KatyQuilts

Life is good…..

Posted on March 22, 2010 by katyquilts

My daughter bought this for me. It combines two of my favorite things: flip flops and coffee :). It is now my favorite cup!

Until next time…..

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I know, a gazillion people have done this already! But this is the first time I have done it. Actually, I did this about two years ago while working through some exercises in the Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston. Here is the photo I started with:

And here is the journal quilt I ended up with:

I’d like to do this again some time. Come to think of it, I ‘d like to read that book again! Off to find it…..

Until next time….

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Something is seriously wrong here…..

Posted on March 20, 2010 by katyquilts

Yesterday was the last day of winter and it was 65 degrees here. Today is the first day of spring and we have this:

I hung my clothes on the line earlier this week but now:

So very sad about this. Pleace God, bring the sun back!

Until next time….

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Sewing table update

Posted on March 20, 2010 by katyquilts

A few of you asked if it was difficult to access the bobbin in my new sewing desk. I ain’t gonna lie….it isn’t the easiest due to the thickness of the table top. However, wonderful DH has modified it by cutting a semi-circle into the platform:

For the second pic, I removed the machine and took the pic from the angle of looking toward the front of the desk.

This has helped make access easier. It also helps that I have small hands! I could just lift the machine out of the recess but this works for me. Hope this helps you as well.

Until next time……

Posted in Sewing Machines, Sewing Room Pics, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

My wonderful husband…..

Posted on March 20, 2010 by katyquilts

…..came home last night with these:

But that is not all. Oh no, that is not all…..he also brought these:

No special reason, no birthday, no holiday. He just loves me. How awesome is he????

Until next time……

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Sneak peak….

Posted on March 18, 2010 by katyquilts

of a new piece I am working on for a local show…..

Oh, I am loving this new desk/cabinet!

Back to work!

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What to do with practice pieces?

Posted on March 18, 2010 by katyquilts

My free motion quilting is not good these days……I am WAYYYYY out of practice. Most books will tell you to doodle on a practice sandwich of top, batting, and backing before starting on the “real” piece. Good advice. But what do you all do with these practice pieces?

I made cozies for the foot pedals of my Featherweights as well as a sleeve for a travel iron. But my favorite thing to make is zippered bags like this:

This worked great for protecting my scissors and such while traveling. I made one a while back that I use for my double pointed needles:

I liked to seam the ends in such a way as to make the bag more three dimensional. Just for fun :). I find the zippers at thrift shops. I have some bigger pieces to use also:

This one is about 14 inches square. I have only shown a part of the piece. It would be a good size for the front of a tote bag….like I need another one of those! Cutting it means small zippered bags…. Hmmmmm…….

Any ideas? What do you do with your practice pieces?

Until next time….

Posted in Free Motion Quilting | 1 Comment

A new sewing table!

Posted on March 17, 2010 by katyquilts

I have the best dear husband! I am forever trying to figure out the ultimate quilting/sewing set up. He puts up with a lot in my fiddling with things. He often ends up getting invloved. He does a great job! Last weekend, I found a desk at Goodwill. It looked to be a perfect size- not too big, not too small…..just about right for machine quilting and piecing and much heavier than the folding table I had been using. It seems that most tables/sewing cabinets do not have as much space in FRONT of the needle as I would like. If we could modify this desk, I could have as much as I wanted and still have room to support a quilt behind the needle. It was more work than I expected but it turned out great. Here are pics in case you would like to see how it was done:

First he had to move the drawers to the left side from the right side.

He cut a hole so the machine would sit nearly flush with the table. The extension table that came with machine rests just a hair above the desk top.

Here you can see how he used bolts with sleeves to fasten the board to the bottom of the table. He used an oak stair riser for the board.

The desk cost $25 and the additional materials brought the total to about $45.

This was a commerical office desk and it weighs a ton even though the top measures just 30″ x 42″. I can really speed and there is no vibration at all. I love the space in front of the needle to support the work if machine quilting and for laying out pieces when I am piecing. Hope this gives some of you ideas for making or modifying your own table.

Until next time!

Posted in Free Motion Quilting, Sewing Machines, Sewing Room Pics, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

It’s working!

Posted on March 12, 2010 by katyquilts

Well, I have written about my total lack of creativity as far as art quilting goes. For the longest time, I found myself wandering into the sewing room, looking around and moving a few things and walking back out again. I have done a lot of knitting over the last 6-9 months but I am not a creative knitter. I make mittens and socks and plain ones at that. A while back I decided I needed to do SOMETHING and starting cutting my scraps, my repro scraps, very traditional stuff. And I starting sewing again. I made some Dear Jane blocks among other things. I came home from Arizona and yesterday decided I needed to make one small thing.

One small thing…..using a basket with some hand dyed scraps so there wasn’t too much to choose from. The scraps were colors of the desert. I decided to make one small( 5″ x 7″ ish) piece and that it did not have to be a masterpiece, just finished. Here is what I ended up with:

This is actually about 6 x 8 inches. Okay, no award winner but it is done, even the facing. Cool! I went off and did other stuff around the house. Hmmmmm……. what if…… yes, I have an hour and a half before dear daughter gets home….. maybe I can do one more…. Back to the sewing room! Pulled strips and scraps from the same basket and tried not to spend too much time overthinking. Second piece done!

This one is about 8 x 10 inches or so. No, it is not straight. This reminds me of the way the colors/light changes throughout the day in Arizona. Granted, this is another simple piece but at least I DID something instead of just thinking about it and reading blogs about what others are doing!

And, when I finished this, I picked up and finished the facing on another piece that was nearly finished last spring! Okay, that done, I moved on to a piece that had been hanging on my design wall for ages as well. I kept trying to figure out what it needed next and was stuck. I wanted to make it taller but it wanted to be wider. I finished that top and got it ready for quilting. I pulled ANOTHER piece off the wall, added a few strips and basted that. I even got that one quilted late last night!

Kathy Loomis has some excellent posts on her blog about finding your voice in your art. I read it in between trips to the sewing room yesterday and can wholeheartedly recommend what she has to say here! Kathy is a terrific artist and knows of what she speaks. One of the biggest things is that you must KEEP WORKING on something, anything.

The less creative I am, the less creative I am! The more I work, the more ideas I generate. I woke up this morning with a new idea in my head. That hasn’t happened in a while. I think just going back to what I know (traditional stuff) and doing the sewing got my moving forward even though it seemed and looked like moving backward.

Okay, enough rambling here….I have stuff to make! Until next time…..

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