Quilt Questions Answered Here! Please add your knowledge and experience to the comments.
There are several methods to cut an accurate bias binding. This demo video clip shows one. Stay tuned for additional methods in future posts.
Accuracy is key, so if one method doesn’t give you the results you need, try another. Every quilter has a favorite method for making bias binding.
How to Cut Accurate Bias Binding Strips
Yet another little video clip that shows you how to do “pebble quilting” as a filler stitch by machine. This one is the easiest yet to adapt to using with your home sewing machine.
How to "Pebble Stitch" your quilt
Tags: FREE QUILT PATTERNS, General Quilting & FUN, Quilt Tips and Ideas, Sewing Machine Tips
Here is a video demo with more ideas for filler stitches to use on quilts.
If you don’t have a long-arm machine, practice some of these designs on your home machine. You can adapt the ideas for use that way, too!
Machine Quilting Filler Stitches, part 2
Tags: FREE QUILT PATTERNS, General Quilting & FUN, Quilt Tips and Ideas, Sewing Machine Tips
This little video demonstrates a machine quilting filler stitch. This technique can be translated to use with your home sewing machine, but you would be moving the quilt instead of the needle-head. Be sure you have a flat surface sewing extension to do quilting with your home sewing machine. You need a broad flat surface to support the quilt and to slide it on as you stitch.
Machine Quilting Filler Stitches
Tags: FREE QUILT PATTERNS, General Quilting & FUN, Quilt Tips and Ideas, Sewing Machine Tips
Doodling around with a longarm…it’s FUN!
Did you know that there are many longarm shops that give lessons and will rent you time on one of their machines to do your own quilting?
Click below for a little video that will make you want to try a longarm quilting machine.
Test drive a long-arm quilting machine
Tags: General Quilting & FUN, Quilt Tips and Ideas, Sewing Machine Tips
This Hollyhock, Althea Rosea, is a nearly black flowering biennial. The blooms are about 3” across, and will make a lovely lavender to mauve dye. The blooms should be harvested after blooming, just as they shrivel and are ready to fall from the plant spike. I dry them thoroughly in the dehydrator and save them to use for winter dye projects, because it seems that they fall in the summer when I have fruits and vegetables that need to be picked and processed for the freezer or canner. I just treat them like one more thing to preserve…plus it is like having a little bit of summer again when I use them on a winter day and cook up a pot of dye.
The plants are biennial, and bloom the second year. Leave some of the blossoms on the plant to go to seed and keep a continuous replanting going. Each year you’ll have some first year plants to bloom the following summer, and some second year plants blooming and making seeds to keep the cycle going.
Gardening, Dye Plants, Hollyhock
Note: Not all hollyhocks make dye.
Tags: Gardening, General Quilting & FUN
Not all quilt art is fabric…
Enjoy this video demo of a very unusual quilt art project.
You can think of other materials to use this way, too.
Original Quilt Art demo
Tags: General Quilting & FUN, Quilt Tips and Ideas, Sewing Machine Tips
Wormwood was discussed on May 31, 2008 as a possible source of a green dye. You can read that post in the Gardening Category.
Pictured below is part of my perennial garden patch of wormwood. You can see the resemblance to the common Dusty Miller, which is an annual in the southern Indiana growing zone.The wormwood is much taller, however, at a height of 25-30 inches.
Garden Dye Plants, wormwood
Tags: Gardening, General Quilting & FUN
Here is the continuation of the Thread Painting demonstration.
How to Thread Paint, part 2
Tags: FREE QUILT PATTERNS, General Quilting & FUN, Quilt Tips and Ideas, Sewing Machine Tips
Quilt Question:
What is meant by “Thread Painting”?
Quilt Answer:
This interesting machine embroidery technique is one you can use with your home sewing machine to “Thread Paint” any design for any purpose. Experiment with variations of thread painting to add excitement to your quilts and other projects. The sample in the video makes a small piece about the size of a dollhouse rug. I have used thread painting techniques on quilt blocks, as well as apparel, totes and purses, pillows, and just about anything you might want to stitch embroidery onto.
Note: ANY home sewing machine that allows you to drop or cover the feed dog will work for this technique!
Be sure you use a good stabilizer.
How to Thread Paint, part 1
See this continued on the Part 2 post.
Tags: FREE QUILT PATTERNS, General Quilting & FUN, Quilt Tips and Ideas, Sewing Machine Tips
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