Printing on Iron On Transfer Paper

Hello Wayward Crafters!
I have been staying busy making quilts and being a nana. I have enjoyed reading the blog and plan to contribute from time to time.
This week we had 2 snow days. Snow days in our home usually makes our hearts turn to crafting. In the great blizzard of 2000, all the girls collaborated on what is known as snow day quilt, a snuggly quilt that has kept us warm for many years.
This week I decided to make my own version of an applique quilt that Jaime and I worked on when I visited her recently. It is from Quilters Newsletter August and September.

What I want to share is how I used my inkjet printer to print all the patterns. I realize that you can purchase iron-on printer paper, but it is a little more expensive than what you can buy (usually on sale!) from the bolt. (Get the paper-backed transfer webbing. It is #805 by Pellon.)

Here's how to do it. First, use a program such as Photoshop to move the images from the pattern to a 8 1/2 by 11 canvas size. Flip the images as needed. I always use the bucket tool to fill the images with white so it takes less ink.

Then, cut your iron-on transfer paper to 8 1/2 by 11". It is 17" wide, so you can get 2 8 1/2" pieces across.
The paper is too thin to go through my printer, so I used a piece of glossy photo paper as a backing. I lightly touched my iron across the top edge of the paper so that it was lightly adhered to the glossy side. I also smoothed down the paper, and ironed the bottom corners.

Then, print!

The webbing will pop right off the glossy photo paper, which you can use over and over. Roughly cut out the shapes and adhere them to the back of the fabric you selected.

That's it! It took me half a day to print and about that long to cut out the shapes. I ironed everything on the quilt blocks this morning.

I followed the pattern pretty closely. I added one more poinsettia in the top left block and made them all red instead of having green leaves. Jaime was more wayward and created a couple original blocks. I think it turned out to be very cute. I will tack all the edges with a zigzag stitch using invisible thread. The borders are made of crazy Christmas sweaters! That's next.

This is the template for the sweaters. The sky is the limit on how you make them.

To pick out or not to pick out, that is the question!

It is the wayward crafter's eternal question. Is it good enough or should I do it over?

I am still working on the baby quilt for Jordan's baby. I was a little disappointed with the front because not every angle matched perfectly. I was extra careful in the back. I picked out seams and recut and squared up. And guess what. Yep, still not perfect. 

When do you decide your product is good enough and when do you decide you must redo it? This was my dilemma when I was doing free motion quilting on the quilt. I can sew for about an hour on one bobbin. After one bobbin change, I didn't change my thread tension back to where it needed to be.  When that happens, the top thread shows on the bottom of the quilt too much. It makes the stitches feel rough. I didn't realize this until the next time I changed the bobbin--an hour of free motion quilting later.

Was it good enough? Did I want to take out that much stitching? 

I decided I did. It took as longer to pick it out than it did to put it in. What a pain! 

All those little dotted lines used to be stitches. All told, it was about 2 square feet of stitching or about this much thread.

I am getting ready to do it over now and I don't regret my decision at all. I know I will be much happier with the result. 

In this case, I decided to pick out, but earlier I decided not to redo the angles in the quilt that weren't perfect. I don't really understand my criteria or my tolerance level for my own imperfections, so I am asking my fellow crafters what they think. (Of course this assumes that a few of you are also less than perfect, too.)

Here's what I want to know...

• How to you decide when your craft is "good enough?"
• Is "good enough" really good enough?
• Do you feel compelled to point out mistakes in your own work when others look at it?

"Quilted" Notebooks

I need a spiral notebook to write down stuff at work. Usually I just pick one up at the store and call it good, but this year I wanted something different. This is what I came up with: 

As usual, I learned a lot in making the first one, so look for updates in the future with better versions!
First I found some 6" x 9.5" notebooks at the office supply store. They did not have a glossy cover.

This one happens to be made from leftovers from harvesting sugar cane!

Select your fabric and apply Heat and Bond to the back of it following manufacturers' instructions.
For this design, cut a 2" square out of your favorite fabric. Find a pretty design and make a fussy cut!
Then cut a 2 3/4" square out of a contrasting fabric and a 4" square out of another. You will also need strips to fill in the rest of the cover.

