Quiltalong is coming...

The Charlie Brown Quiltalong starts tomorrow and I thought I'd share a quilt Thea from Mixed Up Over 40 sent me that she made using the Ritzy Cracker tutorial on Moda Bakeshop. She added borders...something I really wanted to do once I saw the quilt in real life.

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It's made from Sweetwater's Pure from Moda


Love the chocolatey binding!


Even the back is cute! 


If you want to join in the Charlie Brown Quiltalong here is the supply list.  We will be posting our progress on March 15.  Who's in?!

Are you a No Reply blogger?

Alrighty, I'm over the flu but now I am incredibly nauseated 24/7. No, I don't have a case of the pregnants. I think it's just sinus drainage. I wish I knew how to make it better, but eating more is not the answer...I know that much. 

Anyway, I wanted to take a minute to say I LOVE reading the comments you guys leave. I have them just plopped directly to my email so I don't miss a one. Unfortunately some of my favorite comments have been left by a NO REPLY BLOGGER. What's that? Go here to find out!

So if you want to stay no reply, that's your choice.  I just wanted folks to know if I am not responding to you, that's why.  It would be slightly stalkerish of me to track down the no-reply folks plus takes up a lot of time and brainpower (2 things I am sorely lacking lately).  I will still enjoy your comments immensely, no reply blogger or not...especially if they involve a cure for nausea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first embroidery!

Today I am happy to report I am over the worst part of the flu.  Yuck.  I took my oldest for his well child visit (ahem, no well child room) and just like clockwork we were both sick a couple of days later.  This was my first year not getting flu shots and probably my last!  Thankfully the rest of the house is well so far (pray this continues!)and I think we are no longer contagious.  Woo-hoo for Tamiflu.

Anyway, BEFORE the flu I embroidered this cute image I found for FREE at this super cute blog.  I can't cross stitch and my previous attempt at embroidery was horrific.  I think hand stitching many a binding on has helped me.  I am not what I would call good, but at least I am no longer horrific. 

What a pretty orange tulip...of course she is why I picked this one to do!

Look!   It's Kool-Aid Man's mama...

Oh, yeah!

I backed it and bound it in sweet Moda Hoopla.

And can I just say it was so nice to go buy EVERYTHING I needed to get started embroidering for under $15???  If cotton prices really are going to skyrocket it will be nicer to have some cheaper, slower projects to satisfy my itchin' hands. Now I am working on a special project for my Scooby kid and requests have started pouring in.  The boys (husband included) can get mesmerized watching the embroidery take shape.  I'm glad I have something else I can do for them besides just more quilts!

Batting Battles II: Warm and White vs. Polyfil Cotton Classic

Recently I was in Joanns and noticed the packaged batting was 50 percent off.  I needed some batting my for latest project and I happened to have a coupon for an extra 20% off my purchase, so I picked up the 1 brand of cotton batting not sold out: Polyfil Cotton Classic.  You know I had to do a review!  This review is completely sponsored by ME...no company sent me anything for free or gave me any money unfortunately.

Price
Cost for Twin Size Polyfil Cotton Classic(equivalent to 2 yds on the bolt): $19.99
50% off price (which is not all that uncommon at Joann's): $9.99
extra 20% off price: $8.00

The regular price is about $10/yd...slightly cheaper than my regular batting, Warm& Natural or Warm&White.  My sale+coupon price was $4/yard. 


The Polyfil Cotton Classic packaging touts these features:

• HAND OR MACHINE QUILT
• 100% COTTON QUILT BATTING
• FAVORITE SINCE 1979
• GIVES A ANTIQUE LOOK
• SHOULD BE PRE-SOAKED
• BONDED BATTING

I like the organic part.  The pre soaking part?  Well, that is not gonna happen.  Sorry Polyfil...no special treatment for battings around here.  I have 3 little kids that still need help bathing, so I am not about to add "batting" to the list of things I have to wash.

First thoughts- this stuff is very scratchy.  I had to check and make sure it was actually cotton.  It feels a little wooly.  It reminds me of the feel of polyester batting.  Have you ever basted polyester batting while having stitches?  UGHHH...having those little scratchy fibers tear at my stitches turned me off of poly batting for good.  One store selling this batting online says it "clings to the fabric making basting a breeze."  Heads up y'all: that is code for SCRATCHY.

