Denim Quilt Class

Tuesday, I got to teach my Denim Quilt Class.  It was a big class (10), but the ladies were all sharp, and we had a great time!  The students had a choice of Denim Stars, Brick Work or Windows.

Denim Stars

Brick Work

Windows

These 3 quilts are done in a similar way.  We work with a small section of the quilt at a time, sewing the blocks together and finishing the raw edges.  Then the quilt is done when it's done, there's no quilting or tying to do later, and batting is optional.

Here's some of the ladies and their work...

It's fun to see everyone's fabric choices!  Beatles fabric, polka dots, a soft girly print, cute bees, pirate fabrics, old fashioned charm and manly flannels.

Memorial Day Family Picture

Today is Memorial Day, and I got the day off work.  So our family went for an easy hike up near Bear Lake on the Limber Pine Trail.  The tree we are in front of is about 560 years old.  

It was a perfect day for being out in nature.  There were a few patches of snow, so of course, we had to put some snow down everyone's back.  LOL!

We saw a couple chipmunks and a baby moose.

The wild flowers are blooming, but I only saw 3 butterflies.  We'll go again when the butterflies are gathered in thick groups.

Patriotic 3-D Banner

Here's a picture of 3 of my students in the upstairs classroom at the store.  We have 6 sturdy, metal tables that don't vibrate when you're sewing.  If the class isn't too difficult, I can have up to 12 students.  We also have 3 other tables (for cutting stations or displays), 3 ironing boards with irons, one white board wall (for Power Point presentations), a small refrigerator for water bottles, and you can see the Handi Quilter Fusion in the back.

In this class, I'm teaching my Patriotic 3-D Banner.  If the students pre-cut their fabric, they can usually get their blue "field" finished and some of the red stripes, before the class is finished.

The quilting is very minimal, so with a bit of instruction, they are ready to finish the project on their own.  

The stripes are very much like an accordion, so special instruction is needed here.  To help you get a nice squared-up banner when you're finished, it's a good idea to draw the outline of your finished banner directly on the batting.  Then as you pin baste, you have a guide to keep the banner in its proper parameters.

The Patriotic 3-D Banner is a little tricky, but a fun project to make.

Get the pattern at Craftsy or Etsy.

Newest Regular Quilt Pattern

This is "The Man Quilt."  It was designed for my son, Rick.  As he left home to serve as an LDS missionary for 2 years, I wanted him to take a quilt made by Mom.  We looked at quilts, and he told me what he did and didn't like, and with his help, this is the pattern we came up with.

This quilt is Rick's, and is the original "Man Quilt." 

This "Man Quilt" is for Joe and Nancy, who were married in September 2012.  

The fabrics are a little more feminine for Nancy.
(You can see another picture of it in a previous post.)

This quilt is my middle son, David's "Man Quilt."  
His quilt is the picture on the pattern.

Get the pattern at Craftsy or Etsy.

New Denim Quilt Pattern

I'm working on a new denim quilt pattern.  I think I'll call it Denim Waves -- it's a beach quilt. 

Strips of denim are sewn together to make several long strips.  Then the top edge of the strip is cut to look like waves.  Every-other wave is denim, then I've put a hand dyed fabric wave in between.  And just to mix things up, I'll put a couple wedge shaped pieces in.   It's got a sheet for the back (I know... I don't use sheets for anything but denim quilts that will be used on the ground), and a thin cotton/poly batting.  It's quilted as-you-go, and I think this would be a great quilt to do on a longarm.  If I ever get caught up with T-Joe, I want to go do it on the Handi Quilter at the store.

New Quilt Inspector

I have a new Quilt Inspector!  Her name is Sophie.  She's a "Brown Tip Siamese / Lynx Cross."  I love her tufted ears and big, crystal blue eyes.  She looks petite, but seems longer than a normal cat.  My Dear Husband and 3 sons rescued her from the Humane Society.  And yes, she's been spayed.  Not only is she cute, but she's gentle with her claws and has good manners.  The Guys think I'm crazy, but she walks differently than other cats.  She moves both right legs forward at the same time, then both left, then both right, etc.  She likes to play, and can be very acrobatic.  Her favorite toy is a shoelace with a gross-grain ribbon on the end.  We need to get her a scratching post -- soon!

Working Woman

My Dear Husband lost his job 2 years ago.  We're struggling financially.  The miracle is that we've been able to pay our bills and have "sufficient for our needs."  We've had a little help from family and friends along the way, which we are very grateful for.  And my health and mental state have never been better.  I've been strong and able to provide for my family.  I work 3 jobs.

Job #1 is working 4 full days per week at a quilt shop, which I LOVE.  I mostly work downstairs, where I get to help with sewing machine servicing and repair, and I do the shipping for Kathy Quilts.  Sometimes, I get to go upstairs and play with fabric, sell Bernina sewing machines and interact with the customers.  The people I work with are all really great people.  I feel privileged to be a "Bernina Lady."  Here's the store's blog:  Stylish Fabrics Quilt Shop

Job #2 is sewing pectus brace covers for T-Joe of Pectus Services.  T-Joe (Trainer Joe) LOVES the kids he works with.  He helps kids with deformed chests (pectus).  The way he does it is with a brace that he invented.  The brace, as you can imagine, is not comfortable.  When my son wore it, it really irritated his skin, and it got pretty stinky, pretty fast.  My solution was to make fabric covers for his brace.  It really helped his skin irritation and, we could remove the cover and wash it to keep it smelling better.

So, when we showed Joe the covers, he said, "I want ALL of the kids to have covers!"  I wasn't really interested in doing all of that sewing at first.  I even gave Joe the patterns and he tried to get a couple sewing companies to manufacture the covers.  It was a good thing they didn't end up being manufactured, or we wouldn't have the income that we so badly need right now.

When I say, "we," I mean our whole family.  DH and all 3 of our sons help with the production.  I still do most of the sewing, but our oldest son is using the sewing machine to sew Velcro on, and he's started to use the serger to sew the pieces together.  He's doing great!  The other Guys do the pinning, cutting, more pinning, singeing the threads and packaging.  We're very grateful to Joe for supporting our family in this way!

Here's the Pectus Services website:  Pectus Services  Check out the "before and after" pictures.

Job #3 is Quilted Sunshine.  I sell my patterns locally, and on a few websites as either pdf downloads or as paper patterns.  Check the links on the left side of my blog.  I also teach quilting and sewing classes.

I Love teaching classes!  There are a few classes that I teach over and over.  My Beginning Piecing Workshop is 4 days, and we learn everything from rotary cutting and scant 1/4" seams, to matching points and putting the borders on. I also regularly teach Beginning Binding and Sewing Machine Care and Maintenance classes.  I'd like to add a Beginning Paper Piecing Class, and a Fabric Selection Class.  I also teach my denim quilt patterns and all of my other patterns, whenever I can.

Here's the link to my website:  Quilted Sunshine  There are 3 FREEBIES on my website:  Binding Tutorial, Mitered Receiving Blanket pattern, and "The Simple Quilt" pattern.