This new video has been a labour of love and pure patience!
For over two weeks I umm-and-ahhed and stalled and procrastinated over filming this block…
(Who honestly knows why!?)
But I finally got over myself and just did it!
And here’s where the ‘patience’ part comes in…
At the very same time it came to uploading this tutorial, it was also the perfect time for our internet to decide to run at an excruciatingly glacial pace!
(i.e. we had reached our maximum data usage! Boo!)
So, like any silly impatient Gen Y-er, I endured a 35hour upload time, slowly watching my video process…
One. Percent. At. A. Time.
**SNORE**
Eventually my video, which I started to upload on Thursday afternoon, was finally ready to publish onto YouTube Saturday morning.
Lesson learnt: be patient and never-ever continue through with an upload that has over 2000 minutes waiting time! NEVER!
Enjoy!!
Cheerio
&
Happy Sewing!!
xx
PS. Do you have any suggestions for future Quilt Block Tutorials?
Let me know in the comments below and I’ll add them to the list! x
If you’re a mad keen lover of embroidery and love something a little bit more modern/alternative to that of the more traditional embroidery designs, I urge you to take a look this awesome website!
They have ahh-mazing stuff!
(And the prices aren’t too bad either!)
I always love having a good little needle-point on the go…
It keeps my fingers and mind busy when everything else around me is a bit hum-drum and beige!
I have a main project/quilt on the go at all times – currently it’s my Friendship Star Quilt, which is in a state of half-started quiltiness!
Then I have lots of other little side projects sprouting out from my sewing room, (usually lying on a coffee table or sitting mid-stitch on my desk), that I seem to begin to occupy/procrastinate my time with.
This post is dedicated to those side projects that are currently distracting me away from quilting this!
{Side Project #ONE}
Stop Motion Embroidery
When I get a chance to sit down in front of the telebox, I’m coolly stitching away at this number.
It’s current state!
Every two minutes I take a photo of my progress, resulting in an effect that looks a little like this.
I’m so close to finishing this one! Hopefully I’ll be able to edit and upload it within the next few weeks!
{Side Project #TWO}
Mother’s Day Appliqué
This Sunday in Australia we’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day and because I’m as broke-as-two-bob-watch, I’m making this for my mum!
Ready to start stitching!
It’s a sweet little applique design I found in a quilting book in my library called 101 Full-Sized Blocks.
I thought this would be cheaper and a lot more personal than buying her real flowers – at least these ones won’t die in three days!
I’ll hand-stitch a satin/buttonhole stitch around all of the shapes, baste and bind it turning it into a mini wall quilt.
Now, I’m not sure how many of you who are reading this little post are beginners…
But, if you are, you’ve stumbled upon the right blog at the right time!
Huzzah!!
Because my latest little quilty-chat video is all about the essential tools that I believe you’ll need when starting out in the quilting game.
There are tons of different tools that we (as more experienced quilters) could try and convince you (the naive beginner quilter) to begin with – i.e. fancy rulers, differing thread weights, designer patterns, expensive sewing machines.
But, I think it’s more important to arm you, newbie patchworkers, with the most simple and basic tools to get started with. And then, as you become more confident and dedicated to your craft, by all means go get those fancy rulers that will help perfect your HSTs (that is Half Square Triangles); go and buy every shade of your favourite weighted thread; stalk those uber-cool quilt pattern designers on Instagram(a guilty pleasure!); and treat yourself to that sewing machine you’ve had your eye on for the past six months!
