getcrafty :: popular topics :: crafts :: piecing

View entire thread: Quilting Inquiry....

Posted by micrafty on 2006-08-25 18:37:16      Post Subject:



Look around your community and see if the community college (if you have those) or some other group offers quilting classes. You can learn a lot and make new friends.

It was how I learned. It was such a fun class!

If you are planning on purchasing a sewing machine to start your new hobby - look into buying one through a sewing shop; they often offer free classes with the purchase.

I would suggest you look into paper piecing. It would be a great place to start as everything is measured for you and it is easier to cut the pieces. Also look into strip quilting and the log cabin pattern - it doesn't require as much piecing.

Good luck and most importantly have fun.

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: Quilting Inquiry....

Posted by Diana on 2006-08-14 21:13:23      Post Subject:

Back sooner than I expected. Here are some recomendations for quilt books: The everything quilting book by Sandra Detrixhe,
Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Quilting, Quilting for The First Time by Donna Kooler (has some nice projects), 10-20-30 minutes to learn paper-piecing by Jodie Davis, Quilting for Dummies by Cheryl Fall (I hate the title, but it is a very good basic guide), The Magic of Crazy Quilting: a complete Resource for Embellished Quilting by J. Marsha Michler (crazy quilting is my personal favourite), and The Portable Crafter: Quilting by Mary Jo Hiney (some very contemporary looking projects). Try to stay with the American, not British, books as it will be less confusing when you are just starting out. The terms differ as well as measurements. I personally do not like the Quilt in a Day book series by Eleanor Burns as I feel they have poor instructions and are sorely lacking in any kind of artistry that one should see in a quilt. Not to mention that you cannot finish a quilt in a day!! And take advantage of the free advice at your local quilt shop. Just go in and tell them you are a beginner and you will have all the help you could ever ask for from both the staff and other customers. And just let me know if I can help with anything. Now get some fabric and enjoy yourself!!

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: I want to make this Lamp - Any ideas?

Posted by insistal on 2005-05-05 14:36:49      Post Subject:

I'm not sure about making a metal frame for the shade, it seems like it would be best to find a size or shape you like in a thirft shop and reuse it.

For the shade, I would probably just use legal size or 11x17 inch ink jet transparencies- especially is you can find a thick gauge. I think I would probably find the images, arrange them in Photoshop and then darken the final image. This way there wouldn't be much piecing together just a couple sheets. If you are hoping to continue with the robot theme, I'm sure you could find something creative to use to attach the pictures to the frame.. cords or wires from electronics.

Sorry is this is too much rambling...will be a cool project.

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: Stained Glass Projects?

Posted by moonwaterdesigns on 2005-03-10 20:43:22      Post Subject:

I've been doing stained glass since 2001. I enjoy making small-scale things like necklaces or sun catchers or little boxes. I rarely use a pattern, and enjoy piecing together scraps in different ways. My dad's co-worker had a stained glass studio in his home, so I was intrigued at the time and he invited me to visit and gave me a big bucket of all his scraps, as he worked on lampshades and bigger things-- so his trash was treasure to me!

I highly recommend getting a modern beginner's stained glass book at the library. I guess by modern, I mean something that has been printed within the last 10 years. Most of these types of books have color photos- including pictures of the kind of tools needed. There are lots of old stained glass books out there that are older, not printed in color, and just aren't helpful to someone looking to learn on their own.

My dad's boss showed me about 10 minutes worth of the basics, and that was it- so I think a class is helpful but not necessary. It just takes a bit of practice, so if you're learning on your own don't be frustrated if things don't turn out the way you want at first.

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: Looking for NYC Quilters/Home Sewers for possible projects

Posted by lacurie on 2006-05-31 13:11:08      Post Subject:

ii do applique work using wool felt, mostly)

Actually, that counts. The friend that I am working on this project with is primarily a knitter and we want to include at least one "crossover craft" project on every show. We plan on doing stuff with felting sweaters and piecing into blankets.

I have been doing some hand applique recently because I needed to be able to take projects with me when I travel in the car.

I love City Quilter and hope to get their input, but since I don't have anything official nailed down, I don't feel comfortable going to them about this project just yet. However I am hoping to take some classes there this summer and do a little networking.

Thanks for responding! Do you have a URL with any of your work posted?

- Carrie

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: in dire need of sewing-machine help

Posted by pteryla on 2005-09-04 14:21:55      Post Subject:

problem solved! a lady from sewing world commons walked me through it over the phone. i'd made two major errors: first, i was indeed threading the needle from the back vs. the front. second, there's a step where you have to bring the needle down to pull up the bobbin thread, and then pull all of that back into a tail. i hadn't drawn that back. so no wonder it was all screwy. so i'm sewing fine, and i even did some reverse/locking stitches, AND i changed presser feet (which was super easy). now i have the 1/4 inch foot on, which will be good for piecing when i'm working on quilt tops. the only thing i'm still scared about is changing needles, but chances are it won't be so bad.

thanks for the help!

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: quilting help?

Posted by Liberty Gooler on 2004-12-29 16:08:36      Post Subject:

I made my first quilt for my nephew following these instructions, which I thought were actually pretty simple and understandable:

http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel1560&catid=cat357

If the link is not stable it's on the Martha website, and its called a memory quilt. I don't have a rotary cutter yet so what I did was make paper templates for my pieces, pin them to the paper and cut around those. I made mine by machine and the biggest problem I had was stiching in the ditch, that is stiching the quilt top to the batting. I didn't line up my squares exactly so I had some problems getting even lines of stiching.

You really do have to be very particular about cutting out and piecing together, it makes the whole process faster and smoother and makes the quilt look better.

And yes I have the same problem about stopping and starting, but actually I think quilting is a good stop and start craft. You can hack away at it for awhile and then forget it in a closet for a bit. Let's just say I started my nephew's quilt when he was born and didn't mail it off to him in Alaska until his first birthday.

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: old singer sewing machine AND quilting help

Posted by breewell on 2004-09-30 17:21:17      Post Subject:

In piecing a quilt, you don't lock the beginning and end stitches because you're going to sew another seam over the beginning of the seam anyway, so no worry. Thank you so much! I knew there had to be something, I just wouldn't have come up with it!

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: cheating on crafts?

Posted by xuli on 2004-10-01 14:21:33      Post Subject: cheating on crafts?

So, I've known for awhile that some yarn stores offer services where they'll do all the finishing on stuff that their customers have knitted -- weaving in ends, blocking, seaming, etc.

But then a few weeks ago, I was shocked to learn that my friend's mom, who makes these gorgeous quilts, hasn't actually quilted in years. She does all the designing and piecing, then ships the quilt top, batting and backing to a quilting shop where they quilt it all together for her. I've never met this friend's mom, but her quilts are so pretty. I felt like Sammy Sosa's biggest fan must've felt when they found cork in his bat.

The idea of paying someone to finish my knitting projects might be tempting if I could afford it, but I still think that if I did that I'd never feel OK about telling anyone that I'd made something. But maybe I'm just bitter because I can't afford it, or maybe I'm just a crafting prude.

What do y'all think?

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: old singer sewing machine AND quilting help

Posted by ambelina on 2004-09-30 16:43:10      Post Subject:

Hooray for old Singers and Quilting in Brooklyn!

I belong to a little quilting group in Brooklyn if you want to join a few other quilting nuts (mostly completely novice, but some with experience) for a little live interaction, help, fun, etc.

Come to the Church of Craft if you're interested: they meet 2nd Sunday of every month (that's next weekend) in Brooklyn.

