Quilts in Peril: Wonky Spirals Goes for a Ride

This is the fourth of my new weekly mini video series - Quilts in Peril! 

We could all use a little more humor right now. Read the backstory here.

I'll be posting a Quilts in Peril video each Wednesday for the foreseeable future. 

Each video will be accompanied by a short sale for the featured quilt pattern, so watch for your favorite! 

I've made four different versions of Wonky Spirals, so if you're wondering what it looks like in different colorways, here you go!

with half-size spirals added in each row

with sashing around the blocks

With sashing around the blocks plus a flanged binding

Visit my Etsy shop here.

Find me on Facebook

Find me on IG @lisaerin1121

Disclaimer: Beyond a couple needing a wash afterwards, no quilts (or kids) were harmed in the making of these videos. 

Don't miss the other Quilts in Peril videos!
ZuZu Squares on Fire

Ribbon Weave Falls from a Tree (x3!)

Twirled Squares Takes a Spill

Star Crossing Week 6

Welcome to Week 6 of the Star Crossing QAL!

We're almost done--just the binding left. Woohoo! 

If you still need to purchase the pattern, you can find it here.

Week 6: Binding

If your machine quilting is done, it's time for the last step: binding! 

For me, choosing the binding for this quilt was a no-brainer. I love a good striped binding, and the rainbow stripe in this collection was the perfect fit. 

Let's talk about the actual binding process. 

There are a few different common methods---which do you use? 

For me, it depends on the quilt's purpose. If it's a gift, I use 2-1/4" wide strips, machine stitch to the front, and then hand stitch the binding to the back. 

If it's not a gift, and/or if I'm under a deadline to finish it, I will cut 2-1/2" wide strips and use one of the these two methods: 

Method 1: Machine stitch to the quilt front, press binding away from the front, flip quilt over and press binding around the quilt edge, and secure with binding clips. Then I'll use the blind hem foot on my sewing machine and stitch in the ditch between the binding and the quilt front, which catches the folded binding edge on the back side as well. (I use 2-1/2" wide strips for this because it gives me more binding to catch on the back side. If you're good at this technique, you can also use 2-1/4" strips.) Thanks to my friend Joanne for teaching me this method a few years ago when I was in a time crunch!

Using the blind hem foot to sew in the ditch.

Here's what the front and back look like using this technique.

Method 2: Machine stitch the binding to the quilt back, press binding around to the front, and secure with binding clips. Then I topstitch the folded edge of the binding on the front, which secures it in place and leaves a stitched line near my binding on the back. (Again, this can be done with 2-1/4" wide strips as well--I just prefer a little extra wiggle room). 

Stitching binding to quilt back.

Top stitching binding on the front.

After your binding is complete, don't forget a label! 

Sit back and admire your quilt. (And please send me a photo and/or tag me on IG!)

I'll be binding my scrappy Star Crossing quilt this week! And since I have all the time in the world, maybe I'll even hand stitch it! :) 

Thank you so much for being a part of this QAL. I really enjoyed it and I hope you did too!

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Quilt Along schedule:

March 12: Fabric selection
March 18: Cutting

March 25: Small and medium stars

April 2: Center star and assembly

April 9: Machine quilting

April 23: Binding

The downloadable version of the Star Crossing pattern is on sale in my Etsy shop, so grab your copy today!

Purchase the pattern (currently 20% off!) here.

*Bring a friend deal: Get a friend to sign up for the QAL and purchase the pattern, and you'll receive 20% off an additional pattern of your choice! 

Simply email me your friend's name and I'll email you the coupon.

************************************************************************************

Over the Rainbow fabrics

If you'd like to use the same fabrics, here are some shops carrying them (please contact me if you know of any others and I'll add them in!):

Sewcial Stitch

Fabric.com

Fabric Bubb

The Stitching Post

Quilts in Peril: Twirled Squares Takes a Spill

This is the third of my new weekly mini video series - Quilts in Peril! 

We could all use a little more humor right now. Read the backstory here.

I'll be posting a Quilts in Peril video each Wednesday for the foreseeable future. 

Each video will be accompanied by a short sale for the featured quilt pattern, so watch for your favorite! 

I was not  brave enough to use colored liquid for this one! :) 

Visit my Etsy shop here.

Find me on Facebook

Find me on IG @lisaerin1121

Disclaimer: Beyond a couple needing a wash afterwards, no quilts (or kids) were harmed in the making of these videos. 

Don't miss the other Quilts in Peril videos!
ZuZu Squares on Fire

Ribbon Weave Falls from a Tree (x3!)

Spring Clean Your Studio

Hello and welcome! 
Today is my day on the Spring Clean Your Studio blog hop hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com. And let me tell you, I needed the incentive of this blog hop to do some spring cleaning! I am blessed with a huge sewing studio/office--it's the bonus room over our garage. It has plenty of space, but a few drawbacks as well--short walls with tough-to-reach-into closets that run the length of the side walls, and two skylights instead of more windows.

