I LOVE EQ7

August 6, 2017 Leave a comment

I really do love EQ7!

For the past two weeks I have been taking a free EQ7 class from Kari Schell. If you’re interested (and I highly recommend it) you can sign up any time.

Catch the Waves Kari started her class by showing us how to manipulate EQ7 work tables and how to enable the hidden tools in EQ. When we finished the class, we ended up with a quilt like the one shown. Isn’t is a BEAUTY!? Here is a link to Kari’s class. Please know that I am in no way being compensated for sharing Kari’s link.

The EQStitch* add-on will be arriving in my mailbox tomorrow and I am so excited because I want to continue working on project I’ve had in mind for a LONG time. If (when????) I am successful, this project may help me (AND others) finish our blocks/quilts in a ‘something old is new again’ kind of way. I’ve been using about 3 different pieces of software to develop the idea. I’m not really sure if someone has already figured out how to do this BUT, this old grannie is having a ball trying to figure it out. What’s that they say about keeping our brains active? 🙂

Here’s what I’m working towards:

I LOVE designing and piecing blocks but what the heck do I do with them when they’re done-ISH. I honestly don’t have enough of the stick-to-it gene to make a bunch of big ol’ quilts … I’m more like a wall-hanging, table runner or pillow kind of gal.

So anyhooooo, I want to design blocks AND then design quilting motifs that I can use for said blocks where I combine stencil usage with free motion. The kicker is that I want to design the stencils using free clipart and, like I said, several computer programs because I want to cut my stencils using a ScanNCut. So far I’ve been FAIRLY successful. I’m still ironing out how to make the stencil bridges in appropriate sizes, placement and number. When I get it all ironed out, I’ll share what I’ve learned!

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to create and cut your own stencils of ANY motif, size, rotation etc. etc. etc? Really, look at all the cool FREE images on this website. And, btw, if you go to their ‘about section’ it says: PatternUniverse.com is a collection of 1475 free templates to download and print. The patterns include animals, objects, shapes, and more. Use them for crafts, stencils, and more. I would imagine that you can NOT sell them or use them in patterns your are selling, but for your/our own use!? SCORE!

Well, that’s enough for now. I’ve gotta get back to my testing. Sure am having FUN!!

Happy Quilting and Sewing,

~PattyAnne

*I bought my EQStitch through some folks at Amazon AFTER contacting EQ directly to see why there was such a difference in price. They told me that their resellers can sell the products at whatever price point they’d like AND that I should rest assured that it is exactly the same product and it is fully guaranteed by them.

This is something fun I want to do. I am including it here so I don’t lose it. LOL

Just for fun....

OMG! Christa Watson’s New Book is Available for Preorder!

July 4, 2017 Leave a comment

Yep, Christa has a new book: Piece and Quilt with Precuts

Christa Watson's book

By clicking on the Amazon link, I was able to see some of the quilt projects that are offered in her upcoming book. My favorite quilt is the one with the arrows. I LOVE anything arrows!

Then again, my favorite might be the basically gray and black one with stars and a really nice looking border. Oh, IDK…decisions, decisions.

~PattyAnne

Just for fun....

Silicone Spray and Olfa Cutting Mat Tip

July 3, 2017 Leave a comment

Silicone Spray and Olfa Cutting Mat Tip

Silicone Spray and Olfa Mat — My mat and of course a steamy cup of COFFEE. 🙂

Do you have an Olfa Rotating Mat? Have you ever had trouble spinning your Olfa ‘Spinning’ Mat?

I recently had this problem when my friend Rachel, from Little Bird Quilting, came over to my house to play/sew. Since she was having an issue with my cutting mat, she gave me this GREAT TIP!

Is your mat a teeny bit sticky? Try Rachel’s helpful tip!

~PattyAnne (the vitameatavegamin girl) and Rachel

PS. Remember this Lucy Show?? I LOVE/MISS Lucy!

“Hello friends. I’m your Vitameatavegamin girl. Are you tired, run-down, listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? The answer to all your problems is in this little bottle. Vitameatavegamin. Yes, Vitameatavegamin contains Vitamins Meat Vegetables and Minerals. Yes, with Vitameatavegamin, you can spoon your way to health. All you do is take a great big tablespoonful after every meal. Mmmmmmm….. It’s so tasty, too! Tastes just like candy! So why don’t you join all the thousands of happy peppy people and get a great big bottle of Vitameatavegamin tomorrow! That’s Vita-meata-vegamin!” WINK

Just for fun....

