Free Motion Quilt Along - Quilt Top

A Few Scraps is hosting a free motion quilt along.  Here's my quilt top.  It turned out better than I anticipated considering these fabric were purchased 4 years ago when I first started to quilt. 

Instead of traditional basting the top to the batting with pins or thread, I'm going to cheat a little...!  I'm going to use fusible batting for this project.  We'll see how it works out next week.

Free Motion Sampler Quilt

Wow!  Two posts in one day.  This is a rare moment for me because I've been busy all summer chauffering the kids around to their various classes.  But they will be back to school next Monday.  Yipee!

Back in May I finished my first free motion sampler quilt.  Some of the quilting designs were inspired  by  Leah Day, author of Leah Day's 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs.  http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

Titled "Matrix" from Day 17 from Leah Day's blog.

Titled "Heat Coil"  from Day 101 from Leah Day's blog.

Titled "Rainforest Leaf" from Day 112 from Leah Day's blog.



And here's a look at my sampler quilt

You may ask why I have to complete this quilt?  This beginner level free motion sampler quit is actually a required project for my machine quilting certification class.  The advanced level class will start in October. 

Personalized Book/Journal Cover Tutorial Part II

Hi, everyone!  Do you have your two strips of fabric ready?

                                     draw a 5 cm line on both sides of 2nd strip

Next we're going to fold at the 5 cm drawn line on both ends like so.

                          This is what 2nd strip looks like at this point.

                                  place 1st strip on top of 2nd strip right sides together

                        This is what the layers look like from inside.

  Turn the fabric rightside out and the slip pocket (folded area) is on top of 2nd strip.

                        Turn the slip pockets in so that they are on top of the 1st strip of fabric.

                                                       You've done it! 

I hope you've been able to follow this "pictorial" tutorial.   I would love to hear from you if you make a book cover by following this tutorial.

Happy Sewing!

Free Motion Thread Painting

Here's my first attempt at free motion thread painting. 

  So there I was holding a small piece of fabric that was initially designed for an applique, I changed my mind in the middle of the process.  Without much ado,  I proceeded to iron on light weight stablizer and took out my collection of Metteler threads.    Took out my Bernina BSR free motion foot and started my first thread painting mini-project. 

Ha! Ha!  My daughter was happy enough with the result.  The overall effect could have been better if I had a bigger piece of fabric to hold on to and I used the "BSR2" instead of "BSR1".  I'll have to try again...!

Personalized Book/Journal Cover Tutorial Part I

Has another week gone by already?  I know I promised to post the book cover tutorial last week.  I did!!  But I hit the wrong button on my keyboard and the entire post vanished before my eyes.  So, I'm trying again and hopefully this will be a successful post!


The book cover which I made for my daughter is quite simple.  You only need...

 1) dimension of the book
 2) two strips of fabric cut according to those measurements
 3) Personalized the fabric with appliques or embellishments
 4) stitch two lines
 5) turn and press the fabric

Then you're done!

Step I:   Measurements

Below is a diagram of an English paperback book I've been reading! 

**Measurements are in centimeter and seam allowance not included.**

Step II:  Cutting the fabric

You need to cut two strips of fabric according to the measurements

1st strip =

 (17.2 + seam allowance of 2 cm)      x   (B+C+D)   

  = 19.2 cm  x  (10.5 + 2.5 + 10.5)

  =  19.2 cm   x   23.5  cm       length x  width

2nd strip = 

(17.2  +  seam allowance of 2 cm)  x  [(Ax2) + B + C + D + (Ex2)]         

= 19.2 cm   x  [(5x2) + 10.5+2.5+10.5 + (5x2)]

=  19.2  cm  x   43.5 cm      length x width




Step III:  Personalized

Take the 2nd strip of fabric and personalized to show your creativity and style.  For my cover I chose a flower print so I won't need to add any embellishment.  But if you want to applique, you probably need to iron on stablizer to prevent any shrinkage.


Next week, I'll show you how to turn these two strips of fabric into a book cover.  In the meantime, please leave a message if you have any questions or comments regarding Part I of this tutorial.  I'll be happy to answer them!!

Happy Sewing!