The back story: Our family spent July 2018-July 2019 in Florida. When we moved back to our home in Michigan, organizing my studio was not a priority. I dug through fabric bins to look for fabric as I needed it; my kids dug through those same bins to choose fabric for Minecraft blocks, and it got ugly. Couldn't see the carpet ugly. Then add in mask making, homeschooling, and continued work deadlines. Even uglier! 

So with my posting date of April 20th looming, I spent the better part of three days organizing. The results are 1000x better! Not perfect--due to stay at home orders in our state, I haven't been able to get some additional plastic drawer units or the specialty screws to put our futon back together. But I can see the carpet! 

If you like videos, here's a video tour of my sewing space. If you're more into reading and seeing photos, skip to below the video. 

Scroll to the bottom of this post to find the links for the entire month's worth of Spring Clean Your Studio posts. 

     

Want to join me on a little tour? Here's the view from the doorway:

My studio cleaning made room for a new piece of furniture! This was my mom's sewing table when i was growing up. It's a treadle machine table, but she had an electric machine in it (though my kids love the foot action!). I think this will book some time as a desk during our couple months of schooling from home...

My biggest challenge in the studio was accessibility. Digging through plastic totes to find the fabric I wanted was not good. Right now my best scraps* are organized, rainbow-order, in these plastic drawers. They're not folded--that's not my jam. At all. I need a few more drawer units to round out the sorting, but that'll be an after quarantine purchase. 

 *Yes, I said best scraps. :) I have several (cough, cough...6 or 7?) more totes of scraps safely hidden in those short closets you see in the photo above. I still need to sort and donate the fabrics in them, but that'll be after stay at home ends. 

Moving on, this corner of my office doubles as a guest room. Under the Ebb & Flow quilt is a futon, laying flat. It's typically in couch format, but the extra long bolts that hold it together broke, and getting new ones are also on the post stay at home list. Right now it's a trampoline for my youngest. Ugh. I did add one of my favorite improv quilts to the wall for a little extra color!

Here's where I spend the majority of each day, at my desk doing computer quilting work. I was lucky enough to bring this desk home from Florida--my friend Sarah gave it to me. It's wonderfully deep and gives me plenty of work space besides my monitor and printer. 

To the left is my ironing board. I have one of those big boards, and I couldn't quilt without it. It desperately needs a new cover though! Just this weekend I added the artwork above it. Lower right is a mini from a Gwen Marston Small Studies class, the middle bottom piece of art is a custom piece from my talented friend Kathy, and the bottom right is a mixed media collage mini quilt I made back in 2003.

These bins used to be my scrap storage. My scraps have outgrown them, and frankly, I got used to using these handy little cubicles to hold projects in progress over the last eight months. This weekend I put the canvas bins in place, making it look a bit neater. I need to decide if I want to label the boxes, or just play "grab bag" when looking for a project. Those two bins on the floor? Those are my solids. One is scraps--anything less than a FQ. The other is larger yardage. 

And now we get to my sewing table. I got this fantastic old farmhouse table from my mom's friend Carolyn several years ago, and the big change here is that I turned it 90 degrees so that I could put a sewing machine on each side of it. This way I can sew, and so can one of my kids. It's great! On the back of my chair is my scrappy Star Crossing quilt--I'm almost done machine quilting it. 

Positioned off the end of the sewing table is my cutting table. I love being able to move around three sides of this table!

Looking back toward the door, you see my design wall. It's the only tall wall in the room, so its placement was easy! Right now, the design wall features four improv blocks from my ZuZu Squares pattern, the baby quilt version of my soon-to-be-published Opposite Directions quilt, and weeks 1 and 2 of Bonnie Hunter's Unity QAL. To the right of the wall you can see two cabinets where I keep my larger yardage. 

Here's hoping that the increased accessibility to fabric will help me keep things a little neater! We'll see... 

Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you'll browse around my blog while you're here and come back often! 
Sign up for my newsletter here and as a thank you, I'll send you a free copy of my quilt pattern Diamond Drama. (Tip: If you sign up and don't see the newsletter email, check your junk mail--or promotions folder if you have a gmail address--just in case.)

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

I'll be doing a couple improv piecing demos in the next few weeks...make sure you're following me to hear about them!

