Yes the title of the post is the worst I could think up for the day. I did not make the "Love Pads" just for Valentines day. In my
Tugging on my Heart Strings post, I made 7 squares so that I could practice quilting. With a number of comments suggesting that I don't spoil such a neat square to a Hot Pad, I instead used my "Chemistry by Cosmo Cricket" Layer Cake I bought in the post
Some one hide my CC
at my LQS
The Material Girls Quilts. I have quilted, I believe 11 hot pads, but these 2 are my only 2 that are bound. The point of this exercise was not to make Hot Pads, but to learn how to machine quilt and bind. My wife told me after the first 3-4 hot pads that my um quilting job sucked. The 2 above I put my normal foot back on and just sewed straight lines (which the wife liked more). She even told me she wanted to keep a few of these and that I could not give them all away. The image above and below are the front and back of the 2 that I finished. The image on the right are the ones I had quilted, laid out to show off without the bindings. It will be another week or so to get the rest of them finished, but I had fun doing these. Don't forget to add your finishes to my weekly Friday finish page.
Link a Finish Friday
http://quiltstory.blogspot.com/2012/01/fabric-tuesday-and-moda-bake-shop.html
http://www.sewinspiredblog.com/2012/01/focus-on-free-motion-quilting-link-up.html
Yes the title of the post is the worst I could think up for the day. I did not make the "Love Pads" just for Valentines day. In my Tugging on my Heart Strings post, I made 7 squares so that I could practice quilting. With a number of comments suggesting that I don't spoil such a neat square to a Hot Pad, I instead used my "Chemistry by Cosmo Cricket" Layer Cake I bought in the post Some one hide my CC
at my LQS The Material Girls Quilts. I have quilted, I believe 11 hot pads, but these 2 are my only 2 that are bound. The point of this exercise was not to make Hot Pads, but to learn how to machine quilt and bind. My wife told me after the first 3-4 hot pads that my um quilting job sucked. The 2 above I put my normal foot back on and just sewed straight lines (which the wife liked more). She even told me she wanted to keep a few of these and that I could not give them all away. The image above and below are the front and back of the 2 that I finished. The image on the right are the ones I had quilted, laid out to show off without the bindings. It will be another week or so to get the rest of them finished, but I had fun doing these. Don't forget to add your finishes to my weekly Friday finish page. Link a Finish Friday
Wow! Those are really awesome! I love that fabric and what a great practice exercise.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of suggestions, if you don't mind. It helps if you cut your back a little bit bigger than your front. On something that size, probably 1" all the way around would do it. On a quilt, 3" all the way around is good, but you can get away with 2". You cut the batting the same size as your back, as well.
Might I also recommend Warm & Natural batting? It is 100% cotton. Not many quilters use polyester batting. It tends to wad up over time, through washing and use. While you don't get as much loft with the cotton batting, it wears nicer. It also give more heat protection in hot pads.
Hope that is helpful rather than know-it-all-ish.
Thanks for linking up!
xo -E
Very pretty and perfect for Valentine's day. Elizabeth has some great suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI admire your determination!!
ReplyDeleteCute.
ReplyDeleteWould you like to practise your precision skills? Would you be up to making me some red and white blocks for my Leukaemia quilts?
http://quilts4leukaemia.blogspot.com
Elizabeth has some good points. In addition to suggesting you only use cotton batting (safer than poly), you should use layers of it and if you can get ahold of it, some insulbrite also. It's a shiny material and batting combined to make for wonderful potholders because of it's heat resistance.
ReplyDeleteYour quilting is looking pretty good! Keep practicing!
It's always about practice. The more hot pads you make the better you'll get. You can always send a pair my way!
ReplyDeleteBeing a skilled quilter ( as you have figured out) takes hours and hours of practice. My girlfriend does machine quilting for a living and she has over 10,000 hours of practice to her credit and she claims she is still always learning something new. Of course now she is an international teacher but she knows there is always something more to learn.
ReplyDeleteHang in there, you've come a long way in a short amount of time.
Your just getting started :0).
Happy Sewing
I think you are making great progress and you have a good start! I like the straight lines -- they look very nice. I know why your wife likes them! Keep up the good work -- remember it takes hours and hours of practice! Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteRicard I think your `Love Pads` are super well done and so very useful. Given me an idea to try some.
ReplyDeleteGreat fabric!! You are doing great, just keep it up now!
ReplyDeleteThey look great! I love having seasonal stuff like this for the kitchen. And thanks for linking up at my blog!
ReplyDeleteCute fabric, and a great way to practice! Great job!
ReplyDeletepractice is how we all learn. don't give up!
ReplyDeletewhoop Whoop!
You have had some good advice. If you want larger pieces to practice, try place mats. Also, try using a decorative stitch to sew your binding down. I really like them on smaller items.
ReplyDeleteI linked to your blog. Thanks for the opportunity!
If you're wife is demanding to hang on to these, that's a pretty darn good compliment. Cool that you got to practice your quilting AND finish a cheery little project.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! Small projects are a great place to practice your quilting skills - mug rugs, potholders, place mats, and table runners. Also a great place to do narrow straight line quilting, which can be very tedious on a big quilt! Just keep practicing - it all gets better with practice! But you're looking good now!! Whoop whoop!!
ReplyDelete