<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>Sometimes Crafter</title> <atom:link href="https://sometimescrafter.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com</link> <description>Patterns * Quilting * Handmade</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 02 May 2024 18:51:30 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <image> <url>https://sometimescrafter.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/cropped-SC-100x100.jpg</url> <title>Sometimes Crafter</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">71174945</site> <item> <title>Mod Blooms // Wish Quilt</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/mod-blooms-wish-quilt/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/mod-blooms-wish-quilt/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2020 22:00:29 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Books + Mags]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Longarm Quilting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://sometimescrafter.com/?p=11626</guid> <description><![CDATA[Since we're on the topic of Amy's Petal + Stem book this week, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about one of the quilts I helped her quilt for the book.]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/mod-blooms-wish-quilt/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>5</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11626</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Garden Whimsy // Quilting Ideas</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/garden-whimsy-quilting-ideas/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/garden-whimsy-quilting-ideas/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2020 13:00:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Books + Mags]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Longarm Quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[client quilt]]></category> <category><![CDATA[edge to edge quilting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://sometimescrafter.com/?p=11625</guid> <description><![CDATA[So you’ve been diligently sewing your rows every 2 weeks for the Garden Whimsy Quilt-along and now you’re thinking to yourself: How should I quilt it? That’s where I come in, I’m going to give you a few ideas that are a bit more intricate (perhaps if you’re taking it to a longarm quilter), as well as a few less intimidating ideas you could accomplish on your domestic machine. If you’re not sure what i’m even talking about, the Garden Whimsy Quilt-along is being hosted by Amy Friend in celebration of her book release this spring with Lucky Spool, called Petal + Stem: 40 Modern Floral Blocks to Mix-and-Match. Garden Whimsy is one of the quilt patterns for this cleverly laid out book. I helped Amy to quilt one of the quilts for it, and i’ll be talking a little more about that and the book later this week. Now, let’s get to the quilting ideas! The first idea I want to start with is what we ended up quilting on Amy’s quilt for the quilt-along. When she first started talking to me about quilting it she told me she was thinking about a pattern reminicent of grass, so of course I couldn’t get that idea out of my head and I went to town finding all the grass-like quilting patterns I could. She ended up choosing a pattern called Arnica by Melonie Caldwell, and made it nice and dense. The pattern itself is 3″ tall, and we squished them together so the quilt had a nice textural feel, with a subtle grassy pattern that didn’t pull away from the quilt tops design. Sometimes the quilting is the show stopper on a quilt, but in this case it needed to be a subtle boost to the already amazing paper piecing. Besides Arnica we hemmed and hawed over a few other grass-like designs. Any one of these would be a wonderful compliment to this quilt, and most of them would be easy enough to accomplish on your domestic sewing machine. (Clockwise from top left: Bean Sprout, Cat Scratch, Curly Weave, Roaring 20s, Lemon Grass, Pico) If you’re wanting something more “modern” feeling, one of these designs might be what you’re looking for. You’ll notice I am keeping the ideas pretty simple, because the quilt is really so eye catching all on it’s own that most designs will be lost in the background as you focus on the piecing itself, so don’t over-think the quilting on this one. Simple design really would be perfect. (Clockwise from top left: Modern Leaf, Wishbone, Twisted Mirage, Marble Cake, Wavy Pearls, Abstract Butterfly.) If you were wanting to custom quilt this I would suggest simple outline stitches around each of the pieces and fill with a horizontal line between the different elements in the background. Inside the snail you could do a swirl in the shell, and in the butterfly a repeating clam shell design. The flowers could be a combination of straight line designs and “beads”. I’d really focus on keeping the background simple, and put the details in the piecing. I used the books quilt layout for Garden Whimsy to give some ideas. I repeated a lot of the elements, keeping it simple. While this is the last stop on the quilt-along, there’s still time to join and enter for prizes. Amy has more info on her blog post and of course you can hop on Instagram and see all the great pieces other makers have shared at the hashtags #petalandstembook and #whimsygardensewalong. There’s also a free sprout block to make (you can find that on Amy’s site, too). I look forward to seeing how everyone quilts their final quilt, and I hope you’ll tag me on Instagram so I can see how you quilted your quilt!]