Remove the paper from the fabric backing of the 2" and  2 3/4 " squares. Place the 3 squares together as shown.  Lightly press them to tack them in  place. Take the backing off the 4" square now.

Find the center of the notebook and center the square units on it. Now is time to iron it well. Add strips for borders as desired.
(Confession: This isn't the way I did it. This is the SMARTER way.)

This was my first effort. Though I liked the brownish fabric at first, it just didn't look good. I just cut some triangles out of white and ironed them on.

I covered the back and was done!

Bias Binding Simplified

This week I have been working on finishing up my own quilts for the Downy Quilt project Brooke wrote about on Wednesday. I was excited to try my Bias Binding Simplified ruler I bought at the quilt expo.

This ruler and tons of other ones are offered at Creative Grids. The website is very informative. They show all of their rulers along with videos of how to use them. The rulers have an anti-slip strip on the back to help in cutting. When I am ready to buy more rulers for quilting, I will be looking here!

On the video for the Bias Binding, developer Janice Pope explains why bias binding is much more durable than  straight grain binding. Check it out whether or not you buy the ruler.

The ruler shows how much fabric you will need to bind your quilt. It is much less than you might think. It also shows how to fold the fabric to get the most strips out of it.

To cut the strips, you just follow the folding directions. I had the video on my Kindle Fire and on my computer as I sewed.  

Here are the folds.

Once you cut the strips (I used the 2 1/4" width,) you see them together like this. You don't have to pin them, but I did so that I could match my stripes.

Press open the seams and then fold in half.
The video shows how to miter the corners and make the ends meet.
Here is what the binding looks like on the cowboy quilt:

I love how the stripes look!

Check out the website!

Downy Touch of Comfort Quilts

I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs and was excited to get to help! Downy is providing these kits in partnership with Quilts for Kids to provide quilts for children in the hospital. If you read some of the stories your heart will MELT! 

I got my package quickly and  the pieces were all cut for me. All I had to provide was low loft batting, thread, and time.

The fabric I got was cute Cars characters and Mickey Mouse for the back. After following the directions for how they requested them to be quilted I added a little extra cute detailing. 

In the kit you get an embroidered tag to add your name and the name of your quilt. After thinking hard this is what I came up with:

I did have some experience with quilting and I had my mom help me with a few of the finishing details. In total the project too me about 5 hours to complete. Please consider helping out!

Original Sewing and Quilt Expo

On Thursday I had a real treat! I attended the first day of the first Original Sewing and Quilt Expo held in Raleigh, NC.

Since school got out, I have been spending almost every day cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning my house. I am doing all those things that I never do-- windows, baseboards, moving furniture to vacuum. (Oh, does everybody else do that every week? My bad!)
So.... I was really looking forward to taking a day off.

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to put the wrong street in the GPS (S Saunders and S Salisbury, what's the diff???), but fortunately I was only a few streets away. After parking my car and paying attention to where I did that, I made my way into the Raleigh Convention Center. The FFA convention was also being held there, and I was confused for a bit with all those future farmers, but it all turned out fine. The very first thing I did was run into a friend from church. We had our first class together! We learned 7 core sewing skills from Cynthia Guffey. (Stay stitching with the grain--- which changes a lot on any cut piece). She gave so much info that I wanted to buy her DVDs, but they were too much-- not just money, but more detail than I wanted. Anyway, it was a great class.

After that, I just looked at quilts. They were gorgeous, but since I follow rules, I didn't take any pictures.

Then, I found out I am a sucker for demos! I feel compelled to buy the product. First I bought this cool bonding powder.

Check it out, it is AWESOME!







Next I had another class on the Perfect Finish: Binding Basics with Janice Pope. Changed my (quilting) life. I can't wait to try it. I had to buy the ruler to go with it. While doing so, I had a nice chat with Janice.

I also bought this gorgeous fabric for $3  per 1/2 yard piece. (Suggestions on what to do with it?)

