Tools

The Positive Value of Studying Our Machines

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Design Work, Embellishment, Embroidery, feet, Food for Thought, High-Tech Studio, Machines, Making Clothes, My micro-business, My Studio, Tools / 2 Comments

Hi everyone! Today’s machines often have wonderful features that can advance our sewing and quilting in ways we may have wished for but may not even be aware we already have such features.  Some of these machines, even the mid-level ones, require actual study, testing, and practice to bring the full capacity of what is available to owners of such machines.  Such study, practice, and testing can result in wonderful pieces that can enhance our lives dramatically.

Now I retired at the beginning of 2012 to work mostly full time as a fabric artist/art quilter.  Sew my nicely outfitted studio is a great joy to me.  Remember as you read this, that I started with a basic machine I purchased from a hardware store and sewed on my kitchen table for years, but worked my way up over the decades.  I am currently 76, have been sewing since I was about five, and plan on sewing as long as I am physically able, which may be many years from now. I know of a quilter who makes baby quilts for charities on her domestic machine and she is over 100!

I traded up for my Bernina 880 plus about three years ago and recently concluded there were things my machines would do that I did not know how to use sufficiently.  Sew, over the past year plus I have spent a good part of my studio time in studying and testing the ins and outs of my sewing machines.  Now I am a long time sewer, tailor, and quilter.  I was a professional clothing designer/maker in my mid twenties to mid thirties, and have owned high tech machines for years.  At first consideration, you might think I would not need to do this.  I have had quite a few machines and worked my way up over the years to my current fleet with trade ins, sales, and so forth and now I have a great fleet, each of which have their own uses in my sewing life with a wide range of machine complexity.

NOTE:  I will be talking about Bernina machines, since that is what I have, but I do know that other major brands have similar things available today.  You need to look in your manual, check out available online videos, and consult your dealers to find these.

My Bernina 880 plus, one of the top of the line machines they have, has the reputation for being “finicky”.  I disagree with this assessment though I understand it.  I find it extraordinarily useful and easy to use now that I have spent the time to learn how.  Does it require careful threading?  Well yes, it does, especially the bobbin, but once practiced and learned it is not difficult.  Do you have a multitude of things available so you have to sometimes look things up?  Absolutely, but Bernina also has a lot of tools available to help with that built into the machine.  Do you have to clean it and oil it carefully and on a regular basis?  Yes, you do.  Does it have many many feet that aid in doing things that require some learning?  It does, and the more you can get the more you can do or more refined your results will be.  And, in fact, Bernina has a book for that The Big Book of Feet.  It also has many videos on YouTube available to show the use of these feet.

Why just this week I learned how to transfer stitches I found in the Bernina design software for in-the-hoop embroidery to be placed and used in the sewing side of the machine!  I added a handful of additional stitches that look like hand embroidery. I plan on adding a lot more.

I very recently completed making a machine-embroidered central focus part of a new show quilt.  I worked for about six weeks designing and digitizing the centerpiece of my current project and it took me a week and a couple of days to embroider it. I ended up with an interconnecting design that required six jumbo hoopings that had to work together to meet at all the right places. I was a lot nervous that they would not match when I started out, but they did!!!! All the embroidery is wonderful and the handful of in-the-hoop appliques also came out wonderfully. I concluded from this that the Bernina 880 plus (the only Bernina that uses the entirety of the jumbo hoop) and the pin point placement that it has is a great advance for high-end in-the-hoop embroidery. So the middle section is ready to piece in and I think it is wonderful. It is on black silk dupioni and I used 40 weight trilobal polyester for the embroidery. There will be beads and buttons on the finished quilt.

I also have a Bernina Q20 longarm machine set up as a sitdown quilting machine.  I could put that on a frame, but I do not want to.  I learned to free motion quilt on my Bernina 830, which I traded for the 880 plus, and I enjoy it. Plus I enjoy sitting down to quilt (I am, after-all, getting a little creaky now that I am in my mid 70s).  Besides, I seldom make a quilt larter than 60″ wide or so.  This machine is really a simple one designed for primarily being maintained by the owner.  It is powerful and can use all the free motion Bernina feet available (so I can share them between the machines), domestic sewing machine needles (also shareable within the fleet) so you have many types for needles for various threads, and it will accept many types of quality threads.  I use it for free motion embroidery as well as quilting so the thread acceptance is really important to me.  I have an astonishingly large collection of quilting rulers…they just appeared in my storage drawers somehow LOL.  I can’t imagine how.  I think they must have had babies because the collection really grew over the past six years I have owned this machine.  LOL  Using rulers at this machine is a pleasure.  I love this machine.  It has two features that are particularly wonderful…a double built in stitch regulator, and an additional pinpoint laser light attachment that shows just where the needle will come down.  It’s stitch quality is beautiful.

And I have a little Bernina 350 that is a basic machine and not too heavy.  If I were just starting out and making mostly clothing, or looking for a machine to take to college with me, this little machine would be a very good option.  I have used it for travel, but I also find it has exceptional value as a piecing machine with solid stitching and a smaller 5.5 mm width that makes it easier to sew more accurate quarter inch seams than my big wide 9 mm 880 plus.  I also have several attachments I use exclusively on this machine…like a needle punch attachment that is remarkably wonderful for a fabric artist, and I don’t worry about the roving messing up its easy to clean bobbin area or my big machine.  I also have a walking foot that came with it.  These make it great for sewing and quilting retreats, or sewing in one’s hotel room when attending a conference, or just taking along on a vacation.  I once used it to make a fast quilt for a member of my family that had unexpected surgery when my big machine was out for service. It was a lap quilt, and I would not have wanted to make a big quilt in it, but it did a great job with the lap quilt size.

