The Queen of Gadgets Blog Hop

What is your favorite sewing gadget?

The Queen of Gadgets Blog Hop

The challenge:

Use your favorite sewing tool to create a project. 

Tell us and show us why you love it.

I not only ‘used’ all my gadgets, I chose to ‘sew’ my favorite, or more accurately, my most used gadgets, around the border of a sewing themed panel.

Pins

I created the paper pieced pattern for the pin then die cut the pin heads using a thinlet circle die.  They are raw edge appliqued to the tops of the pin metal.

Pincushion

Although I haven’t used an old fashioned tomato pin cushion for ages, I did have one way back in time.  I’ve added real pins to the finished wall quilt in all the pincushions.

This paper pieced pattern is by Full Bobbin Designs on Etsy

Can’t forget the little strawberry that is usually attached to the tomato pincushion.

This paper pieced pattern is by Center Street Quilts on Etsy.

This panel is of an old needle book design so I added a pair of old black handled scissors instead of a modern rotary cutter.  I do still use scissors.

This paper pieced pattern is by Full Bobbin Designs on Etsy.

A seam ripper might not be considered a favorite sewing gadget, but it’s a necessity when my machine sews something wrong.

This paper pieced pattern is by Full Bobbin Designs on Etsy.

I also added real pins to the printed tomato pincushion on the panel.

The completed wall quilt.

My grandmother actually had one of those cardboard pin blocks.

There were several pins still in it.

This is the fourth and final gifted panel I made into a wall quilt.

This panel was very fun to make a border for.  It wasn’t until I was ready to sew everything together that this panel made known how terribly out of whack it is!!!  The worse I have ever had.  So disappointing as this one was my favorite.  It measures approx. 29” X 49”. The top is 29”, the bottom is 29.5”. There was no way to even fudge squaring it up without cutting into the words or design.  The quilt is okay hanging on a plain wall.  But my wall where I wanted to hang it is bead board.  The stripes in the board make it look even more than 1/2” out of whack.

Such is the life of a fabric panel.

The panel is by J. Wecker Frisch, Joy Studio and Riley Blake Designs

These are the blogs participating in the hop today.  Check them out.

September 19

Creatin' in the Sticks

Annie’s Musings

Days Filled With Joy

Quilting Gail

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Scrapdash

 

Bird Postcard Process

Just another bird postcard.  But one different from any other I have made.

He is a quilt block pattern by Nadia Ridgeway of ellisandhiggs.com that I purchased on Etsy.

I redesigned him to be a paper pieced pattern, reduced in size for a postcard.

Here I show a peek into my process of changing a quilt block pattern into a paper pieced pattern that I can sew as a postcard.  Anything can be sewn from the pattern though.  I just happen to love sewing postcards.

Quite an involved process, but the work only needs doing once then the pattern is reusable infinitely after that.  I’m looking forward to a variety of bird colors with this pattern.

ECV Donkey

This guy was very fun to sew!

I found this paper pieced pattern on Etsy at PatternsByShaley from her Almost FARMous Collection.  I added a couple of inches of fabric on the left side.  I felt that his nose was too close to the edge.

His process looked more intimidating than it really was.  Of course when the pattern is designed well, all the sections go together well.

With paper piecing I have learned that it’s best to let the seams go the directions they choose rather than trying to force them against their will.  I think overall the pieces lie flatter that way.



My son and grandson are members of the organization E-Clampus Vitus (ECV).  They are also known as Clampers.  The colors are red and black and the organization mascot is a donkey.  My grandson has a collection of ECV related items.  I like to think this wall quilt will be a fun addition to his collection.

Measuring 15.75” X 17.25”

August 2022 Calendar Journal

Table Scraps and Orange

This month at The Joyful Quilter’s table scraps challenge, the color is orange.

That worked perfectly into my project to use up some leftover scraps/pieces.

I had some leftover half square triangles from this recliner quilt I made way back when.

And recently there was a slab of this piecing leftover.

They all came together for this scrappy orange placemat.  

I had begun a monthly block quilt-a-long before learning I don’t really enjoy making traditional sampler blocks.

So those would-have-been orphan blocks also were made into a placemat.

Then scraps from the Pink Stash Quilt also became a placemat.

The pink scraps did not lend themselves into much of an interesting design, so I made this section from a paper piece pattern called Diamond In Diamond by Sanjay Kilskinen that I found on Etsy.

Now I have three new placemats for dining...that are much more fun than what I had bought ready made.

It will be fun to add to this collection of placemats as I accumulate new scraps from new projects.

Pink Stash Quilt

During a moment of nothing to sew because every project was waiting for something to come in the mail or for me to drive to the quilt shop to get what was needed, I joined the Moda Fabric’s Blockheads 4, 28 week quilt along.  I intended to sew the blocks from my stash of pink fabrics.  I quickly added in some greens.  (Neither stash color is any less from this effort.)

Instructions were included for both 9” and 4.5” quilt blocks each week.  They also threw in some bonus blocks every couple of weeks or so.  I managed to keep up for several weeks before deciding that sewing traditional quilt blocks and cutting the menagerie of little pieces was really not my thing.

    

I had this many blocks by that time.

I decided it could be a baby quilt...until I thought it might make a baby crazy looking at that wild mess.  So maybe it would be a small lap quilt (for my old age).

I needed five more small blocks.  It was depressing to think about making them from the quilt along’s block designs.  So, in true Annie fashion, I went my own direction and made five paper pieced hexie flowers from a pattern by CenterStreetQuilts on Etsy.

I laid out the blocks, added a border, pin based the layers and made it a quilt.

Layout was a struggle and in the end, as I was trying to scatter the hexie flowers, I forgot about other appearances of block placements.  Other than that miner offense, I’m liking this wild mess of a little quilt.

I did that border/binding thing again that I found I liked in my previous quilt.  Now I’m finding it hard to get away from it in other items I’m working on.  I really like the way that looks.

This little gem measures 43” square.

This hexie flower was a bit too light for the quilt but was perfect for making a postcard with.



For me, a postcard is always a happy ending to a project.

Fall Raven

I’ve revisited making a denim raven art postcard.

I’ve stitched the raw edge applique a bit farther into the bird with hopes of getting a more feathered look for him.  I’m much happier with his look this time.  Of course some areas will not fray as much but that is to be expected with fabric.

I love those Fall leaves die cut from that Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric.

Again I used Miracle Fabric for the correspondence side.  A rubber stamp and archival ink for the words.

The two postcards together.

Dies used:

Rachael Bright Sizzix Bigz die Birds

Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits dies Leaf Fragments

Abandoned2 Quilt

I could not resist this Tim Holtz, Eclectic Elements Abandoned2 fat quarter bundle.  As soon as it arrived I prewashed the fabrics and began cutting into it and sewing.

To really get the fabrics all mixed together I decided on the Economy Block for this quilt.  I staggered the blocks slightly.

Of course I needed some of the selvedge included in the quilt design.

The quilt measures 57” X 68”

I just love all the colors and the grunge.

The back and the binding are the same fabric.

I did not want a border, but I needed a border or I would loose all the points of the economy blocks around the edges when I added the binding.  I sewed a scrappy border of many of the prints.  I cut strips 1.25” wide.  After the quilting was finished, I trimmed the quilt so that the borders were 5/8”.  That left a thin 1/4” border before the 3/8” binding.  I really like the look of it.  I will definitely do this again and probably again and again....

It was somewhat frustrating and disappointing working with this bundle.  When there is text on a print, it seems to be a crap shoot whether they will be printed straight on the fabrics.  Most of these were wonky.  Some more so than others.  I could have trimmed the pieces to be straight but I would have lost a lot of useable fabric that I needed (and paid for).  All together they make a pretty busy quilt and are hopefully just not that noticeable.

My July 2022 calendar journal.

Skeleton Collars & Cuffs

Skeleton Collars & Cuffs is the third of four gifted panels.

I gave him a border of black, orange and brown fabrics.  My original plan was for the wider strips, but for a wall hanging, it was going to get too large and out of proportion.  So I simply cut the original strips in half.

I staggered the strip lengths.



Of course the selvedge had to remain as part of the finished panel.  

There was a lot of blank space in this panel.  Since he’s sewing, I gave him some fabric scraps scattered around him.  Stitched down with raw edge applique.  They also provided more color for the panel.

To finish, I just did some echo quilting and then some straight lines here and there to fill in.

Quite a dapper fellow, wouldn’t you say?

The Night Watchman

When I saw THIS POSTCARD by robertovnaelena (Instagram), I was immediately in love!

I wish she’d send it to me...(sigh)

I know that won’t happen, so I had to try making one myself.  Nowhere near as impressive, but he’s my version.  Not completely unfortunate, right?  I’ve had to call him a blackbird as he’s just not raven enough looking.  I used a bird Sizzix die to trace.  (I wish I could draw!)

I also wished I could figure out a couple of her techniques, but I didn’t really want to copy right down to every detail.....YES I DID!

He’s made from discarded jeans.  A couple of different denim shades.  The moon in this 2nd photo is closer to the actual fabric color.  It’s more a grayish white with silver metallic specks. I first stitched a spiral using silver metallic thread in the bobbin.  I used the wonder under paper that I peeled off the fabric moon to trace a spiral then stitched it from the backside of the postcard.  It needed more thread painting so I stitched between the spiral stitches with regular thread in a cream and then some outside stitches in the gold.

I think if I had stitched the raw edge of the bird a little farther in, I might have been able to ravel the denim edges a little more so they’d look more feathery.

Are you curious about how my postcards look on the Peltex side?

I normally sew a binding around the edges of my postcards.  That’s because I have felt it looks better than zig-zagging. But this artist’s satin stitching on her postcards looks so great, I decided to try that myself too.  Hoping my satin stitch would fill in as nicely as hers did and only going around the outside edges once, I was not disappointed.  My corners need a little work.  I’m okay with that.

Secret ingredient:  At times, satin stitching doesn’t always cover completely or a stitch length will show.  I go looking for a permanent marker the same color as my thread and I camouflage those tiny areas.

Because I am not mailing this postcard to anyone, I used miracle fabric on the correspondence side.  Very adaptable to rubberstamping and writing (if I were to mail it).  I also did not want to test the satin stitched edge with paper after all my work on the design.  But I will be testing it with paper soon!

I have a lot of discarded jeans left, so I’ll be thinking up more denim postcards.

Happy Mail Day!