Tag: Teri Lucas

Quilted Block of the Month August week 2

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
The congratulatory messages on my new position with Floriani are simply awe inspiring.

Now onto our regularly scheduled program:center square

 

Oh I do remember giving  you this update sometime during the week in Instagram. Debby was stitching this motif on a postcard, and I was inspired by it. I’m not entirely certain that Debby posted this anywhere publicly so just know that I have permission to copy her homework at any time. Cool, eh? With this project you have permission to copy my homework. If you’re playing along please feel free to send me pictures and I’ll share them here on the blog.
Remember I tend to show all the stuff that I’m not happy with because I’m still learning how to machine quilt. 2017-08-11 19.29.52

Bernina 24 foot on ruler

 

 

The free-hand embroidery foot is aboutt 1/4” from needle center to the outer edge of the foot. I chose a spot roughly in the center of the square to start stitching a circle. Once the circle closed I very slowly started curving out until the edge of the foot was on the center circle. I kept stitching around, and around, and around, and around, and around and around. Once I reached the edge the ditch helped me keep the curves consistent. Using 80 weight thread in the bobbin means that there is little thready build up, and the fabric doesn’t distort.

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I’m going to show this one in a very quick vid.

This should give you an idea of how this motif is stitched out. This one looks like a wonky log cabin block, however it’s stitched from the outside in. On the quilt itself I simply winged it. In the video I used a ruler to make the lines. Going from the outside in is what helps create the visual twist.

in block stitching square 2
It’s interesting how thread looks on different color. 80 weight thread is the best!
in block stitching square 3
I like the different texture with the straight lines in the square and the ribbon candy in the border.
in block stitching square
This is the first square I stitched in. While I’ve done this before I wasn’t quite remembering the rhythm of the stitching. It came back after the first full round.

square ribbon candy

Stay tuned next week for the next installment of the Quilted Block of the Month.
Quilted Block of the Month August week one

Happy Quilting,

Teri

 

 

 

 

 

Fabulous Friday

Well. This is a bit of a surprise.

And it is totally fab-u-lous. Over the last ten months I’ve been searching for a day job. I’ve had a few interviews that led to continued looking. Looking is good. Interviewing is a bit challenging. It’s weird, I can talk quilts all day long and not get remotely freaked, but talking about me. Weird right?!

So in just ten short days I will be heading to Knoxville, TN for a couple of days of training.

I am going to be working as an Educator for Floriani.  I’ll start out shadowing several teachers, work my way to team teaching, and eventually on my own for the events. I’ll get to do the traveling and teaching that I love AND BONUS, I get to learn more! I’ll share this stuff in all the usual places, including scheduled events as I get on the schedule.

I am staying with Generation Q Magazine. So no worries there. 😀

Happy Quilting!

Teri

 

The Best Postcard EVER!

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Debby Brown and I started 1000 Postcards for Peace while at Quilt Market. Something challenging was going on in the quilt world, we wanted to, in our own small way, send some peace out into the world. Debby has since created a postcard centering tool, and put together kits with postcard making supplies. We’ve both been sending postcards, and sharing on the facebook page as needed. I have a couple to make very soon.

Much to my surprise I received a postcard from Debby. I laughed out loud.

2017-08-07 14.05.27So I posted this sneak peek the other day. It still makes me laugh out loud.

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Debby and I chat with each other on, and off all day in between the other things that we’re doing. Now mind you…there is a reason I said that to Debby in our chat. I really wanted her to make a postcard like this:

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You can read more about that on her blog.

This will occupy a special place on my inspiration wall. Thanks Debby.

Happy Quilting,

Teri

Shine Your Light

Yvonne porcella quiltShine Your Light, one of the quilts in the “Live Your Brightest Life, A Tribute to Yvonne Porcella hosted by Pokey Bolton” arrived home last night, rolled up, in plastic (to keep it dry in case!), and in just the perfect box with the info sheet with it.

Thank you Pokey, and Thank you Yvonne.

there is something amazingly special about this quilt, to me. In the last few days I’ve had reminders of the events going on in my life at that particular moment of time. I was out of my home 13 hours a day. I had to give up writing a book that I’ve longed to write, and the quilt shop where I worked was in the process of closing. Let’s just say that the physical tiredness, coupled with the heart wrenching decision to Let Go, and the emotional fatigue was off the charts. There is some other stuff that I’ll just hold onto. So to have a quilt like this happen, in a relatively short amount of time….ooooph.

Having the quilt selected to be part of the exhibit buoyed my spirits. Sometime soon it will hang in my sewing room as a reminder to Live my Brightest Life, to pour all of who I am into the quilt making that I get to do, the people I am privileged to teach, and work with in the quilting community.

Speaking of Bright Lights. I’m sharing this link to Lisa Sipe’s Go Fund Me page. She is, without a doubt, a bright light in our quilt community. As you may have heard Lisa lost the lower part of her left leg. She’s not able to work right now, however she’s made major strides (she would love the word play) being able to take her dogs out for a walk on her own. This is huge. At some point down the road she’s going to need a prosthesis…so I’m sure her goal of $25,000 isn’t going to quite meet her needs.

