Do You DecoBob?

There is an unsung hero in most of my quilts.  It is the strong and silent type of hero.  It provides a strong foundation, keeps to itself, and makes my day easier by saving me time.

It's DecoBob thread.  I use it nearly exclusively in the bobbin when I machine quilt, regardless of the thread I am running through the needle.

DecoBob is an 80wt 2-ply polyester thread.  It makes a beautiful stitch, keeps your machine quilting from getting thick when you over-stitch, and the bobbins last (nearly) forever!  I love not having to change my bobbin as often!

I just finished quilting this quilt with FabuLux Rocking Horse, a 40wt 3-ply thread in the needle and DecoBob in the bobbin:

The pastel FabuLux blends really well into this shabby-chic quilt!

The back:

Only the DecoBob shows on the back of the quilt. 

I am now carrying several colors of DecoBob in my online store in both 2000m spools and M-size pre-wound bobbins (boxes of 24).  Try it on your next quilt!

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

I Wish I May, I Wish I Might...

Do you have a wishlist for your quilting?  If you've been following me recently, I wish I had a clean, organized, and beautiful quilting room.  I'm taking steps toward that, but that's not my wish for tonight.

Tonight, I wish I liked my quilt bindings done by machine.  I don't.  I really, really don't.  My favorite looking binding comes when I stitch the binding on to the front by machine and hand stitch it to the back.  Sadly, this takes a bajillion years.  Machine binding is faster, but it also looks different.

I once again tried to like machine binding tonight.  I worked on a quilt where the binding didn't matter much.  I machine stitched the binding on, turned it, and stitched it down by machine.

Here's how it looks on the front:

The stitching doesn't look terrible, but Wow I need a manicure!

Here's how the stitching looks on the back:

Let's assume I get better at binding (I need more practice), that my stitching lines are perfectly straight (they really, really aren't), and that I used thread that matched better (the easiest of the three to accomplish).  Even if I do all of that, I still don't like the look of the stitching on top of the binding.

Once again, I'm back to hand stitching my bindings.  Now I guess I wish that I stitched faster...

What is your quilting wish?

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

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My Sewing Room = the Bermuda Triangle

Apparently, my sewing room is a close relative of the Bermuda Triangle.  Necessary and important items often disappear and are never seen again.

I keep a list on my desk of things that are lost in my sewing room.  The item on the list that has been bugging me the most is the foot pedal for my sewing machine.  I usually sew without the foot pedal (using the push-button feature) so it's not stored plugged in to the machine where I can use it, but back on November 8 a friend came to sew with me and wanted to use my machine.  After a short search didn't unearth the pedal, I found a compatible foot pedal and she was in business; I, however, was a distracted mess and haven't been able to concentrate on much over the last 6 weeks over all of the "Where on earth is my foot pedal hiding?" noise in my head!

Happily, this happened yesterday:

Here's the full story:

Sunday night, I pulled out fabric to make a new quilt.  I have exactly eleventy-thousand quilts in progress and should really finish a few before I start another one.  I argued the pros and cons of that point to myself overnight and yesterday morning I dutifully re-folded the fabric and began putting it away.  I store my fabric in bins under my Handi Quilter Fusion longarm machine so putting fabric away requires kneeling.  While I was kneeling and returning the fabric to its home, I looked across the room (under the Fusion) at the shelf next to my sewing machine from a lower vantage point than usual.  I saw the foot pedal on the shelf next to the machine WHERE IT BELONGED.  Trust me, I looked there several million times in the last many weeks, but I managed to not see it each and every time.  I stood up, walked to the shelf, and looked for the foot pedal but I couldn't see it; it was hiding under a needlepoint kit.  Why do I have a needlepoint kit?  When is the last time I needlepointed?  How did it come to live on top of the foot pedal?*

That's the story of how my foot pedal was lost and then found again.  I have plans to move this sewing machine and those plans were being foiled by the missing foot pedal.  I searched my sewing room countless times for it.  I called a quilt shop where I went on retreat in June (JUNE!) to ask if I might have left my foot pedal there.  I investigated buying a new one.  I was ready to hand over my credit card to replace it, and then yesterday morning happened.

My Sewing Room = The Bermuda Triangle (Or, Sometimes They Come Back!)

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

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*Answers: Who knows. Over 15 years ago. That's a mystery for the ages.

Cutie Quilt -- Stepping Stones

My quilting life seems to be all about Cutie Quilts and babies right now.  I combined the two to make this adorable little quilt for a recent baby shower:

I made this quilt from leftover bits of my Share + Share Alike quilt.

I didn't have enough scraps to make the whole Stepping Stones quilt, so I made only four blocks.  I grabbed one of my favorite colors of thread -- FabuLux Midas Touch -- and did some wiggle quilting horizontally and vertically.

