panels

The space for a handle is created by using the two small panels, attached to the side panels.

Turn over and stitch along one long edge of the 2 top panels

Lay the top panels right sides together on the narrow edge side panel, leaving a gap for the handle.

Stitch the panels and stitch across the gap for added strength. Do this at both ends

Turn the  side panel edge under and top stitch it for added strength.

 

Here's my top stitching.



 

Step 2 - creating the pocket

Fold over a long edge of the pocket - I folded it over twice - and stitch.

I added a second row of stitching for strength. The foot pedal is stored in the pocket so I wanted to make it strong.

Place the pocket right sides together with the front panel. Overlap them about 6 cm and stitch.

Fold the pocket back on itself.

Add a row of top stitching at the bottom of the pocket. Again this is for strength.

Sew the pocket to the front panel along the side seams. I used a very small seam allowance so the stitching wouldn't show when I attached the side panels.

 

Step 3 - putting it all together.

This is a bit fiddly but just take your time and you'll get there!

 

Pin the front panel to the side and top panels, right sides together. Obviously you have to get round the corner. Pin it as best you can.

Stitch up to the first corner, stopping about 1.5 cm from the edge.

Make sure your needle is in the fabric, lift your presser foot and turn the fabric 90 degrees.

You should now have your sewn seam running horizontally. The unsewn edges will be headed in two different directions - this is the fiddly bit - we need to get them headed in the same direction!

Pinch the excess fabric  and move it across so that the top layer matches the bottom layer. You will get a little bunching around the needle - don't panic it will disappear when you sew it!

Fold the fabric out the way. Lower your presser foot. There will be some bunching around your needle, but start sewing slowly, or use the hand wheel for the first couple of stitches, and you should be able to ease that out.

Carry on sewing in a straight line until you get to the next corner, where you have to do the same again!
 

You will need to repeat those stages again to attach the back panel.

 

Step 4 - finishing off!

Fold the bottom edge over twice and stitch.

Taa-dah! It's finished! You can see how the space for the handle works, and the pocket being used for storing the foot pedal.

Thanks to activity week I had the luxury of a whole day sewing - no food lessons to prepare and no-one asking me to re-thread their needles! I managed to make 14 of these in about 5 hours - they aren't all the neatest, but they will do the job!

You've probably noticed that I pinned very little - this was for the sake of speed, and I would advise that you pinned things so they didn't slip. Pressing edges that you are turning over will also give you a neater finish.

 

Please leave any queries or questions and I'll try and answer them!