Something else new to the Quilting Studio…

 

Okay, so I just shared my new “magnetic bobbin holder” in a recent post with everyone.  A fantastic little invention that I was so excited about!!

 

And thanks so much to Kitty, who went online and researched some FAB places for me to get another one!!!!  You’re so awesome Kitty and a wonderful fellow blogger.  In case you’re intrigued, check out her blog, A Left Handed Quilter, it’s totally awesome!

 

Well, I got something else new for my quilting studio and I’m equally, if not even MORE excited about this little puppy!

 

It’s…. an anti-fatigue mat.  Okay- does that seem a little boring??  Not exciting enough?

 

 

Let me tell you, I have been SO excited about this mat.

 

I stand in front of my cutting/ironing table for hours on end when I’m sewing and the bottom line is that my feet-get-tired, really tired.

 

Especially when I’ve got a bunch of ironing to do, such as with my dog collars.

 

This little gem is from U-Line.  It is a 2’x3’, 5/8” black “Cadillac” mat.  Including shipping it cost $42.00.  Not necessarily a bargain, per se, but as comfortable as my feet have been over the past few days, it seems like the deal of the century!

 

Here’s what it says in the company listing:

This is the "Cadillac" of mats, the one used in Uline warehouses.

• Smoother surface, unlike ribbed mats, allows for easy turns and quick pivoting all day long. (True that!)
• Beveled edges help keep warehouses safe - No tripping. (Not really relevant for me..)
• Polyurethane overlay cleans easily and lasts longer.  (Good to know…)
• 5/8" thick - 40% more cushioning.  (Oh Yeah baby, this thing has major cushioning!!!)

 

With shoes or without, my feet have been SINGING!

 

So…just had to share my newest little treasure. 

 

I promised my Mom I would share the ordering info.  She was interested in getting a slightly larger one for working on her longarm.

 

Here you go, Mom.  Their website is:  www.ULine.com 

They have a 3x5 ($72), 3x6 ($86), 3x8  ($116), these all come in the thicker 5/8” mat.

 

They do make more narrow ones (2 feet wide) but they only come in the 3/8” thickness.  They are a lot less expensive though!

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for checking in today!

 

Heather

The Winner is….

The guessing is over!  Thanks to everyone who guessed as to the amount of fabric in my stash!

 

I had a lot of fun watching the guesses and reading your fun responses!!

 

The actual amount of fabric was……….. 332 yards! 

 

Honestly, I would never have imagined there was that much fabric in my stash!  I was very shocked!!  It just doesn’t look like that much to me!

And so the winner was…

 

Congratulations to Shelley @ Free Indeed!! 

Her comment read:

“I'm going to guess 338 yards. (She was only 6 yards over!)

I'm horrible at guessing games, but I so want those FQs :)

PS things are looking great all stacked and neat. I did refold all my fabs too but haven't put them in by color...was hoping to get my daughter interested in helping with that part...so far..no interest :P”

Congrats again Shelley and I’ll contact your regarding your mailing address.

 

And thanks again everyone else who played along!!

 

Heather

A Magnetic Bobbin Holder!

 

Have you all seen one of these??

 

At our last Material Girls meeting (our own sort of “guild” for about 7 of us ladies), one of our members offered up a tool she no longer wanted.

 

It was a magnetic bobbin holder, which, of course, is only good for machines that have metal bobbins! 

 

I had been using a plastic bobbin case.  It worked okay but the lid was a little loose and there was the constant concern that it may get knocked over and scatter the bobbins. 

 

Now, this is a pretty COOL toy!

Here you can see that I’ve got all my bobbins assembled into the magnetic tray.

 

 

It is so slick!  They all stay put!!  No more rolling away!!

 

 

So, my only question is where do I get another one, Jennifer? 

Oh, and my Mom wants one too!!

 

 

Heather :)

Don’t forget to guess… FQ’s need a good home! :)

 

I’ve been getting some Excellent guesses on the amount of fabric I have in my newly organized stash!!  (see the post below)

 

Can’t wait to see where these cute Valentines’ Day fat quarters end up going!

 

 

Guess how many yards of fabric… Win Fat Quarters!

With the new year and thoughts of organizing running through my head I decided to “re-organize” my stash fabric.

It really was overdue…this is a bit of a sampling of the shelves- just a bit mind you!

I finally got to the place where I have folded and MEASURED all of my fabric that is at least a 1/2 yard or larger.  Everything smaller is currently in a “scrap” bin for additional sorting.

This is the first time I have actually measured my fabric stash.  I was pretty shocked by the final count.

Sad to think that this doesn’t include: fat quarters, kit fabric, WIP and a huge box of scraps!

So, here it is.  How many yards of fabric do you think this is?

**Only estimate what is on the Three shelves, ignore any miscellaneous fabric on the side or below.

Just respond with your best guess (in the form of a comment) and you could be the lucky recipient of…

5 Valentines’ Day Fat Quarters!

The person with the number closest to the actual amount of stash will be the winner!!
           ***(PLEASE guess in yards-it’s the only way I function)!!!


**Note, in the event that a number is chosen more than once by multiple folks, I will assign each individual a number in the order they responded and let the random number generator choose!
**Lastly, please remember to double check that the option to receive email in your blog profile is active OR just include your email address in your comment, otherwise, I can’t contact your for a mailing address and your fat quarters must go home with someone else!

I’ll close the poll Sunday, January 23rd @ 5pm PST.  Good luck!!!

Thanks everyone for playing.  Hope you’re having a terrific week!

Heather

Oh my gosh…please get this thing off me!

We have a very thin dog.  She is an adorable, loving, sweet Jack Russell Terrier cross. 

We actually had her DNA checked (couldn’t resist- hey, I don’t have kids OK?).  They said she was a mix of Chihuahua and Italian greyhound.  The greyhound I see, the Chihuahua???  Not so much.

 

She’s actually pretty sick with liver failure and she’s only 4 years old.  She was born with a liver shunt.  She’s the best dog ever so it doesn’t seem fair…but we love every day we have with her.

 

Because she’s so thin and it’s so cold here, she has to wear something when she goes outside.  I made her a fleece coat but she and one of our other dogs destroyed it. 

 

So, I tried again.  I bought her some homemade “jammies” from Tails Me All About It. 

 

I’ve never tried to fit a dog into “feeties” before.  Turns out, she’s not too big on them.  It’s comical to see her try to walk in them! 

 

 

I actually bought them a little too short for her body so I added a fleece stripe down the center.

 

 

 

The workmanship is great, high quality.  I just wish she liked them better!

 

 

Love you Pearl!

The Wedding Quilt

My brother in law got married this summer.  We traveled to Washington (state) to see the wedding. 
Of course, what to get them?

We don’t see them very often so I didn’t have a very good idea of what they might need.
A while back, I had created a quilt for my brother in law.  He is a cowboy.  He loves the outdoors.  So I had this idea to repurpose scraps of wool from old shirts, skirts, blazers, etc. 

I went to thrift stores and over time gathered a good collection.

I washed and felted all of the pieces and slowly but surely started cutting out the fabric.  I did follow a quilt pattern.  It was from a magazine and it’s long gone…but it was a simple, colorful pattern.

It was simple but functional and personal.   It was something that I thought he would really like.  At the time of the wedding a year or so had passed since I had finished the quilt, all except the binding. 

When the wedding came to pass, it became obvious that this could be the perfect gift for Jon and his new wife, Carlie.

Here’s a close up of the blocks.  You can see there is a very large mix of different wool fabrics.  I used all types and colors.  Very scrappy.

Finally bound and ready for giving!

Overall, I thought it turned out nice but most importantly, it was a good fit for my brother in law.  Of course, I hope his new wife liked it as well. 

Heather

The Selvage Quilt

I have to admit, I really enjoy using up the little pieces of fabric that are leftover AFTER making a quilt. 

 

When I was introduced to selvage quilts I while back I couldn’t help but think that there was a quilt I wanted to make!