By the way, I am no professional when it comes to knowing what is best for each individual quilter. I chose the items stated in this video from experience when I worked at Spotlight. Eager newbie quilters would come into our store and ask, ‘What do I need to make a quilt?’. And so, this is what I would direct them to…
Here’s a list of all the items featured in this video:
– ‘Quilting Step By Step’ by Maggi Gordon
– ‘The Practical Guide to Patchwork’ by Elizabeth Hartman
– Fiskars Classic Stick rotary cutters, 28mm and 45mm
– Sew Easy Quilt-N-Sew Ruler, 14″x5″
– Fiskars Self-Healing Double-Sided cutting mat, 18″x24″
– Mundial Dressmakers Shears, 9 1/2″
– Tonic Studios Non Stick Precision Scissors
– Birch Quilters No-Melt Flower Head pins
– Birch Quilters Tape Measure, 300cm/120″
– Gutermann threads, 100% Cotton and 100% Polyester, 250m spools
– Clover Seam Ripper
– Philips Iron | Model: Azur
– Birch Quilters Curved Steel Safety Pins, 27mm
– Birch Quilt Basting Spray, 350g can
– Brother Innovis 200QE Sewing Machine (not seen)
So if are that eager newbie quilter – welcome to the fun, the creativity, the endless possibilities and ever evolving world of quilting!
I have learnt a great, great, GREAT deal from Craftsy: hexies, foundation paper piecing, general block construction, fabric cutting, ironing techniques – you name it, I’ve learnt it from Craftsy!
Another one of my most successful [and favouritist] quilts came from a Craftsy class and that is my ‘Jacob’s Ladder Quilt’.
For ages I was looking for the perfect project to use my beautiful DSQuilts fabrics with and along came the Jacob’s Ladder Block episode in the Magical Jelly Roll Quilts class.
And, whaalaah – what I produced was a beautiful, scrap-happy, two-tonal quilt that everyone seems to have fallen in love with!!
{ #FOUR – INSTAGRAM }
I’ve been on Instagram for a good few years now, but only recently have I used it as a form of inspiration.
Instagram has given me the access to follow the accounts of some of my most favouritist quilters, thus allowing me to see what they’re currently working on, where they’re getting their inspiration from as well as take a glimpse into the glamorous [and sometimes not so glamorous] side of a quilters life.
Just some of the Instagrammers I follow…
It has also given me the chance to network with other quilters and creative minds from all over the world, sharing in each other’s current creative pursuits!
I’ve also found that Instagram, like Pinterest, is a great resource to see what is currently in ‘vogue’ within the quilting world – i.e. what fabric lines, shades, tones and prints are in, what forms of quilting others are using to finish their quilts, what shapes and designs of blocks are being made etc.
Plus, it’s a great little resource that’s nice and handy on my phone! SCORE!!
{ #FIVE – BLOGGERS }
I love reading other quilting blogs – it’s where people can be completely honest about their work.
Blogs give us the opportunity to share passionately about where we find our inspirations, what we hope and dream for in the future and how we somehow manage to find sprinklings of time to indulge in our love for patchwork and quilting. We use this platform to share our life-loves, our families, our struggles, and our successes, our obsessions and adventures!
Apart from my long list of wonderful WordPress blogs that are tiered up in my Reader, here are just a few other creative blogs that I love to ponder…
This seems like a bit of a medieval notion doesn’t it!? Getting inspiration from books when we have a wealth of knowledge at a finger tips on the web!?
You may not know this, but I’m on of those ‘self-taught quilters’ who learnt the fundamental basic of patchwork and quilting from books!
My first ever patchwork/quilting book!My little library!
If I was stuck on a particular element of quilt making, I would search and search for the answer in a book before I would ever think about consulting the Internet.
I’m proud of my little library of patchwork/quilting books. I admit, it is growing ever so slowly…some of those good quality quilting books can be a tad pricey!
Have you got any favourite patchwork/quilting books that you love? Please, do tell!!
So, my encyclopedia of inspiration has come to an end. Although, I will never rule out including more in the future!
Honestly, after all that writing, I simply find inspiration for my work from everything around me – nature, movement, colour, shapes, mood, space, texture, people, experience – the list is endless!
I find that the resources that I’ve listed in this post allow me to harness the ideas that are raging through my head into do-able realistic projects. Otherwise, they’d still be up there, Dub-Stepping and Flash Dancing away in my brain!
3and3quarters 