Additionally, I have a basic Baby Lock serger my daughter in law gave me.  It does everything I need in the way of serging and completes my studio nicely.  It not only serges edges and makes wonderful seams for stretch knit items, but since I purchased all of the four additional feet for it  there is much more it will do.  For example, it enables me to quickly make  covered cords for pillows, bags, and other things.  After watching some videos on serging on YouTube, I am sure Ineed to spend more time learning what I can do with it.  It does not do a cover stitch, but if I use a double needle in either of my domestic machines that will take the place of a cover stitch.

Sew have fun in your studio and study your machine whatever level it is.  Do some testing and make some samples.  A stitch library of all the stitches it will make is a great idea and very helpful.

Pages of my stitch library

 

 

Updating a blog about Interfacings and Stabilizers

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Fabrics, From the Archives, Supplies, Tools

I just saw an ad for what is probably a great class with Threads Magazine on interfacings.  It appears to be focused around interfacing for clothes making.  It made me go back an read what I had said in an earlier blog about stabilizers and interfacings and I decided it needed just a little bit of tweaking and updating, so I am providing the update here.  Mine is focused mostly around fabric art and quilting, but not entirely and it is just a brief capsule of this large, sometimes bewildering subject.  Even after my many years of sewing and quilting I have almost certainly missed some new developments and uses for this important part of my craft.  Anyway, see the edited and updated version of that original blog below.

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A friend of mine asked me about the use of interfacings and  stabilizers and what was the difference. I consider interfacings and stabilizers both indispensable in fabric art creations of various types.  They make the difference between a successful project and a lackluster or even failed piece. Understanding them is one of the basic skills for everything from fashion sewing to quilted art.  I can fully understand her need to know more about them and this is a quick and dirty rundown of the subject.

The Byzantine world of stabilizers and interfacings can be very confusing,  because there are so many of them and they all have different uses.  Adding to the confusion is all the different brands that are out there and may be named something different and what do they mean by “lightweight” anyway?

The Back Wall of Home Dec Fabrics at G Street Fabrics

First of all, let’s discuss her question of what is the difference between interfacing and stabilizer.

  1. Well, for one thing, stabilizers do not always stay in the project, but sometimes they can.  They are largely designed to assist in making machine embroidery work both in the hoop and free motion thread painting.  They are also useful for decorative machine stitching.
  2. What makes this confusing is that interfacings can also serve as stabilizers but they are designed to remain in the project and interfacings often look like stabilizers.
  3. You may need both or even two or more for specific projects.
  4. You can even use spray starch or other spray products like Terial Magic to work as stabilizers.
  5. And then there are those clear plastic looking stabilizers of varying weights made with corn starch or similar ingredient that washes away.  They have a variety of interesting and helpful uses in the fabric artist’s studio in addition to stabilizing…you can mark on them and use them for free motion embroidery on the top of your fabric, then wash it away for instance.
  6. Interfacings provide stability for fabrics that have a tendency to disintegrate, spread the stitching in an unattractive way, or simply need a heavier hand for the project you are making.  They help to properly shape clothing, and are particularly required for any high-end sewing like fine couture sewing, tailored garments, wedding dresses, simple dressmaker jackets or vests, and shirts with buttons and collars.  I use interfacings extensively in both my clothes making and art quilting to make my wide selection of fabrics work together or my pieces hang right.

Sew I am focusing this discussion by using popular brand names  just because it is easy to identify and I know from using them they are a good product, but there are other brands that are also fine and some that are just terrible (shrinking, bubbling, disintegrating, wadding up with use). The lesson is to buy a good grade of these products, and test it too so it will be successful for a long time.

I have a handful of interfacings stabilizers that I keep stocked in the studio so I have them when the need to sew or quilt hits me in the middle of the night.  Does that ever happen to you? It also helps to save lots of time.  Also by stocking, I can save a lot of money by buying them when a good sale goes by.

Interfacings

I try to keep at least three yards available of the following four weights of interfacings on hand and replace when I use them. I buy the first two of these by the bolt when they are on sale because I use a lot of them.  They are usually much cheaper–three or four times cheaper–by the bolt, and even more if you hit a good sale.

  • For stabilizing (there’s that word that helps make this all so confusing when talking about interfacings) such fabrics as silks, very light weight cottons, dupioni,  satin polyesters, unusual specialty fabrics, and some light wool or wool-like tailoring fabrics, I stock a woven fusible lightweight interfacing like SF101 Shape Flex by Pellon. This nice woven interfacing does not have much affect on the hand of the fabric and, if quilted, it helps the fabric to drape better and to be smoother and more attractive. It can be used for shirt making also, but you may want to use a heavier weight for more tailored parts of some shirts.
  • For an even lighter hand (fabric drape and feel) backing up fabrics that need a little help, such as silk dupioni or cotton lawn I like one of the nearly sheer nonwovens, such as Pellon 906F sheerweight.
  • For a little heavier interfacing that you might want to use for crisper collars in tailored shirts, or costumes, for instance, I like Pellon 931td.
  • For bag making or some such with leather (artificial or otherwise) or heavy upholstery fabrics when you want to quilt it I use Pellon’s naked foam. I thank the illustrious Nina McVeigh for alerting me to this product on her fascinating The Quilt Show show (if you aren’t a member, you are missing a lot).  I layer it with the leather or heavier upholstery fabrics and add a cotton backing fabric.  This is approaching a batting discussion that will be a future blog post, but I felt it fits well in the interfacing discussion too.
  • For high-end or couture tailoring, especially with wool  or raw silk projects like coats and jackets I usually, but not always, move away from Pellon and toward Hymo.  I will say that tailoring interfacings are a broad subject and there are more types one might use for this, and sometimes multiple types in the same project.  Note that I have already run a few blogs about tailoring coats, and plan on making a wool slacks suit and a raw silk tailored jacket for fall and winter and will blog the making of those, since I have some beautiful fabrics on hand that I should use before they age out.  You can easily obtain high quality and varying weights of these from tailoring supply houses online.  I generally buy these by the project.  So you will want to first consult your pattern or a tailoring book to get the right thing.   Here is a link to a good source for tailoring interfacings B. Black and Sons a wonderfully supplied company where I buy most of my tailoring supplies.  You can even get coat front interfacings all prepared and precut for use.
  • And B. Black also has these lovely canvas/cotton interfacings that I have used with success for lighter wool, linen, or light summer tailoring:  Canvas/cotton.

