Hands 2 Help Update

just a quick update on my Hands 2 Help quilts.

here is the front of quilt #1.

here is the back of quilt #1.



here is the back of quilt #2.

here is the front of quilt #2.

here is the fabric for quilt #3.

no idea yet what pattern i am going to use.

any suggestions????

WIP Wednesday

whew, what a week so far. i was down the 1st two days of the week with a bad back. headed back to work today & played catch-up. then raced home to catch the final Oprah show which was well worth the rush to see it.

in sewing land i did get 1 thing finished & i didn't even use my machine. ha. can you believe it. i almost didn't. for the last few years i have been entering the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show Block Challenge - say that 5 times fast. anyways, when i got the fabric it didn't inspire me. i was sort of stuck as to what to do with it. then mama Denise took a look at it & said that she saw a butterfly.

i agreed & made this. all hand appliqued. those that know me might need revived right now. i am not a fan of applique in fact i call it the 'A' word. however, this small project was not to bad. mama Denise thinks she might have converted me to liking applique but i am still on the fence. a small project here or there i am okay with. a whole quilt is another issue.

i got the bazillion flying geese sewin together in their rows & two of the row attached to the side of my Opening Day quilt.
i have started on the next step for the final blocks for this quilt.
and because i wanted some no thinking required sewing i sewed together a few rows of my tumbler blocks as well.

now for the way cool, super exciting, over the top, fantabulous news..........

i am in love. head over heels in love. it arrived on my door step today & its a prince. bet you didn't know you can order those online did you?

yep, Prince Charming arrived today. thank God for online fabric shops. i love you almost as much as i love this fabric. the fabric above will be turned into my bag for Sister's this year. the top print is laminate & i am really looking forward to sewing with it.

don't you just love the frog?

this box was also on my door step today & inside is some more.........

Prince Charming by Tula Pink

yep, the whole line.

i could not resist. its bright, fun, whimsical, amazing, creative........... its love.

i love the frog but i think this is my favorite print with the turtle, the bicycle, the rain drops & everything else that is in this print. Tula Pink knocked it out of the freakin park with this line of fabric. run don't walk to your local quilt shops if they have this line. get online & start pushing buttons. seriously people this is a must have.

i am off to sew some hearts.......

What Is Worth $100

$100

what is worth $100 to you?

each of us would answer that differently because we each place a different value on things. something that is important to me might not be as important to others.

i was with a group of people awhile back & heard a story about someone paying $100 for something that i thought was ridiculous to pay that much for. i decided that item must have been really wanted/needed by its purchaser however i still thought it was crazy.

so crazy that i have shared the story a few times. one of the times being with my friends at my mini quilt camp that i had at my house. they too thought the person overpaid for what they got. us being us & being a little off center that weekend we ended up turning it into a joke.

'hey can i borrow your scissors for sec?' response 'sure for $100'

'will you refill my glass of water when you go upstairs' response 'sure for $100'
'would you mind if i used some of your spray baste?' response 'no problem for $100'

'do you have a thread in this color that i could borrow?' response 'yep, for $100'




'would you mind stopping & getting us a coffee' response 'sure for $100'


everything was $100 that weekend. let me tell you it was hard to keep track of who owed who what by the time the weekend was over.





so back to the question that started it all. what is worth $100 to you?
fabric, groceries, a new outfit, books, music, etc....


i personally think that the person who paid $100 for that stuff they got - got taken advantage of but that's my opinion & maybe it was worth the $100 to them.


so from that quilt camp forward we will have the catch phrase 'sure for $100' anytime someone asks to use, borrow or get something for them.


so with this post the buck stops here. sorry couldn't resist.


the story never to be told again but to be referred to often with our new catch phrase.




'sure for $100'

Spray Baste Tutorial

i have never done a tutorial before (that i know of) on my blog. however, when i showed a pic of us spray basting quilts in this post i had a few people ask how i do it? and, how i do it & don't get any wrinkles in it.

so here i go. i am going to try & cover it step by step.

first, & usually the most challenging part of this is finding a space big enough for the quilt that you want to spray baste. i have a large table at work that i sometimes use. however, in this case we used my driveway. its large & its flat so it worked.

i have a tarp that i use just for spray basting. you want to protect the surface that you are spraying on. now in the driveway it was more to keep the quilts clean then anything. i rinse off my tarp with a garden hose after i am done spray basting so that when i put the tarp away it doesn't stick to itself.

so once you have the tarp spread out i then lay out my batting. i make sure that it is smooth and wrinkle free. my blogland friend Sarah who blogs over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict told me that she will tape the corners of her batting down.

as you can see in the pic below my tarp is silver on one side & blue on the other. so you can see the silver of the tarp, a little bit of the batting & then the backing fabric.

once you have the batting ready i then lay the backing fabric over the batting. smoothing it out as needed. both the batting & the backing fabric have been already cut to the correct size that is needed for the quilt top. i try & leave 2 1/2" to 3" of batting & backing all the way around the quilt. that way i am not fighting the quilt top to get it to fit just right on the batting. i have some room to work with.

