Our Local MEG Presents at the Black Swamp Quilt Guild

The Black Swamp Quilt Guild had a wonderful Machine Embroidery Presentation at our last meeting.  It was hosted by  Diane Giveins, President of our local Machine Embroidery Guild( MEG) and Nancy Lee, who has been crowned "The Queen of Machine Embroidery."

  I thought many of you would enjoy seeing all the beautiful items that were shared.  Keep in mind, it was these two ladies that taught me about the excellent quality of Floriani Machine Embroidery Products.

Three women brought their Embroidery Machines, all different brands, to demonstrate a different technique or style of ME.   Nancy Lee brought her beautiful Brother Machine, Pam Moffatt brought her Janome, and Judy Breen brought her Pfaff.  These ladies are all members of our local Machine Embroidery Guild (MEG).

ON TO THE SHOW :)

 Wildflower by Smith Street Designs

This Wildflower Quilt was a guild project for our Machine Embroidery Guild.  The first to finish was Annie and you may remember I showed her quilt on THIS post.

Art Journal

 Greeting Cards....did you know how fun and easy these cards are to make?

 For those of us who may be challenged with Free Motion Quilting...there's always Machine Embroidery Quilting! 

The show also included some beautiful Machine Embroidery and Quilting by Patsy Thompson Designs.

The combination of Patsy's Free Motion Quilting and Machine Embroidery really take her designs to a new place. 

This is an example of Patsy's Hyperquilting added to her Machine Embroidery Designs.

I love the idea of using ME on pillowcases....How could this not make you smile?   I want some for every holiday : )

 The cutwork on these towels is beautiful.

These are lovely luncheon napkins....you know if someone had those out, I"d never wipe my mouth or fingers on them....they are just so beautiful. 

I bet there is not a kitchen towel in these women's houses that isn't beautiful.

 These are a pair of Nancy Lee's pants.  She has embroidered on the leg and I'm telling you they are so much fun.  

Can you imagine sitting and piecing at one machine while the Embroidery Machine works next to you?  LOL....some people say they do that....but I'm still in the "In Love" phase and I sit and watch Maddy Jo do her thing.

 These designs were done on batting .  I think they would make lovely ornaments, embellishments for cards or gift toppers. 

There was so much shown I could not possibly take photos of everything.  Suffice to say the presentation was educational as well as very entertaining.  Nancy Lee had made several little gifts and during the lecture she would periodically throw one or two out into the audience.  That was fun to see.

I hope you got a few ideas of what can be done with an Embroidery Machine and enjoyed these ladies beautiful work.

Smiles,
Kelly

Welcome Back to Quilt School?

Do you remember when I posted this photo?

 CLICK HERE if you would like to send Fan Mail to the Flamingo Flock

 I didn't notice the other side of the chalk board was a dry erase board....imagine my shock when I drove by and saw this today:

Apparently someone told the Flamingos about National Sewing Month and they have taken up Quilting!

WHAT?  Flamingos Quilting.....Now your talking!!!!  Oh yeah....new friends to stitch with :)  I must say the teacher wasn't the friendliest either.  While I was visiting I heard her yell at one of the students.  Apparently there was one student who had brought some electronic toy to class.  School is no place for electronics...I don't allow my boys to take any so I completely understood....until....

I spotted this....now I get it....this Flamingo is an "advanced" Flamingo and wasn't interested in learning to piece....it skipped the piecing and went directly for the Free Motion Quilting and was watching Patsy Thompson's Fast and Free DVD.    I had not idea there were intellectually advanced Flamingos...perhaps they are a new breed?

I was Over the Moon Rainbow with excitement.....Waldo and I now have a Flock of Friends to stitch with.  These are some really hip Flamingos....they have Edyta Sitar's Aurifil Thread Kit, Over the Rainbow.

Their classes started simple...they made a babushka and some scarves.  Didn't they do a lovely job?

I inquired as to where they had gotten all that beautiful fabric for scarves and I was told Hoffman Fabrics.  I said really?  What a coincidence....I was just at Hoffman Fabrics on a recent trip to Southern California.

I'm going back tomorrow to speak to the head mistress and see if I can get some of those beautiful Hoffman Fabrics to give away on my blog. Wish me luck!

Oh...and for those of you who doubt Barnie Fife lives near me.....I took a photo of his police car yesterday.  Here's my proof!


