Sew I See!

While trimming down a batch of string squares (not many more to sew!), it occurred to me that I could share a couple of tape-related tips here on the blog.  (Something to fill in the gap until I get around to taking a few photos for the next project-related post.) These aren't ground-breaking, cutting-edge ideas of my own, but I've found them useful and thought that someone else might not have heard about them yet.  Doesn't hurt to pass along things that have worked for you, right? First, washi tape.  It's a pretty common craft supply, these days, readily available in countless colors and patterns.  If you're not familiar with it, essentially it's a semi-translucent, slightly waxy tape that is easily repositioned without leaving behind a sticky residue. There are probably quite a few quilting-related uses for washi tape.  For instance, you can put it on the bed of your sewing machine to serve as a seam allowance guide. My favorite quilty use for wash...

I recently bound a second quilt, and it's been a long time coming!  I can't recall whether I started this before or after the original string quilt (kit from Mom), but it was either the first or second "real quilt" I ever pieced. The finished quilt top went into the closet and stayed there a long, long time.  Eventually, I decided I was confident enough to try quilting it, so I put it on the frame.  I think it was actually going pretty well, but then out of the blue I started having problems with the tension on the quilting machine.  Problems with tension, problems with stitches skipping-- it was a mess. I was very frustrated and tried adjusting things as best I could, but some of the quilting ended up being not quite right (even by my beginner's standards).  I eventually discovered that the machine wasn't sitting correctly on the carriage. I'm not sure what had happened-- if it had bumped loose somehow or if it had never been seated quite right (thoug...

I enjoyed making my original crumb quilt ( "Crumbs to That!" ) so much that as soon as I had enough crumbs, I started on a new one.  Whether or not I actually did have "enough" is debatable, as I ended up using some fairly big strings to get my "crumb blocks" up to size, but the flexibility and no-rules nature of crumb quilting are a big part of why I like it.  For this second crumb quilt, I wanted to have some negative space for the eye to rest. (This has the added benefit of getting you to quilt size in half the time compared to an all-crumbs quilt-top!)  In this case, the negative space is bars of denim, which was plentiful in the stash.  There are two tones of denim, scattered "randomly" (that is, carefully, to look more or less random) across the quilt. Bars of denim alternate with bars of crumbs, strings, etc.  Many of the "crumbs" are HSTs created from off-cuts (is that the right word?) left behind when I pieced my scrap...