Big Board...

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Big Board

30 x 65 inches

This is the best place to press.

Great for pressing quilt backings, blocking finished quilts, large fused applique work, a large design surface and work area.

Bottom side of Big Board

The big board sits directly on top of my regular ironing board.

I can take it on and off easily if I need to.

The wooden slats keep the big board from slipping off my regular ironing board.

The Big Board is not fastened in anyway, it just sits directly on top of the regular ironing board.

"After Midnight"

Quilting on Foiled Fabric is Complete

To see the previous posting on this foiled quilt CLICK HERE

Dancer & Freckles

I have been outdoors enjoying the last of our autumn weather.

As I walk through the fields capturing images with the camera, I am not alone.

Dancer just can't help wandering closer and closer to check out the camera.

Before I know it...he has the camera strap in his lips.

I think this was a hint to stop taking pictures and give him a good scratching.

CLICK HERE to view Big Board Tutorial

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

A Fresh Start...

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A new wall cupboard for the Thread Shed

My son gave me the dark brown wall cupboard for Christmas.

With the crazy year I had preparing for the quilt exhibit I wasn't able to get it put up until today.

Thank You Heath. You know just what I like.

I love cupboards of all shapes and sizes.

They are great for storage and you just close the doors and the clutter is gone!

The big 3 door cupboard on the floor is the island out of our kitchen.

When we remodeled a few years ago, I claimed this for the Thread Shed.

It contains all of my landscape fabrics.

The new cupboard seems happy with all of the rest of the cupboards nearby.

I spend most of my time in this corner of the Thread Shed.

I have a chair on wheels...I can roll around and reach most anything I need while I am at the sewing machine.

This cupboard followed me home from the thrift store last week.

As soon as I saw it I knew it was a perfect fit for the Thread Shed...

My New Kitchen Center

I do not sew in my house. The Thread Shed is a separate building next to our house.

This cupboard worked perfect as a place to put all of my kitchen supplies.

I can spend as much as 12 or more hours a day out here, so I like to have tea, coffee, soup, etc.

The cupboard door opens...

It holds the coffee supplies, soup, crackers, etc.

There is room on the top shelf for all my pressing supplies.

3 Drawers down below hold coffee cups, tea bags, drink mixes and lots more!

Yes, this cupboard was a perfect fit.

I just love to find an old piece of furniture and give it a new life.

Everyone knows...move a piece of furniture around....and it affects everything in the room! The 2 new cupboards forced me into a cleaning and re-organizing tizzy.

Nothing was safe...lots of purging went on.

I am gladly donating these quilt books to my quilt guild for the silent auction next month. I know another quilter will give them a new life in her thread shed.

Now that the Thread Shed is cleaned and organized I have given myself a FRESH START. There are so many projects I am anxious to work on...

This is the first...a Fred Flintstone costume for my oldest son, Nicholas.

It will be fun to work with this bright orange fabric. I plan to mix up black textile paint for the spots on his shirt.

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Failure: The Secret to Success

This video speaks to the "Perfectionist" in me...

I plan to apply this way of thinking to my creativity, especially when I am experimenting with new textile art techniques.

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.

I’ve lost almost 300 games.

Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

- Michael Jordan

Raffle Quilt......Women's Cancer Coalition

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In May 2009 the Harlan Valley Quilters of Harlan Oregon pieced this floral quilt top.

It is a Disappearing 9 Patch Technique.

CLICK HERE to view a tutorial.

This week I put a scallop binding on it.

After I marked the placement of the scalloped line all around the edges of the quilt, I sewed the BIAS binding on it....following my marked line.

NEVER cut the edge off until the binding is completely sewn down by machine.

This is a bias edge, and it will stretch if you cut it BEFORE you sew on the binding.

Now you are ready to trim off the excess quilt edges.

I snip directly into where the 2 scallops meet. Cut right up to your sewing line.

Be very careful not to cut into the stitching.

TIP: I like to leave an extra 1/8 inch beyond the edge of the binding.

This gives me a full binding when I fold it over to the back.

You do not want your binding to feel hollow.

You want it nice and full and round.

This is what the quilt edge will look like after you have trimmed off all of the excess quilt edge.

TIP: I like to trim a bit at first, then fold the binding over to the back to see if I have enough edge to fill the binding up nice and plump.

The next thing you need is a 10 hour road trip over to Eastern Oregon 500 miles one way....then back home again......to get the binding sewn down to the back side!

We pulled in the driveway last night at midnight.....and the binding was done!

I just love travel stitching...

This photo with the flash turned off really enhances the quilting stitches.

"Vintage Beauty"

Donated by JanniLou Creations Quilt Shop of Philomath, Oregon

To the Women's Cancer Coalition.

Raffle tickets will be sold through October 2010 for this quilt.

Proceeds will benefit Women's Cancer Programs.

CLICK HERE to see who won this Quilt

May All Your Quilts be Scalloped,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Quilting Foiled Fabric

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This is the red fabric piece I foiled a few days ago.

It looked best set against black border fabric.

Very dramatic...

I decided to let the motifs and angles of the foiled images determine my quilting lines.

I marked straight quilting lines with Easy Mark Chalk.

Most of my quilting is no-mark free motion.

However, sometimes I mark guidelines, especially if I desire a straight line.

Easy Mark Chalk comes in a thin sliver and you can draw a very thin line.

Using a ruler, I followed the straight lines of the foiled grid image across the surface of the quilt with the Easy Mark Chalk.

The quilt top is marked and ready for machine quilting.

I have chosen this gold thread, it is NOT metallic, but appears to be when stitched.

Robison-Anton 24 KT Gold Thread

I machine quilted right on top of the chalked straight lines.

What I love about Easy Mark is it stays in place. It is NOT chalky, and does not bounce all over the fabric when you sew over the top of it.

You simply iron the Easy Mark Chalk with an iron and it disappears!

That is the very best part of this product.

Very easy removal.

IMPORTANT: Use Parchment Paper or a Teflon Pressing Sheet to iron over the top of the foiling.

No More Chalk lines

I quilted straight lines to follow the foiled grid lines.

I quilted swirls to match the foiled swirls and the curved pattern in the red fabric.

I found a video online that demonstrates how to do the swirl quilting like I did on this quilt. CLICK HERE to view the video.

Allowing the motifs and fabric design to determine your stitching....

Fun!

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Couching Foiled Fabric

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I decided to add fibers on top of the quilting lines across the center of the foil fabric.

My favorite way to couch threads is using my free motion feet.

Above you can see the 3 different free motion or darning feet I use.

I started out with the darning foot that is a half circle shape.

This gives me perfect visibility when I am trying to follow a line on the quilt surface.

Stitch in place a few times to anchor the fiber down.

Then slowly top stitch along the fiber.

I do not zig zag as this compresses the fibers, and I want them to remain fuzzy.

When couching a very fuzzy fiber I use the big plastic darning foot.

It does not snag the fibers like the open toe foot sometimes does.

End your stitching line with several stitches in place to tack the fiber down good

.

This image displays fibers couched down, you can barely see the stitching.

On the right side I have 2 more quilting lines to couch over yet.

This is what the original piece looked like after it was foiled...

This is the completed piece...ready to bind.

"Golden Moments"

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Fabrics always be Foiled,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE