Hello summer!

June 1, 2024

Can you believe it’s June 1st? It’s National Nail Polish Day, National Barefoot Day and National Say Something Nice Day. For those of you on the coast, it also marks the beginning of hurricane season. We’ve had some wild weather of late here in Georgia. If you haven’t already, make sure you have non-perishable food, batteries, flashlights, water and other needed items set aside just in case. Here’s a checklist from Ready.gov to get you started.

Sadie and I will be at the Cobb County Public Library’s summer reading kick-off program later today with several other therapy dog teams. This has been a summer tradition for both of my therapy dogs. Other therapy dog visit requests have popped up on the calendar this past week; however, I will be wearing my quilt volunteer hat for the next two weeks. It’s quilt show and quilt camp time!

Speaking of reading, this is what I’m currently enjoying:

Yesterday was our monthly quilt guild meeting. Of course, everyone was abuzz going over details for the quilt show one last time. I’ll be there 3 days – two as a volunteer and one with my CraftLAB girls who submitted blocks for the kid’s display. (Psst: I’ll be the kid’s exhibit chair for the 2026 show.) Our guest speaker was Sylvia Schaefer, who is known for quilting in the negative space. Her presentation was interesting. I enjoyed the trunk show and picked up some tidbits to try on my own quilts.

I turned in my first completed quilt to community service this week. It’s not one of my PhDs either. I made this one specifically because the recipient organization requested more quilts suitable for boys. The pattern is Dash from one of the 3 yard quilt books from Fabric Cafe. I picked up the fabric bundle during the Middle Georgia Shop Hop. The backing is a wide back from Joann’s. Binding is scrappy and made from leftover fabrics. Batting was courtesy of the free table at a guild meeting. I machine quilted it in an all-over meander and attached the binding using a 3-step zigzag stitch. The community service rep smiled when she saw the dogs on the quilt.

June will be busy with reading, quilting, volunteering and travel. I plan to be away from my devices as much as possible. I’m definitely in need of a technology and social media fast.

Quilty Fun Row Along

May 30, 2024

When Fat Quarter Shop announced this QAL several months ago, I knew I wanted to participate. I’ve used several of the blocks from the book in other projects; however, I’ve never actually made this quilt. Already have the book and a bin full of scraps – why not?

Each month calls for making 1-2 rows. You can find all the details over on the The Jolly Jabber blog. I’m currently finishing up May’s Chubby Chevrons. If you’re looking for an intermediate level, scrap-buster quilt project that’s spread out over a year – here you go.

Tip: Sew this quilt with a full 1/4″ seam allowance.

I can’t stress this enough! I typically sew with a scant 1/4” seam allowance. You can still make individual units using a scant 1/4″ and trim to size. However, once you go to sew it all together, you’ll need the full 1/4″ seam allowance. My first row came out about 4″ too long. At first, I thought it was a pattern error and removed two 4-patch units to make it work. When the second row (butterflies) also came out significantly longer than it should have, I checked my seam allowance. With so many seams in each row, that extra thread or two width from the scant 1/4″ seam allowance really adds up. I restitched using a full 1/4″ seam allowance and things were much better. We’ll see how things work with the chevrons using a full 1/4” seam allowance.

Fun facts:
Lori Holt did an online QAL on her blog many years ago using a different setting for the quilt.

The sewing machine cover and mat that you see featured at The Featherweight Shop is made using instructions found in Quilty Fun.

Go have some quilty fun of your own!

DIY Straight Stitch Needleplate

May 27, 2024

What you see above is a modified zigzag plate for a Baby Lock Jubilant sewing machine. Yep, I now have my very own straight stitch plate. And it works marvelously, too! A little JB Weld SteelStik, toothpick, masking tape, gloves and a paper towel were all it took. Oh, and you will need an additional zigzag plate to modify. This video explains the process. Hubs thought the putty would be easier to work with than the usual tubes you have to mix to make the epoxy. He was right. Drying time was an hour. I filed off any extra using emery (metal) sandpaper from Home Depot and my honing stick from The Featherweight Shop.

So far so good. No error messages after installation of the modified needle plate. The machine stitches fine with no residue appearing on the thread or the fabric. Best of all? No more chewing fabric when I start stitching.

I reached out to Tacony and my local dealer a few times about a straight stitch needle plate option for the Jubilant as their existing straight stitch needle plate only works with machines having an 8″ or larger throat plate. Their response was to use a leader or starter strip. That didn’t work so well for me. I showed the video to hubs and he encouraged me to try it. After all, I’d modified needle plates for my Janome 8900 with success!

A straight stitch needle plate really does make a difference in my piecing and patchwork.