Quick Placemat

I've always wanted to make a Dresden Plate quilt. After making a few Dresden Plate units I decided it was more than I wanted to tackle. Now what do I do with the few units i made? They've been in a drawer for quite a while. I finally came up with a solution. Applique them onto a store bought placemat. The picture below shows my version of the finished product. I'm thinking of making holiday placemats this way. A pumpkin would be fun or? Use your imagination.

I think I'll make some napkins to match. If you decide to do this be sure and share the results with us. I will not share your email or add you to a list.
Happy quilting,
Joan

What To Do With Orphan Blocks?

If you're like me you have a stash of orphan blocks. You know, the one you wanted to try before you made the pattern or sampling different fabrics first. Whatever the reason they're stacking up. I asked some of my quilting buddies how they used their blocks. Here are some of the ideas they shared with me.
Mini wall hangings, mug rugs (coasters), pot holders, pillows, hot pads, table runners, applique to a sweatshirt, and placemats. One lady made placemats and donated them to Meals on Wheels. What a neat treat. If you have any ideas on how to use orphan blocks please let me know and I'll share them with others. Feel free to send pictures of your samples to jaybeehive@yahoo.com . Would love to see them.
Thanks for visiting,
Joan

Organizing Scraps

Today I'm feeling ambitious. I've decided to cut most of my scraps, shown in the large bin, into 2-1/2" squares as shown in the little bin. Any large pieces I will keep as is. I might even cut some scraps into 2-1/2" x 4-1/2" rectangles. After I finish the job I'm sure I'll feel a bit more organized. Now all I have to do is decide how to use the squares creatively. If you have any ideas please share them with me and my friends. If I do anything with them I'll be sure to post a picture.
Thanks for visiting.
Joan

Signature Quilt Idea

I was invited to a 70th birthday party for a special friend some time ago. I decided to make a signature quilt as a gift. Actually it was a table topper. At the party the adult guests signed the front of the quilt. There were many little ones at the party that couldn't write yet. That's when I came up with the idea to have the adults trace around their little hands on the back of the quilt and print their names in the tracing. It was a big success. I'm glad I used a muslin backing. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture and my friend has since passed away.
This is a short post as I'm still trying to get my new patterns from the drawing board to a finished sample.
Till next time. Happy quilting.
Joan

Sharing a Tip and News

I keep a scissor on my ironing board at all times to cut loose threads or trim dog ears, etc. I'm having to move them often when ironing large pieces. The solution? Tie one end of a ribbon around one finger hole of the scissor and pin the opposite end to the edge of the ironing board cover. It's hanging there and ready to use.
Well off to the drawing board. I have to put my creative juices to work.
Enjoy the day. Life is good.
~ Joan ~

Sharing Tips

I've done one wool applique and found that I could really get hooked on it. I just read somewhere that to keep the wool applique pieces in place you can put a small piece of fusible webbing on the back and fuse them in place. I'll call it fusible basting. I love that I don't have to worry about frayed edges or having to turn the edges under. It goes quicker than fabric applique.

The pictures below show a way to use a lipstick case as a  holder for bobbins of different colored threads. Add this to your applique travel kit. The lipstick case was bought at a Dollar Store.

 

When I have more time I might play with using wool in place of fabric on a fabric applique pattern. It's a thought. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks for visiting. I will now move on to getting my tax records in order for our CPA. Yuck! I'd rather be quilting.

Cheers,

Joan

Ironing Board Hint

This is a top view of how I use my ironing board. By having the iron on the narrow part of the board I have more surface space to iron my larger quilt projects. Actually I keep my board this way for all my ironing.

If your left handed set your board as shown below. Sorry about the iron being turned wrong but you get the idea.

All for now. Cheers.

Joan



A Quilter's Experience

I've decided to squeal on myself. I'm in the midst of designing a new quilt. I cut my fabric and sewed 16 blocks before I realized I made a mistake. Wrong dimensions on a corner piece. I wont bore you with details but I did it on all 16 not just one before I caught it. The waste of fabric doesn't make me happy. The good news is all it takes is a seam ripper and a little time to reverse what I did. The lesson here is to remember the important hints such as; try one block before cutting all the fabric requirements and sewing a multiple of blocks. The seam ripper is a handy tool. I saw the neatest way to use one in a magazine once.  Just stick a small seam ripper in a spool of thread as shown in the picture below.  Great for cutting loose thread ends if your doing hand work, cutting thread from the spool it's in or using it by your machine. I wish I could remember which magazine I saw it in so I could give them credit.

