Pat Sloan and my double geek-out

When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut. So Bad. I tried getting a scholarship to Space Camp. I hung out in the back yard with my telescope. I knew when the major meteor showers happened. I was part of the Space and Astronomy Club in high school. Yeah, oh yeah.

So now I am a quilting geek instead of an astro geek and I just about fell over that quilter Pat Sloan recently interviewed astronaut Karen Nyberg.

And then I really fell over because Pat Sloan also wants to interview me! This Monday January 13th! It's almost like getting to be in the same room as Karen and Pat, and both the 37 year old me and the 15 year old me are thrilled. If you want to hear the words "free motion quilting" like 100 times, you should listen in. You can reach the show from the American Patchwork and Quilting podcast page at 1pm Pacific time.

The show Karen was on is at the above link too and Monday's show will be archived and available there after it airs as well.

Now, might I introduce you to NASA's Gangnam Style Parody (in which Karen Nyberg has a cameo)? You can thank me later. Happy New Year quilters!

My new use for batting scraps

I have a collection of skinny strips of leftover batting, and I know I am not alone. At about 2 inches wide they are too small individually for any little quilted project.  I know I don't have the patience to piece them together to make a larger piece, though I happily do that with bigger pieces to get enough for a quilt top.

But now I have it. I know what to do. I take little fabric scraps and sew-and-flip piece them onto my batting strips!

And then when I have several strips...

I piece those together with one-inch wide strips of fabric.

(here's what that looks like from the back)

And then bigger things have formed from littler things, and I feel happy.

This completes a veritable trifecta of quilting waste prevention:
Using practice pads as pre-quilted piecing foundation
Joining little quilted bits into bigger quilted panels, and now,
Piecing fabric onto batting strips

Sigh of satisfaction.

Best wishes for your to do lists and self-care my friends! Make a little time to sew, you know you'll feel better.

All the news that is news

I have a new job, which is downright wonderful unless you like reading my blog (hi grandma!).

I have sewn a few things. First, an iPad cover for my husband. He loves it. Seriously, my man takes something I quilted for him to work. That is a major achievement.

Side note: I will make a tutorial. If you need it before the gift giving season let me know so I can take my attention away from peanut butter cups and Netflix.

I also made more nesting buckets. I love these things. They are a fun way to get people to try free motion quilting and have something to show for it at the end. I have one more class coming up to teach them. I wish I had better pictures but right after this the toddler photobombed me! Little man is into everything these days. Everything. Exhibit A:

Also, I have two patterns in the just-out issue of Stitch Gifts 2014! (The sewing industry is like the automobile industry with years now!). In one of the patterns they autocorrected my last name to Camel.  Hah! It's good for a laugh at least. I hope life is equally joyful around your parts!

Susan Beal's Sewing For All Seasons

I have the pleasure today of showing you a beautiful book by my friend and fellow quilter Susan Beal. It's a book of sewing projects from someone who clearly loves the natural world around her.

First things first. Hardcover book. Love that.

Next: Little cards from Susan's book planning process. It's so personal and behind-the-scenes, what a great touch.

Also: gorgeous.

Finally, well written, just the right amount of illustrations, easy to follow.

I thought these little mason jar cozies were the cutest thing ever so I sat down to make one as soon as possible. The pattern called for fusible batting, which I don't own; I substituted a quilted leftover instead!

I think the concept of this book is inspired, and Susan really does it justice. None of the projects are fussy. All of them are things I could see myself making. I'm really pleased to have it. Thank you for the gift of your beautiful book Susan!

Quilted Luggage Tag tutorial

So last week I made myself a couple luggage tags, attached them to my bags-full-of-quilts, and flew to Houston sans children to go to quilt market.

I just spent an hour trying to write up my experience of quilt market and I give up. The following words apply: fast, chatter, awkward, blisters, flattering, industry, thrilling, uncertain, lucky, powerful, big, touching, grateful, realization.

How about something concrete to offer you instead? Like how I made these luggage tags in about 30 minutes just a few hours before my flight? I personally think these would make great gifts because they are fast and likely to actually be used. You're not freaking out about the holidays yet are you? Yeah, me neither.

So you need a quilted piece, a backing piece, a 5 1/2" piece of elastic and a bit of clear vinyl. Yep, that's my fabric from Spoonflower, but you could stitch some actual selvages onto batting if you wanted to. Or use any scrap quilted piece (maybe a good looking section of a FMQ practice piece?)

