Time For A Collage

I had some down time after my marathon power washing out in the backyard today. It was hotter than hades today. I couldn't even cool off while using the power washer. That thing hurts!

So, I sat here and did a little collage. Hope you like it.

Printing Out Photos for My Quilt

If you have never printed photos on to fabric before, it is a really fun process. There are sooo many different ways you can accomplish this task. I use different methods depending on what I am using the photos for. I always try and consider how my project will "live". Is it something that someone will wear; will it be washed periodically; will it get a lot of wear and tear; will there be a lot of rubbing.

I have been working on my daughter's graduation quilt; which she will be taking with her to college. She will need something she can throw in the wash. She will more than likely still use gentle or hand wash cycle, but she can still wash it as I made it colorfast.

First I chose 100% cotton poplin fabric. It has a really smooth finish and very little texture. I cut it out to my desired size (8 1/2 by 11).

Then I used Bubble Jet Set 2000 to rinse the fabric. The directions are right on the bottle. How much simpler can you get! There is a pic below. Also, there is the Jet Rinse I use for after I finish printing.



After I rinsed the fabric in the Jet Set, I let it dry and ironed it to a nice crisp finish. I then ironed it onto freezer paper. This is the one I use below. I just love freezer paper. I use it for so many different craft and sewing projects. You iron the shiny side of the freezer paper onto the back of the fabric, and when you are done printing it out or cutting, you simply peel off the paper and it doesn't leave any residue.


I pick out, doctor, and play with my photos in any old program. I then print them out in best quality. But, I should caution against using any other type of paper as your source. Just leave the setting as regular paper. I have done this MANY times and for the over all life of your project, you will get a much better finish.

After the ink is dry I like to run a dry iron over the photos. I then give them a gentle rinse in the Bubble Jet Rinse. I heat dry them with a blow dryer and then press them. (Just because I'm always worried about the life of my project and the photos fading, I still give them another rinse in fabric softener and water.) Do not ring out your fabric or rub on top of the photos. Just dab or lay it flat.

I know there are so many ways out there to do this. I use the June Tailor fabric sheets as well. Even though it does not require it, I still use the above methods of rinsing with the Bubble Jet Rinse and then the fabric softener. I have tried skipping the rinsing, and was really sorry I did after the project was washed a few times.

My motto is, if I'm going to spend a lot of time making this; then I want to make sure it will stand up to the test of time and not fade right away so that whomever I give it to will end up throwing it away.

It's been a lot of work, but it still is a lot of fun and my photos are really sharp and full of color.

Graduation Quilt In Progress

Long overdue to write on my blog. (Once again!) I have been really busy working on my daughter's graduation quilt. She wanted something with a tree; but, she wanted it to be sort of abstract. This is what I have ended up with. Well, almost...I'm far from done.

Here is a really bad picture of the quilt in progress. I still have to put on the borders and then applique the photos on the outer borders as well. I have the photos printed out and will blog more about that process too.

I really love applique. You can just have so much fun with it and be as creative as you want. I made swirls on template plastic and cut out the shapes. Then I traced several different sizes I had cut out onto "light steam-a-seam 2". I then peeled off the backing and placed the steam-a-seam onto the wrong side of the fabric. I cut out all of the shapes and placed them where I wanted them on the quilt background. I pinned them in place until I had the leaves in the all of the places I thought worked out best for my design. I ironed them in place.

I embroidered inspirational words with Madeira Rayon verigated thread on to purple fabric and then repeated the steam-a-seam process making circles instead with the words in the center.

I still have to add more roots. Also, the outside border is the same deep purple as the plums with the words in the main part of the quilt. The outside border should be 4 1/2" sewn in and then I will applique photos onto the border. I am going to border each photo with a 1/4 bias strip. and quilt over each strip.

This slightly blurry pic below is a close up of one of the plums.

Happy sewing all. Now back to work for me!

Recent Adventures

Wow what a whirlwind. Have I been busy. Long time in coming.


First, my birthday...wonderful day. My daughter surprised me by taking me out to dinner and had my friends meet us there. It was a wonderful surprise and time well spent. The "ladies" gave me cobalt blue glasses and this really neat cup with a strainer and a lid for my tea. (Which I have used every day since I received it.) My friend Karen, who sent the lavender roses in the pic below, gave me the cutest stuffed pug. Since my husband was out to sea, it was so wonderful that my daughter took such time and effort to set that up for me. It really made me feel special. It meant a great deal to me.


