My New Travel and Sewing Buddy - Meet Abbie

 After years without a furry friend, I took a leap of faith and adopted Abbie. I had the vision of a quilting and travel buddy - a four footed best friend to keep me company on the road. Abbie has quickly become a member of the family and I'm so happy she is here.

We are still getting used to her potty schedule - the cold weather has put a bit of a cramp in her style. But she's learning the rules pretty quickly.

She is somewhat fascinated with my shoes. No chewing, just bringing them out. In any given day she might bring 5 shoes out. 

She loves her bed, her toys, and meeting new
quilters. I brought Abbie on her first road trip down to Oklahoma City to visit the Central Oklahoma Quilt Guild last week. She did well in the car and hotel and was invited to join the workshop. 

We've been walking everyday - so she is helping me be a little more active. Next week the fence will be completed and she can run around the yard to her hearts content. We have 7 doggie neighbors - she seems to like them all.

So I'll apologize now for being an insufferable doggie mama - posting pics and talking non-stop about Abbie.  Look for my future  adventures to contain Miss Abbie.

Curious about adopting a furry friend? Contact your local Humane Society!

Designer Profile - Joan Ford

 I was first drawn to Joan Ford because of her Scrap Therapy books. I loved the idea of taming the mountain of scraps I had accumulated. Little did I know, until I took a quilt cruise with her, that she is a woman of many talents.

Her company is called Hummingbird Highway and has a definite bird theme. Lately her main focus has been on lazar cut, pieced bird patterns that she calls "The Flock".  These bird blocks (over 60 of them!) are perfect for birders - they are so incredibly cleverly designed and delightful. 

Joan is a perfectionist when it counts - matching points, using glue to help piece bias edges without that pesky slippage that normally happens, and lazar cutting the fabric for us so that everything fits together perfectly. As a teacher, she is organized, methodical,  informative, supportive and very humorous. Our group was divided into two room and she handled the back and forth between the two rooms like the pro that she is.

The design she did for the cruise was beautiful. It worked great as a
mystery.  We worked on small components  - no one could tell what the design was going to be until the assembly directions were passed out and the final reveal was done. We "oohed and awwed" over the striking quilt. 

I would definitely take another workshop from Joan. I'm also about to order some bird patterns. I think you should too!

Curious about the Flock? Fly over to Hummingbird-Highway and check it out!

 

Sedona Block 1 - Slide Rock

 I love this first motif. In addition to a cool row type block, it would make a very interesting border. Individually the blocks look like tulips. I can envision it in pink and green. 

In this post I'm going to add some tips and thought that arose as I was making the slide Rock motif. This is not meant to replace the pattern - you must have the pattern to participate in the QAL. 'Nough said.

First some general thoughts - these notes apply to all the motifs.

1. You probably should get some gripper dots for your ruler. I noticed some slippage with mine.

2. Cutting process for all the blocks – There are 3 different cutting processes, and each has its own accuracy level and ruler indicators.

• The first is to rough cut rectangles and squares according to the pattern for your step. In this case close (within 1/16^th) is good enough.

• 
  The second is to cut your curved pieces. For these, follow your pattern closely. In many cases you have to make a mark to use as a cutting reference. You can cut several at a time. Some are cut right side up and some are wrong side up. This is important. To do this I stack my fabric wrong side together. These cuts should be fairly accurate, but don't worry about perfection.   

• T
  The last cut requires precision. For this cut you will be trimming up your blocks. The pattern tells you where to mark your ruler – I use a sharpie. You could also use GE Designs repositionable arrows. On this cut you may find your points don’t match up to the dots on your ruler. Ideally you want all points to match the indicators on your ruler. If they don’t, get as close as you can on all points. In other words, don’t get one perfect and leave three totally off.

3. Sewing process for all the blocks. Since we will be trimming the blocks after sewing, reduce your stitch length so that the seams don’t start coming undone. Pay close attention to how you line up the pieces right sides together. I find I make fewer mistakes when I lay them how they will end up and then put them right sides tighter. Sometimes one of the pieces extends over the other .25 or .5 inches.  The amount varies with every seam so pay attention.

4. There is no need for pinning. Using both hands – one on each piece of fabric  - Bring the seam allowances together about an inch or less before it goes under the presser foot. Sew a quarter inch seam. The blocks will look wonky before you trim – don’t worry you probably haven’t made a mistake. If you machine has a hover mode (presser foot comes up when you stop sewing) it’s a good idea to engage that feature as you sew the curves. You can stop and realign your fabric very easily that way.

5. Pay attention to which direction to press – again, it varies with every motif.

Block 1 Specifics

•     Sedona Sky - Make 18
•     Sedona Trails - Make 21
•     Sedona Medallion - Make 12 (I would use fabric amount indicated for Sky. You’ll have a bit extra)

1.  Remember – cut half right side up and half right side down.

2.  Be careful when you cut your background fabric in Step 3 - the rectangles are 4” x 4.5” and could easily be turned the wrong direction. Make sure they are oriented correctly – the shorter side facing you and the longer side going away from you.

