Being a fairly new quilter, it’s hard to know what tools I need and which ones I can leave on the shelf. For example, I’ve noticed that there is a ruler for just about everything. Many of them are marketed as “must haves” and promise to make piecing simple, fast and perfect. Do they work? Are they worth the expense? Are they easy to use?
After recently completing a quilt top, I was left with a pile of large scraps. Scrappy pillows are a favorite quick project, so I decided to use the scraps to make half square triangles for the front of a pillow. I’ve made half square triangles once before using a method I found online that promised to be easy. Cutting them was simple. However, as I sewed the blocks together, I discovered that every edge of the block was on the bias. I had to be very careful to avoid stretching the fabric as I sewed.
While working at Quilt Expressions, I’ve heard many of our customers and staff rave about the Quilt in a Day 6-1/2″ Triangle Square Up Ruler. I decided to give it a try for my scrappy pillow.
For this project, I wanted my half square triangles (HST) to measure 3″ when they were sewn together. Looking at the chart included with the ruler, I was able to determine that I needed to cut my squares 8″.
Click on the photo for a larger view.
Step One: Prepare the 8″ squares.
Step Two: Place two squares, right sides together, on your cutting surface. Using your preferred marking tool, draw diagonal lines on the wrong side of the fabric. Pin the two squares together.
Step Three: Sew 1/4″ on either sides of the diagonal lines with matching thread.
Step Four: Press to set seams.
Step Five: Lay on cutting mat. The Olfa 12″ x 12″ rotating cutting mat is perfect for this project.
Step Six: Cut squares horizontally and vertically and then cut on each diagonal line. You will end up with eight triangles.
Step Seven: One thing I really like about this ruler is that the triangles are just slightly larger than they need to be. The directions stated that I needed to trim my triangles to 3-1/2.” Find the 3-1/2″ line on the ruler and lay it on top of the stitching line. Trim off excess.
Step Eight: Trim off the dog ears at a 60 degree angle; avoid cutting the seam.
Step Nine: Press open. My HST measures 3-1/2″. Once they are sewn together, they will measure 3″.
Now it’s time for the fun part! If you are under the assumption that half square triangles belong only in a pinwheel block, do a quick search for “HST” on Pinterest. You’ll be amazed by the number of ways they can be arranged.
I was very pleased with the simplicity of the Quilt in a Day ruler and would recommend it. It’s easy to use, creates 8 HST units for each pair of squares, and, for those of us who might not piece perfectly, I like that the units must be trimmed to size. The ruler is also versatile. With just one ruler, I can make HST from 1/2″ to 6-1/2.”
Karen and Della created a video on the ruler a couple of years ago. If you’d like to see more about the ruler, including how Karen used it to create an entire quilt using the ruler and scraps from another quilt, click here.
It was no surprise to me when Kat came to me a few weeks ago and threw an idea at me — to do a Dresden tutorial on the blog. For those of you who don’t have the pleasure of knowing Kat, she’s a Dresden expert and has designed many popular Dresden patterns. Take a look here – her designer name is Cottage Creek Designs. I’m always looking for good blog post ideas, and as I’ve been feeling up to a challenge, here we are.
The “Dresden Plate” is a traditional American quilt block that is made using a combination of patchwork and applique. It has a versatile design and looks great in both traditional and modern colorways. Although the curves may look intimidating, it is a fairly easy technique to pick up – especially with the right tools!
So, off we go. The first step to making a dresden block is to get your hands on an EZ Quilting “Easy Dresden” ruler. We sell them in our shop and online store. These rulers include really great step-by-step instructions to help you through the process as well.
Next, pick out some fabrics that tickle your fancy. You can really shape the overall dynamic of your block with your choice of fabrics. You can go high-contrast, tonal, scrappy — you name it. You’ll need a total of 20 “blades” to make one Dresden circle (10 for a half-circle, 5 for one “fan”). If you want a scrappy look, you can pick 20 different fabrics, or choose just a few fabrics and make several blades of each color.
Now pick a size that works for whatever project you’re working on. I decided to keep it simple and make a pillow, so I did a 4 ½” blade. The instructions booklet in the Easy Dresden ruler has a handy chart that tells you how big your finished Dresden Plate will be for each blade size. For example, it says a 4 ½” blade will make an 11 ½” finished plate.
