Quick Tips & Tools: The Awl

The one sewing and quilting tool that I use the most is an awl. Surprisingly,I find that most quilters  don’t have one or use one. I recommend you get one and give it a whirl. You may even find some new uses for it. Here are just a few ways that I use mine.

1. “No more flipped seam allowances”. How many times has your seam been flipped by your sewing machine foot and sewn down in the wrong direction? This happens really easily and can cause you some trouble while stitching your quilt. If you use the point of your awl to guide the seam under the foot in the right direction this will never happen. Any time you have tricky seams, whip out your awl. So simple! (As shown above)

2. When easing 2 pieces of fabric together, use the awl to pull or push the fabric where you need it to be and hold it in place while stitching.

3. I use my awl as my un-picker,  I like it better than any other I have tried.

4. It is a fantastic way to tease, push and pull a project that is sewn inside out and than reversed. For example an animal softie. When you turn it inside out, the awl is the best tool in the world to get all on the legs and hands to turn inside out to exactly the correct shape.

5. We also use the awl to easily turn under the seam allowance edges for our machine Applique method.

This is only the start! There are 101 other uses , I will share more in further posts. Give it a try!

Quick Tips & Tools: Four At A Time Half Square Triangles!

I just finished this Baby Chevron Quilt.I had so much fun making it and actually it is the 2nd chevron quilt I have made in the last few weeks, the other one is a bit larger and it is not quilted yet.

One of the reasons I had such a blast making these is I tried out a new way of making half square triangles. This method makes them four at a time!! I have made a lot of half square triangles in my day, and have used a million different methods. I am loving this new method! With that said, I love it for larger sizes, and still prefer Thangles for smaller sizes. Anytime I am making a 4″ or smaller I  will stick with the Thangles, but anything larger and this is my new favorite method. Give it a try and see what you think!

First you will need to cut your squares, you will need one each of the two fabrics that you would like to make up your half square triangle.  For mine, I used a cream and a yellow polka dot.  I started out with 8″ squares, that will yield (4) 5″ ish half square triangles. Since I am using all half square triangles in my quilt, I don’t mind if they are not exactly 5″. If you need an exact size, or another size, here is the mat for this method:

Half Square Triangle Size divided by 0.64= the square size you will need to start with

Place your 2 squares right sides together and pin. Using a 1/4″ seam, stitch around all four sides.

Now cut the square in half on the diagonal in both both directions.

It will look like this. Now you just need to press them open! Make sure you are pressing, not ironing! You are on bias and if you iron back and forth instead of up and down pressing, you will get stretch and distortion.

TA DA! Wasn’t that crazy easy and crazy fast!!! I a made a chevron, but you can do pinwheels or a million other blocks with these half square triangles. What do you think!?

Quick Tips & Tools: Fold-Away Sewing Machine Table!

We are loving this new fold-away sewing machine table! Are you sewing flush with your table? If you are not you are really missing out! It makes such a difference in how comfortable you are as well as your accuracy when stitching. In order to do this you need a special table with an opening and an insert that is specially cut for your machine. Most of the sewing machine tables we have found along the years that offer this option had prices that often took our breath away! We have finally found a great little table that is very reasonably priced! Plus it has the option to fold away to about 3″ wide if you are short on space.  We are using it in our sewing studio at the shop and just love it! We have just worked out the kinks on getting them shipped  anywhere in the U.S. if  any of you would like one! They come in Maple or the white as shown and are $285 , plus $16 shipping. This price includes a clear sewing machine insert cut to fit your sewing machine! You can order one through this link or if you are local come by the shop to order. This is one of our new favorite tools!

Quick Tips & Tools: Magic Spray Sizing

Jeanette tells all of her Beginning Quilting students to buy this product. Lately I have had a ton of people thank us for mentioning it because they just love it and cannot believe the difference it makes when pressing their fabrics for a quilt project. So I thought I should share it with you!

