Teddy's progress...Great Hexies!...

        Teddy is still knee deep in making hexies! 

Teddy managed to finish one of the hexagon centres and he wanted to see what more of the project would look like...

Here are the colours picked for the Dresden plate blades- 19 different colours...

Then there is a background square to pick a colour for....

He's trying to decide between the soft pond or soft primrose...

All fabric is from the  Printemps line by 3 Sisters for Moda & available at Mrs P's!

He will keep you updated but he whispered that progress may be slowed as the shop needs to be tidied up for a couple of special vistors next Sat- March 8th.  

Teddy is learning to quilt!...

      Mrs P's helped Teddy out a bit, as Teddy didn't want to use sharp scissors unsupervised!  

A large order has arrived at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc.  It will take me a couple of days to figure out where to put it and how to display it all.  One 'item' In this order, is a gorgeous line by Moda, Printemps- designed by 3 Sisters.  Colours in the line are described as- linen, primrose, scarlet, buttercup and pond!   It really does look like 'spring'!

The pattern Teddy is using, is from Moda and Mrs P's has a few copies printed for those that are interested.  If you want to ensure there is one for you, please email or let me know & I'll get one printed for you.  (I am unable to print at Mrs P's at this point.). The pattern calls for 1inch hexagons forming the inner part of a Dresden plate square.  

Dresden plate ruler and packages of 1" hexes are both in stock at Mrs P's.   So far, Teddy has taken a charm pack and picked out the lighter colours and used a quarter of those 5 inch squares.  Then, using the paper pieces, the edges are basted through paper and fabric.  Those basted pieces are what you see in the picture above. 

Next, the hexagons will be joined into the 'circle' by hand sewing.  I'm hoping Teddy will continue with his great work and surprise me tomorrow as well.  The blades for the Dresden plate will be cut out of darker colours than used for the centre.  He's told me, since I'm taller (and when sitting, my feet reach the floor) - he'll let me do the machine sewing. 

Normal charm packs have 40 pieces- Printemps has 42.  Along with charm packs, 10 x10 Layer cakes and jelly rolls- Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc has the all of the Printemps fabrics in the line by the metre or 'on the bolt'!  

As always, please contact Mrs Pugsley's Empotium Inc if you wish any of these items and they can be shipped to you or put aside until you get in.

Pricing ...

Charm packs are $12.95

Layer cakes or Jelly rolls are $49.95 each

On the bolt- $14.95/ metre  $3.95/ fat quarter and $7.95/1/2 meter ( Flabbie) 

           

Check back soon to see Teddy's progress! 

New and old products...

In- R-Form...

Introducing...single sided fusible foam stabilizer!  On the label it says, "...Soft and Formable, easy to stitch, needle friendly." 

Sounds like fun - but what is it used for and/or in?  

When you make a bag or purse type items, there is a stiffener between the fabric to help give the finished product shape.  Without an interfacing or stabilizer, the fabric would be at the whim of gravity, (actually the law of gravity) and just sit there in a lump.  Making purses and bags with this type of foam allows you to sit the bag down and the sides stay up.  It also allows you to collapse or squish the bag and it 'springs' back into shape.

The 'Laminated Napped Tricot'  is a generous 58 inches wide. 

Mrs P's has precut 1 metre lengths and it is currently available for $20 plus tax for the 1 metre roll, as a special.  Cuts of less than 1 m will be priced at the regular price of $23.95/m. This is an introductory offer to help you see how the product performs in your projects.  

Valentine's Day is close at hand and Mrs P's has 'Fallen Out of Love' with some fabric! Gasp...

Selected bolts of fabric have been culled from the shelves and are on a table.  The fabric that was $9.95/m is now $6.95/m and $14.95/m or higher are $9.95/m.  Selection is limited and does include some Christmas prints.

A question to ponder....Is fabric or chocolate better on Valentine's Day?

Mrs Pugsley's Emporium inc has fabric with chocolates printed on it for those of us that cannot decide! 

Little Black Dress 2! ...Part 2...

Remember, the charm pack... And the little triangles...

It's time to start laying them out...

...starting in the centre, Ta da! ... A pinwheel!

Then adding dark to gray, on our way to a star!

Time to build a frame around the star...

The block could be stopped here, but another frame could be added....

And I really liked the black dots...

There's a lot of ways to play with the triangles and if you are making a block, you may want a different layout and that's what makes quilting unique.  You pick and choose what looks good to you!  