As for your questions:
I think the whole forward, back, forward doesn't matter as long as the stitch gets locked somehow. In piecing a quilt, you don't lock the beginning and end stitches because you're going to sew another seam over the beginning of the seam anyway, so no worry. Also, if you're sewing all the way around something, like a pillow, when you get to the end, you're back at the beginning, and you just keep going to cover the first few stitches. OR... if you can either drop the feed dogs (the part that comes up and pushes your fabric back for you - "underneath" your stitching) or pick up the pressure foot, you can probably either fake a backwards stitch or just stitch one or two in place, which would have the same effect as an initial backstitch.

Hope that makes sense. Email me if you want the info for Church of Craft: amber_wiley at hotmail.com

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: reconstructed clothing

Posted by Katrin on 2004-09-08 01:15:23      Post Subject:

I've got a couple of pieces of clothing I've been meaning to reconstruct for a while now. One is an old coat - it was originally an oversized, shapeless long winter coat with a built-in scarf. I just loved the fabric - coarsely woven red cotton from India with black elephants block-printed all over. It got compliments wherever I wore it.

But it got washed enough to become kind of shapeless, and I let it sit in the sun in my car too long and part of it faded. The lining shrank at a different rate than the shell, and the whole thing just wasn't cutting it any more. So I decided to revamp it.

So far, here's what I've done: I used a seam ripper to take all the pieces apart carefully, getting rid of the cheap cotton lining. I dyed the whole thing bright red again and went over each individual elephant with a Sharpie (it's been so long, I've blocked out how long that took). I found a pattern for a more tailored-looking coat and bought new lining fabric.

And the coat's been sitting dismantled for about a year. Even using the scarf as part of the new coat's body, I'm still going to have to do some "patchwork", piecing cut remnants of the coat together, to make the sleeves. I'm planning to use some contrasting recycled fabric (an old pair of black velvet pants) for the collar and cuffs. It's getting to be that time of year again - I should make this the winter that I actually get the thing done, because once it's finished, it's sure to be a terrific conversation piece if nothing else.

Also in the works: An out-of-style pair of pleated-waist dress pants that I plan to make into flat-fronts.

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: who quilts?

Posted by Schmatta on 2005-09-06 16:19:26      Post Subject:

I'm a quilter. Non-trad. Artsy. Mostly straight line piecing on the machine rather than curves by hand. Prefer hand quilting stitches, although I'm far from expert. Yes, Mary Ellen Hopkins' books are good. Yoshiko's work is beyond belief. Lovely but not very useful to those of us in our first/second/third reincarnations as quilters. I mean, she's from some other galaxy far far away.
I'll be glad to answer any ?? from beginners, and if I were smart enough, I'd post photos of my work so you could see if you even wanted to ask me anything.

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: sewing machine????

Posted by deshep on 2008-02-07 23:53:36      Post Subject: Brother machine for quilting

hi
i use a brother pq1500 for quilting with a grace frame. it is wonderful . i am a brother-phille (new term made for junkies like me) i have 3 brother machines, the ps which is a mid arm machine . an nx600 my work horse, and a nx1000 (innov-is) for embroidery. ( i take sewing seriously).
the nx also does fine for free motion quilting. the 1500 is a strait stitch pin fed machine, sews up 10 1500 spm, but i thend to go a little slower. i only use it on the fraame, as i have the others for sewing and piecing. i have used it with a pc quilter for small jobs i find the pc thing is a bit slow for me. (more set up time than quilting time)
i find the brother machines to be trouble free and easy to maintain. i have in the past owned kenmore, singer and europro machines, all were fine machines, but no like brothers, i actualy gave them away
hope this helps
donna

Back to top | view poster's profile


View entire thread: Tell me about...

Posted by lizzymahoney on 2004-08-22 09:28:41      Post Subject:

soapandwater, I just checked Vera Bradley's site and her bags are very much like the ones quilters make. Except they usually do more piecing of reverse prints, like straps that go all the way around the bag, and maybe a contrasting outside pocket with a zipper. But generally two coordinating prints with heavy emphasis on quilting.

Back to top | view poster's profile