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Quilting ~Tips |
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| Q~Tip
My Q-tip is: when you have trouble marking a quilt top for quilting - use a plain or tone on tone backing fabric and mark your quilting lines and quilt from the back. Q~ Tip Store quilts in progress, and the fabric that accompanies them, in cotton pillow cases rather than plastic bags. Pin one square (or a color copy) of the project on the outside to identify it. Hang the pillowcase from a clip-type skirt hanger. Q-TIP Submitted by quiltDonalyn. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Q~ Tip
Recipe for Removing Markings
It does work, I know I have used it several
times, but a member of my local guild gave this out years ago, she is 90 yrs
young and has used this recipe since the late 50's. She does not machine
quilt, she hand quilts and has won many First Place awards at the Vermont Quilt
Festival, and Craft Adventure which is part of the Big Eastern Expo for all of
New England.
Recipe For Removing Markings
3 Parts rubbing alcohol
1 Part water
1 squirt of clear dishwashing liquid (Any
Brand)
A slightly Damp and Clean White Wash Cloth
Rub till markings are removed, hang to dry.
Q-TIP Submitted by quiltDonalyn. HGTV (Home and Garden TV) airs Simply Quilts. From Episode QLT-1101 comes many quilting tips... Instructions provided courtesy of quilt designer Mark Lipinski. Q~ Tip Thread Spool Storage: Store thread spools in clear plastic egg cartons. These are also great for stacking. Q~ TipBurn Test: To identify fabric content, burn a corner of a piece of scrap fabric and extinguish it in a bowl of water. Cotton will feather with a light ash as it's burned; poly blend will feel like plastic when it is burned. Q~ Tip Paint Chip Tip: Create your own color library with complementary paint chips available at home decorating stores. Paint chips are easy to take along when shopping for fabric. Q~ Tip Cutting Mat Cleanup: Clean your rotary cutting mat with a napped lint-removal brush. This prevents dark or light lint from depositing on your next cut of fabric. Q~ Tip Stop Unraveling Threads: Cut strips from inexpensive vinyl/cling wrap and wrap it around the spool and bobbin to secure the thread. Q~ Tip Rotary Care: To keep your rotary cutter sharp, mark the date of the blade change with masking tape on the flat part of the cutter. When your rotary cutter starts skipping, take it apart and turn the blade, add a drop of sewing machine oil and you get double the life on your blades. Q I keep burning my fingers when I use that little oval iron... help!Q~ Tip Use a bamboo stick to hold the fabric instead of your fingers. Q Any suggestions for cleaning the bottom of my iron? Q~Tip Fold 3 or 4 used dryer sheets in half and iron over this pad with a HOT iron. This will keep your iron clean and gliding smoothly. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Q~Tip Set aside fabric for the binding on your quilt when you are cutting the rest of the pieces. That way you will be sure to have it when you are ready for that step. It may be sometime before you will be ready to bind the quilt and you may accidentally use any leftover fabric for another project. Also I suggests labeling the cut binding so when you are ready to bind the quilt several months (or years) down the road, you will know exactly which binding you cut for that quilt. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Q Looking for a new pattern for a project? Q~Tips - Web sites abound... Fabric Sites... The Northcott Fabrics website has 14 free patterns available to download. The patterns use their current fabric lines but would certainly be a just as pretty using your "stash". Check them out at www.northcott.com. Sewing Machine Sites ... Most of the sewing machine companies have terrific websites. All of them have free projects that can be made with any sewing machine. Most also have free embroidery designs you can download and convert to your format. So even if you have a Bernina, check out the Elna site. Or if you have a Singer, check out the Janome site. You'll find some great ideas. Q~Tips - Embroidery Designs Web Site: http://www.freeembroiderystuff.com/emblinks/links_stockdesigns.asp Q Do you own the hp custom quilt label kit? Did you purchase this when it first came on the market and find it to be very limiting?? Q~Tip GOOD NEWS!! There is now an Expansion Pack available online and it is "FREE! ". To find it go to www.hp.com and in the search box put "hp custom quilt label expansion pack". There are 15 - 20 downloads available to upgrade the program. Also on the HP Quilting home page there are lots of project ideas. Q Is your sewing space on a hardwood floor, or linoleum or other "slippery" surface and you keep losing the power foot?? Q~Tip Place a mouse pad under the foot on the floor - it will slip around a lot less!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Q How can I keep the denim and flannel layers together when I'm making those "rag" style quilts? My pins keep bending! Q~Tip Use those "butterfly" style paperclips to hold the layers together. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Gingher
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Designs and patterns galore! http://www.sgdesigns.com/patterns/
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