Restick Your Brother Scan N Cut Mat

After you’ve used your Brother Scan N Cut mat over and over, you’ll find that it tends to lose its stickiness. I was looking for a way to refresh my mats so I could delay purchasing any more – yah, I can be cheap that way!

I usually use my Brother Scan N Cut for cutting fabric and the method I’ve found is great for resticking mats you would use for fabric cutting. I wouldn’t suggest using this method on a mat on which you intend to cut paper or cardstock as it will make the mat really sticky and will probably make it very difficult to remove paper items.

Here’s what you’ll need to restick your Brother Scan N Cut mat:

Parchment paper

Rubbing alcohol (in a spray container, if possible)

Baby wipes

Used credit or gift card

Aleene’s Tack-it Over and Over Repositionable Glue

Small foam paint brush

The mat you want to restick

Once you’ve gathered all of your items together, cover your working surface with some parchment paper and place the not-sticky-but-soon-to-be mat on top of it. If you have a high tack adhesive fabric support sheet on top of your mat, remove this first.

To clean the mat, spray it with rubbing alcohol. Once the mat is wet, use the baby wipes and/or the used gift or credit card to get off all of the bits and pieces of lint, thread or what have you that has stuck to the mat. I find the plastic gift card works really well to scrape off those pieces that are a bit stubborn. Be sure to use the rubbing alcohol in a well ventilated area.

Once the mat is clean, it should no longer be sticky. You’ll need to let it dry thoroughly before the next step.

Once the mat is completely dry, it’s time to make it sticky again! Take the Aleene’s Tack-it Over and Over Repositionable glue and apply it to the mat inside the blue or purple lines on the mat – in the area where you would normally affix the fabric. Use the paint brush to wipe the glue evenly over the mat and let dry completely.

Once it is dry, it is ready to be put to use. You’ll certainly notice how sticky it now it! Be sure to keep the mat clean by covering it with the clear vinyl that came with it and clean it with a baby wipe in between cuttings.

Once the mat starts to lose its stickiness, you can just repeat the process again!

Click on the image below to watch a video on my YouTube channel showing you the entire process.

P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive FREE emails full of quilting goodness? Just click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if your purchase a product by clicking through links in this blogpost. This allows me to continue to provide you with FREE content each week. Thank you.

Janome 9400 HP Foot and Needle Plate

While most sewing machines come with two needle plates: a straight stitch and a zigzag plate, the Janome Horizon Memory Craft 9400 QCP comes with an additional needle plate and a special foot that goes with it. The HP foot and needle plate combination are wonderful for quilters who are striving for that perfect 1/4" seam and there are several beautiful straight stitch choices that you can create. I love this new HP foot and needle plate combination available on the Janome 9400 and it has become my go-to choice for piecing!

The HP (High Performance, or as I like to call it, Happy Piecing) foot is a bit different from the other feet included with the Janome 9400: it is already permanently attached to its own presser foot bar. See, it really is special! 

The HP needle plate is a straight stitch plate which helps to give you a lovely straight line of stitching and avoids any needle flex going in and out of the fabric. You won’t be able to do any zigzag with this needle plate in the machine as it won’t let you. Well, you could probably find a way around it if you tried really hard, but when you pop in the HP needle plate, the Janome 9400 will only show you the straight stitches that you will be able to stitch. This avoids having to worry about selecting another stitch type that might cause the needle to hit the foot and break the needle and damage the machine.

As a quilter, I don’t usually look at the other straight stitches available, but if you are a sewist, there are some really nice triple stitch options that would look amazing if you are top stitching. I could certainly see how some of these stitches would make nice embellishment details on a collar or on shirt cuffs. While the Janome 9400 will suggest the stitch length, you can always change the look of the stitch by making it shorter or longer.

To see some of the straight stitch options available using the HP foot and needle plate, click on the image below to watch a video on my YouTube channel.

Creatively,

P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive FREE emails full of quilting goodness? Just click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if your purchase a product by clicking through links in this blogpost. This allows me to continue to provide you with FREE content each week. Thank you.

Book Review: Mini-Charm Quilts

Mini-Charm Quilts is another wonderful addition to the Moda All-Stars series of quilts from That Patchwork Place, an imprint of Martingale. If you haven’t watched my review of some of the previous books in the Moda All-Stars series, just click here to be taken to my book review playlist.

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

As you have probably guessed from the title, this time the Moda All-Stars have created projects based on mini-charm packs. If you don’t know what a mini-charm is, it’s a 2½” x 2½” square and you can buy mini-charm packs, just like charm packs, with a variety of fabrics from one collection.

