My Tips n Techniques

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Thread Shed.....Wild and Wooly

 There's a lot going on in the 

Thread Shed


I have a lot of irons in the fire
and so glad I have this little building
to hold all of my stitching enthusiasm !



On the left side of the room is where
the Sweet Sixteen Long Arm is located:


Last week I decided to 
organize my long arm rulers...



This stand alone shelf is perfect for the job:


I can sort the rulers by how I use them
in the three shelf units...





The rulers stack nicely in each bin...






The top shelf holds the long, straight rulers and arcs that I use most often...






The second shelf holds my shape rulers...
circles, triangles, hexagons, etc.
I also keep my True Grips in here.





The third shelf holds large circles and curves.

This sits right next to my Sweet Sixteen and everything is easy for me to reach.



Straight ahead is my big work table.
Right now a new horse panel quilt 
is taking up space:





This is a quilt panel of a mare and her foal:


I added the narrow gold border
and the pieced brown border to the panel...



I started the machine quilting:


So far I have stitched out the 
floral wreaths
in all sizes.





I stitch the largest motifs first
then work my way down to the smallest last...





I am having a great deal of FUN with this one !





Hoping to have this completed as a holiday gift.



My Big Board is covered with
some of my stencils:


I plan to use some of these on the horse quilt...






I use Pounce to mark the quilt with the stencils.
It works great and irons right off when done.



Over in the back of the room is my Bernina:


This is my Face Mask work table...

When I have a few minutes here and there,
I sit down and make a mask or two.


Yes, there is a lot going on in this room:

Things are Wild and Wooly in here !

When I leave, no need to put anything away...

I just shut the door and walk away.

When I return, my projects are waiting for me.

The Cowboy built this for me in 2000.

I have been happily playing in here for 20 years !


CLICK HERE to view ALL Thread Shed posts


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Friday, October 16, 2020

Face Masks....for children


My sewing table in the Thread Shed

has looked like this since last March... 


My mask making factory

Whenever I get a few minutes 
away from farm work,
I head for the Thread Shed to do some stitching.



Lately I have been making masks for children:


How FUN are these crayon masks...






Mickey Mouse Masks






Flame Masks






Daddy and Child size...






Spiderman Masks






Daddy and Child size


I am closing in on 300 masks since March.

I think we will all be wearing these

for a good long while.

I share these with family and friends.


CLICK HERE to view all MASK posts


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Thursday, October 15, 2020

English Paper Piecing....BIG Flowers

 

Remember these JUMBO fabric flowers ?


The flowers were created with some 
leftover hexagons from the quilt below...




I pieced two of these quilt tops three years ago.

I had orphan fabric covered hexagons
in the bottom of my sewing box.

Here it is three years later
and I am stitching on those hexagons again.




I have 30 hexy flowers finished so far...





I decided on lime green hexagons for the background...






Four different shades of lime green...



I cleaned off the design wall and started
pinning up hexagons...


I think the lime green is working 
in the background...





A few more hexagons on the wall...





I am trying to just slap them up on the wall
for now....the tweeking will come later.





I started to tweek them, but I am tired.

We spent the early morning fixing electric fence.
A herd of elk ran through the electric fence that surrounds the newly seeded hay field.
Our bulls took advantage of the fence being down
and tromped all through the wet and muddy field.

It is 6pm and I am calling it a day...



It is good to see the hexagons up on the wall...


 


When I have more time to play,

I will rearrange them, possibly cull some of them

and maybe even make some more.


Wishing you all a good evening.


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Cattle......River Crossing Video

 We are feeding cattle now,

so they seem to follow us everywhere we go.

We crossed the river and they followed

right along...


Enjoy the Video:


Be sure to click on the FULL SCREEN icon



CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Monday, October 12, 2020

Clear Vinyl Zip Cases...

 

I call these...

Peek-a-Boo Bags


This is my second time working with vinyl...






I purchased clear vinyl from Joann Fabrics...






I used a Sizzix Big Shot Plus
to cut the heart shapes from adhesive backed vinyl
then stuck it onto the clear vinyl...






I used some of my orphan beads
to create the zipper pulls...






I sewed zipper tabs onto the ends of the zippers
to keep the top corners of the bags nice and square...






I also squared off the bottom corners
so the bags can stand up on their own...






I am attending a Quilt Retreat in Idaho soon
and will take these along as quilter gifts....FUN !






CLICK HERE to view all my bag posts


Here is a great explanation of why

to use zipper tabs....CLICK HERE


CLICK HERE: Zip Case Tutorial


CLICK HERE: Zip Case Video Tutorial


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Face Masks and Feeding Cattle...

 

Now that the hay field has been seeded and

bedded down for the winter,

I have time to spend at my sewing machine:



This is what the sewing table looks like today..





In honor of autumn,
I pulled out some leaf fabrics
and turned them into face masks...






Rather than make one mask at a time,
I stitch them up assembly line style...





Autumn Face Masks

















I am heading into town next week
and will share these with family and friends!



It's that time of the year...


Cow Feeding Time...






We feed free choice hay to the cattle,
which means there is hay in front of them 24/7.



This is our one of our new replacement heifers:


Althea

Yes, she is gorgeous !





This is my sweet Golden Girl...



This is Golden Girls calf this year:


Buffalo Bill

He looked just like a buffalo calf 
when he was born !



We feed daily in 4 different locations:


There are 100 head of cow and calf pairs
in this field...





There are 40 head of cow and calf pairs
in this field...
just across the river you can see our place.

Every morning there are a lot of mouths to feed!






I do not have a pattern or tutorial for my masks, however, below is a link to a mask making video that is very similar to the way I make mine. 

I add a nose wire.  


CLICK HERE for Mask Tutorial


CLICK HERE for Mask Patterns


CLICK HERE for Ear Elastic


CLICK HERE for Nose Wires


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts


May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi