Knee High by the 4th of July????

This is a picture of our corn on the west side of our house on Father's Day, June 20th.

The picture below was the size of the corn around May 9th.

Amazing!  Maybe that is why my Grandpa used to say that he could hear the corn grow!

We do have some farmers that are still planting their fields in our area.  This has been an extremely wet planting season.  I hope that the area farmers have had some time to finish planting.

Besides quilting, I always have a project or two going.  Below is a small cabinet that I stripped and refinished.  I also did the tiling on the door.  It will store all my cone thread in my future sewing room.

If you decide to do a project like this, remember that it will make the door heavy.  I used bigger screws on the hinges so it will hold the weight.  We will see how it will hold over time.  A tiled table project sounds like fun for in the future, but for now I have some remodeling to do for my bigger sewing room.

I also bought a decoration for my sewing room at a garage sale.

This machine brings back many memories.  When I was growing up Mom bought a Golden Touch and Sew Singer.  As soon as the machine was home, I was so eager to sit down and try it out.  Then I had seen all the levers and dials, which sort of scared me off.  I loved sewing on Mom's old reliable Singer 201.  Eventually, I did sew on Mom's prized machine and it opened many doors into the sewing and quilting world that has brought many opportunities into my life.

Mom has been to a garage sale and also found another prized machine, a Singer 301!

This machine is a sister to the Singer Featherweight.  If you check out the Sew in Peace under my blog list,  you will see that Sandi's 301 is black.  I am sure that the history behind these machines are just as interesting as the Featherweights.  Thanks mom for letting me share your new treasure.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day last weekend.  I'm well blessed with a wonderful Dad and Dad-in-law.  I want to thank you both for being there for me--it means a lot!

Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne

Friday Night Sew-In and 41st Annual NQA Quilt Show in Columbus, Ohio

First of all my Friday Night Sew-In was really Thursday night because I had some free time to enjoy some sewing.  My project is a pineapple lap quilt for a friend for Christmas.  It will take more than one Sew-In to get this project done, but I did get 14 blocks this far.

Above is a printout from EQ6 of what the lap quilt should look like when it is finished.  I thought that it would be easier to paper piece than to make templates.  I did cut all my strips and the squares in the middle adding a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  I have paper pieced small blocks before, but never a 12 " block.  I found it harder to fold the paper back accurately to trim my seam allowances until I sewed over all the lines with a thread-less sewing machine--just punching holes in the paper.  Click on the first picture and you will see the holes in the paper.  This made it simple and fast sewing my strips on.

Now I have it started--A Big Thanks to the Friday Night Sew-In.

Friday I spent the day with two special people--my mom and my sister at the Annual NQA Quilt Show!  We all were amazed by the wonderful entries.  The hand and machine quilting was absolutely amazing!  I took over 500 pictures.  Thank you girls for such a wonderful day!

I also had a pleasant surprise on the bus ride that we took down to Columbus I visited with one of my high school teachers.  Thank you Mrs. Lepper for such a wonderful visit!

Happy Quilting

Kay Lynne

More on Free Motion Feathers and Other Activities

I have been practicing drawing feathers with both a pencil and needle.  It has been a real adventure. 

While practicing drawing feathers, I also used wavy rulers from Off The Edge.  I have bought several rulers from them and I keep on finding new ways to use their rulers.  They are listed in my links. 

Below are pictures of the feathers that I have actually free motioned.  I will be using them on the backs of potholders.  I used two layers of "Warm and Natural" batting.  These feathers I did not mark at all.  If you want to see how they were sewn.  Check out Leah Day's 365 Days of Free Motion quilting under my blog list.  On Day 186 she has a quilting filler called Swirling Feathers that I thought I would try.  Thank you Leah for all the tips on your video, they have really helped.

The feathers above I used an artist curve (pictured in the first feather tutorial)  ruler to draw in the stems.  My mom thinks that the stems that I drew in random look better than the ones drawn with a ruler.  What do you think?  It's actually easier to just randomly do it, but I'm experimenting with different looks.

Below are more random feathers in a different color.

Just remember to practice and don't ever give up.  My practice pieces I use on the back of potholders.  If it's not perfect, it's only a back of a potholder.  I've also been asked whether I use quilting gloves or not.  I use Lickity Grip, which was bought at the International Quilt Show several years ago.  There is nothing wrong with quilting gloves--I'm still in the process of trying to find the right gloves that work for me.  I've also used rubber finger tips that you can buy at an office supply store.  What works for me may not work for you.

I received a surprise package from Mexico in the mail.  I won a small bag from Ale Balanzarrio at

http://withblueberryheartquiltscorner.blogspot.com/

Thank you Ale for the May Give Away!

Some of our friend's kid's had gotten married over the weekend.
  Best wishes Kyle and Jordan--we love you!

Happy Quilting


Kay Lynne

More Tips on Binding

Update:  There is a binding tool that you need to see at  http://kayzquiltz.blogspot.com/2011/07/friday-night-sew-in-results-thread.html

The last time I posted on binding there were a few more tips that I wanted to share.

After the binding is all sewn together, I cut off the end of my binding at a 45 degree angle and press the length in half.  I'm not sure whether you can see it in the picture below, but the binding on the left is also pressed under a quarter of an inch so there are no raw edges.  The binding on the right side is trimmed at a 45 degree angle in the opposite direction--make sure you do not trim it too short!  The reason for trimming it at an angle is to avoid extra bulk in your binding. 

The binding is pinned as shown in the picture and stitched.  I personally like hand stitching my binding down with a blind hem.  I always cut my binding on the bias, which is cut at a 45 degree angle on my ruler.  If you are new to quilting, I highly suggest that you borrow or buy a beginners quilt book for reference.  Do you have any more tips on binding--please leave me a comment.

Happy Quilting,

Kay Lynne