Machine Savvy: Tips for Creative Sewing

I just discovered a Craftsy class last night that I hadn't seen before. It is called Machine Savvy: Tips for Creative Sewing . The teacher is Linda McGehee. She uses Janome sewing machines for what she is sewing and teaching. Best of all the mini class is FREE! I love finding instructions for doing things based on the brand of sewing machine that I have, although I don't see Janome projects very often except on their website http://janome.com/ so I am extra excited about this class! Most of the projects for this class provides a foundation for making bags of all sorts and who doesn't need another bag?

If you have a Janome sewing machine, or any machine for that matter (although you may have 'transpose' some of the instruction to fit with your machine) this should be a great class to learn some of the techniques to take your sewing and crafting to the next level!

Here is a book that might be of help to you as you do the projects in the class and then want to finish the samples into bags. This book isn't written specifically to go with the class, but should provide some good guidance in making your bags.

Hexa-Go-Go: English Paper Piecing 16 Quilt Projects

I don't know why I do this to myself! To relax before bed I was reading this new book I bought on making Hexagons and hexagon projects. I'm really starting to build up a collection of pieced hexagons in 4 different sizes and really need an idea on which way I should head. Well this book, Hexa-Go-Go: English Paper Piecing 16 Quilt Projects  has ideas by the dozen, not just in the book, but in the ideas that blossom in your head while reading the book. Ideas were exploding in my mind to the point that I couldn't sleep last night as I was designing projects in my head and figuring out how to make them work. I definitely have a better idea of what I want to do with all my different hexagons now. And I know this is not a book for bedtime reading.

This book has great full color photos. Most projects are made with very modern prints which I don't go for, but my stash of flowery fabrics and scraps should do very well when being substituted for the modern prints. While I thought making hexagons would be tedious and difficult, I have found them to great to work on while watching TV. I don't go out much so I don't have a portable package of hexagons to work with currently as the author suggests, but I will certainly think about putting a little kit together for extended waits at doctor's offices and waiting for prescriptions to be filled at the drug store. If you have been hesitant to try hexagons might I suggest you give them a try.

You can dip your toes into the water with a couple of quick hexagon projects in a free class at Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month class. I've done all but the last two blocks at this point. The foundation piecing had gotten the best of my dyslexic brain, but when wide awake in my sewing room, I have been trying to push myself along. You would think I would push myself a little more as I can't (my own rules) start another project until this class is finished and cleaned up. Of course making the hexies doesn't count as I do them in front of the TV instead of in front of the sewing machine. Hard to believe it is March already as I started this class last year while my sewing goal was to learn and perfect new techniques.

More Craftsy BOM Blocks finished!

Well I am behind in keeping up with this blog and with making my blocks for the Craftsy BOM 2012 class. I had to stop trying temporarily doing the 2013 class as one class was taking me awhile. I'm on a new medication that is actually helping my arthritis (Remicade), but it involves trips to the doctor's office for the IV infusions every 8 weeks, and since I am feeling somewhat better, I've been trying to catch up with things that haven't been taken care of. My life is a constant round of playing catch up, and just when I think I'm getting on top of things I flare up. Oh well, such is my life.

I'm very proud of some of these blocks even though there are some errors with them. I try and try and measure and do what I think I'm supposed to, but every time I applique something onto a block I get it lopsided. :(  Some of the blocks were very easy and the types of things that I have done before, but others without this class I would have NEVER in my life attempted. That is the whole point of taking these classes for me. I promised myself that this year would be a year of learning and NO skimming something because it looked hard and I'm thrilled with my results. I've made close to a hundred quilts at this point, but I knew I was not doing some of the finer details correctly which was throwing off my blocks. The biggest thing was getting my needle set in the right position so I truly have a 1/4" seam. That is so huge of a point to know when piecing quilt blocks. I wish I had done this long ago. I have my sewing machine set to always bring up the right needle position and the right amount of stitches per inch each time I piece so I don't have to reset everything each time I come back to sew. Saves a lot of grief. On my Janome 7700 it is stitch 93 with the needle position at 4.6 (it barely misses the side of the presser foot.

The really new thing I learned with my April blocks (showing at top) was how to make hexagons by HAND and sew them together by HAND!!! I have never attempted doing English paper piecing prior to these two blocks but with the help of Printable Freezer Paper that can be printed on in my printer and a website that will make up the right size graph of hexagons for you, it became very easy to do. I enjoyed making the hexagons and want to make more of them and do more projects with them including doing something like embroidering on them as I have seen in Pinterest. I just LOVE Pinterest for all it's great ideas! One of the hexagon designs was supposed to be a minimalist landscape but that didn't go with the colors I have been using, so I went for a fireworks type block. It was fun but yet again I had it appliqued off center.

Several of the other blocks involved using what I would consider scraps. Since those blocks started fairly early in the 'year' of this class I was being forced to cut into whole chunks of fabric to get some of the pieces I needed. The whole time I'm hoping that I will have enough of the larger pieces of fabrics as I come to the end of the blocks I have to make. With my BOM 2013  it won't be such a big problem as I'm doing those blocks in florals and will never run out of those types of fabrics. While this is supposed to be one quilt at the end, I'm hoping to be able to make two Project Linus quilts out of the blocks.

Currently I'm working on blocks that are made with Dresden Plates, yet another type of block I have never done and one that would not have turned out at all unless you sew an extremely accurate seam.

Craftsy Block of the Month March 2012

Okay, I know it is way past March at this point. When I signed up for my classes, I was really hoping that I would feel well enough to do 4 blocks in a month. Unfortunately, I didn't and I just this past week managed to get these two blocks finished from the Craftsy BOM March 2012. I enjoyed making these blocks, but really feel that logically they should have come at the end of the other blocks when there would be a lot of scraps left over and we wouldn't need to scrounge scraps that matched. I was scared I'll run out of the fabric that I have set aside for the other blocks I'll be making (as I get to them). I will be using these blocks in a Project Linus quilt, so they are in bright red, white and blue colors for the most part. Scrap blocks are always my most favorite type of block to make.

Craftsy February BOM Classes

I have finished my blocks for Craftsy's 2012 and 2013 Block of the Month. this is great practice for me even though I have been making quilts for a long time. I'm working hard on keeping to a scant 1/4" seam when piecing. I pull out the seam ripper when unsewing is needed. For the 2013 class, I'm having fun using scraps and pre-cut pieces made from leftover projects. I've certainly been enjoying myself. I'm also working on a Stupendous Stitching class, but am still working on my Stitch bible before I go any further with that class. I'm enjoying my sewing, what little I have down, this year very much. taking the time to review and improve techniques is going to really help my sewing in the future. I'm also working on embroidering another set of pillowcases and am learning how to do some interesting stitches instead of whatever is the fastest.

The two blocks that have lots of blue in them will probably be going into a Project Linus quilt. Since my lap quilt that I use all the time is literally shredding and falling apart after many years of hard use, the flowery blocks will go into a lap quilt for me.