Smiles,
Kelly

"Let's Roll"

"Let's Roll" is a powerful phrase....and who ever broke into Patsy and Ernie's car in Corbin, KY didn't realize they were messing with an elite group of extremely well armed Quilters....rob one of us....you've robbed all of us. 

 

I can only imagine the darkness that is going on in the person or person's life that broke into their car and stole a laptop, quilts, embroidery machine, threads and notions.   I do hope that something good comes out of this situation....now that's my honest wishes.   Y'all know I"m not a mean spirited person....but I do enjoy partaking in my dark side on occasion.  In the photo above, you may be looking at what might happen to the robbers if I were into Voodoo...ROFL.  It just ain't so smart to be messing with middle aged women who has rotary cutters, hot irons and a host of other very dangerous sharp objects.  They just might find themselves used as an applique and pressed down very hard upon with a very hot iron....then zig zag stitched all around their borders (naked borders) ya know what I mean?  

One guess would be,  they are very disappointed in their haul because it isn't exactly easy to sell a quilt that was made by someone else....and quilters are so connected that someone will see it and the "cat will be out of the bag" so to speak.

  

 I once heard that if you are ever out of town and need help...don't dial 911....call a Quilter...you are much more likely to get the help you need.  I laughed when I heard that but you know....it's probably very true.

When you think about it...and if everyone within a 5 state radius of KY checked their Craigslist listings for Embroidery Machine and Babylock Ellismo to see if possibly there are any new listings....we might be able to locate Patsy's machine.  I did enter a google alert for Craigslist and both Babylock Elissimo and Embroidery Machine.  I'm not sure if that will work or not...but I figured it was worth a try.  

Patsy's work is so unique it won't be difficult to spot so if we all keep our eyes and ears open...ya just never know what may happen.

I'm telling you it just isn't smart to go messing with a Quilter!!

Evil Smiles,

Kelly

Be On The Look Out

Updated 7:10 PM  -For more information about Patsy's quilts...please go to LostQuilt.com or click here.

Somewhere out there....perhaps in a Thieves Guild....perhaps in a gallery, a flea market, a pawn shop, a garage sale or maybe even hanging someplace you might see some amazingly beautiful quilts that look exactly like these:

As many of you may have already heard by now....Patsy Thompson and Ernie Bode's vehicle was broken into and an embroidery machine and her quilts and works in progress were taken.  If anyone sees anything that remotely looks like these pieces or anything suspicious....please call me at 419-913-8080 or e-mail Patsy at Patsy@PatsyThompsonDesigns.com. 

No Smiles Today,
Kelly

Practice, Practice, Practice....with Patsy Thompson

If I've been told once, I've been told a thousand times...practice, practice, practice....and then practice some more and you'll improve you Free Motion Quilting skills.   That's just what I did yesterday...I spent 4 hours with some friends and we all had a chance to practice and learn from Patsy Thompson. 

Having Patsy work with each one of us at our own pace and level was wonderful.  I'm more of a beginner and my only goal is to be more comfortable and do what ever it is that I can do, without wanting my work to look a certain way.  I don't aspire to become an incredible quilter....I aspire to love the process of making my quilts and have some tools under my belt to be able to do some of my own quilting.  I wanted to practice some Free Motion Embroidery, Trapunto and play with a variety of weight threads....and I certainly had my chance. 

Before I show you my "progress," I thought you'd like to see some of Patsy's work.

 I like the contrast between these two pieces. Patsy used her Appli-K-Kutz die to cut the same feather for each quilt.  It is the weight and choice of threads that Patsy used in the second quilt that makes it look so very different from the first.  

I so admire her choice of colors and how she has chosen to put these pieces together.  Patsy has added Machine Embroidery to her quilting and I absolutely love this corner piece shown above.

You may have already seen this table runner on Patsy's blog.  In real life...it is so much more than what it looks like in photos. 

 Here is the center block....in the photo it looks like the fabric in the center is what gives it the change of color....nope....

Look at the Machine Embroidery....I just love it added to her designs....it really grabs me.

 Here are a few more samples her free motion quilting.

 Ok, remember when I said that I just want to improve what I do?  Take a little break....blink a few times...other wise you just might miss just how nice my piece really is....LOL.

 It may not look like much to many of you, but to me this is a sign of real progress and I had a ball stitching on the applique shapes.  The other thing I loved is playing with the different variety of threads.  I had first stitched the little veins on the leaves in the lime green color.  Patsy suggested I use some Floriani (PF 516-the gold tone thread above) thread just inside the lime green and it would make the leaves really pop.  She was absolutely right!!! (No surprise there...but it is incredible to see before your very eyes).