 

Immediately, I began saving my selvages.  I’ve been saving for around a year or so.  I have a pretty good stash and I was recently inspired to start making it after seeing a selvage quilt tutorial at the Pleasant Home blog. 

 

I was very inspired by her quilt.  She gives step by step instructions in case you’re interested in checking it out!  She came up with a really neat trick for using fusible interfacing.  Very Cool!!!

 

Here’s what my project is looking like.  Note: I’m not working solely on this quilt.  This is something I expect to take out from time to time and work on.

 

Here you see my overflowing bucket of selvages.

 

 

 

I just have a few blocks made.  I can see that this will be fun project to take out and work on from time to time.  It will take a while to build but will be very fun when finished!

 

 

Here’s our little Chihuahua, Mo.  He’s a HUGE lover and his most favorite thing to do in the world is snuggle with you (and eat).  It’s actually probably a toss up as to which is is favorite.

 

I’ve been a bit absent from my blog because we’ve been fixing up our spare room.  I spent all weekend painting.  Not getting to do as much quilting as I want because the house is kind of a mess but we’ll get it back into shape soon.  It’s so nice to see a room with a fresh coat of paint.  It changes everything!

 

Take care,

Heather

Making Dog Collars!

I’ve been making dog collars for a few years now.  I started making them for my own dogs and eventually started making them for my families’ dogs as well.

 

I just love changing dog collars with the season.  After a while it was just so much nicer to have custom, homemade collars versus store bought ones!

 

Over time I began selling them locally.  I first began in the store where we take our dogs for “day care”.  It’s a Wonderful place called Pet Play House and the owner was very encouraging about selling my collars.

 

They’ve been in her store for a couple of years now.

 

Just this summer I began selling them in another local shop, Scraps.  The owner was equally supportive.  I have really enjoyed working with both of them.

 

Unfortunately, they aren’t a product that sells in large volume or very fast so it’s not a “quit your job and work at home” kind of thing.  Just something that makes extra money on the side.

 

It’s creative and fun.

 

Just recently I needed to replace our dogs’ collars and my Mom and sister’s dogs’ collars as well. 

 

Here’s what our dogs’ collars looked like…

Definitely in need of repair!

 

I found some cute fabrics and went to work!

 

 

I start with a 100% cotton fabric and fuse it to a heavy fusible interfacing. 

 

 

Actually, the fusing and pressing of the fabrics takes the longest.   From there I fold the fabric into thirds and sew along each long edge.

 

At this point, things move along quickly.  I add the hardware and voila- Dog Collars!

 

I did have to get a semi industrial machine from my local quilt shop in order to be able to sew through all of the layers.  It gets PRETTY thick and my regular sewing machine could not take it!

 

Now, I can sew through the layers like butter!

 

Here’s what they look like once they are half way done. 

 

 

And here they are with all of the hardware attached, ready to go to their new owners!

 

Sewing is AWESOME!  Until next time!

 

Heather

Finished the Denim Jean Table Runner!

Okay, folks.  It’s finished! 

 

I attached the binding today.

 

I used a technique for attaching bindings that is new to me from Sharon Schamber.  My Mom came across it through her Nolting Yahoo group.

 

The online demonstration is called: "Binding the Angel", you can click here to see it.

 

It’s a technique where you baste the binding onto the quilt entirely with washable glue prior to sewing.

 

I’ve been practicing with sewing my binding by machine versus finishing it via hand stitching.  This technique is the best way I’ve discovered to create a really straight, nice looking finished product!

 

I like it so much, that I’m going to get started binding my string quilt the same way!

 

Thanks Sharon (and Mom)!!

---

 

Look at that perfect miter!

 

 

Nothing but glue holding everything together here!  And nothing was stiff or sticky!

 

 

I would have preferred to stitch in the ditch but live and learn.  I didn’t fold the binding over quite enough and would have missed parts of the binding by stitching in the ditch.  However, I was still quite happy with this finished result!   Very straight and neat.  And all my corners are perfectly mitered.

 

And NO pins!

 

Yeah!  I’m off to start binding the next quilt!!

 

Happy New Year!

 

Heather