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May 11th, 2012
gkbennett
 | 06:49 am - Label question?
I am making a quilt to send to Bulgaria. I suppose this might be considered my first 'commission' because a friend of my son asked me to make this for her granddaughter. The label can be in english, but I would prefer to use the cyrillic lettering. Which brings me to my question; if I print the label in a regular ink jet printer how can I be sure that it is washable and won't run or disappear? I've only done hand written labels with the permanent fabric pen, but I'm not confident I'll get it right in this case. I've read alot of methods for printing, using freezer paper to stabilize the fabric etc. Will appreciate advice. Thanks!
English;
TO ROZA WITH LOVE FROM MIMI
MADE BY GAYLE, QUILTED BY TOMI
IN ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA, USA
JUNE 2012
Bulgarian;
С РОЗА С любов от МИМИ
Направено от Гейл, ватирана ОТ Томи
В Онтарио, Калифорния, САЩ
ЮНИ 2012 г.
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May 6th, 2012
atomicnitelight
 | 10:29 pm - Best Batiks?
I have never worked with Batiks before and I am wondering if some are better quality than others.
I have read that the Batiks sold at Joanns aren't very good and they are usually about $10 a yard without a coupon.
I have been looking at Hancock's of Paducah where I can get Timeless Tonga, Hoffman and Batavian Batiks for about $6.00 a yard.
I don't mind spending a little more to get a better quality fabric if there is something better.
Is there a better place to buy batik fabric or any brands to stay away from?
Thanks!
Current Mood:  tired
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May 4th, 2012
elettaria
 | 05:02 pm - Tracing a pattern
I am in the early stages of my first wholecloth quilt. Right now I'm drawing the pattern onto a very large piece of paper, made from four pieces of A1 taped together. Once I have it done nicely in pencil, and go over it in washable pen, I will need to put the fabric over it and trace it. It's a baby quilt, 36" x 52" finished size. The fabric is a relatively lightweight cotton in yellow, so I will be able to see through it easily enough to trace the pattern. The main thing I'm concerned about is how to attach the fabric to the paper to keep it perfectly in place while I trace, as it's going to take several sessions to do the tracing. Apart from marking the centre lines on both the paper and the fabric, I'm really not sure what to do here. Tape them both to the floor, as if basting, and then go at them with safety pins? When not in use, it'll be stored flat on top of my piano, but when I'm doing the tracing, it'll be on my dining table which is a lot smaller than the finished size, so it will be hanging down over the edges. I don't want the fabric to end up out of place compared to the paper, or creased come to that. I'll be marking it using a fine line washable marker, if that makes any diffference. You can see the sketch here, and I've just found this version where I was trying out ideas on a quarter piece a few months ago. And now I have to decide whether to change anything, and of course that quarter piece version uses different proportions, so it's not as if I can just rub a couple of motifs out and redraw them. Arggh!
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May 1st, 2012
itrain
 | 12:05 am - AQS Quilt Show 2012
Luv 2 learn,
Angela
Current Mood: accomplished
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April 30th, 2012
guavmom
 | 09:44 am - Learning Curve
Hello all you fabric mavens out there! It's been a very long while since I posted here. Since the last I did, I have moved to Syracuse to be near my son and his family, a move which has turned out to be wonderful. Unfortunately, my space has been drastically reduced, so long held dreams of having a bona fide craft room have bitten the dust. I'm in a two room apartment in senior housing. SOOOO, I readjusted my thinking and decided to make my bedroom a craft room with a bed in it, rather than the other way around. Been there, done that? ;)
Several years ago, someone posted a picture of a piece of fabric origami they had done. I'm trying to learn this technique presently, and am wondering how you did with it. I have acquired a couple of books on the subject by both Kumiko Sudo, and Rebecca Wat. I am just beginning this adventure and am finding it a little daunting. 100% cotton fabrics are recommended and that is what I'm trying to work with, but even so, I'm not quite satisfied with the sharpness of the creases after folding by finger pressing. It occurred to me to order some spray on fabric stiffen er, and I will shortly order it so I can immediately begin making a wall hanging for a belated birthday present for my daughter. The fabric has already been ordered from FABRIC.COM. Have any of you currently in the community seen/done this fabric origami technique? I can see it being a wonderful addition to my quilting projects. Would love some feedback. :)
Current Mood: Inquisitive
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April 29th, 2012
emmala
 | 07:21 pm - silly question, please forgive me.
I have a silly question.
For the first time I live in a place that has carpet everywhere save the kitchen and the bathroom. I don't have a big table to work so I cut my fabric, baste etc. on the carpet. Maybe it's the friction, or how I cut, or I just never noticed it on wood floors but all the little fibers from cutting get stuck to the carpet and it's very annoying to get it out. I have to vacuum and vacuum and vacuum over the same spot to get them up.
Are there any tips that you wise folks have on the issues that arise when quilting meets carpet? I'm thinking of getting one of those giant sticky rollers they sell for getting pet hair off large areas. But are their other solutions?
(Normally I would ask my mom such questions, but she has never lived in a house with carpet!)
Thank you thank you thank you
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April 25th, 2012
clumsy_chord
 | 05:56 pm - My first quilting project
It's a bit of a dreadful picture, but I've finally finished piecing the top of my first quilt ever. Way back in 2002 or 2003, my aunt cut out and gave me all the pieces for this, and I sewed all those blocks together by hand (I didn't own a machine at the time). All the nine patches and the alternating off-white squares have been sitting in a plastic tub in all my various apartments and homes for the 10-9-8 years since, and finally this month I fished them out and pieced it all by machine.
So much faster, those sewing machines.
I just finished reading today a book called The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by JJ Lee, and there's a part in it where he talks about the creation of the sewing machine: Unfortunately for Thimonnier, the machines were viewed as a threat by tailors and seamstresses. Some accounts say the atelier suffered ongoing sabotage. All agree a mob of two hundred needle-trade workers ransacked his factory, throwing pieces of the machines through the windows. Thimonnier was forced to flee for his life from the burning factory... The unlucky tailor-cum-inventor escaped carrying a lone surviving chain-stitcher on his back. Machines make a compelling argument, for me at least, when it comes to speed. But then... I don't make money off my ability to sew a stitch. (Nor do I live in France in the 1800s. So.)
Anyway, for the purposes of... well, my own sort of record-keeping, I guess, I'm considering this a finished project. There's still a whole host of things to deal with, but done is good.
Even part-way-done is good.
It looks quite big on that bed in the photo, but it's about 78 x 90-inches. (I didn't measure it, so it might be quite different, that's what it SHOULD be, if everything measures out properly.) I'm debating the adding of a border. If I add one, it will almost certainly be a 6-inch wide border all the way around, probably in a solid navy blue, but possibly in something like this print.
I had been thinking it would probably come out really drab and dreary looking (because my mother made one at the same time in a kind of dusty pink/light burgundy with off-white fabrics and it is drab as anything), so I was kind of loosely planning to do some sort of busy/interesting quilting, probably some sort of simple sashiko pattern in the white squares, but seeing it finished like this, I don't think it needs it! It may wind up with a scattered selection of sashiko blocks, but if it does, it'll only be a few and they'll be fairly randomly placed. After that, it's just the quilting itself to be concerned about. I could go very simple and just do straight line quilting - diagonally through the nine-patches? horizontally and vertically? - or I could get my mom to hand-quilt it for me, with some kind of medallions or something very traditional in those white squares. I really don't know. Maybe I'll make that a next-year project...
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jelazakazone
 | 12:32 pm - Laser ink fabric
I printed on fabric this morning with my ink jet printer and I'm wondering a few things.
- Do I really need to wait 24 hours for the ink to dry?
- Is there some way to speed it up?
- Is the rinsing after 24 hours necessary? (This is going in a lap quilt.)
the product I have is this one, but just the cotton sheets.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/jacquard-cotton-and-silk-inkjet-fabric-kit/
Thanks!
Current Mood:  curious
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April 22nd, 2012
elettaria
| 10:17 pm - Charity quilt request
Is there anyone who is willing to make a quilt to send to a very ill man in hospital in England? He has severe ME/CFS, has been in and out of hospital for months now, and is having a rotten time of it. I have ME myself and it's a devastating illness. If you're not familiar with it, it's a neuro-immune condition which affects most or all bodily systems, and is as disabling as MS or AIDS. There is no cure, it is usually lifelong, and patients often end up without any helpful medical care. I'm not up to making this myself, mainly because I only hand-sew, but as a member of the ME community, my heart goes out to him and I would be so happy if someone could do this.
A sofa quilt would probably be the best size. In terms of picking a style (apart from Not Pink), he's about thirty, and I am told that he is a fashionable chap! Possibly greens, but we can check this. As this is going to him in hospital, I would suggest the usual standards for a hospital quilt: nice sturdy construction that will cope with industrial washing machines, machine sewing, and I think polyester batting is meant to be best, for quick drying(?). Don't forget that this will be in England, so if you would like to volunteer and are abroad, remember to take the shipping costs into consideration.
I'm not going to give his details in public, but comment here if you are interested and I will send you the information. He is occasionally being moved to different hospitals, so it would be sensible to stay in touch while the quilt is being made.
Incidentally, if I can get enough people involved, I am thinking of trying to set up an organisation to make quilts for other people with ME, so watch this space!
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April 18th, 2012
elettaria
| 08:21 pm - Oops
Having just finished one big quilting project and fancying something small before the next big one, I decided to make a netbook case for my friend ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) jinxremoving. I posted about it, we worked out the dimensions, and I got to work. The snag is that I'm not too well right now, and evidently my brain is jelly. Last night I all but finished it, with nothing left but putting on a fastener. Today, in between bouts of sleeping for Britain, I realised that somehow, despite consultation here and careful diagrams, I'd buggered up the measurements, and it is in fact too small. Snaffling a random cardboard box (it turns out that this is the one time when my partner wanted it as the book arrived damaged from Amazon and needs to be sent back), I mocked up a netbook to the correct measurements. It only fits if you pretty much reduce it to two dimensions (see photo below).
I think this should be salvageable, though definitely not until I'm a bit more with-it. I made the strip long enough that even with this mistake, it will still be able to close properly. The width is the issue. I'll need to add sides, perhaps an inch or so wide. This will probably involve faffing around with sewing a bit of white fabric attached to a narrower bit of batting to the insides, and then putting something over it on the outside to cover it. So far I have thought of two ways of doing this.
( Read more... )
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