Quilting Distance
Polyfil Cotton Classic 3-5"
Warm and Natural: up to 10"

Luckily I planned on free motion quilting this project pretty tightly.  If you like minimal quilting, this batting might not work for you. It does make me nervous that this batting requires this much quilting for stability.  For this reason, I would probably not choose this batting for a tying or hand quilting project (for the hand quilting I think I would go with the Mountain Mist Cream Rose Cotton batting I have previously reviewed). 

 Warm and White on the Left, Polyfil Cotton Classic on the right.  Polyfil seems *slightly* thinner.

 I pulled both out of square.

I then attempted to "fix" it.  Warm and Natural fared better, but I think the cotton classic performed well, too.

The Look

This quilt crinkled nicely.  It is thin and has a lovely drape.  It was pretty warm as I was doing the binding in my FREEZING living room.

Did someone ask about SHRINKAGE???

Before washing size: 46"x61"
After washing: 44"x58"
Shrinkage is about 4.5 % if my math is correct

If you recall from my first batting battle, Warm and White had almost no shrinkage even with a similar amount of a quilting (more quilting = more shrinkage)

The Verdict

You know how a lot of Bibles have "bonded leather" instead of real leather?  This reminded me of that...like a "bonded batting."  I'd say this is a good batting for hand quilting due to the composition, but I don't know that I'd be up for hand quilting every 3 inches.  That makes me think this is probably better for machine quilting very densely.  I actually liked working with this despite the scratchiness.  I did NOT like the wrinkles from the packaging.  I love buying off the bolt.  I'd definitely use this again, though.   I still prefer Warm&Natural or Warm & White, but this is an ok alternative for densely quilted pieces.  

Have you ever tried this batting?  What did you think of it?  Do you have another favorite or a brand you'd like to see reviewed?  Tell me in the comments!

Minor Drama w/ the Leftover Cake Teacher's Quilt

Remember the signature quilt for Eli's teacher?

Well...I needed a couple more signatures for the quilt from staff.  I don't know these people from Adam's housecat...I just go by the signs on the doors.  I get to Mrs. Blackburn's door (another 1st grade teacher, not my son's teacher) to get her signature...it's the last one I need.  Out comes a woman wearing a birka.  Ok, that threw me a little because the name and person did not match, but my son's school is literally the small world ride at disney...there is no racial/ethnic majority...it's one big melting pot being so close to Houston.  I press on and ask her if she can sign the quilt for me b/c I did not receive her last signature block in time and I had to construct the quilt without it.  She looks confused but she takes that sharpie to my quilt and starts writing something that is NOT Mrs. Blackburn.

Cue Internal Freakout.

I go to the office and I learn that Mrs. Blackburn had a sub today.  O.M.G.  What was this lady thinking???  I could not think of a way to salvage it.

Anyway, my son's teacher liked the quilt and said she is going to use it to cuddle under at night and to take her grandchildren on picnics.  I was so happy to hear she was going to USE it.  I have to say I got all embarrassed, red, and weirded out giving it to her with the room mom.  If I ever make another teacher quilt I will just send it rumpled up in my kid's backpack!

Any suggestions on how to salvage that block???  I thought about embroidery something over it but couldn't think of anything that would cover a giant signature.  I emailed her and offered to applique over the sub's John Hancock...I am still mortified.

Finish: Leftover Cake Teacher's Quilt

Happy Valentine's Day! Hubby and I do not do the Valentine's thing but that doesn't mean I can't spread a little love still. I got my boys a goodie bag and also worked with the class room mom for my 7 year old to do this quilt. She collected signatures and I did the other stuff. Frankly, I think her job of wrangling 22 kids was harder (until I got to the quilting, MAN were my shoulders sore!)

 This was made with 34 leftover layer cake squares from Fresh Flowers by Sandy Gervais and 1 straggler from Central Park by Kate Spain.  I relied on information from the signature block tutorial from That Girl That Quilt.  I changed my dimensions to be able to use what I had and get all the signatures I needed in.    I could not find the pens she mentioned at Joann's or Michaels but I did find a Dritz Quilt Label writing pen at Michaels in the fabric section.  That ran out after about 25 signatures so the rest were done with a fine line sharpie I had on hand for emergencies.  I am happy to report that both performed well...neither washed out!

