Number 300!!

Wow -- my 300th post!!

I moved all those fabric shelves and found this -- no doubt I've seen it as some point in the past 20 years, but I have also forgotten about it.  Now it has disrupted my studio paint-over schedule so my stitching is confined to deadlines and machine quilting this week.  Sometime in the past 100 years, some man who lived in this house decided to reconfigure the upstairs and added the yellow wall.  He just butted the new wall into the old wall -- that crack goes all the way to the ceiling and when I peer into the hole, I can see the baseboard trim all the way to the other side.

Perhaps more frustrating than the fact that he did it that way is the fact that at least five men have lived in this house since then and have never fixed it.  No, leave for the single quilter lady.

So I'm teaching myself how to fix it -- so far so good, but it is taking valuable time away from progress. 

 

After applying some more joint compound to the corner I spent the day at the sewing machine.  Today found me returning to my stitching roots.  I'm making a dress for my favorite granddaughter, Grace. (At this point, she would roll her eyes at me and say, "I'm your only granddaughter, Grandma.")   

I don't actually remember stitching before the lessons at the local Singer Sewing machine dealer when I was 10 years old, but there must have been some since that first project was a dress with a sash and a collar with lace edging.  It's still around here someplace -- pops up every now and then, when I'm sorting and thinning out.

I actually have a college degree in clothing construction (with a minor in retail business) and a graduate degree in textiles.  Within 10 years of graduating, I was so buzzed about quilt making that I opened a quilt shop. 

Chain piecing is chain piecing, so my sew-offs while making the dress were units for a rose star block -- lots of y-seams!

By the time I had to switch to the buttonhole foot, I was able to get half the units ready for a new block!!

Did you know if you "paint" the back side of a buttonhole with Fray Check and let it dry before cutting the buttonhole open, it holds up better? 

Turning the tube for the belt and inserting the elastic slowed me down a bit, but in the end I got it done.  Couldn't find the right tools?!  I'll have to correct that as I put the studio back together.

By the end of the afternoon, the dress was ready for buttons.  I need to mail it off in the morning so Grace can wear it for a special event at her school next week!  She chose all the fabrics herself!!

If you are teaching children to sew, that's very important.  When I taught children's classes at my shop, I always made their mothers leave so the kids could pull what they liked. 

Builds confidence and self-esteem!!

Meanwhile, Harry (the other black cat that lives here) was embellishing the Folk Art Cats quilt that I'm currently quilting -- so helpful -- but he insists that the black hair will enhance it.

 

 So let's celebrate this milestone.

Since I can't have all of you over for a party here's an opportunity to bag a copy of my DVD, Set-In Piecing Simplified and Marti Michell's Deluxe Corner Trimmer (see my post about using this tool HERE).

 To celebrate my 300th post, order this special duo of my DVD plus Marti Michell's Deluxe Corner Trimmer (regular $32 with shipping) for a special price of $22.95!  Learn how to chain piece y-seam and use the tool to set up y-seam shapes for Set-In Piecing Simplified with any tool or ruler that you own.
 Offer valid through midnight (EDST) May 2, 2016. Shipping FREE for USA.
 International orders, please contact me for a shipping quote before ordering.

Just head on over to my Big Cartel shop -- click HERE!

 I hope we all score a FINISH this weekend!!

Mary Huey

Set-In Seams Simplified -- another idea!!

My workshop DVD, Set-in Piecing Simplified contains all the demonstrations I do in my hands-on workshops and while it uses the tumbling block design as the learning pattern, it can be applied to any y-seam design. 

 

I'm always on the lookout for unusual interesting y-seam quilt patterns now that I've conquered chain-piecing through them.  This late 1800's quilt photo (from Ebay, I think) has been calling to me for a while.  It's an elongated hexagon patch.

When I saw this tool from EZ Quilting, I snapped it right up and started cutting scraps while sorting and tidying up my fabric shelves this year. 

There are 4 sizes and I'm using the second smallest.  I've decided to take a "charm" quilt approach --  using each print once in the quilt.  I set aside 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" rectangles until I have a small stack and then trim them down.

The cutting is easy and the instructions include a guideline to help you calculate how many hexagons you can cut from a strip if you are using fewer fabrics. 

The Set-in Simplified approach requires dots for starting and stopping at each corner and since the tool doesn't have that, I pulled out Marti Michell's Deluxe Corner Trimmer.

Hexagons have 120 degree corners and this corner on the tool will snug right down into each corner so I can mark a dot. 

I use to think this step was tedious but it makes such a big difference in the accuracy and speed of my piecing that I don't mind it any longer.  I usually do the "dotting" while watching TV in the evenings. 

This week, I'm using it for my "sew-offs" while chain-piecing through some projects with deadlines. 

Once I had the center round finished I realized this tool isn't elongated in the same direction the one in the photo is elongated but I still like the look of it.   

The original plan was to change colors every round, but I think something different might be happening.   

It's laying on the ironing board with extra hexagons being auditioned for two end extensions.  (The work wall is full?!) Not sure, but I'm leaning towards the one above and envisioning big diamonds of color staggered together rather than concentric rounds.   

It will be interesting to see where it goes!

 

Have you learned the technique yet with my DVD?   It has opened up a new world of piecing for me and I think one student said it best, "I don't have to be afraid of y-seams anymore!"

 

Mary Huey