[upbeat music]
- Welcome everyone to the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show.
[audience applauding]
I'm Deanna Springer.
I'm pleased to be here with you today presenting my lecture,
"Sew Fun: Easy Sewing Projects."
You should have a handout, you can follow along.
You don't have to take notes, major notes anyway,
because everything I'm showing you is on our blog,
nancyzieman.com/blog.
Is anyone familiar with the nancyzieman.com/blog?
Great.
I worked with Nancy for 27 years before her passing
five years ago this November.
So, yeah, she was an incredible mentor,
a friend to all, a friend to all of yours,
and so grateful that we're continuing
the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show.
It's her legacy gift to PBS Wisconsin.
What a great, unique fundraiser for public television.
So, it's a fundraiser for public television,
Wisconsin Public Television,
but we get to have fun as a quilt show.
So, thank you for being here.
We're glad to be back in person.
And we can get started with some fun Sew-In-A-Cinch gift bags.
I've been wanting to make these gift bags for a long time.
I've purchased some on, you know, on websites
and they're just cheaply made and they're just not nice.
And they really say they're reusable, but they're not.
But look at these gift bags.
They're in five different sizes.
The dimensions are all included in the blog post,
and we have a pattern for everything.
And we do a video for everything I'm showing too.
So, it's all there at the blog and on your handout.
You can just search Sew-In-A-Cinch gift bags
or gift bags at the blog.
And I'll be going through some of the easy steps.
They look like they're fully lined, but they're not.
That's just a top accent.
And I use my serger for this project.
Does anyone have a serger?
And how often do you use it?
Somewhat, right?
Right.
This is a super easy way to use it,
and it really will keep those threads from unraveling
because I like to use quilting fabrics,
cotton fabrics, for a lot of my projects.
So, five different sizes,
accommodates many different gifts, gift cards.
And then, my favorite option is the wine bag, right?
[audience laughing]
So, there's a wine tote included too.
And the tops are all the same dimension.
And you'll see, as I scroll through the blog post,
and I'll tell you those dimensions too.
It's really simple rectangles and squares.
There's my sister Dana, my Stitch it! Sister,
Dana Casey and I, we record videos.
Stitch it! Sisters on YouTube,
and they're embedded into the blog posting too.
So you can watch, if you like to watch a video
to see how we make this, you can watch the video.
You can also read the directions right in the blog post.
And we make a bundle box for everything we do.
That's what we call our kits; they're bundle boxes.
They include the pattern, the fabrics, everything you need,
the ribbons, everything you need
to make our projects except the thread,
because I know you have a thread stash
like you have a fabric stash, right?
So, this is a great stash buster.
You need half yards or more,
depending on the size you're making.
So, we did put a half yard bundle box together
and you can just mix it all up.
If you like Chocolicious, the new fabric from Benartex,
is what we chose for this.
But I'll be making some for Christmas, too, as well.
So, over at the blog post,
you'll see a list of supplies you'll need.
We always step it out, maybe too many,
maybe we step it out a little bit too much,
but I'm assuming this could be someone's
first time they're ever sewing anything.
So, we lay it all out.
We're known for our really good, clear directions.
Guess where I learned that? [audience laughing]
My mentor and friend, Nancy Zieman.
So, we teach the Nancy Zieman way.
And we always start by prepping our fabrics
with Starch Savvy.
Prepare those fabrics for the sewing process.
I've had a lot of people tell me, you know,
"Deanna, I've started sewing, but the sewing machine ate it
as soon as I started sewing it."
Starch your fabric, give it a little body.
Steam press it, get the wrinkles out,
starch it, and it's so much easier to sew.
My sister, Dana, learned that from me.
So, she's using Starch Savvy like crazy.
She sees how much easier it makes the sewing process.
So four, five different gift bag sizes.
Here are all the dimensions.
So, this is from the back of the pattern.
It's on the pattern, but it's also on the blog post.
And you just choose, you know,
which size bag you would like to make,
and then you cut simple rectangles.
So, this is the body of the fabric.
The cherries, you'll see the chocolate-covered cherries.
