New Blog!

I'm now blogging over at my new website www.mistycole.com.

I hope you'll visit and update your bookmarks.

September 29, 2015

Don't forget this fabulous bloghop is still going on! Check out my friend Amalia's contribution today.

 Sept 29: Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz of Fun From A to Z – French Knots, – ooh la la!

I will have two pieces on display at Houston this year. One is a portrait of my son, as part of the Festival of Quilt Art: Celebrations exhibit.  The second is Centered, which will be part of the SAQA Balancing Act special exhibit.

I just found out yesterday that I'll be participating in Open Studios at IQF Houston! I will demonstrating several paint techniques.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
4-6pm Using Inktense Blocks and Pencils
Friday, October 30, 2015
2-4pm Gilding the Lilies: PROfab Textile Paint on a Pieced Quilt Top
Saturday, October 31, 2015
10-noon Brain Surgery-Carving a Brain Stamp
Sunday, November 1, 2015
noon-2pm Using Inktense Blocks and Pencils

You can see me at the "Meet the Teachers" area as well.
Friday, October 30, 2015
noon-12:30 Installing Metal Brads and Magnets on a Quilt
5-5:30pm Make Your Quilt Label Interesting
Saturday, October 31, 2015
1:30-2pm Creative Ways to Use Orphan Blocks

September 17, 2015

My guild's raffle quilt for 2016 is complete (except for the fancy label). It is the loving work of many hands!

Constant Friends

"In joy or sadness flowers are our constant friends." 

-from The Book of Tea

 We even finished it in time to enter MD state fair. We won third place in the group category.

Tickets will go on sale very soon. Let me know if you'd like one! We are happy to ship the prize.

Basting 101

No, we are not talking turkey!

Why baste?

To keep the three layers (quilt top, batting, and backing) from shifting or wrinkling during the quilting process.

Let's look at all your basting options.

Option #1 Pin Basting

Pros: Relatively inexpensive. Pins are reusable so once you buy them, they will last a long time. Accurate; gives you a lot of control and you can baste densely or sparsely as needed.

Cons: More expensive if you spring for specialty curved basting pins. Time consuming. Awkward to pin the center of a large quilt. Difficult if you have any pain in your hands. You must stop machine quilting and remove pins as you work; you do not want to catch your hopping foot on a pin, or run your walking foot over a pin.

Option #2 Spray Basting

Pros: Fairly easy. Fast. No need to stop quilting to remove pins. 

Cons: Costly; a can of spray baste will run you $10 to $20 depending on the brand. Stinky. The sticky overspray gets all over everything. Some brands of spray baste work better than others. Sometimes you have to re-iron to re-activate the fusible, which sort of negates the whole time-saving idea.

Option #3 Thread Basting

Pros: Cheapest option. Uses only needle, thread, and scissors, all of which you probably have already. This method gives a lot of control. You feel the fabric and can ease wrinkles as you baste, and you can baste as densely as you choose. No need to stop quilting to remove pins.

Cons: Time consuming, can be labor intensive.

Option #4 Gun Basting

Pros: Quick. The basting gun can be used for other purposes, like upholstery and labeling your quilt (think price tags for a craft show).

Cons: Must buy special equipment. Gun runs about $14-40, a pack of plastic basting fasteners start at about $8. Repetitive motion injury risk from pressing the trigger over and over.

Option #5 Fusible Batting

Pros: Fairly easy, quick. Batting has heat-activated glue in its surface, so you layer your fabrics and iron to activate the glue. Especially good for small projects.

Cons: This process can get tricky with a large quilt. Sometimes you have to re-iron to re-activate the fusible, which sort of negates the whole time-saving idea.

Option #6 Long-Arm Basting

Pros: Quick, easy, especially if you already have a long-arm sewing machine. Smooth, even, sturdy.

Cons: More inconvenient if you have to deliver it to someone else and pay them to baste for you.

The bottom line of basting is CHOOSE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU! Try different methods if you are frustrated with what you are doing now.

Now, go learn something else at one of these great participating blogs!

The Back to School Blog hop kicks off on September 1 and runs through the entire month, and little of October too as there’s just so much great info to share! Hop along with some of our industry’s pros to get tips and tricks for your quilting and sewing studio.

