FABRIC SWAP

mirycreek wrote:Yay glad you got yours too Uno, is that everyone now?

My chat with quiltie friends revealed I should get "tone on tone" fabric to go with my print NOT solids!....sigh this seems like there are almost too many rules in quilting!
On a more positive note I printed out and am going to try an "easy rail fence" pattern does this sound simple enough for me?
It uses a dark tone on tone, a medium tone on tone and a light print (my mice!)
So only 3 fabrics to not confuse me too much!
I thought it looked very cool...3 strips sewn together and turned each time so it has a 3 alternating zigzags on edge(I was thinking mice in a maze) pattern!

I think the rail fence pattern is a great choice!

Ok thanks, I needed some reassurance
To cut the strips do you cut through 4 layers of fabric at a time or just two? One book says to fold w/selvages together and then fold again but you would be cutting through 4 layers at a time...would you recommend this?

I have cut through 4 layers many times...the key is to have a very sharp blade on your cutter. Do what feels the most comfortable to you. Making very precise cuts will save you a lot of time in the long run so if you are more comfortable cutting through 2 at a time do that. I usually just do 2 at a time, depends on the project and size of my fabric too though.

Are you cutting with scissors or rotary cutter and mat?

With a good mat, rotary cutter and ruler, 4 layers should be okay. But I rarely do 4 layers at once. 3 is my comfort limit. IT gets worse if your rotary cutter is getting dull and it cuts some of the layers but not all. With scissors, I'd stick to two, at the most, unless you are super skilled with scissors. All I know about scissors, don't run with them!

Oh sorry Miry, I assumed you were using a rotary cutter and mat. Yes, uno is right, if using scissors I would only do one layer at a time. Mind you, I have zero skills with scissors.

Uh oh… is cutting with scissors bad? Because I don’t have any of the tools mentioned, just the bare basics; a needle, thread, and the fabrics. Starting to fret alittle here…

Flicker Chick wrote:Uh oh… is cutting with scissors bad? Because I don’t have any of the tools mentioned, just the bare basics; a needle, thread, and the fabrics. Starting to fret alittle here…

Don't worry!!...I am not used to scissors is all, I wasn't a sewer before I learned to quilt. Just use what you are used to! It's all good.

alright Im going to start cutting out...no more worrying for me!

I am thinking a couple pillows for my outside bench with my fabric. Anyone else have any thoughts?

This went TERRIBLY wrong. Started with a bang, ended with a whimper. After 30 years of this, I still strike out on a regular basis.

I managed to design it wrong and sewed the tips off my triangles! What the...! Showed it to Hubby, who can solve all things geometric and he helped me out. He said:

"First, you cut your inner tube while the constellation of Capricorn was not lined up with your funny bone. Always pluck an owl before you boil the platypus. Never, ever, match these edges unless you have trimmed your toenails first. See this apex here, it is off centre to the hippopotamus and stuck in a quagmire. Do you understand?"

Yes. I see clearly where I went wrong.

This is a table topper. It will now be stuffed in the back of my closet to never see the light of day. Note me pointing out the hacked off tips! BUt thank you all for playing.

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You are way too hard on yourself uno!! I think it looks just fine. The colours are perfect...and hey if you are going to banish it to the back of the closet anyways you should just send it to me for my table!!

blackdove wrote:

Flicker Chick wrote:Uh oh… is cutting with scissors bad? Because I don’t have any of the tools mentioned, just the bare basics; a needle, thread, and the fabrics. Starting to fret alittle here…

Don't worry!!...I am not used to scissors is all, I wasn't a sewer before I learned to quilt. Just use what you are used to! It's all good.

Ok, no more worrying for me either (at least for today ). I’m going to just go for it and CUT, CUT, CUT away. I say this with complete confidence because hubby’s advice is on repeat in my head: measure twice, cut once… heh heh!


PC, pillows sound nice. I had thought of attempting to make a mini pillow myself, but don’t have anything to stuff it with. Unless…*looks toward the barn*


Uno, I gotta agree with blackdove, because I'm not seeing anything terribly wrong. In fact, I think it looks awesome, even minus a few points… and DONE?! How the heck can you be finished already?!!!

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YOu're right, RatRanch, sometimes you just have to shrug and say, oh well, next time I'll know. It have the topper laying on my cutting table trying to decide its fate.

I hope soon to see what everyone else is working on!

Shout out to Flicker Chick, my other goodie came in the mail today, thank you so much! Horsey Teen looked at it and said, mom, this looks like something you'd pick yourelf. It will feel right at home in my stash! I am so lucky!

Oh goody, and you're very welcome! My faith in our postal system has been (somewhat) restored.

Uh...what's going on out there? Waiting on pics.

Well I got myself some tone on tone fabric that matches great now....but I need to cut them and sew them still, not so quick as you Uno! I will post pics once I makes some progress....just finished helping do up 15 poodle skirts for the skating carnival tonight!

Poodle skirts! And no pics? Come on..that's something you've made, I think you are hiding your light under a bushel. You can make poodle skirts? Need to see this!

want one? Think I got a hot pink extra...adds a tad bit to the ol' hips though!

A hot pink poodle skirt is mighty tempting, haha… well, until you added the bit about adding to the old hips anyway. No thank you! lol

Sorry guys, no progress made here. I’ve been feeling under the weather these past couple days (blah ) and haven’t gotten any farther than cutting out my pattern. Hope to get more done this weekend…

Here's a few pics of the pot holders I made. I still have the silly clips on the binding because I am not finished the hand stitching. I will post more pics when they are done.

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Nice job blackdove! They look great!

Awesome blackdove!

I think those are gorgeous. I kind of like them with the clips...start a new trend. Why sew things when you can just clip them? Those are uber cute!

Here the temps are dropping again, after a few days of melting. Ugh. Spent time indoors working on another small project, a baby quilt. This is not part of the fabric swap, but hope to inspire and encourage everyone. I am impressed with myself, I think it turned out not too bad. At this point, this is just the pieced top, the hand quilting will take much, much longer!

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