Timewaster's Guide Archive
General => Rants and Stuff => Topic started by: MsFish on February 05, 2006, 07:13:16 PM
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I made a bunch of landscape quilts as gifts last year, but because I gave them away, several people who wanted to see the finished products didn't get to. So here they are. Look at me! Look at me! ;D
http://photobucket.com/albums/y45/RaisinFish/Quilts/
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no wonder your rich now... those things are beautiful!
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Man, if making landscape quilts made me rich I would be one happy girl.
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The fish still kills me by the way.
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Wow, those are really impressive.
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Those. Are. Awesome.
I quilt, too, but landscape quilts intimidate me. I'm a traditional quilter, myself.
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Beautiful! I love Sky Father and Stormy Sea the most. Giverny is pretty cool, though. I had no idea you were such a quilting artist! Wow, and you gave those gorgeous things away? Now -that's- a gift from the heart! :)
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I quilt, too, but landscape quilts intimidate me.
I was intimidated by them for a long time, but I've actually found them to be easier for me than traditional quilting. It's less repetitive and generally smaller, which makes it less work.
They're actually (don't tell) really pretty easy. I use paper foundation, which isn't very hard to do at all.
But they are very hard to part with. I grow attached to them. If they weren't so much work I'd have to make copies for myself.
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I've actually found them to be easier for me than traditional quilting. It's less repetitive and generally smaller, which makes it less work...I use paper foundation, which isn't very hard to do at all.
The problem with traditional quilting is you have to line up everything so perfectly, and these seem to flow different (if that makes any sense), and perfect matching isn't important, and makes it more interesting. Paper piecing sounds so messy to me, so I've never tried it.
For me it's less the actual piecing---I like the hand quilting part (yes, I know, I'm a glutton for punishment).
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Holy crap. That's all I can say.
You made a Mistborn quilt? :o You must really have liked it. ;)
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How big are they?
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They're all 18" x 24".
Yeah, I made a Mistborn quilt. And I had a blast with it. It was EUOL's Christmas present. Sky Father and Aive are also based on stories--CtrlZed's and Chimera's, to be exact.
Nessa--paper piecing is actually quite useful. I can do all kinds of things with it that I'd never dare try without the backing. You peel the paper off at the end.
I do *not* handquilt. That's *so* impressive that you do. If I can't do something on my machine, it sits for months, because I can't bring myself to hand sew. It just takes so *long*.
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Wow, Fish. Not only are you one of the best writers I know, you're also one of the most-creative artists as well. The pictures look great, but seeing them in real life makes you appreciate them even more.
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I do *not* handquilt. That's *so* impressive that you do. If I can't do something on my machine, it sits for months, because I can't bring myself to hand sew. It just takes so *long*.
Here's one I've done
(http://www.vanessakchristenson.com/images/quilt_carrie1.jpg) that you can see the hand-stitching on (well...at least some of it, pictures don't show as much of the stitching as I would like). It took two months to hand-stitch that quilt, compared to two weeks to put the top together. You're right, it is time consuming. I like to watch movies while I do it so I can feel like I'm multi-tasking ;)
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Well, I'm completely impressed with both of you. I have a sewing machine, but I hardly know how to use it. I would love to learn how to quilt because I absolutely love quilts, but I wouldn't know where to start, since I hardly know how to sew.
But I *LOVE* those quilts Ms. Fish. They are so great and beatiful and are artwork. I would love to be creative and do something like that, but as I said, I wouldn't know where to start. Thanks for sharing!
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Tink, if you ever need advice, let me know.
Nessa, that is freaking amazing. I am *so* impressed. If I tried to hand quilt that, it would take me like fifteen years.
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I would ask for advice if I knew what to ask, but I don't even know where to start.
