Thoughts for a New Year

It's that time of year; the stores have cleared out the Christmas stuff already and before they go crazy with Valentine's Day stuff, they've got the workout gear stacked high in anticipation of New Year's resolutions to git fit and lose weight.

I'm not giving that stuff a single glance. Not that I don't need to lose weight, but I've got plenty of workout gear that's not been worn enough. Nope. What I am working on is trying to focus and make a plan for all the projects I want to work on.

And boy, do I have projects. Not just quilts-in-progress, but some clothes for my daughter, organizing projects for our little cottage, other quilting related projects, blog plans, home improvement, and the list goes on.

I hate that I find myself saying "I'm busy" when I've been asked how I have been. I heard a line about B.U.S.Y. standing for burdened under Satan's yoke a long time ago and it made me mindful not to cram the life of my family with too many activities that take away from enjoying one another.

Did you know that multitasking can make your brain perform worse than the brain of someone who is stoned? Here's an article on what to do when you find yourself too busy. Full of good stuff. Explains why I can get overwhelmed and decide maybe my Mommy-brain just isn't all that bright anymore! Add a bit of chronic sleep deprivation and wowza!

But this year, I'm working on a plan. Putting it down in writing, and working the plan. Because life doesn't always go according to plan ever, I'm also planning on extending myself some grace. I've read that putting your to-do's and projects down in writing frees up your brain to be more creative. When you try to remember it all, it's a lot like having too many tabs open in your computer's browser; slows it down.

There are calendar pages taped to my wall and post-it notes galore in my studio!

What are your plans for this new year? Quilty or otherwise? Anybody else eat too much pie?

A Friend Loves at All Times

I made this wall hanging for a friend of mine as a Christmas gift. It was fun and fast, especially since to finish it, I stretched and stapled it over a cheap painter's canvas.

I have several cardboard heart templates on hand, so I traced around one for the heart. I wasn't thinking ahead and centered the heart in the middle of the piece and found myself running out of space. I marked a base line for the word 'friends' after marking the heart and freehand wrote it with my air-erase marker.

I did the stitching with Filtec's Affinity thread in Rainbow coloration. It's the variegated version of glide thread. Smooth stitching! I used white sewing thread in the bobbin.

I took a few short videos with my new camera too. But I don't know if I'll share them as they download differently than what I've done before. The pics shown here are also from the new camera. I still haven't ventured off of the automatic settings yet. It's not a Christmas present as it was a planned purchase from my quilting income, but it feels like one.

I stitched on white Kona cotton over a layer of batting, no backing. It worked ok, but it was a little harder to move the piece under my needle. It felt a little floppy and I had to be very careful to keep my hands centered around the needle so the fabric didn't bunch up. To finish the piece I just stapled it around a cheap painter's canvas from the hobby store, AC Moore. Since the piece was stretched around the stretched canvas and wood frame, it didn't matter that there was no back. But I worry that the single layer of fabric might not hold up well to the staples.

We had a lovely Christmas and I hope you did too!

Ruler Work Resource for Using Rulers on a Stationary Machine

Recently, the concept of Ruler Work with long arm rulers on a stationary machine has had some new developments in available feet and techniques and there's increased interest here on the blog about it. I've updated the blog page above on the subject to include the new information and have decided to run the content below (with a few additions) from that page as its own post for my newer readers.

Below are links to the posts I have done about using long arm rulers on a stationary machine. The machine can be a regular domestic sewing machine or one of the sit-down style long arm machines. It takes practice, but it can be done and yields some great results!

Ideally, you want a foot made for use with rulers. It can be done without a ruler-type foot, but should the ruler slip under or over the foot you can break a needle and possible throw your machine out of timing. (This means the hook and needle are no longer in the right place at the right time to form a stitch.) But here's a nifty way of doing ruler work without a ruler foot that is safer than most: No Ruler Foot? No Problem!

Using rulers on a stationary machine when free motion quilting is still a bit of an out-of-the-box technique and if you don't have a proper ruler foot, you may need to try some out-of-the-box thinking about the feet that are available; try different feet, different height of the foot (usually higher), a different needle position to use with a different brand's foot, etc. See the Tutorial for Using the Janome Ruler Toe on Berninas for ideas.

