Sewing

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I'm writing today as part of the Aurifil Artisan Sew Organized challenge. (My pictures include thread that has been given to me by Aurifil.)

My thread (and all my other stuff) is stored in Ikea PAX wardrobes. These units are super flexible, both in design and in function. I opted for plain white doors on my cabinets and, with the help of my shopping buddy Mel Beach, chose Komplement pull-out shelves for thread and a few other tools. I added Komplement clear dividers on my thread shelf to help organize.

While I love the aesthetics of a thread rack on the wall, I wanted to protect my investment from exposure to light. (I also keep spools in their factory sealed packaging until I'm ready to use them.) At any given time, there are a handful of spools at my machine or on my table, but the bulk of my collection stays tucked inside my cabinet. It's easily accessible and the pull-out feature of the shelf means I can easily see my whole collection.

The majority of my thread is 50wt since it is my first choice for both piecing and quilting. I've arranged my 50wt thread mostly by color family: pink/red, yellow/orange, green, blue, purple, dark neutrals, light neutrals. The remaining five sections in the front two rows have my other thread by weight. My Aurifloss is kept in a separate container with other embroidery tools. The back row of my thread shelf is where I keep Aurifil brochures and thread which I distribute when I teach.

 

I prefer to match my bobbin color to my top thread color. (In a pinch I'm willing to use something that's close.) Long ago, I decided it was worth the investment in additional bobbins to save myself the time, expense, and confusion of unwinding partially full bobbins when I need a new color. I have two tips for keeping those bobbins organized.

First, I label the bobbin with the Aurifil thread number using a sharpie. It could be erased with a little rubbing alcohol if need be.

Second, I use Bobbin Buddies (affiliate link) to connect my bobbin with my spool of thread. I find they work a little better with a large Aurifil spool compared to the small spool. The smaller size of the opening on the large spools create more tension to hold the Bobbin Buddies in place. That said, both work. On a large spool I loosen the bottom of the spool (it's removable) to tuck in the loose thread to stop it from unraveling.

What are your best organizational tips for thread? Or for other tools in your studio?

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For the past two years I've shared my five favorite finishes of the year. Here are my favorites from 2019. In no particular order...

 

Modern Antique Tiles

I enjoyed designing this piece for my Island Batik challenge for the Vintage Reimagined prompt. I used the extending lines concept from Sylvia Schaefer's book, The Quilter's Negative Space Handbook. Read more.

 

Enjoy Mini Mini

This mini mini quilt ties my smallest quilt ever made, measuring just 2 1/4" x 9". It was created in response to the Project QUILTING 10.5 challenge: Abecedarius. I enjoyed (ha, see what I did there?) making the improv letters for my project. I haven't gotten back to this technique, but will use it again in future projects. Read more.

 

Wholecloth

In this Aurifil Artisan challenge we were asked to use at least three different weights of thread in a whole cloth mini quilt. I used a variety of free motion motifs on this piece. Monochromatic quilting on a solid wholecloth quilt is all about texture! Read more.

 

Two Red, White, & Blue Minis in One Week

This is a bit of a cheat since it's two quilts (and I didn't make one of them), but looking back over the year, one of my favorite quilting projects was the week both my daughter and I finished a quilt for the Project QUILTING Red, White & Blue challenge. I love that my kids enjoy sewing and quilting. Read more about mine. Read more about hers.

 

Tula Pink Dress

I really enjoyed making clothes for my kids when they were younger... for some reason that came to an end (or a pause). But we pass along the clothes they outgrow to my sister for her kids (who are 3 1/2 and 1). I've really enjoyed seeing my nephew J wear the clothes I made for G when he was that age. And J loves them! And it has inspired me to sew up some new clothes. I have some new pants in the works for J, but I couldn't resist pulling together some of my favorite Tula Pink fabrics to make a dress for my niece who has just started walking. Read more.

 

FYI, Project QUILTING challenges for the 2020 season start on January 5th with Kim Lapacek at Persimon Dreams. There are a series of six one-week quilt challenges running January through March. (We get a week off between challenges.) Check it out. Join us. It's a great community of makers creating a wide variety of work from each prompt. And there are prizes.

I'm linking up to Cheryl's Best of 2019 Linky Party. And you can see my Five Favorite Finishes from 2018 and 2017. Stay up to date with what I make in 2019 by subscribing to my newsletter.

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It's week two for Project QUILTING. Voting is now open. This week's theme of Triangulation has so many possibilities. So many that I think the options are a little overwhelming. Last challenge I made a list of about a dozen options and picked one. This week I just kept thinking about more (and bigger) possibilities. And too bad I didn't make this one this week!

I've set myself some goals for my design work, and I'm trying to keep those goals and my plan to work small for these one-week challenges in mind when choosing my project for the week. I also happen to have another deadline this week. So, I had to keep dissuading myself from ideas that would be a bit too much work. I landed on some pieced equilateral triangles and decided to use them to make a small gift for a lovely friend who I was seeing today for her birthday. My plan was set by Monday night, and I finished my project with some late night sewing Tuesday evening.

 

I decided to make the Noodlehead Open Wide Zippered Pouch. I've made it numerous times and it's a great tutorial and a fast make. For this challenge I decided I'd work in the triangles with piecing on the front of the bag. But then I got a little bit paralyzed with indecision with regards to the fabric choices. I decided this would be an excellent opportunity to make a small dent in my box of mini charm squares and chose this pack of ColorWorks microchips from Northcott, a giveaway I received at QuiltCon.

I cut the biggest equilateral triangles I could from these 2 1/2" squares using the 60 degree angle on my ruler. They were about 2 1/4" on each side. Once I decided to use the solid rainbow for my triangles, I easily decided on a couple black and white prints to pair them with.

I arranged my fifteen triangles in rainbow order and pieced them in a row, adding my black on white print to the ends of the row so the strip would reach the full width of my panel.

This is the largest size from the tutorial, and I like to line these big ones with fusible fleece, Pellon 987F (affiliate link), so they stand up nicely on their own. I chose a light print from my stash to line the bag. The finished pouch is about 8 1/2" tall and has a 14" zipper. It was pieced with 50wt Aurifil thread.

 

Voting is open. Check out what everyone made and vote for your ten favorites! Mine is #16. Made in San Jose, California.

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