My 2020 Workshops and Guild Talks

Posted on November 24, 2019 by zippyquilts

I have updated my list of workshops and guild talks, so I’m publishing it here. Please pass along to anyone who may be looking for presenters.

Guild talks:

“What is Modern Quilting?” The Modern Quilt Guild has their own definition, but I find that there is not much new under the sun and illustrate this with slides of quilts by the Amish, Gees Bend, Gwen Marston, and others, as well as many quilts shown at QuiltCon, the Modern Quilt Guild’s annual conference.
“Improvisational Quilting” I illustrate this with many quilts of my own and have a post on my blog that goes with the presentation for those who want to try improvising. Here’s the link for the post: https://zippyquilts.blog/2019/11/03/improvising/I also have three improvisation workshops, two beginner and one advanced.

Workshops:

YOW! Learn 3 Ways to Piece Curves (6 hours)

In this class you will make lively quarter circle blocks that can be assembled in multiple ways depending on your preference. Three different methods for piecing the curves will be taught, so you can try them all and decide what works best for you. This quilt can be very traditional (think Drunkard’s Path) or very modern depending on your color choices and how you want to arrange the blocks. There is no pattern for this class, but the supply list does include templates.

——————————————————————————————————————–Intro to Improvisational Quilt Blocks (6 hours, but can be shortened to 3 hours)Bring your scraps and learn 3 ways to improvise quilt blocks, then consider ways to combine them into an original quilt.

——————————————————————————————————————-Improvisational Design: Table Runner (6 hours)

This is a challenging class in which you will design your own table runner using nontraditional methods. You will learn about choosing fabrics, designing focal points, and changing your design when you don’t like the way it’s going. Your runner will not look like mine; it will be your own!

——————————————————————————————————————–Wonky Stars (3 hours)This is an easy introduction to improvisational design. Bring your scraps and learn to make wonky stars and choose colors that will go well together in a small quilt.

——————————————————————————————————————-Quilt-As-You-Go (QAYG) 3 Ways (6 hours)

QAYG has been around at least since the 1970s, when long arm quilting wasn’t really available. Although we have many more options now, QAYG remains one way to quilt an entire top yourself without having to maneuver a large quilt on your domestic machine or quilt by hand. We will learn 3 QAYG techniques in the morning, and you’ll get started with the technique you like best in the afternoon. Make a quilt like my sample, or bring a pattern of your choice and I’ll help you figure out how to use QAYG with it.

——————————————————————————————————————–Alien Among the Stars (6 hours)

This is a fun class in which to learn how to make wonky stars and a couple of easy ways to applique the alien. The stars can be made from bright scraps or from yardage. The alien can be made from Kraft-Tex or from fabric. I will discuss the pros and cons of using Kraft-Tex for applique and you can check it out on my sample before you decide what you want to do.

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Some of these workshops will be offered as classes at Studio Stitch in Greensboro (NC).

Any feedback on these offerings is appreciated. Is there something I should add? Something that’s been overworked that I should remove?

Have a good week!

Yikes! Prewashing Quilt Fabric!

Posted on November 17, 2019 by zippyquilts

You’ve probably heard all you care to about whether or not to prewash fabrics before including them in a quilt. I’ve gone both ways from time to time and settled on a middle ground: I treat batiks with Retayne and often do not wash regular printed fabric unless it is intensely colored.

But every once in a while there’s a shock…

I always put a Color Catcher in when I prewash fabric, and it does a great job of picking up any stray dye in the wash. So I was very surprised to see the spots shown above on my sheets! (At least I had the sense not to prewash that fabric with my husband’s dress shirts!)

Here’s the fabric:

It’s from a major manufacturer and came from a quilt shop. I just decided to prewash because the color is so intense.

I washed this 3-yard cut 3 times, and here are the 3 color catchers:

Finally, I gave up on the prewash and treated it with Retayne. (Retayne wash requires my tea kettle and a bucket, since water temp needs to be 140 and tap water is too far below that.) I’m still going to rub this fabric hard with a wet cotton swab to test for colorfastness before I use it in a quilt!

So, do you prewash your fabrics?

Kraft-Tex Tray

Posted on November 10, 2019 by zippyquilts

The folks at C&T just sent me a package of the beautiful new hand-dyed, prewashed, Kraft-Tex. (Please note that they provide this to me with no obligation and I do not get a kickback if you buy it. However, if your local quilt shop doesn’t carry it, you can get it directly from C&T here.)

The denim blue called to me first, and I needed a little tray to go beside my machine. Unless my tools are “corralled” they tend to roll or bounce off the table when I sew. The fabric tray I’ve been using was looking a little tired (the sides had sort of collapsed) and I thought Kraft-Tex would be a good material for making a sturdier tool tray.

I made a prototype from cardboard first to figure out the best size and shape for my tools. Here are instructions for making the tray in case you want one, too:

Cut the Kraft-Tex 6-1/2″ x 8″ and mark (with a heat-erasable pen) 1″ in from each side. Put a #70 needle in the sewing machine, lengthen the stitch a little, and remove the thread. Stitch around the central rectangle without thread to mark the edges of the tray base and kind of score the Kraft-Tex so it will fold well on those lines. Fold and press along these lines–it’s fine to fold all the way to the edge even though it wasn’t necessary to sew that far.

This picture was taken later in the process, but you can see where the material was pressed along the fold lines. You can press either with or without steam; both work fine without distorting the Kraft-Tex.

Select your lining fabric and cut it 1″ bigger than the Kraft-Tex in both length and width; my lining fabric was cut 7-1/2″ x 9″. Fuse the lining material to some stiff interfacing, then apply Heat’n’Bond or your favorite fusible web to the interfacing.

Once all of that is fused, cut the lining down to 7″ x 8-1/2″ using either a pinking blade in your rotary cutter or your pinking shears. Or, if you don’t want a decorative edge, just cut the edge straight. NOTE that if you use a pinking blade in your rotary cutter, you will want to cut on the back side of your cutting mat because the blade can kind of chew up the mat. Also, the blade will chew up the edge of your ruler, so either use an old ruler or cut about 1/8″ away from the ruler.

Now lay the Kraft-Tex down on the fusible side of the trimmed lining. Note that Kraft-Tex has a slightly different texture on each side, but there is no “right” side–use the one you like best. Get everything centered, then turn the decorative edge to the outside and clip it in place with something heatproof. Fuse the edges, then the central part of the lining, to the Kraft-Tex. Again, you can use steam if it helps.

Now put some thread in the machine! Sew around the edges of the tray bottom where you previously pressed the sides up. I marked the edges again with heat-erasable marker to make this easier. This step will help hold the lining in place. Edge stitch around the upper edge of the tray as well

Now don’t do what I did 😉 I mistakenly cut out all 4 corners on my first box. Just cut one side of each corner to create a flap that can be used to hold the box together!

Here’s how the corner will look finished–see the flaps?

Fold and press the box along the stitching lines bordering the bottom. Fold the flaps in and glue or sew them in place. I glued them, then sewed a decorative X in each corner. I used the awl shown in the picture to punch little holes for the needle to go through when I made the X stitches by hand.

And that’s it! The resulting tray looks plenty sturdy to hold those little tools beside my machine. And besides, it was fun to make something new!

What have you been up to?

Improvising

Posted on November 3, 2019 by zippyquilts

I’m doing a trunk show focused on improvisation for the Heart of the Triad Quilt Guild tomorrow–please come if you’re in the North Carolina Triad area. To help me update my talk, this post is focused on some of my favorite ways to improvise in quilting. .

The first time I recall improvising was about 20 years ago when I had scraps left from this quilt (made while we lived near Pennsylvania Amish country):

I combined the scraps with yellow and just sewed them together in strips, then blocks, to make a quilt for the friend who helped me choose colors for the Amish quilt.

Improv quilt blocks I made about 10 years ago

Combining scraps from a single project, sometimes with the addition of another fabric for “spark”, remains one of my favorite ways to improvise. I no longer cut the scraps into strips; I just start sewing.

Whirlwind, my 2014 Quilt Alliance challenge quilt, finished 20″ x 20″

The quilt above won a judge’s choice award, possibly because some of the pieces in it finish as small as 1/4″.

Another favorite way to improvise a design is by modifying a traditional block. Sometimes I cut off part of it, sometimes I stretch or distort it, sometimes I scatter the pieces around. Here are a few examples.

Rising Star, made for the Quilt Alliance TWENTY contest in 2013, finished 20″ x 20″

Zippy Star I

I have done a number of things with those pesky orphan blocks (blocks left over from previous projects). I swear they multiply when I’m not looking 😉 One option I like is to cut them into circles and applique them onto a different background: