Sizzix Situation

So now I might have inadvertently turned into a Sizzix hoarder.

I bought a Sizzix cutting machine because of my great experience of using one at a Victoria Findlay Wolfe class at QuiltCon in 2016. I have really enjoyed using it so far, it makes it so much easier to get accurate shapes and is much nicer on my hands. I had a small collection (only 8) of dies that I had used in various projects. But I was putting off buying many new dies until I'd "used-up" the ones I already had. There were new dies coming out all the time but I put off purchasing new ones. But then they discontinued the push towards marketing towards quilters (boooo!)😒

I decided to go look for a few new ones to scoop up before they're all gone...and I went a little nuts on eval because they were super super cheap now! So now I have a whole lot of options. I know there's also a mat that makes the Accu-quilt dies work in my machine, so that's also an option for the future if  I ever get tired of all of these or "use them up".  I put that in quotes because it would take quite a while for that to happen.

Tassels Again

Once I had the Sizzix cutter out and cutting out tassels out of card stock, I couldn't help trying it out on something a little more flexible. In my scrap basket the Color Catchers I used after the red fabric dye rescue were waiting for me. They're just about *almost* fabric so I tried them out on the tassel die. They cut out perfectly.

This is what the piece that's been cut looks like when you take it off the Sizzix die. The die includes a little separate rectangle to use as a hanger for the tassel. The first card stock I tried it out on was plain white so I marked it up a little so it would be more interesting once it was rolled up. But first I glue-sticked the hanger on the top.

I rolled all the card stock and the color catcher tassels up, using lots of glue stick and then secured them at the tops to dry with binder clips. I used two pieces of card stock on the dual colored tassels because I just thought they looked better that way.

They turned out pretty cool and I think I might string them up with the stars I made with the CriCut.  You'll note, I have yet to try this fabric yet! I'll get there.

A Texture-y Pillow Idea

 I've recently been thinking about long textured fabrics, like deeper than deep shag and how cool they look as pillows. Think Wookie length fur, but not an even allover density like fur on an actual animal (or Wookie). But even more chunkier than fur or hair I guess. (that's an amazon link to those furry pillows so please Note: "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.")

I think something closer than faux fur (which I have sworn off ever ever sewing again after one too many furry Halloween costumes) would be small strips of fabric. The idea I'm coming around to is to use up a bunch of my scraps to make such a piece of fabric and use it as a pillow cover. A very very heavy pillow cover. I will be using a piece of canvas to stitch this onto to support the weight. But how?

Here's my plan, I'm going to go through my boxes (and boxes and boxes) of scraps, find pieces that are big enough to fit on this Sizzix tassel cutting die. I'll cut zillions of them (note, that's an estimate). Here's what the tassel looks like when made out of two layers of card stock.

 I'll layer the tassel cut out pieces, but flat, not rolled up like the above for an actual tassel. That way I can sew each row along the top part of the cutout tassel shape and it won't be too bulky to sew over. 

Maybe on the edges of the pillow I'll make actual tassels that hang off, that would be added after making a pillow cover. I could see stitching them on with embroidery floss with a chain stitch. 

I'm thinking that having a lot of fabric pieces that aren't dyed all the way through and only printed mainly on one side leaving the other mostly white will change the look of this quite a lot. I'll try to sprinkle those around or at least alternate them with hand-dyed or batik type fabrics.

My goal is cutting all this out of scraps, because I'm absolutely drowning in them here. And I solemnly swear that the bits that are trimmed off when using the Sizzix die will go into an empty pet bed and not back into the scrap box.

New Tools

After reviewing the Shark Applicutter, I realized I probably needed some replacement blades, and I found them over on Missouri Quilt Co.
Of course, a few other things ended up in my bag, like a new Sizzix die - a rhombus with an equilateral triangle which has all kinds of possibilities.

A binding tool ruler I've heard good things about which will hopefully help me since I always struggle with this last step in joining up the binding.

A layer cake of new Alison Glass fabrics from the Sun Print line.

And why not a gigantic Pinkerville owl patch from Tula Pink because it made me smile.

Underneath it all a nice grey fabric with words, add it to the pile of those.

