Singer 99 is Dressed to the 9’s

Dressed to the 9’s!

In the weeks that followed my Singer 99 conversion, I accessorized a bit, then I took her to an all day sew. I usually bring a couple other machines with me, but I only used Joy that day. I marveled at her true portability, as I churned along. At first, I found myself looking under the table for the foot pedal, and laughed at myself. Once, I found my legs crossed, and told my friend, “Hey look! My legs are crossed! Can you do that?” and she mildly, said “no” Then she lit up and said “Oh my goodness! The light just turned on. That is truly a portable machine!” I smiled and said “I know, right? I can take her to the park and just sit and sew.”
Now, she wants one.
At that time I had only made a dust cover, accessory bag, and piecing tool caddy, with padded bottom [possible coffee cup mat] built in pin cushion, scissor pocket, and small pockets for tweezers, 6″ ruler, and poky stick.

 

Pretty cool stuff, considering I wanted to be able to carry her outside and have everything I need to begin sewing.
but then I went full out batpoop crazy, and made a custom Pack-n-Play for her!
I finished in time to take her for a test run at my local quilt shop aply named “Sew Crazy”

The hooks were added because I accidently ironed over the nylon webbing while pressing the panel on, and got some black goo on the red panel. After thinking about remaking the panel for a tenth of a millisecond, I decided to hide the marks with hanging hardware! I don’t know if I will ever need to hang anything here, but no one has to know that I didn’t intend to have them.

Please notice the position of the word “Singer” in the appliques.

 

I did not want a bag that I would have to lift her out of to sew, so I made sides that drop down.

Beauty unfolding!

I ran out of velcro for the side pocket flaps. I don’t have any idea what I will put in these pockets, but you can’t add them later, so here they are.

 

In case you can’t tell just how much I obsessed over this, here are the features:

The end pieces contain pockets with print matched flaps on the inside [of course], and print matched sleeves on the outside for the webbing straps to go through because I do NOT like spending $12 /yard for fabric and then having black straps run across the top of  it.

The front drops down, and is made to hang over the table. It has 3 pockets with a print matched flap. The flap is held closed with velcro, because these pockets will be upside down when she is all packed up.

The back is designed to hold patterns, paperback books, or quilt blocks, and also has a print matched flap. This flap also has a velcro closure, but will be right side up, when she is all packed up.

Then we have a shape matched bag for threads, bobbins, and portable battery operated light. I designed this to fit the exact shape of her throat where it will travel with her. I used an invisable [teeth covered] zipper so as not to scratch her when I slide it in place.

Then I needed a way to have the tools I always use handy, so I made this tool cozy with pin cushion, scissor pocket, and little pockets for a ruler, tweezers, and poky sticks.

[See those little red scissors? They are made by Fiskars, and cut thread really well. They only cost $1.49! Look for them in the school supplies [not sewing] section next to the crayons. I buy them in colors to match every sewing machine I have.]

There is a flap on the back to put her foot down on, and hold it in place for travel.

More velcro to hold her secure.

The front has her name in fussy cut applique.
The back as an outline of her in fussy cut applique, from a template I made.

If I learned one thing from this, it’s that the ‘stick on’ velcro sucks!!!! If you have any,  throw it away! Now!

Really!

I’ll wait . . . . .

Is it gone?

Ok, good.

So what will you use to hold the velcro in place while you sew it?

Something that will make it stick where you want it, but also be able to sew over it without gumming up your needle?

Temporary basting spray! Yep!

Here are the rest of my tips for sewing velcro:

Use a walking foot! I was lazy, and left my walking foot on, and it worked better than any of my past velcro sewing experiences! Skipped stitches anyone? Not with the walking foot. I’m telling you, it was awesome.

Cut the pieces to fit before spraying them. Then lay down the ones you will sew first, because you don’t want the pieces in waiting to get too dry. I used freezer paper for any overspray.  Spray them, then place on fabric, finger press, and sew them down.

Next, spray your matching pieces, and lightly place on top of the sewn ones.

Then carefully close the flap, and if it looks good, press with your hand.

Next, carefully lift the flap, using your finger tips to seperate the pieces so the unsewn ones stay stuck to the fabric. Now, you are ready to sew those down.

I had so much fun, I may velcro EVERYTHING!

um, as soon as I get some more.

That’s it for this week! I am off to work on another quilt now.

#DressedToTheNines #PrintMatchObession #PackNPlay  #SewingWithVelcro

 

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Joy Under The Apple Tree – Singer 99

I have wanted to be able to sew outside under the big ol apple tree for quite some time, and my mind was made up! I am going to do this, this summer!
Yes, this was years in the making. I probably could have bought a handcrank by now, but they are so darn expensive.
I already had an old 128 with spoked handwheel. [check]
and I had purchased a replica hand cranky thing [check]
I started trying to clean up the 128 machine head, with rough, silvered decals [something that happens when people clean it wrong], and found it needed parts. About $50 worth of parts, and this wasn’t going to be a pretty machine. The more I looked at it, the more I didn’t want to look at it. I figure if I am going to handcrank stuff, I would be looking at the machine a lot, and I just didn’t want to look at this one that much.
So I looked for a better candidate.
I found “Joy”
Joy is a Singer 99k with motorised knee pedal in a well-used bentwood case.
Oh the stories the Grandaughter, and Son, told me about the remarkable woman who took care of her family with this machine! How could I not name her after the previous owner?

I got her home, and after admiring her in the sunlight, I brought her in, where I had the spoked wheel ready.
I had already sanded off the glaring declaration of my thriftyness [made in china] from  the replica hand crank, then painted over it. I had to.  The gold lettering was right on top, accusing me of spoiling one of Singers finest before I even started!

I carefully removed all the motorised parts, and stored them for safe keeping.