Next, cut your fabrics into strips the same width as your blade size. Then, using your rotary cutter and Easy Dresden ruler, cut all the “blades” of the dresden, alternating the direction of the ruler each cut.
Time to sew. For this first part only, shorten your stitch length to get your stitches tighter than normal. Grab one blade and fold in half lengthwise, right-sides together. Sew a ¼” seam on the “top” end of the blade (the longer side), being sure to sew from the raw-edges to the fold. Chain-piece all your blades.
Snip your blades apart. Next, finger press the center crease, or use your iron if you want a really defined line.
Then, put your pointer finger “inside” the blade, thumb on the top and pinch your fingers together, flattening the seam open.
Then, turn the blade right-side out and use the tip of your Dresden ruler to push out the point.
Before you press flat, match the center of the open seam to the center crease to make a perfectly proportionate blade.
Next, lay out your finished blades into a circle, distributing your fabric colors/patterns as desired.
I panicked a little when I got to this point. I wasn't expecting the center "hole" to be so HUGE! Thinking the same thing? Don't fret. The hole shrinks down as you sew your seams. ALSO: Notice anything missing? How about that pretty white meander fabric I had picked out? Once I pressed my white blades out, I realized you can see right through the fabric and can see all the folds on the backside. That won't work! I had to make one more of each of my other colors to compensate for the loss. Oh well!
Before sewing this next part, remember to put your machine back to your regular stitch length. Take two adjacent blades, put them right-sides together and match the top corner points together. Bottom-edges won’t show, so it’s not as important that they match up.
Starting a ¼” down, backstich to the top, then sew down to the bottom using a ¼” seam. This hides your threads and secures the top of the stitch. Be careful which blade sides you sew together! After laying my whole dresden out just how I wanted it, I started sewing the wrong sides of the blades together and ended up with something totally different from my original plan. Oops!
Join the rest of the blades, making a full circle. Then, press your seams in one direction to get your dresden to lay flat.
TAKE THAT, DRESDEN! VICTORY!
Woo! Almost done. Pick a center fabric and decide how big you’d like to make your inner circle. A small circle will give you a flower-y look and big will make your dresden blades look more like a decorative border around the center. Making your center circle can be done using any applique method that you prefer.
If you are working with transparent fabric, like white, here’s what to do. Draw a perfect circle onto the wrong-side of two pieces of your center fabric. Fancy-schmany Perfect Circles by Karen Kay Buckley will give you a wide variety of sizes to choose from, or a bowl or mug borrowed from your kitchen work just fine, too.
Cut out your circles. Place them right-sides together and sew about a ¼” seam all the way around. Clip the seams. Cut a 2” slice into one of the circle-fabric pieces. It helps to pinch both sides and pull apart as you are cutting. Turn your circle out through the hole and press flat. Kat warned me that this method will make your circle look more like a dodecahedron. She was right.
If your fabric isn’t transparent, Kat suggests cutting a perfect circle out of your fabric, applying a few layers of freezer paper, then use starch around the edges to turn under your edges. You’ll get more rounded edges this way, although it seems like it takes some practice to make it perfect!
It’s applique time! Position your dresden where you want it. There are about a million ways to applique these babies down, so do whatever you prefer. We like to dab a bit of Quilter’s Choice Basting Glue at the end of each blade to temporarily attach it before we applique. Then, machine or hand-applique everything down. Pick your favorite stitch — blanket, zig-zag, satin or just straight.
Hmm..I think I should change up the center color. Maybe black?
Now that you know how to do a dresden, get sewing! There are a gazillion cute projects out there. We created a Pinterest board full of Dresden projects to pick from. Dresden Rose & Dresden Fans are some favorites of Kat’s designs. Check ‘em out! The Easy Dresden ruler comes with a free pattern, too. Need a smaller project to get you started? Try a placement, table runner, pillow, pouch or just frame one block for some sewing-room art.
Without notions, quilting would be a laborious task (well, more than it already is…) These useful objects are the tools that make your sewing more efficient, more accurate and ultimately more fun! As a quilt shop, we do our best to carry all the top notions — both the essentials and the unique ones that help you with some of the more advanced techniques. Our girls have tried it all, and through years of trial and error we’ve found the best of the best.
So here’s our list of the top ten essential notions. You aren’t livin’ life to the fullest if you don’t have one of each of these. Trust us — they will make a difference!
THE ESSENTIALS Havel’s Snip-Eze
These snips are lightweight, have a curved blade and are super easy to use. Unlike most snips, you don’t have to search for the finger-holes. Just pick ’em up and squeeze!
OLFA Ergonomic Rotary Cutter
These comfy cutters come in 45mm or 60mm sizes and have fantastic safety features. When not in the “locked” position, these cutters only expose the blade when you squeeze the trigger to cut. The advantage of an extra sharp blade? Quick, clean cut edges.
O’Lipfa Lip-Edge Ruler
I won’t cut fabric with anything but this ruler. The lip-edge latches on to your cutting mat or table to help stabilize each cut. No more slippy-slidey rulers!
Sewline Fabric Pencil
These mechanical-style fabric pencils come in a variety of color choices and use refillable erasers and lead. They are manufactured well and will last you forever. The best part? Unlike traditional pencils that need sharpening, your lead will always be sharp and make an incredibly accurate line.
Collins Crystal Glass Head Pins
Throw away all your dull-pointed pins and buy these babies! The fine tips are sharp and glide through fabric like a knife through butter. Unlike plastic-headed pins, the glass-heads won’t melt when you iron over them! They heads also don’t break or fall off like other, cheaper pins and the ⅜” lengths are pretty sturdy. They can still bend like all pins can, but you can’t beat all the other great features. Tip: don’t get the ⅞” length if you can help it. Although the tips are still sharp and the heads will stay put, the longer length has a greater tendency to bend with normal use.
Magnetic Pincushion Ok, I know quilters just love making pincushions, but ladies, you have to up your game. These magnetic pincushions will save you time and energy. Rather than stick each pin into your cushion, you can just toss your pins in the general direction of the magnet and they’ll zip right on there. We have larger magnets for beside your sewing machine, or you can jump on the new trend and get one that clips onto your shirt for a mobile option. (Seriously, these things are a hot item. We sold twenty-two last Saturday. Twenty-two! They come in a million colors and make great gifts!) Beware! After getting spoiled by the magnet, you’ll start throwing pins at any pincushion, and they’ll just bounce right off the traditional kind. I do this all the time. It’s embarrassing.
Schmetz Sewing Needle
Simple. Easy. Reliable. We use these and you should too. When was the last time you changed your needle? Can’t remember. It’s probably time to change ’em out. Just do it! Binding & Hem Clips
Just like hair clips, these handy notions make hand-sewing binding a bit easier. Just press your binding fabric onto your quilt top and attach some of these throughout, especially at the corners. The best part? You’ll never get stabbed by a million pins if you carry your quilt around. No one likes to bleed on their projects, ladies…
Quilters Glue
Whether you’re doing some applique or need to finish up that binding real quick, quilter’s glue is the answer — it keeps your materials together and washes out when you’re done. There’s a million different uses for this stuff and Quilter’s Choice is our favorite variety.
Triangle Square Up Ruler
These rulers make all kinds of triangles so easy. Half-square, quarter-square…you name it they make it. Don’t fuss anymore – you will honestly make PERFECT triangles every single time. They come in 6-1/2” and 9-1/2” sizes and have easy to understand instructions included. And unlike thangles, you’ll never “run out” when you’re feverishly finishing up a project at 3 in the morning. All you need is one ruler for the rest of your life — just don’t lose it!
Already have all these? Check our our bonus list of the top five notions that tackle new techniques.
BEYOND THE BASICS Washable Marker
These are Karen’s favorite. She uses them “liberally” (meaning by the dozen.) They have many uses but they’re perfect for custom, free motion long arm quilting. Karen can draw on a pattern or trace a stencil/ruler to get a guide for her quilting. Check out her full post on using the washable marker with a Sue Pelland Leaves Galore Large Ruler here.
Angler
This is Della’s favorite sewing machine tool — it makes piecing 45 degree angles easier and more accurate (as the name suggests.) The lines on the clear plastic tool act as a guide when sewing half-square triangles, mitered corners, Flying Geese, Snowballs, or diagonal ends and corners.
Rotating Mat
Have a lot of pieces to cut? This ruler is great, especially for using a triangle square up ruler. Just place the fabric and ruler on top of the rotating mat (maybe use some fabric grips to keep everything in place) and make your first slice. Then, just rotate the mat to cut all the way around without having to move your fabric.