 This other ruler. (Again, sucked in by a demo. At least I didn't buy both rulers!)

And finally subscribe to 2 magazines and got this nifty tote and light

I picked up all these papers along the way and learned where lots of quilt shops are:

Though I was sure I was going to win the prize to be announced at 5:15, but 4:30 I was tuckered out and decided to leave. I had a hard time figuring out which exit to use to get back to S SALISBURY street, but after I finally did, I was able to find my car in the parking garage with no problem. (Believe me that is a BIG DEAL!!!)

If you are in the Triangle Area, you should try to go to the Sewing and Quilt Expo on Friday or Saturday. It's great!

To wonk or not to wonk

I am making another baby quilt for a friend. I wanted it to be a little modern and to try something new. I wanted to go WONKY! I used a great tutorial and gave it a shot. I am not sure if I will love the finished product, but I am excited to try out my new machine on some fun machine quilting.

 This is a wonky square. You start with right angles and then trim a side here and there at a slant.  This is what all the squares look like.

The next step is to decide how I want to square them up. I will be trimming them to a 10" square, but I might not cut the square exactly dead on center. (The tutorial will show you what I mean.) Then I will add a sashing and a border.

My fear is that my friend and her family, who are not familiar with what is popular in the quilting world might think I just can't cut straight! So, I decided to try one traditional log cabin block to show that I can. I will use this blog as a bag to present the quilt in.

Even though the upper right looks crooked in this picture, it is really straight!

I am going to RESOLVE to step out of my crafting comfort zone and try new things this year. Wonky was definitely out there! What is your resolution?

Curly Ribbon and Blue Pigs

Last week I posted about the applique part of a quilt I was making. At that time, I hadn't decided how to do the tails. I finally decided it would be fun to use curly grosgrain ribbon. It is super easy to make curly ribbon. In addition to pig tails, it would be very cute in children's hairbows, in fairy wands with netting and other sparkles, and on gifts.

To make it, wrap grosgain ribbon around a dowel. The tighter your wrap it, the tighter your curls will be. I am using about a 3/8" dowell  here, but you can use smaller diameters, too. I secured each end with duct tape. Then I wet it and popped it in a warm oven -- about 250 degrees.. (I suppose you could also use a hair dryer.)  When it is dry, remove from the oven and let it cool off. Remove it from the dowel and use it in your project.

Here's the finished quilt I made. I sewed down the curls so that it could be washed.

Mrs. Pigg loved it!

Freezer Paper Applique

This week has been a good one for my word-loving/crafty way of thinking. On Monday, we found our that it was our principal's birthday. I was sitting in the front lobby when the school secretary asked me to make a card for him for everyone to sign. Before I got down to my office, I had something in mind. His last name is Vick, so I decided for a play on words. I found lots of  quotes about victory and copied them in different colors and fonts. Then I replaced "victory" with VICK-tory. I added a Vick-torious message on the inside. It was fun to do and everyone loved it. Just wish I had my crafting supplies at school so I could have jazzed it up more!

Then, we got an invitation to a dear friend's baby shower. Her last name is an animal. Can you guess what the quilt will be? I will show the finished project next week, but for now, I will show you how to use freezer paper to applique.

BECKY LOU- IF YOU ARE READING THIS: STOP.

This quilt is for you!

Trace your pattern on the matte side of the freezer paper. Remember the final design will be reversed, so plan any words or directional designs accordingly.

In case your can't read the captions: Iron the freezer apper to the wrong side of the fabric.

Cut about 1/2" to 3/8" away from the freezer paper. I have marked the center and the eye on my designs to help with placement later.

Clip the curved seams and angles for ease in pressing and sewing.

Now you are ready to iron the seam allowance down on the back of the freezer paper.

You can pin it to your backing now and start sewing. I did most of mine like that. The seam allowance didn't always stay where I wanted it to, so I decided to try something else. I liked it!

Pin it to the backing fabric. Be sure to get it centered and straight. I matched the center points on my design and backing.

Iron it and you have your block.
Next week I will show you the finished quilt.