Lansing Clippers Sew

  PINEAPPLE BLOSSOM The adventure of scrappy quilt-making continues.   The Curvy Log Cabin quilt is finished.   I love it!   Pictures are included so check them out.   As I explained in my last post, the “curvy-ness” of the block is achieved by using 2 ¼ inch wide dark strips and 1 ½ inch wide light strips.   There are several different layouts published for the curvy log cabin block so I may make another quilt when I run out of ideas for new scrappy quilts. My next charity quilt (#3) will be the Pineapple Blossom, a simpler variation of the Pineapple Block with triangles added to only two diagonal sides instead of all four sides.   I’ve enclosed a picture of the block as a preview of this next quilt.   The pattern is free on Bonnie Hunter’s website, www.quiltville.com .     Although the pattern looks complicated, it is relatively quick and easy.    Bonnie Hunter has a plethora of information on her website.   She wr...

  Scrappy Quilter  * This is the third in a series of articles about Scrappy Quilting. The “Candy Store” quilt is finished and ready for Show & Tell at the next meeting of the Lansing Clippers.   Check out the picture!   I decided to use Christmas fabric for the backing of each of my scrappy charity quilts.   This will make them reversible for the holiday season.  While fun to see where the fabric takes the design, I’ve learned that scrappy quilts also generate lots of lint and thread pieces to pick off the quilt.   Once the binding goes on that issue is taken care of! The pattern for the next scrappy quilt (#2) comes from the book “Curvy Log Cabin Quilts” by Jean Ann Wright, published by Landauer Publishing.   The layout I will follow is called the Stringing Beads Quilt, on page 41.   The blocks will measure 8 x 8 inches and the "curvy-ness" of the block is achieved by using 2 ¼ inch wide dark strips and 1 ½ inch wide light strips....

  What Is a Scrappy Quilt? * This is the second in a series of articles about Scrappy Quilting. A scrappy quilt is not necessarily a quilt made up of small pieces of leftover fabric, but it can be.   The quilt I showed you in my last blog was that kind of quilt.   My definition of a scrappy quilt is one which includes a variety of fabrics in a variety of colors, a variety of prints and blocks which are not matchy-matchy.   As I began my search for patterns which would be adaptable to scrappy quilts, I discovered that there are a wide variety of existing quilt patterns which are perfectly designed for scrappy construction.   Some of these patterns call for precuts, but if you have an existing supply of fabric. you can create your own precuts in sizes such as 2 ½ inch strips or 5-inch squares. The pattern which I have chosen for my next quilt is called Candy Store, which I found in the May/June 2012 Fon’s & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine.   The...

  I’M A QUILTER! *This is the first in a series of articles about Scrappy Quilting. I’m a quilter.   I’m also a garment maker, a crocheter, and a crafter.   But I’m mainly a quilter.   I love to sew and quilting allows me to sew mainly in a straight row without worrying about fit.   I’ve been quilting for about 16 years and in that time, I’ve made at least 30 quilts.   Many I’ve given away but the rest are in my closet waiting to be useful.     As I’ve created, I’ve accumulated a lot of leftover fabric.   I also have a habit of buying Fat Quarters, Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls and other precuts as I visit quilt shops just because I like the designs.   Recently I’ve begun to realize that my inventory (stash) is out of control.   Way out of control! As a member of the Lansing Clippers Chapter of the American Sewing Guild, I attend our annual sewing retreat held in Shipshewana, Indiana each summer.   This is a time for uninterrupt...

  Knitting Socks Why knit socks?   There are many very nice socks commercially available that cost a lot less than the yarn for hand knit socks.   But there is something satisfying about completing a pair of patterned or striped socks.   But therein lies one problem, you have to make two and then there are the complications of tools and techniques.   Socks first appeared late in my knitting life – like in the last ten years.   The first pair was completed; and there were a lot of aspects of the process – tools and techniques – that I didn’t really like.   But I tried again; and this time one sock was finished and then the second sock was removed to the bottom of the yarn basket for about five years.   I found it again last year and thought it only needs the toe to be finished.   JUST DO IT!   So, I did and was reminded of all the things I don’t like about knitting socks.   That sent me looking for solutions. What don’t I like ab...

  Jacket 8 – Done The jacket is finished!   (Picture 8-1)                                                                                             Picture 8-1 It took me about 6 weeks to complete.  I only worked on it for about two hours a day for three or four days each week.  In total, I think I probably have about 40 hours of work.  I like to work in the morning when the sun is bright in my east-facing sewing room.  Old eyes and old hands don’t work as well later in the day.  Each day I would decide which “chunk” of the project to tackle – usually the next paragraph of my tailoring book.  When my efforts didn’t go as hoped or I had too much trouble (like the day I could not thread the needle), I quit for the day a...

  Jacket 7 - Finishing The finishing steps are mostly completed by hand.   The jacket undercollar is cut from pre-made collar fabric.   This is a combination of wool felt for the right side and hair canvas pad-stitched to it for the wrong side (Picture 7-1).    The hair canvas was applied on the bias, so when I cut the under collar, I had the bias grain line on the pattern follow that of the canvas.   The seam allowances on the under collar are removed.   This is a little tricky and I later had to adjust the under collar to fit the upper collar.   After the under collar is trimmed it is folded and steamed on the fold line using a ham to shape it (Picture 7-2).   With the under collar prepared and after a break of several days to contemplate fell stitching, I attached the under collar to the upper collar.   This is where my less than precise trim of the under collar caused some issues.   It was a little too close to the outer edge ...