Flying Geese Ruler, Tri-Recs Ruler and Dresden Ruler
These three rulers take the guesswork out of making these advanced quilting techniques. Each comes with clear instructions to make your impressive blocks faster and more accurate.
Perfect Circles
The name says it all. Each package includes 15 different circle sizes (a small circle or large circle option) for hand and machine appliqued circles.
I’m sewing again! I have a sewing table and machine and a cutting table in my sewing room. Since Karen took away my big ironing board, we had to come up with another solution for pressing. The cutting table that I have lends itself to a great ironing station, but I had to figure out some way to make a pad for it. We picked out fabric that matches the walls and some of the accessories. It was one of my favorite prints – a bright Philip Jacobs design in all the right colors. I lined the fabric with Insul Fleece to protect the table and attached it temporarily with tape – I’m still trying to decide if I need a better solution to keep the pad from slipping. It felt so good to hear the hum of my sewing machine – oh how I have missed her!
The shelves are up, too! They are beautiful, and the best part is that I can adjust them if I need to. I still don’t have much in my room and every time Karen comes over she checks things out to make sure I’m not sneaking something in. Where is all my fabric? You guessed it, still in Karen’s basement. We are still sorting. The plan is to get everything folded and then decide what I really have room for. We haven’t even tackled the projects that are in progress – I just know she won’t let me have all of them at once (or maybe ever).
What have I learned so far?
• Have a plan.
• Be thorough even if it means going slow.
• Be realistic about what can get accomplished.
• Donate what can’t or won’t be used.
Stay tuned for more exciting updates about Della’s Big Dig.
We've made progress here. There used to be countless trash bags of fabric piled in our basement workstation.
In our free seminar on January 8th, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Organizing Your Sewing Room, we gave out lots of ideas on how to get organized. Well, the next day we used Karen’s good advice and started to sort my fabric so we could start bringing my stash home.
We started by grouping like-sized fabric together into five groups:
• fat quarters
• yardage (selvage to selvage) that is more than 9″ and less than 18″
• yardage ½ yard to 3 yards
• yardage over 3 yards
• scraps that are odd shapes and sizes
Since all my fabric is in large garbage bags, we sorted one bag at a time. Dumped the bag, sorted the fabric, folded the fabric.
Here's some fabric we dumped into laundry baskets. Ready for sorting and folding!
Folding Fabric
• Fat quarters are folded by bringing the long edges to meet in the middle, folded in half again lengthwise, then by bringing both short ends to the middle and folding in half. Stack in a pile.
• Yardage between 9” and 18” are grouped by color. We trim these fabrics to 12” x width of fabric. The scrap goes into the scraps pile. We pick six fabrics, open each fabric and layer it with the narrowest on top then roll the fabric into a 12” roll and put a rubber band around it to hold it together.
• Yardage that is ½ yard to 3 yards are folded on to a 5″ or 6″ long ruler, slip the ruler out and fold in half. Stack in a pile
Aha! All folded. Here's our neat piles of folded fat quarters and yardage. Doesn't it look pretty?! I just wish Karen would let me take it home now...
After five hours of dumping, sorting and folding, we only made a small dent in my stash, but the finished product looks so nice, neat and pretty. Now we just have to keep working away at the mess in Karen’s basement. Can’t wait to bring it all home. I walk past my empty sewing room and just dream about how beautiful it will be. It’s hard to be patient, but it’s well worth the wait.
Holy cow, there really was a room in there! My clutter and collection has been building up for years (maybe even decades?) It was almost to the point of no return, until Karen stepped in to help me get it under control. I know I’m not alone in having a scary sewing room, so for the next few weeks you can join me on this journey to a more organized life.
I don’t have a large room – it’s a converted bedroom about 9′ x 11′ – give or take a few inches. I really had it jammed packed with stuff. There were lots of pictures on the walls; an oversized ironing board (which I love, but most of the time was covered in stuff); a large design wall that I was unable to get to because the big ironing board was in front of it; two wonderful pieces of furniture that filled up most of the room; my prize file cabinet with 30 years of quilting patterns and magazines in it; and oh yes, I must not forget that my fabric collection was in the walk-in closet filled to the brim – in fact you couldn’t even walk into the walk-in closet. Yes, I had a problem.