Now, the thing with coverting a Singer 99k to a handcrank that wasn’t orginaly a handcrank is, the diameter of the part that engages the bobbin winder on the spoked handwheel is smaller. There is a web page detailing the swap, where he says he removed the bobbin winder entirely because it wouldn’t work. Well, mine is going to work because I said so!
When I installed it all, and adjusted it all the way, I could see that I only needed about a quarter inch for the tire to make contact with the handwheel. If there is one thing quilters know, it’s a quarter inch!

I was going to see if I could just drill and tap a second hole where the adjustable part of the bobbin winder screws in, but found the metal too thin where it needed to be.
Ok, so what if I increase the diameter artifically? I think a vacuum cleaner belt would close some of the distance.

Hoover #49 turned out to be a nice, tight fit, bringing the diameter up to 3″

Now to elongate the adjustment slot where it bolts up, and I think we may have a winner. I sure do love my dremel – with an extensive array of accessories – my dremel is my best friend. Wanting to remove only as much as I needed to, it took 3 tries, but I got it. Joy now has a working bobbin winder!

A new bobbin winder tire was also applied. I had purchased it for a 29-4 cobblers machine I have [but didn’t use yet], and it turned out to be the size I needed for this one.

Pay no attention to the wonky thread path. I hadn’t read the manual yet. I always read the manual after. It makes more sense to me that way.

I am not quite done polishing, but I couldn’t wait to test her, so I oiled her everywhere. The first stitches were on paper towel to get everything moving again, adjust the thread tension, and the stitch length while letting that oil go where it needs to.

Now, after the first bobbin wind test, the vacuum cleaner belt did want to come off, so I removed the wheel, and applied some gel type super glue under it. I have since wound quite a few bobbins, and the belt has not moved.

So, for those you may want to try this, You may already know that to remove the hand wheel, you simply back off the little stop screw as much as neccessary [tip :place old towel under it so if it falls off, it won’t roll off the table], then unscrew the large hand-nut, and stop motion washer will probably fall off at this point. Then the big hand wheel should ease on out.

To re assemble, you first need to know what position to place the stop motion washer [or clutch], and I can tell you as long as the two inside fingers are sticking out, you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

The tricky part is that the 3 outer fingers are in different positions. One way will work and the other way will not.

Start by orienting the two notches in an “east – west” postion. This makes it more likely to stay put while you screw on the big hand nut, and it will help if you have to turn the stop motion washer.
Simply screw on the large hand nut, and see where the little stop screw hole lands. You want it to land right in front of [or on left side of] one of the outer fingers.

If it does, you are done, go ahead and screw the little bolt in. If you can’t peek, the just try to screw it in anyway. If it won’t go all the way, you are probably lined up with one of the fingers.
If it doesn’t end up on the left side of the finger, remove the large hand nut, then remove the stop motion washer, and carefully turn the stop motion washer 180 degrees. [position 2 shown above] Then screw the large hand nut back on.

Now test it!

One more * gasp * thing. Mine did not effectively disengage in either postion – until I used the stop motion washer that went to the spoked handwheel. These machines are a mechanical marvel for their time – and  ours. They are finely tuned, and this one wanted the washer that went with the spooked wheel. So if you do this swap, you want to use the washer that belongs to the handwheel you are using. The difference is slight, but it can be enough to cause it not to work properly.

Singer 99k Threading directions:

This bobbin winding diagram shows a model that does not have a thread guide on the bed. Some later models will, and that will still be  #2 in your thread path, but on the bed near the serial number instead.

Because the bobbin hides what really goes on, I removed it and enlarged the picture.

The bobbin drops in nicely. If it doesn’t, don’t force it. It could be the wrong one, or an inferior copy.

Ready to sew? This machine uses a standard needle, and I use the “microtex” type for everything, except knits. The microtex is very sharp, and doesn’t put big holes in your fabric.  I put a size 80/12 in and got very good results.

Just sew you know, I bought some new Singer brand class 66 metal bobbins, and the first one I tried got stuck. It didn’t drop in nicely, and I had to push a little. Big mistake. I had to pry it out, in a manor which wouldn’t damage the machine. It did damage the cheap piece of crap bobbin however.  Remember if it doesn’t fit, you must quit!

The bobbin below is a Dritz brand metal class 66 bobbin, and it fit nicely and sewed nicely. Buy vintage if you can, or buy the Dritz brand for now. I hope they don’t change to whoever made those new cheap singer ones!

While we’re at it, see the smaller hole near the center? That is what you want to incert the little post [see enlarged bobbin winding picture above] into when winding the bobbin.

This should get you going, and on to having fun!

As I write this, I can’t wait to get under that apple tree again,
– with fabric this time!

#JoyUnderTheAppleTree #HandCrankConverstion #Singer99HandCrank

 

Bordered 9 patch from a jelly roll for the LBL

Once again, I needed a break from the quilt I am working on, and I watched one of Jenny’s Videos.

Bordered 9 Patch

Jenny  shows us to make this block with nine 2.5″ square pcs cut from strips, and I wondered if I could strip it. The answer is “sort of” So once again, I found some ugly fabric [it’s embassassing that I didn’t have to look that hard] and played around.

Bordered 9 patch from a jelly roll for the LBL aka “Little Bit Lazy”

The result is a 10.5″ block which will be 10″ when sewn into a quilt.
Since each strip makes one block, if you do all 42 strips, you can make a 6 row, 7 column quilt which will be at 60″x70″ before borders.
The background requires only 20.5″ per block, so you only need half that amount or 21 strips from 1.5 yards of fabric.
Add 8 more background strips [2 1/4 yards total including background] if you want an inner border with background color, making the quilt now 64″x74″ before the outer border.
There is very little waste – just one pc that can be trimmed to 2.5″ and put aside for a scrappy project. It’s like getting a mini charm pack for free!

