January 2013 – the long thread

January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

Fabric Dyeing Experiments

I have foolishly volunteered to make the school auction quilt this year. Two years ago, I spent a lot of time working on this quilt that was embroidered by all 400 of the kids. It took me about 6 weeks at the school sewing with each kid. Though it was lovely to introduce the kids the kids to sewing, I have learned a few lessons. This time around, we are having each kid dye a piece of fabric which will then be incorporated into the quilt. A much faster and easier process. I’ll post more later about the process of dyeing each piece individually if anyone is interested.

But above you can see some experiments that my kids and I did with patterned fabric. Ultimately we’re using only those with subtle or small-scale pattern and skipping the fabrics that grayed out too much in the dyeing process. I am using a kaleidoscope quilt design, so I think the quilt will be busy enough without too much additional pattern. Here’s the stack of fabric we have so far, and I think we’re close to halfway through the almost 400 kids who will be dyeing fabric. You can see I am sticking with shades of green, yellow, and blue and striving for lots of color variation. I’ll keep you posted on the process.

January 25, 2013January 26, 2013

Etsy Finds Friday

Stripey Zipper Pouch, £13.00 GBP from the ochil tree.

Weaving, $85 from Cathy McMurray.

Crop Circle Hoops, $132 from Laurel Hill.

Valentine’s Day Bunny, £14.00 GBP from The Fox in the Attic.

All Hearts Letterpress Notebook, $12 from cleanwash.

Linen & Liberty Peter Pan Collar Dress, $72 from Harriet’s Haberdashery.

Floral Lidded Tin, $15 from bliss & vinegar.

Fabric Bucket (made from my Triangles print from the Stamped collection) by Jenny Bartoy.

Set of 5 Heart Brooches, $28 from Sweetkettle.

January 24, 2013January 24, 2013

Stamped Projects

Well, I turned on the sewing machine and made a pillow! This started as a quilt top, but being the practical person I am, I cut it into pillows because that’s what I need most right now. This is a simple half log cabin design turned at a 45 degree angle. I mixed the linen cotton blend of my fabric with shot cotton and some Kona solids. For those of you who haven’t quilted with linen or linen blends yet, I find Kokka’s fabric really great to work with because it doesn’t pull or become distorted like thinner linens. Wrinkles are not a problem and I almost never pre-wash it.

This pillow is visiting Intown Quilters here in Atlanta, so you can head over there and see some of my Stamped collection from Kokka. I have a shipment of fabric on its way to me now, so I hope to make some new things with it soon to give you project ideas. If you’ve made something with the Stamped collection, I’d love for you to add it to The Long Thread photo pool over on flickr.

January 23, 2013January 24, 2013

Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day

Tomorrow is Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day, the day when fabric shops around the country offer discounts, giveaways, demonstrations and other fun activities. I’ll be at Intown Quilters here in Atlanta with Rashida Coleman-Hale and Melody Miller around 11 am if you want to drop by and say hello! Intown Quilters has copies of 1, 2, 3 Sew, plus my new Stamped fabric collection.

Although I love to shop for fabric online, there’s still nothing like touching the fabric in person, chatting about quilting, and supporting a local, independent business. So find your local participating shop here and head out for a visit tomorrow!

January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

Stitch Savvy

Today I’m excited to be part of the Stitch Savvy blog tour! Written by Deborah Moebes (author of Stitch by Stitch: Learning to Sew One Project at a Time), this book will help take your sewing ability to the next level with 25 projects of different levels that allow you to choose your own sewing path as you learn. The bags, quilts, clothing and home décor projects in the book are useful as well as pretty. The book is hardcover, spiral-bound, and includes a CD with printable PDF patterns.

Deborah is the owner of Whipstitch Sewing Lounge here in Atlanta and is a great teacher, which really shines through in her book. With photos of the step-by-step instructions and advice given with Deborah’s energetic writing style, this book conveys both Deborah’s experience as a teacher as well as her enthusiasm for sewing. As you finish each project, there is a section with suggestions for projects in the book to try next that utilize the same set of skills. Though I haven’t had a chance to make any of the projects yet, I’d love to make the Beaded Evening Clutch (pictured here on the cover), followed by the Knit Top and Photo Transfer Wall Art. There is a wide variety of projects, so something to interest anyone here, whether you love to make quilts, bags, clothing or pillows.

Below you can see some projects from the book, along with some of my own fabric suggestions. See, I mostly like to shop for fabric and think about what I will make. And I’ve suggested a couple of fabrics from my new Stamped collection, of course. I really do need to sew some things with it, but I need to get some more fabric first!