I'm not finished with my flower yet.  Patsy suggested I use Invisifil Thread to go around my flower after I had done the thread embroidery and then do some quilting.  When Patsy says that many quilters under utilize their thread...that is so true of me.  I'm going to continue my Free Motion Quilting practice and use lots of the variety's of threads I own.

The stitching in red in the upper right corner....that's my very first time ever doing any Free Motion Quilting....so as you can see....I've come a long way!!!

Patsy suggested using fabric grade Silicone Spray on the bed of my machine and it really did help quite a bit. I think I was getting tense because my fabric was not sliding as well as it could have in the beginning....just more Practice, Practice, Practice :)

SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilting Challenge is going on so I'm going to have to take more pictures of my practice and submit them.  

Smiles,

Kelly   

Playing with my Appli-K-Kutz

I wanted to play with some of Patsy Thompson's Feather Dies so I searched some dyed fabrics in my stash.  Once I found a fun color combination I got out my Mistyfuse and fused it to the back of my fabric.  I prefer Mistyfuse because it is so lightweight that I don't feel it behind the fabric.  I've used even the lightest of the other brand fusibiles....still stiffer than Mistyfuse....that is why I like it (in case you were wondering :).

This is a pix of Mistyfused laid over the fabric before I pressed it.  Since Mistyfuse doesn't use paper people often ask how I get it fused to my fabric. 

I lay the Mistyfuse over my fabric and cover it with my Goddess Sheet and press.  Once I pull the Goddess Sheet off....this is what it looks like.

Then I take it over to where I'm cutting out my appliques.

So many people say using Dies wastes fabric.  Not for me.  As you can see her I cut out a paper Small Feathers  and  I laid  it over the fabric to pre-view where I thought I might like it on the dyed fabric.  I also could have used the negative space of my paper feather but I chose the positive

Then I cut out the fabric and lay it over the die and put my recycled paper over it and put it through my Sizzix Big Shot.

It was that easy....I just took the applique over to my design area and started to play.  This is when the real trouble started....Way too much fun and too many choices.  I could have played with this for days.

I wanted a very large flower so I used the Sizzix Flower Album Die.  This die was clearly made for small albums....but I wanted it for an applique die.  So, I hammered down the area of metal where the small circle was so I would not cut a little hole in my fabric.  Important Note: This die was made for making photo albums. I bought it and hammered down the metal in the small circle so I could use it for applique in quilting. Once this is done, the warranty is VOID. Just thought you should know :)

That is how I got the larger flower below.  I started playing with all the options to find a color combination I liked....this is what the process was like....first I changed the orange background fabric to black.

ONE

Then I started playing with options for the flower colors and shapes.

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIV E

SIX

SEVEN

After awhile they all started to look the same so I separated out all of the flowers I made and went to bed.

Today I walked over and started playing again....I think I like this combination the best....what do you think?  The first one or the second one with the yellow circle center?  Do you like these combinations better than the ones above?  I've not exactly decided on the placement of the feathers....weather to have them connect to the flower or not....that will probably be tomorrow.

EIGHT

 NINE

I wanted a flower larger than the Flower Album Die so I took the dark purple flower I had cut from the Flower Album Die and took it to my printer.  Thankfully I now have a printer that will reduce and enlarge (thanks to MJ:).  I enlarged the flower by 110% then loaded a piece of PrintNFuse into my printer.

 I copied that flower onto the PrintNFuse and fused it to the orange fabric and cut it out.  Now I have an exact copy of that flower but larger.  I'm one of those folks who can't stand being frustrated and I want it to come out nice so I have learned a variety of ways to change the size of various shapes.  

I store my un-used appliques in an acid free envelope that I borrowed from my Scrapbooking Supplies.

 Another question I get asked often is how do I store my dies.  You already know I'm a visual person so it does not exist if I don't see it.  I tape the paper inserts from the packaging to my dies and then I put them into my Sizzix Storage Boxes.  I like these boxes because they stack nicely and it helps my work space tidy.

 There are trays in the bottom of the heavy boxes ....hopefully you can see in this photo....

and I just store them like that....no rocket science here.  If you are still reading, I'm curious to hear if you like the flower with the feathers and if so, which one is your favorite.

Smiles,

Kelly