Stabilizers

I use several different stabilizers for my fabric art projects and even for embellished clothes.

  1. The primary stabilizer I use for my in-the-hoop embroidery and free motion thread painting for my quilted art pieces is either OESD’s Ultra Clean and Tear Fusible or Madeira Cotton Stable, which I have a slight preference for but it is increasingly hard to find and has gone up in price. Both of these stabilizers give the fabric enough stability to take a higher amount of stitches than most of the stabilizers will do and they both tear away easily after stitching while remaining in place when you are stitching.
  2. A heavier film wash away stabilizer, such as OESD’s Badgemaster,  and a slightly lighter film stabilizer Madeira Avalon is especially useful in the studio.  I use both Madeira and OESD film stabilizers.  Washing it away can be interesting.  It’s like a science fiction slime creature at first.LOL.  I just soak it in clear cold water and then rinse it well in running water.

I really like OESD’s Aqua Mesh Washaway, that looks like an interfacing, works well for marking designs on,  and is easy to use for stitching a free-standing thread motif, applique, or free standing lace.  In such cases I will almost always add a layer of black  or white nylon tulle on top and a double layer of Aqua Mesh Washaway.  Then when you rinse it away, your piece will hang together and you just cut closely around the veiling, which basically disappears to the eyes on the fabric you applique it on to. Black veiling or matched to the background veiling works well for this. It is especially useful when you are embroidering or even free motion couching cords and yarns to build a heavy design to make them free from the main project and applique them on.  It helps deal with the pull and keeps your main project nice and flat (after a little pressing upside down on a wool press mat).

I embroidered this freestanding lace star on blue nylon veiling with a double layer of wash away stabilizers and then appliqued it on.

Fusibles can sometimes act as a stabilizer/interfacing

When you are making a fused on applique for a wall project, for instance, you may wish to keep the fusible whole rather than windowpane it (cutting out most of the middle of the fusible leaving just the edges) if you are going to do a lot of heavy stitching on it later.  Then it serves for a combination interfacing and stabilizer that does not get removed from your project.  So you have to give some thought to how you are going to complete the project and how it is going to be used.  Be sure to use either a needle that works well with fusibles such as Superior Titanium top stitch needles or Schmetz nonstick needles.

There are several high quality fusibles on the market and everyone seems to have their own preferences.  I really like steam-a-seam 2 lite with the two sides of paper.  One side has one inch squares on it and that’s the side that you draw your design on, cut roughly around the design about 1/4 inch away, peal off the plain side, stick the side with the grid and the drawing onto the back of your fabric, and cut it out. After that you remove the paper and you have an applique with a lightly sticky side that you can move around until you have it just right before hitting it with a steam iron that glues it in place ready to stitch.

Recently I have been using Heat N Bond Lite fusible when I cut things with my Brother Scan and Cut.  It is nice and lite, adheres easily with a small amount of pressing, and stitches well.  It does not, however provide a sticky side you can move around until you have it where you want it.  It does stick down nicely with just a light touch of the iron. Both types of webbing have their uses.

Sew happy everyone!  Have a wonderful time in your studios!  Feel free to ask questions. I might know the answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tools from Tailoring and Building World for Quilt Artists

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Techniques, Tools / 2 Comments

Hi everybody!

Recently I was reminded of some of the great tools tailors use.  I have many of them since I used to do couture tailoring as part of my own business and family clothes making decades ago.  I was watching the amazing fashion historian Bernadette Banner’s YouTube where she had master tailor Barbara of Royal Black as a guest to demonstrate how important ironing is in tailoring.  It made me want to tailor something and maybe I will, but I’m here to tell you that it is equally as important in the quilting world and some of the tools they use can help a lot too.  So I purchased a new 100% silk pressing cloth and a new wood clapper. I used these two things a lot in the making of the Thanksgiving table runner that you will be able to see soon on my YouTube channel.  I even managed to easily press out a slight wave the border had developed with a little seam and the clapper.  It’s now nice and flat.

Over the quilting part of my career I have used multiple tailoring and fashion sewing tools I had accumulated, and some of them are so old that they are worn and need replacing.  These include things like Nancy Zieman’s Sliding Sewing Gauge that not only is a helpful measuring device, but also provides a circle marker for up to a 10 inch circle.  I am thinking of replacing the expanding button placement guide thingy I used to have but no longer do.  It would be very helpful in placement of quilting designs in a border, for instance as well as button placement and other evenly spaced items…no math!…Always a good thing.  LOL.

