HQG Special Projects

 Oh Man!  I almost forgot this, this month. But aren't we all alike.  September seems like ages away until it's September and it's too late to do anything about it. Ok.  so last month I got those colour chips.   Have I done anything about anything yer?  Nope. but I am going to do it right now. So these are the colour chips I choose... I realized I also have an orange/gold, white, black and Silver on the label.   So I choose a few fabrics that fall in those categories and I can still add, if I want, 1 colour. Purple is not overflowing in my stash.  So a trip to the fabric store may be in order. Purple Blue orange /yellow/gold Black White Silver I don't think I'll add any more colours...

SUE AND GAIL'S BATTLE OVER THE RIGHT WAY TO PAPER PIECE Paperless Paper Piecing or Foundation Paper piecing Sue's Blocks Gail's Blocks Tools: 1. Add a Quarter and/or add an eighth (both)  2. Stitch in the ditch Foot (Sue) 3. quilting ruler to cut your 1/4 seam allowance (Gail) 4. Paper scissors 5. 28mm rotary cutter or 45mm  (both) 6. Small cutting mat or a rotary mat. (both) 7. Glue stick washable (Gail) 8. Glue pen washable (Sue) 9. Seam Ripper - NECESSARY (Gail) A lot easier for Sue! 10. Iron or Seam Roller Paper 1. Freezer Paper - iron on to printer paper and print, or trace using a light box or your window  (Gail) 2. Cheapest printer paper you can find (Sue) Thread 1. Deco Bob (Sue) 2. Invisifil (Gail) Stitch Length 1. - 1.5mm  (Gail) (that's pretty tiny for my stitch ripper) 2. - 2.4mm (Sue) Sewing 1. Stitching on the lines (Gail)  (yes! straight lines to follow) 2. Folding the lines and sewing beside them (Sue) Ironing 1. Mini Iron, then steam after it's all

This challenge is all about colour.  Last month we traded labels etc and here are the rules. 1. YOU MUST use the colours on the label you picked. 2. YOU CAN add one other colour that is not on the label if you choose to. 3. IF YOU HATE your label or didn't pick a label you may find your own label and use it. Each month from now until September I will do a special blog post for this special project.  I will add to this post each month so you may need to search for it and I will try and update it at the first of each month (I'm late this month)  before the next months post so there is no confusion.  These blogs will show my progress with the quilt (or whatever) I am making for the challenge.   Hopefully this will encourage you to get busy on your project. March  I want to talk about colour. There are so many ways you can choose your fabric for this project. I plan to use SHADES of the colours, blue, purple, black and white... Here's my label... The first step for me was to se

Bindings On these cold winter nights, do you sit by the fire, watching a great movie on TV, enjoying your time, binding, your latest creation?   NO! NO! NO!   That was a pretty picture I painted but, I hate binding my quilts... It's just one of those things for me. First off, I don't have a fire! Second of all, by the end of the day, no matter how much lighting I have, I am not interested in bindings at all!   Traditionally, I hand bound all my quilts, but now, call it laziness or whatever you like, I enjoy sitting at my machine, sewing the some what perfect binding on my quilt.  Do you hand sew your bindings, or machine sew them? Do you pillow turn or use the backing fabric to self bind your quilts? Do you have any special tips or tricks when you bind your quilt? Some new fangled method no one has ever heard of? This month the challenge is simple.  1. Make a small quilt and bind it in a method you have never used before (if possible).  2. Be prepared to show that little quilt

  December's Special Project Anyone who knows me knows I am not the best quilter in the world. And I would agree. But the one thing I struggle with is sewing a straight line. I have mostly blamed it on my machine. But as the years have gone by, I have purchased many machines that had many features, but sewing a straight line has never been one of them.   So first off... You should hold your threads when you start... Not like me.  And its fairly straight, this time. So I ask you, can you sew a straight line?   That perfect 1/4" seam allowance has always eluded me. I can draw the perfect line (hahahaha), 1/4" from the edge of my fabric, using a ruler, and neither it, or my sewing on it, are ever straight. Paper piecing, where the lines are straight, I can't sew them straight either. AND... those last 5 stitches that tend to wander off at the end of the seam... Well, how in the world does that happen. I started out with a machine with a 5mm stitch width when I was mostly

This month your special project is to make something using half square triangles.  Anything goes... a mug rug, or a pot holder, a hot mat, or table topper, a runner, or a bag, a small quilt, or a large quilt... your choice.  For the new quilters, start small and simple. For the more "seasoned" quilters you need to be creative!! Anything goes...but there must be a half square triangle (or 1000's) in your project! And if you are an embroidery fanatic, I know you can come up with something amazing.  Bring it back next month for show and tell. It has to be made this month... NO CHEATING!  And it doesn't need to be finished (and by that I mean bound) for next months show and tell.  And while you are creating, think of our next quilt show and our little quilts auction. I would like to see the little quilts auctions go back to it's roots, many years before I started with the guild... if you wish to donate, these items must be a quilt item a maximum of  20"  (squar