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Stitching the pieces together

Meece
Meece Member Posts: 10,618
edited December 2020 in Bonded by Breast Cancer

Quilting and Crafting Thread

Due to the enthusiasm of some of us BC survivors have for quilting and crafting, I am starting this thread (Perhaps Mettler Egyptian Cotton?) so we can go quilt crazy without driving our fellow non-quilting or crafting posters just plain crazy!

Let's talk quilting or other crafting!!!!

I'm Meece and I have been sewing since I was 6, quilting since I was in high school, but using up to date quilting processes for only about 10 years.  I sew, quilt, scrapbook, and do woodwork.  I am sure I do other crafts, but on an "As Needed" basis. 

What do you do?

Beccad

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Comments

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    I liked Samsue's idea of a piece of soap.  I will try that tomorrow.

  • mamaof3bugs
    mamaof3bugs Member Posts: 5
    edited January 2011

    Oh how I wish I was a quilter...how exactly did you learn to quilt?  I would love to learn but I am a little timid about learning a new skill, I always feel like dork :D  Any suggestions on where I could go for lessons?  xoxo, Angi

  • oakley
    oakley Member Posts: 82
    edited January 2011

    I don't quilt but I enjoy "hangin' out" with you ladies!  Maybe I will start...

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited January 2011

    Meece do you use the piece of soap to keep the thread together? Did you know that you should be machine quilting with polyester, but hand-sewing with cotton thread? Wanna know why? Ask me.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    Why Barb, please tell us!

    I use the thread labeled for hand quilting when hand quilting, etc. I use either bees wax or thread conditioner to keep the thread together.

    Samsue says to mark dark fabric with the soap.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    mamaof3bugs, if you have a Michaels or Beverly fabric store in your area, they will have craft and sewing classes.  You could also check with a local quilting store.  If they do have classes see if you could get in one for beginners.  If you have never worked with fabric you need some basic instructions that they might think you already know if you are mixed with more advanced students.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011
    Oakley, we like hanging out with you,too.  Another form of flattery for a quilter is inspiring someone else to start.
  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    Aren't we a busy group already?  In case anyone missed it, here is a picture of my latest quilt project still in progress

                         

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    I love the colors and the pattern, Jo!

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    Thanks!  I have it pinned together and have to baste it.  I plan on hand quilting the red squares.  That will take me some time.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    I am quilting each block with a spiral to play off the red fabric design.

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    That is gorgeous!  Love the colors.

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    LET'S ALL THANK MEECE FOR STARTING THIS THREAD.

    Since we have quilters here - thought the bee would be appropriate.

                          

  • chabba
    chabba Member Posts: 3,600
    edited January 2011

    I'm not a quilter, just came to enjoy and appreciate your projects..

    Meece, what is the name of the pattern just above.  My father had a quilt that his mother made for him.  He called it the Log Cabin.  It looked like a somewhat disorganized version of that one.  It was made of fabric scraps from all the clothing she had made for her family.  Dad was the last of six kids so there were lots of different fabrics.  There were all kinds of dress fabric, denim from overalls, flannel from PJ's and long underwear and wool from coats to name a few.  The batting was wool from their own sheep that Dad had sheared and combed when he was a boy.  Every block was different from all the rest in the composition of the fabrics.  Dad could tell us what garment, or garments, each fabric was used for.

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438
    edited January 2011

    Wow!  Just found this.....Thanks Meece!

    I am a self taught crafter.....I dress make (and I love doing bridal wear), quilt, needle work, knit, crochet, make lamp shades, do upholstery, paint, do tappestry and embroidery.  Phew!  but not all at the same time...lol.  This quilt I did while doing treatment.  I combined single thread embroidery with quilting.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited January 2011

    Chabba, that's what makes quilting so memorial!