Every once in a great while a product comes along that lives up to  the claims of how wonderful it is.  I have found one. It is ” Magic Spray Sizing.  It comes in extra crispy and regular.  I use the regular strength to give my quilting fabrics a little extra body. Spray it onto all of your fabrics before you press. It makes cutting so much easier and the seam allowances stay right where you put them,  so no more twisted seam allowances. If you are marking fabric for embroidery or appliqué the whole  process becomes  easier and more accurate.  When it comes to pressing clothing it really makes the whole task faster and with a professional result.  There is a “Best press” product out being sold in quilt shops but I do not like it nearly as well. The overspray is a huge mess and the fabric gets too wet. The magic spray sizing is just a light spray so pressing goes a lot faster with beautiful results.  give it a try, it really is one of those products that works great! Plus it is only a few dollars!

Quick Tips & Tools: Organizing Scraps

I love scraps. I make a lot of quilts with almost all scrap, and in my applique quilts, scraps can go a long way. I am pretty streamline in what I like to keep around in the majority of my life, but when it comes to scraps I am a hoarder. Jeanette taught me that every little piece of fabric is very valuable and so I must save them all. I am sure most of you feel the same way. But in order to use your scraps efficiently, you need to be able to retrieve them easily and keep them stored in an organized fashion that allows you to do this. I am constantly working on this part. So as part of my spring cleaning I have torn apart my work room and am re-tackling my scraps. So far I am really pleased with the solution I have come up with so I thought I would share it with you.

Before I had my scraps in a bunch of clear stackable boxes as shown above, but I just threw them in as I got them and they were not organized by color. I liked to be able to see them, but they looked pretty messy stacked up in my closet.

Now they are neatly tucked away and labeled by color in these clean white drawers! Here’s what I did.

First I separated all of my scraps by color in piles. This part was the biggest pain, it took some time, but luckily I had a lot of Modern Family episodes to catch up on while I sorted.

Then I put each color in its own (some colors required 2) clear plastic bag. The bags I used are about 14″ X 16″, but anything close to that will work. I used 2 Ikea Helmer organizers both in white   ( you may be able to get away with 1, depending on how many colors you have) and stacked them on top of each other, than gave each color a drawer.

Now anytime I need a color, I can just pull out the whole bag, rifle through it and put it back. I love it! What do you think? I think I may have finally found my permanent scrap solution!

Now that my scraps are done, I can move on the the rest of the mess. I will let you know when it is all pretty and perfect.

Quick Tips & Tools: Sandpaper Tabs

This is by far the best, most inexpensive, quick little trick you can do to improve your quilting. Apply sand paper tabs to your ruler. That is it! It is super cheap and takes seconds. They completely stabilize your ruler while you are cutting. So now all of your fabric pieces will be the size they are supposed to be and not 1/4″ larger on the spot that your ruler slipped.   I have tried every fancy ruler out there that is supposed to help with slipping while rotary cutting. There are fancy handles, little rubber bumps and a million other things, but none of them work as well as the sand paper tabs and they are all a lot more expensive. So do yourself a favor and come and buy a package of these little lovelies and slap them onto every quilting ruler you own. You will thank me later.

Quick Tips & Tools: Scallop Scissors!

We have searched high and low for a scissor that will create a fabulous scallop edge on all fabrics. Finally we had to have our own made! These are fantastic! They come in 3 different sizes,small (pink), Medium (aqua) & Large (red) . Think of all of the beautiful projects you can create! The possibilities are endless!We have been going a little nutty with them, they are our new favorite tool! You can purchase them through our website here: Scallop Scissors, or in the shop.

Quick Tips & Tools: Bamboo Batting!

Can you believe that they can turn this into a batting? Bamboo is all of  the rage lately in textiles! Maybe you have heard of bamboo towels or sheets. But now it is being made into quilt batting, and we are huge fans! We do a lot of hand work around here, including hand quilting and bamboo batting has replaced wool or silk for us.  We like it better and it is less expensive . It is super smooth like silk, but also is fresh and fluffy like cotton.  We love it for machine quilting too, you can quilt up to 8″ apart! It is naturally antibacterial , and only shrinks about 2% when 1st washed. Plus there is that whole save the planet thing, Bamboo is very green because it grows so quickly. It is one of our must have favorites around here, and we are pretty sure once you try it, it will be one of yours too.

 

Quick Tips & Tools: Tessa!

Here is a fab new tool that will make a perfect gift for the creative person that has it all! The new Tessa Scissors from Gingher. Hello, my name is Erin and I have a scissor problem.  Seriously , can you really ever have too many scissors? I needed these in both sizes to add to my collection. Gingher puts out a different designer series scissor each year, sometimes, I am not so fond of the print, and other times I go nuts for them. The Tessa is one I am nuts for! Besides the fact that these are so pretty, they are the best little embroidery & applique scissors. The large shears are excellent as well! So leave a hint for your hubby, kids, or just go and get em on your own.

Quick Tip: Thangles!!! & Contest

So this is my very 1st quilt! I made it about 10 years ago. It is funny to look at it now, because I never would pair these fabrics together today, but I love the look of them. I literally just grabbed fabrics and threw them together in about ten minutes. Jeanette taught me to quilt, and the very first lesson I learned was how to use Thangles. Once I knew how they worked, I whipped up quilt after quilt, without needing another lesson for a while. Once you can use Thangles there are a lot of quilt patterns that seem easy to you. Jeanette used Thangles in the Perfect Pinwheels quilt shown on the blog a few weeks ago. So I am going to give you a quick how-to Demo on using Thangles, and I am sure you will love them as much as I do.

Thangles are used to make half square triangles which can be used in quilt patterns a number of different ways. I am going to show you how to make them into a Pinwheel. When you make a half square triangle without Thangles, they seem to never turn out perfect, no matter how careful you are. The reason is because you are working on bias, and bias stretches, so you usually get a finished product that is stretched out of whack. Thangles are a a paper that is attached to your work until you are all done with the block, the paper prevents your fabric from stretching! Also you don’t have to do any math with Thangles ( no more dealing in 7/8th’s)  it is done for you. Just purchase the Thangle that is marked the size that you would like your finished block to be. So if you need a 3.5″ block that is 3″ finished in the quilt, you use a 3″ Thangle. Simple! I am making pinwheels that need to be 6″ finished so I am using the 3″ Thangles in this demo.  So Lets Go!

You will need your 2 different fabrics that make up your half square triangle.

1. Cut a strip of fabric in both colors that is as long and as wide as the Thangle. I always cut mine about 1/8″ larger on both sides of the Thangle, but you can cut it the exact size, either way is fine. I am a fast messy quilter and having that extra fabric allows me to be a little less careful, and I just cut if off later.

#2 Line your 2 strips up, right sides together and place your Thangle sheet on top. Place one pin across each set of lines.

#3 Now take it to the machine and sew directly across all of the dotted lines.

#4 Trim any excess fabric from the sides of your Thangle and cut on every solid line.

#5 you will have little triangles that look just like the photo above. Each size Thangle has a different amount per sheet, so you may have more than four. Do not take the paper off yet!

#6 Press your square open with the fabric attached. Now you can tear the paper off the back, as shown below.

#7 Yay! You now have a finished Thangle. This is all I used to make my first quilt shown above! But I am needing pinwheels for my current project, so just a few more steps and we have a perfect pinwheel!

#8 You will need 4 Thangles to make 1 Pinwheel. Sew 2 pairs together (1/4″ seams of course) in the format shown below. Make sure to press both open towards the light fabric. This way your seams will butt for a perfect center to the block when all you put your 2 pairs together.

#9 Now sew your 2 pairs together as shown below. Make sure your seams butt up to one another and feel like they fit perfectly. Press Open. You now have an absolutely perfect pinwheel that was made with ease! If you have someone in your life that want to learn quilting, just teach them how to use some Thangles! They are especially fun for younger ones wanting to get in on the action.

We sell Thangles in the shop and on our website if you would like to give some a try!

CONTEST!!!!!

We are giving a way a complete set of Thangles , all sizes!!!! Here is what you have to do: Share this demo, either on Facebook or on your blog. Leave a comment here or on the Facebook link and let us know that you did and we will draw a winner in a week! Good Luck!!!