Quilt a Bright Life Friends,

Teri

Kaleidoscope – Dreams do come true

Kaleidoscope – Dreams do come true

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this looks like a hot mess, and in a way it is. what you can’t see is the ever growing pile o’holyscraps over there ———->
I’ve wanted to make a kaleidoscope quilt for a long time. Even designing one in a program but not quite getting what I needed out of it. So Sizzix comes to the rescue. After pressing some* of these batiks I started cutting.

*some were from a 5” charm square pack I had from teaching some time back.

I wasn’t quite sure where this where this was going color placement wise, and quite frankly I’m still not. I know  you’re not surprised by this either.

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I made the choice for this one fabric to the be the background, realizing that I didn’t have enough I found this glorious orange. I ripped several pieces off the yardage, pressed, and figured out how to cut each strip to get the pieces I wanted.

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I’m using Superior’s MicroQuilter 100 wt polyester for the piecing. No distortion here.
Tip number two for the day, I put my iron on the lower middle setting for the cotton. Wow! what a difference this is making as I can press for longer periods of time and not burn my fingers. The bigger difference, the fabric isn’t warping. Good golly I’ve been quilting for over twenty-four years you’d think I would have learned this by now, right? Not so. Sheesh.

Now I have another idea for this same die.

I need to set this aside for a few days while I work on some other stuff. Stay tuned.

Saturday I’ll have another installment of the Quilted Block of the Month.

center square
Center square

Stay

Pins + Needles – Kit in a Box! Wooty Woot Woot Woot!

It’s really too bad the Christmas, and my birthday only come ’round once a year. Because getting boxes in the mail is F. U. N. Fun! 100 years ago my sweetie and I subscribed to music, and book clubs. I probably would have subscribed to a stationary club if they’d designed one just for me. Because paper, pens oh my.

Pins+Needles Kits is owned by Kellie Rushing and her daughter-in-love Brittany. Kellie is a BERNINA Educator, (my dream job or one of them) I’ve met at quilt shows. The classroom educators are some of my favorite people. Ever! They know stuff about machines, and are incredibly patient with me. Because I’m such a diva in the classroom.

pins needles box top

So Christmas arrived this box arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I love getting boxes in the mail. I’m just getting around to opening it. Don’t have any clue what else has been going on that delayed this kind of goodness.

pins needles box side

This is fun. Handcrafted by You. This is the important stuff.

pins needles polka dots

And anybody who uses tissue paper with purple polka dots has my attention. Because purple, and shiny. I’m going to have to add this paper to my inspiration wall in front of my sewing machine. My precious.

I got so dang excited about the dots I nearly forgot to show you the project!

pins needles project card

Just in Case by byAnnie.com. I heart Annie Unrein, she’s wicked smart and has great projects, products and directions.

pins needles important info.Since this project uses vinyl, they’ve taken care to put some tips for sewing with vinyl right in the kit. Sweet! the lightweight tissue paper is right in the box, unless you’re going to hang it on your wall too.

pins needles in the boxk

And then it gets better because orange zippers! Kellie and Brittany put orange zippers in the box. It’s like they know me or something. Purple, orange. Oh my.

Te kit comes complete with thread, and stabilizer. Yahoo!

pins needles fabric zippers vinyl

The fabric line here is Moda’s Stay True to Yourself. Well yes. Listen to this beautiful wisdom. It’s time to get stitching and make a thing.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

Oh oh oh I nearly forgot! Thanks for reminding me!!

 

*facepalm*

Yeah, I’m kind of annoyed with myself at the moment. I got so excited with the IDEA that reading the rules fell through the cracks. GAH!

Can I finish in time? #cherrywood #cherrywoodchallenge2017

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Let me back up a bit. When Karla announced the 2017 Cherrywood Challenge I sort of lost my mind. First of all Cherrywood. Cherrywood. Second, van Gogh *deep contented sigh*.

Over the weekend the Mad Dash to Completion started.

Backs are cool

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In spite of a few moments when the desire to run from the sewing room nearly overwhelmed me the going was getting good. Teeny tiny stitches were forming well under the needle creating pleasing designs across the surface of the quilt. YaY Me!

And here it is

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And here is where I paused for a moment, grabbed the Challenge Information Sheet that came with the fabric and – get this – I READ it. Yes, dear ones, I read the instructions. Upon learning that my quilt did not meet the requirements of 75% use of the challenge fabric the drama exuding from my person may have qualified me for an Emmy, or an Oscar, either way you go.

In fine fashion I kept stitching for a while see:

Turned the corner

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A little metallic goes a long way. That’s a post for another day! I found just the right copper in my stash, and shockingly it’s not Superior.

So, in a few weeks I’ll finish the stitching along the “frame” then write a blog post on the character of the quilt. ‘Cause it totally has some character.

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happy quilting!

Teri