Touch Base

Hows the BOM coming, anyone started yet or do you have some questions?  I have started working on a how to video on the weekend but I think I need some help from the filmmaker in the family.  Will keep working on it over the next couple of weeks school holidays start next week so the film director will be available pretty much full time if I can pry him off Steam.

This week is my last week for the Skill Builder Class and the girls are making great progress with their blocks.  This week we talk about block settings, and I have put all the class sample blocks into a small quilt on point.  This mean if teach this class again I will have to make some more class samples next time, I don't think it will be until next year though so I will have a bit of time up my sleeve.  

Once again I have enjoyed teaching this class and giving my students the confidence to branch out and try more techniques after mastering the basics of putting a quilt together in the beginners class.  It also highlights how by changing the light, medium and dark placement in a block can completely change the look of the block.

Flowers for Alison Block 1 available now

Block 1 is ready to download.  Same rules as last year the block will be available for 1 month (you get a bit longer this month as I am ready early.  Officially Start date is 1 July, this block will be available until 1 August where it will be replace by Block 2 and then you will be able to purchase the block as a download from my etsy shop.

You can purchase the pattern for month 1 here   (if you want to machine appliqué) and the background cutting instructions.

Requirements to get you started on on the BOM Page here.

I hope to do some youtube video's in the future for my needle turn method.  If you have any questions  email me or leave a comment.  I hope you enjoy.

Month 1 is finished check out instagram or my Facebook page for a look.

Should have instructions ready to download soon.

Back to Normal Transmission

We return to normal transmission this week.  No trips to other states and a long weekend helped me get over the effects of the travel and lack of sleep.

Tuesday was the beginnings of my skill builder class.   I really love teaching this class and pushing my beginners to learn a few new skills.  We start out with quite a complicated block for them to get their head around because the piecing isn't quite straight forward but they are all amazed with the end result which never fails (unless of course you can't sew a ¼" seam).  We also look at contrast in this class and they can see how picking light, medium and changing their position can change the look of a block.

I have finished the appliqué part of month one of the BOM and I am starting on the border blocks.   All the half square triangles are done just have to trim and put them together.

I used my Karen Kay Buckley Adjustable Square to square up the appliqué block and the plastic pieces went together a lot easier this time.  With the Adjustable Square I was able to make a 20 ½" square and could centre the vase quite easily before trimming the 4 sides it is a great tool for bigger blocks.

My scanner has arrived but I haven't played with it yet I've just loaded the software on the computer.  I think I'll finish the piecing before I get bogged down in pattern writing and playing with the images.

It won't be long and the first block will be posted for you to get started on your version.

Flowers for Alison - Free Appliqué BOM

As you can see Block 1 is coming together quite nicely.  I've worked out the cutting instructions for the background for the whole quilt and you can get them on the BOM page.  These instruction are if you want all your backgrounds for the appliqué to be from the same fabric.  I plan to make mine all different so I don't really care about fabric requirements my stash is overflowing I'm sure I will find fabric to make the quilt 10 times over.  

I plan for the release day of the first pattern to be 1 July if it all comes together earlier then you will get it earlier, but I think I'll make the pattern change over the 1st of the month to make it easy for everyone to remember.  

I'm thinking flower centres are going to be optional for this block, i'll supply them but I don't think i will use many as I've managed to fussy cut some of the pieces and I think they look fine without them.  

Hope you will join me.  Stay tuned on Instagram and my Facebook page for more pics

OMG I'm glad that week's over

I'm really glad I don't travel for work a lot, i'm still not over it, ended up falling in a heap yesterday, with a sinus/migraine head ache.  I'm still pretty groggy as I needed some tablets to stop nausea and that makes me even more tired.  The other thing is that work doesn't get put on hold when you are interstate either, and there were a couple of disasters waiting for me on Wednesday to try and fix.  Today I managed to start getting a little ahead but I am still way behind where I need to be.

I'm so so glad its the weekend, and it is a long weekend and there is no tennis tomorrow morning and there is a chance I can sleep in.

At least I managed a bit of stitching while i was not sleeping and I'm hoping to prepare the rest of the templates to stitch tonight and if I feel up to it I will do some more stitching.  The first block is coming together beautifully.  I had the fabric all spread out over my hotel bed and trying to pick which piece of fabric would be good for each flower.   I use freezer paper on top of the fabric so it is a bit of a surprise when its all stitched and the finished flower is revealed.

I've tried other methods of needle turn but I get a better finish by using the freezer paper to mark the edge and turn the seam allowance under... it works for me and I'm sticking to it.

This afternoon I've ordered a scanner so that I can can the finished templates for the blocks.  The drafting was all done in EQ7 but it doesn't allow you to save the documents as PDF, they need to be scanned in and then edited because EQ's finished placement image usually needs a lot of tweaking to get it usable and I have to edit the labelling on the templates themselves.

I have purchased an Epson Perfection V39 which has a few features that I think will be useful for my pattern making, one is that you can remove the lid if you want to scan and book or journal (thinking mixed media here). The other is that it will scan larger pieces of paper than a4 and software will seamlessly join the image, which I'm hoping down the track will make it easier for me to make bigger patterns if I want to sell them in bricks and mortar shops.  It also has great colour fixing software for old photo's which I have a heap of and will probably come in handy at some point.  It also can be powered by the USB plugged into the computer no need for another power cord which is really handy as I don't have a spare power cord next to any of the computers.

The Skill Builder Class starts next week which I am looking forward to so I will be looking through and changing some of my notes to make them perfect.

I'll leave you with a picture of the night sky from my Hotel Room, apart from that I didn't really see much of Brissie at all just the view from the taxi's mostly in the dark, the office then the hotel.