Like I want to know is, for large quilts (ie King-sized) what do you use for the underside of the quilt (that is not a quilted design)? Is it just multiple pieces of cloth laid next to each other and then sown together to cover the underside? And what is put in between the top and bottom layer to make it "cushy," soft, and warm? (if that makes any sense) And what material is best for quilts? (Cotton?) And what do you mean by using paper? What kind of paper? And how do you sow it together?
You can see how lost I am. I think I just need to wait till I can take some sort of quilting class. Once I know the basics of it, I might be able to figure it all out.
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I made a King sized quilt once, and I used king sized sheets for the backing. It works quite well, though you can piece the back if you want.
The "cushy" layer is called batting. Are you a Provo person? I can't seem to find it if you've introduced yourself. If so you seriously need to come into my store. (I work at Jo-Ann Fabrics in Orem).
Cotton is standard for quilting.
Paper piecing is complicated to explain. It's easy, but it's much easier to show someone than to try to write it out...lemme see if I can find instructions somewhere.
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I've made one quilt in my life, for my Laurel project. I had no idea what I was doing at the time; I just sewed scraps together, used a blanket for batting (which is what my aunt does--it works very well, if you prefer a warm yet thin layer between), and tied it in about 3 places. And now, 10 or 15 years later, it's falling apart on me. I didn't give enough seam allowance for some of the little pieces, I think.
What I want to do is something like Nessa's quilt--that's amazing! I like Fish's quilts, but I've just been fascinated with the idea of making something the way my ancestors might have, you know? I don't think I've ever shown anyone the square of the quilt my grandma made when she was 10 that now hangs on my wall. I might have pointed it out to Fish and Chimera when they were at my house (it was above the bookshelf by the bathroom), but I don't think I did. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it. It was a honeycomb quilt--hundreds of little honeycomb shapes about an inch wide sewn together to make bigger honeycombs, which were sewn together to make even bigger ones. It was amazing.
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Although, if you do decide to try quilting, sewing three sides of your quilt, and then standing inside it with the batting while your husband helps you pin it in place from the outside before sewing it all up for the final bit is apparently not the best way to go about things. :P Not that I know this from personal experience, or anything...
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*Fish falls over in pain
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hehehehe ;D
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One of the residents at work showed me an easy way to make a "quilt" without batting or tying so I'm going to give it a try this week while I'm off, since J.T. has been complaining about needing another blanket.
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Tink: Before you take on a full-sized project like a bed-sized quilt, try a wall hanging instead (like the size of Fish's) or a baby quilt size. It's more manageable and if you mess up, not a lot of time/effort/money goes wasted.
There are some fabulous books out there for you to reference. It's the trend now for books to have very specific instructions on quilts, how much fabric to buy, and stuff like that. And a lot of the books give instructions in the front about what kind of batting to use, and etc. Joann's has many great quilt books, or if you don't want to spend the money borrow some books from the library and make copies of the patterns you like.
"Strip quilts" are a great way to start because you only sew straight lines and there isn't as much cutting or piecing. And they can look really cool (here's one one I've done that looks hard, but was easy (http://www.vanessakchristenson.com/images/quilt_alan-mel.jpg)).
Here's a website (http://www.nmia.com/~mgdesign/qor/styles/classicblocks/classicblocks.html) for classic quilt block patterns that you can print and use for free. (I've done the sagebud pattern from this site (http://www.vanessakchristenson.com/images/quilt_casey.jpg).)
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I'm afraid I must object in the most strenuous terms to this thread. Quilting is most definitely not a waste of time and it makes all us REAL time-wasters feel inadequate and loserish, which feelings are the very ones we come to this site to avoid.
Cease and Desist your discussion of quilting at once!
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Quilting is most definitely not a waste of time
My husband would disagree with you. He thinks I should be spending more time helping him fix up the house! Bah.
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I was wondering how long it would take one of the guys to complain at the girly thread. ;)
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watch it or I'll lock it and start a new thread that makes fun of it!
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How juvenile! ::) One thread about girly stuff and you make threats and throw your weight around. What, you afraid we're going to recruit a bunch of Mollys and take over TWG?
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as the proud owner of Stormy Sea I can say I think I got the best one... :)
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How juvenile! ::) One thread about girly stuff and you make threats and throw your weight around. What, you afraid we're going to recruit a bunch of Mollys and take over TWG?
It's not beyond the realm of imagination.
plus, how DARE you make fun of my weight?!
/me runs home and cries into his pillow all night.
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Thanks for the advice, Nessa. Your quilts look just amazing. That's a really good idea, though, to start with a baby quilt. Do they have baby-sized versions of those types of quilts in quilting books? And have you hand-sewn all those quilts? If so, I hope it looks just as good with a machine because I don't think I could hand-sew a quilt. Amazing!
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Tink,
Some books do have sizes for baby quilts, but not all. I usually adjust the sizes myself when they don't. If you need help with measurements, let me know. That's usually the trickiest part.
I hand quilt everything because I'm a snob that way. It can look just as good with a machine. But my machine is an ancient 1969 cast iron Singer and I can't seem to machine quilt very well on the old thing. Or you could even tie them using yarn--I'm sure you've seen these, they're fast and easy to tie.
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Are those the kind that are done in Young Women's and Relief Society when we're making quilts for the poor and we need to make a lot? If so, I've made one of those before, but I think the patch-work quilts are so beautiful and I'm so inspired by yours and Fishy's that I really want to learn how to do it myself. I've always loved quilts, I've just never made my own. I want to learn, though. One issue I have is that blankets never seem to be big enough for the bed. Sure they fit when no one is under them, but once my husband and I get under them, it seems like there is not enough blanket for both of us. We got a king-sized quilt for our queen bed, and that helps, but when we have a king, I'd like a *really* over-sized extra big king quilt to go on top. I'd also like to make beautiful quilts for my kids.
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Are those the kind that are done in Young Women's and Relief Society when we're making quilts for the poor and we need to make a lot?
I was suggesting that if you don't want to hand or machine quilt it, you could tie it, even though it's patchworked. If it seemed too daunting for you. I have seen it done that way.
One issue I have is that blankets never seem to be big enough for the bed. Sure they fit when no one is under them, but once my husband and I get under them, it seems like there is not enough blanket for both of us.
We have a queen-size bed and the quilts I make are king-size for exactly that same reason.
I'd also like to make beautiful quilts for my kids.
And they would be custom-made. Kids like it when they feel they have a say in how it's made. I made one for my daughter (http://www.vanessakchristenson.com/images/quilt_amberbday.jpg), and although it wasn't something I would have chosen for myself, she loves it. She chose the fabrics and told me what she wanted on it.
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I have a new quilt to show off (http://www.vanessakchristenson.com/images/quilt_carter.jpg) that I recently finished. I made it for my 3-year-old's birthday last week.
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So cute! Yea! One day . . .
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Such bright colors and a bunch of sweeet trucks! :D Very cool.
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Thanks. Usually I don't quilt in such bright colors, but the pattern called for it and I liked how it looked in the book I got the pattern from (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0848724674/sr=8-1/qid=1140731102/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2697726-9275952?%5Fencoding=UTF8). I still need to embrioder steering wheels on it, but I'll do it later when I'm feeling less lazy.
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That's gorgeous, Nessa.
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Another one to show off. (http://www.vanessakchristenson.com/images/08-25-06.jpg) This time it's for my brother's wedding, which is this week. It's a "pinwheel" pattern. Here's the back (http://www.vanessakchristenson.com/images/08-25-06_2.jpg), which shows the hand stitching in blue and red.
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Wow. I know I'm a guy and all, but that is a really cool quilt.
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Nessa totally wins.
*Fish bows out
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My sister-in-law came up with the pattern and the colors. I just did the leg-work.
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Say, wouldn't that be needlework? ;)