Maskmaker, Maskmaker

Maskmaker, maskmaker,

Make me a mask

Sew it with care

And make it to last

I currently am selling masks that are

– 100 percent cotton

– lined in 100 percent cotton with a pocket for inserting custom filter if desired

– adjustable elastic at the ears

– machine washable

– size Medium (Fits most women)

– size Large (Fits most men) 

They are $16.00 each (includes shipping). I will ship via the post office, or we can arrange a pick up date and time if you are local.

Fabric colors and prints will vary due to fabric availability. 

Email me at baechtel12@gmail.com and we can work out the details for payment and shipping.

Quilting with Kaffe Fassett Fabrics

I’ve been sewing quite a bit this year, but I’ve been delinquent in keeping up with my blogging about my sewing. Between alterations, I squeeze in time to have fun making a quilt. I discovered Kaffe Fassett fabrics and love the intensity of the the colors and patterns. They’re wild! They remind me of the 70’s, back when I was a “younger” woman. So far, I’ve made two quilts using Kaffe Fassett 10 inch squares and a pattern from one of my Quilting Quickly magazines. A pack of 10 inch squares, an accent fabric, border fabric and backing are all that is required. I used a turquoise for the accent and inner border and yardage for the outer boarder. My youngest granddaughter claimed this one and so I gave it to her for her birthday. I’ll blog about the other one when I get back from vacationing in AZ.

Squares are organized on my design wall

After the squares are sewn together in rows, the borders are added.

I free motion quilted it on my domestic machine

My quilt was displayed in our local Center for the Arts during the month of September ’18

Happy Sewing and Quilting!

Peasant Dress Revamped

First of all let me just proclaim that this is another year for me to not buy Ready-to-Wear clothes. I’ve joined over 1000 other fasters headed by the talented sewist, Sarah Gunn.  We’ve all pledged not to buy clothes this year. You can read all about it on her website: Goodbye Valentino.

I’ve made a lot of clothing for myself over the years but now spend more time making quilts and doing alterations and custom sewing for customers. So this should be an easy fast for me and I’ll enjoy the occasional garment making project. I especially love making warm weather apparel and this one just fell into my lap! A successful makeover is alway fun…

My friend asked me if I wanted this vintage peasant dress and I said of course! I wasn’t sure exactly what I would do with it, but I knew I would never wear it in it’s original form. After examining it closely, I decided that it could be refashioned into a wearable summer shift.I unpicked the sleeves first. This garment had finished serged seams so I carefully cut the seam edge with pinking shears before I began taking it apart. My battery-operated seam ripper came in handy.I removed the yoke very carefully, admiring the delicate hand-embroidery and the little mirror decorations as I unpicked.  The dress was made in India.Once the yoke was separated from the dress, and the side seams were unpicked, I folded each piece in half. I noticed that there was a grease stain on one of the panels, so when I folded that panel, I made sure to leave the stain outside of my cutting line.I used New Look 6652 to cut a new back and front. I added about an inch and a half to the center front fold, cut off about 8 inches on the sides, so the dress wouldn’t be as full. I also ignored the dart because it would be gathered along the top and fall nicely over the bust area.I narrowly folded and stitched the lower edges of the armholes and made two rows of gathering stitches along the top edge. Then, I pinned the gathered edge to the facing of the yoke, stitched, then topstitched the outer decorative side of the yolk to the dress.

 

This is the result of the transformation: a slimmer and more flattering dress, just right for the upcoming warm summer days of spring in Arizona.

Happy Stitching!

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Quilt Round Up 2017

Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!

I’ve been so busy quilting that I got behind on my blogging. Here’s a recap of this year’s quilts. My little dog, Heidi, loves to sit beside me while I stitch.

 

 

Happy Sewing and Quilting in the Year 2018 and may the Force be with you!

30’s Bouquet Quilt

While my youngest daughter was visiting during the summer, I had her select coordinating fabric and a quilt pattern from one of my quilting magazines: Quilting Quickly by Fons and Porter’s July/August 2016.

 She chose Fancy & Fabulous 10″ Stackers from the Missouri Quilt Company. To this pallet of yummy colors I added white, yellow, and mint green to complete each four-petal block of the quilt top.

The back is a coordinating peach Bella solid also from Missouri Quilt Company. My daughter relocated to the beautiful city of San Jose, CA. for a teaching position.  So, for a very special birthday/congratulations/and new apartment warming gift, I made this quilt for her. I free-motion quilted it with an all over design of a cabbage rose design. I used white thread on the top and peach thread in the bobbin. It took several days to quilt, which took a toll on my shoulders and neck, but the result was fabulous! The body pain quickly disappears with a few stretches so don’t worry!

However, I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t just invest in a mid-arm. I have been doing a little research and so far I like the Juki 2010 and the Grace frame. I’d love to know what other quilters might suggest.

Happy Sewing and Quilting!