In making my Kingfisher pillow project, I used the pointy edge tracing wheel from the above set to make a freezer paper stencil for use with a Pounce marker  to help me mark the design placement.  To make this work, I iron two layers of freezer paper together (one shiny side to one paper side), print the design on the paper, and while it is on a wool ironing pad, run the marking wheel that is designed for leather work along the design.  This punches a line of holes in the stencil.  Then iron on the freezer paper stencil in place and pounce mark the design, remove the stencil and place it in the next position and iron it there.  It is normally reusable enough times to have a quilting design go around a small quilt’s border.  You may need to make a second one for a larger quilt.  This is handy DIY stencil making.

Sew what from the building world, you ask?  I use my late father’s T-square and a laser square to square up some of my quilts, especially the larger ones.  And even occasionally, when I remember how, I use my father’s slide rule for a quick bit of math.  LOL

Sew look around and see what you may have or may want to buy to help you in your studio.  Have fun in your studio everyone!

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NOTE:  Some of you may be waiting for my Thanksgiving project to show up on my YouTube Channel, and indeed it is late but is on the way very soon.  I have completed the making of the project which I captured in videos along the way and my video editor (a talented family member) is working on the videos as we speak.  There is a short bit of intro video to do and that will be accomplished today.  I think you will enjoy seeing the videos and purchasing the pattern that will come complete with embroidery and digital cutting files as well as things to help if you don’t have a digital cutter.

 

Thread Notes

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Food for Thought, Machines, Threads, Tools

My friend Anita is working through learning how to get the best out of her new Bernina 480.  She is doing really well making a charity quilt using quilt-as-you-go blocks with sashing joining and some really pretty bits of Japanese prints.  Her free motion quilting is really beautiful, but she was trying to use up her leftover threads and kept having problems with it breaking with one kind of thread and leaving fluff behind in her machine for another.  So we talked about it.

She told me she is using 40 weight rayon Sulky threads for the quilting and that it was breaking and shredding frequently.  She thought it was her machine.  Well no, almost certainly not.  Even high-end quality rayon threads are a specialty thread that I use only when I take particular care to pass it through my thread lubricant device on my machine.  She doesn’t have this for hers yet.  There is one for it, however, that is easy to install.  So I recommend that she put aside the rayon thread, which makes beautiful decorative stitching, but require special attention and turn to the other threads in her stash for now.  But here is what one should know about using threads:

  • Rayon thread is very prone to breaking, but it is really beautiful.  I never use it for construction sewing, except I have on rare occasions used it for quilting when I wanted a particular look.  It must be lubricated in some manner, stitched using a topstitch needle andwith a little lighter top tension to make it work well.   Her B480 needs this thread lubrication unit (not expensive) for sewing with both rayons and metallics.  If your machine doesn’t have this option, use a silicone thread lubricant by running a line of it down the side of your spool and rubbing it into the spool with your hands.
  • Cotton is what many traditional quilters think should be used when quilting.  A high quality cotton thread is good, although one must realize that even high end cottons tend to leave behind fluff in the bobbin area, especially, and requires more frequent cleaning.  It’s just the way it is.  Some brands are less fluffy than others.  I like Wonderfil in all their cotton weight threads, in particular, because they treat it so it has less fluff than most and it’s beautiful.  I also like Sulky 12 weight, but not other Sulky threads as much.  Aurifil is considered a high quality thread, and it is, but it does fluff more than some others.
  • High quality polyester threads give the least problems in sewing, quilting, and embroidery.  I particularly like Wonderfil, Superior, and Isacord 40 weight polyesters and have a lot of all three brands.  They don’t fluff as much, break as much, or shrink or bleed when washed (and yes, thread can bleed, just like fabrics).
  • Silk thread is so lovely, works really well, but is more expensive than other threads.  I particularly like Superior 100 weight Kimono silk thread for micro-stippling and other delicate quilting.
  • Metallic threads are a specific challenge, but are worth it.  Treat them much like rayon threads, but if you use them, try to have a way of feeding the thread that gives it a path to relax before entering the thread path…my Bernina 880 plus and my Q20 both have tall telescopic thread feeding that makes the metallics work well.  Anita’s B480 needs the Multi-Spool Holder that Attaches to the back of the machine and allows the use of threads on cones (cheaper by the yard) and has a telescopic threading rod that also helps manage the metallics and other difficult threads (like rayon).  If your machine doesn’t have these options, an independent thread holder can do the job both for metallics and for using cones (which seem expensive  to buy but are really cheaper by the yard).
  • 50 weight thread is what most machines are set for at the manufacturer, and consequently there may be some need to adjust the top tension for different weights, though 40 weights seem mostly ok with the default settings.  If you want to sew clothing, both 50 and 40 weight threads in either polyeter, cotton, or a combination thereof, work well with an 80/12 universal needle.

Sew, I know that threads seem expensive.  The initial investment to establish a thread stash can be a bit of an outlay, but if one picks out six or eight basic colors of 40 weight polyester cones and 100 weight cones of threads of either silk or polyester, then they can usually answer the needs for the most part, and other colors can be added a little at a time.  Just be sure to store them out of the sun and in a dry location.  If they are good quality to start off, these will last for years through lots of projects.  Cones do need an accomodating thread stand or holder if your machine doesn’t come with that.

My best advice is, don’t buy cheap threads!!! And don’t try to use up your stash for inappropriate uses even if you are making charity quilts. But do build a nice little stash of threads and replace the colors when they go empty.  Also use the right needles.  All of this will help preserve your machines and keep down your sewing frustration.  In the long run, it also saves you money in machine repairs, thread nests, and valuable time.

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studio!!!

