Tag: crafts

Label your quilts!

June 28, 2025
Label from a recently finished quilt

Yes, this is the label from the quilt referenced in two recent posts. The red you see was added with editing software to preserve my niece’s privacy. The original label was created using printable fabric sheets and my ink-jet printer. I like to use the free templates available from June Tailor/AccuQuilt as a starting point to create most of my labels. Now that AccuQuilt owns June Tailor, the templates may be found at the bottom of the Iron On Quilt Label product page (see bottom of screenshot below) rather than on the support page.

What info to include on your label? The Quilt Alliance has information about documenting your quilt and hints on making quilt labels. Simple or fancy? That’s up to you. Here’s a video that you may also find helpful.

Personally, I like to “name” the quilts I make. I also include the recipient’s name, quilt pattern name/designer, and the names of folks who helped make the quilt. I make sure to include city, state and month/year the quilt was finished. Depending on the recipient, I may include a photo of the quilt, cute graphic, quotes, or special notes about items used in making the quilt (silk ties, baby clothes, fiber content – wool, silk or bamboo batting, etc.). Recipients have told me they appreciate having care instructions on the quilt label. I like being able to customize care instructions for each quilt.

For this specific label, my sister-in-law got as far as she could before her advanced stage cancer left her too weak to continue. An extended family member was able to help me figure out when she last worked on it. I received the quilt bundle on Father’s Day. The quilt was finished and shipped to my niece yesterday (less than two weeks from receipt!). My niece approved the mock-up of the label and mentioned that she really appreciated the detail I was able to provide on the label.

Fifty years from now, my niece’s daughters will have documentation of the quilt’s history.

Where to find supplies in person now that Joann’s is gone?

May 27, 2025

For the past two days, I’ve been restitching straps and reinforcing stress points on some of the protective gear used by hubs and other TR members out in the field. A big operation closed down recently and all the equipment has come back to the Atlanta warehouse. Hubs sent 120 pounds of chaps out to the laundry and he’s been inspecting each pair to see what repairs need to be made. Last night, I noticed I needed to pick up another small spool of orange Coats & Clark thread. Normally, I would head to Joann.

Where to buy it locally now that Joann’s is gone? Good question. I started thinking about the items I routinely picked up at Joann’s and wondered if I could find them at Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or Wal-Mart? Here’s a quick run-down of what I can find at which store:

Hobby Lobby – Kona cotton + other quilting cotton fabrics, Pellon interfacing, Warm & Natural batting, Fiskars mats & cutting tools, Schmetz needles, and my favorite budget-friendly SewOlogy 50/2 cotton piecing thread on the cross-wound spool (good alternative to Aurifil). Their ribbon & trim selection is pretty good, as well.

Michaels – Coats & Clark thread, Singer sewing machines

Wal-Mart – Waverly precut fabrics, Pellon interfacing & Nature’s Touch quilt batting, some Fiskarts mats & cutting tools, Schmetz needles, Brother and Singer sewing machines, best everyday prices I’ve found on pillow inserts and PolyFil stuffing.

Worth noting: Michaels and Wal-Mart stores near me are redoing their sewing & quilting product assortments. Some Michael’s stores now offer fabric by the yard and feature a sewing machine sales/education center in-store. Wal-Mart may still carry some Coats & Clark thread, but it’s been shifting over to a store brand. Not impressed with it or Hobby Lobby’s store-brand polyester thread. Actually, my favorite polyester sewing thread is Mettler’s Metrosene, but it’s only available at an area sewing machine dealer.

FWIW, Sadie & I made our last visit to the Kennesaw Joann’s store yesterday. It was surreal seeing a practically empty store. We did our usual lap and said our final good-bye.

Achieving consistent seam allowances and accurate topstitching

May 5, 2025

Accurate seam allowances play a vital role in the successful outcome of any project. A 1/4″ seam allowance is standard in quilting and most smaller sewn projects like zipper pouches and placemats. Topstitching is one of those little sewing extras that takes an item from homemade to handmade. If you make bags, zipper pouches, journal covers, placemats, fabric boxes, bookmarks, lanyards, etc., you’ll find find 1/8″ topstitching in your project.

What’s the best way to achieve consistent seam allowances and accurate topstitching?
Experiment with the different feet that came with your machine. Practice, practice, practice.

Perhaps your all-purpose presser foot looks like the one in this picture. Here, I’m showing a 1/4″ seam, scant 1/4″ seam and an 1/8″ topstitch. All were made using the foot that came with the machine. Use the edge of the presser foot as the guide for 1/4″ seams and adjust the needle position (change the stitch width) accordingly. Use a similar approach for 1/8″ topstitching, except use the inside right toe as your seam guide (long metal lip on the right side) and adjust the needle position.

My personal favorite, and most consistent means of 1/8″ topstitching, requires a specialty foot. Janome refers to this one as the SE foot, but it’s very similar to a common blindhem foot. Here’s a an earlier post where I discuss using the Janome G blind hem foot. The Elnita EC30 pictured here has a 5mm wide stitch width, and I find the SE foot easier to use than the adjustable blind hem foot demonstrated in that post.

For 1/4″ seams, I do best with a guide on the right side of my presser foot (similar to topstitching). The Janome 02 presser foot delivers consistent results.

These sticky notes will be pasted inside the front cover of my sewing machine manual. Having this info at my fingertips helps me make the most of my limited sewing time.

What about vintage straight stitch machines and modern mechanical machines where you can’t adjust the needle position on a straight stitch?

  • Use the original presser foot and painter’s tape on the machine bed to mark seam allowances.
  • Buy a 1/4″ presser foot for your machine. Can’t find one? The Little Foot works well.
  • Singer makes a Sew Easy foot with an adjustable guide. Using the inside toe as a guide with a center needle position yields a nice, consistent 1/8″ topstitch.

Experiment with the different feet and attachments out there to discover what works best for you. Another hack for vintage machines is use an old credit card along with the painter’s tape to mark seam allowances. This way you get a lip to run the edge of the fabric against and you can still use pins/clips up to a point. Beats having to pin everything to the left.