Showing posts with label quilt kit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quilt kit. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2015

WIP Progress, Springing and a Tutorial!

Hi peeps! 



How is everybody doing today??? Did ya miss me? Laid low again with a weather-sparked migraine that lasted a week, eek! 

Before I was incapacitated I managed to get my citrus batik table topper put together-border and all! I am still amazed at how pain-free the HST's were…guess I never bothered to measure and trim them before…ha ha ha...it had been that long since I worked with HST's! 

I have spray-basted it to some older-stash fabric and am good to go for quilting…but I am still undecided on which pattern to FMQ(free-motion quilt) with my Pfaff. It will be on our large coffee table and will get spilled on, folded over and generally well-used so I think it should be densely quilted. The one that is on the coffee table now was quilted with a fairly tight meander and while that is the easiest FMQ design to do, I am a little bored with it.

This was made with two packs of Timeless Treasures charms I got from Craftsy during their Boxing Week Clearance Sale. I actually bought 4 from them and don't know just yet what I'm going to do with the other two packs. I had a few squares left over from the above project as I was working with specific dimensions, so I'd like to work them into the next project as well.



I took this picture early last week. This is part of the tree that is in our minuscule back area. This one usually grows so much in the summer months that it ends up touching our kitchen windows! Now, would you believe, the buds are fully open and little leaves are starting to grow.


Home-Made Spray Starch Tutorial

I don't really like to use the spray starch in a can as it has an icky slightly-sweet smell…and of course, the fumes and the ozone layer. This recipe is a mix of a couple I have seen online with a few personal tweaks!

You will need:

2 cups of cold tap water
4 Tablespoons of cornstarch
1 Tablespoon of vodka(yes, really…very important)
5 drops of Lavender essential oil(or a favourite, just not a citrus-based one as even small amounts might cause a stain)
1 spray bottle(got mine at the dollar store)
-mixing bowl, measuring cup for liquids, measuring spoons, fork and a funnel



In your mixing bowl combine the water, vodka and cornstarch and mix well using a fork. Don't add the essential oil yet!


With the help of your funnel, pour the resulting liquid into your spray bottle. Remove the funnel and add your essential oil. I use lavender as it has a nice smell, but you could use a different oil such as peppermint or rosemary...but no citrus-based oils as they can leave oil spots on your items!

Now give your spray starch a hearty shimmy & shake. This helps to mix the essential oils in well. The reason I wait till the end to add the essential oils is that I don't want to waste any of it in the mixing bowl. Just mixing the oil in with a fork will not disperse the oil throughout the spray starch mixture and some of the oil will stick to the bowl's sides, which is a waste in my opinion.


Now, keep your spray starch near you ironing board and spray, spray, spray away, but use sparingly-a little will go a long way! Just remember to give it a good shake before each use as the cornstarch tends to settle to the bottom once the bottle is set down. 

It should stay fresh for a month or two! When not in use, I put mine in the fridge and it lasts longer.

If you find that you have some white residue on your fabric after the spray has dried, just give the area a little swipe with your fingers or a damp cloth. The white residue is just plain old cornstarch!

Why the Vodka you ask? Vodka(or any clear alcohol, but not rubbing alcohol) acts like a dispersant and a binder(emulsifier)-helps the essential oils mix with the water, and will also help the spray starch stay fresh, as it is a preservative.

Enjoy!


Thanks so much to the peeps who commented about my new vintage Singer machine! I was directed to a couple different websites and can now say I know this about her:
Model#15-91
Made in St. John's, Quebec, Canada in 1948

My model was one of the first of these models to come off the assembly line, as I noticed there are some things missing: the face of the stitch lever(on the right) doesn't have any numbers on it for stitch length and there is no gold "Made in Canada" decal situated on the top of the machine head.

I also now know that I put the needle in the wrong way...DUH! While on modern machines you put the needle in with the shank facing the back, this Singer must have the needle shank facing the left! 

I have also started looking on eBay and Etsy for a Walking Foot and a few other things I like to have. Someday I would like a wooden cabinet to store her in, so I could set her up in the living room and not have to move her on and off the kitchen table…Featherweight she is not!!!


Today is the last day of Craftsy's Spring Blowout Sale! Scoot on over for amazing deals on fabric, sewing kits, and quilting kits!


I have been looking longingly at this kit: Letters Home Tea and Biscuit Table Runner since Craftsy first shared it! When you use this link, just scroll down the page to see the kit. It is on sale HALF PRICE for $25.43(this is the price in CA$-it will be much cheaper in US$)!!!

They even have a few of the lovely Aurifil thread sets…but these are going fast.

Question of the Day: 

 How should I machine-quilt my citrus batik table topper? I really need some ideas peeps!

Sharing is caring!!! 

Don't forget that I am happy to share…feel free to pin to Pinterest, post on Google+ and Facebook, and Tweet away! Just please make sure your posts link back to this blog. 

*If you mouse/hover over the top right corner of my photos, a red pin-it button will show up and all you have to do is click it to be taken to Pinterest. There is also another red button right beside it for posting to Facebook and Twitter. Or, you could always use the little grey square buttons at the end of this post.



Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Quilty Huggs, 

Jacqueline 

PLEASE NOTE: The writer of this blog accepts forms of compensation such as, but not limited to; fabric/notions/patterns/books in exchange for a posted review. All comments/critiques/opinions are completely my own and are not those of the provider. This post may also contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. Thanks!

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Happy Mail, an awesome sale and Work-in-Progress Wednesday

Hi peeps!



As you all know, I am a Craftsy Affiliate. I wanted to show you some of the great things they have on sale at the moment. 

This class has been on my wish list for a little while and is on sale for only $19.99(C$)! But not for long…sales change quickly on Craftsy.

FYI: all prices listed here are in Canadian Dollars. Prices will be even cheaper in the USA!


The Barcodes quilt kit is on Clearance for only $33.29 and comes in two colour ways. I bought the Boysenberry kit, as you can see below. 


This one is the Twisted Irish Chain-Granny Squares Kit, for only $41.62, which is  a great deal considering you get 15 fat quarters of designer fabric, Kona cotton in grey for the 'chain' pieces and a half yard for your binding.


Here is my happy mail!!! As you can see, the Barcodes kit in Boysenberry is rich and dark. A super-easy pattern, you could get it done in a day or less!

The Twisted Irish chain kit has some very modern colours that are a bit out of the box for me, but I am game to get it together. The pattern, by the wonderful Amy Smart, is sent to your patterns library in Craftsy, so that you can access/print it as many times as you like!



I got some pre-cut yardage of Kona cotton in Rich Red, White and Black. They are on sale for up to 35% off! They come nicely packaged in reusable zip bags.


Here are the pre-cuts I scored, at super prices! The Kona-white charm packs are $7.28 right now! Riley Blake small chevrons charm packs are only $5.20. I am keeping them to add a little bit of chevron to my scrappy hexie projects. 

The Bali Batiks are all sold out(see, things go very fast here), and the Riley Blake small dots and 1/4" gingham mini layer cakes are $10.20 and $6.84 respectively. I wanted to have a little bit of polka dots and gingham prints to add to various projects. I just love Riley Blake fabrics!



They have the super-popular Olfa Splash rotary cutter on for 20% off, now only $14.96.

Remember, it is fast, easy and FREE to join Craftsy. There are lots of FREE classes and independent patterns to try as well as a large Clearance section and 19 quilting classes on sale(at the moment).

Here's the link to join or sign in: Craftsy 

Website owners and bloggers: Join Craftsy’s Affiliate Program Today



So I got going on the Giant Hexie Flower Quilt I told you about last post. I thought I would save time and use fabric glue when I fold over the seam allowances, instead of having to baste all those seams to the thick poster board. I wanted to save my hands…and my needles!

I was going pretty good on the first seam, but when I had sewed the second petal on and had to switch direction to sew that petal to the centre(white) hexie, the glued seam allowance of the white hexie started to pop off. Grrr..

I managed, with the help of my handy Clover Clips. I used them to keep the seam allowances folded over and attached to the poster board. 

There were a few minor curses though.


This is the fabric glue I used, I am sure you can find it at most large fabric/craft stores. I would go ahead and use the fabric glue to hold the seam allowances to the Giant Hexie petals, but for the centre piece I would definately baste them down.

It only took me an evening of watching Luther on Netflix to get the entire Giant Hexie Flower done. Now, I am going to go a step further and hand appliqué the hexie flower to a 60", or similar, square of fabric. 

I am not sure I have enough of that orange mini bias stripe I showed you last post. We will see how it goes. I have three more of these cut out and ready to go, once I have appliquéd and removed the poster papers from the first one. If the appliqué doesn't work out, I will have 4 baby/lap quilts to give away or sell.

I want to thank you so much for supporting my sponsors! With my small commissions, I can purchase items/supplies for my self-sponsored giveaways. And we all want more of those, don't we!!! hee hee hee

Thanks for reading and have a great day!


Jacqueline