 

 

Advancing One’s Fabric Artistry

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Art Quilt Techniques, Classes, Design Work, Embellishment, Fabrics, feet, Food for Thought, Machines, My micro-business, skill building, Threads, Tools / 2 Comments

Hi everyone!  I got to thinking a lot this week about what is needed to advance one’s fabric artistry abilities.  This was brought on because one of my best friends is getting a new sewing machine next week.  It’s already in, she just has to go pick it up and has scheduled a class for learning to use it.

For several years now I have been helping Anita learn how to add fabric as a new medium to her already wonderful art and basic sewing skills. She has made amazing progress.  In return, she has helped me reorganize my fabric and thread stash, assembled kits when I made them for classes, worked with me to make church banners (we go to the same church), willingly tested some of my ideas, and generally encouraged me in my current projects. We enjoy our sewing and chatting time together.

Her wonderful old Bernina 1230, which was nearly 25 years old and was originally mine, had the mother board die and they don’t make or have replacements anymore, so she bought a new Bernina 480.  This is a great choice for her because it has a 9mm stitch width with lots of decorative stitches and the harp space is one inch wider than her 1230.  It will advance her work.  Over the next year or so she plans to add some of the accessories that don’t come with it to stretch the usefulness of the already fabulous machine for her kind of work. It will take a Bernina Stitch Regulator, but I think she probably won’t get this for a while. The others include:

  1. The Gold ocher color bobbin case that gives a tighter bobbin tension than the black one that comes with it and is particularly useful for decorative stitching, free motion embroidery, and quilting. I think they should have included this in the initial machine package (do you hear me Bernina?).
  2. A single hole stitch plate for straight stitch accuracy and free motion stitching.
  3. The walking foot which is extremely helpful for a quilter/bagmaker
  4. Multi-Spool Holder: Attaches to the back of the machine and allows the use of threads on cones (cheaper by the yard) and has a telescopic threading rod that also helps manage the threads from metallics and other difficult threads.
  5. Bernina Thread Lubrication Unit: Helps handle metallics and other difficult threads (Rayons, for instance)
  6. Additional Feet:
    1. A quarter inch foot number 96 C with guide or #37 which enables really accurate quarter inch and eighth inch seams to piece things together.
    2. 20c open toed embroidery foot A definite necessity for any fabric artist.
    3. Narrow hemstitch foot (there are five of them of various types which make different kinds of narrow hems. Probably #63 would be my choice. She wants to make some scarves among other things that need narrow hems.
    4. Free Motion Couching foot #43: couch heavy threads, cords, and yarns to the surface of the fabric.  I have also used this as a free motion stitch foot for stitching over uneven surfaces before I got the cup foot.
    5. 39C clear embroidery foot: It is a great foot for decorative stitching and has a small hole for threading cordonet thread or other light cording through to stitch over with decorative stitching.

So far, she has developed fine skills and used them for free motion embroidery, hand embroidered baby quilts, appliqued bed runners, quilts for her grand children with free motion quilting, bags, a lovely drapey jacket, table toppers, and a beautiful Victorian ball gown for her grand daughter complete with a perfect fluffy petticoat for it.  I would say she has clearly graduated from a basic sewer to advanced intermediate sewer and intermediate quilter, and is hovering on the edge of tipping the scale into an advanced fabric artist and quilter.  While it is unfortunate her old machine died, this new machine will be a blessing for her.

 

Anita’s lovely granddaughter modeling her beautiful satin jacquard ball gown Anita made for her.

Sew in addition to a good sewing machine, what, in my humble opinion, does it take to become a master sewing artist? It definitely does NOT mean that everything you make is a masterpiece.  Sometimes the pieces are, frankly, not very good. It does, however, mean that you are capable of making a masterpiece and do from time to time and are willing to take the leap to try. Since I am an incorrigible list maker, I have a list of what I think is needed to reach for advanced fabric artist and quilter. It’s an ongoing endeavor and lots of fun to do.

  1. It takes a good understanding of your machine (or machines) and a number of interesting things you can do with it beyond make a seam or a buttonhole and kind of constant testing and trying out of possibilities with it.  Never stop learning.  I am constantly working on this myself. Indeed, I have spent the last six months or so learning things I didn’t know or needed to improve in using my Bernina 880 plus.  I’m sure my sons and daughter-in-law are tired of hearing “wow! Did you know I can do such and such with my machine?”  But I have to tell someone!
  2. Handwork, even if you are, like me, primarily a machine person.  You can turn your understanding of handwork into using your machine for about 90 percent of the time.
  3. It really helps to gain a solid understanding of interfacings, stabilizers, and battings; fibers and their properties; thread types and weights and what they are for; what needles you need for which threads and kind of sewing; markers; and tools available beyond the obvious.
  4. There are always new developments in sewing tools and I am often surprised by what’s available now. The struggle is figuring out what tools are really needed or at least would help speed or improve a frequently needed process and which can be passed over.  I am sort of a gadget/tool fan, so I often have to tell myself “no” firmly when confronted with the purchase of a new tool.  Hahaha. I do have a large collection, but I have been sewing since I was five and am now 75. Plus I inherited both my mother’s and my mother-in-law’s sewing supplies. So the vast majority of my sewing tools have been around for a long while.
  5. But chiefly, it takes allowing yourself to have confidence in your abilities, and a certain amount of willingness for risk taking that comes with realization that one will sometimes fail and have to spend a lot of time unstitching or remaking pieces of a project or start all over using a different direction. It’s part of the adventure.  Also, sometimes, you just have to abandon a project and realize it is ok to do so.  I constantly work on this.
  6. Where I personally need to work the hardest is in my designs.  That is the hardest thing for me because I almost never use someone else’s designs and often have a vision in my mind that may be difficult to get down into a workable pattern or guide either on paper or on my computer.
  7. Piecing accurately.  Even an art quilter needs to piece from time to time. I think I am just fair intermediate piecer.
  8. Speaking of patterns, I am working on improving my professional pattern-making skills to a higher level for use by people who would like to try the projects I present on my YouTube channel, in my blog here, and in books.  I no longer have classes since Covid shut them down and I switched to videos and writing permanently, but I still teach by these methods and one-on-one in person.
  9. There are other things that may add a lot to a project, especially in the embellishment arena, but are not required.  These might include crystals and beads, fabric paints, found objects, charms, 3 dimensional sewing (like butterflies and flowers for instance), machine embroidery–both in-the-hoop if you have an embroidery machine and out of the hoop (even if you do have an embroidery machine).
  10. I’m sure I have forgotten something. Do you have any ideas?

The thing to know is that you probably already have most of these things in your virtual tool belt and, like me, mainly just need to learn more in each of these categories.  I find it fun.  Do you?

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studio and let me know what your fabric adventures are.

Embellishing Your Projects, Part One

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in A Little How-To, Art Quilt Techniques, Deep space quilts, Embellishment, Show Quilts, skill building, Tools

Sky Horse from 2014. This quilt won several ribbons and was shown at Houston IQF in 2014. It is inspired by NASA photos of the Horsehead Nebula.

Hi everyone,

I was just listening to Dee’s Saturday Sampler (TQS) talking about adding hot fix crystals to quilts.  Now she did a nice presentation.  But there were a few points that I would like to add.  I have lots of experience doing this across the years, especially for my deep space quilt series and Christmas quilts.  Also, I add a few crystals for many other types of quilts. Even though I wrote about this in a blog back in 2018, I thought it was time to revisit this technique and update what I said back then.

Stellar Nursery, my first deep space quilt using NASA’s “Mountains of Creation” pictures.

 

My love for embellishments started decades ago when I had my own fashion design and tailoring business when I designed and my shop made formals, wedding dresses, and costumes for operas, dancers, and skaters.  Back at the beginning of that business, I hand sewed or glued most of my embellishments on.  Now I mostly use hot fix embellishments, including Swarowski crystals, hot fix pearls, and different shapes.

Out of Mom’s Workbasket. This quilt won Third Place in the Traditional category in Pennsylvania National Quilt Festival 2021. I did not show it elsewhere because it is white and precious to me. I used hot fix pearls across the quilt.

I recently replaced my hot fix crystal wand.  It works very well for me especially when I use hot fix transfer tape! What a great invention and what a wonderful improvement to my crystal placements!!! It works also with digital cutters that make hot fix crystal designs, such as the Brother Scan and Cut, but you need the Rhinestone Starter Kit to go with it for that. I do not have this kit, so I have not tried making them.

Sew here are my steps for adding hot fix crystals to a quilt.

  1. Put on your music or audiobook.
  2. With your craft or old scissors, cut a piece of the transfer tape (I use both a smaller cut of around a six inch square and a larger cut of about a 10 inch square. It’s reusable about four or more times.
  3. Place the item you are embellishing  flat on the table or ironing board.
  4. Remove the backing from the transfer tape.
  5. Working in sections, place your hot fix crystals (or other hot fix embellishments) on a section of the quilt in the pattern you want them .
  6. Lower your transfer tape piece carefully down over the section of crystals trying not to disturb the pattern and press it down around the crystals and more or less attaching to your project.
  7. Grab a large ceramic cup  or dish to put your hot wand into.  I think the cup works a little better than the dish shown here, but either one works better than those little stands that comes with some of them.
  8. With the wand iron, heat each crystal with the tape still in place for as long as it needs.  You can move the whole tape with the crystals on them a little bit as you need them.  Hold it firmly in place and tap your toe, or count slowly.
    • tiny ones require about 12 toe taps or slow counts.
    • medium ones require about 20 counts
    • the larger ones require more…30 to 40 counts to be really secure.
    • the shaped ones do best with a small iron flat on the tape.  I did have one iron get too hot on the tape once and it melted a piece of the tape!  I only had it happen once and that iron died shortly thereafter, so it may have been operating badly on the way out.

The transfer tape does not melt and acts as a pressing cloth, protecting the fabric to which you are attaching the crystal from burns by the wand. It also holds the crystals in place so they don’t go flipping off into never never land. If it gets just a little out of alignment, you just move the tape…the crystal stays on the tape until it is fully glued down and then releases with no problem. This means you can pick up your tape slowly to check if you’ve missed one or if it needs more time and replace the tape if so.

Another way to approach it is to place multiple crystals on the tape upside down with the crystals to the sticky side and just move the tape around and place the crystals on one by one. This is a particularly good method for clothing and other shaped pieces when you are having a hard time getting them flat for crystal placement.

I like to shake the quilt when all the crystals are cool to see if anything falls off.  Sometimes it does, but now is the time to find out.  So just put the crystal back down and cover it with the tape and re-iron.  Occasionally, a crystal does not seem to have adequate glue, so you can throw that one away and use another one, or use glue to affix it.

These crystals and pearls really add some loveliness to your projects.  They are washable and durable, especially if you shake the item to make sure they are fully attached.  Some say it is possible to get carried away with such crystals and pearls.  Some quilt police types feel they should never be on  your quilt.  I say, it’s your quilt.  Add the sparkle you want and ignore them and enjoy your blinged out piece.

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studio!!!

 

 

 

Having Fun in My Studio

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Applique, Deep space quilts, Design as you go, My micro-business, Project Management, Threads, Tools, Wool / 2 Comments

Someone asked me recently what I have been working on lately.

