Category: Tutorials
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Tutorial: Painting Birkenstocks with Shiva Paintstiks
I still haven’t been doing any quilting, but I’ve been kept busy with a lot of other creative things! Last year, of course, I was busy collaborating with my daughter. She wrote a book called A Mommas Heart: Comfort for Loss Moms. It is a book for mothers who have lost an infant during a…
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Reposting: Confused by pixels, resolution, and DPI?
I’m reposting this blog from a couple years ago because I there is so much confusion when it comes to digital image size and thought it could be helpful. When it comes to digital pictures, are you confused by pixels, DPI, and resolution? You’re not alone! I’m pretty much just a point-and-shoot photographer. I like…
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Tutorial: hammers for flat corners
I finished quilting my little quilt, Requisite Red. George behaved admirably once I put in Magnifico by Superior Threads. Magnifico is a 40 weight polyester thread specifically designed to stand up to the tension requirements of a machine like George. I used prewound bobbins of Bottom Line thread. I was able to achieve an acceptable…
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Personalized cloth book the easy way
My granddaughter, Hazel, will be one next week! She loves reading books, so I thought it would be fun to make her a personalized cloth book, but I don’t really have the time to make it as elaborate as I would like. Instead, I needed something quick and easy. A couple weeks ago I found…
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Tutorial: DIY reversible drawstring toy bag & play mat
It’s fifteen days until Christmas! If you need a quick DIY gift for the child in your life, here’s a great one. I made this reversible toy bag / play mat in about half a day. Adorable little Hazel has three sets of grandparents within a ten mile radius, so they are often traveling from…
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Finally — curtains!
There are some things I get done very quickly. Other things…not so much. This is a project of the latter kind! I haven’t been doing much quilting lately, but I wanted to do some kind of sewing. Thursday I woke up and immediately thought, “I should sew curtains for my living room.” Why did that…
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Tutorial: custom pressing table
Yesterday I talked about my experience trying out Steady Betty, a foam pressing surface that is ideal for pressing pieced quilt blocks and tops. I like how the foam grips the fabric so it doesn’t slide around when pressing the block, and I also like how flat the seams are afterwards. After trying it out…
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Tutorial: Mounting a quilt on canvas-covered stretcher bars
Push-up #8 had to be set aside for a few days so I could deal with a bushel of green peppers. I also took a day to mount Acceptance on canvas-covered stretcher bars. This is the quilt that was commissioned for a pediatric hospice. When the director asked for suggestions on how to frame and…
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Demo for Miami Valley Quilter’s Guild
Last night, my quilt guild, the Miami Valley Quilter’s Guild, had their annual “How-To” Demonstrations meeting. Four members demonstrated various techniques or skills. I volunteered to demo how to make a hanging sleeve. Our guild has its biannual quilt guild show next May, so I encouraged everyone to enter a quilt. We have a really…
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Tutorial: Using a gray scale tool
One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I need things to be organized in logical ways so my brain can process it all more easily. I started college when I was only 17, before I consciously realized this about myself. Even though I really liked my college textile art professor, I could never quite…