I think I'm full up on rulers and tools for now.

Starting Square Dance

 Starting a new project, using the Sizzix die, Square Dance. (By the way, wow good prices on Sizzix dies on Staples)  And there's this much fabric left over after the cutting process.

 Given the need to have the fabric be a bit larger than the die surface there ends up being a lot left over. And when it comes off the machine in a nice big aligned stack, it's irresistible to not cut it up into useable pieces.

 So I did.

 And I took process pictures to remind myself how I got those pieces.

Here's how it all looks when it's cut apart. Look at all those nice triangles. And those strips. The rest goes in the put under the felting machine needle bucket.

Calendar Quilt 2016

My first new project of the year is all about last year. I'm calling it Calendar Quilt 2016, it's inspired by the calendar towels that I made for holiday gifts.

And also by friend Jaye's series of Fabric of the Year quilts. She usually chooses a shape and cuts one from every piece of fabric she buys during a year.  

So those are my starting points or inspirations, the idea of a calendar and the fabric that came into my studio during that year represented on the calendar.

Taking off from there, I accumulated fabric last year, and didn't sort it into the rest of my stash. It's all in one (or more honestly, two, ahem) boxes. So, I'm taking a cut of each piece and running it through the Sizzix to cut some triangles to piece some blocks.

 I'm cutting the larger piece into two that will fit on the triangle die, flipping one of them over. So I get two isosceles triangles,  two right-hand and two left-hand triangles.

 Here's the waste left over though :( That's a lot to me, definitely some bits that are worth using.

 Some of the excess pieces are ending up in my scrap basket.

 I am keeping these big chunks out of the scrap basket though. I think I'll piece them together for some sort of a border for this quilt.

 And the other triangular waste piece is run back through to get another set of the small triangles.

 After cutting a few fabrics and having a stack of triangle pieces to play with, I started trying out different designs.

 Kind of tempting, but I'm not sure I'm up for doing this kind of piecing for a whole quilt.

 This seems like the kind of pointless piecing that doesn't show up or have an impact that I'm not into putting that much energy into. Plus piecing the two small triangles messes up the patterns of the prints too much for me.

 I really like the look of this one, so this is the one I'm going with. It highlights the prints really well and will be easy enough to make a whole quilt out of. And since I was trying to get the look of a calendar square, but not just have squares this will work best.

As I cut more fabric, the whole look of it changes. It's going to be a fun project, stay tuned for more updates.

Windmill Angles

I've been working on a project since 2011 with my friend Jaye to cut windmill pieces using the above plastic template (from Come Quilt With Me.)
I wanted to cut a bunch more pieces for us to use so I purchased the Sizzix cutting die for this same block to quickly cut more accurate pieces.  It's the same  4.5" height, but unfortunately it isn't exactly the same angle. So close! This picture shows the template on top of a fabric piece I cut with the Sizzix.

 I made up a sample block to see how it would work out and I think it's too far off to fudge it.

I think this shows a little better how that little difference in the angle works in the block here with them side by side. The one on the left is done with the template, and the one on the right is with Sizzix.
Oh well, luckily the die was on sale and I like this shape as it makes a block with a lot of motion and is easy to piece together accurately.

A Do-Over

 I was on a roll the other night listening to a great story podcast (The Bright Sessions) and I wanted to keep sewing but I didn't want to cut out anything, so I scooped up the stack of mini-wave pieces I'd cut out with my Sizzix. Unfortunately, I forgot that the recommended way to sew these together is in columns not rows. And after I'd sewn all of them into rows and tried to assemble the rows, well...let's just say the results were rather frustrating.

Why? indeed... So then I ended up spending an hour un-sewing all of them and I'm now re-sewing them together in rows and the curves are so much easier to handle this way. They're coming out exactly right every time. It was truly worth the time to un-sew!

Star Blocks

I recently made a couple of blocks for quilts being made for online friends who need them. 

I tried out one of the new dies I've purchased for the Sizzix, and I was very pleased with how they turned out. It makes it very easy to sew these types of triangles together with the points cut off.

I haven't tried all three of them yet, just the one on the left. I rotary cut the squares as I haven't bought a square die yet, but I just might. The Sizzix is so much more accurate than I am. Which is the whole point of the thing really!

Neither a Big Shot nor a Pro

 New machinery in the studio to learn, after waiting for a good sale price, the Sizzix Big Shot Pro arrived a few weeks ago. Without the screw to attach the handle, but that was quickly handled by good customer service at Scrapbook.com . That was a hard couple of days to wait when I wanted to play with my new toy.
It is a pretty big machine, quite heavy so not something to put away and bring out again, it needs a dedicated spot. I'm still rearranging stuff in my studio, so for now it's on one of the reinforced Gorilla Rack shelves. But it may end up on the top of a short bookshelf that I have.

 I have my Pies and Points die from the class I wrote about a few days ago and I also purchased two small dies that were on sale. This is the small Wave, also from Victoria Findlay Wolfe. Here's a stack of six piece of fabric run through the machine all at once. That's why I bought this thing, the convenience, accuracy and saving the wear and tear on my hands. If I'd cut all these out with a rotary cutter...oh I don't want to really think about it. Let's leave it at there would have been a few days of consequences. As well as the pieces wouldn't have all ended up being the same size and shape.

 I chose this wave die because I wanted to try to refine my curve-sewing skills with this gentle curve shape. I really love the clamshell look to this, a bit like scales or something similar. I started out cutting fat quarters that had been washed but not ironed, but then remembered that ironing was recommended.

Color corrected so the fabrics look a little closer to reality. So, looking at this picture this shows me right away that I need to pay attention to which way directional prints are placed on the die. "We learn by doing," is echoing in my ears. Something to remember to use intentionally, I really like how the zig-zags look in the two orientations.

Pies and Points

I was lucky to get into Victoria Findlay Wolfe's Pies and Points class at QuiltCon this year. I was on the wait list, so it was great to find out with just enough time to find some good fabrics to bring with me for the class. I bought American Made solids in several colors that would go with

a beautiful bright bundle of Amy Butler designs that I already had on hand.

The class was one where we were provided with machines which was nice because everyone didn't have to travel to QuiltCon with their own machines. But I admit I struggled with finding my groove with my class Juki, nothing at all wrong with the machine, but it takes a while to get used to sewing on something so different from your 'daily driver.' All the things I'm used to doing without a thought were a bit of a struggle, like finding a consistent 1/4" seam which impacted how much I was able to actually get done in class. 

Here is the sum total of what I got sewn together. I love the way the solids and the crazy prints play together in these blocks. The biggest thing I took away from the class was Victoria Findlay Wolfe's crystal clear directions on how to sew curves. She's so enthusiastic about it and very prepared to take the class along with her to get to competence on mastering thosecurves. It's a big stopper for a lot of sewers, myself included so that was particularly important. But after practicing a few times, I think I really got it. There are some great videos that she's made for Sizzix that pretty much cover what she said in class that are worth checking out.  If you ever get a chance to take a class from her, jump at it, she's a wonderful instructor.

Back home I played with arranging the bits I'd gotten sewn together, realizing that I'll have to pay attention to where the individual solids or prints will come into contact with themselves because it really changes the look of the block. This of course, can be used intentionally...hmmm....

The other big thing I learned in the class was how to use a die-cutting machine. Everyone in the class received their own Pies and Points die to use (and take home, what a great marketing tool!) There were several of the Big Shot Pro machines set up in the classroom and one of the Sizzix reps was there in the class to instruct us on their use. It was great fun and much easier than I'd thought it would be. Since I wasn't doing so great on consistently sewing a 1/4" seam I decided to spend more time on cutting pieces out since I didn't have a Sizzix to use at home.

 Here's what my "Parts Department" (as Victoria Findlay Wolfe calls it) looks like with all the pieces stacked up in the box my laptop came in. It's the perfect size with a foam insert that holds everything in one place. Also in the picture is the Sizzix die. Several of the elements of the block have to be oriented one way, so it's important not to get them reversed, so it's good to have them sorted out like this.
And yes, I do now have a Big Shot Pro because I liked using it in the class so much, so well done on that Sizzix marketing but more on that later.