Pieced Brain

All about quilting, knitting, crochet, embroidery, free tutorials, quilting and crafting book reviews.

Blessed are the piecemakers

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  This tiny sewing machine sits on my cutting table. I love being a piecemaker... So many people have my sewing machine to thank for being alive, and they don't even know it!!! :-) I have a few other things on my table: a porcelain cat holding a mouse in his mouth, a family of frogs, cartoons I clipped from the newspaper, a frog hanging from the lamp... All "essential" nick nacks which enhance the ambiance. How about you? Is there something special in your studio that summarizes how you … [Read more...] about Blessed are the piecemakers

Fusible web applique

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This week I was working on a Christmas row quilt. For the gift boxes row I needed to fuse large squares to the background fabric, and then machine applique them. I chose to use only a few strips of fusible web (Heat'n Bond Lite) on the wrong side of each box (see picture) so I would not end up with too thick a surface to free-motion quilt on. Since I did not put the strips of fusible web very close to the edge of the boxes, I was concerned that the fabric would fray. To my delight, the fraying … [Read more...] about Fusible web applique

Black, White and Red Table Runner – V.2

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Just finished the second table runner using those black and white blocks I've been saving for the past few years. I made this one just as the first one (see the other table runner here), but using three other blocks with same accent red fabric by Moda for this year's Valentine's. This one I stitched in the ditch only.  I can't believe I had enough of the same scrap fabric for the corner yo-yos.  I'd much rather use sample blocks for smaller projects than put them in a quilt. I do, … [Read more...] about Black, White and Red Table Runner – V.2

Variegated Threads

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Getting ready to play with beautiful threads as I quilt my latest landscape quilt... Aren't they beautiful? I need TONS more of them, of every color combination! When I am ready to quilt tops, I like to have my thread palette by my fingertips, and switch threads as I move from one area of the quilt to another. The results often surprise me. My machine prefers cotton and polyester over rayon, but I don't let it indulge - it works with whatever I need. Don't know about you, but I'd rather color … [Read more...] about Variegated Threads

Paper piecing party at Thimbles & Threads

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Guess what I did for... humm... about 15 hours last Friday and Saturday! I was helping Cathie at Thimbles and Threads in Draper, UT, prepare the quilt for Shop Hop which is coming up June 13. "Prepare" is the correct word, as I did not get even close to finishing ONE BLOCK!   Paper piecing is great fun when you are NOT facing a quick-approaching deadline, are NOT working on a quilt with over 100 blocks, and when each block are NOT made up of 27 tiny pieces of fabric! Since I am one of … [Read more...] about Paper piecing party at Thimbles & Threads