Crazy Curves Workshop

This is the workshop I attended on Saturday. It was held at the Parkerville Baptist Church and the money raised goes to their nominated charities. This time, money went to Pakistan for flood relief and a women's charity in Cambodia. The ladies I sat with were very nice and we had a lovely time sewing and chatting.

Here is a look at the curves I was trying to sew. I tried out my CurveMaster sewing foot. I had to have help to fit it to my machine, but it seemed to go on all right once a part of the machine was unscrewed and removed (gasp). I had a lot of trouble with some of these curves - the ones that changed direction half way along. We are meant to sew these without pinning but bringing the two edges together to gently touch the edge guide on the sewing foot was like trying to tame two unruly children sitting in the back seat while you're driving. No one was happy.

This is my curve master foot. You can see I had to remove the boot that holds the presser feet in order to fit the adaptor shank. The verdict is still out on whether this is a good gadget or just a good idea at the time. I've only seen it demonstrated with drunkard's path blocks which is a nice smooth curve - not one that changes direction. I suspect it is user error on my part and that I just need more practice, although a little more guidance would be good but there's nothing on the net. (Feel free to share with me if you can find something besides a drunkard's path demonstrated.)

The pattern was a curved 'stack and whack'. The instructor had pre-selected colour schemes and had the kits ready for us, although we did the actually cutting of the curves. I learned how to do that at least - it was a little nerve wracking. The curves were not cut free-hand but you kind of slide a small square ruler along the cutting line keeping pace with the rotary cutter - which needs a new blade as you must go through all the layers in your stack (6 layers plus the freezer paper). They need to be exact as you shuffle the pieces around to re-sew them together.

So here is what I've gotten done so far. This is two stacks i.e. 12 fabric squares equals twelve blocks. I've had a go at pressing them but they just won't sit nicely and there are puckers and I'm going to take my time and clips some seams and see what I can do with them. After I get all 24 blocks done I will trim them back to the largest square I can (probably 8.5" or 9").

This will come along to the retreat with me on the 30th of September for a good play and the ladies there will not be as shocked as my family if I start swearing under my breath...

Please share with me if you have a curve master foot and how you've found it...

It's the day job this week with a guild meeting on Tuesday. We have our first committee meeting for the 2011 exhibition and our theme is "magical medallions".

Machine Quilting Samples

The machine quilting class was such a lot of fun. Jan is a great teacher. And amidst a few tension problems (of the machine kind) I managed to get a few designs tried. And while I learned a lot, the most important thing I learned is that it's going to take a lot, and I mean a lot, and then even more, Practice.




Jan provided us with an excellent handout with a good range of designs to try and information on threads and needles. She recommended that you use the manufacturer's leaflets that are available for types of threads and needles and what they are recommended for. And of course try and see what works best for you. And then, you know, Practice. Below I am sharing the references she did for us. Should help you on your own journey, and the info is not proprietary.

So now it's just about practicing... and practicing... and practicing...

Quilt As You Go Class

It's not all work and bushwalking. Yesterday (Saturday) I went to a quilt-as-you-go class with the lovely and talented Glenda Olesen (no blog that I know of) who is an accredited teacher, judge and quilt valuer with the Western Australian Quilters' Association (WAQA). She showed us several different ways to join quilt blocks or quilt sections.

I chose to try a method using overlaid sashing strips both front and back.

Of course I didn't have anything prepared, so during the week I quickly whipped up some hourglass blocks from a pack of 7inch charm squares and did some simple quilting. It will be a 4x4 table topper. This is as far as I got in the class time. This will not be a UFO! It is rough as anything but will work overall.

After determining the size of my sashing, I trimmed back the blocks, butted the batting together and zig-zagged them together. My blocks are about 6 1/4 unfinished so I chose a one inch sashing.

The back of the quilt is sashed as well, but with a smaller sashing than the front so those seam lines won't show on the front. I put these on by eye and then they didn't match up exactly, but I'm not going to worry about that as it blends in well and won't be 'in your face' unless you look really close.

These fabrics are just yummy. With spring in the air it's all about purple - when the iris's bloom you know it's a good time of year. The light coloured fabric has a hint of shine that I just can't capture in a photo. Pity only one little square of it...

Not much sewing for today. After church I have four pair of pants to hem for my husband and of course all the household chores I didn't do yesterday (sigh). No housework fairy here....

Hope your weekend is full of sunshine and laughter and a little sewing for good luck!

Cheers

Shari