Bedazzled

Razzle Dazzle



I guess its appropriate for a cotton quilt to have a photo shoot in front of a cotton field. Kind of like getting back to its roots.

Jacob's Ladder Continues

My ironing board cover shows the wear of pressing many quilt blocks! Here are some parts of three Jacob's Ladder blocks in progress.



A few more blocks finished.



I'm really making use of some fabric that are either truly vintage or have a vintage look.

Razzle Dazzle Quilting Progress

After setting up my sewing area for quilting I got down to the business of Free Motion Quilting "Razzle Dazzle". I cleaned the machine last weekend. I filled several bobbins. I set up the card table to the left of my chair. The needle was new, since I had broken the old one a couple of days ago. The quilt was pin basted.

So, I was off to the quilting races!

Here's one corner of the quilt.



I finished about two thirds of the quilting and will work on it for an hour or two each night this week. I hope to bind it and post the finished quilt soon.

The Mysterious Quarter Inch Seam

Achieving the perfect quarter inch seam has been haunting me since my high school home economics sewing class days.

I've tried many of the tips offered for the perfect quarter inch seam. On my old Singer the presser foot was the width of a quarter inch. I put down a piece of masking tape at the quarter inch mark. On my new Brother I use a quarter inch piecing foot.

But, even though I made sure the quarter inch was accurate, the quilt blocks never really came out the exact size they were supposed to be.

I have finally figured out this mystery....

Are you ready for the mystery to be revealed?

Here it is:

When piecing quilt blocks the size of the seam must be LESS THAN A QUARTER INCH! Its a "Scant quarter inch"! The width of the thread line, the width of the crease made when pressing, and whether or not the pieces are rotary cut or cut from templates, all go into the equation.

When I first got my quarter inch piecing foot, I thought my quilt blocks would magically all be precisely perfect. NOT!!! If I sew my seams butted up to the guide on the quarter inch foot, the blocks will be TOO small. I must sew a couple of hairs away from the guide. When I do this on a consistent basis the blocks come out the right size.

Now, some machines allow you to move the needle position a hair at a time until you get it right where you want it for that perfect quarter inch seam. My Brother machine only allows this for certain stitches, but doesn't do it for a straight seam. At least I haven't figured out how to, if it has that feature.

The bottom line is that you have to measure, measure, measure, and adjust the point that works on your machine, until your block is the right size. Your quarter inch seam may be slightly different than your friend's quarter inch seam. You have to know your own quarter inch seam.

Another point is that some blocks are easier to achieve accuracy with than others.

Sewing this block drove me crazy! The smaller the pieces the harder it is to obtain accuracy. Hardly any of these blocks were exactly the right size and they certainly didn't lay flat. I love the quilt, but just don't look too closely at how the seams match up!



Sewing these blocks is a joy! Almost every block measures 9 1/2 inches and they lay flat.




I've come to the conclusion that every time I start a new block design, I must measure the units of the block and the finished block to figure out where the seam line should be to make that particular block the right size.

In My Sewing Room - Thursday

This is my sewing chair. We bought it at a "junque" store. Rescued it would be a better description. This particular store has a tiny building with a big shelter and there is more furniture outside than in. This chair was not even under the shelter. It was sitting outside in the weather.

Its perfect for my sewing chair. I put the rug underneath it because I was scratching the wood floors.



I like the red toile fabric seat. I think someone covered the seat with the fabric and then painted the wood black with a distressed look.

WIP Wednesday

Today is WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.I have been working on two of my WIPs this week.

The Jacob's Ladder Quilt Along. Go HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS QUILT ALONG. I am making this quilt from fabrics I have on hand and am trying to give it a masculine, antique quilt feel. My inspiration is from this quilt found on the Quilting With the Past Blog FOUND HERE. I fell in love with Lucy's quilt and realized that I have lots of older similar fabrics. This quilt will be for my son, Jacob.



Razzle Dazzle:

This quilt has taken over my life which is what happens when you really make up your mind that you are going to finish a certain quilt.

After work this week I am pin basting it in preparation for machine quilting this weekend. I am using Freda's table top pin basting tutorial FOUND HERE. I have worked so hard to get it basted, even enlisting the help of the hubster! This method's positive points are that you don't have to crawl around on the floor and you don't have to find an unoccupied floor big enough to work on. But, no matter how you go about pin basting a quilt, its a J..O..B..!






No other progress on my other WIPs that I can post, but they are growing in my mind!

In My Sewing Room - Tuesday

Good Morning!

Here are a few things that make my sewing room cozy for me.

Some Bible verses taped on the wall directly in front of the sewing machine. Lately I have looked up the Sunday readings for the upcoming week and then I write down some that have special meaning for me on index cards. That way I can keep them on my mind all week, which helps me to be ready for church on the following Sunday. This is better than just hearing them in church and then promptly forgetting about it.



A few pictures of some loved ones. These are of my Jacob and my Lori when they were small, along with a special cross stitched Bible verse that I received in a blog swap box.



A cork board with more pictures of loved ones and some other special things.



Hanging on this rack is a purple scarf my daughter crocheted for my birthday one year. I will always treasure it.



These things help to make my sewing room one of my favorite places!