Pieced Brain

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

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Wedding Planner

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Question: What do you do when your son announces he is getting married in 8 weeks? Answer: E-mail EVERYONE you know and ask for help! So I did it and "Our Wedding Planner"  landed [literally] on my front porch. Yes! Now I won't misplace all the little bits and pieces I received over e-mail and telephone since my SOS, plus I have an idea of all the things we (they?) need to decide and do before the big day. To top it all off, I decided I will be getting help in other areas as far as … [Read more...] about Wedding Planner

Surgical tweezers in my studio?

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Well... who knew? Another tool I cannot live without is a stainless steel pointy tweezer. It offers great help when I can't  pull pieces of threads from quilts, if I must pull stray pieces of thread from my sewing machine, or to remove paper from seams. I even use them to grab my sewing machine needles when I can't pick them up with my nails. Handy!!! … [Read more...] about Surgical tweezers in my studio?

What is a bodkin?

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A bodkin is a tool I cannot live without in my studio! It is perfect for smoothing out the corners of anything you sew and need to turn inside out, as one of its end has a ball and the other is straight. I use it with applique pieces which have been sewn to Pellon fusible interface, when making stuffed animals, etc. The other day, my son Ryan came to my sewing room, and as he was talking with me, and absentmindedly, he picked up my bodkin and proceeded to bend it (remember Uri Geller?). I could … [Read more...] about What is a bodkin?

Two-sided flannel quilt

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Finally, my flannel quilt is finished! Since it was a present for ME, I decided to make it a two-sided quilt, so I got 2 for 1... A complete departure from my normal designs, I chose bricks on one side using the Woolies, and plain square blocks with sashing for the back, with a more girly feel to it. It is so warm and cozy! In order to make it even more comfortable, I only quilted straight lines using a decorative stitch and varigated thread. I should probably grab a book and head for the couch … [Read more...] about Two-sided flannel quilt

Self-binding quilt

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My flannel quilt is almost done. As I was trying to figure out which fabric to use for the binding, I decided to try something different: self-binding. This is a quick way to finish the quilt, most commonly used when the edge of the quilt has an irregular shape. I prefer the traditional binding, but since I want to finish this quilt quickly, and it is for my own use... Here is how I did it: Baste backing to batting using large stitches. I basted all around the quilt, as well as across the … [Read more...] about Self-binding quilt