This simple little quilt turned out simply darling!

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

Sewing Room Confidential

I have a large sewing room, but it isn't working for me.  I have too much stuff, too little storage, and I have a bit of a scrap problem.

I save scrap fabrics for dog beds.  I make a small pillow stuffed tight with these scraps and then surround that pillow with batting inside of a larger pillow.  This makes a soft yet stable cushion for the shelter animals.

The piles of scraps are overwhelming:

I have had enough.

Long-term goal:  Make my sewing room into a workable space that I love.

Short-term goal:  Find the foot pedal for my sewing machine.  Yeah, that totally happened.

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

A Tour of My Current Quilting Projects

I'm at home this week, recovering from some medical treatments.  I have a variety of quilting projects to keep me entertained.

I thought you might like to see my quilt buffet.

I am spending most of my time in my super-comfy quilting chair that I bought super-cheap at auction.  I still squeal when I think of the deal I got on this, my favorite piece of furniture.  I am mostly parked at my piecing machine (my HQ Stitch 510 needs a name!) with an old Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called Lazy Sunday:

I'm webbing the blocks and sashing together.  I know that there is a heavily pieced border coming and I might be dreading that part just a bit.

When I tire of piecing, I amble over to my cutting table and cut a few more pieces for an upcoming queen-sized Cutie quilt (sneak peek!):

This quilt will piece up so quickly once I get it cut!  And then I get to use my FabuLux Be Cool thread when I quilt it!!!

I have a scrappy quilt on Sergio, My HQ Simply Sixteen tonight.  I'm using FabuLux Mellow Yellows thread and quilting ... wait for it... Ribbon Candy!

On Bella, My HQ Fusion, I have an old Moda University quilt.  I'm quilting ribbon candy and leaves using FabuLux Rocking Horse thread:

I'm quilting up one of my new favorite quilts (the pattern will be on my website soon) using FabuLux Cuddle thread:

If I need a diversion, I can dive into my scraps and continue to slowly piece my Bonnie Hunter En Provence mystery quilt:

Yes, I'm two weeks behind.  Don't judge me.

As you can see, I have plenty to keep me occupied this month.  If I happen to finish all of this, I might make a few gifties for the season.

Tomorrow, I'll show some of the problem areas in my studio.  Buckle up!

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

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Happy Scraps!

I have fabric scraps.  Tons and tons of fabric scraps!  I recently dug through my scrappy 5-inch squares and picked out the happiest ones I could find.

This happened:

The pattern is Starry-Eyed Quilt from Moda Bake Shop.  I used all 5-inch charms instead of the charm pack + layer cake and it worked out just fine!

I loved quilting this quilt more than I can say:

Why?  Two words:  Ribbon Candy:

This quilt is going into my give-away pile, unless I steal it back and keep it for myself!

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

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Glutton for Punishment

I did it!  I finished Step One of Bonnie Hunter's En Provence Mystery Quilt!

This is what 221 neutral four-patches look like:

The rest of my quilt will be very, very bright so these muddy neutrals will work well.

So, what am I doing now that I finished Step One?  Starting Step Two?

NOPE!  Because that would make sense.

Instead, I pulled out one of my many, many unfinished Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts.  This one is Lazy Sunday from Quiltmaker Magazine waaaaay back in 2013.

This is the only one of Bonnie's quilts that I chose to use yardage instead of scraps in.  It's going to take me a bit to read through the patterns to figure out what step I'm on, but this quilt needs some love and attention before I start with En Provence Step Two.  Pracrastinator?  Who, me?

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

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Searching for Scraps -- Getting Serious

Yesterday's search for enough neutral scraps to finish week one of Bonnie Hunter's En Provence Mystery Quilt wasn't successful.  I have far to go before I hit 221 four-patches

Let me introduce you to my Cutie drawer:

I design Cutie Quilts using 16 fat-eighths of fabric, so I tend to cut my leftover fabric scraps into fat-eighths (9"x22") whenever possible.

I guarantee I'll find enough neutrals in here to finish week one's instructions.

There's no stopping me now -- bring on week two!

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

Neutral Scraps -- A Search and Destroy Mission

I'm still plugging away at Bonnie Hunter's En Provence Mystery Quilt and I'm still a week behind.  I used up all of my neutral 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" rectangles but fell far short of the goal of 221 four-patches.

I dug through my 2 1/2" strip bucket and pulled out anything that looked remotely neutral:

I'm going to cut these, stitch these, and then recount my four-patches.

Please let there be 221.
Please let there be 221.
Please let there be 221.

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

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How May I Serve You?

Many, many years ago, I started making cloth napkins and we use them every day.  They make every meal a bit of an occasion!

