Colorful Camp Underground

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Erica's Craft & Sewing Center

In late February, I had the privilege of spending 3 1/2 days with wonderful friends, old and new, at the Camp Tecumseh Quilt Camp. It was great. Lots of fellowship, laughing, eating and of course, sewing! The group of 19 that I went to camp with included fellow Erica’s employees, past and present, PLUS some of Erica’s BEST customers and friends. There were 3 (S)Cheryls and 2 Karens, which can be very confusing! We are known as “Erica’s Ladies”, even though THE Erica has not been to camp….yet.

The guest speakers at quilt camp were the owners of Blue Underground Studios, Inc., Amy Walsh and Janine Burke. They were absolutely wonderful…and their quilts were gorgeous. We were treated to an amazing presentation of their quilts.

Eclipse Jelly Beans

Jester’s Court Curved Log Cabin

My daughter, Marcia, snapped this picture just as someone told Amy that I had put myself on a fabric restriction…NO NEW FABRIC for NEW projects for ONE YEAR! Yea, I can’t believe it myself, but don’t feel bad for me, as it has not kept me from buying fabric for OLD PROJECTS! This beautiful green quilt is Blue Underground Studios Toe the Lime Quilt.

Amy and Janine offered up great tips on color and technique. They challenged us to look past the quilt pictured on the cover of patterns and to make the quilt our own. Just because a quilt pictured on a pattern cover is made in bright colors doesn’t mean it won’t be great in reproductions and vice versa. You may also notice that most of their quilts do not include borders, as they feel that borders can “date” a quilt. That tip sure frees me up, as I always have a hard time trying to decide what to quilt in a border!

Above are 3 versions of the In and Out (A12295) quilt. All different, but equally stunning. (Be sure to click on the pattern images on our website to see additional colorways of the Blue Underground Studio quilt patterns that we carry.)

Amy also encouraged us to use a color wheel. I picked up at Color Tool (48077) at camp and I have to say that I have been captivated with this gadget ever since. I also picked up some color theory books…but that’s for a later blog!

Our group was fortunate to be in the same sewing room as Amy and Janine. They were great fun and very helpful. Liz asked Janine to help her with a project using her husband’s old police uniforms. It was great watching them work together. A little later on, Amy encouraged me to leave my mis-sewn blocks of Mod Quads (A12291) as they were….till I accidentally sewed one that resembled a swastika. She rushed right over with her trusty seam ripper and had that seam out in a flash!

It was a fun filled weekend. The following are just a FEW of the pictures:

Diane finished her beautiful Magic Squares Quilt top (A11581).

Cheryl B. checked out the beautiful and bright fabrics that Cookie used for her 4-Patch Stacked Posie Quilt (20145). It’s hard to believe that this quilt is made with just one fabric!

I finished my Valentine Table Topper…too late for this year’s Valentine’s Day, but I’m ready for the next. I made all those 1 1/2” half square triangles with the Star Singles (A11689). These little papers are great. Just sandwich your fabric squares and the paper template, sew on the lines, cut on the other lines and WA LA! EIGHT perfect half square triangles.

Karen G. (Front Counter) was very pleased, as she should have been, with her machine embroidered Wild!flowers quilt (19768)! Later she treated us with another of her beautiful quilts…quilted and bound!

Marcia finished her Rancher’s Daughter quilt. This quilt was the mystery quilt from the October 2010 Camp. Mine is yet to be completed. My daughter is much better at completing quilts than I. However, I am really good at starting them.

Joy (left) and her mother Sheryl S. were very productive. The two quilts hanging to the right of Joy are her FIRST two quilts! Sheryl got a head start on her Prairie Women’s Sewing Circle log cabin quilt.

There’s never a lack of opinions at camp (which is a good thing). Daisy and Cheryl B. are glad to share their opinions with Karen L. Later in the weekend she shared the finished top of her Pineapple Quilt from the book Sew Simple Pineapple (43454).

Linda (Front Counter) has been working on the Birthday quilt for years. The little 9-patch blocks are 2” UNFINISHED. She’s much farther ahead that the rest of us with this mind boggling quilt!

