New Year Resolution…Out the Window!?

I can assure you that I began 2012 with the very best intentions of finishing my UFOs.

I promised myself to finish at least one of my sewing/quilting/embroidery/appliqué projects (you get the picture) each month BEFORE I started anything new.

THEN

the Aurifil Stitchery of the Month Design arrived on the 14th of January.

I just couldn’t resist the cute bird and snow flakes.

Coming from the Northern Hemisphere I have a touch of nostalgia when it comes to a snowy winter,

but having lived in the Southern Hemisphere for almost 14 years I am drawn to the summery fabrics I have accumulated.

Aurifil 12wt and some batik fabric

Embroidering with Aurifil 12wt is a pure delight. Roseann Kermes’ design is quick, easy and fun.

I have added a few beads as well.

Beads add a bit of sparkle to my snowflakes

My Snow Bird is finished!

It will be incorporated into the wall hanging project to be provided at the end of the year by the Design Team at Aurifil,

but I don’t think this will count as another UFO…?!

Aurifil Stitchery for January

Beautiful embroidery with Cotton Mako’ 12

Zoe Clifton's beautiful embroidery design stitched with Cotton Mako' 12

Zoe Clifton, the owner of  The Blanket Box in Geelong has recently started stocking Aurifil threads so you will find an extensive range of Cotton Mako’ 40 in her store.

However, the latest news is that very soon you will also be able to purchase Cotton Mako’ 12 there as well.

After her recent experiment hand embroidering with Cotton Mako’ 12,  Zoe had this to say:

“I have had way too much fun using the Aurifil Mako 12 thread for a sweet 4″ stitchery block. I am totally in love with this thread, it is a dream to use and I am really pleased with the finished look. I highly recommend this thread.”

The design above shows off the thread so beautifully that all I can say is:

“I hope that, as she is playing with the Cotton Mako’ 12,  Zoe is drawing up patterns for the designs.”

Thank you Zoe for sharing your thoughts about playing with Cotton Mako’ 12.

Have you seen the quilt photos entered into the Aurifil Social Competition?

I wasn’t planning to write a post mid-week, but I’ve just browsed through the photos of the quilts that have been entered into the Aurifil Social Quilt Competition.  There are some very talented people in the world with a wonderful sense of colour.   

 Just look at the entries so far. 

I wonder whether I should join in the fun and enter a photo of my tangerine Bargello quilt.

Jenny's tangerine Bargello quilt

It is a FaceBook social competition  so the winning entries will be decided by the number of viewer votes received for the quilt photo.

Only one vote per quilt is allowed, but you can vote for more than one quilt and I am sure most people will have more than one favourite!

 This means that anyone could win, whether they are a beginner quilter or an award winning exhibitor. 

As a viewer’s choice competition, the “judging” will be based on the “eye candy” quality of the quilts entered, appealing use of colour and design will be the deciding criteria, rather than the examination of  technical skills.

Entering the competition is as easy as one, two, three.

Entering the competition is as easy as one, two, three

So don’t be shy, get your quilt photo uploaded into the competition.  The prizes are certainly worthy of a little effort.

Look at the prizes in the Aurifil Social Quilt Competition

The other point about the competition that appealed to me is that we could almost call it an Australia Day competition  … the closing date is 25th January with winners announced on 26th January.

With these closing dates, don't you think that Aussie quilters just have to enter the competition

….so go Aussies go….

Go to FaceBook to Enter the Competition

 

Have you started your Aurifil Stitchery block for January?

Roseann Kermes, of Rosebud’s Cottage is the Aurifil designer for January and her Snowbird, below, makes a lovely start to the 2012 Designer program.

Snowbird by Roseann Kermes, 2012 Aurifil Designer of the Month for January

 Once again, Pat Sloan has invited 12 designers to each produce a free pattern using Aurifil threads.  This year the patterns are for small embroideries using the Cotton Mako’ 12 thread and they will coordinate so that, by the end of the year, you will have the makings for a lovely embroidered quilt.  

Not only are the patterns FREE, but you have the chance to win prizes from Aurifil each month. All you have to do, to enter for a chance to win, is to upload a photo of your finished block to the Aurifil Flickr page

One designer and, their pattern, will be featured each month throughout 2012 so be sure to visit  the Auribuzz blog regularly, to read Pat’s interview with the featured designer and collect their pattern.

The designer’s were each given a Moda Layer cake featuring the ”Sassy” fabric range, by Sandy Gervais, to use as the starting point for their designs so the thread colours have all been selected to coordinate with this palette.

