Needle Snobbery

Hi everyone,
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful fall weather! The last few days have been spectacular. Even more spectacular than the weather are the wins my favorite baseball team manages to post. What is the best way to deal with the anxiety of your favorite team not scoring until the 7th inning? Why, it is having some handwork to keep your hands busy! Also, it keeps me from looking at the television during the stressful parts.

I am enjoying one of our great Block of the Month programs called Stonefield's. I wish I could say I had this many done, but alas - the credit for these beauties goes to our BOM leader, Christina. I have learned much about English paper piecing and other hand piecing techniques as we go along.
And what do we all need whether we are hand sewing, hand piecing, English paper piecing, or doing applique?  We need the perfect needle! My friends all tease me about my love for needles. I have come to be known as the "Needle Snob" around the shop. I find that the right needle gives me just the look I want when I am doing handwork. Over the next few weeks, I will post some information about different types of hand sewing needles and how they are used.

Today, I will start with the basic three: sharps, milliner/straw, and betweens. 
Hand sewing needles come in a variety of types and sizes. As the size of the needle goes up (the higher the number), the length and thickness of the needle decreases. So a needle labeled as "size 1" is longer and thicker than a needle labeled "size 8".

How do you choose needles for your project? 

As a rule of thumb, the finer your fabric, the finer the needle you should use. The needles should pass through the fabric without making a larger hole than is needed for the thread to pull through.

Sharps are great for many hand sewing projects. They are my favorite for hand sewing bindings to the quilt. Sharps have a medium length and a round eye that works with most fabrics. They are sturdy and versatile.

Milliners (or straw needles) are longer than sharps and have round eyes. These needles are commonly used for millinery work (hat making) but work well for basting and applique due to their longer lengths. Milliners are more flexible than sharps. 

Betweens are short, skinny, stout needles that are used for fine, short stitches. They are most           often used for hand quilting. 

Retrieved 10.18.15 from: www.sewingschool.org

Stay tuned for more needle snobbery next week!

Octoberfest and a Bus Trip

(Photo courtesy of Bill DeArmond)

What a festive air in Eudora yesterday! We enjoyed working and laughing together, the sights and smells of Octoberfest on Main Street, and our many visitors from the fall bus trip. We even had a visitor from as far away as California!

However, our most special visitor arrived in an original 1960 Corvette and spent quite some time in front of the shop. We had a hard time getting him interested in a quilt project, but he finally did agree to some photos.  Christina, Kaye, Mindy and I could not resist - who could turn down a picture with Elvis?

And before I forget, check your calendars ahead for a special class opportunity! Karen Styles will be visiting Quilting Bits and Pieces October 19 and 20. Classes will be listed on the website and a sit and sew is planned Monday evening on the 19th. More details are available at the shop!

Hope to see you soon,
Marilyn

Time to reflect

It's such a busy world out there, isn't it? I was fortunate to have a few days off last week and enjoyed a beautiful lake surrounded by flowers and trees just beginning to show signs of their fall colors.
While I enjoyed the outdoors, I also took my sewing basket. Handwork is  an important way I spend time in reflection.

One of my very favorite things to do when I need time to think and plan is to crochet! My fingers know what to do and my mind can be free to wander. My favorite crochet project is hemstitching baby blankets, burp cloths and bibs. Hemstitching is an old technique where a special machine is used to punch holes at certain intervals at the edges of a piece and then overlock the edges for a finish to prevent raveling. Crochet edgings are then added for some bling.
Remember the old style pillow cases and table cloths with crochet edges? That is hemstitching!  Here is an example of a pre-prepared baby blanket and bib from Ammee and Co. that are hemstitched with crochet cotton. So fun to do. There are great crochet tutorials on YouTube and we also have examples at the shop. Now, you can even hemstitch with a regular sewing machine. There are large needles available specifically for punching the holes and the overlock is done with a combo zig-zag/overlock stitch. I haven't tried it yet, but it's on my sewing "bucket list".

Hope to see you soon,
Marilyn

Show & Tell plus Visitors!

What a beautiful Saturday to be out and about!
Speaking of beautiful - we got to start our day off with a great show and tell project. This is Kendee (and her granddaughter) with with her "tree quilt". This quilt was inspired by Kendee's son and daughter-in-law to honor their wedding anniversary.  The quilt represents initials carved in a tree trunk as a symbol of enduring love. The red heart is embroidered with the couple's initials and wedding date and the quilting was done to resemble the patterns seen on a living tree. A simple and very creative idea. Don't tell - the lucky couple will be receiving this as a Christmas gift.
Great job, Kendee - thanks for sharing this with us.