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/garden-whimsy-quilting-ideas/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11625</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Going The Extra Mile</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/going-the-extra-mile/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/going-the-extra-mile/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 22 Mar 2019 20:18:38 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Longarm Quilting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=4286</guid> <description><![CDATA[Yesterday I posted some photos on my Instagram stories about repairing foundation paper pieced blocks in a quilt i’ll be quilting for a client. I made a “highlight” on my profile page with all the posts if you’re interested in seeing how I go about making FPP repairs, but that’s not what today’s post is about. Today I wanted to talk about the business of longarm quilting and offering services like this for your clients. I had a couple of people message me on those posts asking if I charge extra to do that…I don’t. I’m sure there are a lot of you gasping and and asking “Why?!” to yourself. But let me explain. First off, this is not something I do often. Most quilts arrive in the studio ready to quilt without any repairs being needed. So that’s part of why I don’t charge; i’m not doing it often. This was a special case where the client -a long term client who I’ve quilted for many, many times- asked before sending the quilt if it was okay. We were trying to get this quilted for her before a birthday, so it was a “tight deadline” and I didn’t want her to miss out on being able to gift this on it’s intended date. So I just told her to send it to me and i’d make the repairs. A big reason for this was because I knew I could fix them quickly and that it really wouldn’t be any trouble for me to do so, and if I couldn’t make the repair, I could quilt it in without showing or being a problem later. But repairing it before quilting is my preference, and if I can do it quickly, why wouldn’t I? Heather has sent me so many quilts over the last two years that I never hesitate to go that extra mile for her. Sometimes I get quilts from clients that are new to quilting, or this is their first time sending a quilt to a longarm quilter, and as i’m quilting i’ll notice a seam that’s off (which might result in a tuck when it’s quilted) or a small hole in their work. I could quilt it and just send it on it’s way, but if I did that I wouldn’t be happy with the quality of my work. Quilting is not cheap and i’m very conscious of the amount of money someone is spending when they send their quilts to me. When I approach a quilt I think about it as if my role was reversed and I am the customer. If I sent my quilt off to be quilted, and the longarmer found a small hole that could be repaired quickly before it was quilted, would I want them to do that? Yes, yes I would. I would gladly do it myself if I was there, but chances are I would have shipped it off to someone so I can’t go in and grab it from them to make the repairs. Quilting can be very expensive, and the time someone puts into piecing a quilt can be quite extensive, so the last thing I want to do is undermine that by doing a less than stellar job of quilting. No matter the business you’re in, I think you should always approach it thinking about what you would want if you were the customer. As I said above, most longarmers would charge for extras like this, but I don’t happen to think that is something to charge for. That is just all part of my service, and the reason someone hires me. I do think the industry is getting a bit better about sharing and supporting each other, but not too long ago longarm quilters kept tight lipped about what they did, what they charged and what patterns they used. I will gladly share the name of a pattern I quilted with because I don’t want someone to hire me just for a pattern I’ve used, I want them to hire me for the work that I do; to hire me for me, not a pattern that anyone can find if they search hard enough on Google. I think the tide is slowly changing, but I also feel there’s lots of room for improvement when it comes to longarm quilters supporting each other. I try to do my part in sharing my knowledge, and perhaps i’ll be better about posting things from time to time as i’m pondering them so that others can learn as they make the journey into the business of longarm quilting.]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/going-the-extra-mile/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">4286</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Pin Banner Tutorial</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/pin-banner-tutorial/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/pin-banner-tutorial/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 10 Mar 2019 23:29:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Tutorials]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Pin Banner]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tutorial]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=4265</guid> <description><![CDATA[Today i’m sharing how to make this very simple, easy and quick to make pin banner. I bought a few pins this fall and decided I wanted a way to display them in my studio and a pin banner seemed like the cutest and easiest method. I grabbed my canvas and got cutting and this was the end result. It was so easy I decided to type up a quick tutorial so you can make one, too! Supplies: Canvas or other sturdy fabric 1/2″ wooden dowel (at least 7.5″ long) Finial dowel caps for dowel (optional) String or ribbon (for hanging your banner) Begin by cutting a piece of canvas fabric 8.5″ x 12.5″ and marked the bottom center, and 4″ up on each side. Use a ruler and rotary cutter to cut straight line from the center up to the marks on each side to create the pointed pendant shape. (You could also draw a line with your ruler and then cut with scissors if you don’t own a rotary cutter.) Next you will want to find a way to mark 1/2″ seam allowance on both the sides and bottom of the piece. I use my Hera marker on the ironing board (the squishiness helps to make the mark deeper). The creases created by this help me to accurately fold the seams. Press the 1/2″ seam allowance, starting at one side and working around. I used my Clapper to keep the fold in place while it cooled. Since the canvas is so thick this helps to keep it folded over once it’s cooled. Now you’ll want to edge stitch around the piece, roughly 1/8″ from the edge. Don’t worry about the top edge, that will be concealed in the next steps. Working from the wrong side of the piece, measure down from the top 3″ and place a mark on each side. Fold the top of the piece over to match these marks. Pin in place and stitch with a 1/4″ seam allowance from the top, raw edge. This creates a pocket the perfect size to slip in a 1/2″ dowel. Cut a 1/2″ dowel to 7.5″ and glue on finial dowel caps, if desired. I found mine at JoAnns with the dowels in the woodcraft section. Slip the dowel in to the dowel pocket and tie some ribbon on the ends to hang. Finished size is 7.5″ x 10″. Update: If you’d like to make this longer sized banner to hold even more pins cut your fabric 8″ x 18″ and otherwise follow all the directions above. The finished piece measures 7″ x 15″. Don’t have a wooden dowel to hang your banner? On this banner I used a piece of driftwood I had saved from a beach trip and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out! You’ll notice the back is unfinished seams, but that didn’t really matter to me since it will be laying flat against the wall and never be seen. I really don’t foresee any problems with this in the long run, so I didn’t worry about any lining or hiding of seams within. I originally shared this quick tutorial on my Instagram and a reader asked about using something like this and the possibility of the backs of the pins scratching the paint (she had just painted her walls). I don’t think this would really be an issue since it’s just hanging in place and not being moved around, but I did mention if she was concerned about it she could always sew a lightweight piece of felt to the back when you’re creating the dowel pocket; just slip it into the seam. I would make the felt just a little bit smaller all around so it doesn’t peek out the sides of the banner. I might also tack it down lightly at the tip of the banner (just through the exposed seam allowance) to keep it in place, but otherwise leave the sides open so you can reach in and pin your pins to the banner. If this is something your interested in doing, and need a little more clarification (and photos) let me know and i’ll whip one up to show you what I mean. In the meantime, no more excuses, get making that pin banner you know you always wanted! They really do go together so quick!]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/pin-banner-tutorial/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>3</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">4265</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Batwings + Bowties Block</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/batwings-bowties-block/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/batwings-bowties-block/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 18 Oct 2018 23:34:06 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Tutorials]]></category> <category><![CDATA[quilt block]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tutorial]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=4176</guid> <description><![CDATA[Hello everyone! Today I have long asked for tutorial for the block I used in my Halloween quilt a few years ago. Not only that, but I made a YouTube video tutorial for it as well. It’s such a simple block and so much fun to put together with scraps or small amounts of fabric you have on hand. It’s the perfect block for a scrappy quilt. I had so much fun making this quilt, and using all of my hoarded Halloween fabrics. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I can’t believe it took me so many years to finally make a quilt for the occasion. I just love pulling this quilt out in the fall and have such a hard time putting it away. Obviously JoJo thinks its her quilt! I don’t often make quilts from a block I’ve already done before, but I know I will be making another quilt like this soon with fabrics that will work all year long. Let’s get into the tutorial! Batwings + Bowties Block Tutorial For this block you don’t need very much fabric. Two fat quarters in complimenting, but contrasting fabric, will make you a few blocks, so I suggest digging through your scraps for large pieces. The finished block measures 9½” x 9½”. I didn’t include full quilt amounts because I just grabbed and used fabrics as I went to “build” the quilt until I was happy with how it looked. My final quilt ended up being 5 blocks wide by 6 blocks long and is the perfect lap sized quilt for hanging out on the couch. Supplies 2 fat quarters (or scraps large enough to get the pieces you need from them) 6½” ruler (or larger) with a diagonal line marked across the ruler (I use Ominigrid rulers) Rotary cutter and cutting mat Sewing Machine (or you could stitch by hand if you like that sort of thing) Hot steam iron for pressing Pins for pinning those seam allowances! Yes, that’s important! Lets begin! 1. To start, iron out the fabric you’ll be using and then cut the following: Background Fabric:• (3) 3½” x 3½” squares• (3) 4¼” x 4¼” squares Main Fabric:• (3) 4¼” x 4¼” squares **Set aside your 3½” squares, we’ll be working with your 4¼” squares for now.** 2. You are going to make half square triangles (HST) with the 4¼” squares using the 2-HST method (meaning we make two from each set of squares). Choose which ever fabric is easiest (your background or main fabric) and mark a diagonal line across your square on the backside. Use either a pen, Hera marker or press them in half with an iron, wrong sides together (my preferred method). 3. Now you will sew ¼” on either side of your diagonal line. I suggest chain piecing them at your machine to speed this step along! 4. Using a ruler cut your sewn square apart on the diagonal line between your two lines of stitching. Repeat for all three squares. Open these out and press your seam allowance. I like to press them to the side and I make sure to press all of them the same way. For this block I pressed my seam allowance towards the orange fabric. 5. Your HSTs will be larger than you need so we’re going to have to trim them up. We’ll be trimming them to 3½” square, so go ahead and do that for all 6 blocks and skip to the next step if you’re already familiar with how to do this. If not, keep reading! Begin by laying the diagonal line on your ruler along the diagonal line of your block (as shown). You want to be sure it’s up towards the top of the HST and close to the side. You’re going to trim off the top and and right side, but you just want to take enough off to square up the two sides. Next, rotate your HST 180° (your trimmed sides will now be on the bottom and left). Line up the 3½” marks on your ruler on the left side of the block and the bottom (as shown). Trim the top and right side of your block. Repeat for all 6 HSTs. You’ll notice on this cut your taking off quite a bit, that’s okay. For this quilt I gave you enough room for errors in trimming, but when using this method on other blocks you might not have as much to cut off, so it’s always good to start by cutting the smallest amounts off in the first step of trimming. Tip: When cutting I like to have a firm hold on my ruler so that it doesn’t shift around as i’m cutting. This is how I like to hold my ruler. I just apply a little firm pressure at those three points where my fingers are. If you’d like to get fancy, Block_Loc sells rulers that have a groove in them that slides right over that seam and stays in place. I don’t own one myself, but they sound like a great ruler to have! After all of your HSTs are squared to 3½” x 3½” you’re ready to start assembling the block! 6. I like to lay out my block before I start sewing the rows together. This ensures all my squares are facing the right direction before I sew. We’ll be sewing these square together in rows. Once I have it laid out like this I just stack each row up and carry it to my machine to sew. I highly recommend pinning before sewing. I know it seems like a lot of work and an unnecessary step, but you have to remember your sewing machine doesn’t feed the top and bottom evenly. Even though it’s only a small amount, it can make the difference in a perfectly pieced block. So I recommend pinning at the start and end of these squares. This can be especially helpful if you need to […]]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/batwings-bowties-block/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">4176</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Feathered Star Quilt</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/feathered-star-quilt/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/feathered-star-quilt/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2018 20:54:24 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Longarm Quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[client quilt]]></category> <category><![CDATA[custom quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[longarm quilting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=4049</guid> <description><![CDATA[Remember the days when I use to blog daily…yeah, me either. It’s been so long since I’ve done any regular blogging and every year I tell myself this is the year I get back on track. It just never seems to happen. Social media has taken a backseat to actual life more and more every year. I had a Facebook for years and I officially got rid of it two years ago. Best decision I ever made. I still like to share over on Instagram, but I don’t really spend a lot of time on there and I mostly share daily going on’s and sometimes forget to share my client quilts all together! Bad business move, I know. Today i’m popping in to share this custom quilt I did for Ginger Gilbreath in March of last year. Almost a year ago! I haven’t talked to Ginger recently, but I know the original plan was to enter this one in shows. I’ve quilted custom quilts for Ginger before and she is one of those awesome clients that tells me to just do what I want. That’s always a little scary, but the “I love it!” email when they get it back makes it worth it. Because this quilt was only 36″ x 36″ and strictly for shows and later wall hanging, I decided to layer two battings. I did a layer of Quilter’s Dream poly on the bottom and wool on the top. The poly gave it a nice stability that will help it hang well and the wool gave the quilting a nice pop, especially since I went a little denser with the quilting on this. Custom typically tends to be on the denser side, but knowing this was for show I wanted to quilt it to it’s fullest (without being too much). There is always a balance with custom. You don’t want to detract from the quilt itself, but enhance the piecing and design. Too much quilting and that’s all you notice, too little and you don’t notice enough. It’s all about balance and I think that was achieved nicely on this one. All the designs were custom designed by me for this quilt. I draw it up and render it on the computer for the Statler to stitch out. Custom quilting isn’t only about putting certain designs in certain places, but also creating designs that are custom to a quilt. Some quilting, like the cross-hatching in the square centers, and the stitching around the “feather” triangles were done by hand with a ruler. I love that she went with a more solid batik backing – it really allowed the quilting to be seen.]