Christa’s Soapbox

June 9, 20122 Comments

I’ve come up with a new idea for my blog – I want to try and blog nearly every day and would like to start rotating through different topics on a weekly basis, with each day dedicated to a specific topic. One idea that’s been stewing for awhile is they idea of a soapbox- my fabric soapbox where I can discuss ideas that I’m interested in, and generate some conversation about whatever the topic of discussion is.

Sometimes the topics may be a little controversial, but they’ll be mostly quilt-related (quilting controversy-what’s that??). We quilters and sewing enthusiasts can be quite opinionated when it comes to our craft so I welcome discussion, debate and ideas.

I think I’ll start posting my soapbox once a week on Saturdays. I’m mostly done with my work for the week by then so that gives me a little time more time to write. I’ve already got lots of great ideas for discussion that I’ll start with next week; for example, my opinions on quilting your own quilts, whether or not to pre-wash fabrics, what makes the best quilting thread, why “premium” quilting fabric is so expensive compared to Wal-Mart, etc., etc!

If you have an idea you’d like to chat about, please post a comment. I’d be glad to discuss it!

A Productive Week

June 8, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

My children were gone on vacation for over a week, but they are now back home safe and sound! Jason and I were able to get quite a few projects done around the house while they were gone…..

We cleaned and scrubbed the stove, scoured the bathrooms and mopped the entire house. (We have lots of tile so that’s a big job).

Plus, Jason was quite the handy-man. I love Honey-Do projects!

He helped me clean our work area & install a bike rack in the garage. What a space saver!

We also hung some curtains over our large sliding glass windows. (Yes, those are stacks of Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs on the kitchen table – waiting to be bagged and labeled.)

I love these new curtains and the picture just doesn’t do them justice – there’s too much light coming in from the back window. My friend Jessica made these curtains for her house, but she and her family recently relocated out of state so she gave them to me when she moved rather than throw them out. I love these kinds of hand-me-downs!!

We made lots of plans for how we are going to accomplish our seemingly unending task list: we’ll just do a little bit each week. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day and it will certainly take longer than that to get our home clean and organized. But the joy is in the journey, especially when we are doing it together.

Machine Quilting – Sharp Wavy Stippling

June 6, 2012March 19, 20134 Comments

My Summer House charm pack quilt is finally finished! Well, it’s not mine anymore – I gave it to my sister in law for her new baby girl due this summer. Cresen is very lucky because I made her 2 quilts in one year! I finally made her wedding quilt this spring, although she’s been married for a couple of years now. You can see pictures of her wedding quilt here.

Be sure to click on the pictures below for closeups of the front and back of this cute quilt.

I was really pleased with how the machine quilting turned out on this quilt. I tried some new tools that really made the process much easier.

First, I attached a Supreme Slider to the bed of my sewing machine. This thick slippery plastic material reduces the friction on the bottom side of the quilt and significantly improves the whole free-motion quilting process. With less drag, it’s much easier to glide the quilt around and get good quality stitches.

Next, I used a pair of Machingers machine quilting gloves. They are very comfortable and I can even thread the machine while wearing them.

They gave me a better grip on the quilt. Pushing the bulk of the quilt through the bed of the machine was much easier, too, making the whole experience more enjoyable.

I wanted to try another version of stippling – sharp wavy stippling, inspired by Leah Day’s free-motion quilting project. Instead of doing a simple meander, I quilted wavy lines, ending in a point and coming back down. I also used more of a contrasting thread so you can see it.

This was the first time I free-motion quilted in an orderly fashion – stitching one block at a time – then moving onto the next block in rows (rather than randomly every which way all over the quilt). I like the progress I made and the interesting texture. It reminds me of flames or waves, depending on which way you look at it. See above and below for closeups.

I like branching out with my machine quilting. I’m happy drawing and quilting marked lines, but the random n0-mark free-motion fillers give me more flexibility with my designs.

Weight Loss Week 7 – Set Mini Goals

June 5, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

I am happy to say I’m down 2.2 pounds this week, for atotal of 13.2 pounds gone so far. My ultimate goal is to lose a total of 36 pounds. I’m over a third of the way there, but I still have a ways to go.

I think I am having better success this time around, not only because I’m blogging about it, but also because I’ve set some mini goals along the way.

For my first 10 pound weight loss, I bought this bathing suit. It’s super cute and I know it will look even better on me another 10 pounds from now.

When I lose a total of 20 pounds, I think I’ll go to the hair salon, and when I reach my goal weight, my mom has offered to take me clothes shopping.

Here are this week’s tips on setting mini goals to achieve success.

1. Break your goal down into smaller increments. A friend of mine once said, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” (I don’t really want to eat an elephant, but you get the picture.) Losing 5-10 pounds seems more achieveable than losing 30+ pounds so it’s easier to imagine success when it doesn’t seem like such a challenge.

