Hayward Piecemakers Quilting Guild- Nov, 2012

I joined the Hayward Piecemakers Quilting Guild awhile back and when we had our last meeting- November 12th I finally was able to wear my name tag! Yes, that's right I FINALLY got it quilted! Are you proud of me or what!!! LOL I have to say I was pretty happy as I had been trying to get it done and with being in school and all the other obstacles in life I have not been able to sew the name tag OR make it to a meeting. It was great being able to see all the lovely ladies, see what beautiful projects that they have been working on. Of course that day I did not have my camera, so no pictures of the wonderful projects. However I will walk you through the making of the name tag.


The pieces were cut into squares already, so I just made sure they were squared up. Then cut diagonal.




Did the same with the other colors. I had to make sure to keep the colors in their own piles as each color is a different size.




Now some would use the paper pattern and just sew the fabric to it and then later take the paper off. Not me as I have not done that before. I was on a time limit and I did not want to mess up. So I just pieced it like I have learned to do. So the white will be the center with the dark blue pinned in position for sewing.




Bad picture, my camera is going. I need to get a new one quickly! But here you see the red id sewn on two sides, then pressed out. Now the other two pieces are pinned and once sewn you will then press out.





As you see here each color has been sewn, then pressed out. The little triangles you see are trimmed off before you pin the next color in place.




I like to pin the next color on first and then what I do is trim it to make sure that it is straight and the little triangles are off.





Press them out. I am a presser. I like to know what it looks like and if it is straight. Whatever you are comfortable doing.




This one was pinned and then sewn. I did this as some people will sew and then trim. Some people pin and then trim.




This is what it will look like before pressing it out.




After pressing out. Wish the camera was doing better pictures, but you get the idea!



Squared up.



Then you get to put the strips on that go around the name and the square.




Half done, now do the other two sides.




So this is what the badge is going to look like. I will write my name on the white piece. But before doing that I have to bind it.





Here I am folding the edge over and pinning it. Then I will start sewing.




Here is the back, you can see I like little stitches. This is my first attempt at doing a binding. I was amazed at how long it took me to do just this little bit! My friend Anita can bind! She is super fast. Maybe some year I will be half as good!





Done sewing! The edges are straighter than they look! LOL




Complete for the meeting. Have my name on there and the Guild pin. At some point I may use some floss and stitch my name. For now it is just fine.

I was pretty happy that I got it done AND I won the drawing for wearing my name tag! I never win anything! I was super excited!
Do you belong to a guild? Are you in the Hayward, WI area? You are welcome to come to  our meeting. The next Hayward Piecemakers meeting is January 14th at 10:00 am at the Hayward Library.



Try-It Tuesday.... Thangles

Well good morning.... I would invite you in for tea but I am out so I had coffee early this morning. I really needed the caffeine as I was dragging- it was cool in the mid 50's and foggy. I was under a quilt so what can I say I know how the bear feels when he is just coming out of hibernation!
Once again it is Try-It Tuesday, I have no idea where the week has gone except work!  I am still waiting on my bunnies to have the babies! They are due today, the one rabbit always goes 3 days over due date and the other two are first timers with the whole mommy thing! So you know what they say a  pot watched does not boil! Remember to go over to Jo's Country Junction and see what all the ladies are trying over there. Also when you care done visiting Jo's site go check out Tip Me Tuesday and see all the tips and home-made things folks are busy creating!
So today I am going to actually try sewing with Thangles. I know they have been around awhile, alot of people have used them or are using them.  I haven't tried them before, I am too cheap to purchase them especially when I don't know if I will like them or not. I lucked out at the Quilt show this last weekend and got a package that has size 1, 2, 2.5, 3 in there with a pattern to boot..... the price was only a dollar! Score me!!! I am working on graduation quilts and other gifts so I thought I would give them  a try.


This is the packet that I bought for a $1.00! Can you believe it! The picture is upside down but I want it at the beginning of the pictures so you can see what the Thangles look like! Computers! Or in this case humans! LOL I just don't want to download all the pictures again! 




So I ironed my fabric that I chose.




Then you put the like sides together. The directions say put the lighter fabric on the top and then the seam allowance will go
to the darker fabric.




Then you add the Thangle paper and pin it down. If you want your half square triangle to be finished at say a
2" than you cut your fabric 2 1/2 wide.




Here I am almost ready to sew. You will be sewing on the dotted lines, and cutting them apart on the solid lines!



As you can see my first attempt was wrong! Yes I sewed the solid line! Duh! Well lesson learned. =) I am also using my industrial sewing machine -Sushi is her name. She is fast! So I had to control her!



