Bad Mouse, Bad Mouse! ... Or the "Step by Step of My Quilt Repair"

Hello, hello everyone! I'm Wendy from Why Knot? and when I saw that Madame Samm was asking for tutorials, I dared to peek my nose outta my little corner of the world and thought to myself "Why Knot offer to share this tutorial with Stash Manicure's amazing readers?"  Good thing I hadn't gotten out of bed yet when I received her reply that morning, otherwise I probably would've been flat out on the floor!  How ironic that I, a mouse of a person, have this tutorial to share ... but seriously, I couldn't pass up the opportunity in these times of saving our pennies, nickels and dimes ... So, Madame Samm, and all of you amazing readers, I humbly thank you for the honor of posting here today!!

Has one of you precious quilt ever unintentionally come in contact with a dog ... or a mouse, or a whole family of mice? Or, as our weather systems seem to be so consistently inconsistent, sustain tornado damage, flood stains or wildfire scorches?

Well, I recently had a call from a lady desperately seeking someone to repair a damaged quilt.  Her sister had proudly presented it to her as a gift and within a week, someone left the door open for the family dog to access the room with said prized quilt. Oops!
Needless to say, the lady has not yet told her sister what happened to this very dear present.  When she called me, in December, I told her I’d happily help her, if she could find matching fabric for which I could make repairs. I then directed her to my very friendly LQS shopkeeper with her damaged prize.

Well, the same lady has called me again, five month's later, very proudly stating she's found matching material and asked if I was still interested in helping her get this precious quilt repaired.  I repeated that I would need to see the damage first, but that I could give it my best.  I did mention that depending on damage, costs might be a little high and, she rushed to say that at this point if it cost $1,000, she didn’t care.



I share this story with you because as I was talking with a friend about this story, she asked if it was possible to repair damage to a quilt as I described.  It got me to thinking that while most all of us share tips on creating quilts, I haven’t seen too many posts on repair work.  Follow me? J So ....

A while back, I had this quilt brought to me with “mouse damage” and, (this was a year before blogging even entered my brain's realm of thought) though I was pretty happy taking on this challenge, I wanted proof of what the quilt looked like before I began repairs and what it would look like after my repairs.  (If this sounds like I was trying to cover my hiney, you’re absolutely right J)   Okay, enough with my words, I'll let my pictures speak for me now:

This is mouse damage from the front side … note binding, batting, and hole through to the backside.

This is the damage from the backside of quilt.

After carefully removing all stitching in damaged areas, I squared off material to be cut and removed. In doing so, you can see more extensive damage to the batting.

I repeated the same steps with the batting since damage encompassed a couple of areas.  You will note on the backside of the quilt only a small portion was damaged so I carefully cut out the chewed up section so I could replace with a smaller piece of matching material.  Also, because the backing was not pieced, there was no easy “designation” of where to cut and piece a repair, so I chose to use a patch here instead of making the repair look so obvious on the back.

If you look closely, you will see that I cut a matching patch for the hole and used matching thread to zig-zag stitch the repair on the back … looks a little rough right now, but wait, it gets better!

Once the backing was patched I cut a piece of batting to replace that which I removed and stitched it in place, also with a zig-zag stitch.  Next was the trickiest part in making the repair look good …

Using a matching rectangle of fabric, I first sewed the left and right sides to the border.  You can probably notice the fading difference of where the seams join the two pieces of fabric.  Once the side seams were made, I joined the light blue border to the darker blue border.  I then added fabric to the binding section and completed the repair with stippling to match that which was done in the rest of the border.

Front side.  For reference purposes, I marked the repaired section with pencil and quarter-inch marker.

Back side of quilt.  Seriously J repair work can be done ... this was my very first repair job. J lol

Thank you for stepping through this repair with me.  Maybe this little tutorial will help save you a dime, nickel, and penny by making a repair yourself before sending the pretty away to someone like me, or gifting same precious “damaged” quilt to your dog’s house.

I will post pictures of the doggie damaged quilt once the quilt is repaired on my blog over at Why Knot? so please be sure to check back in with me to see how I make out repairing precious pup's damage :)

Next time, ask yourself "Why Knot?" and try it yourself ... you just might be surprised!

Wendy


Editors note....


Thanks to Wendy for this amazing post...OK< I don't believe we have ever had this topic...sew be forewarned, mice, rats, dogs...OH MY...lol Wendy has the band-aid....lol
( or rather the stitch, patch, finesse..you know what I mean) lol

And our winner.....

DEBBIE M 

#41

Congrats my dear...

please send me your addy...

Thanks to all who entered

and left great messages for Wendy...

OHHHH a GIVEAWAY TOO..look YOUR very own copy of a TRAVEL guide, it was well put together. KUDOs to Thanks to Michele, our new sponsor..all kinds of info for sew many who travel, listing of all fabric shops.....and you know I always add a few extras...


Sew be a follower, leave a nice comment for Wendy..draw will be tomorrow...

The Evolution of a Quilter and a GIVEAWAY x 2

When does a person first catch the fever? 

Does it happen when you walk into your first quilt shop? 

Or do you inherit it from a relative or friend? 

 In my case, it was a little of both.  I’m Cheryl, from So Many Quilts, So Little Time!, and I’m back today to share a tale and a little trunk show. 

The way my family tells it is that I am a carbon copy of my paternal grandmother.  Ada was a fabulous cook…but I think my sister inherited that trait… and a skilled artisan with anything that involved needles and threads.  With the aid of my grandfather… yes, he was a hand quilter…she fashioned many utilitarian quilts; but the one that stands out in my mind is the Lone Star quilt that still adorns my mother’s guest bed today.  It was this quilt that started the fire burning deep within me.

So no wonder the first quilt I tried to make was a pre-cut Lone Star I ordered from the back of a craft magazine.  Silly me!  After all, I had made my own wedding dress.  This couldn’t be that hard!  Needless to say, the kit was sold at a garage sale and I returned to knitting and macramé.  Years later I met my dear friend Betty, an avid quilter with a wonderful sense of color, and she took me to my first quilt shop in Mt. Vernon, Washington.  She wisely counseled me that I needed to take a beginning quilting class because “quilt piecing is a totally different animal.” 

In the beginning, I made a few utilitarian quilts as baby shower and holiday gifts for family.  Then in 1999, I discovered Sally Collins and the world of miniature quilts.  My first miniature was from Sally’s Book, Small Scale Quiltmaking.  It was also my first experience with entering a juried quilt show. 

Beaded and hand quilted.

The following year I took a Baltimore Album techniques class from Irma Gail Hatcher.  The resultant quilt was called ‘A Tribute to Father and Mother.’  I had lost my father that autumn to lung cancer, and I hand quilted this quilt as my mother and I consoled each other on my back porch.  It hangs in the living room of the home my father built.

Having conquered hand applique, I quickly moved on to dabbling in art quilts.  This untitled quilt was made for my daughter.  She is an avid scuba diver and loves dolphins.

Detail of the dolphins and 3-D palm trees.

My husband’s job took us to Houston in 2004, the same year I became an ‘empty nester.’  To fill the void and make new friends, I entered the world of teaching new quilters to piece.  I found the new role both fulfilling and challenging.  It wasn’t until we moved to Arizona in 2008 that I expanded my quilting repertoire by taking a seminar with Ruth McDowell.  ‘Argentinian Giants Tossed with Swiss Chard’ was the result of three solid weeks in my sewing room…seriously, my husband fed me and supplied endless accolades.

All curved piecing from a sketch I drew.

The actual flower.

In 2010, I started dabbling in designing my own quilt patterns.  After years of teaching beginning piecing, I decided my graduates needed patterns suitable for their skill level with more detailed instructions.  I published ‘Ladder to Success’, but it was met with a lukewarm response. 

Last year a quilting colleague showed me a quilt pattern by Ann Seely called Fall Harvest that was published in QNM in October 2000.  With Ann’s gracious permission, I designed a small scale version inspired by her quilt, but with my own designs in the borders.  Autumn’s Bounty was awarded a blue ribbon at the Arizona Quilters Guild’s annual juried quilt show.  As a result of the interest expressed in the quilt, I have tried my hand again at publishing a pattern. 

I hope you have enjoyed my tale of the evolution of a quilter.  If you are interested in my work, stop by So Many Quilts, So Little Time and take a peek at the projects I am currently working on.  My current works reflect a passion for reproduction fabrics and small scale precision piecing.  I want to thank M. Samm for being so brave kind to ask me back for an encore.

Editors note....

Thank YOU Cheryl..for being our guest today...as an added bonus today..We will have a giveaway...

Judy @ Green Fairy Quilts.. they are having a 30% sale on bundles, charm packs a nice variety of fabric collections... When you are looking for anything and everything MODA you can count on her to bring it to you with that very special one of a kind service.

Today this white bella solid jelly roll  from Judy @ Green Fairy Quilts  and from Carrie Nelson at  Schnibbles ... she has 4 of her patterns for you to collect and perhaps make some day too.!

+

Be a follower, leave a comment for Cheryl....

answer her questions...

When does a person first catch the fever? 

Does it happen when you walk into your first quilt shop? 

Or do you inherit it from a relative or friend? 

Winner announced tomorrow...

and our Winner is

Cathy from Westbrook

( been contacted)

( another new follower)  Yeah!

You won the jelly roll and patterns

and a few extra goodies...

4 Bliss charm packs

as well as some threads

to co-ordinate.

Congrats and thanks

for all who participated

and to Cheryl for such a great question

and post

enjoyed your inspiring answers..

Things are Looking UP!

I'm very fortunate to have a dedicated sewing space.  Mary Lou, here, from Cheaper than Therapy Quilting, and I blessedly don't have to share my machine and stash with a bedroom or an office or a family or bonus room. Yippee!! But my growing stash (can someone tell me why it continues to grow, even after I've annouced several fabric buying moratoriums!?! :-D) means that my room is way too small!  It's about a 12 x 12 room with a full length closet which I've filled to capacity and then some!

So I'm finding creative ways to store things in my space!

I like my sewing room to be homey -- so I have knick-knacks and such that I want to display. And I'd love to put them on tables and surfaces but they clutter my sewing space! I need a place to put them out of the way, but still visible.

Out came my trusty Stud Finder (sadly it only works on walls, not on humans! LOL)!  I put wooden brackets on the wall and mounted a shelf to hold my brick-a-brack.  Out of the way!  My grandmother's 100 year old cast-iron sewing machine, photos, quilty puzzles, sewing angels, Boyd's bears and all, sturdily displayed!

Once, the "UP" thing occurred, I looked around for other possibilities -- OFF the floor, with display capabilities (after all, how can I work up enough guilt to finish projects if I can't see them and feel them willing me to complete them!?)....

How 'bout pegs!?

Yes! With quilt blocks on skirt-hangers, mocking me and begging for attention! (Love, love skirt hangers for keeping my blocks together and unwrinkled!)

How about hooks on the closet doors for panels, rows of blocks, larger blocks and thread! (The rows of my "Hometown Christmas" quilt and the first month of "American Heritage" are hanging out on these inexpensive hooks!)

And since only half the closet is shelved (dear husband thought we might wanna use the room as a bedroom someday) and the other half has a rod, I bought those hang-up shelves and filled them to capacity with UFO's....(For the record, there are 52 -- well, 45 now since I've finished 7 of them so far this year!! I'm on a roll!!!!  Whoo hoo!!)

Even my design wall is under a shelf that has quilty stuff on top and a quilt hanger below. (I'm working on Miss Rosie's "Home Sweet Home" from Spice of Life Quilts.)

So, if room is a premium in your sewing space, look up!

And since the world didn't end this past weekend :-P, I'll close with a "looking up" word from the book of Acts:

“Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:11)

Not this past weekend, but someday! :-)  I'll keep looking up in my sewing room and for His return! :-)

Blessings! And thank you so much, Madame Samm, for allowing me the privilege of a visit here!!

Mary Lou

www.cheaperthantherapyquilting.blogspot.com

Editors note....

Mary Lou had written this last week  ready to be posted today, before the news of her beloved Son SAM who passed away this Monday morning in his sleep. He was only 17 years young.  A healthy young man who was needed in the Heavens above. I asked her if she wanted to postpone this post, but she would not have anything to do with that gesture. She felt perhaps some of you would be touched by her son's story by his short time on this earth and be reminded to make the most of each day. I could not agree with her more. Her Sam would want her to continue  living and loving, which she does sew effortlessly. Visit her please and let here know you care... Your words will most certainly bring her comfort.

Blessings Madame Samm

FOR THE MASSES

Hello, Quilters!  It's Jill from Jillily Studio.  It's so nice to be here again.  I have been reading through all the recent posts again.  Aren't they great!  I am so glad to be included again in the list of guest posters.  It is an honor. 

I thought that today I would share a tutorial of a technique with you.  And since I LOVE to applique, how about that?  I know that many of you are expert at applique, but some of you have never tried it, because you think it is too hard, so I would like to share my applique method:

Applique the Jillily Way!

This makes it easy for ANYONE to do applique!  I call it "applique for the masses" because it really is easy for anyone.  Applique adds sooooo much to a pieced quilt.  Just take a look at these examples:

In this quilt (CABIN FEVER)  the simple log cabin blocks would really be boring without the applique, and may I add that there are very few, easy shapes.

Now this quilt (CITRUS SALAD) would be lost without those beautiful applique blocks! (And those shapes are easy, too!)

Here's an example of a mostly pieced quilt (GARDEN ROWS) that is so enhanced by the applique that it" reads" as an applique quilt.  Really there is only one applique row, and a few stems on some flowers.

This quilt I know you have seen before, (sorry) but it is a good example of my next point:  Don't be afraid of vines.  They are a good way to fill up a LOT of empty space with very little effort.

 Now let's learn how to do it!  First take 4 pieces of freezer paper, stack them together, all with the shiny side DOWN, 

and press them with a hot iron.

They will fuse together, giving you one dull side on top and one shiny side on bottom.  (Be careful NOT to put two shiny sides facing each other, because you will end up with a lovely handmade piece of cardstock!)

 Now cut your shape out of the heavy freezer paper.  (If you need to trace your pattern, do it on a single sheet of freezer paper before you fuse them together.)

 Place the template shiny side down on the back of your fabric.  Press in place (it will stick).  Cut out around the shape leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.  Just eyeball this, it doesn't have to be perfect.

 Now take some spray starch and spray it into a cup.  It will foam up and then liquify.  You can use spray sizing or Best Press if you prefer, but regular old grocery store starch works great.

 Use a stencil brush to "paint" the seam allowance of your applique shape.

Slide your hot iron over the piece, folding the seam allowance up over the template.  Use an awl to hold the shape so you don't get burned.  (The voice of experience...)  I love my awl!  I can pull the seam allowance up over the template with it and not get fried.  Keep your iron in place long enough to dry the starch and set the crease.
Some folks will tell you to use a small craft iron here.  Not me!  I like a BIG, HOT, HEAVY iron.  It is fast and easy.  You don't have to push on it, and it does the work of gently 'easing' the fabric over the curve of your template.

 When the piece has cooled, just pull out the template.  You can use it again several times until it looses it's sticky-ness.  (yes, I'm sure that is a word.)

To attach the piece to your background, we need to baste in place.  Of course we want the BEST and EASIEST way to baste----Ta-Dah--in comes Jillily Studio Appli-Glue!
The tapered tip allows you to put just a tiny drop every half inch or so in the seam allowance of your prepared piece.  (The tip can be removed for easy cleaning, and so it won't clog or rust!)  The best part is that the glue is "Archival" --meaning that it is safe for the fabrics in your quilt.  It is water soluble, so you do need to stitch, but it will hold all the pieces of your applique block in place until you get around to stitching.
I like to glue baste all the pieces of my block at once, so that now all the prep work is done on my block and all I need to do is stitch.  It makes your project portable--you don't need to carry all the little individual pieces (where is piece 23b??!),  and the placement diagram (I know I had that yesterday!).

All you need is your block and needle and thread, (my favorites are the Bohin applique needles, and Aurifil 50 wt. cotton thread)

 and, of course, your Poke-A-Dots.  Yup, Poke-A-Dots.  These are the neatest little things!  They allow you to push your needle without getting poked, and without the bulk of a thimble. 

They are a sticky thimble you put on your finger. You can re-stick them if you stop in the middle to, say, eat a piece of chocolate cake...
Now to stitch your applique, knot your thread and come up from the back, bring your needle out the fold of the applique.  Use a blind stitch, with all the traveling from stitch to stitch done on the back so you don't see it.

Remember all these handy supplies to do applique the Jillily Way.  Give it a try, you will be surprised how easy it is.  When ever I have a booth at an event, I demonstrate this method, and the quilters are always so amazed at how easy it is.  Please come see me if I am at an event near you, and I will be happy to show you in person!
I hope you have not been too bored with this post, but I am out of time and space, so I will have to show you how to do the vines on my own blog later this month.
I think we need to give a prize away if you stayed long enough to read this whole thing!!  Leave a comment here AND sign up to follow me on my blog and you could win a bunch of applique supplies: Poke-A-Dots, Appli-Glue, needles, stencil brush and an awl-- and a pattern or two.  I will choose a couple of winners on Friday night.  The lucky winners will be ready to applique the days away!
Happy Quilting,

OK, we have the winners of the Jillily Studio drawing from Tuesday's post:

KatieQ of NY in the USA

and

Linda K of Georgia in the USA

If you are one of these people, email me to give me your address and I will ship your prizes!  

(jill@jillilystudio.com)

I told you that I would be showing you how to make vines and stems for applique, and I have not forgotten!  I will have to do that next week after the Memorial Day holiday weekend (over at my blog, jillilystudio.blogspot.com).  See you then----

Have a great weekend!

Jill