*Instructions are per block*

From one print [or jelly roll] strip:
Cut four 6.5″ long pcs, one 2.5″ pc and one 10.5″ long pc [I cut my 6.5″ pieces with it folded so you see 2, but there are 4]

From one of the background strips:
Cut four 2.5″ pcs, and one 10.5″ long pc

Sew the 10.5″ print and background pieces together, and press to the print.
Then trim the end, and subcut into four 2.5″ 2-patch pcs.

Arrange into 9 patch using the lonely print 2.5″ square

Then take 2 of the 2-patch pieces and sew them so the opposites match, making a 4 patch.
Take one of the 2-patch pcs and sew the 2.5″ print square to the side with the background, making a 3 patch that oriented like “print-background-print”.

Take the remaining 2 patch and sew it so the opposites match, making a 6 patch.

Sew the 3 patch to the 6 patch making sure the prints are on all 4 of the outside corners.

The back now looks like this. I supose you could do the swirly thing at the intersections, but I am a little bit lazy, so . . .

Next you want to arrange the two 6.5″ prints on each the side of your 9 patch, and the 4 background squares in the corners.

Then begin sewing the 6.5″ strip to one side of the 9patch
I always try to press to the side with the least number of seams, so that would be toward the 6.5″ strip.

Then sew the 2.5 background squares to one end of the other two 6.5″ prints.
Press these two towards the print to nest when you sew them on to the block.

Repeat for the other 6,5 strip, and the last 2 background pieces, making 3 rows.

Then sew the 3 rows together to finish the block.

I cringed and made two of these blocks to show you the backs. Yes, that means I had 2 of these ugly strips!

Since the pattern is symetrical, when you sew these into a quilt, you should make your odd numbered rows [1,3,5 ect] with the seams pressed out at the top and bottom, then arrange the blocks in the even numbered rows [2,4,6 ect] by turning them 90 degrees [one corner turn] so that those seams will be pressed in at the top and bottom. Then when you sew your rows together, they will nest.

What does one do with 2 Bordered 9 patch blocks made with ugly fabric?

I don’t know yet, but when there’s a call for ugly, I will have the answer.

 

#LittleBitLazy #Bordered9Patch

 

What can you do with 2 Charms?

What can you do with 2 charms, or 5″ squares of fabric?

In my Feb sew sampler box, I got 2 cute charm packs and a pattern that instructed me to cut one charm into four 2″ squares and use them to snoball all four corners of a 2nd charm, then press open. Basically they are telling me to use 2 charms to make one 5″ block.

This seemed wasteful to me, since I know a 2.5″ snoball done with 2 seams can give me a 1.5″ bonus HST and I am not ready to mess with anything smaller than that.

Sew, while waiting impatiently for the delivery service to bring my fabric for the quilt I am suposed to be doing, I had to experiment. As usual, no pretty fabric was in peril at any time during this event.

RST= Right Sides Together [not that it matters here, but for when you use pretty fabric]

What the pattern wants:
Cut Background charm into four 2″ squares, place RST on each of the four corners of the 2nd charm, sew all four corners diagonally, then trim 1/4″ away and press open.

 

 

– Result is one 5″ block called a snoball with a bit of fuss and a lot of waste.

Since I don’t like wasting either my charm or my pretty fabric, let’s play!

Option 1
Cut Background charm into four 2.5″ squares, place RST on each of the four corners of the 2nd charm, sew all four corners diagonally, then trim 1/4″ away and press open. Before trimming the corners off, you can sew 1/2″ away from the 1st seam, and get four bonus tiny HST’s that will trim to 1.5″.

 

– Result is one 5″ block simular to a snoball plus four 1.5″ HST’s – a bit less fuss since the pieces are bigger, and a lot less waste. The “points” on the 5″ block will be sewn into a seam, and therefore lost, making it look more simular to the block that the pattern features.

Option 2
RST – sew around all four sides, then cut ONLY the background 2x diagonally, and press open. Trick: You will want to draw your 2 diagonal lines before sewing, and place a bit of batting in the middle to make it easier to pull apart and cut the background layer.

 

 

 

– Result is a 6″ block called “Exploding” that looks like a square in a square, but without the points, and virtually no waste. I actually made a Exploding Block [Head] quilt using this techique.

Granted the pattern is for a table runner, but if you were making a quilt, you’d probably want that extra inch per block. 2 charm packs done this way, would get you 42 6″ pices making a 6 row, 7 column quilt that is 33″ by 38.5″ as opposed to the 27″ by 31.5″ you’d get with the 5″ blocks.

Above is the waste without making the tiny HST’s in option 1.

Now, armed with a little bit of knowledge, a rotary cutter and some more unquiltworthy fabric . . .

I’m going to title this next segment “Just because we wanna know what else 2 charms can do”

Option 3 – just because
RST – sew around all four sides, then cut 2x diagonally.

 

– Result is four 3″ [trimmed] blocks that can be sewn into a 5.5″ block.

 

Option 4 – just because
RST – sew down two opposite sides, then cut once diagonally.

 

– Result is two Quarter Square Triangles exactly the same that can be turned and sewn into a 6″ hour glass block.

You can also use this to make A Quarter Square Triangle Block.

Option 5 – just because
RST – sew on both sides of one diagonal line, then cut on the diagonal line.

– Result is two 4.5″ HST’s

Do it twice, and sew four together to get 8.5″ block from 4 charms.
By the way, I pinned my notes to my samples so I don’t have to do this again.

Option 6 – just because
RST – sew down two opposite sides, then cut once down the center, between the seams.

 

– Result is two 4.5″x5″ blocks that could be trimmed to 4.5″ square and used for rail fence.

 

Option 7 – just because
RST – sew down two opposite sides, cut once down the center, like above.

Then turn each piece, cut down the center again.

Arrange opposite colors, and sew it back together.
– Result is two 4.5″ 4 patch blocks

 

Option 8 – just because
Draw 2 diagonal lines in each direction on the back of the lighter piece, then sew 1/4″ away from the lines on each side. Then cut between the lines Plus in the center in both directions – called Magic 8

 

– Result is eight 2″ HST’s that can be sewn into two 3.5″ blocks.

 

 

 

Option 9 – just because
Draw 1 diagonal line on the back of the lighter piece, then sew on this line and then sew another line 1/2″ away.

 

– Result is one 5″ HST block and one 4″ HST block.

Not sure why you’d want two different sized blocks, but this does show that when you snoball a corner, you can get a bonus HST that is one inch smaller than the snoball square you used.

Option 10 Rectangular Snoball
Slice off 1 1/4 inch from 2 squares. I stacked mine.

Then slice that skinny strip 3 more times at 1 1/4″ so that you have four 1.25″ squares.
Switch the colors, and snoball all 4 corners of the remaining 3.75″x5″ pieces.

For best results, you may want to switch your stitch plate from the zig zag one that is probably on it, to the single hole one. I didn’t, and that’s why you see a wrinkly corners.
-Result is two 3 3/4″ by 5″ snoball blocks without a lot of waste.

If you sew these together as shown, you’d get a 6 1/4″ by 5″ block.

 

So there ya go. You can now rest easy having some clue of just how far a charm pack or two will get you.

Have a charming day~!

#TheyDontCallMePrettyCuriousForNothing #CharmPackHack #TooCharming

New Bed Mate – Diagonal stitching on a Rocketeer

It’s not what you think!!!!!

I love my husband dearly.

It’s about my new diagonal stitch guide set up!

How many HSTs do you supose you make in a year?
When you consider every snowball [aka “stitch and flip”], plus every binding you do is the same corner to corner technique, it adds up to a lot.

Now, I realize many people have only one [gasp] sewing machine, but I have been blessed to find quite a few. Which is great because having a Butterfly brain, I often flit from project to project. Mostly because some projects get moved up into the que due to some event – like babies. Yeah, lets blame other people!

With my last project, I decided I needed a better diagonal seam sewing set up.

I tried to “finger press” a fold to follow, [unsuccessfully] but I ended up just drawing the line corner to corner. Then I decided I didn’t want to waste all those corners, so I sewed a 1/2″ away. You can see where I had to draw another line 1/2″ away from the first line of stitches. I use disappearing ink, so I have to sew quickly. This is probably why so many people toss these corners after clipping them.

Since my Rocketeer was handy, and I’d been doing my binding on it for awhile now, I decided to use that.  It’s really too awesome of a machine to completely dedicate it to such a menial task, plus having a top loading bobbin, I needed a way to make it removable, that wouldn’t take a bunch of time to set back up.
I already had “The Angler II” but it hangs over the bed of the machine, and you need to use the “key” to align the needle every time you place it on the bed. The bobbin lies under it, so we know what’s going to happen, right?
If I had the kind of patience required to line up the needle every time I changed the bobbin, I could just draw lines on every single piece I wanted to sew like everybody else.
but I am not like everybody else. When I get bored, I start thinking about ways to make my tasks simpler, or at least easier.

I got some cardboard, and traced around the bed. I included the back for more space for the pieces to land, and to make it a tight fit, so I wouldn’t have to line the needle up each time I used it. I then placed The Angler on the bed, and measured how far I wanted my Bed-Mate to extend, and gave that template to my wonderful husband. I can make stuff with wood, and have for years, but in my experience, men like to feel useful and loved, so I “let” him make me stuff.

After he made it, I used the key to line up the needle, and taped The Angler down with painters tape.

and you know what?

It’s as wonderful as I thought it would be!

Even sewing binding is easier.

When I ran out of bobbin thread, I simply removed the Bed-Mate by sliding it out, filled the bobbin, slid the Bed-Mate back into place, and alakazam! Back to sewing! Just like magic!

Not only does The Angler have diagonal stitch lines, it has 1/4 stitch lines on each side of the needle!
I added pink glo tape to get a half inch mark, for sewing the other side of Snowballs, and get some FREE HST’s.

The first project, and inspiration for this, was a lot of snoballs, and even though these were only made from 2.5 squares, I had to test it, I stitched another line a half inch away, and made tiny HST’s!

Really tiny HST’s

So tiny that I bought the 1.5 Bloc-Loc for them.

Cuz if you think I’m gonna try to line up the seams to trim all those tiny squares, . . . then it’s like you don’t know me at all!

Now what am I gonna do with all those tiny HST’s?

Well . . . another problem I seam to have is that I go to these all-day-sew events every couple of months. I love looking at other peoples projects, machines, fabrics, all of it.
but . . . I never know what to bring with me to sew. I often think as I go, sewing a bit, standing back and looking at it, stopping to do some figuring, having a look-see at my stash, check out my quilty friends on facebook, ect. All of which, I secretly fear would make me look like a lunatic to the other ladies at the sew-in. I need a project that is portable, and planned out, or at least that doesn’t require thinking.

I may have just the thing!

 

#Bedmate #TinyHSTs #WhatToDoWithTinyTriangles #Rocketeer #Singer500

Bag Of Kisses

What do you do with 2 left over blocks?

Make a bag full of kisses of course!

This bag will hold the Baby Kisses Quilt when I gift it. Yeah, some people buy gift bags.

You will need 2 blocks, of course, some batting, backing, and some left over strips to make it bigger.
The poka dot sashing will actually be the sides when I stitch the bottom corners of the bag to make it square-ish.
3 strips for handles and trim for the top of the bag.
Scraps for a pocket.

I also used some HeatnBond, and some of that sticky stuff for applique since I bought a bolt of it before I discovered I don’t like it.

To start, I sashed the blocks, then quilted them with some extra orange fabric.

I squared the blocks to 19″x19″ and made a large pocket 19″ wide and 15″ tall, but I recommend only 14″ tall after having sewn it.

For the pocket, I used 2 more 10″ pieces of the fabric line that I didn’t use in the quilt, and added sashing to bring it out to the width of the bag pieces.

There are many ways to make a pocket, and for this one, I used heavy interfacing [to help the bag stand up] and made both sides pretty. Then I quilted it, and finish trimed both top and bottom eges.
Turns out I made mine about 1/2 inch too tall. 5 inches shorter than your bag blocks is best.
* If your machine can’t sew through the pocket, bag, and trim, then you want to sew the top and bottom of the two pieces right sides together, [like a tube] turn them wrong side in, press at the seams, insert your interfacing into the tube, then quilt it. This will eliminate the added finish trim pieces, and lessen the bulk.
*You could also make the pocket less wide, finish all 4 edges, and stitch it on the sides and bottom to the inside of the bag. Then you won’t have to stitch through both sides of the bag pieces and the pocket as well.

After adding trim to the bottom of the pocket,  I placed it 2″ above the bottom of the bag piece, on the inside sewed along the bottom of the pocket. The sides of the pocket get sewn along with the sides of the bag.  Then I zig zag the edges.  I could have trimmed the inside of the bag seams with binding after, but I didn’t. It’s just a simple bag, right?

 

After sewing the sides and bottom of the bag, I flattened out the corners, pinned and stitched across them to make the bottom square.

Handles – two 2.5″ strips cut 27″ long each.
I used a 1 inch strip of 2 sided sticky stuff [for applique] to stick down a 1″ strip of cotton quilt batting right down the middle. I hate that stuff, and am trying to use it up. I just don’t have the patience to peel the paper backing  that often.

Then I ironed over one side, and before ironing the other side, I turned the edge under about a quarter inch. Then I stitched down the middle with a decorative stitch plus once down each side with a straight stitch.

Trim piece for the top of the bag is also a 2 1/2″ strip.

With the bag right sides out, wrap the top trim around the bag, and mark where it meets. Then do a diagonal [or straight] seam to make a ring. Make it a tight fit because it will stretch when you sew it.

Press a 1/4 down on one side, and use a strip of HeatnBond [3/8 size] sliced in half [make it skinnier] tucked under, then press to make it stay.

Center and pin the handles on leaving an inch sticking up. Then place your trim ring on and pin it. Sew around the trim ring at 1/2 inch. Then zig zag around it to make the handles more secure.

With the bag inside out, turn the ring to outside, pin or clip it, and sew it around the top and then around the bottom edge, and if you do it right, the bottom stitch line should catch the bottom of the handles.

 

There’s a few things I would change when I make another one, but I like that I can quilt the outside to the lining and have a nice invisable handle attatchment.

I hated the thought of sewing the handles to the bag, and having those stitches visable. and if I made the pocket smaller, I could french seam the sides of the bag, too. but this one’s done, and I’ve moved on!

So that’s my tip on sewing a simple quilted bag without having the handles messing up the look of the quilted blocks.

#BagOfKisses

Baby Kisses Quilt

I started out with a quilt that looks like flowers in my mind and made a drawing in EQ.

I am sure this isn’t completely unique, but I called it Baby kisses, cuz it’s sweet, and has that X design often referred to as Kisses. Who doesn’t love kissing a baby?

MSQC fueled my imagination with a Daily Deal for a lovely 10″square pack with large florals by Snow Leopard Designs aka Philip Jacobs, who is one of the Kaffe Fasset Collective designers. There are colorways of both pinks and blues, and this was to be for twins. I planned on using Kona’s color of the year [Flamingo Pink] strip roll for the sashing. Easy, peasey.

When it arrived, the Flamingo just didn’t work. I continued on with the plan for the time being, and selected 12 pieces of each of the colorways I was to use.

I sliced them into four 5″ squares, and began snoballing them in 2 oposite corners.

I would think about the sashings later.

When the idea of different quilts occurred to me, I put this project aside to bring with me when I had an all day sew event to go to, and began making the twins very different quilts. I finished those last summer.

Oh well. Life goes on.

and new life begins. Another lady at work was due in Jan, so after my return from the Christmas party crashing at my Sisters, I got out the blocks I had started, and began some serious testing of my newly manufactured Bed-Mate.

My minds eye wanted poka dots with big floral prints. I love poka dots! They are just so bright and happy looking.

After all the snoballs were done, I sewed 24 of the poka dot pieces to pair up all the units.

There seemed to be too much pink, so I auditioned some other fabrics for the cornerstones and borders. I wanted lots of color, so I chose orange.

 

I sewed the remaining 24 poka dot pieces to each side of 2.5″ square orange pieces.

I sewed the pairs together to finish the blocks, and arranged them on my portable design wall.

I will use some more pink in with the sashing, and use up some FQ’s. I don’t know why I have so many. I rarely use them. I guess I liked this color when I bought 4 of them.

The quilting was a bit of stitch in the ditch, and a lot of serpentine. The serpentine stitch works well with the poka dots.

I don’t know what the baby’s room looks like, but I think I nailed every color!

 

The result was 41.5 wide by 52″ long.

The backing was a 1 1/2 yard cut of fabric. No seams, but no huge overhang either. That’s why I used only 2.5″ for the top and bottom borders.

The recipie:
12 Floral Layer Cake Pieces [or 10″ squares] cut into 4 – 5″ square pieces each [48 – 5″ squares total]
1/2 yard White background sliced into 6 -2.5″ WOF strips, then subcut into 96 – 2.5″ square pieces
1/2 yard Poka Dot sliced into 6 – 2.5″ WOF strips then subcut into 48 – 5″ long pieces
1 yard pink floral for sashing and binding. I used 4 FQ’s sliced into 2.5″ strips and pieced them diagonally end to end. Yes, even for the binding. I don’t use a lot of FQ’s [yet] and it was a way to get rid of them.
1/2 yard* of Orange sliced into:
3 – 3.5″ WOF strips for side borders.
2 – 2.5″ WOF strips for top and bottom border.
1 – 2.5″ WOF Strip subcut into 12 – 2.5″ square pieces
* The orange must be EXACTLY 18″ wide after squaring it up. If you’re a bit short, you can make your borders all 2.5″ or buy 5/8 yard.

One baby gets a kiss, and one UFO has moved on!

There is [if you’re counting] another colorway to be stitched up yet, and the units are all snoballed, just waiting on another amorous couple.

#KissTheBaby

 

 

Pre-Cut Yardage – How Charming!

Many people know that a jelly roll or strip pack contains about 3 yards of fabric. Even I know that I can cut 14 strips per yard, and that’s about it.

What if they don’t make a pre-cut in the collection you like? Or the collection you like is  sold out, or you only like some of the fabrics in the pre-cut collection? What if you are trying to reduce your stash, have a fabric you love already, and just want to cut your own to make that really cute pre-cut pattern? How much yardage do you need?

I have many, many precuts [all bought on sale of course] and many of them need background fabic. I know they make almost every Moda solid color in a layer Cake pack, but I happen to like my backgrounds to have a little bit of pattern to them. So because I hate doing that math more than once, here it is for everyone.

Pre-Cut Yardage Chart

Note: My calculations are based on 40″ of usable width.  Yardage inches are in [parentheses] so you can see how close you are – add more for uneven edges, mistakes and the occasional “clean up” edge cutting after several cuts.

Layer Cake pieces – 10″ Squares

4 pieces = 10″
8 pieces = 20″
12 pieces = 30″ – 1 yard [36″]
16 pieces = 40″
20 pieces = 50″
24 pieces = 60″
28 pieces = 70″ – 2 yards [72″]
32 pieces = 80″
36 pieces = 90″
40 pieces = 100″ – 3 yards [108″]
44 pieces = 110″
48 pieces = 120″
52 pieces = 130″
56 pieces = 140″ – 4 yards [144″]
60 pieces = 150″

Charm pieces – 5″ Squares

8 pieces = 5″
16 pieces = 10″
24 pieces = 15″
32 pieces = 20″
40 pieces = 25″
48 pieces = 30″
56 pieces = 35″ – 1 yard [36″]
64 pieces = 40″
72 pieces = 45″
80 pieces = 50″
88 pieces = 55″
96 pieces = 60″
104 pieces = 65″
112 pieces = 70″ – 2 yards [72″]
120 pieces = 75″
128 pieces = 80″
136 pieces = 85″
144 pieces = 90″
152 pieces = 95″
160 pieces = 100″
168 pieces = 105″ – 3 yards [108″]
176 pieces = 110″

Mini Charms or 2.5″ squares

17 pieces from 1 strip = 2.5″
34 pieces from 2 strips = 5″
51 pieces from 3 strips = 7.5″
68 pieces from 4 strips – 10″
85 pieces from 5 strips = 12.5″
102 pieces from 6 strips = 15″
119 pieces from 7 strips = 17.5″ – 1/2 yard [18″]
136 pieces from 8 strips – 20″
153 pieces from 9 strips = 22.5″
170 pieces from 10 strips = 25″
187 pieces from 11 strips = 27.5″
204 pieces from 12 strips – 30″
221 pieces from 13 strips = 32.5″
238 pieces from 14 strips = 35″ – 1 yard [36″]
I hope you never need more than 238 pieces, but if you do, you can use the Jelly roll chart below, and just know that you’ll get 17 pieces from each strip.

 

Jelly roll pieces or 2.5″ strips

1 strip = 2.5″
2 strips = 5″
3 strips = 7.5″
4 strips – 10″
5 strips = 12.5″
6 strips = 15″
7 strips = 17.5″ – 1/2 yard [18″]
8 strips – 20″
9 strips = 22.5″
10 strips = 25″
11 strips = 27.5″
12 strips – 30″
13 strips = 32.5″
14 strips = 35″ – 1 yard [36″]
15 strips = 37.5″
16 strips = 40″
17 strips = 42.5″
18 strips – 45″
19 strips = 47.5″
20 strips = 50″
21 strips = 52.5″ – 1 1/2 yards [54″]
22 strips – 55″
23 strips = 57.5″
24 strips = 60″
25 strips = 62.5″
26 strips – 65″
27 strips = 67.5″
28 strips = 70″ – 2 yards [72″]
29 strips = 72.5″
30 strips = 75″
31 strips = 77.5″
32 strips – 80″
33 strips = 82.5″
34 strips = 85″
35 strips = 87.5″
36 strips – 90″ – 2 1/2 yards [90″]
37 strips = 92.5″
38 strips = 95″
39 strips = 97.5″
40 strips – 100″
41 strips = 102.5″
42 strips = 105″ – 3 yards [108″]

 

Now, again I want to emphasize to buy a bit more than you need because you will have to clean up your edges first, and then again every so often, and we all make mistakes.

Yes, I dug out some of my stash for a photo op cuz it’s pretty, and after doing all that math, I needed something pretty to look at.

#PreCutYardageChart #HowManyYardsDoINeed?

 

 

Texas Gets Red Bandanas – and some love

I recently saw Missouri Star’s Rhombus Star video. It looked like fun to me, and I already had the template, but I had been waiting for them to come out with the smaller Rhombus template. When I saw the video, I noticed the smaller template was now available, so I got it.

