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Monday, September 1, 2014

Let's do this Quilter's Garden thing!

Hello everyone!  I am so excited to get started today and will begin with housekeeping:

I am excited to say that we have 30 participants so far  - yay!  They are from Utah, Oregon, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Alaska, North Dakota, New Mexico, Canada, Australia, California, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

1.  Emails went out today with the patterns, so check your junk folder if you did not get one.

2.  If I have not heard from you in some time and you have not responded to my email with a physical address, please do so and then I will send you the pattern.  Thank you.

3.  Please do not give the pattern to your non-participating friends.  I will have my Etzy shop up and running soon where you can direct them to purchase the pattern.

4.  It is CRITICAL that you PRINT applique and paper pieced patterns with NO SCALING.  That means that you cannot allow the computer to "fit it to the page".  There is a 1" square on every pattern for you to measure with a ruler.  If it is not 1" then you need to print it again correctly.  Your blocks WILL NOT WORK if the patterns are not the right size.  Please email if you need help.

5.  There is a limit of 6 blocks to SWAP for this month.  You must make at least one and no more than 6.  You will receive the same number of blocks as you submit.  A photo of your SWAP blocks must be posted to the blog or emailed to Deana on or before September 30th midnight mountain time.  Choose any of the 4 sewing machine patterns.  It does not matter which style you pick.

6.  Use quilt shop quality fabric...no Walmart and be cautious with JoAnn's. 

7.  Applique' Style
It would be my preference that all of us do a hand applique with turned under edges rather than a fused applique.  I have a great method that makes turning the edges under very simple and crisp (in the pattern).  Please give it a try before you decide it is not for you.

I will, however, allow a fused style with a nice blanket stitch around the edges (hand or machine) IF you honestly feel like you cannot make a turned under hand stitch look good.  I would prefer nicely done blocks  with the blanket stitch to poorly done blocks turned under.

If you do a fused style of applique' please DO NOT cover large areas, such as the sewing machine,  entirely with fusible webbing.  Keep the fusible on the outer edges ONLY so the block will not be bulky.  Small pieces such as knobs and labels are okay. All applique must be stitched down.

In the photo, I have not fused the paper down yet, but you can see how it works.  After fusing, I will cut it out right on the drawn line.  It is better to fuse with excess and then cut it off later.  Notice how the middle does not have fusible.



8.  Please do your best work on your SWAP blocks.  You can do your own blocks any way and any colors you desire, but the SWAP blocks need to match the others and be quality work.

9.  A "qualifying" SWAP block needs to be accessorized.  This means it has knobs/buttons, a stitched needle, and a stitched strand of thread coming from the spool of thread to the top knob.  (see photo below).    CORRECTION:  PLEASE DON'T DO THE STRAND OF THREAD BECAUSE I JUST DON'T THINK IT LOOKS AS GOOD.  The needle is optional.

Sewing machines have all sorts of knobs and buttons on them in a variety of places.  You can use my patterns for the accessories or create your own with applique or machine/hand embroidery.  A machine label made out of words from selvedges is not required but cute.
Below is my picked and fixed brown sewing machine.  It is ready to be swapped.


10.  HAVE FUN,  ENJOY, AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS :)



5 comments:

Jo said...

Now to look for some fabrics

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

How do I get the code for the button?

dq said...

Cheryl,

I don't use the code, but this is how I add buttons:

1. Right click on the button and save it on your computer some place where you can find it.

2. On your block, add a gadget in the layout section where you want the button.

3. When the gadget options come up, click on "Image".

4. In the link box put

http://dodmystery.blogspot.com/
(exactly - you can copy and paste it).
5. Click the browse button and locate the picture of the button you saved on your computer.


If anyone else knows a better way, please leave a comment.

I hope this helps. Thanks.

Felicity said...

I am "sew" excited. Off to the fabric store.

tealeafquilts said...

I,m looking forward to participating. Coming home today, work catchup and then a weekend of sewing and football. Carol