MG Quilts

Stairs

2012-02-01T06:00:00.001+11:00

Stacked

2012-01-31T06:00:00.001+11:00

Roof

2012-01-30T06:00:00.001+11:00

Built

2012-01-29T06:00:00.001+11:00

M.I.T. #1

2012-01-28T06:00:00.002+11:00

Bridge

2012-01-27T06:00:00.003+11:00

Co-Joined Cutting Matts

2012-01-26T14:28:00.002+11:00

I was trying to trim a quilt that was longer than my large cutting matt. It fit better on both of my large and medium cutting matts when they were laid next to each other.

Which worked out really well. Until I moved the quilt and the two matts got shifted away from each other, not a lot, but enough to expose my tabletop if I'd continued trimming. Not good. Time for Plan B.

I thought about taping the two matts together but was worried about adhesive residue left on one or both of the matts. And would sticky tape be strong enough? Which got me thinking.

There are these cool Post-it Notes that I couldn't resist at the local office supply shop. They might do the trick Why not give them a go? So I did.

I used the cool Post-it Notes and they worked a treat. I stuck the matts together and flipped them over and they stayed together. I shifted around the quilt and the matts stayed together. When I was finished, the Post-it Notes removed easily and cleanly.

Problem solved!

Rain

2012-01-25T12:03:00.002+11:00

Slime

2012-01-18T16:35:00.002+11:00

Geology in The Rocks

2012-01-17T14:02:00.002+11:00

Blocked

2011-12-10T10:46:00.002+11:00

Spots

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000+11:00

Note to Self: Don't Look Up

2011-12-06T08:12:00.002+11:00

Table Top

2011-12-02T06:00:00.001+11:00

Every Dark Cloud

2011-12-01T06:00:00.000+11:00

Lights and Shadows

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000+11:00

Say Cheese

2011-11-29T06:00:00.000+11:00

Implied Circles

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000+11:00

Reflected Ripples

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000+11:00

Not a Crab

2011-11-26T06:00:00.000+11:00

Cracked

2011-11-25T06:00:00.000+11:00

Sea Glass

2011-11-24T06:00:00.000+11:00

Reflections on Manly Ferry

2011-11-23T06:00:00.000+11:00

Bubbles in Film

2011-11-22T06:00:00.001+11:00

Shadow III

2011-11-21T06:00:00.001+11:00

Shadow from the Love Lace Exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum.

Shadows II

2011-11-20T06:00:00.000+11:00

Shadow from the Love Lace Exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum.

Shadows I

2011-11-19T10:59:00.001+11:00

A shadow from the Love Lace Exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum.

Kewl Pencil Cases

2011-11-02T15:09:00.001+11:00

How I Baste My Big Quilts in a Small Unit

2011-10-24T06:00:00.001+11:00

I live in a small unit and I sometimes make large quilts, well, not king-sized but larger than A3-size. While others have dedicated studios or large rooms that they can use, creative problem solving is required when space is at a premium and your family insists on living indoors.

First, the equipment I use:

Two chairs
Wardrobe door that I bought at Ikea. This one was supposed to be white, but some of us don't always read instructions or the labels on boxes that are a bit awkward to lift.
A box of large bull clips
Lots of safety pins. I like the bent ones but any safety pins will do the trick
A handy gadget to close all those open safety pins. I have two: a spoon with a notch cut out of the point and a wooden handle with a grooved post sticking out. The notch and the groove help grip the pin so I can push it shut instead of using my fingers to do all the work
Scissors

Second, prepare the space. I use the chairs to support the wardrobe door. I like to set it up next to the lounge so that I can sit comfortably while I pin.

Next, I lay out the three layers of my quilt:

Backing fabric, face down
Wadding or batting
Quilt top, face up

Then I use the bulldog clips to secure the quilt to the wardrobe door. I put the clips on one side and then pull the layers tight-ish before putting the clips on the other side.

As I pin each section, I remove the bulldog clips, shift the quilt over to the next un-pinned section and put the bulldog clips back on, one side at a time to be sure that the bottom layers lie flat.

And I keep doing it until the entire quilt is pinned. I use the scissors to trim off any extra backing fabric or wadding and it's done.

For quilts that are wider than the wardrobe door, I use the same process but do half the quilt and then the other half and use extra bulldog clips on the ends of the wardrobe door and not just the sides.

No Idea What's Happening Here

2011-10-22T17:14:00.002+11:00

Bars

2011-10-21T11:51:00.002+11:00

Raindrops

2011-10-20T06:00:00.000+11:00

Bottoms Up

2011-10-18T06:00:00.000+11:00

Moonset

2011-10-16T06:00:00.000+11:00

Thread Dying with Lisa Walton

2011-10-14T06:00:00.000+11:00

I recently went to Alexandra VIC take two days of workshops with Lisa Walton at the Vickery Quilt and Craft Retreat.

First, we dyed some threads and the odd fat quater. Here are mine.

