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A surprise quilting project (Quilt studio diary)

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Since I was in my teens, I’ve been careful to stop every envious thought that enters my mind before they take up residence. Over the years, this has become an automatic reaction, with one exception. The one exception is my former quilting self. It is surprising how often I look at a pleasing item that I have made and secretly wish I could make something like that. Maybe confessing to this makes me seem deranged, but that is how my thoughts work sometimes. Sorry! This week’s surprise project started like that because I’ve been envying the Sliver/Lastu zipper bag lately. Long-time readers may remember seeing my original Sliver/Lastu zipper bag from year 2020. Some weeks ago, I came across it and set it to hang on a doorknob while I figured out what to do about the bag (to keep or gift or try to sell). I’ve been seeing the bag several times every day since then because that door is across the upstairs landing. And I’ve been so envious of my previous success! See if you...
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3 beginner quilting mistakes I made on my first quilt (and how you can avoid them)

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Are you planning to make your first quilt – or perhaps dream of making one? Go for it, but please don’t make the three mistakes that I made! When I decided to sew my first proper-sized quilt in the mid-1990s, I made three big mistakes - but I was able to finish the quilt: Be smarter than I was and learn from my early experiences! Mistake 1: Cutting with scissors. In the mid-1990's, quilting became visible in the sewing magazines that I subscribed to. I fell in love with the modern, colourful look and decided to make a quilt for our new bedroom. But because I wasn’t sure if quilting was going to be a lasting thing for me, I also decided NOT to buy any special tools. They were expensive, and I already had the cost of fabric to consider. And anyway, what was the use of investing in tools that I might only use for one project? So, what did I end up doing? I’d selected a relatively quick pattern based on strips. Meaning, it would have been a quick make if I’d had pr...
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10+1 things you probably did not know about quilting

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When I started making this list, I wasn’t sure that I could come up with enough items, but as soon as I’d written down one, the rest came easily. Some of these 10+1 things may be familiar to you – they definitely aren’t secrets! Most items on this list are things that I wish someone had explained to me when I was a beginner quilter! So here they are: 10+1 things about quilting that you did not know – or at least haven’t stopped to think about in a while. 1. Fabric won’t mind if you do use it wrong side out. Because fabric has a “right side” and a “wrong side,” it takes me a bit of mental effort to consider using it the wrong side up. But if the wrong side of the fabric looks better for a project, we are allowed to use it that way. Sometimes the wrong side just looks better with the other fabrics. Ugly fabrics, for example! Or, the wrong side may be just that much lighter in value than its neighbours, and achieve good contrast. Here’s an example - both the lower two blocks in th...
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