just a close up shot of the tarp, batting & backing fabric.

at the time i took theses pics i didn't know i would be doing a tutorial on it. i don't have pics of us folding back the backing fabric. but, the process is the same for the back as it is for the front of the quilt.

once you have the batting and backing fabric ready i then visually notate where the center of the quilt is - roughly. you don't have to be exact. i then start on one end & fold the backing fabric or the quilt top (depending upon which side you are working on) back onto itself about 6". i continue to fold 6" sections until i am roughly to the center of the quilt.

as you can see in this picture below we have folded back the quilt top to the halfway mark & we have begun to spray.

there are several different types of spray baste on the market but i just use whatever Joann's carries. at Joann's its considered a quilting notion so when those go 50% off i stock up.

when you are spraying the adhesive i always spray the batting & never the fabric. doesn't matter if you are working or the front or the back of the quilt. always spray the batting.

i have found that shaking the can well before beginning helps & keeping the can roughly 12"to 15" away from the batting as you are spraying. if this is new to you or you have done it before & not had good luck with it my one tip would be to go lightly with the spray. don't over spray your batting that will just cause problems for you. i typically do a very light spray over the half that i am working on. then i touch the batting to feel for my coverage. if there is a spot that needs a little more i will spray some more there. its sort of like cooking. you can always add a little more but its hard to take out the extra.

once that half of the batting is sprayed i then get down on my hands & knees & begin to unfold those 6" sections back onto the batting. going slow & making sure not to create any wrinkles. if a wrinkle does occur you can easily pull back the fabric and reset it. its sort of like hand pressing the fabric into the adhesive. take your time & you will be pleased with the outcome.

once one half is finished we fold back the other half. when you get towards the center of the quilt you will be able to tell where you have already spray basted. the fabric will be married to the batting. once you have the backing fabric basted to the batting then flip it over. if you have 2 people its much easier. repeat the same process with the quilt top. smooth out the batting that has the backing already attached. layout your quilt top on the batting making sure its smooth. begin at one end & fold the quilt onto itself every 6" until you reach the center. spray & unfold the quilt onto the batting. repeat for the other half.

once you have a quilt completely spray basted i like to do 1 of 2 things. either take the quilt & lay it on a flat surface for awhile. like a bed or something. or i like to roll it on a cardboard tube to store until i am ready to quilt it. i do not recommend quilting the quilt right away. in my opinion it needs a little dry time before the quilting begins.

that weekend that we spray basted in my driveway i think we did about 6 or 7 quilts. it goes pretty quick when you have 2 or 3 people doing it.

so get your quilting buddies together & start spray basting those quilts.

let me know if you have any questions about the process. i will do my best to answer them.

WIP Wednesday

first some finishes from this past weekend of my mini quilt camp that i had at my house.

this was an i.o.u. quilt from this past Christmas for my dad. he is very happy to have it & he loves it. i was going to make it for a baby boy but since no one i know is having a boy my dad got it since he loves trucks & tractors as well.

i quilted & bound my 1st Hands 2 Help quilt.
this is a funny. Denise sewed right through the top of a flower pin. didn't even break the needle.
this is the back of my 2nd Hands 2 Help quilt.
this one i sewed the top together, quilted it & bound it all in this past weekend. i also quilted & bound this quilt that i showed in the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side.

i also worked on my flying geese. whew they are done now.

i laid them all out in rows.

now i am working on sewing those rows together.

i also laid out my tumblers for a quilt top to be sewin together.

but, at the top of the list is this project.

my block for the quilt block challenge at Sister's.

"Would you not like to be sitting on top of the world with your legs hanging free"

Blogger's Quilt Festival

last fall i put a quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. it was so much fun looking at all of the different quilts that people entered into the show. i was afraid that i missed it this year but i just jumped onto Amy's blog & see that i still have time to enter. the next question was - which quilt? i sewed a lot this past weekend and decided to show you all my oldest wip that i finished. so without further ado...... here it is.

sort of a wonky picture of it but its pouring down rain & i can't get out to get a better pic of it. i got the fabric 2 years ago (i think) in a great quilt shop in Florida. it was a fat quarter stack that the shop put together. i ended up finding some yardage somewhere along the way & i ended up with this quilt. i know that i had started out with a pattern but i messed it up in the middle of it & so i just renegaded it & ended up with this. i quilted it myself with all over swirls in a green thread and i am pleased with how it turned out. one of the most fun things about this quilt isn't the front of it.

its the back.

i used absolutely every scrap of fabric i had left over from the front to piece the back. i ended up having to add some brown kona just to get it big enough. the back is almost like a 2nd quilt. i love it.

so, there you have it. my spring 2011 Blogger's Quilt Festival entry. no long story behind it. it just took me awhile to get it finished. now that its finished i am wondering why i waited to long to finish it. wonders never cease.

Mini Camp

we are having a great time at our mini quilt camp in the sewing cave.

here are a few pics.

spray basting quilts in the driveway.

hey, ya gotta do what works. right???

more later.