Here was the start of our plan:
· Remove everything
· Clean and paint
· Draw a floor plan on graph paper to optimally arrange furniture
· Limit what I put back into the room
My first task was to remove everything, yes everything, from the room. Wow, was this going to be hard! I soon found out that I was not just packing, but packing AND sorting. This job would take me forever. Where was I going to put all of this stuff? Luckily, Karen came to the rescue – she offered her basement to temporarily store everything. January 1st was our date to move everything out. Well, guess what? I hadn’t even made a dent by then. That’s when I found out the proper way of doing things. Pretend that you actually are moving (I haven’t moved in over 30 years – no wonder I don’t know how to do this). Dump everything in a box and sort it later. It took Karen about 3 hours to pack everything up and get it out of the room. Here is a tip for you: use small moving boxes to pack in. I sent my husband to buy some moving boxes and he came back with big plastic storage tubs. Yes, you can fill them up, but you can’t pick them up!
Once the room was empty except for the large furniture (that I moved to the center of the room) and I could start to clean. Gee, it was easy to vacuum when the room was empty. I could even see the carpet for a change! Next step – paint. Karen and her son came over and painted my room in only a few hours – I’m the luckiest person to have a friend like her. I got to watch the action – I don’t think she trusted me to paint; sure can’t imagine why. The room is now a lovely color of green and I have been working on cleaning the woodwork for the last couple of days. It is so hard to walk past my empty sewing room; it’s like having withdrawals. I don’t even have my sewing machine here. All that was left was a couple of old quilt magazines. She would have taken those too if she realized I had them in a magazine basket in my family room. I think I have looked at them at least 10 times – I really miss my stuff.
The next step will be to come up with the furniture arrangement and decide what shelves need to be purchased for the walls. Can’t wait to get back to sewing!
A few weeks ago, I got to go on a field trip. To Della’s house. This was very exciting for me because Della’s cute little abode is famous, especially at Christmas time. Her husband is a fanatic for Christmas decorations, specifically Christmas trees. They are rumored to have well over 30 trees inside their house, each meticulously decorated. But the trees weren’t what I was going to see. Nope, it was another kind of horrorshow that I was interested in. I was going to see her sewing room.
Della is a sewing goddess. She cranks out projects like an industrial machine, quilting perfectly in practically no time at all. But when I saw her room, I was shocked. How can she move around in there? How does she even know where anything is? Della once told me “I must have been thin and organized in another life, because they are both things I have never managed to be.” Regardless, we love Della to death and as Della gave me a tour through her tiny sewing universe, stopping to tell me adorable stories of all her nick-nacks, it all came together. Della is so focused on her sewing that organizing her stuff never came into the picture. But we are out to change that.
As half Christmas present, half torture, Karen decided to give Della a sewing room makeover. Hopefully by the end of it all, Della will be a happier, more productive sewer (if she can keep it organized.)
Stay tuned as we follow Della through her sewing room saga and maybe you can pick up a few tips here and there on how to get your own creative space in order!
— Posted by Stacy
How do you cut at your cutting table, Della?
This is where the fabric lives.
At least something was organized.Do you need three irons?Adorable!If the lights are on, it means her iron is on, so she never forgets to turn the iron off. Clever!This is a castle in Scotland that her ancestors lived in. Now it's a hotel and some say it's haunted. I want Della to take me there!Della times all her sewing projects and tries to do them faster each time. You go, girl!The rumors were true, folks. Well over 30 Christmas trees, big and small, are at Della's house.
Check out this coffee creamer. What comes to mind? Coffee (that one was easy)…I need to clean out my fridge….or maybe just YUCK! Pretty average stuff, though, right? You might even have some in your kitchen. (I can hear you all screaming at your computer screens “get to the QUILTING already!!”) Well, dear readers, we’ll get to the point. We love to find uncommon uses for common household objects, especially if it makes our sewing better. And we have a little secret use for these coffee creamer bottles that we think you’ll love.
I have learned over the years that it really does matter what kind of water you put in your iron (who knew?!). The instructions for my iron say to use regular tap water – not distilled or softened water. Lucky me, my tap water is softened. Which means every time I need water for my iron, I have to fill up a jug of water from a tap of un-softened water all the way in the basement. Have you ever tried to fill up your iron from a gallon milk jug? Trust me, it’s not easy.