I learned in doing this, as much as I like the 'scrappy' look- I was organizing the triangles to match on opposite sides of the squares.   Organized chaos?  

The end product is ' only ' a quilt block, but it will be finished with batting, quilting and a binding. All parts of learning to quilt.  

We usually only see beautiful, well done quilts and are totally amazed at the artistry, forgetting that all quilters must start as beginners. Our skill levels will increase by learning and trying small projects. Not all will be great and that's okay! 

Now it's off to try and put this together, trying to keep this many lines together...eek!

Normally, you start square by square and sew in a row, doing that for all six rows.  Then attach the rows together, making the square.  As these are made on the bias, the rows will become stretchy and the square may not be true.

Another way to sew these together, is to treat the block like 4- nine patch squares...

Now,  by only dealing with a row of three  at a time, it may become more manageable and easier to sew.  

I'm planning to use the nine patch method on half of the block and the other half, will be 6 squares sewed together in a straight line forming a row & then those rows will be attached, forming the other half of the block. 

No matter which way it gets together, there's a lot of ways to sew the wrong edges. If you are happy with a layout, take a picture of it before you sew just in case you move or rotate a square the wrong way.  

Attempting Little Black Dress 2 ! ...

This is a 'charm pack' or 5x5 inch squares of ...Little Black Dress 2!  Designed by Basicgrey for Moda fabrics,.  It was so elegant I just had to open it! ... And mess it up a little...

Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc has charm squares in a few different Moda fabric lines.  They retail for $12.95.  I've watched a lot of people come in and they are attracted by the packaging and the way the colours all 'blend' with each other.  But what do you do with them?  

I thought I'd show what I decided to make.  ( It won't be perfect, but you may enjoy the process! )  I'm making a quilt block!  My Little Black Dress 2!

First, in quilting, a 1/4 inch seam is very important.  Some will say mandatory.  As this is a single block, as long as I keep my seam lines the 'same' on the same size squares if fabric, things should line up.  On the other hand, if you are attempting to achieve a set finished block size- you will need more math.  This is strictly to get us started in making a quilt block or a patch!

This pitcure is attempting to help us get to a 1/4 inch seam without a special foot on the machine.  An index card is set beneath the foot.  The foot is lowered and the needle, gently poked though the index card on a line.  The next line to the right is 1/4 inch.  Seriously, it's that easy! ( Double check your index card if in Canada with a ruler-but mine were fine) Now attach a piece of tape or a sticky note to the 1/4 inch mark.  This is where your material should be edged along as you are stitching. 

Off we go.  Here, I have 2 charm pack squares, right sides together, chugging along all the way around the square.  I pivot at the corners, meaning that the machine needle is down at the edge and I lift the pressed foot and turn the fabric to stitch the next edge.  

I've also learned, as seams lines are cut in quilting,  back stitching is not always used on the ends. Once you learn this, it is straight ahead sewing.  Back stitching was a very hard habit to get out of.   I also stitch with threads to make it easy to see, in case I have to remove them.  As seams are usually pressed to one side and if the tension is okay on your machine, you shouldn't see too much of the thread.

Here is the 1st square, all stitched around...now we'll cut it diagonally into quarters...

It's been tugged apart to show where it was cut.

Off to the iron we go.  The little triangles are laid on the ironing board with the dark side of the fabric up .  A hot iron is run over the dark side.  The heat helps to set the thread into the fabric.  Then the dark fabric is pressed up from the lighter fabric.  This results in the seam behind the dark colour and not as noticable when you quilt it.

If you look at the top left corner, you will see the 'tails' of the seam still on that square.  The others have been trimmed or clipped off.  The seam is under the darker fabric on all 4 squares.

This could be block but in actual fact, I will need more. 

These 4 could also look like...

...An envelope block.  

I'm off making more squares and turning them into triangles.  

Next post, we will try to attach the multitude of little squares into a row and then attach the rows making a quilt block from these triangles.

NOTE: Not all triangles are equal!  In quilting there are 1/2 square triangles. These are not made on the bias like the above.  On the bias of the material, means the fabric can be stretchy and if over handled,  it can go out of 'square'.  For this project, the above way should work for my end product and it's fun to zoom around the outside of the squares!  

If you are interested, I need 3 sets cut of the above ( dark/light) : 2 sets cut of medium/light and 4 sets of dark/medium.  Check your fabric stash and play along.   If using yardage- cut them into what ever size you want to handle.  I'm using precut, so that saves time.