Well now that I've taken a break I'm ready to tackle the sewing again. By the way I need to make a total of 64 blocks for this pattern. Sixteen blocks with errors doesn't sound so bad. Life is good.

Thanks for visiting,

Joan

No Need to Mark That Quilt Top.

I met the nicest people while attending the annual Arizona Quilt Guild Fall meeting yesterday.
One lady happened to share a neat hint with me. I'm passing it on to you.
1- Draw your quilting design on Press-n-Seal.
2- Place the marked Press-n-Seal on top of your quilt. Smooth the Press-n-Seal down with your hand. No need to pin. It should cling to the top.
3- Stitch on the drawn line.
4- Tear the Press-n-Seal away.
Wow! I'm anxious to try this. Guess where I'm headed to? The store to get some Press-n-Seal. Thank you Germaine Fritz for sharing this with me.
Till next time,
Joan

Rotary Cutting Hints.

While cutting fabric for my newest design I had a couple of things happen to me.
1- After cutting a strip I had a jagged edge.
2- After cutting a strip I had a slanted edge.
Now for the reasons. When cutting fabric I concentrate on the measurements I need and the quantity of strips needed per color. I find that I don't pay attention to how I'm holding the rotary cutter.
Solutions to the problems for number:
1- The rotary cutter is dragging. I'm not holding the cutter handle high enough so that just the blade runs across the fabric.
2- I'm holding the cutter at a slight angle.
Now for the good news. At least I didn't blame it on the blade being dull. It could have been expensive changing them more often than needed.
I'm hoping I'm not unique and that there will be others that benefit from these hints.
Enjoy the day. Thanks for visiting.
Joan

Another Tip for Quilters.

I want to share a tip with you. This is not a new idea. I don't remember where I first heard of it.
When it's time to change your ironing board cover save the batting from your old one. It's great for potholders and hotpads. This idea makes me want to change my covers more often.
Will post again soon.
Joan

Nifty, Quick, Quilt Hangers

I've come up with a neat way to hang wall quilts. I purchase a wooden shelf and drill holes, a little bigger than the diameter of a dowel, through the shelf supports. I used a 1/4" dowel. I then fed the dowel through a drilled hole, through the sleeve or tabs of my quilt, then through the drilled hole on the opposite side of the shelf. How simple is that and looks great too.


If you have a shelf without side supports just screw cup hooks under the shelf. One on each end to hold a dowel as shown below.


Have a great day.
Joan

Pinning Quilting Seams.

I'm back and getting ready for our local quilt show. In the meantime I wanted to share some information with you. As most quilters know life is so much easier when we can create opposing seams. These seams lock together. I have found through experiance that there's a little trick to pinning seams that aren't opposing. Pin the two seams together by sticking the pin in at an angle so that the edges stay even. When holding the pin straight up and down through the fabric and then slanting it the edges pyramid.
Till next time,
Joan

The Quilting Hints Continue.

I had a great Christmas and I'm ready to get back to my joy of quilting and designing.
I would like to share some info with you on borders. What to do if a quilt has two borders on it, the first a solid border and the second a pieced border? Don't cut the first border till the center of the quilt and the pieced second border is done. Not everybodies seam allowances are the same. Cut the first border the size needed to connect the center and the second border together. I call the first border a fudge factor. Hope this makes sense. It does to me but then I'm writting it. Any questions feel free to contact me at jaybeehive@yahoo.com .
Happy New Year!
Joan

Mark your quilting design the easy way.

I'm back. I've been hiding in my sewing room creating new quilt patterns for an upcoming book. Heres another tip I'd like to share with you. I purchased a roll of examination paper from my local clinic. This paper is the type they use on examination tables. It's 18" wide. I cut the paper the same size as my border. Next I trace my quilting design onto the paper. Pin the traced design to your border and machine stitch on the traced lines. The last step. Tear the paper away. Works great for me. No marking the quilt and I don't have to piece the paper together. It's wide and long enough to accomadate any size quilt. Plus it's very reasonable. If you can't find a doctors office or clinic willing to sell a roll try a medical supply house. Try this on blocks too.
Have fun on your quilting journey.
Joan

Sharing quilt teaching experiance.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of teaching a quilt class using my pattern "Three of a Kind" ,table runner, to a group of ten. One of the students was a man. Yea for him.

One lady suggested I change my colors for my cover photo. I'm giving this some thought. I shared some hints with the group. One being that there is a right and a wrong side to Warm and Natural batting. The batting is needlepunched. The indented side is the right side.

I'm busy designing for a submission to a magazine but that's a differant topic. Will try to write about that adventure at another time.

Joan