Here is a close-up to see how I got the needle right on the line and then actually put the needle through the paper before sewing with the foot peddle. Like I said Sushi is fast so I don't want to unthread the needle being I have it centered on the line so well! Remember you should have it centered on the dotted line!



So you are sewing on both of the dotted lines on each piece- which will give you 4 half square triangles. You will be cutting between the two lines that you sewed and between the two solid lines  that seperates the two Thangle pieces.

As you can see I was way better on sewing the one on the left! So yes, following a line will take some getting used too!



So I cut on the middle line- which I had sewn as you can see.




Here it is as I started ripping them apart. When you sew with the stitches so close together it rips easy. Also I realized after ripping them apart that you should wait til after you press them, then rip apart, that the seams don't stretch. Second lesson I learned!




I used the size 2.5 and I will get 4 of these cuties out of each Thangle paper.




This one needs to be cut down the middle solid line and then cut on the solid line at the top of the Thangle..




After ripping you have paper to recycle.




Before pressing open.





After pressing open. You will have to trim off the little point popping out of the bottom of the square.




Here are the finished project. I am excited that so far this morning I have added 4  half- square triangles to my bin. I have to say they seem alittle putsy, learning a new thing, trying to get the dotted lines sewn right and then cutting them apart. I think if all your fabric is put together, cut out and they are all put together with the paper it would go alot faster to just sew them up, put  them in a bin to rip later. Then what I would do is rip them apart while watching a movie.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Feel free to leave me a message. Let me know if you have ever made anything with Thangles. If you would like to buy Thangles I am sure your local quilt store might stock them or I am sure that they would love to order them for you!
Happy Sewing!



Hayward Piecemakers Quilt Show- July 27-28, 2012

This last weekend I was excited to be able to attend the Piecemakers Quilt Show in Hayward, WI. The ladies (or men) did a fabulous job of having wonderful displays, great giveaways, friendly folks and some great vendors. The quilters did some wonderful work, such vision on some of the pieces. What a great way to be inspired!

Beautiful work! Some day I will get to the point where I can quilt something like this.



Really like this quilt. These are my colors! Love the staggered rectangles. It gives this quilt movement and makes it almost look 3D. Very cool!




This is very simple, cute and yet very interesting. I love the pattern on the fabric. I really like butterflies and thought this was cool, its even stuffed to make it 3D. I thought this would be a great idea to show my daughter-spark some interest in quilting.
Love the colors!



If you know me  I am  a chicken freak! These are just so cute! I want them for my kitchen! Oh they are so funky, hip, and too cute!
Great job!!!



Want to make this! Its so alive, has movement! Love the colors!




Wool, Yes wool!! I was so excited! She had lots of fun patterns, great kits. I wish I would have had big money with as I would have like to buy a TON!!! I like the fact that her kits are so cute but that you get all the little pieces to make the item. She adds some very nice buttons, beads etc to her pieces.




Here is Darlene's website www.onewingwool.com go check her out. I still have to go check out her web-site but I am sure that whatever you are looking for she would be able to get for you. She is a MN but she has a cabin in WI. She is a great company to add to my list of fun business owners!




Bolts of Fun another one of my favorites was there. We find Sandy so bubbly and well just plain energetic. We of course are in love with her pug! Sandy can be reached at www.boltoffun.com. I want to go down there again real soon as she has a great store with lots of goodies, also a great cappachino machine!




This is the BOM club that Kathleen over at Heartlight Quilt Shop is offering starting in Sept. It is called "Woman of Courage"- it is really beautiful. I am planning on signing up for this one as I really want to do some of the Civil War Reproduction quilts- there are alot I have seen and want to do.  I love that they this one has a  story that goes with it. This will be my first and I really am excited. If you want all the info get ahold of Kathleen at www.heartlighthouse.com she is awesome and a joy to talk to!

Thanks to all the vendors- Bolts of Fun, Heartlight Quilt Shop, J&A Stitches, Northwoods Craft & Variety, One Wing Wool, Scarlett Poppe. Also the volunteers that participated in the show. You all did a wonderful job. I look forward to visiting all the new shops I learned about.

If you are in the Hayward area and would like to join Piecemakers they meet on the 2nd Monday of the month at 10:15 at the Hayward library. The next meeting is August 13. To become a member there is a $15 fee for dues. To contact them haywardpiecemakers@hotmail.com



Thanks for checking out the blog today! I love sharing with my readers fun places that I get to go too.

Happy Quilting!!!