I have finished the Kingfisher wool applique by machine pillow top project (basic design without the eye pupil, which is a very small black button, shown above). I haven’t made the pillow yet, but will in a few days. I have some really black stretch denim I think would make a nice pillow back for it. I think it needs to be something kind of heavy to balance the wool which I have sandwiched and quilted, and a little stretch will help the pillow look good. I haven’t decided whether to put cording in the seam or not.  I like it a lot even though it is relatively simple. Two videos will come out of this project. One will be published soon…probably this coming weekend. It’s being edited and there will be a free pattern available for it on my website which I really hope you will download.  I will provide a link to it when my video is published.

Also, just yesterday, I got a stack of color cards for Wonderfil Threads of various types and a few sample spools, which are really a fun way to shop for threads.  I don’t have a local source for my favorite threads so I have to order them.  I have a Thanksgiving table runner project that I plan on using their threads for embroidery, applique, and quilting for that.  So I have to hurry, because it’s already August!!!

I love figuring out threads this way.  I can take my time, try out the thread samples, and see the actual threads.

Magnifico by Superior color card image

I also have some color cards for Superior Threads.  If you have to order your threads to get the kind you like, I highly recommend getting some of these sample cards even if you have to buy them.  Sometimes they give them away at big events like quilt shows or cut the cost for them a lot.  But even so, they provide color accuracy and coincidentally they are fun to look at if you love threads like I do.

So I have also been adding to my stitch library with pages for Wonderfil, Superior, and Miscellaneous thread types.  Today I made a page for different Wonderfil types, with a line of decorative stitches per type.  I encourage you to make your own library of stitches and thread types pages. It’s not only fun to stitch these pages but really useful.

 

And last, but not least, I worked up, but not yet printed, a full sized guide for my next deep space quilt.  That’s the closest I ever come to a pattern for this style quilt.  Basically, it’s a placement guide for the space objects.  I also print out the NASA picture or pictures of the space scene or objects and then build the scene on fabric using a little background paint, and Angelina Fibers hot fix fiber (they stick to themselves not the fabric) appliques, and I cover the whole quilt top with black nylon veiling. I sandwich it all together and baste it down.  So then I use quilting and free motion embroidery to build the space objects and quilt the whole thing.  It’s one big whole cloth quilt with big appliques, and different sizes and colors of hot fix crystals.   It’s loads of fun, but does require a placement and sizing guide to make it even start to look right.  I will be showing just some of the making of this quilt for fun…but not a how-to like some of my work.

Sew I have been having fun in my studio. That’s what I am working on.

Sew happy everyone.  Have fun in your studio too!

 

 

 

Surprisingly Useful Studio Tools

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in feet, My Studio, Tools, Uncategorized

Hi everyone.  This past few weeks have highlighted some really useful studio tools…some I made myself, and some I purchased sometime in my long sewing career.

As I noted on my last article, I discovered that a persistent thread-breaking problem was not, in fact, my machine, my needles, or my bobbin.  It was a burr that had developed on my 15 or so year old open toed embroidery foot that I had obtained two sewing machines ago.  I could hardly believe it was so old when I added it up.

My 20D foot…where the burr was and is no longer.

So today I took out my little Dremel tool that I keep around for special things, and sand-buffed the foot.  Then I tested it with multiple thread types and different stitches.  It did not break anything!  That foot sells for about $56 today.  Nice savings.  I had done the same thing to another foot last year that had developed a burr.  It was an even older one that the one I fixed today!  So the Dremel tool has more than paid for itself, and I have used it in other ways over the past decade.

Then there are two reference tools I made myself.  One is the decorative stitch library I have been building over the past six months.  I am working on a wool applique by machine project that uses some decorative stitches.  I have done multiple lines of different stitches in different threads and written the stitch number, any changes I made to the stitch settings, and so forth.  I now have about 10 large “pages” of these stitches.  I was actually surprised how much I consulted them as I was working through the stitch embellishments to the project.  It is very handy to see them stitched out! I am still working on this project and will somehow put them together when I finish.

Pages of my stitch library

The second reference tool I used today when I got to the background quilting of my project.  I am using a swirl and curl background, as I call it.  That consists of stippling and curls randomly used together, which makes a nice background fill for this project.  If you look on my YouTube channel, I have a short little video where I show the making of a stippling size reference piece.  This is particularly good when you need to try to keep the stippling the same size throughout the piece,  so I pulled it out and used it for this project.  So handy!  Here’s the link.

I think I should make more such reference aids, and I plan to.

Then there is my Clover ball-pointed awl that I used to hold the little wool applique and pointed pieces in place when they weren’t sticking so well while I stitched them down.  I use that a lot when I am appliqueing.

The problem with the Bernina foot made me think how much I enjoy using all the different Bernina feet and how much easier they make things or make things come out better.  I do love my Berninas and I have no affiliation with the company.  I am just a fan.  They are all three (B350, B880 plus, Q20 sitdown) wonderful machines (or is that sewing Droids?  You might click on that link and see what I mean).

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studios and make sure your tools are organized and accessible.

 

Using Those Scraps of Special Elements in the Studio

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Food for Thought, High-Tech Studio, Machines, My Studio, Project Management, Quilt Journal, Threads, Tools / 8 Comments

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Hi everyone! I have been thinking about my crowded stash and studio tools amassed from decades of professional and personal sewing and quilting. I want to make something special with a lot of them…or maybe strive to build more than one amazing masterpiece project using these wonderful elements.

A collection of beautiful threads from Wonderfil.