Thankfully, I found a better way of doing things. A student in one of my beginning quilt classes said she used coffee creamer bottles to fill up her iron. They work great, even if you don’t have to worry about crawling down to the basement to get un-softened water. The coffee creamer bottle has a tight lid and a spout. Wow, no more spills on my ironing board! And it’s so convenient to have an ample supply of water right by your board. That means less trips to the faucet to fill up!
So, here’s what you do. It’s so simple. First, buy a liquid coffee creamer. Make a whole pot of coffee and use up the creamer (think of all you’ll get accomplished!) Wash it out thoroughly and remove the label (it looks better this way). Annnddd…Voila! You have your own Ironing Board Companion. It’s amazing what you can learn from those beginning students!
Clean out the creamer.Use scissors to snip into the label. Tear off the label. A perfect little spout!We love our ironing board companions!
Assuming you’ve read our blogger profiles, you should all be familiar with my sewing skills — and by that I mean LACK of sewing skills. I’ve dabbled in cross stitch and I can wrangle some knitting needles just fine, but the complex system of fabric and sewing machines and somehow putting it all together in a neat little quilt with corners matching and all that?? It’s new to me. As I work in a quilt shop, it didn’t take long for my dear quilting friends to sign me up and get me started — and I mean that literally. Only a week after my first day at the shop I found myself sitting in the beginning quilting class, trying to figure out how to get that dang thread onto a bobbin, how to sew a ¼” seam and why the heck it mattered, and desperately trying to remember if that pack of 10” squares sitting next to my machine was called a jelly bun, sugar roll, or a layer pack.
Thankfully, my quilting skills are coming along nicely and I’m just about to finish my first quilt top. My last task was to put on borders. With clear instructions from Karen and Della, I set to work.
Time for the borders! I used a layer cake from the Panache line to make my quilt top.
So, listen up, ladies! Maybe you’re new to quilting like me, or maybe you’re tired of your borders looking like wavy ruffles. There’s a better way to do it. This step-by-step guide will help you finish your quilt top perfectly. Let’s get started.
1) Step one. Cut your inner border fabric into strips according to your pattern. Don’t forget to trim off the selvage. Beginner’s tip: don’t rush! Cutting became a disaster when I was anxious to get sewing and did my mental math wrong. I ended up with a handful of shorted strips. Like they say, “measure twice, cut once.” I also recommend starting your measuring on a whole number — you’re bound to lose an ⅛” here and there if you’re trying to add or subtract complex fractions and are starting on a ⅝”. Do yourself a favor and make the math easy.
I neatly folded my fabric in half to cut my strips straight.
2) Next, sew the ends of your strips together and press in one direction. As they tell me, “sew a seam, press the seam.”
Woo hoo! My inner border is all sewn together.
3) Spread out your quilt top on the floor or a large table. Measure the quilt from the top to the bottom through the center of the quilt. Cut two strips off your inner border fabric in this length.
Through the center!
Why do we do it this way? Once you’ve pieced your quilt together, it can end up all sorts of shapes and sizes. Sometimes the ends are longer than the middle, or vice versa. If your borders aren’t put on correctly, the problem grows exponentially and it becomes a huge pain to quilt. Your quilt becomes puckered and can resemble a trapezoid. By measuring through the center of the quilt and having opposite borders be the exact same length of fabric as that measurement, you can ease in slouchy fabric, or stretch it out if it’s not as long. The result: a closer to perfect rectangle. That sounds nice!
4) Fold the quilt top in half and one of your inner border strips in half to find the centers. Pin the centers together. Next, pin the ends together and everywhere in between, easing (stretching one or the other to fit) if necessary. Lots of pinning is as important as measuring through the center to be sure you don’t have a wavy-bordered, trapezoid quilt.
Pinning the centers.Pinning at the ends.
5) Now that you’re pinned together, sew away and press when you’re finished. Repeat steps 3-5, this time measuring from side to side (through the center) for the top and bottom inner borders.
For effective pressing, first you have to "set the seam."Then open it up and press in one direction.
6) Doing more borders? Repeat this process as many times as necessary and you’ll be in great shape!
Quilt Expressions’ Blog 