I was working on a quilt for myself at time, so when it arrived, I put the template away for later.
Later came sooner, when some friends of mine who have family in Texas said they were going to make quilts to send. Their family is part of the rescue team, and they would be handing out the quilts directly. Of course, I shelved little Sunbonnet Sue, got out that template, and brought in my tote of patriotic fabric.  I opened it, and said “Talk to me”

Our sewing play date was the next day, so I gathered up the pieces that spoke up, and took them with me.

Having no pattern for the small ruler, I would just have to make one block, and measure it to see what size it would be, before I could figure out how many to make for a quilt. This concept totally freaked out my friend at the “PlayDate with a Featherweight” sewing group.
“What are you making?”
“A quilt to send to Texas”
“What pattern?”
“I am making stars”
“What’s the pattern?”
“I have to make a block and see what size they are first”
“But what’s the pattern?”
“I guess it’s Stars”
“You don’t know what it’s going to be?”
“Yeah, it’s gonna be stars”
“So you have no pattern?”
“I am pretty sure these are gonna be Stars. I just need to cut a few more, and then I can start sewing, and see what they will measure out to”
“You are crazy!”
“Ok then, which of these reds should I include? I don’t know about this bandana fabric.”
“Oh the bandana has to be included. It’s SOOO Texas!”
“Alrighty then. Texas gets red bandanas!”

In the video, Jenny makes hers into half blocks, sewn one pointing up and one pointing down in rows. I want to sew mine in squares, so I am making mine square-ish.

Each block contains
3 blue Rhombus shapes from large scraps or FQ’s.
3 red Rhombus shapes from large scraps or FQ’s.
12 triangle background pieces from yardage.
4 setting triangle background pieces from yardage.

To start, I laid the template down on the fabric, against a longer ruler, and cut strips. Note that this template is an odd size – 3 5/8 wide. Later I added a strip of orange glo-tape at that point on my ruler. If you don’t have glo-tape, just use the template every time. For accuracy, I slide the template all the way to the end, and make sure it is dead on at both ends before cutting.

The rhombus shaped pieces were cut first.

If using a FQ you can get 4 on the short [19″] side, and 5 on the long side [22″] making 20 total. 20 doesn’t divide by 3 if you want to use an alternate color pattern like mine, but 18 does. So one FQ will make 6 half blocks. 2 FQ’s in 2 different colors will make 6 blocks of alternating colors.

A scrap strip that is almost 15″ long will make 3 of these.

The triangle background pieces, when measured from the flat tip of the point to the line that says “line up edge of fabric strip here to cut triangle” turned out to be the same width [3 5/8] of fabric. So, you can use it to cut the strips like I did for the rhombus pieces.

Spin template for each cut. Don’t forget to cut the tiny corners at the bottom. Remember these are 60 degrees, so you will have to cut on both sides. One side will only be a sliver, though.

One strip will make 17 pieces. I cut mine with strip folded in half, so the 8 you see is really 16 pieces.

The setting triangle background pieces were cut from 3 7/8 wide strips, subcut 7 1/4 long, and then cut in half diagonally. One 3 7/8 wide strip cut the length of fabric makes 6 rectangles that will cut into 12 setting triangles, and therefore complete 3 blocks.
*You can round up to 4″ on the width since you will be squaring the blocks before assembly.
** This is piece will not be 60 degrees, even though I am attaching them to a 60 degree angled piece, for 2 reasons. 1 It’s easier to just make a diagonal cut from a rectangle, and 2 because I will be squaring up the block anyway.

I could have used my Super SideKick Ruler [which is 60 degrees] to make more exact setting pieces, but I was throwing this together as quickly as I could, and I didn’t feel like cutting these one at a time. For anyone wishing to make this, if you have the Super Sidekick ruler, use it to make your setting pieces, and your blocks will be more square.

These half blocks, made with the small ruler, measure 14.75″ on the long side by 6.5″
When completed as one whole block, they trim down to 12.25″ by 13.5″

Now that I know what size these are, I will do a 4 block by 4 block quilt.

I am doing 16 square blocks, but leaving 2 of them as half blocks [for offset] so I will need:
48 blue diamonds [3 FQ’s]
48 red diamonds [3 FQ’s]
192 triangle background pieces from 11 1/2 strips cut 3 5/8″ wide. Yardage = 45″
64 setting triangle background pieces from 5 1/2 strips cut 3 7/8″ wide. Yardage = 24″
Basically, you’ll need about 2 yards of background fabric.
* I started with a 3 yard piece of background fabric, and after adding a 4″ outer border, I ended up with 1/2 yard left over.

The inner border is from scrappy yardage. The piece I used only had one selvage edge, and was about 38″ in some places, so I can’t give you exact yardage for that.

Tools I used:
Rhombus template
6″x24″ or other long ruler
15″ square ruler
Glo-tape to mark ruler for strips
G-Easy Ruler Stickers to use when squaring up blocks
stilletto [to poke the pieces under the needle when chain piecing, so they don’t shift]
seam roller [to press seams at your sewing machine when chain piecing]
Optional: Super Sidekick or other 60 degree ruler

 

Chain piecing time!

Because of the shape, I have found it goes together better if the 1st seam, which is a triangle on the botton right of the rhombus piece, is pressed to the rhombus piece. I use my clover seam roller for this.

Trim the tiny ears, then sew the second triangle pieces on.

Press the second triangle back to itself.

As you begin sewing these together, the seams will nest nicely.

Arrange in groups.

When sewing the setting pieces, be sure to over hang the triangle. I pin these to make sure they stay put. I don’t pin much, but I pin here, and anywhere I need seams to match.

