Stache Buster

What did you think?

Stache - - - not stash!!!

Let's face it - 

no one wears one like Tom!

- it's all about the available follicular real estate between the nose and the upper lip - 

yup - it works fine for Tom!

 Why all this talk of the stache?

Hint:

"where's my stache?" from Alexander Henry

Love this fabric!

I saw it at Purl Soho two weeks ago and had to have it!

Why?

My daughter's boyfriend sports a significant stache

- Selleck-esque -

Quite impressive!

And, he's mighty proud of it, as he should be.

I'm pairing it up with this manly faux leather -

 It will make the perfect apron for him!

Stop by tomorrow for the finished project

or, a work in progress.

Love This Guy

My apologies first:

- saw this at another blog yesterday, but can't remember who to give credit to - 

lo siento!

I love this guy

- P. Nosa - 

after all, what quilter can pass up a guy quoted as saying - 

"it is my firm belief that all of life's questions can be answered with a sewing machine"

- - - swoon! - - - 

You complete me!

Get to know him - watch his kickstarter video

You can find lots of other fun 5 words or less sewing videos from P Nosa at youtube.com. 

 

Thanks P. Nosa!

A Day with Layers

It was a fun day yesterday - a field trip with my Layers group to Longwood Gardens - so inspiring - every flower gives you new quilting ideas. I'll admit, I don't know the name of all of these beautiful flowers, sorry. I've grown this in my flower garden in the past - love the spooned petals. Welcome spring! Ahhh, isn't nature perfect!

We were greeted by an amazing show of delphiniums - they are so majestic.

I tried for years to grow delphiniums in my flower beds, but I've had no luck with them - finally gave up. Very few flowers have the variety of blues that this plant offers up.

The buds are so architectural - as interesting as the flowers.

There were many flowers at the gardens, but the day was all about orchids - this is the final week of the orchid exhibit. Look at this beautiful cascading orchid in the conservatory.

For lack of a better name - orchid specimen A - the contrast of the buttery yellow with the plum is delicious, add the ruffle to fancy things up.

Orchid specimen B - tangerine and magenta - every orchid is so different.

Orchid specimen C - pink on parade - so feminine. I have are so many more photos - I'll share a few more later this week.

After the trip to Longwood we met at Terry's for show and tell. My friend Kelly talked me into purchasing pinch purse hardware at the Lancaster AQS Quilt Show last week - it was our goal to have one for S&T - mine is the one on the left, Kelly's on the right. Check out the Pink Penguin for directions. I added a ribbon tab using the knitting ribbon I purchased at the show.

Kelly's fabric selection has a lot of contrast - love it! BTW - I'm trying to talk Kelly into starting her own blog - she has such great ideas - encourage her please.

I used a vintage home dec fabric as my main fabric and an old Lonni Rossi Typo fabric as my contrasting fabric. Here you can see inside of mine - the opening is 4 inches (the pattern calls for a 5 inch pinch purse hardware - ours was only 4), and the length is 5 inches.

Already found a home for mine - I'm using it to stow my knitting notions in my knitting bag - it fits my scissors, needle container, row counter and my Pinocchio tape measure perfectly. How do you like the knitting bag - it's an Amy Butler pattern - the Madison Bag. I used a piece of my vintage barkcloth to make the bag - confession - I collect vintage barkcloth, can't stop myself. And yes, that's a brooch from my husband's Great Aunt Amy adorning the front of the bag.

OMG - this is my friend Christine - her S&T included a spoof on my method for containing my binding as I iron it - if you remember, I use my spray starch container and roll the binding onto it as I iron it. Spoof or not Christine - I think your method has a lot of merit, despite how ridiculous it, and you, looks. She's wound it around a paper roll and made a necklace out of it - - - I really think this would work great - opinions???

Bragging Rights

I have two wonderful daughters, Meredith and Olivia. Meredith, a student at Boston University, could care less about sewing. Olivia caught the sewing bug when she was in middle school and hasn't stopped since. She is a freshman at Parsons School of Design in New York City - the home of Project Runway. Liv's major - fashion design, of course.

Tomorrow she is having her first sample sale for a line she and her boyfriend, Tucker, designed for their "un-fashion" class. Honestly, I'm not sure what exactly "un-fashion" refers to. She sent me photos and has allowed me to share them with you all.

Liv did most of the modeling, she's only 5'4" so no runway for her. I'll let the clothes speak for themselves. I love the photography - a fellow Parsons' student snapped the pics.
They call the venture Local Meat. Liv and Tucker did all of the garment construction. .This shirt has really cool shoulder embellishments - wish the artistic photos showed a bit more detail.