3.  Pattern says you’ll need 3 strips of the background fabric for Sedona Sky. I think you’ll need 4 strips, but cut 3 first and see if you need the forth one. I did need it.

4. Ensure your “extension” amount is correct. Extension is the amount that the top piece extends over the bottom piece. Its usually .25 or .5 inches. It varies with every block, so pay attention.

5.  Sewing the individual blocks together takes some precision to get your points just right. Pin and take your time.

Curious about the Sedona QAL? Check it out here.

Saul's Crepes

 I thought February would be a great month to share my sweet Saul's crepe recipe. Make them for brunch if you like, but we had them for dinner!

Saul’s Crepes (makes about 4-5 crepes)

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

½ cup milk

½ cup water

¼ t salt

2T melted butter

In a large mixing bowl, whish together the flour and eggs. Gradually add the milk and water, stirring to combine until batter is sooth. Add salt and butter. combine well.

Heat a lightly oiled fry pan over medium heat. Pour about ¼ cup of the crepe batter into the pan and twirl the pan to spread the mixture thin. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Fill with desired fruit and roll up. Or fold into quarters, and enjoy. Our family likes Nutella and strawberries or bananas.

Cheers!

Acorn Precision Piecing Seam Align Fabric Glue

I am being totally spoiled at the moment - I'm on a Hawaiian Quilting Cruise. I'll write more about the cruise and teacher in another post. But I do want to tell you about a helpful notion that the teacher introduced us to. I had seen it before, but never used it.

"It" is the Seam Align Fabric Glue by Acorn. It's a Canadian product, so it was a bit hard to find at first, but now many shops are carrying it. I will have it in my booth at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival in June as well as in my Etsy shop as soon as I get back from the cruise (1 February).

What makes this glue so great? Well, first the applicator is very small so it gives you great precision. You only need a tiny bit. It's repositionable until pressed with heat, and then its more lasting but still not permanent. It is perfectly safe for your machine as it dries once its activated with heat.

The only drawback I see is that it requires an additional step - the pressing. If you're like me and need a bit more exercise, then its not a drawback at all! 

For me, any drawbacks disappear when you look at the precision you get. Especially with bias seams. The block we are sewing on this cruise has bias seams everywhere. I started with pinning and was not getting my ends to match. The pieces were laser cut, so I couldn't blame my cutting. The bias pieces were stretching. Even using 3 to 4 pins on a 2.5 inch pieces wasn't doing it.

As soon as I started using the glue, all my pieces fit. Every time!

Here's the easy process - 

Apply just tiny dots within your seam allowance, about every quarter inch.

 

Align your second piece - starting at the ends first and pressing towards the middles with your fingers.

Press with heat to activate the glue. You can still pull it apart if you need to.

Sew as usual. 

Have you tried this miracle glue? What do you think? Let me know!

Always Curious!

Congee

 I have seen congee on cruises and then more recently while in Australia and New Zealand. I tried it and am hooked! So I made a batch last week and now its a staple in my breakfast meal rotation.

Congee is a rice porridge originating probably in China. It is either plain or made with chicken stock. I made mine with chicken bone broth and chicken stock. What makes it so good (in my opinion) are the toppings you add to it. 

Here's how to make it:

Heat 8 cups of water or combination of water and stock to boiling. Add 1 cup any type of rice except basmati and stir. Reduce heat and partially cover. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking for about 45 minutes or until rice is soft and well incorporated into liquid. Add more liquid if too thick, or cook longer if too runny. It should be the consistency of oatmeal.

While cooking, prepare toppings-

    Finely sliced spring onions

    Chopped cilantro

    Hard boil eggs

    Crispy fried shallots - thinly slice shallots and fry til crispy in peanut or vegetable oil.

    Soy sauce

    Sesame oil

    Siracha or chili oil 

    Finely chopped peanuts

    Sesame seeds

Serve the congee with as many or few of the toppings as you like. For me, the more, the better. Its a warm, savory, filling way to start your day - especially a cold winter day with quilting on the agenda.

Sedona - A Very Cool Quilt Pattern

SewKindofWonderful has lots of very cool patterns and books. I've made 5 and have several in progress. The one I'm starting soon and will be hosting a Quilt Along for is Sedona.

I am so excited about this quilt - there are 2 layout options available in the pattern and one more on the SKW website. I haven't yet decided which layout I want to do - its either going to be the sky or the medallion. I love the colors in both these layouts. A trip to the LQS next week may be on the agenda.

The 11 motifs are fresh and use a combination of curve and straight piecing and have cool names such as slide rock, stepping stones, desert bloom, arches, chicken points, cool beans, reflection, ribbon, pole star, horizon, and trading box. What's not to love???

For the QAL I'll be providing tips on each motif. Check back here for the videos and info. If you want to join in, comment here or send me an email at djps1957@gmail.com. You can get this pattern at my Etsy shop, SewKindofWonderful, your local quilt shop, or Amazon. 

Curiousness Rules!