And some close-up shots.

Very yummy. But now comes the hard part ... how to use them and on which project?

More from the two days to come ... watch this space.

Not Black and White

2011-10-09T10:56:00.002+11:00

Always Good Advice

2011-10-06T06:47:00.002+11:00

Striped

2011-09-18T15:55:00.002+10:00

Perspective

2011-08-18T22:44:00.002+10:00

Spire

2011-08-12T08:09:00.002+10:00

Dome

2011-08-11T17:30:00.002+10:00

Ripples

2011-08-10T17:20:00.002+10:00

Mr Moon, Mr Moon, You're Out Too Soon

2011-08-05T17:31:00.001+10:00

Reflection

2011-06-29T07:49:00.001+10:00

Point of View

2011-06-26T05:55:00.001+10:00

Posh Brollies

2011-06-23T07:52:00.001+10:00

Uninviting

2011-06-22T07:44:00.001+10:00

Cornered

2011-06-05T21:26:00.001+10:00

It's All A Blur

2011-06-04T20:53:00.001+10:00

Propped Up

2011-06-01T06:22:00.001+10:00

Path Less Travelled

2011-05-22T21:46:00.000+10:00

Leaves

2011-05-20T17:48:00.001+10:00

City Rooftop

2011-05-19T20:56:00.001+10:00

Span

2011-05-18T07:46:00.001+10:00

Bumps

2011-05-14T12:04:00.001+10:00

Keg Plumbing

2010-12-26T06:00:00.002+11:00

Ooops!

2010-12-26T06:00:00.000+11:00

You Call Those Ugg Boots?

2010-12-25T06:00:00.000+11:00

Surf's Up

2010-12-24T06:00:00.000+11:00

Drops

2010-12-23T06:00:00.001+11:00

Diamond Head from Waikiki

2010-12-22T06:00:00.000+11:00

Bars

2010-11-30T06:00:00.000+11:00

Starburst of Sorts

2010-11-29T06:00:00.000+11:00

Shadows

2010-11-28T06:00:00.000+11:00

Golden

2010-11-23T06:00:00.001+11:00

Pinwheel

2010-11-22T06:00:00.001+11:00

X Marks the Spot

2010-11-21T06:00:00.003+11:00

Not Freddie Mercury

2010-11-21T06:00:00.002+11:00

Hole

2010-11-20T06:00:00.001+11:00

Inclined

2010-11-19T06:00:00.001+11:00

Pillars

2010-11-18T06:00:00.001+11:00

Black Boy #3

2010-11-17T06:00:00.001+11:00

Black Boy #2

2010-11-16T06:00:00.002+11:00

Black Boy #1

2010-11-15T06:00:00.001+11:00

And, for those who don't realise it, I am not beging rude. The Xanthorrhoea, commonly known as a Black Boy, is a flowering plant native to Australia.

Two Small Sample Quilts

2010-04-26T17:24:00.004+10:00

My friend Lisa Walton of Dyed and Gone to Heaven asked me to make some small quilts using some of her new fusible products. And here are my two attempts. The first was inspired traditional by Baltimore Album quilt blocks.

And the second sort of looks Japanese to me and just made itself.

Both of these samples are a bit less than FQ sized. I found them very easy to work with and lots of fun to quilt on the machine with my handy dandy walking foot.

If anyone is going to the AQC next week, you will be among the first to see the full range of fusibles that Lisa is now offering. Worth checking out.

V Weird

2010-04-24T06:00:00.000+10:00

Has Been

2010-04-23T06:00:00.000+10:00

Inviting

2010-04-22T06:00:00.000+10:00

Fading

2010-04-21T06:00:00.000+10:00

Spire

2010-04-20T06:00:00.000+10:00

Manequin

2010-04-19T06:00:00.000+10:00

Parched

2010-04-18T06:00:00.000+10:00

Smooth

2010-04-17T06:00:00.000+10:00

Wet

2010-04-16T06:00:00.000+10:00

Harbour Bridge

2010-04-15T06:00:00.000+10:00

Peer

2010-04-14T06:00:00.000+10:00

Monochrome

2010-04-13T06:00:00.000+10:00

Luminous Blooms #2

2010-04-12T06:00:00.000+10:00

Luminous Blooms #1

2010-04-11T06:00:00.002+10:00

Hindsight

2010-04-10T06:00:00.000+10:00

Houston ...

2010-04-09T06:00:00.000+10:00

Grid

2010-04-08T06:00:00.000+10:00

Gone

2010-04-07T06:00:00.000+10:00

Drip

2010-04-06T06:00:00.000+10:00

Fermentation

2010-04-05T06:00:00.000+10:00

Sunset

2010-04-04T06:00:00.000+10:00

Undulate

2010-04-03T06:00:00.000+11:00

Gravity

2010-04-02T06:00:00.001+11:00

Ridges

2010-04-01T06:00:00.000+11:00

Brolly

2010-03-31T06:00:00.000+11:00