Marg Low Designs

gorgeous work & great ideas

There's nothing nicer than seeing one of your patterns made up.   

Sandra showed me her beautiful punch needle pieces at Mamre House and I couldn't resist taking a picture to show you. I love the way she mixed a little pink with the red. They're currently displayed at Ingrid's shop, Pioneer Patchwork, Narellan if you'd like a closer peek. 

Jan is always full of great ideas and tips and this is another one. Sometimes binding can look a little 'empty'. To avoid this cut your binding 2 1/4 inches wide and trim the backing and batting 1/4 inch wider than the top.

The result. Nice plump (full) binding.

Today is the last day for entering the pattern giveaway (see last post). It's easy to enter, simply post a comment.

a bit of this n that

You can see, I'm really having a lot of fun with these fabrics. The birds are finished and now all I have to do is hand quilt, then bind this small throw and a table runner. I have used just about every bit of the fabric I purchased. What a great feeling knowing I haven't added to the stash!

This is a Hera marker (Clover) and I could not do without it. For around $10 it is one of the best investments I've made. I mark all my quilting lines with it and even use it to mark the casing lines on drawstring bags. No more lead pencil marks.

A little gift bag, I made awhile ago. No prizes for guessing the recipients favourite colour!

I love that the little flowers were the perfect fit for the circles on the scalloped border. How simple was that!

a cheery quilt

I have two cane baskets where I keep left over blocks and fabrics and other fabrics I've pulled out of my stash intending to make projects with them. It's also where I tend to 'dump' things when doing a quick tidy up. I am not a tidy sewer. Well on Sunday I was rummaging through these baskets and came across the left over blocks from the challenge quilt.

The log cabin blocks found there way into the quilt. It was the 4-patch blocks I wanted to use.

I wanted to make a cheery quilt for a friend's birthday today and these blocks seemed just right.

So I unpicked the row of pink blocks. And set them out as so. I fussy cut all the floral blocks (obviously). 

I have three small boards that I use for my displays that also double as mini design walls. Jan's Idea. They are simply 3 fabric bolts (empty of course) butted and taped together, covered with batting, then homespun. They are great for small quilts or block layouts and can be easily moved around and placed next to the sewing machine.

All finished, including a label, and  waiting to be wrapped. I think it measures 23 inches, to be honest I just added the borders, size was important, finishing was! And it needed to be cheery and pretty and I think I've succeeded there.

The tale of the stable table

The weather so far this week has been beautiful. A lovely warm 20 deg.C.  I've been trying very hard to make the most of it, telling myself that all to soon it will be too cold (and hopefully too wet) to contemplate sitting outside.  Luckily, I had some stitching that needed to be finished Monday so I could work away in the sunshine. True bliss!

Now I'm sure this is not new news too many of you, but a stable table is ideal for sewing on. For anyone who is not sure what a stable table is its simply a tray with a cushion underneath it, perfect for balancing on your lap.

This is not my table. I purchased it last Christmas for my daughter.

I thought it was the ideal gift for someone who uses 'a cushion off the couch' to balance there snacks on. I spent ages tracking one down in the Christmas rush and went home feeling very pleased with myself, especially since they were on sale and just about sold out (that's why I had to go with the jelly beans).

Well Christmas morning came and I felt certain this gift would be a winner. NOT!

It didn't even make it to her bedroom. Straight to the laundry bench, which is where we tend to stack things we don't want cluttering 'our' space but can't part with them.

Then, a couple of months ago, I thought I could use it for my hand sewing, needlepunch, etc. So much easier than placing everything on the coffee table and then having to reach for it. And when you need to tidy up, you can simply pick  everything up, undisturbed, in one go. And as I discovered Monday, perfect for taking outside.

Funny isn't it , that now I'm using it, my daughter has discovered a perfect use for it too - her coffee cup!

Jan's Tip

Have you ever had problems with the fabric fraying as you try to sew an opening closed?

This is a great tip from Jan. Simply trim the seam allowance wider at the opening. No more fraying.

I use a shorter stitch length than normal when sewing around curves and projects that require stuffing.  A shorter stitch length gives a smoother curve and a stronger seam. For example I normally sew with the stitch length set at 2.5. The star and heart were sewn with the stitch length set at 1.5 and when making dolls the stitch length is 1.0. The shorter stitch allows you to trim close to the sewing line (a scant 1/8 inch).