Hawaiian Quilting

Hawaii holds a special place for me. It is where my husband proposed to me, and a year later where we married. While I had quilted for years, before we married, I had never made a Hawaiian quilt. I decided to tackle a "king size" Hawaiian Quilt for our bedroom. With my work schedule, it took me two years to finish this quilt! But I've made many Hawaiian Quilts since. A variety of styles and sizes (more king, queen, twin, lap and wallhanging sizes of various colors and designs). I still love Hawaiian Quilts and plan to make more.

In keeping with Hawaiian tradition, my first Hawaiian quilt was a breadfruit design. The thought is that if you start with the breadfruit quilt for your home, you will have a fruitful life, never hungering for wisdom or knowledge. They also say that this tradition is a spiritual journey, where by starting with the breadfruit quilt Hawaiian quilting will become part of your life. I must confess it did become part of my life.

As I'm currently in Hawaii, I thought I'd post a photo of one of my Hawaiian Quilts. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of this design, but believe it is one of the historical quilt designs that is part of the collection of quilt patterns available for free tracing in the public libraries.





























Here are some wonderful companies that design and sell beautiful Hawiian quilt designs that you can buy in pattern, book, or kit form.

Hawaiian Quilting http://hawaiianquilting.net/

Pacific Rim Quilt Company http://www.prqc.com/

Poakalani Hawiian Quilt Designs http://shoppoakalani.com/

Quilt Hawaiian http://www.quilthawaiian.com/

Also, while this is late notice, Nalani Goard is teaching an Hawaiian Quilting class at the Mission Houses Museum in Honolulu, starting this coming Saturday. This class is only $6 with a purchase of a starter kit (what a deal to learn Hawaiian Quilting from a professional). I'm sure every that is able to attend this class will have a wonderful time!















Aloha!

Metallic Thread Investigation

Metallic threads add bling to machine embroidery designs, as well as free hand quilting. But, many find that using metallic threads is too painful and give up the bling that these beautiful threads can provide.

I wanted to investigate different brands of metallic thread to see how much the experience of working with these threads can vary from brand to brand, as well as how the outcome might vary in bling. My investigation has taken me longer than anticipated. In fact my investigation is still on-going, but I felt I wanted to provide an update on what I'm doing.

I tested 20+ spools of metallic thread, representing a broad spectrum of manufacturers. The brands include: Coats & Clark, Guetermannn, Madeira, Metler, Robinson Anton, Signature,Sulky,and
YLI.
















My evaluation test uses two different designs, one a light thread count design and the other a higher thread count design, with some solid fill areas. At this point, I've completed stitchouts of the lightweight designs and have formed my opions, but am also in the process of performing a blind study evaluation of the level of bling each brand of thread provides.

While I plan to complete this evaluation and post my findings in late May, I can share with you that at this point I found all threads acceptable, with the exception of one. On particular thread seemed to pull the metallic coating from the core part of the thread, leaving the final result of the stitch out to have a poor quality bling. While I tried different needles, speed settings and stabliziers, I was unable to resolve the issues with this particular thread. I currently have someone else testing this particular brand, to see if they are able to resolve the problems I experienced. Overall, the majority these threads stitched out perfectly on first test, but a few had one or more thread breaks. For threads where I had problems with breaks, those were retested with different machine speeds, needles, fabric and stablizer, but for the most part all each re-test resulted in similar breakage.

The design used for this initial test is from Designs By Sick. It is a nice design that stitches out easily for metallic and non-metallic threads.
















I hope you'll check back late May, when I complete my investigation on Metallic Threads.

Quilting Wishes

I love many forms of quilting, but scrap quilting is definitely one of my favorite. I don't view that I am good with color, but I do enjoy seeing how various scraps come together. I also enjoy hearing the stories of what was thought by the quilter, when they were making a particular quilt, especially when the quilt is to be given away to someone. As such, I thought I'd share one of my currently quilting and machine embroidery projects with you.

