Hi, all!
Hands2Help 2015 is off to a great start - we currently have 77 people signed up! That is awesome!! And if you've just found out about the party, there's still time to join in - so please leave a comment below if you want to participate! Not only can you get that rush of good feeling that comes from making a quilt that will share a quilt-y hug with someone in need, there are prizes too! You can read more about the Challenge by clicking on the Page tab above this post.
This week is one of my favorite weeks in the H2H schedule - it's time for you to share your favorite sewing tips, quilt tutorials, and/or great recipes! After all, you can never have enough of any of those things, right? Feel free to share any or all in a post and link them up below. You can also link up to someone else's post if you prefer, particularly to share a tutorial, or link directly to the tutorial in your own post.
So here's my sewing tip! I saw this on Facebook this week, and was totally blown away by how simple and useful it is! Take one of these...
Put it over the arm of your sewing machine...
Adjust it to the seam width you want...
And voila! A guide for your seam allowance! I need to do this on all the machines at church - so much neater than painter's tape!
And here's my favorite go-to quick recipe for supper -
I usually use less garlic than this recipe calls for, and sometimes I will brown up some sweet Italian sausage and add it in after the pasta cooks. Yum!! Takes about a half hour from start to serve. Add some crispy artisan bread warmed in the oven while you cook the pasta, and you've got a great meal!
And for my tutorial, I'll refer you back to the Sweet Sixteen quilt-along tutorials - one each on my Sunday night posts from January 18th to March 8th. There's lots of variety there, and most work up pretty quickly! I think this one was my personal favorite...
So now it's your turn! What will you share with us? We can't wait to see! Be sure to take some time to check out the links and see what your fellow H2H-ers have to share, too!!
And be sure to check back next Sunday, when we'll "Meet The Sponsors"! You'll be introduced to some of our sponsors, and see what wonderful prizes will be given away at the end of the Challenge!
Hugs!
Sarah
PS - just a bit of housekeeping! I still need mailing addresses for a few of you - Karen Lambert (also need a correct email address for you, Karen!), Kathy Decker, and Shauna Trueblood. Please email me directly at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com with your info! Thanks!
Hello Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with elastic bands is that they stretch and perish, and risk setting up a certain resistance as the edge of the material passes alongside.
The bed of the machine has the screw holes for attaching a seam guide attachment. Why don't you collect up as many as possible? It is surprising how many people have seam guides in boxes of attachments but never use them. They are the handiest attachments ever. Here's a link to relevant posts on my blog:-
http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Seam%20guide
If you have trouble getting hold of them, drop me an email and I can point you in the right direction.
Love, Muv
This is my favorite sweet 16 quilt. Thanks for hosting another H2H year of quilty hugs and all the wonderful sweet 16 options to use my scraps.}
ReplyDeleteThis is a great tip for those who own such sewing machine! And beautiful Sweet sixteen! Thanks for the party.
ReplyDeleteGreat tip with the rubber band! I saw an interesting tool on Carrie Nelson's @ Moda blog called a Q-Tools Sewing Edge. It's re-useable vinyl strips that you can cut and place where you like. It's supposed to be thick enough to but your fabric up to a bit but thin enough for the pins to have room to go over.
ReplyDeleteAlways loved that Sweet Sixteen quilt Sarah! Bold and Soft and cheerful all in one!
ReplyDeleteI put in a link for a great tute that was on Amanda's Tuesday Tips at Cozy Pumpkin and is written by Leslie of Leslie Unfinished. This tute teaches a method for joining the binding ends that is the easiest and most foolproof way I've ever tried. It works with any size binding and is No fail and No tools!
I also linked up my own high fiber cake tutorial ...a cake pincushion that is, LOL. It looks almost good enough to eat though.
Sally shared these great tips...
ReplyDeleteWhen I have many blocks of the same design to piece, I sort the sets of block pieces onto cheap paper plates. I stack up the plates, and then work my way down through the stack, chain piecing two pieces for each block. When I get to the bottom of the stack, I start at the top again, adding the third piece to the block. It keeps me organized, and speeds up the piecing. When I'm read to put the project away for the day, I slip the stack of paper plates into a zip lock bag for storage.
Another tip- when making a scrap quilt with many colors, I make 2/3 to 3/4 of the blocks, lay them out, and then determine what colors I need to add more of. For me, the shortage of a particular color is often not apparent until I see the quilt laid out.
Arg!!! What a great and easy tip!!!!! Thanks Sarah!
ReplyDeleteLove your paper plate method Sarah! So smart! Definitely am going to use this!
ReplyDeleteAnd a smart way to balance a scrap quilt too!
Oops - I didn't realize that it was a different Sally. Thank you Sally!
DeleteThe idea of using a rubber band as a seam guide is great. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete