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Posts Tagged ‘sewing’


101 Fabulous Small Quilts

by Beth on April 30th, 2013
101 Fabulous Small Quilts Cover Image

I love quilting.  From choosing the pattern and all the fabrics, to cutting the pieces and creating the quilt itself, I love each step.   Unfortunately, for me quilting is usually a cool-season activity.   I just can’t seem to get enthusiastic about dealing with 5 or 6 yards of fabric when the weather is hot.  But I’ve found a way around that! Small quilts!  From 48″ square to 12×18″ or any size in between.  They are just as much fun to make as a full size quilt, with only a fraction of the fabric to deal with.   Now I can give in and make that Red and White quilt I’ve always wanted to make, but have avoided because there would have been too much red in a full-sized quilt!

101 Fabulous Small Quilts from That Patchwork Place is a great collection of quilts.  There is a wide range of beautiful designs, with full color photos and easy to follow instructions.   But there are some important things missing in the book itself.

The introduction and back cover mention quilt designers by name, yet there is no name index.  There is a table of contents, but it contains only the names of the quilts, and not even in alphabetical order.  The arrangement of the book, if there is one, I just can’t grasp.  Logical groupings such as stars, strips or applique would have been very helpful, or at the very least a thumbnail next to the title in the table of contents.

As it is, the only way to find something in this book if you don’t know the name of the quilt is to flip page by page through it.  Which I’m sure is something most quilters will love doing, as this really is a book of eye candy for quilters.  As a Librarian who also quilts, I find it frustrating that a book with such potential fell so short.

That’s not to say I won’t be buying myself a copy.  It’s too beautiful a book not to.

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Calling all artists and crafters

by Beth on October 20th, 2012
Calling all artists and crafters Cover Image

Do you enjoy making arts and crafts?

Do you knit, sew, work with paper, clay, wood or glass?

Would you be willing to donate some of your handmade creations to support the Iowa City Public Library?

Then we have an opportunity for you!

ICPL’s first annual Fundraising Arts & Crafts Bazaar will be held on December 8, and we’re looking for a variety of donated arts and crafts to sell.  Just about anything is welcome and can be donated for this sale.  More details can be found at the bottom of this post.

And to get you in the mood to craft, here are some of the new crafting books available at ICPL:

A Bounty of Bead & Wire Bracelets by Nathalie Mornu.  Nathalie Mornu has collected 50 wonderful bracelet designs  from 37 leading jewelry artists.  She begins with a well written and easy to follow 10 page section called “Basics” that explains bead sizes, wire gauges, findings, chains,  tools and various techniques used to create the pieces in the book.  Each of the projects is identified by name and artist.  Each has a full-color close up photograph, a materials and tools needed list, and easy to follow step by step instructions. Some projects include notes and suggestions from the designer as well.  The projects run from basic to advanced, from fast to time consuming.  Each piece is a beautiful work of art that you can make for yourself.

Mod Podge Rocks!: decoupage your world, by Amy Anderson. Amy Anderson, creator and moderator of the popular blog by the same name (www.modpodgerocksblog.com) has collected 40 fun projects that run the gamut of decoupage craft – from wearable art to home decore and holiday gifts. Starting with a multi-page introduction to the various formulas of Mod Podge and their many uses, Anderson takes you step by step though each project. A simple supply list and lots of full color photos are provided.

Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk!  Making stylish shrink plastic jewelry, by Kathy Sheldon. If you’re a child of the 70’s you may have fond memories of the Shrinky-Dink ™ craze. Well it’s back with a new twist. Sheldon’s book starts with a great 10-page introduction to the fun of working with the different types of shrink plastics available and the types of artists media used with each. Step by step instructions for more than 30 projects follow, with great color photographs, and 14 pages of templates.

T Shirt Quilts Made Easy, by Martha Deleonardis.  T shirt quilts are a fun way to hold on to memories.  They mean a lot to the person who owned the shirts, but can be rather boring to others.  Deleonardis’ new book takes tshirt quilts up a notch or two.  Using bright colors and wild patterns, she adds pieced sashing and borders to create some amazing quilts that just happen to include tshirt squares.  beginning with ten pages of hints on working with tshirts is followed by eleven separate projects and a gallery of tshirt quilts made by others.  The bold color photgraphs, well written and easy to follow instructions make this a must have if you’re a tshirt collector.

Bazaar Details:

Arts and crafts items donated for the bazaar can be dropped off at the Library from Nov. 26 to Dec. 6.  The public is invited to attend the sale, which starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8.  The sale will last until it’s all gone or 4 p.m., whichever comes first.  Proceeds will benefit the Library’s Friends Foundation. For more information on the Arts & Crafts Bazaar click here.

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Me and my sewing machine.

by Beth on January 6th, 2011

Hi. My name is Beth, and I’m a fabric addict with a serious quilting habit.  I inherited addiction from my mother, and blame my quilting habit on my friend Heather Jo.  My mom sewed most of my clothes when I was little, and taught me how to sew way back in Girl Scouts.  Mom got into quilting in the 7o’s – back when brown and orange were in everything.  I made myself a denim quilt in high school, but then lost interest.

20 years later I was introduced to Heather Jo.  She was the first person I’d ever met who had an entire area in her house exclusively for sewing!  And not just any sewing – HJ is a Quilter with a capital Q.  She had a fabric stash that made my jaw drop.  Yards of this, half yards of that, in every color imaginable.  But even better she had sewing machines!  Not just one – but THREE of them.  Set up around her sewing room so when friends come to visit they can sew while she sews.

I was hooked!  I became a quilter,  and now I have a big stash of my own and through serendipity I  have 3 sewing machines now too!

But the thing is, while I’m a quilter, I don’t necessarily know how to sew.  Quilting is about piecing fabrics together with a straight stitch and a quarter inch seam allowance.  That’s it.  That’s all you do.   Maybe sometimes you do it on a curve, but it’s all straight stitching.  No fancy stitches, no blind hems, no French seams.

So what happens when my friends and I join the Million Pillowcase Challenge for charity?  We start sewing pillowcases.  They are about as simple as you can get – two 22×44″ pieces of fabric, and a 1/4 yard for a contrasting hem.  No sweat right?  Except for that one little line in the instructions that stopped me cold: “sew with a French seam”.   A what?!?    What in the heck is a French seam?    And what do you mean I can’t use a 1/4 inch seam allowance?  5/8″ is such a waste of fabric!

Which brings me around to the point of this rambling:  a great new book in the Library’s collection called Me and My Sewing Machine: a beginners guide by Kate Haxell.

This is one of the most well written instructional books I’ve ever read.  She’s very straight forward and logical in her approach, and she starts from the very beginning – the basics of a sewing machine and how it works, and she identifies the various types of feet and needles available (and explains why you would want to use one over the other).  Then she goes into seams – all different kinds of seams.  And hems, lots of hems.  And zippers!  And gathers, pleats and pin tucks! And near the end she includes instructions for making a few things to try out what you’ve learned:   a couple pillows, a shawl, a reusable shopping bag and an apron.

If you’ve been thinking about taking up sewing, or if you just want a refresher on some of the basics (or you’re a quilter and want to learn how to really sew), check out this book.  I guarantee that you’ll learn something – even if it is just what a box seam is and what it has to do with quilt batting.

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