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/feathered-star-quilt/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>6</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">4049</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Quilt Binding Tutorials</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/quilt-binding-tutorials/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:11:31 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Tutorials]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=4307</guid> <description><![CDATA[On this page you’ll find links to all of my binding tutorials, from piecing your binding, to stitching it on the front of the quilt by machine and hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt by hand.  There are even a few tutorials for getting those perfectly mitered corners and showing an updated method for finishing your binding with a Fons & Porter Binding Tool. Part 1: Making your binding Part 2: Attaching your binding to the front of your quilt Part 3: How to hand stitch your binding to the back of your quilt Tutorial: Perfectly Mitered Corners Tutorial: Joining your binding ends with a binding tool]]></description> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">4307</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Quilting Sea Glass</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/quilting-sea-glass/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/quilting-sea-glass/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 04 Apr 2017 01:11:31 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Books + Mags]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Longarm Quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[client quilt]]></category> <category><![CDATA[custom quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Press]]></category> <category><![CDATA[published]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=3914</guid> <description><![CDATA[Good afternoon! It’s sunny and bright here in the Pacific Northwest today and i’m feeling so productive, so I thought while I had a quilt going in the background i’d take a moment to pop in and show you some photos of Amy Friend’s Sea Glass Quilt I quilted for her last winter. Its one of many quilts in her new book Improv Paper Piecing. As usual with custom quilts, everything starts with doodles and ideas. I love working on custom quilts, especially customs that have so much negative space. That negative space is always so fun to play in. I immediately thought of a zigzag to match the angles of the pieced squares on point. Next I knew I wanted to fill in those zigzags with some circles. The zigzags not only played off the angles in the pieced blocks, but it also gave the ideas of ocean waves washing up on shore once the circles were added in. I didn’t want to carry that throughout the whole quilt, I wanted to do something different for the sea glass, and to keep with the iconic theme of the ocean I wanted something that played off the idea of the sea glass sitting in sand, but I wanted to keep it open and angular like the “waves”, and a grid just seemed to fit perfectly. I went back and forth on a lot of ideas for the sea glass blocks, but ultimately Amy decided to go with one of the simpler ideas, which I think was the right choice. It doesn’t over power the blocks or the other quilting designs, but still holds the quilt securely together. And here’s the final design drafted out. I was very pleased with the final design and how everything came together. Simple, modern and symbolic quilting – all my favorite words to describe quilts that leave my frame. Quilt: Sea Glass by Amy Friend (her blog post on the quilt is here) Quilt found in: Improv Paper Piecing by Amy Friend Quilting Design: Custom designs by Sometimes Crafter Quilting]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/quilting-sea-glass/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">3914</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Kite Flight Quilt + Quilting Video</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/kite-flight-quilt-quilting-video/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/kite-flight-quilt-quilting-video/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 26 Feb 2017 20:37:58 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Longarm Quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[client quilt]]></category> <category><![CDATA[edge to edge quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[longarm quilting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=3890</guid> <description><![CDATA[I just recently quilted this beautiful Kite Flight quilt by Heather Wall (@heathersnacks). If i’m remembering correctly, Heather is a new-ish quilter, and she did a really wonderful job on this. The seams weren’t too bulky, everything laid flat and lined up well and was relatively square, which I noticed would be rather hard to achieve with all the bias seams that end up in this block. She was going back and forth between two patterns and ultimately let me decide on the best one for the quilt. I think Rainbow Clams ended up being perfect for the top. Not only does the rainbow design go with the rainbow fabrics, it also softened up the straight angles of the quilt. I purchased a video camera a few days before loading this quilt and thought it would be fun to share my process with you. The video is mostly me basting the top in preparation for quilting. For those of you with longarms I think it’s helpful to see another’s process, and for those of you that send your quilts off to longarmers I think it will be fun to see what your quilt potentially goes through. The video is at the end if you want to skip all my rambling about the process