Sassy, Moda layer cake, by Sandy Gervais

If you wish to use the these thread colours visit our online store where we will have thread kits for the designs each month.

We, that is the staff at Always Quilting, are looking forward to seeing your blocks on the Flickr page.

We will also be embroidering our own sets, so watch for our updates here on this blog throughout the year.

A free gift for you to use all year

What a shock it was to go back to work after the Christmas – New Year holiday, I did miss the slow start and leisurely breakfast with the paper each morning.

At least I eased myself back into work this year by not re-opening the office until Wednesday. It meant I only had to work 3 days last week and now have my “head” back into work mode ready to face 2012.

To help you get into the 2012 mindset, I have created a free gift calendar for your sewing room/office/studio.

A page per month Calendar for 2012

 Scroll down the page to download your copy from the Flash Widget box to the left of the screen.

 

A sample of one of the pages in the free calendar. The quote for March, describes my house perfectly.

 

The 13 page, A4 size, PDF document is ready for you to print out to make your own calendar. You can print one page each month or make up the full calendar as I have below.

 

Download your calendar from the "Flash Widget" box to the left of the screen

 

 I hope you enjoy the Calendar throughout the year.

Are you looking for a fun and quilty way to start the new year

Just for you, I have done an internet search and found a great Free Motion Machine Quilting Challenge  being run on the SewCal Gal blog.

It is a twelve month challenge, with a different quilting theme, and a prize from Aurifil, each month. There are also some fabulous prizes from other sponsors at the end of 2012. 

The prize for the January Challenge is a great Cotton Mako’ 50 KitArt box from Sarah Vedeler

Kit Art Collection of Cotton Mako' 50 threads used by Sarah Vedeler to embroider her Silk Hearts Quilt

On her blog, SewCal Gal says:

 ”Although I still have a lot to learn, I’m thoroughly in love with doing FMQ on  my quilts, on my home sewing machine.  And, I want others to also have a fun year of quilting and to love doing FMQ too.  Thus, I’m hosting the 2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge.”

She has collaborated with a lot of expert machine quilters to provide tutorials and handy hints each month and says:

“I want to clarify that this is a challenge. It is not an online class.  While 12 FMQ tutorials will be shared, participants are encouraged to utilize opportunities to learn by way of taking classes, DVDs, books, youtube videos, Sew-alongs, and simply practicing FMQ on their own. ”

The free motion quilting tutorial for January has been provided by Frances Moore.

If you are looking for additional “help” to get started Leah, of “Free Motion Quilting”  has a great introduction to free motion quilting  for beginners, on her blog.

To be eligible to win prizes in the Challenge you will need to register (sign the pledge) and read SewCal Gal’s  instructions about how to enter your quilting each month,  but what a great way to build your free motion quilting skills on your domestic machine in 12 easy steps.

To see all the back posts about the  Challenge, including the “pattern” and the suggested quilting requirements, simply click on the image below.

SewCal Gal started planning the Challenge in November 2011 so be sure to scroll back through her posts to find all the information.

Good Luck!

Be sure to have fun as you complete (compete) in this challenge.

 

Did you make a new year stitching resolution?

I made a new year stitching resolution! 

Last year I hardly allowed myself time for any personal stitching …. I did plenty of quilting for other people but very little for myself. So this year I have set a goal to finish one quilt and make a Christmas tree skirt just for me.

I loved the look of the blue & white Christmas tree skirt that Denise made

I was  inspired to set the Christmas tree skirt goal after seeing the beautiful tree skirt that Denise brought into work last month.

She had finished piecing the panels and needed to pick out the thread to complete the quilting.

Denise chose a pretty mid blue Cotton Mako’ 40 with which to quilt her Christmas Tree Skirt

I haven’t decide whether to make mine as a pieced skirt, or whether to create the skirt with a wholecloth quilting design.

 … I guess I have several months to make a decision and still get the project finished before December 2012.

In the meantime I can have lots of fun researching what other people have done. So far I have found:

Natalie & Kathleen from Piece & Quilt have a great tutorial for making a square Christmas tree skirt (as simple as making a quilt top, slashing it and cutting a central circle opening for the tree)

Over on Audrey Shwartz’s blog,  Mauby’s you will find another Christmas tree skirt made using large Drunkard’s path blocks.