Blue for the Bride to Be Quilt

I made this quilt for my daughter’s bridal shower gift a few month ago. She’s getting married at the end of September and I have another surprise for her so I thought I should share this one before I have more quilts than updated posts!

Kimberly the bride and Maya, my granddaughter

We had a delightful gathering of family and friends on the  picnic grounds of the Marin Cheese factory here in Northern California. I surprised my daughter with a quilt I learned to make by watching Angela Walters on the Midnight Quilt Show. I love her playful and carefree style of quilting and teaching and I never miss an episode. Here’s the youtube title if you are curious!

Scrappy On Point Triangle Quilt (an FMQ Love Story) | Midnight Quilt Show with Angela Walters

This quilt is made by sewing strip sets together. I used a couple of jelly rolls with shades of blue, and a jelly roll of white. It was challenging to cut the triangles uniformly, so thank goodness there were extra triangles to use as replacements for any imperfect ones.

I used the left over strips to make a border

I free-motion quilted it using a variegated blue thread. I stitched straight line designs in the blue sections and a floral design in the white. I imagined that the blue was the flowerpot and the white was the flower.

I used my new ruler to make straight lines  and curves

My daughter was surprised and delighted with her quilt.

Happy Quilting and Sewing!

Life is a Carnival Quilt

I started this quilt back in the 70’s with great intentions of making this fabulous fun quilt for my girls when they were little. It turned out to be harder than I thought and more time consuming than I expected. I completed the center part and the bottom panel, all by hand (note that this was way before rulers, rotary cutters, and fusible appliqué paper). The pattern that I followed had blocks of appliquéd carnival rides all around the center of the quilt. The thought of hand turning and hand stitching all those itty-bitty pieces was daunting. That’s when I stored it away for another day.

So 2017 rolls around and all my girls are grown up. While organizing my stash, I came across the unfinished carnival quilt top. I’m a quilter and semi-retired, so now I should think about how I might finish it. I ended up trimming it with rulers and my rotary cutter and eliminating about 4 inches between the bottom panel and the center panel. I completely removed the top panel. It was not that interesting and made the quilt too long. Finally, I made a variation of a pinwheel out of vintage fabrics for the vertical borders. For the top and bottom, I pieced together borders with the left over vintage fabric.

I added vintage buttons to the center of each pinwheel, then I sandwiched it, and prepared to free-motion-quilt using my Elna 680. It does a pretty good job, but I’m the one who struggles to keep my stitches even. Despite the imperfections, I had fun using different colors of thread and coming up with the quilting designs. I always use bobbin thread that matches my quilt back so it blends in nicely.

I’m really happy that I was able to finish what I had started over 20 years ago! It needed to wait until I had better quilting tools and more experience. I’m a person who likes to finish what they start and this quilt is certainly proof of that!

I’ve entered it in the local Redwood Empire Fair…… I’m hoping for a ribbon. 🙂

Happy Sewing!

Little Cowboy Quilt

Happy Independence Day in the USA! I’m celebrating our western themed annual local Frontier Days in my hometown with this Little Cowboy quilt. It’s made using a panel of batik like images related to the Old West.

Each little motif was carefully cut and then sashed with coordinating fabric.

To make the quilt a suitable size, a pieced block was set in each corner.

I used my Elna 680 to free-motion quilt with stitch-in -the-ditch and loops around the the boarder.

I applied my go-to binding method (two strips sewn together, one is the flange at 1 1/4 in. and the outer binding is 2 1/2 in.) to finish the outside edge. I love this type of binding because you can sew it on with the machine and it looks great!

This little quilt was one of four of my pieces that were recently displayed in our local art gallery and also will be joining the home arts display at the Redwood Empire Fair next month.

Needless to say, I’ve been enjoying the art and design of quilting lately!  This quilt is a gift for my new grandson, the first boy in our family of all girls.

Pink and Blue Charity Quilt

Have you ever had clothing that you just could not part with? The fabric just begging to be kept and eventually made into something else?

This little lap quilt is made from pieces of dresses and shirts that I just couldn’t let go of. I’m very pleased with the result of this particular combination of fabrics. It’s sweet and happy looking.

For a change of pace, I enjoy a good upcycle of fabrics over purchased fabrics. It’s a great way to save the resources of our planet, even though it is such a small contribution.

free motion quilting on my domestic machine

The greater contribution is the joy found in creating it and the pleasure of giving it away. This quilt will go to our local children’s shelter and will be given to a child or teen. My hope is that it will bring comfort and warmth to them during difficult times.

Our local group of charity quilt makers, make hundreds of handmade quilts for the children in our community. We purchase most of the materials and greatly appreciate donated fabric.

If you would like to donate fabric to our charity quilt makers, please contact me. We use only 100% cotton fabrics. Thank you!

 

New Brand Name!

SEAM QUEEN

seamqueen.blog

I have changed my domain name to something more sewing related. Zibergirl has matured and perfected her skills. Seamqueen.blog is my new name! Stay tuned for more quilts and other sewing related activities, including alterations!