 Sept 1: Peta Minerof-Bartos of PetaQuilts – So, Does that Diagonal Method for a Pieced Backing Really Work

Sept 2: Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com – The Quilter’s Knot

Sept 3: Teresa Coates of Crinkle Dreams – The Importance of Pressing

Sept 4: Cath Hall of Wombat Quilts – Color Coding for Paper-piecing

Sept 5: Sam Hunter of Hunter’s Design Studio – How to Calculate and Cut Bias Binding

Sept 6: Melanie McNeil of Catbird Quilt Studio – Credit where Credit is Due

Sept 7: Mandy Leins of Mandalei Quilts – How to Keep a Perfect 1/4” Seam Between Different Machines

Sept 8: Rose Hughes of Rose Hughes – Fast Pieced Applique

Sept 9: Megan Dougherty of The Bitchy Stitcher – The Care and Feeding of the Domestic Sewing Machine

Sept 10: Lynn Krawczyk of Smudged Design Studio – Make a Mobile Art Kit

Sept 11: Susan Beal of West Coast Crafty – Log Cabin 101

Sept 12: Sarah Lawson of Sew Sweetness – Zipper Tips

Sept 13: Jane Victoria of Jolly and Delilah – Matching Seams

Sept 14: Jemelia Hilfiger of JemJam – Garment Making Tips and Tricks

Sept 15: Ebony Love of LoveBug Studios – Curved Piecing Without Pins

Sept 16: Misty Cole of Daily Design Wall – Types of Basting

Sept 17: Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams – Setting your Seams

Sept 18: Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps – Joining Quilted Pieces by Machine

Sept 19: Bill Volckening of WonkyWorld – The Importance of Labels

Sept 20: Jessica Darling of Jessica Darling – How to Make a Quilt Back

Sept 21: Debbie Kleve Birkebile of Mountain Trail Quilt Treasures – Perfectly Sized No-Wave Quilt Borders

Sept 22: Heather Kinion of Heather K is a Quilter – Baby Quilts for Baby Steps

Sept 23: Michelle Freedman of Design Camp PDX – TNT: Thread, Needle, Tension

Sept 24: Kathy Mathews of Chicago Now Quilting Sewing Creation – Button Holes

Sept 25: Jane Shallala Davidson of Quilt Jane – Corner Triangle Methods

Sept 27: Cristy Fincher of Purple Daisies Quilting – The Power of Glue Basting

Sept 28: Catherine Redford of Catherine Redford – Change the Needle!

Sept 29: Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz of Fun From A to Z – French Knots, – ooh la la!

Sept 30: Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts – How to Align Your Fabrics for Dog Ears

October 1: Tracy Mooney of 3LittleBrds – Teaching Kiddos to Sew on a Sewing Machine

October 2: Trish Frankland, guest posting on Persimon Dreams – The Straight Stitch Throat Plate

October 3: Flaun Cline of I Plead Quilty – Lining Strips Up

September 2, 2015

I recently finished a quilt top made from "orphan" blocks.  I have so much fun with these. I love to figure out a way for them to fit together. Like a jigsaw puzzle. I love jigsaw puzzles.

These are the blocks I started with.

I had this stack of fabric to use on the quilt top. I ended up finding a few others to throw in the mix. 

The top row was just a bunch of shipless sails.  So I finished the bottom of the boats first.

At this point, I did some rearranging, and made three more rows of blocks: four patches, easy chevrons and fishies.

Well, it's not masterpiece. But I like the patriotic colors, the fun nautical theme, and I think the quilting will really help tie it all together. I think I will add some fishy eyes after quilting, too.

More adventures with orphan blocks can be found here!

One of my quilts that used some orphan fan blocks jut won a ribbon at Maryland State Fair!

Back to School Blog Hop!

The Back to School Blog Hop kicks off on September 1 and runs through the entire month, and little of October, too, as there’s just so much great info to share! Hop along with some of our industry’s pros to get tips and tricks for your quilting and sewing studio.

Sept 1: Peta Minerof-Bartos of PetaQuilts – So, Does that Diagonal Method for a Pieced Backing Really Work

Sept 2: Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com – The Quilter’s Knot

Sept 3: Teresa Coates of Crinkle Dreams – The Importance of Pressing

Sept 4: Cath Hall of Wombat Quilts – Color Coding for Paper-piecing

Sept 5: Sam Hunter of Hunter’s Design Studio – How to Calculate and Cut Bias Binding

Sept 6: Melanie McNeil of Catbird Quilt Studio – Credit where Credit is Due

Sept 7: Mandy Leins of Mandalei Quilts – How to Keep a Perfect 1/4” Seam Between Different Machines

Sept 8: Rose Hughes of Rose Hughes – Fast Pieced Applique

Sept 9: Megan Dougherty of The Bitchy Stitcher – The Care and Feeding of the Domestic Sewing Machine