And this is the actual bag.
The actual bag; I take step by step photos in my office
with my cell phone and I create these blog posts.
So, you just cut easy rectangles.
The top inside accent fabric
is a simple 4-inch by 10-inch rectangle.
Four inches, that's the secret to this.
That top ruffle will be a four-inch rectangle
on every size.
So, that's the secret behind it.
So, it's easier than it seems.
By the end of the lecture, you'll see all I do
is sew with simple rectangles and squares.
And you can make many projects.
The bottom fabric, the base fabric,
is made with a 10 by 13 rectangle of fabric.
You could fully line this, but then
you'll have to leave a seam opening and then
turn it through the opening and hand stitch it shut.
No, we sew the easy way.
So, you have your four rectangle pieces cut
and you'll need some ribbon.
I cut 30-inch lengths of ribbon.
Once I get to the larger size, I do cut larger.
I do cut longer ribbons.
So, the back of the pattern does tell you that.
Because sometimes, I like to tie it around
and then tie a bow.
You know, you give a gift in this gift bag,
you're getting two gifts in one.
What's inside, and the bag itself is a gift
that they can keep gifting on.
The gifts inside these boxes are mostly empty.
They're empty boxes.
You're gonna just go right to stitching.
You're gonna line the top rectangle
with the lower rectangle
and you're gonna stitch across the top.
Use your serger.
If you have a serger, just use your serger.
And clean finish that seam and you'll be good to go.
You're gonna create two, a front and a back.
You need a front and a back.
You could really mix it up and make some
really colorful gift bags with four different fabrics,
two different fabrics, or one fabric.
And then, I stitch all the way around the outside edge
because then that bag is finished on the inside
when you're done.
It's flat construction, the Nancy Zieman way.
This is her flat construction.
And then, you place the right, the front,
and the back together, right sides together.
So, we're looking at the wrong side now.
And you do some measuring.
And because I designed these
with those four-inch bands on the top,
the measurement is the same for every single size.
I set my Clover 5 in 1 sliding gauge
and I mark down 6 3/4 inches.
And I do have the step by step samples
if you wanna see them afterwards too.
I've measured down 6 3/4 inches
and then another 3/4 inch below that
because I need to leave an opening.
So, I need an opening in that seam
so that ribbon can come through, right?
So, this is how I pin it together.
I pin it right sides together with pins.
There's two Wonder Clips there, though.
And I'm holding my wrist because I always wear this.
There are two Wonder Clips, one on each side,
that's marking the no sew zone.
Because I'm thinking about what I'm gonna make for dinner
or my grocery shopping, I'll sew that opening right shut.
[audience laughing] Who's done that?
Well, yeah, exactly.
So, that's my no sew zone.
So, if I'm using Wonder Clips for a project,
I put pins in my no sew zone.
Just do something differently.
Before Wonder Clips, I would put two pins there.
So, when I'd run across the two pin zone,
don't sew over that area.
If you do, you just backstitch and use your reverse stitch
or your seam ripper and pull those stitches out.
It's only a little 3/4 inch seam.
And then, you stitch.
You stitch with quarter-inch seam allowances.
So, it doesn't really matter what seam allowance you use,
just use the same seam allowance for the entire project.
So, you're stitching, but not in that no sew zone,
and there's the opening.
Just leave those two side open, both sides open.
This is where I press.
It's still flat, that bottom is not sewn shut.
But this is where I use, you can't, you know,
put it over your ironing board.
It's not like a top that fits over your entire ironing board.
I use a seam stick.
You could roll up a magazine, that works too,
and wrap it with wool.
But we use a seam stick and it stays in place.
It has a flat edge.
It's like a 1 1/2-inch dowel
that's been cut in half.
And it has a little hang hole too.
So that, I keep right at my ironing board.
And I press, I press that seam open.
I need that seam pressed open so that
I can insert that ribbon coming up.
These are Nancy's wrapped corners.
I'm sewing the lower seam and I wrap that side seam
towards the center of the project.
That is a secret to having corners that have points.