PattyAnne’s BOW #5 BONUS – Flower Pounding Part 2

July 1, 2017 Leave a comment

To make your fabric ready for pounding, you will need to soak it for 5 minutes in Bubble Jet 2000 (See previous blog post for a link to the product.)

Flower Pounding Setup — Soaking the fabric for Flower Pounding

The directions on the bottle say to lay your fabric out flat but I didn’t do that. I’m thinking they say that in case you are doing yards of it. My pieces measure approximately 12.5 x 11 inches.

So I put the folded up pieces in an old cottage cheese container and soaked them for the 5 mins. (I made sure I kind of tapped them down so that all pieces/areas got wet from the solution. I also shook the bottle of Bubble Jet before using it.)

Flower Pounding Fabric Drying — Allowing the Flower Pounding Fabric to Dry

After the 5 minutes was up, I took the pieces out of the solution and squeezed them slightly to remove some of the solution and then I placed them on my cutting mat to dry. When dry, I’ll iron them and they will be ready for the next part —- the FUN, EXCITING PART! Don’t forget to pour the leftover Bubble Jet 2000 BACK INTO THE BOTTLE because it can be reused!!!

Ok, now for the recipe for the FAUX Bubble Jet 2000

2 Tablespoons of Alum (found in the spices section of your grocery store)

2.5 teaspoons of WASHING soda (NOT plain baking soda. An example is Arm & Hammer Soda WASH) If you cannot find it in the grocery store in the cleaning isle, you may find it at a hardware store such as ACE. If all else fails, here is a link to a site that shows how to make your own. I’ve not tried it, but……

1/2 teaspoon of liquid fabric softener

1 cup of HOT WATER

Mix all the above ingredients together in a bowl larger than you think you’ll need because it foams up. After the foam dies down, you will be left with the liquid. Soak your 100% cotton fabric in the solution for 5 – 10 minutes. Lightly squeeze excess liquid from the fabric. Hang fabric to dry. When it is dry, iron it. Again, put the leftover FAUX Bubble Jet 2000 in a LABELED container for future use.

Next up…. gather your flowers, leaves and ferns!

Happy Quilting!

~PattyAnne

Just for fun....

PattyAnne’s BOW #5 BONUS – Flower Pounding Part 1

July 1, 2017 Leave a comment

I’m working on a really fun project today. Flower pounding is a noisy BLAST. (You may want to wear ear protection – seriously.) Last time I taught this at my local quilt shop I think the gal who does the longarming there was about to go NUTS until she put on her headphone ear protection….. Sorry Debbie!

In the video I tell you the basic supplies you will need for the project. I also have links to them below the video if you are unable to find the products locally.

Don’t forget, I will be back later to show you how you can make your own “cheap seat” Bubble Jet 2000 (sorta kinda) from easily purchased grocery store items~PattyAnne

PS. Meet me back here soon! I’ll demo the making of the faux Bubble Jet 2000.

Happy Quilting!!

~PattyAnne

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Let's plan our quilting!

Using Dry Erase Markers to Plan Free Motion Quilting

June 30, 2017 Leave a comment

Marking a Block with Dry Erase Marker — I’m using Plexiglas in this photo to design my quilting

I love planning my quilting using dry erase markers and a piece of Plexiglas that can be purchased at a Home Improvement store inexpensively. I have tried to use some of my other rulers, and while it does work, the view is somewhat obscured because of all the markings on the rulers.

For the actual quilt block, I’m going to quilt diagonal lines with my walking foot.

Lori Kennedy's Machine Quilting book — Lori Kennedy’s Machine Quilting book

Since I will be whipping up two more blocks (and making this into a super fun table runner) there will be sashing and borders to quilt. In these areas, I’ll quilt a design from Lori Kennedy’s book (get the ebook for $9.99). Anyhoooo, the design is called “Double Loop Vine” and I think it perfectly mimics the leaves in the fabrics, don’t you?

Loop by Lori Kennedy — Double Loop Vine – Quilting pattern that Lori teaches in her book

My Fabric — My fabric. Check out the leaves under the bird!