 

On the How Stuff Works website there are several “no-sew”, or minimal sewing designs, but  what I found particularly useful was the method that they show for measuring a large circle.

 

In preparation for maybe making a quilted skirt, I did pop over to Jessica’s Digi-tech digital patterns to purchase the Christmas Tree skirt templates. They will simplify the design placement if I decide to quilt a wholecloth skirt.

 

I guess you will have to wait twelve months to see if I find time to make a Christmas tree skirt, and whether it is pieced or made as a wholecloth ….. (and did I say I was going to finish another quilt?)

 

But what about you …. what stitching are you planning to do in 2012?

 

Do write a comment to tell us. We love to hear about other people’s sewing projects.

 

All of us at Always Quilting
wish you a Happy New Year
with plenty of time for stitching
 

Brillo Workout!

Here is a short video about the Aurifil Metallic Thread, Brillo that I used in my Christmas-present-in-minutes blog post. I wanted to show you how reliably this thread performs without altering my machine settings.

I know many of you will adjust your machine’s tension and use a special Metallic or Embroidery needle with metallic thread. The metallic and embroidery needles (available from www.alwaysquilting.com.au) have a deeper cut away in the scarf at the back of the needle and a bigger eye. This keeps the thread from becoming overheated whilst stitching.

With all these particular instructions in mind, I wanted to use Brillo without changing a thing! Brilliant results!

Are you running out of time to make those Christmas presents?

Well I did an internet search and found some great ideas for making last minute, almost “no – sew”,  hand made gifts, which I thought that I would share with you here:

If you just can’t resist getting the sewing machine out, here is a great tutorial for making a Poinsettia flower using organza.

It is perfect for use as a table decoration, or a pretty brooch, and would look fantastic stitched in one of the Aurifil threads …. Cotton Mako’ would give a gentle sheen to the edge and Aurilux or Brillo would sparkle with light.

And if you still have some free time, why not whip up some lavender closet hangers as last minute Christmas favours to hang on the tree.

Enjoy!

Wishing you a happy Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.
We hope you manage to finish all those ufos – and perhaps start planning,
and maybe sewing, some new quilts in 2012.

Best wishes from Jenny and all the staff of Always Quilting.

Watch for more of our textile ideas, and store happenings, in 2012.

Just what every summer traveller needs.

A personalised luggage tag is just what every traveller needs. I know you can buy a huge range of colourful luggage tags these days, but nothing beats the hand-made, customised, tag …. no one else will have exactly the same tag!

Make your own customised luggage tag and make identification easy.

The summer holidays set me thinking about travel, and the annoying problem of identifying your luggage from amongst the hundreds of bags doing the rounds on the airport carousel.

My solution is to make a set of matching luggage tags in my own funky fabric design. This way I can instantly identify MY suitcase as soon as it appears through that little window in the wall.

Luggage tags are very simple to make, using the shapes from the pattern page (see the pattern download box to the left of the screen).

For each tag:

Cut 2 x tag shapes from chosen fabric:  each 4 1/2″ x 7″ (12cm x 18cm)

Cut 1 x plastic window shape from heavy-duty, clear tablecloth plastic:  4′ x 2 1/2″ (10cm x 6.5cm)

Cut 1 x loop strip from chosen fabric: 11′ x 2″ (28cm x 5cm)

Cut 2 tag shapes from interfacing: each 4″ x 6 1/2″ (10cm x 16.5cm)

Stitch with Aurifil Cotton Mako’ of course!!

Making up the tag:

1. Make the loop by folding right sides together and stitching a seam 1/4″ from the raw edge to make a tube. Turn the tube so that the right sides are out. Press flat with the seam running down the centre of the tube.
2. Stiffen the tag fabric by ironing  interfacing to the centre of the wrong side of each tag shape.
3. Place right sides together and stitch around the shape, 1/4″ from the raw edges, leaving an opening at the  shoulders so that the tag can be turned out to the right side.
4. Turn tag to the  right side.
5. Press the raw edges of the “shoulders” into the wrong side
6. Fold the loop in half and insert the raw edges in to the “neck” of the tag.
7. Stitch all around the edge of the tag, very close to the edge, to close the shoulder and create a sharp finished edge.
8. Position the plastic label “pocket”  in the centre of one side of the tag and stitch into place. Stitching can be straight or a decorative design.
9. Print a sheet of address labels, cut to size, and insert one into the window.

Ta da!

One luggage label completed.

This is an easy project for playing with the decorative stitches on your machine.

Repeat as many times as needed.