2. Set reasonable expectations. It’s unreal to think I’ll lose weight quickly. There are no quick fixes when it comes to weight loss – slow and steady wins the race here! It’s best to take it one or two pounds a week rather than trying to lose too much too quickly.

3. Reward yourself. But not with food!! I used to think, “If only I could get to my goal weight I can eat whatever I want!” Not true! Now I’ve learned to reward myself in other ways, like those mentioned above. Keeping fit is for life, so it’s a life-time commitment.

Here’s to another great week! You can read about last week’s progress here.

Basting a Quilt With Pinmoors

June 4, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

Machine quilting is my absolute favorite part of making a quilt. However, before I get to that super-fun part, I have to get it all basted and ready to go first. Here’s my favorite method of basting. (You can read about preparing the quilt backing for this quilt here.)

I have two favorite battings that I like to use (cotton or wool). For a small baby quilt such as this one, I love Warm-N-Natural 100% cotton batting. It’s very inexpensive and quilts up wonderfully. It also gives an antique look once you wash it. I usually buy it by the bolt from my local craft-supply store when it’s on sale.

I always cut the batting a little larger than the quilt top, with the backing being slightly larger, too. Once the top is laid out, I’ll trim off the excess leaving about an inch or two around on all sides. For a larger quilt I would tape or clamp the backing & batting down, but that’s not necessary for a smaller quilt like this one.

A customer of mine suggested that I start carrying Pinmoor pin anchors, so I took her suggestion and I’m glad I did. This is by far the easiest way to baste a quilt! You just insert any straight pin into all 3 layers of the quilt. (I like the cute flower pins.) Then you cap the pin with a Pinmoor. It’s like a little nub of soft sturdy plastic that catches the end of the pin.

The best part about using the Pinmoors is that they are extremely easy to take out of the quilt while machine quilting. Just toss the pin into one container and the Pinmoors into another so they are ready for next time. You could also throw them all into one container and use a magnet to separate out the pins. They are indefinitely reusable.

It took exactly 81 Pinmoors and pins to baste this quilt – one for each block! In my next blog post, I’ll write about machine quilting this quilt with an allover design. This is for my sister-in-law’s baby girl, due this summer. I used Lily Ashbury’s Summer House fabric cut into 2 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ strips to make this quilt. It was fun, quick and easy to sew!

How to Prepare a Pieced Quilt Backing

June 3, 2012Leave a comment

I’m working on a baby quilt for my sister in law. I started the top last summer while on vacation, using fabric from Lily Ashbury’s Summer House. It’s going to finish around 40 inches square and can be made from 2 Charm Packs, 1 Jelly Roll, or about 21 strips of fabric. I made a total of 81 blocks, measuring 4 1/2 each, set 9 across by 9 down. You can read my earlier post about starting the quilt top here.

I’m ready to finish the quilt, but first I have to piece the backing and then baste it before I get to the fun part – the quilting! Here are some step by step procedures to prepare the backing. This method will work with any size quilt.

First, I go through my stash to find something with the same colors so that I can use the same thread in both the needle and the bobbin. I really like the flower print above, but it’s not quite the same style and it has too much purple and orange.

I like the pink and green fabrics much better. However, there’s not enough of either one, so the next step will be to sew the pieces together to make a large enough backing.

Next, I lay the backing piece over the quilt top so I can see how much more fabric I need to add to make the backing big enough. I usually don’t use precise measurements – a visual is all I need. I will add on additional pieces to make the backing a couple of inches wider on all sides; then I’ll trim it down later.

I could simply sew the pink and green fabrics together side by side, but I don’t think that looks very balanced. I’d rather split the backing into three pieces, with green in the middle and pink on both sides.

With scissors, I snipped in the middle of the pink fabric, then ripped it into two roughly equal sized pieces. On the green fabric, I squared up the piece by ripping off a small amount on both sides to straighten the grain for sewing.

I don’t mind ripping the backing pieces because it’s easier than rotary cutting, especially for long pieces of fabric.

I sew them together using a wide half-inch seam allowance and press the seams open.

This quilt back will have two seams just like the picture shown at left.

Now the backing is large enough and I will use the excess pink fabric for the binding.

The top is laid out on top of the backing to get an idea of how much extra there will be.

My next blog entry will be about basting this quilt using my new favorite tool: Pinmoors!

Weight Loss Week 6 – It’s Ok to Cheat a Little

May 31, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

I think it’s ok to cheat a little… on your diet that is! I’ve also cheated a little this week by pushing back my weekly weigh-in until the numbers were a little more favorable 🙂

I lost another pound this week, bringing my total to 11 pounds and still going strong. Yes, it’s hard to get up day after day and keep doing the same routine. But I know it will pay off in the long run. And a little bit of cheating goes a long way.