Spring Clean Your Studio Hop:
April 1 – Sam Hunter – https://www.huntersdesignstudio.com/blog   
April 2 – Marian Pena – http://www.seamstobesew.com
April 3 – Jennifer Fulton – http://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions
April 4 – Martha Wolf – http://Www.pinwheelprodns.com
April 5 – Jennifer Strauser – http://www.dizzyquilter.com
April 6 – Steph Carton – http://www.theelimonster.com/blog
April 7 – Simone Fisher – http://www.simonequilts.com/blog
April 8 – Kate Colleran – http://www.seamslikeadream.com
April 9 – Carlina Moore – http://www.alwaysexpectmoore.com
April 10 – Jen Frost – http://www.faithandfabricdesign.com/blog
April 11 – Leanne Parsons – http://www.devotedquilter.com
April 12 – Becca Fenstermaker – http://www.prettypiney.com/blog
April 13 – Sarah Myers – http://www.quilted-diary.com
April 14 – Mitzi Redd – http://www.reddhomestead.com
April 15 – Jeanette Larson – http://www.Jenonthefarm.com
April 16 – Camille Ainsworth – http://www.stitchinthenw.com
April 17 – Becky Philips Jorgenson – http://www.patchworkposse.com
April 18 – Bobbie Gentili – http://www.geekybobbin.com/category/blog
April 19 – Janellea Macbeth – http://www.janelleamacbeth.com/blog/
April 20 – Lisa Ruble – http://lovetocolormyworld.blogspot.com
April 21 – Debra Davis – http://www.tuning-my-heart.com/blog
April 22 – Rona Herman – http://www.Ronatheribbiter.com
April 23 – Sue Griffiths – http://www.duckcreekmountainquilting.com
April 24 – Sarah Ruiz- http://www.saroy.net/
April 25 – Jessica Caldwell – http://www.desertbloomquilting.com/
April 26 – Tammy Silvers – http://tamarinis.typepad.com
April 27 – Ebony Love – http://www.lovebugstudios.com/blog
April 28 – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com

Quilts in Peril: Ribbon Weave

This is the second in my new weekly mini video series - Quilts in Peril! 

We could all use a little more humor right now. Read the backstory here.

I'll be posting a Quilts in Peril video each Wednesday for the foreseeable future. 

Each video will be accompanied by a short sale for the featured quilt pattern, so watch for your favorite! 

Visit my Etsy shop here.

Find me on Facebook

Find me on IG @lisaerin1121

Disclaimer: Beyond a couple needing a wash afterwards, no quilts (or kids) were harmed in the making of these videos. 

Don't miss the other Quilts in Peril videos!
ZuZu Squares on Fire

Ribbon Weave Falls from a Tree (x3!)
Twirled Squares Takes a Spill

Star Crossing QAL: Week 5

Welcome to Week 5 of the Star Crossing QAL!

It's time to quilt!

The best part about assembling this quilt is how FAST it goes together. And if you're not to this step yet, no worries--you have time to catch up. 

 There's even still time to get started. 

If you still need to purchase the pattern, you can find it here.

Week 5: Machine Quilting

I love being able to photograph a finished top, but then comes the big question...how will I quilt this? If I'm machine quilting a quilt myself, part of that answer includes balancing what I'd like to do with what I'm actually capable of doing! 

First, basting: How do you prefer to baste? I used to be a dedicated pin baster. Then I switched to spray baste, but still on the floor, taping the backing down and working through the layers. After watching a video from Christa Quilts, I've switched to basting on my large ironing board. 

Let's walk through a few machine quilting options:

Option 1: Straight line quilting! For my first Star Crossing quilt, I went with straight line quilting using my walking foot. I don't mark lines, beyond the first one. I just use the walking foot width (or if I want it wider, that handy little L-shaped tool that came with my sewing machine--anyone know what it's called?). I chose diagonal lines to emphasize the diagonal flow of the stars. 

Option 2: Free motion quilting! For my second Star Crossing quilt, I had more time, so I free motion quilted it, using different designs in different areas. I find it easier to do on a smaller quilt like this one rather than a lap-sized quilt because gravity doesn't factor in quite so much, pulling on the quilt as I move it. 

Psst...do you love the mini rainbow backing fabric as much as I do?

 I quilted a square spiral in the center using my walking foot:

I "traced" the rainbows in the star block centers and did some back and forth lines in the star points (and an easier "outline" in the background of the small stars):

I did a lot of each quilting for the background, providing texture in the solid white. The part I'm most proud of is the outer border--I did diagonal lines and tried something new--changing directions partway through each side. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

And option 3: Outsource it! If you'd prefer not to tackle the machine quilting yourself, then I'd recommend taking advantage of the deal from Piece, Love and Quilting: 

Pam and Diane, the lovely ladies at Piece, Love and Quilting, are offering a special deal to QAL participants:

25% off computerized edge to edge long arm quilting 

(including batting) for Star Crossing quilts

Contact them via FB or IG to take advantage of this discount!

I can't wait to see what you decide! 
I put two weeks on the QAL calendar for machine quilting--let's compare notes then! 

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Quilt Along schedule:

March 12: Fabric selection
March 18: Cutting

March 25: Small and medium stars

April 2: Center star and assembly

April 9: Machine quilting

April 22: Binding

The downloadable version of the Star Crossing pattern is on sale in my Etsy shop, so grab your copy today!

Purchase the pattern (currently 20% off!) here.

*Bring a friend deal: Get a friend to sign up for the QAL and purchase the pattern, and you'll receive 20% off an additional pattern of your choice! 

Simply email me your friend's name and I'll email you the coupon.

************************************************************************************

Over the Rainbow fabrics

If you'd like to use the same fabrics, here are some shops carrying them (please contact me if you know of any others and I'll add them in!):

Sewcial Stitch

Fabric.com

Fabric Bubb

The Stitching Post