Just Sew It

I asked my hubby to change my address from Edmonton Seamstress to Just-sew-it. A while ago I was thinking of sewing for a living but that quickly went out the window after I made my neighbour two tops for a wedding. I find that as soon as I sew for someone else for money sewing quickly becomes a chore. So, I’d prefer my address to be the same as my title. My new address is: www.iocchelli.com/just-sew-it. Also, because of my change my photos past the month of May have disappeared. My dh has asked our host for help so hopefully they can restore them. If not, I will only replace the photos for my “Carrie Nation” post. Grrrrrrr. I hope they can help. Thanks for your patience.

It’s quiet/nap time in my house right now (I operate a dayhome) and I went surfing a little to search for some quilting photos. I was specifically looking for cute ones to post. Not so much of an actual quilt. Although I would enjoy to see a creation of yours. You are welcome to send me a photo of your beloved quilt that you created and I’ll post it on here if you don’t mind. If not that is okay.

I was hoping to find a picture of Mama Bear from The Bernstein Bears quilting. She is a champion quilter!

The following cats are not mine:

Amish women quilting. They do it together:

For all my Canadian readers, have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Learn with me on how to construct a sampler quilt:

What the!?!

Vixen is her name and she was getting photographed by an older gentlemen in my favorite park. I never found out why she was there.

Last night we starting cutting and sewing our first block. It is called Carrie Nation. Interesting. I wonder where that name comes from? I should have asked.

I had intentions of taking photos of the cutting process but did not think of snapping pics until I had done some stitching already.

The instructor showed us how to square our fabric.

Selvages are matched together and the fabric is shifted until there is no twist in the whole piece. A little hard to understand but an easy enough step. Next the quilter’s ruler must be lined up on the bottom of the fold. With your left hand (if you are right-handed), place your hand on the ruler with your pinky on the fabric jutt up against the ruler so there is no slippage. Then cut along the edge of the ruler. Ensure you cut away from your body otherwise you may give yourself a trip to ER. Do not saw. Ensure that you have a sharp blade in your rotary cutter. Mine was not sharp.

I had to cut the following strips:

Background (magenta coloured fabric): 1 – 3 1/2″ strip at 15″ in length AND 4 – 3 1/2″ squares.
Medium fabric (focal fabric) 1 – 3 1/2″ strip at 15″ in length.
Dark (purble fabric) 1 – 2″ strip at 17″ in length.

Now for some sewing!!

Sew the 2 – 3 1/2″ lengths together and PRESS seam allowances towards the darker colour.
CUT this into 4 – 3 1/2″ sections.
Sew 2 together making sure the colours are opposite. Repeat once more.

Sew the 2 – 17″ lengths together and press seam allowances towards the darker colour.
CUT this into 8 – 2″ sections.
Sew 2 together making sure the colours are opposite. Repeat 3 more times.

The large sections and the small 4 patch sections are laid out in this photo but not stitched together. I made an error with how I laid it out. I stitched it correctly but I laid them out wrong. Can you see what I did? I didn’t notice this until later.

Take a 3 1/2″ square of background and sew it to the small 4 patch you have made.
Repeat 3 more times.
Sew 2 together making sure the colours are opposite. Repeat once more.

In this photo, I pinned where the seams are supposed to match. The pinning helps keep these seams matched.

This is the correct way it should lay:

Now you will sew the 2 upper patches together and then the 2 lower patches.
PRESS seams in opposing directions. Sew upper and lower units together to form a block that looks like the drawing.

PRESSING:

Press the seam as you stitched it -flat.

Open up and press one seam to the dark side. I didn’t get a good shot for this step.

To save time you can sew from one piece to another. Then after you are finished just cut to separate them.

At the end AND the beginning, the instructor said it was a good idea to have a piece of fabric to start and finish off. This helps to prevent any bulk especially at the seam. Sometimes you will get a little nesting at the beginning and this will prevent any nesting.

Now everything is stitched together and wella!!

I did make an error. Two squares did not match up perfectly and was noticeable. As per the instructor, I ripped out part of the seam and then pinned where the two seams should match. I then pulled the two pieces taut and stitched. Cotton is very forgiving. I did not know that.

During the class, the instructor asked us to be careful with the irons as they are brand new and expensive. She said that students have been dropping them. So what does some lady do? She drops it. But it really was not her fault. The bloody ironing board was wobbly. The instructor just gave a long cold glare at her. I felt bad for the student who dropped it. She was so embarrassed. Jerks. No one intentionally drops an iron. Give us a decent ironing surface to hold the iron.

My class is being presented in a quilting shop/dealership where I purchased “my precious”. There are many beautiful quilts displayed for the gander. I saw a very cute baby quilt. Just a plain light blue quilt but the material was sooooo soft. I did not know what it was but I wouldn’t mind having a quilt like that. Another quilt had pinks and yellows in it and it was beautifully stippled. I would love to make quilts for gifts. These quilts are not something you can just buy.

So… I have homework to do. At home I have to a “Counterchange Cross” and then a “Fence Rail”. There are not enough classes to finish all 9 blocks plus stitch altogether.

TIP: Accuracy is the key to a good quilt. Use a 1/4″ foot to ensure your seams are perfect.

Stay tuned for my next two blocks and have yourself a great day!

Gigi from “Behind the Seams” and fellow PR member has kindly congratulated me on making the top 10 sewing blog list. What!! Someone enjoys my blog!?? Wow! I was shocked. I read her blog to see if she posted a link and she did. She also made the list. Congratulations to Gigi too!!!

I am so blown away! I will have to be careful what I write. There have been a couple of entries where I have complained. I think I’ll have to be more selective with my words. This gives me more incentive to do more with my blog.

Check out the review.

I’m so excited.

I have been wanting to duplicate my own body for some time now. I have had my dummy so to speak for about 13 years. Last year I took a class called, “draping on a dressform” and the instructor suggested to purchase ribbing and then stuff it with quilt batting to match our porportions. I found it did not work the best for me. Threads has an article on how to duct tape oneself and then cover it. I was stalling and stalling to do this and one day while reading my latest issue of Threads magazine, someone gave a much simplier idea for padding your dress form.

I put a bra of mine on my dressform and stuffed it to fill it out. I then put the ribbing back on and while the both of us stood in front of the mirror I padded her to match my body. Very close but not perfect. I measured her about three times to ensure she was the same size.

I had to name her and the name “Sheila” came to mind. Why Sheila? Not sure. I just like that name for her. She is such a trooper. Never complains and is always there for me.

Now Sheila is modeling my test pattern. It seems to fit great except I will be adding 4 cm to the length as I do with all tops and jackets. My body is a little longer than normal (what is normal?) and I have to make this adjustment. I find this a problem with RTW tops. Too short and my tummy will stick out at times.

I love Kwik Sew patterns. Very thorough and I love their instructions. I highly recommend using Kwik Sew to start with if you are a beginner sewer.

Rocky is my buddy. He is an old man with one eye. He hates kids and loves his mommy.