or you can go here and watch it. On this quilt in particular (even though it’s sped up) you will notice I spend a lot of time on some of the side sections. Because the quilt did have bias seams it was rather stretchy and prone to fullness so I took extra time to make sure everything was not only square, but flat. Normally I I just manipulate the fabric as i’m basting the sides, easing in where I need to, but for this top I used my pearl head pins to help it lay right where I needed it, and then I stitched it down. Towards beginning, when i’m working on the top edge, you’ll notice I start to baste and then go back and start again (around 0:45). The top wasn’t as square as I would like it, so I went back and basted the first row in place so I new it was square. (Normally that’s the first thing I do, so i’m not sure why I didn’t start with that this time.) There was a bit of extra fabric in the seam allowance area, but I didn’t want to make the decision to square up the top edge, i’d rather the client asses that once they have it back. Sometimes it’s minimal and if it’s not for a show I say just put the binding on, even if it’s not a “square” edge, other times the quilt allows for you to trim off the extra and square it up. So, because I have a Statler (meaning a computer running my Gammill) I went ahead and used the P2P (point-t0-point) function to help me baste at just shy of 1/4″ (so the basting is under the binding later, without having to be ripped out…I “baste” at 12 SPI to prevent fraying of the edges). So after I marked the points i’m just working with (or “surfing”) the fabric to be sure it lays down and eases in correctly (remember, bias seams) as the quilting head moves along. At the end of the video I just show the process of me setting up the machine to quilt out the pattern. I let you see one pass and an advance of the quilt, but after that it’s all repetitive so I cut that out from the video. In total, this took me most of the day to do. I cut out a LOT of unnecessary bits to shorten it down, and then sped it up so you weren’t watching 2.5 hours of edited video. I find that I can’t stand at my machine for long, either because of my son coming in requesting food, or I don’t like what’s playing on my Spotify list, or I need to respond to one of my chat groups…there are lots of things that pull me away from the machine. Quilting bloggers seem to be turning more and more to videos, and I have to admit I like that and have been thinking about it for a few years. My husband is always pushing me to go to videos, so I think you will see more from me in the future. I can’t say how often, because it does take quite a bit of time to edit the video and get it posted, and I find it difficult to just blog with everything life throws at me. But i’d really like to continue to share my longarming process and even get some of my sewing tutorials in to video format. I have a few longarm friends that I talk to and occasionally I’ll get asked about how to do something and we say “that should be a video”. There aren’t enough longarm process videos out there and i’d really like to share. So many more quilters are getting longarms of their own, but so many longarmers like to keep their process to themselves for fear of…(fill in the blank). So when you do run across a problem, it’s a scramble to find any information out there, and normally it’s on message boards, when really a video would be so much more helpful. So that is a bit of a goal for myself this year, to video those common problems I run across when quilting and sharing my process and solutions. And also figuring out what I need to do for better quality video without filling up my hard drive. Okay, enough rambling…watch the video and subscribe to my channel if you feel so inclined.]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/kite-flight-quilt-quilting-video/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>6</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">3890</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Custom Half Square Triangles</title> <link>https://sometimescrafter.com/custom-half-square-triangles/</link> <comments>https://sometimescrafter.com/custom-half-square-triangles/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christina]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 20 Nov 2016 01:46:06 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Longarm Quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[client quilt]]></category> <category><![CDATA[custom quilting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[edge to edge quilting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://sometimescrafter.com/?p=3844</guid> <description><![CDATA[I’m a little behind on sharing quilts – but when am I not behind when it comes to blogging. I didn’t want to let anymore time pass without sharing Meredith Hobb’s gorgeous quilt. She designed this and asked me to do some custom quilting on it, which I was more than excited to do. I love working with all that negative space in modern quilts. She entered this in the Sisters Quilt Show this summer where it was in the Portland Modern Quilt Guilds display of quilts. I had a great time coming up with the design and think it really complimented the piecing. I did a simple fill that mimicked the piecing in the open space. As usual the design started on paper, and then I drew it out in CAD and then I set it all up for my machine to quilt it out. I can never say enough about how much I love being able to do that. For the piecing I filled the space with a design called Celtic Sea, a wonderful edge-t0-edge design that works with so many quilt styles.]]></description> <wfw:commentRss>https://sometimescrafter.com/custom-half-square-triangles/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">3844</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>