This particular quilt uses the Bento Box design,by Tracey Brookshier, I find extremely easy and fun to make. Tracey's instructions are also well written and easy to understand, making this design perfect for a quilter of any level. Most Bento Box quilts have coordinated fabrics, but I also love this pattern for scrap quilting. I also took a different twist in the design, by using a large block to machine embroider (ME) on.




















I decided to ME on this particular quilt as I wanted to add words of encouragement, words of healing, and words to motivate. As this is a charity quilt that I'm making for Camp Reach For The Sky (CR4TS), I thought of the recipient who has fought a battle with cancer. I want this person to be able to wrap themself in this quilt to feel secure and comfy, and I want them to stay healthy forever! And every stitch on this quilt I think positively of this young person and their family, while I stitch in my best wishes.






















I selected an embroidery design set(Kanji Design Pack) from
Emblibrary. EmbLibrary has many wonderful designs, but when I saw this Kanji set I felt it would be perfect for this quilt.





















The border to this quilt will be a black fabric, but I'm still searching for the right fabric. With luck, I'll find the appropriate fabric and be able to finish the borders on this quilt soon, as I want to be able to drop this quilt off at Rosie's Calico Cupboard, in May, and hope for a volunteer longarmer to quilt it. The camps for these kids are in the summmertime, and I'm hopeful it will find a home with a young person this summer!

Sharyn Craig

One of my reasons to start a blog was to research and learn more about various aspects of quilting, machine embroidery and sewing. I don’t want to ever come across trying to present myself as an expert, as I will never be an expert at anything. But I do so enjoy learning from experts in their field.

To me, Sharyn Craig is certainly one of the most outstanding quilting experts in this field, and I think she has contributed to help an endless numbers of quilters develop their skills as well as providing a written legacy that will help many quilters in years to come.

Many realize that Sharyn has an excellent background. She obtained a BA in Home Economics from San Diego State University. She has taught quilting since 1980, as well a became a famous author of a numerous amount of books and magazine articles.

While rumors about Sharyn’s retirement led myself and many others to believe Sharyn would completely leave the world of quilting with her retirement in 2009, it really is a matter that Sharyn has retired from traveling and teaching. While she may agree to an emergency substitute teaching at a conference, or something along these lines, her retirement goal is to no longer focus on traveling and teaching. She continues to be an active quilter and writer. She is active in a Prayers and Squares chapter, and views this is a wonderful reason to make quilts.

Not spending so much time traveling and teaching, Sharyn is finding more time to enjoy spending with her two grandchildren (nearly 10 and almost 7) that live in Germany. She now has time to travel to Germany, as well as enjoys being in town when they come to visit! She is really enjoying her freedom by not making 25 trips a year for teaching.

As a quilt book author, Sharyn pursued a unique style of writing. She didn’t focus on writing pattern books, but her goal was to help teach quilters how to do it on their own, by focusing on techniques and providing a lot of pictures. While all the books that Sharyn has written are truly wonderful, and very helpful, her book “Setting Solutions”, is one that should be viewed as a must have in every quilter’s library. Setting solutions helps quilters learn techniques to fix problems with blocks (size differential, color issues, orphans, etc.).

In addition to the 13 books that Sharyn has published to-date, she continues to write. She will have four new titles coming out this year: two at Spring Market, one mid-summer, and one due out at Fall Market. Sharyn will also be making at Cozy Quilt Shop on May 30th at 10am for a presentation, trunk show and book signing of two new books, published under Cozy Quilt Designs: Half Log Cabin Quilts and Layer Em Up Volume 1.




















Chitra Publications was the first publisher that Sharyn worked with. Her writing actually started when the owner of that company sat in her living room and said "What book do you want to write? I want to publish it." . . . well, the rest is history. She published 3 books with C&T: The Art of Classic Quiltmaking (co-authored with Harriet Hargrave), Setting Solutions, and Great Sets.























Martingale & Company  will be releasing her book “Quilt Challenges: what if ideas for color and design” this summer. It was co-authored with Pam Mostek. And Cozy Quilt Publications will be releasing 3 of her books this year (Half Log Cabin Quilts and Layer Em Up Volume 1).

While Sharyn has officially retired from teaching, you may be lucky enough to see her when she travels for book promotional tours. She will be at Spring Market, the Quilt Festival in Long Beach, and signing books at local quilt shops.

I always struggle with what to say when I meet someone as talented and famous as Sharyn Craig, but I have learned that she is a very warm and thoughtful person, one that truly likes to give of herself to help others. I believe this has been visible to anyone that has taken a class with Sharyn. And for all of us, her gift to us is now the legacy she offers us through the books she writes for us. If I were to meet Sharyn I would say, you are “inspirational”, your quilts are “real and attainable”, “I loved your teaching style”, and I also “love your books”. But the main thing I would want to say would be “I’m happy for you that you retired, and I’m also happy you are continuing to write”.

I’m going to be eager to read Sharyn’s books this year, and will definitely look forward to future book releases in coming years, for they will always have "new" techniques to help me!

http://www.sharyncraig.com/

Virtual Quilt Show - 500+ quilts submitted

I recently read about the First Annual Online Quilt Festival and have been admiring the variety of entrees. They range from being traditional to very artistic. I've been having so much fun looking at these quilts, I decided this was something you wouldn't want to miss. And, you don't need to spend any money for gas, admission, or a hotel room.

Amy of Park City Girl, came up with a wonderful idea for this online quilt show. Currently there are 500+ quilts on display. But each quilt on display also has a story behind it, and you can take your time to view these quilts (no rush like when attending a land based quilt show). This quilt show runs From April 17th until April 24th, when all entries must be submitted. Unlike other quilt shows, photos will remain posted long after the 24th, so you certainly have plenty o time to click and view each quilt.

In the spirit of participation, I decided to enter one of my quilts in this contest. But as I am currently traveling I realized I don't have many photos of my quilts with me. Here is my entry
















This photo shows a quilt that I made while I spent the summer traveling in the Pacific Northwest, with my husband. We cruised from Anacortes, WA to North of Desolation Sound in British Columbia. Our boat, El Bucanero, is too small for me to bring a sewing machine so I ended up doing hand piecing. I decided to make a traditional quilt, similar to ones my grandmother had made, using scraps of bright colors on a white on white background.

To view all the quilts participating in this quilt festival you can click on each entry by clicking here to start. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I have.

Quilt Visions Presents Elizabeth Busch

Quilt Visions, San Diego’s premiere fiber arts organization, continually presents exciting exhibits by extremely talented quilt artists. Quilt Visions’ current exhibit is by Elizabeth Busch, a wonderful artist from Maine. Elizabeth has worked in various artistic medias, teaches, and has won numerous awards. Her professional background includes Interior Design and Architectural Design. She has taught many topics, including Color Theory. Her exhibit at Quilt Visions will run thru June 7, 2009.





















For more info on Elizabeth Busch check out her website: http://www.elizabethbusch.com/index.htm




















San Diego Quilt Visions Gallery is located at 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92106.

For more information, call (619) 546-4872, or visit www.quiltvisions.org.
Admission is Free.

Quilt Visions is located in the NTC Promenade, Liberty Station in Point Loma. This is a beautiful area of San Diego. If you are coming from out of the area, it is close to the San Diego Airport. There are some fantastic restaurants nearby, as well as hotels. While in the area, consider a visit to the historic Point Loma Lighthouse can be quite fun and it is one of my favorite places to share with out of town guests.

12 Pocket Bag

I've enjoyed making versions of my 12 pocket bag for many years. When I make them for gifts I will frequently machine embroider a design, name, or monogram on the bag print or pockets. I also make these bags and fill with goodies for charity fundraisers. They are a handy bag not just for those shopping for groceries, but for those that like to garden, quilt, go to sew-cials, or anyone in need of a lightweight bag that is willing to carry a load, yet look great while doing so.

While I am not a professional pattern maker, I wanted to share my pattern with you. You have my permission to make bags using this pattern for your own use, for gifts, or fundraisers, but not for profit.

