How to fix an overly scant seam

I've been working on a quilt this week that had a few seams that were 'too-scant' and needed fixing. (the why's will be explained in another post ;) These are seams that for one reason or other end up dangerously narrow, and in danger of splitting back open if I even looked at them funny.

When you are just learning to sew/quilt there are many moments where overly scant seams are just a fact of life. But, even now that I consider myself more of an intermediate quilter, I still have moments that for whatever reason I end up with a seam that worries me. Rather than grumbling as I reach for my seam ripper and then trying to either salvage or toss the problem piece, I have developed a method of fixing it that keeps it strong and functional. Also helpful if you haven't noticed the narrow seam until much further along in your project. This has been very useful over the years and has saved more than one project from ending up in the 'scrap it' pile, so I thought I would do a quick little how to. :)

Here's one such offending seam...not terrible, but worth fixing (on this particular quilt anyway!)

Uhm, ignore the light colored thread I used to piece all these dark fabrics...I don't usually work with this many darks and didn't even think about it til I was halfway through my piecing. *sigh*

To fix an overly scant seam, you will need a lightweight fusible interfacing. I like to use a woven interfacing, but any lightweight fusible will work. You don't want something that remains terribly stiff or paper~y after fusing (craftfuse for example) as that will stand out and be noticeable on the finished project, especially in a quilt. Nothing like cuddling up with a piece of paper! The woven interfacing drapes nicely and is virtually undetectable after the quilt is finished.

Cut a piece of interfacing that is a bit larger than the seam, both in width and in length.

This is a bit wider than I would normally use to fix a seam, but I wanted the extra reinforcement on this one.

Place the interfacing, fusible side down, on the offending seam. As you can see, I typically press my seams open. This will work just as well if you press your seams to the side, just be certain all seams are laying flat and in the correct direction before you proceed.

Fuse your interfacing being sure to follow the manufacturer's directions. (Different brands/types have different methods....steam or not, temp, length of time to press, etc.) Ensure your interfacing is nice and secure all the way to the edges, make sure that interfacing is going to stay put!

Nice and flexible yet secure...this seam's not going anywhere!

Flip it over and take a look. No one will ever know your lil secret.

And that's about it. Simple but effective. :)

If you're fixing a seam on a quilt, it will most likely be reinforced even more when do your quilting.

Any questions, feel free to ask and I'll help if I can. Good luck with your seams! :)

One word. Zippers

Two! Two things that I started were finished within a week! Don't judge...that's a big feat for me. *wink* And if you count the 'accessories' then it was more lol. My aunt asked me to make her and my cousin lunchbags for the new school (and work) year. Now, while I'm happy I finished them both in a week, the downfall is that it's now almost two months since they should have been done. (oops)

Why did it take me so long to make two little lunchbags?? One. little. word.  ....Zippers. *shiver* I've been one of those 'I couldn't possibly do a zipper and have it turn out right!' kind of people for a very long time. I've made flaps, buttons, elastic closures, snaps, ties, grommets, etc....any and every other kind of closure you could think of, just to avoid zippers. I would alter any pattern I found or make sure any I came up with did not include those tricky little buggers. For this project tho, I couldn't think of anything else that would keep the bag closed as much as I wanted and look the way I wanted it to. I decided to push forward, past my worries of utter failure, and just try em.

Ok, I admit it. They were a bit easier than I was expecting. Thankfully...or they would have likely been placed on my 'NEVER sew that again!!' list. ;) I did run across a few issues, or things I'd like to find out how to do better. How on earth people get nice ends/edges/corners when sewing over a zipper I still don't understand. Sewing over it made it a bit lopsided and wonky on the end. They just kind of lay funny and won't let me turn out my corners fully. I'm guessing this is mostly because of the design of where the zipper is. At least they work and open and close completely. Adding that zipper did cause my perfectionistic persona to say, you could have done better. *sigh* Oh well, they're done, they have zippers, they're functional, don't look completely awful and I haven't banned them from my sewing room. I will continue to work with them so I improve.

They now each have a new lunchbag to take to school/work. To make up for the lateness in getting them their new bags, I also whipped up some reusable snack bags and a sandwich wrap.

And in other news*** My camera has officially taken it's last pics and has been laid to rest. My choices for pictures now are an older P&S digital or my camera phone (which is sadly better than the old P&S)....yeah. So!! Crappy, poorly lit, blurry pics will likely be the norm around here for a while, as they have been, until I can get a new camera.***

A Happy Haunting

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

I only had one costume to make this year, as my older three don't find it fun for mom to make their costumes any longer. They much prefer throwing on a mask at the last minute and heading out the door.

My youngest is pretty much a girly girl most of the time. In previous years (once she was old enough to give her input and decide for herself that is) she's always been either a princess or fairy. So, I was excited this year when she wanted to be something different.

She started out wanting to be a pirate...I was excited about that one, thought it would be fun to put together. Then she changed her mind and wanted to be a dinosaur...not so excited about the task of making that one come together. Thankfully she changed her mind yet again and decided to be a ghost. I was equally excited about this one as I thought it could be adorable.

Here she is after walking around, thus the costume is already a bit out of place. She looked so 'ghostly' when she was running and all the tulle was flowing behind her. :)

I didn't want to just throw a sheet over her head with cut-out eyeholes and call it good. Nope. I had grand plans for this year! The minute she said ghost, I had a cute little idea in my head and it didn't take me long to figure out how I wanted to make her costume.

I did use a white sheet...though I didn't throw it over her head, I made a robe! I also bought yards and yards of white tulle for the bulk of the costume. I had a few issues along the way and while it didn't come together exactly how I had pictured in my head, I worked well enough. And, she was adorable. ;) She got tons of compliments and comments and I felt good about how it all turned out.

One thing to definitely consider next time (or for anyone else wanting to make a costume like this)...I need to figure out armholes. She couldn't carry her own bag (kept dropping it or had trouble getting the bag out from all that tulle to open up at each house lol) so I ended up holding it for her and going up to each door with her. Not too bad, and actually it worked out for me...quite a few people snickered and just had to give 'mom' a piece of candy too for helping the girly out. ;) lol

All in all, a successful Halloween year! I have a few more pics of the kids I may add in a day or two....if I remember.

Progress

Haven't had a lot of time this week to work on Christmas related things. My daughter went to homecoming with her boyfriend so it meant a week of altering, adjusting, creating, and trying to calm an excited girl down. :) I did alter her dress a bit, and made her a clutch to take as she didn't like any that we had found while shopping. Just a simple wristlet with a shimmery black fabric I found. I forgot to take a photo before she left, so this is what it looks like after her night of using and abusing it. Not too bad!

I also managed to whip up a baby quilt in two days. Her boyfriend's parents had a baby the week of homecoming so she wanted to give them a gift. I had a couple charm packs of Lollipop by Sandy Gervais for Moda and they strike me as very baby friendly. So, I used one of them to put together a simple baby quilt. My lack of time led to a simple brick pattern flanked by white solids. It's backed with a flannel and bound in the pillowcase method....didn't think I'd have time to bind it in the traditional manner. I also used very simple quilting, vertical lines. Wish I'd had more time for the quilting, I would have like to have added some horizontal quilting to mimic the brick pattern. Oh well...finished it, which was more important! Because I was rushing (I was down to about an hour before we were to give the gift!) some of my lines are less than...straight. I only got a couple of quick shots with my camera phone before my daughter gave them the gift, so...here they are.

Made for a very busy week! Here's to hoping things settle down a little this week...Ha!

Where'd it go?!

Summer that is.... I keep looking, but can't seem to find where it went! It's been over a month since I posted?! *sigh*

I've been sewing up a storm! Well, ok, I can't lie, (I was sewing DURING a huge storm, does that count??) okok, but I have been sewing...some. I'd planned to do so much sewing this summer, and it feels like I haven't accomplished anything. My only solace is that I'm apparently not the only one plagued by loss of sewing time. All over blogland I seem to be reading about how everyone was having the same problem. Not sure they lost an entire month as I did, but many people are saying that they haven't had the time they expected, or finished what they set out to do over the summer, or that other things kept them from their machines. So, that does make me feel a little better.

I'm behind on my 36 patch Crazymom QAL as you can see....very behind. I love what I do have done, but the top is only a third completed. So, for right now I'm afraid it will have to remain in the WIP pile, and is being put on hold. Considering how long things seem to be taking me to finish, I've decided to put my Christmas items on top priority in hopes that they get completed in time! ;) And I have quite the ambitious Christmas list. I would like to make a quilt for each of the 4 kiddos, and then handmade gifts for my family members, including a playmat quilt for Jackie-poo, wallhangings for a few others, some clothes for the kids, etc...like I said, ambitious. I have already started the two quilts for the girls, pics to come soon. I will have to cut things out as I go I'm sure, unless I really get my butt in gear!! lol

I have actually completed a few things over the last month. I moved around my sewing area, which while I like it, took away my spot to leave my ironing board up permanently. I quickly got tired of taking it up and putting it down, and since the tabletop one wasn't working out any better, I used THIS fabulous idea from Elizabeth of Oh!Fransson (she has the best 'why didn't I think of that!!" ideas ;) and made a  pressing table. I'm one of those peeps that likes to have everything I need 'right there' so I don't have to constantly move around or get up. Now I can have my sewing machine, cutting mat, and the pressing table all within convenient reach by just a turning one way or the other. And a bonus...I can leave it up when I'm feeling lazy (most of the time honestly lol) because it's not taking up a good section of the room, so it's perfect.

I also finished paper-piecing my fairly quilt godmother from the mystery block piece at Paper Panache. Let me introduce you to Trumpunlinda!

I haven't put borders on and bound her yet, because I did a lil oops..and haven't decided yet whether I can live with it or whether I need to fix it. I generally have a very difficult time living with something when I mess it up (ask anyone that knows me lol). Every time I look at it, the mistakes just stick out at me...huge blinking red arrows pop out of no where and point right at it, and I just cringe. (so in all likelihood, I will be fixing it) But she loves me for it. She's calmly trying to talk me out of fixing it and telling me to just hang her up, tho she knows it's likely a lost cause. ;) (Oh, and if/when you notice the mistake, you get bonus points for the day. lol)

I've made a few of these clothesline/fabric strip bowls so far, and see more in my near future.

When moving around my sewing area, I discovered a serious need for more storage, so decided to finally try out some of the fabulous storage container tute's I've read and put them to good use. These were easy enough to do, the beginning is somewhat tough the first few times til you develop the knack of turning it and getting the end to blend in nicely rather than sticking out like a sore thumb was a lil challenge, but it all works out. I like em, they are fun and the possibilities of what I could make are interesting. Gonna try some oval ones I think next

I went with my mom and a friend to the Quilt Expo in Madison on Sept. 10th. Of course, the night before I went I decided I needed a cute new tote to carry all my imagined goodies in! And certainly no plain ole tote would do, so I set to designing what I wanted. I based it off a few totes I'd seen while surfing around. I've seen pleats everywhere lately and wanted to incorporate a big one into my design. I unfortunately can't remember exactly where I saw the couple of totes that I drew my inspiration from. (If you see this and it's yours, please feel free to let me know so I can add credit!). I love it! I made lots of pockets to hold all my crap...err stuff.  And a large section to hold all the goodies I hoped to purchase at the expo. I wish I had used heavier interfacing on the main section, it's a bit floppier than I would have liked. But, I love it, and believe I will be making more. Need a better photo! I forgot to take one before I used it, and now it's all in disarray and full of stuff, so this one will have to work for now. ;)

The expo was nice. I bought a few goodies to fill my new bag. Some charm packs and yardage to help my (slowly) growing stash. A couple of restocking items. I had pretty good restraint and didn't buy out everything that I wanted to, all the gorgeous kits and books and templates and fabrics.... I could have happily gone broke there. :) I came away with some new stuff and renewed inspiration and ideas. I'm definitely in the mood to sew again, which has been lacking the last few weeks. So, a successful Expo I would say!

So, there's my little run down of the last month or so and what I've done...or not done as the case may be. Now that school has started and weekend festivals and camping have all but wrapped up, I'm hoping to settle into more of a groove and find my sewing time again. Getting started on that Christmas list is a top priority. I have a Santa suit and a Mrs. Clause outfit to complete as well for my inlaws, so....I have lots to do!!

How have all of you faired over the end of summer? Did you seem to lose your summer as well or did you accompish all that you wanted?

Who is YOUR Fairy Quilt Godmother?

I happened across a site today that mentioned Paper Panache's mystery paper-piecing blocks. I'm not usually a paper-piecer, but I popped over and took a look and couldn't help but be intrigued about my own Fairy Quilt Godmother (whom, I've since learned, is named Trapunlinda!). It looks like it's going to be cute & funny and a smallish project, so I've of course decided to go ahead and do the block. After all...I must know what she looks like now that I know her name!! I'll post a photo and introduce her in all her glory when I've finished.

Take a moment and stop by to be introduced to your own Fairy Quilt Godmother...but hurry, I don't know how long the Godmother's will stick around! It only takes a few minutes to get your own unique pattern and looks like it will be a lot of fun. :)

CMQ Quilt Along!!

So, it all started with this. AmandaJean of CrazyMomQuilts decided to hold a quilt-along for her birthday. I adore her blog. It's one of my favorites; one that I've learned so much from (my first binding for starters) and the one I go to when I need to remember how to do something (binding for example), or when I just need some inspiration. So, of course I decided that I must join in to help her celebrate. :)

I know I was a little late as it's already in the 3rd week, but I'm gonna just have to play catch up. I'm joining my first QAL in a very long time.

That decision led to this...

Don't you just love a yummy pile of fabric all stacked and pretty :)

I don't really have a stash to choose from, so I had to go buy fabric (I know, terrible predicament I was in huh ;). Reading through the quiltalong info and comments, I know most are going more scrappy and not repeating fabrics, but as I don't have scraps to use or a stash to bust into, and since I never did make a red & aqua quilt like I wanted to a couple years ago, I've decided to use that color scheme. And, since it's sometimes tough to find aqua fabrics in my neck of the woods, each fabric will be used twice. Each block will have one print and solid white as the contrast.

I hate the cutting part of quilting...(I need to get one of those machines from these giveaways I tell ya!!) so I decided to cut all the strips at once so it would be done and out of my way. I had a lot of white to cut *sigh* But...it's all done and looking good, and I started sewing the strip pieces together.

That's a lot of strips!

After I got bored sewing strips together (short attention span) I started cutting and putting together the patches. And this is what I have so far...

3 down, 33 to go...yeah. Just a little behind, I should have 24 or so done already. Thankfully, once the strips are cut, they do go together quickly. I love it so far, and imagine I will only love it more as I complete blocks. I'm so excited! It's fun to be making a quilt again. I already know how I'm planning on quilting it too, which is unusual for me...usually I can't decide how to quilt the quilts I make. This one however just screams diagonal grid! :)

I'll be working on these blocks all weekend so hopefully I can be caught up (or almost caught up at least) by next week. I'll post additional pics once I've completed more of the blocks. And, I apologize for all the blurry, badly lit photos. Having some issues with my camera that I'm trying to solve and the bad lighting...well, that's just normal at my house ;)