If you've ever sewn a pillowcase, a project,
something square where you sew down,
turn the corner, and come back, you turn it right side out?
Even if you clip that corner, you have a bulky corner.
I'll pass this around.
How about that?
There you go.
You can see and see those wrapped corners.
And I really made that sample,
so I had fun making all of these.
Oh, and there's Nancy's gift cards in there.
So, wrapped corners, when Nancy was designing this technique
for wrapped corners, she was, you know,
folding her laundry and looking at her pillowcases.
How do pillowcases always have such straight,
square corners even after you launder them?
She investigated it; this is what they did.
They were French seams; a lot of our pillowcases
are French seams so that they don't,
you know, unravel after many washings.
But that's what these are.
So, these are Nancy's wrapped corners.
Just wrap your side seams towards the center
of the project while you're stitching.
And use the stiletto so you don't, you know,
get your finger too close to that needle.
And then, you sew and wrap those corners.
And here are what wrapped corners look like.
You can see they're wrapped and just caught in the seam.
If you sew your seam and you thought, "Oh,
I should have sewn wrapped corners," just do it again.
Stitch it a second time, wrapping your corners in.
I use that for coasters, for pot holders, for everything.
Anything you're sewing and turning that
has square corners, you can use wrapped corners.
I've even used it on a diagonal, like an octagon table runner.
I thought, "Well, just give it a try, see if it works."
It works.
It really works, as long as the corner is square.
And then, you need to fold that top fabric.
Now, we're folding that top accent fabric in,
that's creating that ruffle lining.
Press, I always press as I go.
And then, you do a little marking again.
Now, we're marking the casing.
And you don't have to remember the dimension
because it's in the blog posting, the tutorial.
So, set your 5 in 1 sliding gauge
for 3 3/4 inches and mark down.
And then, mark another 3/4 inches away from that.
And that makes the casing so you can can insert ribbon.
Stitch, you wanna stitch along those seam lines first.
Stitch along the seam line
and stitch along the second marked line.
And using the Chaco Liner, as soon as you're done stitching,
it pretty much puffs that chalk marking away.
You don't have to get a wet Q-tip
and try to take away, wash away markings.
They just kind of puff away magically.
And there's no area that you need to leave open
because we already did that during flat construction.
We left those 3/4-inch openings in those side seams.
All you have to do is stitch both of those seams
on those lines, stitching lines, and you're good to go.
And you do use Clover's Point 2 Point Turner
to get those points turned out.
And they just naturally pop out.
When you see that, when that sample comes by your lap,
you can see the corners.
They just pop out and stay out.
We need some ribbon.
That's the unique part.
That's the cinching secret.
There are two ribbons inserted into each cinch bag.
And in order for it to cinch,
you need to insert the ribbon on this side all the way through
and come back out this side and tie a knot.
And then, do the same thing with the second ribbon,
coming in from the other side and through.
So, you just guide it through.
You can kind of have an intersection there
where you're running into the other ribbon.
Just wiggle around with your bodkin,
your Clip 'N Glide bodkin,
and it'll just push right by that area.
Pull it out the same entrance it went in and tie a knot.
Do the same thing, inserting that ribbon
through the other side and tie the knot.
And that's what makes it cinch.
That Clip 'N Glide Bodkin from Clover
grips on like rhinoceros teeth.
And that will not let go.
It will not let go.
Like a safety pin pops open in the middle of that seam
and you're poking yourself and losing your religion,
trying to get that trim through.
[audience laughing] Learned that from Nancy, too.
And knot your ends; that's it.
You have a gift bag just like that.
Almost as fast as I talked about it,
you could have one made.
And it's a fun project to sew with kids too.
Have your grandkids over, your kids over,
sew bags for Christmas gifts or Hanukkah gifts,
whatever holiday you'd like.
We celebrate every day, so there's everyday gift bags too.
So, just pull ribbons to cinch.
What if you had a gift that wasn't flat?
This is the same bag that's being passed around,
and it had Nancy's note cards in there,
her landscape quilt note cards.