Since the 19th...what a whirlwind of activity. I finally got my sewing room cleaned and organized!! Yeah me. I am really pleased with everything having a place and being able to find everything more quickly. I will post more on mission organization later.


In the mean time, I have been busy with machine embroidery and quilting as well.


I completed the quilt I was making for my beautiful new niece Jayna. I am pretty happy with it. I found the pattern in the March 2009 Issue of "The Quilter Magazine". The pattern is called "Bear Hugs" by Heidi Pridemore and can be found on page 40. Like most quilt patterns, it is fun to change it up and make it your own. Let you creative license take charge. While I did use quilt quality 100% cottons; I also used minkee and flannel. The end result as you can see below gave the quilt wonderful textures. I'm hoping little Jayna will enjoy her new quilt.


Applique and Minkee, those are two words I had never put together before. I was happy with the end result don't get me wrong. But, it was a long road to getting it done. Applique over the edge of Minkee can be a bit tricky. I was afraid it would pucker or catch. I ended up using a walking foot with Teflon ends while doing a double blanket stitch on the edges of the bear and his blanket. I wanted to make certain it held well. I also used Minkee on the back of the quilt. It is so soft and you can just imagine a child cuddled up in it. It's just wonderful material.



The quilt is quite heavy, but as Jayna is a South Dakota farm girl :), I am hoping it will keep her warm in their long cold winters.


Machine Applique

I attended my monthly machine applique retreat in a nearby town (Visalia). I have such fun with those ladies. (And Phil) I worked on a window pane blouse. I was able to complete five squares by the end of class which runs from 9 to 6 with two breaks for brunch and late lunch. I am pretty happy with the results. I did a couple more squares today and I'm happy with the way they stitched out. I used stabil-stick tear away as a stabilizer. I decided I'm just going to go crazy with it and stitch something out in every single square. I went with a flower/garden theme. I don 't care how busy the end result will be. I'm just going to have fun with it :)




Let me know what you think. I'll post a pic when I get it completed.

I'm off to the Fresno Mall and then the Fish Market with "the ladies Kristin and Laysee" tomorrow.

Cya,
Delicia

More flowers for my birthday! My sister Maria sent me the flowers above. My sister Vikkie sent me a really funny card. Mom bought me a complete collection of embroidery thread!! It's over 160 spools of 1000 yard thread, high sheen. I can't wait to dig into it! I'll have to take a picture of it when it comes. Only....how the heck am I going to take it to class? I'm used to taking my Madeira Rayons to class in my stackable containers. But, they are just too small for the amount of embroidery I find myself doing lately. Where there is a will there's a way. I'll figure something out :)

My son and I did some gardening yesterday. He really got a kick out of this tea cup planter, so I had to get us one for the garden.

Have a great day all!

Delicia

More Lace and Lovely Roses

Wow what a busy day today. I have been running around the house doing things all day. But, most of it was gardening and I always have so much fun doing that. My son got out early and he pitched in after lunch. We had a lot fun getting new herbs planted and putting out some new solar lights in the backyard. It was time well spent.

Here is the lace bookmark I made for my son! Isn't he cute? I just love the way he came out. He has a really nice sheen too. I used Madeira Polyneon thread and I was very happy with it. Once again, I used the Jenny Haskins Dissolve Magic. I love that stuff. He's pretty big though. My son doesn't seem to care at all. He's very happy with his bookmark.
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I just had to share these. My friend Karen sent me lavender roses. Aren't they lovely? Darn the luck I couldn't get them to look the actual color in the photo. They look a bit pink. It was so thoughtful of her. I put them in my sewing room so I can look at them all day. I smile every time I see them.



Well, it's back to machine embroidery "stuff". Have you tried www.AnnTheGran.com? It is a great site and their designs are fantastic.

Cya,
Delicia

Lace Bookmark

Here is the lace bookmark I made on my Bernina. Of course it's purple. What else would I use for myself. The machine embroidery design was from Embroidery Library.com. I love their "In The Hoop" designs. It's neat how the entire project is completed right in the hoop. I used Jenny Haskins Dissolve Magic Water Soluble Stabilizer. When it was completed I trimmed the excess off and then rinsed the lace under cool water. I have downloaded several lace designs where they recommend rinsing in warm water; but cool water has always worked best for me for some reason. I believe Jenny Haskins also recommends cool. Don't quote me on that one though.