You cut quilted and backing pieces 4 1/2" x 3" and then cut off the corners 1 1/2" x 1/2".

Fold the elastic in half and lay it centered on the top of the quilted piece.

Then the backing piece face down over that. Stitch around the outside leaving a hole in the far end.

Trim the corners and flip it right side out. Tuck the open end under and press.

Cut a piece of vinyl 2 1/2" x 2 1/4" trim if necessary to fit your tag.

Topstitch around the edge of the tag. This attaches your vinyl and closes up the hole at the bottom of the tag at the same time. I start stitching on the open edge and I used a piece of paper under the presser foot (but not so far under that the needle actually stitched through the paper)

And there you have it! Cut a piece of card about 2 1/4" x 2" to put in the pocket. Trim smaller if needed.

Whenever I saw one of these on my bag it made me feel happy. So do those knee socks from Sweet Marcel!

So there you are! Maybe these tags will go with me to another quilt market someday. Or maybe this was a one-time thing. Either way, I'm happy. Hope things are good out there, quilters!

Why is it?

Just in my sewing room reflecting on my varied ability to choose fabric. Does this happen to you?

Thank you everyone who entered the giveaway for my book, I loved reading about the things that were bringing you joy: your children, grandchildren, partners, parents, friends, family, jobs, births, weddings, endeavors and of course quilting!! The winner is #58, Linda Fleming! Linda please contact me by the end of the week with your mailing address.

First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting: Giveaway!

When I learned free-motion quilting I was excited. Amped up. But I looked at the quilt I had to finish and I knew I couldn’t jump right in and free-motion on it. It was so pretty. It had taken me so long. No way.

So I made a little quilt to practice on first. I wanted something quick but not something boring. I made up my own pattern that was quick-ish (but not really that quick because I overthink everything and I have a teeny-scrap improv fetish.) Anyway, I quilted that thing. It wasn’t great…because it just never is when you start fmq. Gotta connect all the right neurons, get your coordination down. Here's a picture. Does it look like your first FMQ attempt? 

After that I quilted one more little quilt, and then I was ready to quilt the big one. And it was great! I was hooked and I felt ready to quilt all the quilts that came after that. Here, years later, I still have both those practice quilts.

So when it hit me that yes, I should write a beginning FMQ book, I thought of that girl, in her apartment, with a box of her grandma’s scraps and a Joann fabric a bus ride away. That new quilter with her little notebook of quilting designs she saw on other people’s quilts.

I’ll write a book for her, I thought. It will have the basics. But not too much info. Nothing about metallic threads or fancy quilt show stuff. Only what she needs to jump in. It will have quilting designs, and it will have practice projects. Projects she can whip up quickly to practice just as much as she needs and then get back to her own creations.

And that’s what I wrote. I warned her against using dark threads on light fabrics. I gave her a troubleshooting guide so she wouldn’t pull her hair out when the machine started skipping stitches. I told her it didn't have to be perfect. I showed her good stitching, not amazing stitching. I put in everything she needed and nothing she didn’t.  And I’m happy with it.

I’m happy with it! And I’m happy to share it with you.

So here is the end of the book/blog tour and a final drawing!  I’ll pick a random commenter and send them a little package of FMQ love. The book, some needles and thread and gloves to get started, and other sewing room randomness. Thanks everyone for sharing my excitement about this book and for loving quilting as much as I do. To enter the drawing just leave a comment telling me something that made you happy this week. I’ll pick a winner October 11. The giveaway is over!

Oh, and if you didn't enter the other giveaways during this tour, a number of them are still open: 

9/25: Allison Rosen at Stash Books Blog 

9/26: Jessica Alexandrakis at Life Under Quilts 

9/27: Monica Solorio-Snow at Happy Zombie 

9/28: Susan Beal at West Coast Crafty 

9/29: Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Studio 

9/30: Angela Walters at Quilting is my Therapy 

10/1: Amanda Jean Nyberg at Crazy Mom Quilts 

10/2: Megan Dye at Megs Monkey Beans

10/3: Victoria Findlay Wolfe at Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts 

10/4: Katie Pedersen at Sew Katie Did 

10/5: Christina Cameli at A Few Scraps