SUPPLIES NEEDED • Fabric A: Fat quarter for lining
• Fabric B: Fat quarter yard print for bag
• Fabric C: Fat quarter for stabilizer (*)
• Fabric D: ½ yard for large pockets
• Fabric E: ½ yard for small pockets
• 3 ¼ yards web for straps
• thread to match web

CUTTING STEPS
o Fabric A: 2 pcs 18" x 18" (lining)
o Fabric B: 2 pcs 18” x 18” (bag)
o Fabric C: 2 pcs 18” x18” (stabilizer)
o Fabric D: 2 pcs 22" x 18" ( large pockets)
o Fabric E: 2 pcs 16”x18” (small pockets)
o 2 pieces of web for straps, each 58 1/2” long

(*) Stabilizer is optional if Fabric A and/or Fabric B is stiff. I sometimes use canvas for Fabric B, or vinyl for Fabric A, and then I do not use stabilizer for Fabric C. But If both Fabric A & B are lightweight fabrics, such as cotton, I will use a stiff stabilizer for Fabric C. And definitely when I decide to embroider on Fabric B, I use a heavy weight stabilizer.

BAG, BODY & LINING STEPS
1. Stack Lining & Bag fabrics together (A&B), with right sides of fabric facing each other.
2. Stack stabilizer on top of bag fabric (B&C).
3. Sew one side of fabrics using ¼” seam with right sides of (A,B,C)
4. Repeat steps 1 thru 3, to create the other side of the bag.
5. On flat surface (I prefer my cutting mat) open where print side of fabric is facing up (A&B), in an open fashion (not stacked).































POCKET STEPS
1. Fold pocket fabric print in half crosswise: pocket should now measure 11 x 18 (D). Place folded D fabric on bag print fabric (B) with fold towards top.
2. Fold pock fabric print in half crosswise; pocket should now measure 8x18 (E). Place folded E fabric on top of large pocket (D) with fold side towards the top and cut sides lined with bottom of bag print (B).
3. Pin to hold in place.





















STRAP STEPS
1. Measure and mark 5"-6" form each side of body unit: repeat for second body unit.
2. Cut web strap into two pieces, each measuring 58 ½” long.
3. Pin 1 piece of web strap inside marking starting at lower left edge looping web over top and continuing down right side.
4. Topstitch web in place starting from bottom edge of unit up to 1" below top. Repeat for second body unit. I like to topstitch my web strap down, using a ¼ inch foot with a straight stitch on each side of the web strap.


























SEWING SIDES TOGETHER STEPS
1. Place both bag sides together, with front fabrics facing each other.
2. Match points together where straps meet, pockets meet, top of bag meets and lining meets.
3. Pin to hold together at match points, corners and as appropriate.
4. Sew a seam on three sides, leaving an opening at the top end of the lining {visualize a pillowcase}. I use a ¼” straight stitch seam, followed with a zig zag seam on the edge. But you could use a serger, as well as a 5/8” seam.

























FINAL STEPS
1. Box corners of the bottom of the bag, to help it stand flat when used. I mark the corner the same on each side, typical 2-3” from the point.



























2. Turn the bag where the bag fabric is on the outside and lining is on the inside of the fabric.
3. At the open end of the lining (the end of the pillowcase) you will sew and close by pressing a ½” seam, with the folded fabric of the lining going inside, towards the seam. Once pressed, pin the two sides of the lining together and sew ¼” seam to close up the lining.
4. Push the lining back down inside of the bag.
5. At the top of the bag, pin the lining down inside of the bag. Sew a ¼” seam around the top of the bag, holding the lining down inside of the bag.

Congratulate yourself. You’ve just made a bag following instructions of a non-professional pattern maker. But feel free to email me, with any feedback to help make these instructions better. I’ll gladly revise with good constructive feedback.

