Quilt tips and funny moments

Do you have any tips or funny quilting moments you want to share with other quilters? If so email me your tips.

I found another great use for those "Needle Grabbers" that you use to help pull your needle out of the quilt.  While quilting in hubby's big truck, I got tired of pricking my finger held underneath my quilt each time we went over a "bump".  So I put the round "Needle Grabber" on my finger - and it works. What a great way to utilize such a neat tool!

While ironing your block, a neat way to remember how to have the seam flat against the dark side --- lay the piece down, dark side facing up. Press to "set" your seam; then press it - lift up the top piece and press again. Viola, you're done!  What a timesaver!

When washing large numbers of fat quarters which will be used in a project, I lay them on top of each other as I take them out from the dryer. Then I roll them into one tube. You can secure this tube with a strip of fabric until needed for your quilt. This saves time folding and unfolding fat quarters.

When I get an idea for a quilt, I put the fabrics and patterns I plan on using in a large zip lock bag. Sometimes I write a date on the outside to keep me focused on this quilt plan.

Naming a quilt can be daunting sometimes so I will ask Dear Hubby to help me out. He has yet to name a quilt, but he designed the layout on one quilt that has Roman Stripe blocks. I won a purple ribbon - Grand Champion in the machine quilt category at our County Homemakers Quilt Show - Clark County, Indiana, 2004.

While vacationing in Gatlinburg, TN, I was showing off my Phil Beaver sunflower quilt at a local quilt shop. I handed my treasured quilt, which was in a canvas bag to Dear Hubby and he took it upstairs to watch TV with our kids. The next day, I was looking for the quilt in the trunk and couldn’t find it. The look on his face saved him from a terrible tongue lashing. He called Monday from work and the quilt shop mailed it to me and would not let him pay for postage. The name of the quilt shop: Holloway’s Country Home in Cosby, TN. Their phone number is 865-428-1597. What a great place! Imagine my chagrin when I pulled  out one of my bras! Like I said...I was on vacation. I hope they had a laugh!

I am constantly waking up in the middle of the night, dreaming of a great layout for a quilt. But since I could never remember any part of it the next morning, I put a pad of paper next to my bed. (See, I listen to Dear Hubby’s hints.) Now I am learning to use a grid when drawing out quilt designs.

My deaf daughter wants to make a quilt. She picks out fat quarters. I told her if she makes a quilt or sews something this summer, she may get a sewing machine. Another daughter, who is mentally handicapped found a neat way to create her quilt.  She draws crayon pictures on muslin; we will add sashing and borders and she will have her own quilt!

While shopping at different quilt shops, don’t be afraid to talk to the ladies who run the shop. I have gotten so many ideas and at the same time I make new friends each time I leave their shops!

An easy way to keep up with your appliqué project while traveling - cut out groups of appliqué shapes. Put each group in a zip lock baggie; toss in your matching thread and sew as you go!

This works for your featured friends - birds love string you cut as you sew. Just scatter them on shrubs and watch them disappear. You will be amazed to see how colorful their nests turn out!