My Poor Bernina is getting a workout right now. My son loved the bookmark so much he wanted me to make him one as well. His will be an lace Easter Bunny in navy blue. It's looking really cute so far. I hope it finishes stitching out well. I'll post a pic when I've cleaned it up.

Cya,
Delicia

Redo of Collage Pages and New Collage Pages

This one is a redo of one before. Some of the vector images didn't look too hot when I printed it out on the glossy paper.

I used Photoshop Elements to make these pages. I always put everything, but the kitchen sink in. I tend to overdo. But, it's for me so if that's the way I like it I suppose it is okay.

I made some more for the cover of my other binders and the spine of the binders as well. I'm really happy with them.

Here are the spine collages. I just love those little kitties.

I had "E" Club at our local quilting shop. It is a machine embroidery club. The project is usually something we can finish in the two hours we are there and it is usually all done "in the hoop". Last night we made lace bookmarks. I will post a pic of mine. It is still a little damn from washing out the stabilizer. It was fun. I am really happy with the results. Can't wait to share.

Cya,

Delicia

Collage Photos & My Day

My IHOParazzi group and I went out for breakfast this morning. (That's what my friend Laysee's husband called us because we always ask for the same lady to serve us when we go :) Hey, there is no substitute for good service. Kathy, our server, is always so sweet and she works her hind end off there. We really appreciate all of her hard work. I really enjoy going to breakfast with my friends Kristin and Laysee. They are just a riot.


I didn't get much sewing done today, but I did do some organizing I have been wanting to do. I bought a couple of larger binders for my patterns and things of that nature. I outgrew my others. (I can't imagine why?) Of course I had to start decorating the outside of the binders too. I couldn't just let it sit there plain as day. Soooo....I digi scrapped a couple of collages to insert into the covers of the binders. I was happy with the way one printed out. The other one however; I don't care for the way some of the vector images printed. I think I will go back and replace them another time. But, for today they will have to do. I really love vintage sewing pictures. If you have any you like to share, please send them my way.



Enjoy!
Delicia

Good Day

I had a good day today. No pictures to show though. I didn't even sew today! But, I played with machine embroidery software all day long. My friend Dorothy came over (a really super lady) and we had fun playing on our laptops with different machine embroidery designs. Some days it's just fun to look through all my designs on the computer and do some dreaming of the things I would like to create. But, tomorrow....back to work :)

Cya,
Delicia

Wow, two entries in one day. My son just went to bed and I thought i would add a little something before I crawled in with my book for the night. I just felt like adding some photos of some of the things I have worked on the last couple of months. Not everything, just some of them.





The one above is "Moon Explosion". It is a raw edge applique I have been working on. I used all hand dyed fabrics. I thought it gave it a really bold and vibrant look. I love color and can't wait to finish all the quilting. I am using mostly verigated threads and metallics with it. It will be a small wall quilt and I haven't decided where it will find a home yet. (If I can bare to part with it that is. :)








The two above are table runners I created. I didn't have a pattern for these, but I "sort" of knew how I wanted them to come out. I know what I will do differently next time with each one, so if I should make either one for someone another time, it shouldn't be too difficult. The autumn runner was done with batiks and the Christmas had many different types of fabrics.

Well, I have Breakfast Club at the quilt shop tomorrow. Have to get my gear packed up. Do you ever feel as if you take half your sewing room with you to class or your clubs or is it just me? Sheesh.

Night all,
Delicia

Baby Quilt

Hello Sunday! Changed the clocks ahead today. Darn it. Don't like missing that hour of sleep. Sigh.

I have been working on my in-laws baby quilt all weekend. It's coming along. My hope is to get it finished this week. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I will post a pic when it is completed. By the way, if you have ever appliqued with minkee....what a pain in the rear!! Those little hairs are everywhere. But, darn that teddy bear looks cute. Soft too.

My baby, (that would be my pug King Arthur) just got back from the groomer and wants some attention so that's it for today. Oh, but I can't resist sharing a digi scrap page I did of him.

Cya,

Delicia

Getting Started on My Blog....Finally

I am FINALLY getting started on the "Coffee Break" section of my website http://www.sewilicious.com/. I can't believe it has taken me this long.

I can't wait to get started sharing websites I love, blogs I love and just the fun I have making new things.

I love sewing, quilting, beading, and digiscrapping. This blog will be pretty much dedicated to that. Though, I'm certain other things will creep in as well :)

Well, this is my trial run.

Cya,
Delicia