By The Numbers published my pattern and it is called Serviettes.

I make them for all ages:

I make them for cupcake parties:

I make them to match kitchen decor:

I recommend Serviettes for those looking to stitch up a quick gift.  One yard of backing and 1/3 yard of feature fabric makes four napkins.  You can also use Layer Cakes and Fat Quarters.

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

Quiltville's En Provence Mystery -- Calling All Scraps!

As I do every December for the last decade or so, I am participating in Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt.  This year, we are making a quilt called En Provence.  I'm making mine Black, Gray, Lime, Lemon, Neutral, and Hot Pink.  Fun, right?

Last week's assignment was to make 221 neutral four-patches.  I'm a week behind; don't judge me.  I am on a search and destroy mission in my sewing room to locate enough neutral scraps to accomplish this task.

The first place I looked was in a bucket of 2-1/2"x4-1/2" rectangles.

Why I have a bucket of pre-cut scrappy rectangles is anyone's guess.  I'm tickled to have removed some of the contents of this bucket in hopes of completely emptying it some day.

I am confident that I've pulled out every rectangle that can possibly be considered neutral.  I'll sew through these and see how many four-patches I can come up with before I tear my sewing room apart again looking for more scraps.

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

Forever Homes

I make a lot of quilts and I give most of them away.  Two quilts went to their forever homes last week.

My aunt is having surgery and I hope this happy quilt cheers her:

The pattern is Sweet Tooth and I used Pat Sloan's Bobbins and Bits fabrics.

I had so much fun quilting this quilt because... Ribbon Candy!

If you want to see how I quilted the ribbon candy, watch the video HERE.

There's a party on the back of this quilt:

I kind of love the back.  All of the fabrics are polka dots!

I had to send a second quilt to my uncle, just so he wouldn't get jealous:

This was the original pattern test for Arbor, a current quilt pattern of mine.

I love the bold contrast of these rich colors:

I quilted this very simply, with all-over leaves and loops:

I hope my aunt and uncle love their new quilts!

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

Testing, Testing ... 1, 2, 3

As a pattern designer, I test everything.  I design on paper, then in EQ7, then I make the quilt, then I write the directions, then I make the quilt again.  If everything goes well, the pattern will then be published.  Sometimes, patterns take a bit longer because the first (or second, or third!) version of a quilt didn't come out quite right.

Arbor is one of my newest patterns and it took three tries before it got to print.  This quilt was pattern test #2:

Is that red binding just perfect?  Or is it just me?

The quilt is fine, but the pattern wasn't quite ready for publication.  It will, however, be just perfect for a baby gift.  I am currently expecting double-digit babies in the first quarter of 2017, so I know this quilt will be given away soon!

I had fun quilting this quilt:

Ribbon candy and continuous curve are two of my "go-to" machine quilting patterns.  They look great together here.

I used one thread color throughout -- FabuLux Lullaby.  The thread is pink, blue, and lavender so it was no surprise that it looked great on the pink and blue, but it also worked well on the green!  I love watching colors play well together!

Arbor has been re-worked to use fabric more efficiently.  The finished pattern is available HERE.

This blog post is part of the 31 Day Blogging Challenge from Muppin.com.

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.

Quilters, I Have A Problem

Welcome to the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge!

I hope to have some fabulous conversations with you during this month of blogging.  But first I need to tell you about my problem.

My problem is my sewing room.  I want it to be my "Happy Place," but I'm afraid it is more often "The Pit of Despair."  In my mind, I have a magazine photo shoot worthy sewing room that is light and bright and roomy and organized and dreamy.  In reality... much less so.

I have sizeable sewing room -- over 400 square feet.  It's the family room at the end of my house.  I have a gas fireplace, a bathroom next door, and windows on three walls overlooking a stream where the deer come to drink.  I have much to be thankful for.

So, what is standing between me and my dream studio?  To answer in one word:  stuff.  I have too much sewing stuff and no decent storage.  Solving this problem won't be quick, but I don't want it to be expensive.

I can't show you photos of my sewing room as it is now because it is more horrible that I can bear.  I will show you a small piece of the problem, though.

I keep all of my little bits of fabric trimmings in a basket next to my cutting table:

Often, the cuttings miss the basket.  Most of the time, the basket is overflowing.  Eventually, these trimmings are sewn into dog beds for the animal shelter, but I don't have enough scraps yet and this basket is merely one of the hundreds of problems in my sewing room.

I am not traveling for work for nearly three months and, in theory, will have time to work in my sewing room.  In my mind, I have the idea that I'll have a greatly improved space by March.  In reality -- who knows?

Check out the other bloggers who have committed to chat with you every day in December HERE.