Here are some tips this week on how to cheat on your diet and still feel good about it 🙂

1. Load up on the Fruits and Veggies. Really, 100 calories of veggies is a ton more bulk than 100 calories worth of brownie. Yes, I’m still eating the brownie, but I eat the veggies first so I’m not quite as hungry. Summer is a great time for all sorts of sweet fruits, too – watermelon, strawberries, fresh berries, etc.

2. Go for the Frozen Fudge Bar. I found these fantastic 100 calorie frozen fudge popsicles at Sam’s Club and they are like heaven. And if I really must have 2, that’s only 200 calories! Do you know how much brownie it takes to get to 200 calories?? Not much! My next purchase will be frozen yogurt bars….

3. Weigh in After Exercising. I can sweat off a good pound or two on a long run. It may be mostly water weight, but in this summer heat, that’s a good thing! (I also weigh-in after using the restroom and when wearing thin clothing – I want to be as light as possible!!)

4. Take 1 Cheat Day (or Meal) a Week. For maximum weight loss, it really should be one cheat “meal” but it’s ok to take a break every now and then. It lets your body know you are not starving and helps prevent the crash and binge.

That’s it for now. I’m feeling energetic and ready to tackle the rest of my weekly projects! You can read about last week’s progress here.

It’s Spring Cleaning Time!

May 30, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

We just sent the kids off to stay with relatives back east for a whole week. You know what Jason and I are going to do with our time now?

We should take an exotic vacation or a romantic second honeymoon. But instead, we are going to use the time to clean and organize the house while they are gone (and maybe squeeze in dinner and a movie or two!)

We’ll tackle some much needed projects like the one shown here. This load of fabric and craft supplies has been piling up behind my couch for a few months now – leftover from when my mom cleaned out her fabric stash. It will be put to good use!

We also have a set of curtains to hang, cupboards to organize, and some major dusting to do, plus a few repairs here and there.

After we get our home into a somewhat decent order, then we have some major business planning to do. I need to move forward on several quilt pattern ideas I’m working on and I have loads of kits that I want to start putting together.

My hope is that a clean and organized home will lead to a more creative thought process and a more peaceful and productive place to work!

Circle Stars #3

May 24, 2012March 19, 2013Leave a comment

I’m making very slow progress on the Circle Star quilt I started in class with Gail Garber several weeks ago. You can read my previous post about it HERE. I have finished sewing the block together which is shown below. I absolutely love this block which I designed myself!

My problem is that I am now ready to move on and design the rest of my quilt around it – but I’m stuck. Do I make more stars? Do I build a medallion around it? The picture below shows one idea that Gail came up with in class. I taped more freezer paper and Gail added some really cool elements to the design.

I want to incorporate more points and more borders but I think I need to put this into a design program and really spend some time fiddling. I’ve been playing with EQ7 but that seems more geared toward standard traditional quilts rather than more artistic ones. I’m checking into the feasibility of really learning Adobe Illustrator, too. There’s another program I heard about through Leah Day’s blog called Serif Draw Plus.

The hard part is that I know it will take some time to learn to use new tools before I can get back to the fun part – designing and sewing! Oh well – another learning curve to overcome!!

Weight Loss Week 5 – Stay on Schedule

May 21, 2012March 19, 20131 Comment

I love schedules! I’m a very planned person and love to organize my life. This works very well with my weight-loss plan because it’s all about scheduling my health habits. (The reason I love routines is because then I don’t have to think so much – I just have to follow a plan!!)

Anyway, I’m so pleased to say that I’ve lost another 3 pounds this week! After a disheartening zero weight loss last week, this week’s big loss brings me to a total of 10 pounds gone with about 25 more to go. It’s all because I stuck to my routines and DIDN’T GIVE UP. (Read more about that HERE.)

Before – 1 Month Ago

10 Pounds Gone!

Here’s an in-progress picture next to my before shot. It’s not a huge change, but the flab is starting to disappear. This is one of my favorite outfits; it will be fun to see how loose it gets!

Here are this week’s tips on How to Stay on Schedule

1. Establish a Realistic Schedule. While I cannot exercise for 4 hours a day like the contestants on The Biggest Loser do, I can get in about 45 min to an hour a day first thing in the morning. Even though I work from home, if I don’t exercise before I start my day, I get busy with other tasks and it doesn’t happen!

2. Make Weight-loss a Priority. I love to do everything first thing in the morning: clean, work, sew, exercise. However, my number 1 goal right now is exercise so that comes first. Once I’ve lost my weight and am maintaining my fitness, I can add the other stuff back in.

3. Plan out What I’m Doing the Day Before. I know what routine I’m doing, what time to start, and who I’m working out with the day before. I set out my clothes and any equipment the night before so all I have to do is wake up and go! I also plan my meals out at the beginning of the day and I write it all down. The very act of writing down calories “magically” helps me eat less. The minute I stop recording, I start eating too much.

This last week really was a make it or break it week for me. The last few times I’ve gotten almost a month into a routine I gave up when I had a zero loss week. But now seeing it through gives me the confidence to keep going. Here’s to another great week!