Quick No Sew Project for Canada's Sesquicentennial

Hi everyone:

Still haven't finished that project to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday (or sesquicentennial, if you are able to pronounce it!)? I've got you covered!

Use some background fabric, a few fabric scraps and embellishments with the Multi-Purpose Quilt Spray to create a no sew wall hanging. This is such a simple and easy project, that you may want to make several of them. The best part is how fast it is to whip up.

Here's what you'll need:

• a piece of background fabric - you choose the size

• some Canadian appliqués - I chose to cut out some maple leaves with my Artistic Edge digital cuter, but you can choose any motif that says "Canada" to you

• some embellishments, such as ribbons or other trims

• a piece of dowel or curtain rod to use to hang your new project

Once you've assembled your materials, decide on your design by arranging your items on the background fabric. Once you have determined your design, affix the items to the background fabric using the Multi-Purpose Quilt Spray. If you don't already have the recipe for this amazing, easy to make spray, you can get it here.

To see how this all comes together, you can watch the video below or on my YouTube channel.

I'd love to see your creations, so post your photos in the Comments below or send them to kim@chatterboxquilts.com

I hope you enjoy a fantastic Canada Day!

Creatively,

P.S. Join my private Chatterbox Quilts' Facebook group to learn more about quilting and other related topics. It's easy, just go to www.chatterboxquilts.com/fbgroup.

Placemats for Canada's 150th Birthday

Hi everyone:

This is a post especially for my Canadian subscribers, although anyone will enjoy making this project, I'm sure. 

There is still time to create a project to celebrate Canada's Sesquicentennial. While many quilters are making large quilts to commemorate this once in a lifetime occasion, I decided to keep it a little smaller and made some Canada 150 placemats. Quick to make and practical to use!

This project will be in Janome Canada's Look Book in the future, but I wanted you to have this pattern while there is still time to make it before the big day (July 1).

These placemats use a quilt-as-you-go technique for quick constructions. You'll just need a background fabric, a few additional fabric strips and a small piece of fabric for the maple leaf appliqué. Click here to get the FREE instructions to make the Canada 150 placemats. Make 1, make 4 or make as many as you need!

I hope you'll share your version of these placemats by posting a photo in the Comments below or by sending them to kim@chatterboxquilts.com

Creatively,

Have you joined my private Chatterbox Quilts' Facebook group yet? Go to www.chatterboxquilts.com/fbgroup to join us.

Quick Snowball Block Variation #1

Welcome to another Telecast Thursday! This week you'll learn how to make another really simple block. This might be the simplest quick quilt block that there is and it makes for a really quick and easy quilt project.

Some people call this flipped corners block, but I know it as the Snowball block. I prefer to create it when the weather is warmer as it just makes me feel cold when I think I'm making a Snowball block:)

To make this block you will need:

• 1 background square
• 4 smaller corner squares

In my example, I'm using a 6" background square and 4 - 2½" squares for the corners. 

Be sure to use contrasting fabrics for the corner squares to get the desired effect.

Using a removable marker (Frixion pen in my case), draw a diagonal line on the back of the 4 - 2½" squares. You'll be placing these on each of the 4 corners of the background square and stitching along the drawn diagonal lines.

After stitching on all the diagonal lines, trim off the excess fabric that is underneath and press the corner squares out to the corner of the background square. 

Congrats! You've made one Snowball block.

To see how I make a Snowball block and get extra half-square triangle units, click on the image below.

Have you made Snowball blocks before? What is your favourite way to use these easy-to-make blocks? Leave me a comment below or on my YouTube channel to let me know.

Creatively,

P.S. Join me in the private Chatterbox Quilts Facebook group. It's where we discuss quilting topics and drool over vintage sewing machines :)

Book Review - Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3

I love free motion quilting and am always looking for a good book to add to my quilting library all about this topic. I've found one in Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 by Lori Kennedy.

You may already follow Lori's blog, The Inbox Jaunt, where she shares information and free motion quilting designs. (If you aren't familiar with her blog, you should check it out). In Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 Lori shares many of her free motion designs and provides lots of information on free motion quilting. 

One of my favourite things about this book, other than the amazing content, is that the book is ring bound. This allows you to lay the book out next to your sewing machine and use it as reference as you stitch out one of the over 60 designs in the book. Very handy!

The book is divided into sections based on the shapes of the designs, making it easy to find a swirl-type design or one that uses another shape, such as a leaf. Due to the type of information in the book, you would expect, and hope for, lots of reference photos - and this book has those. Lori stitches out her designs on solid colour fabrics so it is easy to see the design details. 

Watch the video below or on my YouTube channel to see more about Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3.

If you want a good reference book on free motion quilting, you will want to get your own copy of Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3.

Do you love to do free motion quilting too? Leave me a comment below as to your favourite type of free motion design.

Creatively,

P.S. Join me in my private Chatterbox Quilts Facebook group for discussions on vintage sewing machines and quilting information. I'd love to chat with you there.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small amount of compensation if you purchase by clicking through a link in this blog post. Thank you for allowing me to continue to create free content for you.

The Forgotten Featherweight: How an assessment kit helps you buy a working machine.

You’ll never guess what I just tripped across while rearranging furniture in my quilting studio: a SINGER® Featherweight sewing machine! Okay, I know I have two of these machines already: a 221 and a 222K, but I didn’t remember that I have three of them. I guess I do!

My hubby was just as surprised as I was. When I took a closer look at the machine I remembered when and where we got it – and hubby was with me when I picked it up. It seems that I wasn’t the only one who had forgotten about this purchase!

This “forgotten” Featherweight was acquired several months ago in north Calgary. This was an impulse purchase – okay, most of my vintage sewing machine purchases are – but I really jumped on this one quickly as the price was so good. I found it on kijiji – I read kijiji ads every day like other people read the morning newspaper – and when I saw the price I immediately sent an email to the seller. Once I confirmed that the sewing machine was still available, I jumped in the car with my cash in hand.

I have an evaluation kit that I take with me when I’m looking at purchasing a “new” vintage sewing machine. I was in such a hurry, that I almost forgot to take it with me, but remembered and grabbed it just before I jumped in the car. I was so glad I did!

When we got to the seller’s home, the machine was in his garage and the lighting was dim. I immediately grabbed my flashlight from my evaluation kit so I could check it out thoroughly. After determining that it did indeed stitch – again thanks to the machine needle and thread spool that I carry in my kit – I took a closer look at the case and attachments that were included with the machine. The attachment bin that is attached on the left side of the case was missing a screw, but I knew that I could fix this pretty easily, so this wasn’t a deal breaker. The sewing machine oil that I carry in my evaluation kit wasn’t needed to get this machine running as the machine was very clean and had been recently oiled, but this isn’t usually the case. I didn’t need some of the other items in my evaluation kit, again due to the cleanliness of the machine.

While I was tempted to just grab the Featherweight and go, I was glad that I had my evaluation kit with me so I could really check it out before making the purchase.

Watch the video below to see more about the FeatherWeight I purchased and the items in my assessment kit I took with me to make sure that it really was a “good deal”..

To help you set up your own evaluation kit I’ve created a FREE printable Vintage Sewing Machine Evaluation Kit download. Print it out now so you can start setting up your own evaluation kit to take with you when evaluating a potential vintage sewing machine purchase.

With your own evaluation kit, you’ll always be ready to check out a vintage sewing machine for purchase.

If you are thinking of buying a vintage sewing machine you may be interested in my eBooks for buyers (click here). If you are thinking of selling your machine you may be interested in my How To Sell a Vintage Sewing Machine eBook.

Please share this information with your friends by clicking on the "Share" button below.

Creatively,

P.S. Join the private Chatterbox Quilts Facebook group for quilting and vintage sewing machine information.