Erin Underwood Quilts

So I have just discovered Pinterest.com

So the way it works is –  You ask to be signed up. They send you an acceptance email then you set up your page. It is linked to Facebook and/or twitter but I don’t know if you have to have an account at one of these sites to participate.

Your page is divided into subjects – such as great quilts, funny stuff, food, etc.. and the premise behind the site is to post inspiring/interesting pics you have found on the net to your page to share. If you post them correctly, the photos are linked to where you found them so credit is always given to the right person. And when you look at the posted photo, a side bar comes up with other pictures from the website from which it was obtained. If you click on the pic, it will take you to its home website too.

Unfortunately some people are obtaining their pics from such places as google images  – we are all out there in some form or fashion so are pics can be found there too with no link back to the home website.

People will began to follow your posts on Pinterest.  And you can follow other people’s posts too – its a wealth of inspiration.  Be careful though, just like any other social media site, you are apt to fall down the rabbit hole, get lost in the maze of links and photos and loose a lot of productive time getting “inspired”!

Why don’t you give it a try?  Follow me down the Rabbit Hole!

I love it when things come together the way they are supposed to! Now if the extra fabric I ordered shows up and is indeed a match to the background fabric I bought in 2009, I will finish the borders and it’ll be a great week!!

So it is work to actually squeeze in time for what I want to do but I’ve managed to get a few things completed  – things I’ve wanted to do since last Christmas – and by last Christmas, I mean 2010!  That year  I made everyone in our extended family Rope Bowls out of covered clothesline. I even made a few placemats and have been itching to make some for our household ever since. Although they look simple enough, they are quiet time consuming. And I think my method cuts some of the construction time off but its still takes TIME!

I use my zipper foot to cover the rope like cording then trim the seam allowance down to 1/16th” – 1/8″.  As I zigzag the cording together to make the mat or bowl, the seam allowance virtually disappears. I admit there is a difference between the two sides of the mat or bowl but it doesn’t bother me.

So my plan was to use up all those tail ends of binding that I just can’t seem to throw away but soon went through all the blues – this project uses a lot of fabric and even more thread! I have resorted to cutting strips to keep on moving with this project. 2″ is the width that works well for me. As you can see, I’ve got three placemats and two coasters that I think look absolutely fantastic with my teacup! I need at least 6 of both so I keep plugging along during my “free” time… Meanwhile, I continue to work on this!

Its coming along nicely – an epiphany hit me at 4am! I’ve got all the math down – I’ll keep ya posted!

Pretty much this is all I’ve been looking at for the last few weeks!

Lots of pattern writing going on and its a must-do over the Christmas holidays since its the only time my In-Design guru will be home from college to help me when things don’t make any sense in this program! She has been a jewel – good thing she  knows her stuff although I think she’s beginning to have her doubts about me!

But before I immersed myself in computer lingo this month, I did do a little bit of sewing for Christmas! Love this pattern! Easy Striped Table Runner designed by Karen Montgomery. I don’t often buy patterns –  being somewhat of “I can figure that out” kind of quilter but this one was worth the investment! And it was as much fun or even more than doing a Stack-n-whack quilt! Each and every table runner was a beautiful surprise! I’ll show you a few since I have already delivered these and they have been opened!

Each Christmas, I try to make gifts – saves money and seems more meaningful to me than going out and shopping til I drop and breaking the budget too! I only wish that one Christmas I would spend some time making some of these fun gifts just for myself!

I would stop and do that now but I’ve only got so much time with my In-design guru and every minute counts!

Meanwhile, here’s hoping every one has a happy and healthy Holiday season – Blessing to all and Happy New Year!

While in Houston, I came across this demo in the Jenny Haskins booth. I’ll show you how it works here as I can’t find any thing about it at her website. She starts out with her product Krinkle Magic – her version of Texture Magic, a Superior Threads product – here are some demo videos on YouTube.

I’ll do my best to explain this wonderful 3-dimensional flower technique to you. This concept opens up a world of ideas with applique and embellishment! First you start with your flower fabric. I used a bastiste but you could use anything from cottons to silks and sheers. You will have to play with it to see the results. I made a sandwich of flower fabric, Texture magic, flower fabric – the flower fabrics have “right sides” to the outside of the sandwich. Then I hooped it and  stitched a flower. If you have a embroidery machine, you could just program in a flower design. I thread-painted mine.

Next I trimmed very closely around it. Jenny Haskins used synthetic fabrics and threads and has a “burning” tool that trimmed away the extra fabric quite nicely but could never be used with cottons!!

After its trimmed, you  attack it with steam! Do not let the iron touch the flower or the texture magic will melt into hard plastic. Also, make sure your iron is clean. I never use steam so when I filled up my iron and let it blow, it decided now was a good time to clean out all its pipes –

This was pretty disgusting as well as ruining my flower!! I had to even wash the ironing board cover!!! So make sure your steam is clean. I ended up steaming my flowers very carefully with the tea kettle!!

Here’s a cleaner version of the flower – note the leaf too! I made two flowers, one slightly smaller. They can be sewn together in as many layers as you would like your flower to be. You may even consider embellishing the flower center with beads or french knots or buttons… I had a lot of fun with this – hope you give it a try!

What a wonderful experience the International Quilt Show in Houston Texas is! The quilts were absolutely stunning! My favorite is Caryl Bryer Fallert’s Checks and Balances – take a moment to click on the link to see what I mean. Actually the photo is great but you miss a lot of the detail that makes it outstanding! If you ever get the chance to see it in person, there is so much more in the quilt that photos just can’t catch. Her skill in the construction and quilting is amazing. It did  not win best of show but remains my favorite.

The Best of Show Quilt, Harmony Within by Sue McCarty was a stunner also. When you click on the link, you will notice there’s an awful lot of gold in this piece. It is all threadwork! Gold thread in the black borders and gold thread in the red background. This piece actually has very little applique. And the most outstanding part of it is she created it on a Gammill 26″ classic Longarm with absolutely no bells and whistles! She is my hero! I am inspired to reach to her level, at least this week, that is – next week, I may be more realistic about my goals…