 I quilted leafy vines on this and tried to leave the signature spaces blank with maybe leaves hanging over like a trellis.  I embroidered the teacher's name in the center square with a flower and flourishes inspired by my favorite print from the layer cake.  My son's block is to the left of the teacher and I put the room mom's kid on the right hand of the teacher.  Nepotism...don't judge!  He was sad he got dots and not stripes, so he got a place of honor for telling me it was ok and not making a huge fuss over it. 

I backed it in a Raggedy Anne plaid I found at a thrift store for a couple of bucks.  It went really well and I was so glad i had that fabric on hand.  I can't afford backing fabric right now...February is our birthday season! 

This teacher is very special.  She has been teaching for 37 years and she gets SOOOOO excited talking about what they are learning.  I love how she has a geunine love for the kids in her class. 

This quilt is made to be used.  I have seen large teacher quilts before that were literally falling apart before they were even washed the first time because they were made to look cute but not made to use (think lite fusible webbing without stitching for over a hundred handprints.  My thought is this...either make it USEFUL or make it a)small enough to hang on a wall or b)exquisitely crafted.  This quilt is useful.  I hope she uses it, so I washed it already to take the fear out of that first wash for her. 

This week be on the lookout for my 2nd Batting Battle...I will be reviewing Polyfil Cotton Classic that was used in this quilt!

What do you think about teacher quilts or signature quilts? 

Moda Bakeshop Sneak Peak...

I wanted to give you guys a sneak peek of my next Moda Bakeshop project.  I know it's kind of hard to tell from this picture what the finished quilt will look like...that's exactly why I posted it!  Bwah-ha-ha!  This quilt was supposed to be a lap size, but I had a math malfunction and ended up getting twice as many blocks as I had planned!  Man, those layer cakes can go a looooong way.  This is a twin size quilt made with 1 layer cake, some background fabric, and yardage for borders.

Because I had not ordered enough backing fabric for a twin size, I used some of my bella white and some layer cake pieces from another sunkissed layer cake I had.  I felt so lucky to have those pieces...I really did not want to have to order more fabric!  I really love the greens, grays, and oranges from the sunkissed line.  They are just beautiful together.  I promise this quilt is not as wonky as this picture makes it seem.  It's hard to wrangle a big quilt for photos. 

I am really proud of myself because I am trying new quilting designs.  You can really get in a rut with stippling...it's quick to do and it photographs well.  I forced myself out of my comfort zone first with little loops, then sprouting vines (loops on meandering lines) and then graduated to actual leaves on vines for this quilt.  Some places are messier than others, but once everything is washed it hardly matters to anyone but me.

Oh, and remember that white quilting thread I got such a great deal on?  It was crap.  Total- Crapola.  It made the quilting of this quilt a nightmare.  It made so much fuzz that when you opened up to change bobbins it was like sticking your face in a bag of poly fill.  I am never gonna buy a brand-less thread again.  This makes Coats and Clark look like a premium thread.  Learn from my mistakes!

What is your favorite brand of quilting thread???

Lifetime Warranty...

When I first started quilting, I purchased a Fiskars rotary cutter from wal-mart.  My mother was a seamstress and to me Fiskars was the gold standard.  Imagine my disappointment when I broke my first, then second Fiskars rotary cutter.  The screw that holds the blade must have gotten somewhat stripped because the blade on both cutters slipped around and started digging into the plastic body of the cutter.  I switched to Olfa and now use the fiskars for cutting paper and insulbrite.

After months of being on the mental to do list, I sent fiskars and email with a photo attachment of my 2 damaged cutters.  I got 2 new ones in the mail!  I'm not gonna lie...I will probably stick with my Olfa cutter.  It is nice to know that Fiskars stands behind their products! 

Do you have a broken Fiskars product? Visit the Fiskars website and learn how to get your replacement.  It took me less time to request my replacements than it did for me to write this blog post!

What is your favorite brand of cutting tools???