Next, we had some visitors. It's fun to find out where our visitors come from - sometimes other states and interesting places. We had a nice visit with sisters Carol (on the left) and Judy (on the right). Judy hails from Colorado and Carol from Wellsville!  Our Cottage Rose quilt makes a great backdrop for a photo!


We were especially pleased to see Dennis and Kathy stop by today. They were participating in the MS 150 which is an annual bike event covering 150 miles!! The MS 150 raises money for research to help those affected by multiple sclerosis - a great cause.  Dennis even got a few
more miles in while Kathy did a little shopping. That is teamwork!

And, we did not forget about our chores! Peggy and I kept busy getting those fat quarter shelves refilled. Each folded fat quarter has a place - we got all the way around from the purples to the greens.  How do you like our shop selfie?
I think we are ready now for some more visitors!


Have a great weekend, and we hope to see you soon -
Marilyn

(All photos with permission)

Hi everyone,
I'm Marilyn Parker- one of the Quilt Shop Gals! Mostly, I work at Quilting Bits and Pieces on Saturdays. I say "work" because although we have a lot to do, it is some of the most fun work I could imagine. I love to see all the new fabrics, show and tell items, discuss new projects and meet friends and customers. The ladies have given me an opportunity to try my hand at blogging so I hope to become a regular contributor for all things going on around the shop. I would like to feature some of our new items and projects, guest speakers, classes, tips for sewing, and more. I would love to post pictures (with permission) of show and tell items, so please let our employees know when you have a project to share.

A little bit about me:  I was taught to sew and crochet by my talented grandmothers. My first sewing lessons involved garments. I made all my own clothes from junior high through high school. My maternal grandmother also quilted and I was always curious about it. When I was expecting my 3rd child, I asked her to teach me. I ordered a baby blanket kit from one of the magazines and got it together. Grandmother got the big frame out and put in the quilt. She showed me how to do the hand quilting. She watched me take about 10 stitches (I'm not exaggerating!) and said something like, "Oh, you better let me take care of that". Next thing I knew, she presented me with the finished baby quilt! I just figured I was't cut out for quilting. Fortunately, I still wanted to learn, so much later enrolled in a basic quilt making class and the rest is history.

I love the fall - it's a perfect time to take stock and plan my winter projects. Did you know September is National Sewing Month? Check out the National Sewing Month website for some interesting links, newsletters, and information. This month, I found some great tutorials to make mitered corner table napkins. So easy! It's a great way to use up fat quarter packs and potentially a great gift item for the upcoming holidays.
I started with a baker's dozen from a fat quarter pack. I'm excited to use them for an every day treat!

Happy Sewing!

Marilyn

Shibori Workshop

Have you noticed the upcoming workshop titled "The Mysteries of Shibori" on our class schedule?  Perhaps you are wondering what it is and why we are so excited about it.  We have invited Cindy Lohbeck from Hands on Hand Dyeing to tell you a bit about this technique and give you a bit of information about what we will be doing and what some shibori panels can look like when they are finished:

When I was recently asked to teach a class on Shibori fabric dyeing, my mind and my dye studio went in to high gear. While I have done fabric dyeing and various types of Shibori for over 30 years this request triggered a focused study that kept me fascinated with the possibilities of this workshop.

 

With the Indigo Dye & Shibori craze sweeping the design world, it was a good kick-start for a long overdue addition to my line of fabric dyeing classes.

 

But where would I start? Shibori is a very broad, "umbrella" term for a vast array of techniques. How would I ever narrow down to a workshop what I had spent years exploring? With its roots in Japan, India and Africa, Shibori can easily become a long-term creative exploration. Each culture puts their own "twist" on it (pun intended!) and consequently, the variety of Shibori methods are endless.  While some of these techniques are deceivingly easy, many are laborious and time consuming. I know that with the addition of a few modern tools and innovative, time saving techniques, Shibori can be much more accessible for today's fiber artists

 

 

Technically, it is taking a 2 dimensional piece of fabric, and manipulating it into a 3 dimensional fabric "sculpture" by using a variety of tools, folds, stitches and tucks. These tools, folds, stitches and tucks create "resists", or areas where dye cannot penetrate. The resulting patterning possibilities are limitless! I quickly dusted off my bucket of Shibori tools - things you would hardly associate with fabric dyeing, including various sizes of marbles, and rubber bands, plumbing pipes, plastic template shapes, a variety of clamps, and a wide range of thread, string and sinew. Many of these tools had been put aside for several years while in pursuit of other creative endeavors, but I could feel the creative juices flowing. I spent the next 3 months working up samples of each Shibori method I wanted to include in the workshop, feverishly stitching and binding, folding, clamping, twisting and wrapping. The samples that came about were fun and inspiring, and spurred me on to dye some drapery panels for my own home.

 

As I explored the various techniques, and considered the best classroom experience, it became clear that even if I narrowed it down to 7 or 8 styles, it would still need to be a 2 day experience. The idea of giving a classroom of student the identical tools, fabric, and fabric manipulation techniques and ample time for fabric prep on the first day. Day two would begin by introducing several different dye possibilities for each folding method. This would allow every student to put their own twist on each technique, whether they chose traditional Indigo, or a multitude of colors. The diversity of the fabrics that would "unfold" is intriguing to dream about.  One of my favorite examples is this Ne-Maki style Shibori, otherwise known as ring bound Shibori, is traditionally created by binding beads or other small spherical objects with thread. In the example pictured below, I bound the fat quarter very densely with irregular marbles and very small rubber bands. Even though the fat quarter was reduced to the size of my fist, this is a fairly fast technique,  and the results are amazing. (While I love playing in buckets of every color imaginable, I chose to do all of my sampling in traditional Indigo. By keeping it simple, each participant can visualize her own approach to the project.)

 

 

As my workshop took shape, and I narrowed the number of styles of Shibori down to a class that gives each participant a diverse and complete experience, I explored techniques known as Itajime, Kumo, Ne-Maki, Karamatsu, Suji, Nui, and several variations of Arashi Shibori. Somewhere along the way, I developed my favorites, and know which styles of Shibori piqued my creative passions. I will definitely continue my personal experimentation in these styles, beyond the scope of the classroom environment, and am grateful the workshop has re-ignited my passion for Shibori. I am excited about the fabrics I envision in my minds eye, and how I will execute them with the tools and techniques I have acquired. Most of all, I can't wait to pass the fun on! I know that at least one person in every workshop will catch the Shibori fever and continue to stitch and bind, fold, clamp, twisting and wrap their way into some beautiful and unique Shibori fabrics.

 

Ready to sign up?  You can click on the classes tab of our website -- www.eudoraquiltshop.com  for all the details.  Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

 

Going Crazy - with crazy quilt stitches!

June 21, 2013

 

As if life isn’t crazy enough, Kaye and I have gotten hooked playing with crazy quilt stitches and blocks.  Since we love twilling, we decided to start adding other stitches to our twilling projects which then led to playing with all kinds of crazy quilt stitches, which in turn, led to experimenting with silk ribbon embroidery and beads.  

 

 

Oh, the beads! The crazy quilt blocks I have been working on are made with brighter, more modern looking fabric which lends itself perfectly to BLING!  I started out with just a few beads, but then I had to keep adding more and more and more. 

 

 

Kaye is using more vintage style fabric and silk ribbon embroidery looks great on it.  She has been using several different widths and types.  She has used some hand dyed which is beautiful.  The quilt shop has also started to carry a larger variety of silk ribbons and beads - and books related to crazy quilting. 

Getting started on a crazy quilt block is very simple.  We have been foundation piecing our basic block using Carol Daok’s paper piecing paper.  Patterns for the blocks are available in many books and EQ computer software.  I’m sure you can also google it and come up with some patterns OR simply take a ruler and drawn lines through a square at different angles and you have now made your own pattern. 

Then pick a variety of fabrics using many different types of fabrics (cotton, velveteen, wovens, silk …) and piece your block.   After removing the paper from the back of the block, we then iron on a fusible stabilizer to the back or if you foundation piece with the pattern drawn on fabric, you won’t need to do this as the foundation will act as a stabilizer. 

Now the real fun begins.  We look through all kinds of crazy stitch books and pictures of crazy quilts to look for ideas for what we want to accomplish.   We usually start by decorating the seams in the block and then fill in the open areas with a variety of stitches and embellishments.  It is much easier to do all the stitching first, then add the embellishments.  If the buttons, beads, or silk ribbon are added as you go, your thread will catch on EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM as you try to complete other stitches on the block.  So, we suggest you plan out what you want to do, but wait until the stitching is complete before adding the embellishments. 

If you are in Eudora area, you are welcome to come by Quilting Bits & Pieces and take a look at the blocks we have completed.  We also have a Crazy Quilt Club that meets once a month.  The charge is only $5.00 and you have the option of purchasing a kit for $10.00

I hope you get as excited about this as I am.  And PLEASE bring in any completed (or partially completed) blocks.  We love show and tell. 

Christina

(the proud grandma of Will, Olivia, Luke, Brady, and new twins: Lincoln and Audrey pictured here)