This idea has been growing in my head for some time now and I have recently had conversations with two fabulous important quilters about this that further encouraged me.  When I couple these elements with  all the interesting things I have been learning about what I can do with my machines, it becomes very interesting indeed.  I haven’t fully decided whether this is exactly going to be a Victorian style crazy quilt or a somewhat different design of my own with a crazy quilt and Victorian steam punk slant.

crepe back satin from my stash

Over my many decades of sewing and quilting, I have accumulated bits and leftover pieces of silk palace brocades, satins and dupionis, batiks, velveteens, wools, small bits of fabulous laces, vintage handkerchiefs, pieces of crochet that my Mom left me, small leftover lengths of silk ribbons and other special trims, and a collection of beautiful threads of a wide variety of sizes, fibers, and weights.  To helo draw all of this together are my Berninas…my little B350 with several special attachments, my big Bernina 880 plus with its embroidry module and nice set of feet, and my Q20 sitdown longarm.

Sew, what would YOU do with this collection of elements and tools?

Edna Mode, waiting for an answer as to what to do with all these beautiful scraps and threads and interesting machines.

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studios.

 

 

 

Cutters for the Fabric Artist, a Review

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Applique, Art Quilt Techniques, My Studio, Reviews, Tools / 2 Comments

I used to think that cutters beyond scissors or rotary cutters were not a necessity in my studio.  Indeed, I was a little snobbish about it.  LOL  But now I would really not like to do without them.  I have both a die cutter and a digital cutter and use them both.

Some years ago I bought the Accuquilt Go! cutter and have slowly added the admittedly expensive dies to my collection over the years.  Quilt shows often have particularly good sales for these dies.  The most important use I make of them is to cut borders, blocks, and bindings. I can cut out a fast simple cuddle quilt in a matter of minutes, truly, and they are accurate and easy.  It enables me to make a wonderful quilt in a couple of days, complete with quilting and binding. It helps me use up some of the fabrics I have laying around, thereby freeing up space in my stash.  I also have a collection of fun shapes..circles, leaves, animals, flowers, and so on…that I have used a lot, particularly when I was putting together kits for teaching and needed a lot of them, and they make a nice addition to some of those fast cuddle quilts. You can cut layers of fabric at once in the Go! cutter and it is an excellent tool for quilters of all stripes. I wouldn’t like to do without it.

I got a Brother Scan and Cut 125e in March for my birthday and now I wonder how I ever did without it, especially for the kind of applique quilting I often do.  The primary advantage of a digital cutter for me, of course, is that I can design my own shapes, or use published patterns, and don’t have to depend on the die shapes that are available or cut intricate shapes out by scissors.  You can only cut one layer at a time, but it will cut paper, fabric of a wide variety, cork, vinyl, plastic, and so on.  You do need several kinds of mats and blades for cutting all those things, and I did find it a little hard to figure out at first, but it is so easy to use now that I have.  I have made several greeting cards for friend and family with it too.  I suspect other brands work as well, and my library has Silhouette cutters available for public use, which I have used.  So you might check at your local libraries.

I have found that the Scan and Cut will cut fabrics with precision in very detailed shapes that are hard to accomplish with scissors.  This is especially good as my aging hands with developing arthritis find such intricate cutting to be harder to do otherwise. In fact even if you don’t find scissors cutting difficult, the cutter is still a fast and accurate way to cut your appliques.  I keep coming up with other ideas for its use.

So recently, over YouTube I learned how to make a stencil with the Scan and Cut and I plan on making some for marking refined and delicate quilting patterns on quilts.  I have not yet tried it, but that opens a world of possibilities for future quilting.  I have gotten pretty good in free motion stitching with my Bernina Q20 sitdown longarm without marks, but sometimes it is important to have the quilt marked for stitching with attention to detail or when you need symmetry.  It will cut stencil plastic easily, but I am thinking of trying a doubled layer of freezer paper for single or limited use designs and it could be ironed in place for Pounce chalk marking. If I create quilting designs that I think will be useful on multiple quilts, I will cut it from the stencil plastic.

As those of you who follow my work know, I use stitched, raw-edge applique quite a lot.  In the past, I printed out the applique shapes onto printer paper in reverse, and traced the shapes onto the fusible web and cut it out with scissors.  Now, I send the shape to the Scan and Cut, iron the fusible web onto the fabric wrong side, and send it through the cutter. I get it done in a third of the time or less and with greater accuracy.

But what if you wanted to do stitched turned edge appliques?  For that, I turn to the expertise of Kathy McNeil where she demonstrates the method, but I add in the cutter to help out.  She uses a very light weight fusible interfacing precut by hand in the shape of her applique and irons it to the wrong side of her fabric, then cuts around it a little less than a quarter of an inch from the edge of the shape. Then she prepares the applique using glue and appliquick sticks available in her web store.  Here’s a video of that process.  She sews her appliques on by hand.  I would use the machine of course.

So if I start with the applique shape I have drawn or downloaded on my computer, and instead of printing it onto paper and tracing it to the interfacing, I can wirelessly send it to the Scan and Cut from my computer.  The shape needs to be reversed for ironing onto the back.  You can do that at the cutter if you want to before cutting.  Then cut the interfacing pieces and iron them to the applique fabric and continue as she shows with the sticks and the glue.  So if you have a bunch of these appliques, you can cut as many as will fit onto a 15″ x 15″ piece of interfacing (the size of the cutting mat) at one time. It’s quite easy to take the shapes and move them around once they are digitally in your Scan and Cut.  NOTE:  You need to use the low tack mat for the really light weight interfacing by itself.

Sew I have found that having both cutters in my studio is a really nice addition to the tools available for me and they each have their own use and don’t cancel each other’s usefulness out.  They are separate tools with their own uses.

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studio!