Judy completed this cuddly quilt at camp. It is simply a four patch block alternating with plain chenille blocks. Everyone just wanted to wrap themselves up in it! You can see Judy on Amy’s blog making the “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” quilt (44690/69790).

Meg completed her Roll Roll Cotton Boll Mystery Quilt top. This quilt is stunning with over 3000 pieces!

Cookie and Marcia show off their Rancher’s Daughter quilt tops that they finished at camp. Again, same quilt but with totally different “feels” because of the fabrics used.

This is my version of Blue Underground’s Mod Quads quilt. Actually, I called my quilt Mod Podge Quads…because of the aforementioned mis-sewn blocks! But at least there are no swastikas!

I can’t wait for October Camp!

Guest Blogger: Cheryl Nelson

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You can see what’s new at Erica’s almost every day! Any page of our website has a column on the left that tells you where to find things, and all you have to do is look for “What’s New” in purple, and click to find out. If you see a Blue Underground quilt that you would like to purchase the pattern, but we don’t carry, we will be glad to order the pattern for you!

Cutting Corners, and Under the Covers

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Erica's Craft & Sewing Center

I use painter’s tape and quilting rulers and squares to square up my quilts. No matter how good a quilter you are, what might have been perfectly straight sides of a quilt top don’t translate into perfectly straight edges once the three layers are quilted. The painter’s tape creates the new edges of the quilt. I learned this method years ago from Susan Cleveland with the first quilt I put Piping Hot Binding (23940) on. (I highly recommend this technique and do many of my quilts with Piping Hot Binding!)

BTW, I used to use purple painter’s tape. I was crushed when I learned that it doesn’t stick as well as blue! I thought it was just a pretty alternative, but the color apparently designates how tacky the tape is. I finally gave up and now use blue. Painter’s tape is a quilter’s best friend.

When I have all four sides squared up with the tape, I sew a straight line about an eight inch inside the tape to hold the layers together at these new edges. After I do the stitching, I cut off the tape and extra batting and backing. Of course I’m always very careful when I do this. I always lay it out smoothly, checking to be sure nothing is folded.

However…this time…

Thank goodness it was just a corner! I grabbed some plates from the kitchen and checked to find the one that would work to round those corners so no one would know. Here you see the accidental cut, the curve drawn, and the stitching just inside the line.

I love the rounded corners!

PS. since this note went out in an email, I’ve had two people ask if I used bias binding, so I thought I’d add this. I did NOT use bias binding. I used crosswise strips, and when I turned a corner, I clipped the seam allowance almost to the stitching like I used to do at arm holes when I made garments. It works fine!

“Under the Covers” has nothing to do with sewing, quilting, or needlework.

This is our 20 year old, Beethoven, and this is a regular thing with him. I happened to be on the treadmill when he started and I ran to get the camera so I could share this.

I wish I had the sound effects! He sings while he does it. (His fur is unusual, called “smoke.” It’s black on the tips and white closer to the body. Our Kassi has the same fur.)

Does your cat do something unique you’d like to share?

No More Marking for Me!

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Erica's Craft & Sewing Center

I don’t know about you, but I’d just as soon stick myself with a seam ripper than mark diagonal sewing lines on quilt pieces. Until I started making the models for the Prairie Women’s Sewing Circle Club, I’d never made a quilt using a large number of blocks with diagonal seams. Marking a few seams I can handle, but there are 120 Bow Tie Blocks in Pam Buda’s Gentleman Caller quilt, the last project in the PWSC. The thought of making 240 “connector” blocks by drawing 240 lines was not in the least appealing.

There are numerous tools made to eliminate the marking step. The Angler 2 (#24446), Clearly Perfect Angles (#36673) and Sew Easy Guide (#16197) are the three items that Erica’s has available. I have used the Sew Easy Guide with success for small projects, but thought I would like something a little more stable for this large project. Pam Buda recommends using The Angler 2 for the PWSC projects. I had used The Angler 2 in the past, but did not have very good luck.