Well, they're a lot thinner than, say, a fat quarter pack.
So, this isn't a box,
this is a real fat quarter pack in here.
This is a cinching bag that has a gusset on it
to accommodate that width.
And I didn't have to go as wide as that fat quarter pack;
just give it a little bit of gusset to it.
It's the same exact bag that's being passed around,
same size, except for I take and I mark up
an inch and three quarters from that lower corner.
Draw a straight line.
I stack the side seam and the bottom seam,
mark up 1 3/4, and stitch.
Stitch on that line and that creates the gusset.
Just do it to both lower corners.
I don't even trim them away.
See, there was my nice Pressley seams and the serging.
It's all finished.
Now, if you don't have a serger,
just use your sewing machine set for a zigzag
and finish those seams.
Otherwise, you could have some raveling,
but it's a gift bag.
It doesn't really matter, the outside looks great,
even if you don't finish the seam allowance.
And, just know, just know that if you use those gussets,
you're gonna shorten the bag by an inch and a half at least.
So, that's why this bag looks shorter
because we took it up in the width in the gussets,
the height in the gussets.
And that is how you make our Sew-In-A-Cinch gift bags.
Isn't that a cinch? [audience chuckling]
And it's a good stash buster too.
Make gift bags, give 'em away, buy more fabric.
[audience chuckling] It's a good recipe.
We had made this from Mary Mulari.
This is Mary Mulari's apron,
one of Mary Mulari's apron patterns.
Maybe everyone knows who Mary Mulari is.
And she designs apron patterns for quilting fabrics.
All of her patterns are reversible
and they are made for two one-yard cuts of fabric.
So, another great stash buster.
And we made coordinating Chocolicious aprons.
So, that's on the blog as well.
And it's on our website, shopnzp.com.
The next project, good segue,
are Mary Mulari Felt Sew Smart projects.
As I reset that, I'll talk about that.
Mary was a guest, most frequent guest,
of Nancy's on Sewing with Nancy,
and she has great, clever ideas.
So, she came up with this Felt Sew Smart pattern
and projects, and they are really smart.
And they're fun projects that you can make with wool felt.
Wool felt now comes in beautiful colors.
We've put three different palettes together.
A brights, a fall, and another basics.
And they're all projects that you can sew
and not worry about finishing the seams
because they're made with felt.
And this is her little bowl.
It's a little, it's kind of a triangle bowl.
And you just do some creative stitching on stitching lines
and you make some button holes,
or you just cut slits; it's wool felt.
We've attached two different colors of wool felt
together with Pellon Wonder-Under.
You know, you have that Wonder-Under around.
Here's another project you can make with it.
I always have Pellon Wonder-Under on hand
and in my suitcase too.
And that's it, you have a little key catcher bowl
just by doing some creative cutting and stitching.
And I can pass that around as well.
There are many projects,
I think there are over a dozen projects,
including your bowl, and this is amazing.
It's a round circle with creative stitching
and some leaf shape cut from felt and just folded over.
And when you pull it,
it's just got a little strawberry pin in here.
She lent me her samples for Quilt Show,
and you just drawstring it together.
These are so fun and so fast to make.
You don't have to finish the seam,
so you don't have to take your serger out for this one.
There's no serging.
We have little mittens for gift card holders and ornaments.
And I love that she has that little Rudolph nose on that.
Anyway, this is at the blog.
Since we talked about Mary,
I had to show you what was new from Mary.
You know, she has a sleep mask, little bags,
and she also has another little gift bag,
and she made a collar for it.
Look at, that's a rectangle.
Just use your pinking shears.
And why didn't I think of that?
A gift bag collar, right?
So, really fun projects.
If you're talking sew fun, sew fast, think Mary Mulari.
And over at the blog site, we have all of those projects.
And Mary and I created a video, "Felt Sew Smart,"
as well, to share all of these projects.
I had a blast recording Stitch it! Sisters with Mary.
She made me laugh, I shouldn't tell you.
She made me laugh so hard, I threw my head back.
"Ha ha ha ha."
