The Sewing Room

irishgirl62

Make sure the mat is marked in inches, I have the olfa mat and rotary cutter and got a bigger mat which was in metric and I never use it for quilting its used for other paintwork and gluing projects

In_Search_Of_Me

http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/info_8504.html
http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/MCR_Sets.html
kevana I have learned over the years that cheaper isnt necc best! I have a large clear ruler (not olfa) but never use it as measurements are v hard to read for me as am dyslexic - omnigrid is easier to read - bright yellow; well defined markings etc; would deff recc omnigrid for clear "ruler" (also known as quilting square) as they have diagonal measurements etc so you can cut angles; mat as long as self healing its fine and would agree that olfa best rotary cutter - I have an olfa and fiskers and never use the fiskers! I have a mid sized cutter rather than the large as have small hands and found it easier to manoevre. hth?
fab that someone has been inspired to quilt! Problem is you cont be able to stop now lol!
knitting group tonight so no fabricy stuff!

hmo

rufusd!!!2 wrote: »

Thanks for the comments on GDD's sewing everyone xx

I have fnished making her a shorts and top set and have put a pic on my blog.

Hope all the projects are coming along nicely, nice to see people digging out their machines and having a go xx

great project by yur GDD, well done to her.

just looked at the shorts and top they look fab can i ask what pattern it is, would it fit an 8 nearly 9 yr old.

ive not made anything to wear but that looks nice i am thinking for my daughter.

is it easy or hard to make

hmo

Kaz2904 wrote: »

You need to get a self healing cutting mat as it'll last longer than the other type (according to DH who uses them daily for work). He also said that the non healing ones will blunt your blades quickly. Mine's just arrived today, it was an A2 size from thebay at £7.49 and free delivery. I only paid £3.99 for my cutter but my sister has become obsessed with quilting since I showed her ISOM's link and she said that she had bought an 'Olfa' cutter as they are the best. She also said that the forums she had read said it was best to use an acrylic edge to cut against rather than a metal ruler.
She bought a quilting set from somewhere for £35, i found what looks the same as hers for £30 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Olfa-Premium-Rotary-Cutter-Quiltmaking-Kit-45mm-/180617847240?pt=UK_Crafts_Quilting_ET&hash=item2a0da9a1c8 but it's not a very large mat. I suppose with a smaller mat, you can turn it easier. I think that the rotary cutters are the same as patchwork cutters but people tend to use them for quilting so may just type in patchwork as a search term. I'm happy to be proved wrong though.

i bought my rotary cutter from memory from ebay but i got my big cutting mat from creative grids.

you can see it her on the desk


its a nice big size its in inch and metric and has a measuring area of 34inch wide x 22inch high, so the mat its self is bigger to allow for borders all round, from memory it was about £15.

i have smaller ones but find this big one the best so much more versatile

MissPixie

I am so jealous of your desk! I have the tiniest desk to work at and it is such a pain.

Savvy_sewing

MissPixie wrote: »

I am so jealous of your desk! I have the tiniest desk to work at and it is such a pain.

Space! eek, I work on the dining room table. Which is actually in the sittingroom, and i have carrier bags all around my feet and on the table, so disorganised its embarrassing.!
But my DS has decided that he is moving out. 18 year old, decided to give up college today and is dossing around with his mates. So I am going to reclaim his room! He has had his chance, he did this to me last year as well, left home, and dropped out of an apprentiseship.
Tough love, and it will give me a place to work!!! :eek:

Tamster150

Ailsb wrote: »

Hi all sorry to "gatecrash". I have been reading this forum for just over a week now having stumbled here from Cross Stitch cafe.

When my mum died I inherited her craft supplies and have 9 fat quarters. I thought about making a bag but decided that a quilt would be more fitting as this could be passed down to my son. I have added another 3 fat quarters so now have 12 and I'm about to embark on my first quilt. Think I may need to add extra fabric - need to work out measurements.

As I am a complete novice (I did a bit of patcwork at school many years ago but all I do in the way of sewing now is curtains) I thought I should use squares. I am a little confused as to how it's best to start. Here's my plan:

Wash fabric, dry and iron.
Cut squares - thinking of using 5.5 squares using 9 to make an large square.
Sew 9 individual squares together with a 1/4inch seam allowance.
Sew the large squares together 3 x 4.
make a sandwich of patchwork, wadding and backing material and baste together.
Quilt the "sandwich" and then add a binding.

Does the above seem reasonable? Should I be cutting individual squares or long pieces and sewing two of these together before then cutting into individual pieces? Also, is it okay to cut out with scissors? I've read such a lot about using a rotary cutter but they seem expensive if this is the only thing I'm likely to do.

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

12 fat quaters is more than enough for a quilt top - that is 3m of fabric. I know that you will be chopping it up, but it is plenty. You can always add a border or two if t is not quite big enough.

I am bit of a lazy crafter so always find the quickest way. All my quilts have been made by strip-piecing or chain piecing.

Strip piecing, you cut the fabric into strips desired size (so yours would be 51/2inches) then sew pairs of strips together, press seams to one side (darkest fabric) Then sew pairs of strips together with seams facing different directions to reduce bulk. Then cut into rows & sew rows together. Much quicker than sewing squares together.

If you do decide to do the square thing, feed the pairs of squares through the machine, one after teh other without breaking the thread in between pairs. saves time & thread. That is chain piecing.

If you google you will find lots of tutorials for both methods

MissPixie

Sory Mooloo I got my names muddles I meant hmo lol if you saw the size of the space I work on your would understnad that to me that is massive! When I was making the wedding flowers I needed a big space to cut out all the shapes from felt so I used the bed. Bad idea... I cut through the bedding lol

Tamster I like the sound of strip piecing! I want to have a go at a patchwork throw this summer if I find the courage lol. I don't want to do anything massive incase I mess it up but no idea where to start or how much fabric I would need.

rufusdog52

hmo wrote: »

great project by yur GDD, well done to her.

just looked at the shorts and top they look fab can i ask what pattern it is, would it fit an 8 nearly 9 yr old.

ive not made anything to wear but that looks nice i am thinking for my daughter.

is it easy or hard to make

Hi Hmo, the pattern I used is McCalls m4762, it goes from age 7 to age 12 so should be fine for what you want. It was quite easy to do if you follow the instruction sheet to the letter. On the first top I didn't read it all and made the job harder than it should have been. The other two tops I made were much easier. I will put a pic of the other set on my blog tomorrow morning. You get two versions of the top, one with buttons up the back to do it up and one with elastic. I did the elastic version. The shorts were dead easy to make, also you could make capri pants but I just did the shorts as her birthday is August so hopefully nice and sunny weather by then.

kevana

hmo - your space is beautiful, I am like mooloo and have to use the dining room table which also needs to be cleared beforehand - did try mentioning to dh that a conservatory would be nice (for me) but apparently this will interfere in dh and ds using the back garden as a mini bike track:eek: nice to know that the olfa is good that is the one I had bookmarked. I am gradually working my way through the thread and love love love seeing what people have made:D