In Mini-Charm Quilts, various Moda designers have created 18 projects based on these 2½” square packs. You’ll find a pincushion, small quilts, a table runner, and wall hangings. Since the basis of the projects are small 2½” squares, the projects are also small – no bed quilts in this book!

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

Working with purchased mini-charm packs makes fabric selection super simple – it’s already done for you. You could, of course, cut your own mini charms, but it’s so much easier to buy the little packs – plus, they are adorable!

You’ll notice that some of the projects use more than one mini-charm pack, so if you want to make one of these projects, be sure to check the fabric requirements carefully.

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

If you don’t have mini-charm packs yet – and they’re so cute, you’ll want to get some – you can also use your scrap fabric to make these projects.

For more information on Mini-Charm Quilts, click on the image below to watch a video on my YouTube channel.

Get your own copy of Mini-Charm Quilts by clicking here.

Creatively,

P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive FREE emails full of quilting goodness? Just click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if you purchase a product by clicking through links in this blogpost. This allows me to continue to provide you with FREE content each week. Thank you.

Sewing Machine Set Up for Free Motion Quilting

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is how I set up my sewing machine for free motion quilting so I made a video to show you how I do this.

There are really two things to consider: what tools you should have that will help you to free motion quilt easily and how to set up your sewing machine.

First, let's take a look at the tools. Having the largest area around the machine's needle to support the quilt will be very helpful. If you have an extension table, this is the time to put it on your sewing machine. If you don't have an extension table, a Sew Steady table is a great investment. 

Image courtesy of amazon.com

It's a good idea to have something underneath your quilt so that it will slide easily on the machine bed. I like to use the Supreme Slider: it's durable and can be easily cleaned.

You will also need something to help you grip the quilt and move it around. I like to wear Machingers for this purpose: they are lightweight and have rubberized tips on each finger that help you grab the quilt.

Now let's take a look at the machine set up. Whenever you are starting a new project, you should insert a new needle. You should also turn your stitch length to 0.

You will also want to put the appropriate foot on your sewing machine. You probably have a darning or free motion foot for your machine and you will need this when you are free motion quilting. 

You should lower the feed dogs on your sewing machine - or should you? If you are using the Supreme Slider, the feed dogs are already covered and some sewing machines actually work better when the feed dogs are up when free motion quilting. Try both on your machine to see which gives you the best results.

If you have a newer sewing machine, it probably has a speed control on it. This allows you to adjust how fast the machine is stitching - how fast the needle is going up and down - when you press the foot pedal. Play around with this until you can press the foot pedal all the way to the floor and are comfortable with the rate at which the machine is sewing. This means you don't have to think about what your foot is doing - you just need to focus on moving your hands.

For more information on how I set up my sewing machine for free motion quilting, click on the image below to watch a video on my YouTube channel.

How do you set up your sewing machine for free motion quilting? Leave me your best tips in the Comments below.

Creatively,

P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive FREE emails full of quilting goodness? Just click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if your purchase a product by clicking through links in this blogpost. This allows me to continue to provide you with FREE content each week. Thank you.

Book Review: Lunch-Hour Patchwork

Another book in the Lunch-Hour series by Martingale & Company, Lunch-Hour Patchwork features 15 easy to start and easy to finish projects by a variety of designers.

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

Some of the projects you’ll find in Lunch-Hour Patchwork are a tote bag, a wall hanging, a picture frame, and a needle book. These projects are all simple enough for beginning quilters and just the right size to learn a new technique.

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

As the title indicates, these are pieced projects – not an appliqué project in the mix at all. 

Since these projects are small in size, they are also good choices for using up your fabric scraps.

The various projects in Lunch-Hour Patchwork are also quick to make so if you need a quick gift, you can finds lots of ideas in this book.

Photo courtesy of www.martingale-pub.com

As there are a variety of techniques used to create the projects in Lunch-Hour Patchwork, they are good choices if you want to sample a new technique without having to commit to a large project – just in case you don’t like that particular technique.

You can see more of the projects in Lunch-Hour Patchwork by clicking on the image below to watch a video on my YouTube channel.

For your own copy of Lunch-Hour Patchwork, click here.

Creatively,

P.S. Did you know that you can sign up to receive FREE emails full of quilting goodness? Just click here to receive FREE content directly in your email inbox every few weeks from Chatterbox Quilts. I know you'll be glad you did!

P.P.S. I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if you purchase a product by clicking through links in this blogpost. This allows me to continue to provide you with FREE content each week. Thank you.