This jacket is up-cycled using an old sweater for the sleeves and an old leather jacket as the body of the garment. Liv's been going crazy knitting these cowl scarves. They even made the leggings.

Here's a better detail shot of the shoulders.

Now this it the one I want - they used this really great wooden bead trim for the back of this shirt - not so sure how comfy you'd be sitting on the subway, but it certainly makes a statement. They bought almost all of their fabric and supplies at Goodville Fabric Outlet in Goodville, PA and Pennsylvania Fabric Outlet in Leola (there is another on South 4th St. in Philly). Hope you enjoyed!

Bobbin Threads and Apron Strings

I've received a few questions about why I use bobbin thread so I thought I'd give you my two cents on the issue. I love bobbin / lingerie thread - specifically YLI Soft Touch thread - it's basically the only thread I use in my bobbin, with one exception which I'll explain below..


YLI Soft Touch is a 60 weight / 2 ply, 100% cotton thread. It is very strong - I've been know to use it on top as well as in the bobbin.

Soft Touch is available in 28 colors - I tend to use only neutral colored thread in most of my piecing so I always keep a supply on hand of white, off-white, grays, tan, brown and black. However when I am quilting I will try to match or compliment the backing fabric with my bobbin thread.

One exception - when I am using a heavy weight quilting thread on top - say a 40 weight - I will put a heavier weight thread in the bobbin - say a 50 weight. I've found that using a bobbin weight thread with the heavier quilting threads can throw of my tension - talk about a thread from the edge!

Why use bobbin thread -
1. because I'm lazy, - - - I hate to have to stop sewing to change my bobbin. A lot of sewers will wind a bobbin with whatever thread they have on top. If you're using a heavy thread on top, say a 40 weight - that bobbin in going to run out before you know it. This is me winding a bobbin - I actually hold onto my thread as it is coming off of the spool to create a bit of tension, allowing me to really pack the thread on my bobbin. FYI - do not do this if you have a machine that uses plastic bobbins - you can create so much tension the plastic will contract and get stuck on the holder - I know - I did it!

2. because I'm cheap - - - those fancy threads we like to use on top can be expensive - why throw money away on something you really don't see. Bobbin thread is more cost effective to use.

3. because I like the way the stitch settles when ironed - - - using bobbin thread really decreases the bulk in your seam.

Where can you find a nice selection of thread - seems I've had no problem with that - take a look at my thread collection below - ouch! There are still bowls and stacks of thread scattered throughout my sewing room that can't fit into this door "organizer" - if you call this organized.

Finding a quilt shop that has a nice thread selection can be tricky - I find a lot of quilt shops have a very poor selection of thread. If you're in the Greater Philadelphia area there is one shop that has an excellent selection of thread - Ladyfingers Sewing (I've always thought this sounds more like a massage parlor than a sewing studio). An FYI - they do not offer their full line of thread on line. Ladyfingers Sewing is located in Oley, PA - farming country close to Reading. But let me make it worth your drive - here's the perfect full day road trip for a quilter -
First stop: Generations Quilt Shop right off route 422 in Pottstown - great selection of designer fabrics
Second stop: Ladyfingers in Oley off of route 662 - stock up on thread, tons of notions, and silk on the bolt
Third stop: Quilters Palette in Pricetown on route 10 off of route 662 - a fantastic collection of batiks and hand-dyed wools
Fourth stop: Goggleworks in Reading - an incredible gallery / artist studio space. Mary Stoudt, who has been in Quilt National, has a studio at the Goggleworks.
Fifth stop: Somethings Looming in Reading - haven't been there yet, but am planning to get there soon.

Here's my pet peeve - why can't sewing machine manufacturers make a machine that doesn't require a bobbin - I feel like the girl in the Windows 7 Microsoft commercial. Why can't they make a machine where you put a big honking spool of bobbin thread on a special holder that feeds directly into the bottom of the machine - WHY??? Are you listening to us????

Enough about thread - I want to show you my Free Spirit apron that I made this weekend - remember this - I bought it at the quilt show?

It was so easy to throw together - if you don't have one of these tube turners - BUY one - they're great - made turning the straps a piece of cake.

Here's my beautiful niece Megan modeling the apron - I gave it to her Mom as a thank you for the big spaghetti dinner last night - I should have given it to her father who got sauce all over his new shirt!

I got a little tricky - the directions had you turning the edge - I decided instead to make it reversible - isn't this cute! Thanks Meg!