Then the other day as I stared at the 240 small connector squares of the Gentleman’s Caller (and they stared back), I decided to give The Angler 2 another try. I reinstalled my Angler 2 according to the directions, being careful to make sure the tool was straight. My Erica’s 2 1/2” X 6 1/2” Ruler (#45153) is the perfect size for this task. With the needle position at center and my machine foot off, I lined up the “key” of the Angler 2 parallel to my throat plate, using the ruler as a guide. (Previously, I had lined the tool parallel with my machine foot.)

Having my painter’s tape ready, I carefully held the key and slid the Angler 2 into position by matching up the horizontal lines on the key and tool and then taped the tool to the machine bed. You do not have to remove the presser foot, I just find that I can see better without the foot.

The original instructions state to keep the corner of your fabrics directly on the line with no mention of the needle position. Previously, I had assumed that the needle position was in the center, which is why when using this tool in the past, I did not have good results. By keeping the needle in the center position there was no fabric allowance for thread or fabric fold, so my corners were always short.

I experimented by moving my needle 2 and 3 positions to the right while running the corners of the squares down the center line. I marked the back of my light blocks with the # of positions I moved my needle. This way, when pressing, I knew which position worked the best. I found that for my machine it was 2 “clicks” to the right, but experiment with your own machine to find your best needle position.

Now I can line up the first corner with the center opening on my presser foot and the other corner directly on the line, making sure that the “waste” corner is to the right of the needle and I get a perfect corner connector.

I can’t believe what a difference this made! Soon I was zipping right through those 240 connector blocks! Woo Hoo! As I pressed the blocks (before trimming), my corners matched up! I was so very pleased AND I never had to draw a line! My son’s cat Depot stopped by to inspect. She approved!

We will be giving away an Angler 2 from our Facebook page. If you’re an Erica’s Facebook Fan, click on over to our fan page and “like” or comment on the Angler 2 giveaway. If you’re not a fan… you should click on over and become one! We post lots of cool items and pictures on our Facebook Fan Page. Drawing will be March 14th…sometime around noon! Good luck!

Guest Blogger: Cheryl Nelson

It’s finished!

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Erica's Craft & Sewing Center

I told you in a past post that I like to have a long term project and some shorter ones all going at the same time. My Star Crossed Love quilt, my long term project, got moved to the top when I realized that the Heritage Quilt Show in Bloomington, IN was going to be here sooner than I was thinking! And the plan was to have it be in our booth.

So, solid quilting for several days and it’s finally finished! A day early! Now that’s not to say I didn’t have help.

Here’s Kassi helping with the pressing..

She has her own spot by my Handi Quilter. This is so I can keep an eye on her and she won’t jump on the quilt and use it like a trampoline or hammock. When I’m not quilting, I cover it with two large pieces of heavy cardboard from the box our new treadmill came in.

And if it wasn’t Kassi, it was Tchaikovsky! I had the blocks chained together. (You can get my Chaining page in an earlier post.) In this photo he kind of dares me to take it out from under him.

Then Kassi held the quilt down so I could square it up for my Piping Hot Binding (23940).

When I went to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, Tchai decided that the quilt was a good place to groom.

In short, I don’t know how I could have managed without them!

So a little more about my feline approved long term project.

Cathy and I saw the original Star Crossed Love Quilt (59697) by Deb Tucker at a Quilt Market way before the pattern was available, and she wanted it for a model and I loved the quilting.

Deb told us it was quilted by Mara Novak, Flying Goose Custom Quilting, Chester, Vermont, and I took photos. I used Mara’s designs for the inside part of the quilt, adapted them for the colored border, and did my own thing for the black borders because I was running out of time. I also used yellow Piping Hot Binding (23940) at the edge. I just love the added touch!

I used the HQ Mini Circle Template (A11096) to get my centers round for the flowers, and this great new “Catch-n-Cut” tool (A11981). One end is long with a hook, and it gets in that small area and pulls up the bobbin thread slick as a whistle!

I used my Stitch-in-the-Ditch foot to finish the binding instead of hand stitching on the back.