Gabby Abbi

Binding with a jelly roll

granny — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:57:13 +0000

Moda Bake Shop has a great tutorial on how to use those 2 1/2″ jelly rolls to make binding.

Click here to view the post: Moda Bake Shop

New Quilt Kit: Scrappy Hunter’s Star

granny — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:11:18 +0000

Abbi May’s has put a kit together using the new fabrics and precuts from Moda – ORIGINS by Basic Gray.
Purchase kit here: Scrappy Hunters Star

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This quilt pattern can be found in the book A Bakers Dozen
that we reviewed here: Gabbi Abbi Review.

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Finished Size: 75 1/2 ” x 75 1/2″
Skill Level: Confident Beginner
Block Size: 8 1/2″ x 8 1/2″

Included in this kit:
A Bakers Dozen Book
One each for blocks and binding:

2 1/3 yards outer border:

5 1/4 backing is not included in kit but we recommend:
Moda Fabric Basic Grey ORGINS Renew Lemon Grass Floral Yellow 30230-12

or:
Moda Fabric Basic Grey ORGINS Revitalize Onyx Floral Black

Murphy’s Laws for Quilters

granny — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:27:09 +0000

On any given day the number of employees in a quilt shop is inversely proportional to the number of customers needing quick attention.

Every quilt will take twice as long as you expect and be ½ as beautiful (we are never satisfied).

There are only 2 kinds of masking tape: that which won’t stay on and that which won’t come off.

In cutting an intricate multi-piece block, your ruler will slip on the last side of the last patch.

When there is no time to do something right, there will always be time to do it over.

The value of any piece of fabric is directly proportional to the speed and ease with which you will ruin it.

In any mail-order shipment the item you need the most will be back-ordered.

The pattern in a special fabric will never repeat when or where you want it to.

Accidental destruction of a fabric will only occur to an expensive imported cotton, never to muslin bought at 50% off.

Fabric dyes will never run until the quilt has been completed.

A block with flawlessly straight sides, precision corners and perfect color placement will always be the wrong size.

A quilt that has to be completed for a birthday in two months will take two years to finish. And its corollary: A quilt that has no due date will take only two months to complete..

When you finally have your sewing space in the empty bedroom exactly the way you want it your son will move back home.

You will find the perfect fabric for your quilt only after it has been discontinued by the manufacturer.

A quilt judge will give you a bad critique only when the area is full of other people..

That same quilt judge will give praise only when no one else is around.

The busier you are on any given day the greater the number of quilting inspirations you will want to try.

Your quilting thread will break at the needle only when the last stitch has been taken in the line .

If a novice quilter decides to watch you use your rotary cutter, you will always ruin the fabric and cut yourself.

Your bobbin thread will only run out in the middle of a long line of stitching.

That perfect striped fabric you want to use in your sashing has been printed off-grain.

The top must be completed and basted to the backing before you notice the one block that has a mistake in it.

The quilt-marking pencil that you tested on every fabric before you marked your quilt top won’t disappear after you have completed the quilt.

You finally get a great idea for your Guild’s challenge one week before the quilts are due.

No matter how much fabric you have bought, you are not going to have enough for the quilt you want to make.

Fabric Review: Avalon

granny — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:18:23 +0000

from Clothworks Textiles and Pam Mostek.

Avalon was inspired by a William-Morris looking piece of vintage wallpaper Pam found on a “junking excursion”. The sweep of the vines in the main print is her adaptation of the lines of that wallpaper.

She added fresh contemporary flowers, stylized and jazzed up with bold colors in pink, green, purple and yellow that mix for a unique coloration. It’s one of her favorite combinations…. a vintage inspiration with a fresh fun look of today!

Web picture:

My photo:

This fun and easy quilt kit has only two blocks!

Finished size: 48″ x 48″ square
Block Size: 8 1/2″ square

Included in kit:
Free Pattern
4 1/4 yards fabric for top, borders, binding

Purchase your kits here: Avalon Quilt

Back to Nature BOM update

granny — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:46:34 +0000

Our team member Sue is making this BOM for us and has the four blocks done and I thought I would share them with you.

She said the blocks are designed for intermediate quilters but was fun to do: “It’s not like the quilts I usually do, chain piecing and make all blocks the same, each one is different and interesting”.

I love the colors and when I was taking pictures of these blocks the reds popped out, the greens are gorgeous and the blues are wow!

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4 – this one is my favorite so far!

You can read about this BOM Quilt here: Back To Nature

Helpful Information: Aluminum foil box

granny — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:05:08 +0000

I learned this lil tidbit from a friend and thought I’d pass it on. Nope, I didn’t know it. How many times has the roll popped out at the wrong time?

Was this something we were supposed to learn from our Mom’s???

I can’t believe it’s been there all this time.

I had to go into the kitchen and check this out for myself. Whoever looks at the end of your aluminum foil box?
You know when you try to pull some foil out and the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.

Well, I would like to share this with you.

Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it, and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, Press here to lock end. Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there?

I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can’t count the number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out, when I was trying to cover something up. I’m sharing this with my friends.

I hope I’m not the only person that didn’t know about this.

I know you’re going to go and check your boxes, so go ahead!

Big (Eagle) & Little (Humingbird)

granny — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:34:47 +0000

How to wring out a wet dog!

granny — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:17:10 +0000

Start with a wet dog:

Shake left………

Shake right………….

Do the ears…………

Wipe the nose….

Tah Dah!!…. all done!

Pattern Review: OLD GOLD

granny — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:08:33 +0000

This quilt pattern is found in the book Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quiltsby Pam & Nicky Lintott.

Old Gold uses one layer cake and one jelly roll to make the top and border. We were careful when we trimmed our seledges and didn’t waste any fabric and we had enough fabric left to make a scrappy binding!

The orginal quilt from the book was done in dark tone fabrics for a warm rich look. We gave it a light summerly look by using Moda’s Fresh Cottons by Fig Tree Quilts.

The quilt measures: 72″ x 80″ and was easy and fun!

Our quilt was beautifully quilted by Judith Kraker’s Quilting
Long Arm Services offering loads of designs Phone: 231.282.7011

Holiday Project: Snow Sparkle Quilt

granny — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:31:53 +0000

from Edita Sittar of Laundry Basket Quilts

Each of the 16 delicate snowflakes is an exquisite work of art! Quilt kit includes Snow Sparkle Quilt Pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts and Let it Snow Favorite Batiks fabric for the 76″ square quilt top and binding.Purchase your kit here: Snow Sparkle

Included in kit:

Pattern

1/3 yard each of 4 lights

1/3 yard each of 3 darks

1 1/4 yard large snowflake, 42012-13

1 yard setting triangles

1 1/2 yards border

2/3 yard binding