May | 2016 | Needle and Foot

This week we have been reading and talking about the idea of supporting all of the Indie pattern designers that are working so hard to design and release original patterns. Besides purchasing these lovely patterns we can also offer our time as pattern testers. Two weeks ago I was reading a couple of posts by Mihaela of A Beautiful Day. She blogs from Romania (don’t you love the ease with which we are able to befriend quilters from all over through this blogosphere.) Mihaela is working on a new pattern she calls Urban Folk Quilt. In one of her posts she asked for some testers that would help to verify that her English all translates correctly. I happily volunteered. It is hard enough to design patterns, figure out the measurements, draw up the instructions etc. But to do this in a language that is not your primary one must be very challenging.

You can be sure, language isn’t an issue for Mihaela. Her English is just wonderful and I did not find even one problem with her pattern and/or the translation to English. She includes every detail of instruction and sometimes more than one would expect. She discusses how to confirm that your blocks line up correctly, how to properly bind a quilt, and suggests ways to avoid block distortion. Overall, this pattern is complete and a great tool for the beginning quilter. I loved making it and would happily make another (and probably will!)

For this project, I chose colors that would work in our master bathroom. There are lots of bare walls in there. Bathrooms don’t rate very high on my need-to-decorate scale. Especially the master – who sees it besides Ray and I? I decided to make something to spruce it up. These colors work wonderfully.

I had so much fun quilting this. Finishing at 16 1/2″ squared, it was small enough to feel secure in trying new things. This quilt design feels a bit southwestern to me. It reminds me of a couple of throws that Ray bought some years ago on a trip to Mexico. This inspired me to quilt wavy lines, in three colors, across the horizontal stripes. Using the dark and light gray as well as the brown gives nice texture to the stripes.

Within the two rows of pieced blocks I used matchstick quilting. Having never quilted these narrow stripes before, I tried quilting with my darning/FMQ foot and with the walking foot.

Both work – the walking foot creates much straighter lines but oh my, it was taking forever! Having to stop and turn the quilt at each end was more than annoying. If it was a larger space being quilted, I would try the walking foot again. After a short stint of this though, I switched to my darning foot and FMQ’d the lines. They have a bit of an organic wobble to them but it still look ok. I love how the purple blocks have a bit of a puffiness to them from the tight quilting that surrounds them. Above and below each pieced row, I did some teeny tiny FMQ. Those rows are only one inch tall – it was a challenge to keep the movement flowing in such a small space.

What a fun project this was. Testing this pattern was an easy way to help another quilter out. There are lots of opportunities to test patterns. Be sure that you can meet the timeframe of the pattern designer though. Most likely she is relying on you to complete the task by a certain date so she can release the pattern. Speaking of which, Mihaela is releasing this pattern today! Check it out and show her some quilting love. It would make a great mini, table topper, or you could use it as a pillow cover if you add the backing to it.

Linking to several of my favorites, including Freemotion Mavericks, Finish it up Friday, and Off the Wall Fridays. Links to all of these are available at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

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The idea of supporting all of the Indie Designers is being (understandably) touted heavily among quilting blogs this week. It started with a post by Lindsey Rhodes which has everyone thinking about the balance of expecting/wanting everything for free via the internet and supporting the amazing people that spend so much time working on patterns and are trying to eek out a bit of finanacial return on their efforts. I am as guilty as the next maker for using the free ideas (which are endlessly abundant) and passing on actually buying patterns. It isn’t a question of fairness or honesty. I am not using ideas that are not published for other’s use. However, I have a huge appreciation for the work that goes into the published patterns. Especially after writing my first tutorials — those take such a long time. But a pattern for a quilt is a much more difficult undertaking.

In celebration of May Makers, and as a show of my gratitude for all of the knowledge I have gained for not a penny, I will purchase a couple of patterns for my upcoming projects. I have my amazing Dear Stella fabric sitting there waiting for me to decide what to do with it. I plan to shop the patterns and find the perfect one for that gorgeous stack of pretty. I hope this might inspire one or two readers to go out and shop the talented makers that are out there. Craftsy has lovely, well-written patterns for sale and most all of your favorite quilters have a shop linking from their blog. Show them some love.

In other news, my fabric purchasing self-control was severely put to the test yesterday! I worked at the “Country Store” during our local quilt show. If you are unfamiliar, the Country Store is a place where guild members can offer up items they no long want and sell them with some of the proceeds going to the guild and some to the seller. Oh my goodness, the deals that were available!! It was so tempting to buy fabric. I was working the checkout line and was drooling over the fabric that people were buying. Fat quarters for $1.00, or less! Kits that were purchased and never made, items that were completed and no longer wanted, yardage and notions galore. So much temptataion. I do NOT need fabric right now. You know that as well as I do! I kept my drooling to myself and used all of my willpower to come home having spent only $2.50. 🙂

I bought one purple batik fat quarter for all of 50 cents. My purple stash is depleted after making my scrappy projects for the month of March. One fat quarter doesn’t restore the scrap bin, but I don’t have any purple projects in the making right now so it’s fine.

I bought this stack or 2013/14 American Quilter magazines for $2.00 I LOVE quilting magazines but the budget only goes so far. These will be read cover to cover – numerous times each! I think American Quilter has very good articles on the artistic side of modern quilting. Plus there are tutorials on FMQ from my favorite, Lori Kennedy of The Inbox Jaunt. In keeping with my recycling philosophy, I will pass these along to a quilty friend or two when I am done with them.

It was hard to pass up all of the bargains yesterday but just because it is ‘only a few dollars’ or ‘nearly free’ doesn’t mean I need to add it to the collections of fabric which overflow from my closet. It becomes almost overwhelming!

Time to go search for the perfect pattern to use when I start my Dear Stella project!

Linking to Main Crush Monday and Sunday Stash. Links to both are available at the top of the page, under Link Ups.