Sit-down long arm systems have this type of foot available.

The Janome 'ruler toe' is part# 767-434-005 and fits on the convertible free motion foot set for either high shank machines, low shank machines, or the 1600 convertible set. Newer, high-end Janomes come with their own version of the Convertible Free Motion Quilting Foot set, but can use the Ruler Toe from the Frame Quilting Foot set also.

Foot Questions for Doing Free Motion Ruler Work 

Free Motion Quilting with Rulers, an Update

Berninas:

This blog post Tutorial for Using the Janome Ruler Toe on Berninas is the most current information on a ruler foot for Berninas. Follow it up with information on a new ruler foot from Parrs Reel Ruler.

Bernina has also come out with a long arm machine which can use regular Bernina free motion feet. It is expected that the long arm's feet can also be used on regular Berninas and it has a foot for doing ruler work. No idea when it will be commonly available and it may take some creative settings adjustment unless Bernina also has some sort of software/settings adjustment.

The following post on Berninas still hold true if you don't use either option given in the two posts above: Free Motion Foot and Toe Follow Up  (Mostly about Berninas) Also see the link for No Ruler Foot? No Problem!



Using Long Arm Rulers on a Sewing Machine

Cross Hatching Ruler Work on Sewing Machine

Video: Quilting with Ruler on a Sewing Machine

Quilting With Rulers on a Domestic Sewing Machine

Choosing Long Arm Rulers for Your Sewing Machine

New Rulers for Free Motion Quilting (Fine Line Rulers)

Video: Free Motion Quilting Curved Cross Hatching

Free Motion Monday Quilting Adventure: Ruler Work, Week 1

Free Motion Monday Quilting Adventure: Ruler Work, Week 2

Free Motion Monday Quilting Adventure: Ruler Work, Week 3

Free Motion Monday Quilting Adventure: Ruler Work, Week 4

Parrs Reel Ruler Foot Review

I am so excited about the design potential of using free motion ruler work!

I have even set up a Pinterest board for ruler work and design inspiration.

Life Long Learning

I wasn't really planning on posting today as the whole family is home and that hasn't been happening enough lately. Saturday is now "Cleaning Day" too since I've been working more. The kids are older too, so I feel like they can help more too. Let's face it, most of the mess is theirs anyway!

I worked extra at Sew Simple this week since the owner had the flu. I brought a little helper with me.

 We always do the general cleaning up and then we tackle an organizational project or home improvement project either together or individually. Today I am working on a bookshelf and trying to find a home for my overflow of quilting and sewing books.

Bin of extra books.

Yes, these are the overflow! You should see how many books and magazines I have on quilting. There's so much interesting stuff out there. Plus I now have a lot of blogging and business books too. There's always something more to learn!

Speaking of learning and the reason I'm posting today, is that Craftsy is having a big Christmas sale through Christmas. If you've been waiting for one of their sales to get more of their fabulous classes, now's the time. All classes are now $19.99 or less. Don't forget, you can buy classes for others as a gift and once you've bought a class, it's yours forever. You can go back and re-watch as much as you want.

I have two classes on my wishlist that I am going to buy: How to Teach It and In the Hoop Gifts, with Sue O'Very. I can always learn how to teach my students better (This class is in the knitting section though it's about teaching all crafts, not just knitting.)  and I want to be able to use the embroidery machines at work better to show their capabilities better and in-the-hoop projects are hot right now, not to mention a lot of fun.

Did you know that you can watch all the QuiltCon lectures for free on Craftsy? You can! Lesson 2 in the series is about taking better pictures of your quilts. A must see. Guess who is working on better pics for her blog and will be getting a new camera for Christmas? Not that it's a Christmas present; I worked hard for the funds to buy it, and my blog contributed to the fund. So a big THANK YOU!

I love my Craftsy classes! They fit my schedule and are well done. Sometimes there are bits that I want to skip over as I don't have a lot of time, so I can use the 2x button to speed things up. It makes the teachers sound a bit like chipmunks, but it's like speed reading for video. (It can be extra entertaining too.) The above links are affiliate links and they help support all the time I put into this blog.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend and finishing up your holiday preparations.