Little Red Hen Quilting

Little Red Hen Quilting
Regina Woodside, owner
760-788-4862
Telephone: 760-788-4862
lrhquilting@cox.net
http://www.littleredhenquilting.com/

“Little Red Hen Quilting” is a name I just love. For me it brings back memories of my childhood visits to my grandparent’s farm. I always enjoyed watching my grandmother hand piece and hand quilt beautiful quilts. While I still love hand quilting, I love how Little Red Hen Quilting can make a quilt become more spectacular, by way of providing perfect quilting to finish off a beautifully pieced quilt top. I also believe my grandmother would have liked “Little Red Hen Quilting” too!

This long arm business is owned by Regina Woodside and is located in Ramona. Regina is a quilter that began doing long arm quilting 3+ years ago. She made the decision to pursue long arm quilting with the best equipment available, selecting a Gammil with a Statler Stitcher Computer. She offers 100+ patterns to choose from, plus offer customized quilting. The designs range from simple to highly detailed and complex patterns. So if you want a Little Red Hen on your quilt, she could certainly put some cute chickens on your quilt. To clarify, she can can work with you to customize the quilting to meet your interests, along with the particular design of your quilt. With her computerized long arm quilting, not only does she offer custom work, with edge to edge service, but she can also baste quilts for hand quilters.

While Regina enjoys working on her own quilts, she is kept busy with her long arm business and family. Thus, she doesn’t get much time for her own quilting projects. But she did share with me that she is looking forward to a quilt class with her daughter this weekend {sounds like great mother/daughter time to me}.

The “quilt seed” was planted with me by my grandmother. For Regina, the quilt seed was planted by her Great-Grandmother, who taught her to hand piece when Regina was a little girl. Regina continued on with her love of quilting throughout her life, but didn't officially become a quilter until 2003. It was after the Cedar fire in 2003, that quilting became such a big part of her life. Her church has a Prayers and Squares group (#115), and Regina officially became a quilter when she started helping this group make quilts for those impacted with the fires.

In addition to being active in her Prayers & Squares group, Regina also offers her long arm service to help with Camp Reach For The Sky and Quilts Of Valor. This very busy lady just wishes she had time to do more {I don’t think Regina knows how much she contributes now}.

One of Regina's customers entered a quilt that Regina had quilted the top and it won an award at the Del Mar Fair! Regina also has plans to someday enter a whole cloth quilt into a contest, but for now she enjoys doing long arm quilting and working with quilters to finish their projects. Actually, one of her favorite things is to see the excitement and the faces of a new quilter when their quilt has been finished. The machine quilting gives the quilts a professional finish and if the points don’t match up perfectly it doesn’t really matter anymore.

From my perspective we are very lucky to have Little Red Hen Quilting in Southern California. And I hope you will take your next quilt to Little Red Hen Quilting and give Regina a try.

Here are some photos from quilts that Little Red Hen Quilting has quilted:

EXQUISIT FLORAL QUILT
The owner of this quilt likes really small quilting.
Edge to edge in the center of the quilt with one border.























WHITE CHOCOLATE
This quilt is called White Chocolate. The owner saw a picture in a
magazine (McCalls Aug. 07) and said "I want it quilted like the
picture in the magazine." She was referring to the blocks that have
the parallel stitching, we chose the block and border patterns. It
was a wedding present for her son. Regina had fun with the borders,
notice that they go from the inside; small, large, medium.
This is a King size quilt.

























CALENDAR QUILT:
This little quilt would be an example of Heirloom Quilting. On this
one the extra's don't stop.

~All blocks, applique, and between borders were stitched in the ditch.
~Every Block was personalized with a seasonal theme of fill patterns.
~At the customers request there were snowflakes in the upper borders
by the snow flake applique and in the lower right corner she asked
for ginger bread men. You can see the gingerbread men in the santa pic.
~There is even a personal verse hidden in one of the borders.

(can you find the mouse?)

You don't get quilts like this every day. Often once a person puts
so much effort into making the top they don't want anyone to touch
it, but the quilting on this was a lovely addition to a perfectly
pieced top.






























RAMONA QUILT 2009:
This quilt Regina teamed up with another quilter in the area to do this quilt. Regina did the SID, flowers, birds and bee's and garden critters, and borders, and the other quilter did the fill.