After all the halves have the side setting pieces, I sew all but 2 of the half blocks together, and then begin squaring them up.

I marked the ruler to be sure the top and bottom star points all ended up in the same spot, because the points almost touch when assembled.

yeah, my setting blocks leave a lot of trmming. Use your Super sidekick if you have one.

Turned out pretty though, didn’t it?

Lay out time! I  have a design bed.

Finished! With a 2.5″ [cut size] inner border, and a 4″ [cut size] outer border, this quilt measures 58×63.

I was a bit short on the binding, so I added some red pieces at 2″ intervals, and placed them in one corner to look like I did that on  purpose.

Once again, I stitched in  the ditch, and then did a diamond shaped figure 8 following the stars.

The lables I ordered came in, and this is  the first quilt that gets one!

One final note:  If you have an old house and an awesome vintage percolator that  along with your iron excedes the amperage on that one circut, and you’re waiting for what seams like an extraordinarily long time for it to finish so you can turn the iron back on,

. . . please check to be sure Hubby put the lid on before plugging it in. Then send the picture to Hubby’s phone in the shop. Sew much nicer than the words I was thinking.

I will make a couple more for Texas, and then get back to Sue. Sunbonnet Sue has waited 20 years to find her home in a quilt, and she can wait a few more weeks.

This quilt was a record for me, making it in just 7 days.  That means I missed the One monthly goal sign up date of Sept 7th. but some things are more important.  At least a dozen folks in Texas will feel our love.

My friend Sues quilt shown above with mine, was made using Bonnie Hunter’s Forth Of July pattern. and no, she was not the one pestering me about my lack of a printed pattern.

 

For those who watched Jenny’s video, and are having trouble making their quilt square, it is because Jenny forgot to mention that you have to add a ‘setting piece” to the ends of your rows. I used the small Rhombus, so I can’t give you the mesurements for the large one, but maybe these pictures will help you.

This is what Jenny did.

Option 2 is what I did. [I did it to each piece, but you only need it on the ends of your rows] Lay your piece on a grid and measure the “void” [shown in purple] then add 1/4 seam allowance. Then you can sew this piece on to your ends, and trim.

#HelpTexas #TexasGetsRedBandanas #RhombusStar #CheckCoffee

Quilty Top – Sleeveless shortcut

I learned this shorcut many years ago when making dresses to send to Guatamala. It was a way for us to make many dresses quickly, and without having to add binding/trim/edging ect. to the armholes. I made 30 of them in a week, so I know it works!
These dresses did not have a gathered front, like the top I made here, but the concept is the same.

I found this    Sleeveless Top Pattern    in a “free” box at an all day sew, and thought I’d make a quick summer top long enough to cover my hiney while sitting in those stacking chairs with the holes in the back that churches and banquets often use. When I got home, I scanned my pile of not-in-use quilt fabrics, and saw the fabric I wanted to use. A floral piece that was 50% rayon – sitting out because I didn’t know where to put it, and a left over batik from my office curtains. I am calling it my quilty top.

When I read the instructions, I imediately thought, oh no! I have to fuss with those armholes? I’m not ready for this! and then I remembered all those dresses I had made way back when.
The only difference is that, the top part that includes the armholes is in two pieces, so I would have to sew it first, then make a pattern piece for the lining from that. If using a pattern that includes the entire arm hole in a single piece, most of the work is already done for you. You can make your lining pieces from that.
After gathering the bottom piece of the front, and sewing it to the top piece, I added a cute top stitch. Gotta get my money’s worth outa that fancy machine!

 

I ironed it well, and laid it out on a piece of paper that often comes wadded up and stuffed in shipping boxes. Yes, I did iron the paper, too.
Then I traced around it, and cut it out.
I measured 3 1/4 of an inch down from the arm pit, and cut it off there.

I then matched it to the top of the pattern to make sure I got it right.

 

Pin to fabric, and cut.

Hem each of these lining pieces at the bottom. I used my tiniest hemming foot. More gettin my money’s worth – this time with fancy feet.

Now for the fun part.
I lay out the lining piece I made on top of the shirt piece right sides together, and sew the arms and the neck holes – but NOTHING else!
Repeat for the back.

Clip the seam allowances on the curves, being careful not to clip into the seam.

Leave the back in the right sides together position. [inside out]
Turn the front right sides out.

Now insert the front “strap” part into the “strap” part of the back. Do this for both sets of straps.

To do that, pull it  through . . .

You want to make sure the seams line up nicely. Get your fingers in there and wiggle the fabric round, or whatever it takes, and pin it closed.

Pin and then sew across the top. It should look like this.

Remove some bulk, and turn inside out.

 

 

If it’s still bulky, turn it back, and trim more of the seam allowance.
If it looks a bit square in one spot, you can turn it back, and stitch a little closer on the sides.
I usually get it on the first try, but in case that doesn’t happen, just know that it ain’t over until it looks nice.

Once that is done turn the shirt inside out, but not the shoulder seams [those are done], and sew the lining and the sides of the shirt together in one swoop! OK, make that two swoops!

Either fold seam over and top stitch the sides, or zigzag to prevent fraying. I was lazy.

Turn right side out, and stitch around each arm hole, plus in the ditch right under the arm pit to hold the lining in place, and you’re ready to hem!

 

I fold my hem a 1/4, and machine baste, then turn a half inch and sew with matching thread. Nothing fancy there.

Finally, you  must wear it to your favorite fabric shop to see if anyone notices the bolt of fabric that matches your new quilty top!

 

I like it, and it was  free because I didn’t buy anything for it. I saved the lining pattern pieces, so I can churn these puppies out whenever I’m in a new quilty top mood now.

#NewQuiltyTop #SleevelessTopHack #FinishedArmHoleHack #SurpriseYourLocalQuiltShop