SUPERIOR THREAD - Inventory your thread STASH!!

On the Page called "Patterns & Instructions" I have listed the link for Superior's inventory lists in both PDF and XLS for the insanely anal thread collector. I hope you take a look at it. 

Attached is the link to Superior's downloadable inventory lists for all your SUPERIOR THREADS!!

These are obviously for the truly anal thread lovers...and guess what? I have friends who sit and inventory every spool of thread they have! Sheez...I just go to my cabinet and hope and pray I haven't given the one I want away!  I hope the overly obsessive of you enjoy these spreadsheets and inventory lists! Personally, I want to have a WALL OF THREAD, don't you? I would like to sit down and sew and not have to worry about not having the right thread. Buy one or two spools a month I always say. No one can have too much thread! 

I highly recommend the new Magnifico, Fantastico, and Twist threads. Our class has been using them with wonderful success on many different machines, even one old Singer (but don't worry, she finally bought a new Pfaff! She said now she feels like she has been sewing on a covered wagon. What a difference a new machine makes.)

I also recommend the So Fine #40 variegated. It is a polyester that has many of the same colors as King Tut. If you are ever doubtful about what color thread to use on a particular quilt, So Fine #40 makes a great piecing thread. It is a 40 wt., but not too fat to piece with. 

You can use our inventory list to keep track of your personal thread supply, business inventory, or to plan for your next order.

In order to open the files, you will need software to open Microsoft Excel files or Adobe PDF files.

Next Class is how to use FEET!

Our next class is going to  be how to use sewing feet. We are going to do a sampler using all the regular feet that come with a machine. We will also use a few specialty feet. This is going to be a great class because I have learned so much about these feet I can hardly wait to share with the class.

One of the most important things about sewing a SAMPLER with many different stitches and decorative stitches is what THREAD to use for each. When going to our decorative stitches, we often just leave the thread we were sewing with in the machine and then complain if the machine's stitches weren't as pretty as we thought they should be....it's the thread you are using that makes or breaks the beauty of all our decorative stitches!!

If you are going to use a "pictograph," or a heavily filled-in stitch, you want to adjust your thread accordingly. Remember, all decorative stitches are EMBROIDERY stitches just like the big fancy embroidery machines! Think about the size and the type of thread you want for a decorative stitch and then remember to stitch it out on a Thread Journal first. The thing you need to think about on the Thread Journal (please read my page entitled THREAD JOURNALING) is that is backed with Pellon stabilizer. We forget when pushing the button to use a decorative stitch that we have to remember to stabilize it. There are many ways to do this, and I will put some of these techniques in my THREAD JOURNAL page.

So, I will let you know how the  FEET CLASS goes. Just remember to adjust the type and size of thread to the decorative stitch being used and don't forget to stabilize it! The machine embroidery sewer wouldn't think of NOT using stabilizer, yet us quilters forget it all the time. Give it a try and let me know what you think of using a #50, #40, or even a #30 thread on certain decorative stitches. Often we use decorative stitches on bindings and children's quilts, go to your thread stash! Play with the threads you have and pick the decorative stitch that seems to go with that quilt. 

TaTaForNow - Shawnee

My First Quilt - Every Quilt Tells a Story!

My first quilt was made in 1973 with my Gramma. Gramma was a seamstress from England who taught me to sew when I was a very little (can’t remember how old I was, she gave me a needle, thread, some scraps, and taught me to make doll clothes.). Since I was too young to use her Featherweight, she taught me to hand sew everything. To this day, I still know how to hand stitch in many different styles with perfect hand stitching. I always wanted to please my Gramma, so I worked hard and ripped a lot of unsatisfactory stitches out. 

In 1973, after making my clothes for Jr. High and High School Gramma said I was ready for my FIRST quilt! Since Gramma grew up in England, and then raised her family during the Depression, Gramma taught me how to use all my scraps. She never wanted any fabric (or thread) to go to waste. It was not a quilt from a pattern, just blocks sewed into rows and hand-tied. Each block was either from one of my dresses, or Gramma’s. It is not beautiful, nor perfect, but it stays in my bedroom reminding me of all the visits that turned into sewing lessons with my Gramma. 

We would sit and stitch by hand or on her Featherweight while she told me all the stories about life as a little girl in England and what a pain in the neck my mother was when she was little. Her patience, her dumb cat named “Butter” (who wouldn’t stay off whatever we were working on), coupled with tea, biscuits (they were cookies to me), and stories are my precious memories of quilting and sewing with Gramma. That ugly little quilt is a treasure of memories that makes it a priceless work of art, albeit not perfect. 

I learned to sew first, then to quilt, and I haven’t stopped quilting since! I am now a quilt teacher and lecturer and I always give credit to Gramma when I teach students how to hand-stitch a binding with perfect stitches. My ugly first quilt reminds me constantly of Gramma's abundant knowledge and even more abundant patience. She always encouraged me to keep sewing (even though I only had boys). She never criticized my work, but always found something positive to say about it while telling me how to make my next project better. To this day I encourage my students to finish their project, even if it's not perfect - just try to make the next one a little better. My ugly first quilt keeps Gramma close, she, who taught me to love sewing, quilting, thread, stories, cookies, and tea!  But, oh, how I really LOVE THREAD!!! 

Cotton vs. Polyester - What's wrong with cotton thread?