Sept 10: Lynn Krawczyk of Smudged Design Studio – Make a Mobile Art Kit

Sept 11: Susan Beal of West Coast Crafty – Log Cabin 101

Sept 12: Sarah Lawson of Sew Sweetness – Zipper Tips

Sept 13: Jane Victoria of Jolly and Delilah – Matching Seams

Sept 14: Jemelia Hilfiger of JemJam – Garment Making Tips and Tricks

Sept 15: Ebony Love of LoveBug Studios – Curved Piecing Without Pins

Sept 16: Misty Cole of Daily Design Wall – Types of Basting

Sept 17: Kim Lapacek of Persimon Dreams – Setting your Seams

Sept 18: Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps – Joining Quilted Pieces by Machine

Sept 19: Bill Volckening of WonkyWorld – The Importance of Labels

Sept 20: Jessica Darling of Jessica Darling – How to Make a Quilt Back

Sept 21: Debbie Kleve Birkebile of Mountain Trail Quilt Treasures – Perfectly Sized No-Wave Quilt Borders

Sept 22: Heather Kinion of Heather K is a Quilter – Baby Quilts for Baby Steps

Sept 23: Michelle Freedman of Design Camp PDX – TNT: Thread, Needle, Tension

Sept 24: Kathy Mathews of Chicago Now Quilting Sewing Creation – Button Holes

Sept 25: Jane Shallala Davidson of Quilt Jane – Corner Triangle Methods

Sept 27: Cristy Fincher of Purple Daisies Quilting – The Power of Glue Basting

Sept 28: Catherine Redford of Catherine Redford – Change the Needle!

Sept 29: Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz of Fun From A to Z – French Knots, – ooh la la!

Sept 30: Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts – How to Align Your Fabrics for Dog Ears

October 1: Tracy Mooney of 3LittleBrds – Teaching Kiddos to Sew on a Sewing Machine

October 2: Trish Frankland, guest posting on Persimon Dreams – The Straight Stitch Throat Plate

October 3: Flaun Cline of I Plead Quilty – Lining Strips Up

August 30, 2015

 I had a lot of fun making my Game of Thrones challenge quilt, sponsored by BadAss Quilters Society. 

Khal Drogo loves Daenerys Targaryen forever!

I'm a big Game of Thrones fan. I read all the books, and have watched the series produced by HBO. Of course the books are better. But there are many aspects of the show I like. Khal Drogo is one of the things I like!

Can you feel the love tonight?

In this challenge, we were restricted to the four colors of fabric that came in our challenge packs. I really, really wanted red, especially for the bleeding heart. But I like the silhouetted applique and I think it gets the point across. It's fun sometimes to drastically limit your palette and see what you can come up with. It makes you think in new directions.

I wanted the initials to look like they'd been painted on a stone wall. I cut the letters to make them look like ragged brushstrokes.

I knew I wanted flowers on my quilt, to highlight the green and yellow fabrics. Bleeding hearts seemed an obvious choice!

I added quilting to create the stone wall effect using a free-motion zig zag stitch, and embroidered french knots and tiny climbing plants to make the wall look mossy. Embellishments were limited to under 20% of the quilt top.

The whole quilt finishes at 18"x18". I'm shipping off the original tomorrow to SPOOL to be exhibited at the shop! If you are in the area, please check it out, and send me photos!

June 15, 2015

Bayside Quilters Annual Show. I won the Judge's Choice Award in the Color Challenge.

The guild did a beautiful job hanging the show!

June 7, 2015

Thanks to my amazing team, the raffle quilt is coming along nicely.

Rosa and I finished the appliqued borders.

Amalia and Margaret helped me piece the top. They are fabulous, accurate piecers!

We are getting close to a finished top!

May 31, 2015

I've been steadily working on designing and hand appliqueing borders for my guild's 2016 raffle quilt.

These are the blocks. I started with the large blocks, which are approximately 20 years old. After I picked a setting I like, I asked current guild members to make the smaller setting blocks.

I designed top and bottom borders based on elements in the blocks.

A guild member used her Accuquilt die cutter to cut out scrappy flowers and leaves for us. 

top

 bottom

The applique is coming along nicely. 

May 12, 2015

Tomorrow is my 41st birthday. I'm seeing all those crow's feet and age spots and gray hairs. I'm dreaming of the summer I was 22 and was able to wear a bikini with a pierced navel in public.

With these thoughts I created "Fleeting Beauty."

