I get asked a lot about attaching sleeves for hanging a quilt. Depending on what kind of quilt hangar you are using, you may or may not need a sleeve. If you are using a Hang it Dang it or a basic curtain rod or dowel system you will probably need to add a sleeve.  Since I switch quilts a lot I often only pin on a temporary sleeve but if you are planning on hanging a quilt for some time you will want a stronger & more evenly attached method.  I found instructions for this today posted by Bernina USA.  This site show’s how to create a sleeve & how to attach it to your quilt using the blind hem stitch with your sewing machine.  It’s a great little tutorial.   Hanging sleeve 

Enjoy!

I recently quilted a memory quilt that was for a retirement. I thought it was a much nicer gift than a plaque, watch or clock. I think from the pic that John loved it too. This was pieced, designed & bound by Martha Stewart for a Co-worker & CEO for Best Source Credit Union. Congrats to John on his retirement & I hope he enjoys his quilt. Its a nice one!!

If quilting were baseball today would be a game delay!  Thunderstorms are rolling through the southeast MI area today & I like to play it safe with my equipment and keep it unplugged until it all passes by.

Hopefully this will all be gone in time for tonights ballgame. Detroit vs LA Dodgers tonight at Comerica Park. I’ll be quilting and watching the Tigers play if the weather cooperates.

I’ll be finishing up some circles design & then adding some cows to the quilt border. I hope I can get a good pic to share.

Have a productive Tuesday!

The holiday weekend is sadly over but it’s nice to get back on a schedule. The storms rolled through last night & today it’s clear & sunny so no threats & I’m able to plug in my machines & get busy.

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July!

I have an open house to go to today but before that I hope to get a border on one of my quilts. I worked on a disappearing 9 patch last weekend & all it needs to finish is the border. Its a hot & humid day so a good reason to stay inside & finish up one of many projects in process. I’m trying to stick to finishing up some of my older projects but its hard with all the newer fabrics calling my name.

Its creeping up on the 4th of July already. How can that be?? I have one top I wanted to finish before the holiday & I’m not sure its going to make it. I picked up the center part of the quilt on ebay when I first started long arm quilting many moons ago for practice. I decided it wasn’t very attractive & I needed to do more with it. What was blue & white has become red white & blue. I was going to add some cherry print borders but I’m a little short fabric so the borders will be smaller. I figure it will be nice enough to sit in the grass on. lol  Maybe I can get that loaded tonight if I don’t get too loaded myself at the open house. 🙂

Enjoy the sunshine & all the summer heat, or better yet, stay in out of it & quilt!

Summer is here & its one of the best times of the year to get a quilt finished fast. My current turn around for quilting is 1 to 2 weeks!

Here are this months new digital designs

Please call between 10am & 7pm for an appointment

Enjoy this summer weather!

I recently quilted a throw for Portrait Quilt Artist Aniko Feher. I have to admit I was not familiar with Aniko’s work until she left my house and I looked up her webpage. Needless to say, her work is stunning! It’s a lot of fun to have close encounters with such talented quilters. There are so many different ways to express ourselves with fabric. If you would like to take a look at some of her portrait quilts here is a link.  http://www.quiltsbyaniko.com/qba/quilts.html

You will also see the throw I quilted for her called Triangles Blankie.

Sew on!

Its so nice to have spring finally here. Memorial Day in Michigan is usually a big planting time.  We are a little ahead, with planting our vegetable garden. I still need to plant some flowers but I’m watching and waiting to see what plants survived the very cold winter.  It looks like I’ll be replacing some shrubs.

This weekend I intend to do some sewing of my own! I have several UFO’s I need to get working on again. I hate to admit that some have been in process for years. The biggest decision will be which one to start with!

Its so nice to open the windows & let the air flow through the house. I’m going to turn on some music, open the windows & get some projects done!.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

It’s getting closer to graduation time & this is the time of the year to make T-shirt quilts for the young adults going off to college or that just might have a crazy number of shirts hanging around.  They are an easy and fast quilt to piece. Make sure the shirts are stabilized with some lightweight fusible stabilizer before cutting your blocks to size. They sell these at most fabric shops.  It’s nice to use a sashing between shirts to make the seams less bulky. Two shirts together can leave a heavy seam that is hard to press open & often results in a raised up seam.

I’m asked often about quilting t-shirt quilts. I think cotton fabric backings work the best with these. The more shirts in a quilt top the heavier the quilt. They can get heavy fast so more is not always better.  Adding fleece or flannel along with batting makes them even heavier so in my opinion, cotton backs work the best. Consider using wide cotton backing or a good quality wide muslin if you are working on a budget.

I can quilt through the logo’s on t-shirts. It is important that any 3 dimensional items are removed or not added before quilting.  That includes things like heavy patches, scout badges, buttons etc. The rubberized adhesives we quilt right through without any trouble. I prefer using a more open simple design, like swirls, flames, circles and have a large selection of designs to choose from.

Here are a few pics of quilted T-shirt quilts (click to make larger):

I started making this quilt in Dec 2013 for my mother-in-law. I finished it the end of April & was finally able to gift it to her for her birthday so I can share photos now without spoiling the surprise. The pattern is called ‘Just can’t cut it’. It pieces up pretty fast & is a nice pattern for large prints & fabrics you don’t want to cut up smaller. I quilted it with a dense rose pattern, hobbs 80/20 blend batting & a cream thread. It makes a good sized queen.