We began Thrilling Threads' classes 3 years ago with the blessing of Superior Threads. I figured we would cover all the threads in about 6 months . . . well, little did I realize there were so many projects waiting for us as well as our friends at Superior introducing more new threads. This combination has kept us going for 3 years, and we still have more projects waiting!

Most of the projects at our Thrilling Threads classes are challenges. We challenge ourselves to come up with something that exercises our use of thread. Thread is the key to revisiting all kinds of projects, using the proper or sometimes, new thread. It has been so much fun!

The most common "thread" issue I have had to deal with as an instructor is reminding sewers to think about the project they are beginning. All are quilters, and as such, they instinctively reach for their good old cotton thread. Not that there is anything wrong with cotton thread, we all use a lot of it. But when you have spent years using cotton thread for quilting, it is a hard to get out of that rut. 

The worst thing I would see back in my shop owner days, was walking into a purse class and seeing all the sewers gleefully sewing a challenging handbag or tote with cotton thread. Can you tell me what is so wrong with that? Use polyester! It is stronger and you can match those wonderful colors. Why would anyone start an item that is designed to be schlepped, tugged, pulled, tossed, or 'over-loaded' without using the strongest thread? Why? Because many sewers simply grab a spool of thread without giving a thought about how the project will be used. Each sewer would answer, "It's what I always use." Not giving a thought to the difference between the two threads...

So - my point is: STOP! Think about the project before beginning it. What is it going to be used for? Do you need shiny thread, strong thread, fat thread, fine thread, cotton, or invisible thread? This means retraining our thought process as sewers or quilters not to just reach for the same old thread.

That reminds me, when is thread too old? Why do we use cotton thread for quilting? Will polyester ruin your quilt? These questions go on and on. I will endeavor to answer them all in upcoming blogs.

Ta Ta For Now - Shawnee

How to copyright a Quilt Pattern

 (reprinted from eHow.com)

Discover the expert in you.

How to Copyright Sewing Patterns

By David Sarokin, eHow Contributor

Copyright law protects creative works that are put into material form. You can use copyright to protect written works such as books, poems, musical scores and essays, as well as visual works like paintings and photographs. You can also copyright a work that is a combination of text and illustrations, such as a sewing pattern. Although no action is necessary to copyright your works, you can achieve an extra degree of legal protection by registering a copyright for your sewing pattern.

Difficulty:

 

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Sewing pattern

1. • 1
     Do nothing. Copyright protection is automatic as soon as a creative work is put into material form. A pattern idea in your head is not protected by copyright, but as soon as you commit the pattern to paper, or draw it on a computer screen, it is automatically protected.
   • 2
     Register a copyright for your sewing pattern online at the Electronic Copyright Office web page of the U.S. Copyright Office.

     You can achieve an extra level of copyright protection by registering your sewing pattern and creating a formal record of its existence and authorship. You register by providing your basic identification information and uploading an image file of your work. Online registration costs $35.
   • 3
     Add a copyright notice to your sewing pattern. In a readily visible location, add a C-in-a-circle copyright symbol, the date the work was first created, and the author's name. This copyright notice lets people know that your work is protected by copyright.

Tips & Warnings

• The Copyright Office publication, "Copyright Registration for Works of the Visual Arts," specifically mentions sewing patterns as works that are protected by copyright.

Resources

• U.S. Copyright Office: FAQs

The Great Rolled Bowl Class

What we learned about those wily "rolled bowls"

Last class was going to be very easy. We were going to make a few simple, small rolled bowls. Well, we found out there is a LOT more to making a rolled bowl than we recalled from First Grade clay making. First, I discovered there are different size fabric strips depending on how you wrap the cord. Second, discovered there was more than one way to wrap the cord. Third, there are many different kinds of cord that can be used, and fourth and last, what about the THREAD? So, once I realized all of the variables that could influence one little bowl class, I forged on to try and get at least one student to complete at least one bowl. The lesson I learned about variables in a project is the same one that slaps me every time. They all came out to play in one class. Oh boy!

I am going to do a page on the the rolled bowls. Actually the pattern is taking a little of this and a little of that, depending on different looks. They all came out. Everyone loved the bowls and I recommend the project for anyone looking for something different to do this summer. The bowls make great little gifts and you can use pretty ugly fabric that turns out cute. Just go to the page, "Rolled Bowls."

Credit Due

CREDIT - where credit is due!

I was doing some pinning today on Pinterest and realized I have made one of the worst mistakes in quilting! That is not giving credit to others for their work. If yours happens to be one of the photos I have pinned without credit, please email me and I will correct it right away.

Sometimes as we hurry along through the day and grab something here and there, we forget to gather data and information. As quilters who each produce one of a kind projects, which is usually all we ever receive for our work; credit that we made it. The problem with not giving credit to others, is sometimes it can get mixed up with someone else's work. Worse, it could be assumed the user is trying to take credit for another quilter's work. 

I can go on and on about copyright, infringement, taking someone's idea, copying patterns and much more. The world of quilting is very sensitive about giving credit to other's ideas, and not stealing someone's patterns. There, I said it out load. Don't steal other quilters' patterns!

The next post I do is going to be about copyrighting your own ideas. Once you start, you will never again want other's to take credit for your work or ideas, and you will not want to take others'.  I just wanted to lead with this for a while since I did pin some miscellaneous quilt photos without proper information. In my defense, some did not have the information from the original locations, but still, we should all be much better about giving credit where credit is due. Especially me! TTFN