The root system is based on a human spinal column. It is made from couched thread and embroidery.

I used huge pieces of gorgeous hand-dyed fabric from Carol Eaton. This piece really looked like a rose garden to me the moment I saw it. I mixed in some commercial fabrics.

The quote comes from the Rubaiyat, Verse XXVIII.

Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise

To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; 

One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; 

The Flower that once has blown forever dies. 

I really liked the zig zag edges when I had finished piecing the diagonal rows so I decided to try and keep them. I thought facing them would be too difficult. So I sewed the quilt together like a pillowcase and flipped it right side out, pushed out all the corners as best I could, then quilted it.

Yes, I am painting the finished quilt. I thought those white roots needed a little extra strength to show up better, so I went over them with some pearly white Tsukineko ink using a fantastik.

Here's to 41, and another trip around the sun.

Spring Clean Your Studio Bloghop

When Cheryl Sleboda put out a call for spring cleaning volunteers, I jumped at the chance! I'm such a deadline driven person, I knew this would be a great opportunity for me to get my space cleaned up.

My sewing space is actually in the master bedroom of our teeny townhome. All the more reason to clean it up...I know it drives my husband nuts when it's a mess.

Oh my gosh, ya'll. This is pretty embarrassing. Under that table is all my UFOs in a total jumble. I can barely see that work table anymore, it's a dumping ground. It would be nice to be able to sit down and work at it again.

My poor bookshelf has buckled under the weight of quilting books and magazines. It needs some TLC!

A peek under my sewing table. That strange pile of stuff on the left? Clothes and household stuff that needs mending. My box of scraps is overflowing.

 It's a big board of JUNK! Having to move this onto the bed each time I need to iron is NOT working.

 Can you see the boxes of CHRISTMAS cards on top of my sewing table?? Sew embarrassing!

If I clean off the top of this chest of drawers, it's the perfect place for my cutting mat. So I can get the cutting mat off the ironing board.

My broad goals before starting the clean up were:
1. Put away anything that already had a designated place.
2. Repair my bookshelf and install a new shelf that has been waiting for two years.
3. Use an almost empty drawer to hold some of my overflow.
4. Deep clean! Everything needed dusting, wiping and a thorough vacuuming.
5. Redecorate! Use that new shelf to display some of my favorite things and make my sewing space cozy. I spend a lot of time in here!

Tip: Enlist help! Hubby helped repair my bookshelf and he installed my new shelf. What a great quilter husband! Also a reminder that it always gets a lot worse before it gets better. Ack, that floor gives me heart palpitations.

My faithful Mike the Tiger held my fascinator for me. I didn't get a photo but my eight year old hot-glued a favorite piece of art that needed repair for me.

New Shelf of Awesomeness!! It makes me happy every time I walk in this room now. Why, yes, that is a shirtless Daniel Craig smiling right back at me.

Most of the work involved sorting stuff and putting it where it belongs!! Once it was put away in my kids' rooms, in the trash can, or in its designated place, my stuff is manageable! TBD Bee represent!

My bookshelf has been repaired, and lightened of some of its load.

*Big Sigh* of happiness. I feel better just looking at this clean space! And I work so much more efficiently when everything is easy to find.

Boxes of stuff to leave my house!!!!

Another cleaning list:
2 days
8 hours
3 swiffer duster refills
1 box tissues (Oh the dust!! Woe my allergies...)
1 emptied vacuum canister
3 boxes of items to be passed on to others
5 bags of trash/recycles
1 happy husband
1 Really Happy Sewist

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll be back to see my creations.


Now go see everyone else's studio transformations!

May 7 Kathy Matthews http://www.chicagonow.com/quilting-sewing-creating/
May 8 Misty Cole Http://www.dailydesignwall.blogspot.com
May 9 Heather Kinion http://heatherkinion.com/
May 10 Jessica Darling http://jessicakdarling.com/
May 11 Lisa Blevis Filion http://upstatelisa.blogspot.com/
May 12 Peta Minerof-Bartos http://www.thenotsewguiltyquilter.blogspot.com/
May 13 Mandy Leins http://mandalei.com/
May 14 Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz http://funfromatoz.com/
May 15 Sam Hunter http://huntersdesignstudio.com/
May 16 Debby Ritenbaugh Brown http://higheredhands.blogspot.com/
May 17 Debbie Kleve Berkebile http://www.mountaintrailquilttreasure.blogspot.com/
May 18 Michelle Mattingly http://stitchesofjoi.blogspot.com/
May 19 Cheryl Sleboda http://blog.muppin.com