How I Would Modify the Insul-Bright Oven Mitt Pattern

This past weekend, I tried my hand at the oven mitt pattern that is on the packaging for Insul-Bright batting.  I made two sets.  One of the sets I modified and the other set I stuck to the instructions.  After making a total of 4 oven mitts (because I think they should come in pairs) here are my thoughts on the pattern that is on the batting:

1.  I think that quilting them gives them more character.  The instructions do not say to quilt but I did a meandering pattern on the bird ones and I think they feel better on the hands.  The His and Hers ones were made according to the directions with no quilting.

2.  The thumb needs to be a bit longer.  Perhaps the pattern should be enlarged 175% or even 200% instead of the 150% that is in the instructions  They are fine for me but I have small hands so they may feel a little snug on someone with larger hands.

I made the first pair for a friend who invited us to their Thanksgiving dinner and she was very happy and surprised.  Her's were fussy cut and patchwork and I love how well they turned out.

The second set I made yesterday and I am pretty proud of my creativeness with them.  They are "His and Hers"  Double sided so that if HE is getting something out of the oven the mustaches are facing up and if SHE is getting it out, dress forms.  I think it would make a super cute wedding gift/housewarming gift. 

Here is how my cat feels about my using the bed to spread out works in progress:

I was also pleasantly surprised at how much I liked fussy cutting the bird ones.  Next oven mitts will be made larger so that someone with bigger hands can use them.  I was also thinking about doing some smaller ones for my nieces to use in their "kiddie kitchens".  Of course those will just get regular batting...no need for the Insul-bright since they won't be handling hot items.

Quick and Easy Scrappy Pot Holder

I've been trying to get a bit of sewing in each morning before having to go in to work.  Trying to make up for the three long weeks I just finished up where I didn't have time to sew anything.  Which, in my opinion, is absolutely devastating.  I love to sew and see my finished products.  I had gotten several orders for custom items the last week as well so I was able to get a couple of those items done in my morning sewing sessions.

I've been wanting to make potholders for quite some time now.  I just kept forgetting to buy the "Insul-bright" batting.  I finally remembered on Saturday night and bought a yard at JoAnn's.  Out of one yard I should be able to get eight 8" potholders.  I also had these scraps of fabric left over from a throw pillow that I made a couple of months ago and I've been waiting for the perfect project to use them on.  Much to my surprise I had just enough for one pot holder.

I followed this tutorial from the Texas Freckles blog.  It went together so quickly.  She wasn't joking when she said it was "quick and easy."  I think this would be the perfect beginning quilting project for someone.

I am very pleased with how my first pot holder turned out.  Now I need to try making some mitts from the pattern that was on the batting :)

How I applique on minky

I bought a sewing/embroidery machine a little over a year ago.  The Sophia 2 by Babylock.  I was so excited about having an embroidery machine and I've used it to applique letters several times.  However, it only has the option of a 4x4 area to embroider in.  That is not large enough applique names, only 1 letter at a time.

And I'm also a Mac person and the embroidery software for a Mac is too pricey for me.  So I can't combine patterns.  I would have to do one letter, unhoop and rehoop the fabric, do the second letter and so on.  I feel like letting the machine do the appliqueing was limiting the things I could be doing with my "creations."

This being said, I am thankful that I learned how to sew on the simplest of sewing machines and had to learn how to applique manually before being spoiled by the machine doing it for me.  I've been appliqueing quite a bit lately and I've come to realize that I like the old fashioned way.  I'd rather not have the machine just do each letter and I cut the fabric around it.  I prefer cutting out the fabric and then stitching around it and guiding the fabric by hand.  I can also take more pride in my work doing it this way.

With cotton quilting fabric or knit fabric, I like to use "Heat 'n bond" and iron the fabric I will be appliqueing on to the main fabric.  You can't do this with minky because minky does not like heat.  Especially dimple dot minky.  So I figured out how it worked best for me and here it is.

I printed out the letters that I wanted to applique in Word.  I didn't feel like taking the time to research how to print them off in reverse so I just printed them out regular, flipped the paper over and traced the back of the paper with a sharpie.  Then I traced that onto the paper backing of the Heat 'n bond.  Iron that on to the fabric to be appliqued and cut the letters out.  Normally you would then pull the paper backing off and iron it on to your main fabric like I did for the dance bags.

This is where it is different when sewing with minky...I used Fabri Tac glue.  I put a thin line of glue along the middle of each of the letters then placed the letters on the main fabric.  After about 10 minutes, the glue should be dry enough that the letters won't move around on you.

To the sewing machine.  I used a zigzag stitch.  I had stitch width at 4 and stitch length at 0.7.  I prefer a smaller stitch length so that the zigzags are closer together.  You could even go lower than that.  0.5 is a really tight zigzag on my machine.

I was very pleased with how this quilt turned out all together...I can't wait to see the baby's pictures on it.

I've used this method of gluing the letters on to the minky several times now and I've washed the items as well and I'm quite pleased with how well the glue holds the letters in place while I stitch around the outside.  Also, the glue doesn't gum up the needle since the glue is in the middle of the letter and not near where the needle goes in to the fabric.

Hope someone finds this helpful and I promise to work on my photography skills so that it will be easier on your eyeballs :)
-maryanna aka MarvelousAuntieM

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New Challenge to keep my mind busy

So I got too busy with work to do 26 quilts in 12 months...however...I have a more attainable goal set for myself.  Last night I purchased the new book Tula Pink's City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.  I've been wanting to buy it for a while now and it took a lot of digging to finally find it at JoAnn's so that I could use my 40% off coupon.  I was so excited.  I haven't had the chance to sit down and really go through it yet.  But, I have decided that I am going to make a quilt that includes each one of the 100 quilt blocks. 

I am hoping that this will help me keep me busy.  Anytime I have any down time recently I just keep thinking about my brother and getting sad...sitting in traffic jams crying sad.  Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of his passing and I've been thinking about him a lot lately.  My husband said that eventually that will pass...then he said "nevermind, I still remember the day my dad died and that was 30 years ago."  I just keep telling myself that my big brother was proud of me and he wouldn't want me to be sad all of the time.  So I have to keep busy.

This will also give me something to write about here since I seem to keep getting writer's block and going for months without posting anything.

Here's what I've been up to since last I wrote:

I met Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy.

My youngest niece and nephew got to be elves in the CMA Country Christmas Special which airs on December 2nd at 9/8c on ABC

We had an awards show...

Here is the stage right before the show:

Oh yeah...and I did a walk by during the Hunter Hayes/Jason Mraz performance:

So now that the show is over and I'm just working on wrapping up some paperwork, hopefully this little blog won't be too neglected.

Until next time.