Thanks for stopping by! Let’s go machine quilt our own quilts.
~PattyAnne

Let's plan our quilting!

Fantastic FREE Free-Motion Doodle App

June 29, 2017 Leave a comment

Check this out – so exciting for free-motion!

I just discovered this great FREE app for Free-Motion doodling.

Now we can practice our doodles EVERYWHERE! We can even share them with each other.

Additionally, we can import our own quilt block photos into the app and doodle on them as we plan our quilting strategies.

Let's plan our quilting! · Road to Oklahoma

PattyAnne’s BOW #4 Part 3 – Road to Oklahoma – Free Motion & Walking Foot Quilting

June 25, 2017June 25, 2017 PattyAnnesPlaceLeave a comment

And now for my favorite part….the QUILTING. For this block, I use both the walking foot and the free motion foot.

If you have an idea on how you’d like this to be quilted, please share!!

~PattyAnne

PS. If you’re enjoying these vides (and blog) please share across social media!

Road to Oklahoma

PattyAnne’s BOW #4 Part 2 – Road to Oklahoma – Marking & Cutting Fabric

June 25, 2017June 25, 2017 PattyAnnesPlace1 Comment

I LOVE the fabric used for this block – especially the blue with the little gold flecks. I love a bit of bling!!💕

The cutting for this block is pretty straightforward. If you go to my previous blog post, I have written out the cutting dimensions for you.

As mentioned in the notes for the video, if you’d like to use the same fabrics that I’ve used, you can purchase a fat quarter bundle from Christa Quilts here.

Next on to BOW #3 Part Three where we plan our quilting strategy AND quilt the block. See you there!!

~PattyAnne
PS. If you’re enjoying these vides (and blog) please share across social media!

Road to Oklahoma

PattyAnne’s BOW #4 Part 1 Intro – Road to Oklahoma

June 24, 2017June 25, 2017 PattyAnnesPlace1 Comment

In this video, variations of the Road to Oklahoma four-block layout are shown. As mentioned in the video, the final four-block quilt measures 20″ x 20″ – a perfect size for a table topper or a wall-hanging.

Cutting directions for EACH of the 9″ x 9″ blocks:

Cut 4 squares 2 3/4″ x 2 3/4″ (green blue and white fabrics)
Cut 2 squares 2 1/8″ x 2 1/8″ (green and blue fabrics)

Tune in to Part 2 where we will cut and sew the block.

Next, on to Part 3 where we will plan the free motion quilting, plan the walking foot portion of the quilting AND actually quilt the block.

Electric Quilt Software can be purchased here: http://amzn.to/2sW7gUl

~PattyAnne
PS. If you’re enjoying these vides (and blog) please share across social media!

Tag: free motion

I LOVE EQ7

I really do love EQ7!

Here’s what I’m working towards:

Like this:

Like this:

OMG! Christa Watson’s New Book is Available for Preorder!

Yep, Christa has a new book: Piece and Quilt with Precuts

Like this:

Like this:

Silicone Spray and Olfa Cutting Mat Tip

Silicone Spray and Olfa Cutting Mat Tip

Like this:

Like this:

PattyAnne’s BOW #5 BONUS – Flower Pounding Part 2

Ok, now for the recipe for the FAUX Bubble Jet 2000

Like this:

Like this:

PattyAnne’s BOW #5 BONUS – Flower Pounding Part 1

Like this:

Like this:

Using Dry Erase Markers to Plan Free Motion Quilting

Like this:

Like this:

Fantastic FREE Free-Motion Doodle App

Check this out – so exciting for free-motion!

Like this:

Like this:

PattyAnne’s BOW #4 Part 3 – Road to Oklahoma – Free Motion & Walking Foot Quilting

Like this:

Like this:

PattyAnne’s BOW #4 Part 2 – Road to Oklahoma – Marking & Cutting Fabric

Like this:

Like this:

PattyAnne’s BOW #4 Part 1 Intro – Road to Oklahoma

Like this:

Like this:

I really do love EQ7!

Here’s what I’m working towards:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Yep, Christa has a new book: Piece and Quilt with Precuts

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Silicone Spray and Olfa Cutting Mat Tip

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Ok, now for the recipe for the FAUX Bubble Jet 2000

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Check this out – so exciting for free-motion!

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