    If you hand sew with polyester thread you take the chance that you will actually rip the fabric as polyester is so strong. Therefore, if you want a quilt to last forever without the thread fading or picking up stains, use polyester and machine quilt. In fashion shows they use cotton thread which breaks easily so if the model turns the wrong way, the thread breaks and doesn't rip the fabric. Very interesting as many quilters believe cotton material should be quilted with cotton thread! (by hand only though...rememeber)

    Another reason is that cotton thread in the sewing machine actually breaks up the thread as the fibres are shorter on cotton threads and that's why you get cotton thread breaking in a machine so often. Polyester thread for hand quilting can also cut your fingers!

    So, cotton for hand sewing, polyester for machine sewing. I LOVE to use silk thread for applique by hand! Anyone get into that?

    I've won all the way from Viewers Choice to Best of Show. I LOVE ribbons, ribbons, ribbons....

  • eph3_12
    eph3_12 Member Posts: 2,704
    edited January 2011

    I'm here, I'm here.  I don't sew or quilt (used to do latch hook rugs but that seems like cheating it's so easy) but I do scrapbook! 

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited January 2011

    LOVE your quilt Chrissy! You posted while I was constructing my post....

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited January 2011

    HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA, I just told my DH, "Great! Now we have a quilting thread!"

    ehehhehehehehehee

    I crack myself up! Laughing

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    Eph  - You will have to post pictures of your scrap booking projects.  

    Chrissy - Love the quilt - lots of detail.

    Barbe - You are the official professional for this thread.  Any and all quilt questions go to you.

    Laughter is what this thread is all about. Cool 

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    I now remember I embroiider and do some applique work.  Geesh, my brain is so stupid!

    That pattern is a log cabin, or in this case "frog cabin" because in the center of half of the blocks is a little frog.  You can make all sorts of patterns with the log cabin blocks, I just made two different blocks and alternated the stips of them.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    Eph, I could go off on scrapbooking, too.  DH says I can't make a scrapbook page for every picture, so I theme them up.  I love the advent of Digital pics, because now I don't feel bad cutting into them.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    Just a note about scrapbooking.  I do some things archival, and some just for fun.  The fun ones, I laminate the pages, archival, I am more careful about preserving the intergrity of what's going in it.

    I started a project with my mom yesterday.  We are taking my father's two photo albums his mother made for him, and reinstalling them in new albums, because the old ones are disentigrating.  They go back to 1910.  It is so interesting, my grandmother attended the California School for the Deaf at Berkeley in the 20s and has such an amazing chronical of her years there.  We are working at salvaging my grandmother's writing from the original books, but have found that she actually glued some of the photos in, most likely with musalage.  When we removed these phtos, we found she wrote details on the backs of them.  I am using the camera to capture these images and print them so they can be viewed with the photos.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    Jo, I picked up the supplies for my quilt wll, and have yet to put it together, but her is my monkey wrench as I have decided to piece it.

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    Meece - That is so cool.  The one great thing about quilting is there are no set rules.  You can do whatever your little heart desires.  You are gonna love using the quilt wall.

    The photo reproduction project sounds like a lot of fun and interesting.  Lots of memories in those pictures. 

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    I alternated the white and browns and the corner triangles and found I like this set the best.  What a great idea you gave me, Jo!  Thanks!

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605
    edited January 2011

    I can be the official for questions no problems BUT the best fun of quilting is that if you gave all of us the same fabric we'd come up with that many different quilts. There is NO wrong combination of colours, just some you may not prefer....we call those "other peoples quilts.

    The "frog stitch" is rip-it, rip-it when you have to take something out.

  • jo1955
    jo1955 Member Posts: 7,545
    edited January 2011

    Meece - You are very welcome.

    I just love this new thread - no BC talk here - just lots of fun and exchange of good ideas. 

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    What about doing a friendship quilt?  Everyone is given the same pattern, and makes enough squares to exchange them with the others.

    I am a frequent frogger.  I have to feel it when I see it, or out it comes.

  • Meece
    Meece Member Posts: 10,618
    edited January 2011

    That's right, Jo.