Smoke from my finger tips

Hi All,

Been hand quilting like a crazy person trying to get a baby quilt done!  But while I'm working away over here my sister in law Susie was hard at work too and she made a baby.  Here is Liam!

I am sure he wont mind waiting a little on his quilt, as long as I get it done before he graduates High School.  I would like to get it to him by Christmas this year.   

So since I don't have much new to post, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite hand quilting  gadgets.     When I'm hand quilting and one a roll... I don't like to stop thread needles.  So this little guy comes in handy.  Not mention the fact that it has a cover so WillieNo! can't hurt himself or others by steeling it.  Though the cats' war on thread has been deemed unwinable, still he battles on!

So I stick 10 quilting betweens in my quilt.

I use a long cheapy needle threader to load 5 needles at a time.  Put my thread through, still attached to the Spool.

and pull through all 5 needles without cutting my thread.

Then I pull off the first needle on the short thread side (not the spool side) and pull out the desired then.  It is recommended that you only use a length equivalent to your arm.  Then stick the needle in the top of the quilt and clip the thread before the next needle.  Then do again until all the needles are threaded.  Do the same for the next 5 needles.

all five needles threaded, no knots though.

Load 5 needles into slots on the winder.  Gently hold the threads out and away, making sure they are not tangled.  Move the dial on the back of the winder until the threads catch in the slot on the side. then wind and wind until they are all nice and tucked in.  Then repeat for the other five.

You can now cover it with the plastic dome top.  As you need needles just pull one out gently.  Sometimes it tangles a bit, but if you are gentle it does knot up.

I can get through about 2 loads of needles in an evening.

The end!

So the quilt is almost done, I have 2 1/2 borders left to quilt and then binding and label.  I let my husband pick out the border pattern and its nuckin futz.  I really love the way the way it is coming out, but its a little slow going.  

Ok, back to work.

I hope you all get a chance to quilt this weekend!

Love Aunti Nicole

A Precarious Position

At the very top of my over crowded quilt rack, sleeps WillieNo!  Don't worry, he won't fall, he has his little needle claws dug deep into my QUILT!  

Benefits of this spot you ask?

• Afternoon Sunshine
• Highest position possible in the room.
• Gets the stink eye from Me
• And head shake and sigh from Pete

All very valuable in picking the perfect site.

Meanwhile I finished a quilt for our Flying Geese Quilt Show in October.  This is Fractured Fruitcake Sampler.  Here is a little tutorial for the blocks.  Click Me!  They are pretty simple, made from half-square triangles.  The tough part for me was keeping the quilting symbol.  I usually complicate everything to add "interest" but being done in time feels good too. 

 So per my husband's suggestion simple quilting, simple binding and of course he was right, but don't tell him I said so.





















Turns out that brown is a guy Christmas color, who knew?   Pete and my cousin Tom seem to like this one a lot.  We won't point out that there are pink and purple in the border as well.  hehehhee.

Anyway, fun project, cheery Christmassy and done!

Thank you all for stopping by.  Hope all got to do some quilting this weekend!

All my best,
Aunti Nicole

EZ Quilters in March

Monday I got to visit with my EZQ group.  I love the inspiration I get from these meetings.  Mardell gets the prize this week for inspiring a new way to look at things.  This small wall hanging has a simple background and the quilting just adds to it.  Hand quilted by the way, Mardell does such exquisite work!












She reminded us that you have to put a binding on every quilt.   "In the simplest terms, "birthing" a quilt refers to a quilt that is "bound" pillowcase style." 

It works best with smaller quilts.  You lay the back on the quilt top right sides together.  Lay on top of the batting.  Then sew 3 sides and all but about a foot of 4th side.  Trim the edges so you have a 1/4 seam and turn inside out.  Finish by applique or whipstitch closed.


Here is the finished double pineapple quilt that was made last year by my group.  We put our names in a hat and had an innocent bystander draw for it.  Sherrillee won the drawing and of course had to have it quilted and put the binding on it.  It is just gorgeous!







Been doing a lot of quilting and knitting, nothing to share just yet, but its coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by.
Love Aunti Nicole

Double Piped Binding Tutorial

Three months ago, I got this quilt back from machine quilter Jan Dalkey.  I knew I wanted to do a special binding but had trouble finding instructions.  So..... I created my own.  It took some patience and a lot of ripping, but I finally finished it January 1st, 2011.

So I am posting a free tutorial for anyone who wants to try it.  I recommend doing this on a smaller quilt to see if you enjoy doing it.  Tutorial - Double Piped Binding

I hope you can put these instructions to use.  Maybe not today, but keep it in mind for a future project.  Feel free to contact me yelling and screaming if you find any problems with the instructions or need help with it.

I wish you all a wonderful and prosperous New Year!  

Love Aunti  Nicole

Tutorial - Resize your Templates

Have you ever had a great template that was just the wrong size?  Yep, me too. 

While working on a hand-quilting project I was ready to do the borders.  Had done an inner sashing with a rope template I had.  My husband said I needed to do the outer border in a similar style, but I did not have another size of the same design.  So…I made one.


Tutorial - Resize your Template

Fruitcake in September!

Not normally a fan of Fruitcake, but this Moda Fruitcake is pretty yummy...fat-free too!  I bought 2 charm packs and some border fabric from the same line. 

20 unique blocks, each with 16 half-square triangles. 

Quick and Easy HST (Half-Square Triangles)

Place two contrasting 5" charm squares right sides together.  Draw a line diagonally down the center both ways.  Sew 1/4" seams on either side of both lines.  Cut in 4, then cut each in half.  Press  to the dark side.  You will have 8 half-square triangles.

Happy Labor Day weekend! 3 days of sewing! Whooo Hoo. Throw in a salmon barbeque in Chino and some R&R with my Pete and my Willie.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Aunti

Two Sided Binding w/ Tutorial

I found this great dot fabric for the back of Patience's quilt and had plenty left for the binding.  But I don't really like to bind with the same fabric as the back...boring, even if it is big colorful dots.  So I came up with a simple way to create a two sided binding. 

This binding is made similar to a standard binding with a few extra steps.

Two Sided Binding Tutorial, click below
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BzIhh09L_PINZTk2ZjczN2MtZDVmMy00NGZkLWEwZTctM2VjMzExMTFkMjgw&hl=en

I would love to hear feedback on these instructions.  You may want to try it out on a sample before binding a large quilt.

This tutorial assumes you have done a standard 3/8” binding before. If you have not, a great reference for a standard binding can be found on http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/  specifically http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/01/perfect-binding-tutorial.html

Here is the finished quilt. I used www.jaybirdquilts.com Circle Around pattern and added a fun hawaiin print border I picked up from Beyond the Reef Fabrics.  I machine quilted with brightly colored variegated thread.

Happy Quilting

Aunti Nicole