So, if you watch it in slow motion,
I throw my head back and I'm like,
I watched it in editing and I'm like,
"Okay, Deanna, never do that again."
[audience laughing] That's not flattering.
She's a hoot to work with.
Great friend of ours and yours too.
We should invite her to Quilt Show next year.
That'd be fun.
Rita Farrow is here in the Schmetz booth.
And Rhonda Pierce is here from Schmetz too.
So, it's like a family reunion.
We get to see each other all again.
So, anyway, lots of Scissors Keepers and Felt Sew Smart.
Lots to do with wool felt.
And you don't have to worry about finishing seams.
The next project I have, since you're at Quilt Show,
I thought I should talk about some quilting.
This I had on the top of my basket, walking to the hotel
last night, pushing the button to get on the elevator.
The elevator opens, someone gets off the elevator,
and said, "Look, she doesn't have
her wall hanging finished either."
[audience laughing]
My husband was with me and he's like,
[scoffing]
like I disappointed him,
I don't have my wall hanging finished.
I didn't have my rod pocket stitched.
That's all that I didn't finish yet; it's pinned.
So, he knows not to go in the suitcase
because he'll get a stick with a pin.
But it's finished, my wall hanging's finished.
This is 2 1/2-inch strips.
This is a growth chart.
I wanted to make a growth chart project.
Lots of people have asked me to make a growth chart project.
I'm like, "Well, what would be the fastest way?"
You just cut, and you don't even have to cut them
if you have a 2 1/2-inch strip pack, right?
You just cut those strips in half, sew 'em together,
and then, here I'll show you in the blog, it's easier.
But, guess what?
This is also a table runner.
Just leave the numbers off.
These are simple, right?
Just leave the appliqué numbers off.
And if you look at this closely,
it's a sample from Stitch it! Sisters.
Maybe one is stitched around,
but I'm not gonna wash it, so it's okay.
And this just means one foot, two foot, three foot, four foot.
And there is tape measure ribbon
down the middle, which is hard to find.
It's actually tape measure twill tape, which we have.
And I looked around a lot to find that to be accurate
as, you know, the real one inch, two inch, three inch.
So, we found it.
One of our employees, Sue, made this
out of Tula Pink 2 1/2-inch strips.
Gorgeous and bright.
So, she wanted a really bright tape measure.
So, she went to that big box store and bought one of those
hot pink ones and she just stitched right down the middle.
But she said, "Deanna, don't put your iron on that."
[audience laughing]
So, there's the video.
There's another screen freeze of me.
[audience chuckling] Mm-hmm.
So, of course, we made a bundle box of video
and made it all available.
You get that entire 2 1/2-inch precut.
So, when I'm saying 2 1/2-inch precuts,
that's what I'm talking about.
All the fabric companies precut fabrics for us
in popular, commonly used sizes.
Those are called precuts.
So, this is a project for 2 1/2-inch precuts.
My other sister, Diana,
my sister Dana and Denise work with me,
so Diana, Deanna, Dana, Denise, right?
I married Dennis, Denise married David.
[audience laughing]
My dad's Donald, his mom is Delia.
[audience laughing]
So, my sister Diana, who doesn't work with us yet,
she has a picking shipping background.
So someday, 'cause we, you know, we have shopnzp.com
and we pick, pack, ship every day.
She said to my sister, Dana, that's Dana the blonde there,
she said, "Why do you cut fabric apart
just to sew it back together?"
[audience laughing]
Come to Quilt Show and you'll see why, right?
Have you been to the central quilt exhibit
with all those competition quilts?
Yes, wow.
That's why you cut fabric apart and sew it back together.
So, here's how we make the,
see, there it is with no numbers on it.
It's a wall hanging.
It's like a stacked book wall hanging, right?
Or it's perfect for the growth chart and it's so easy.
Oh, and guess what?
You can also write on there with a Pigma pen,
the child's, you know, how tall they were on this date.
So, it's perfect for that as well.
So, that's Nancy's grandson, Jonah Thomas.
Yeah.
So, here, we just take those strips.
I'm gonna watch the light bulb go on.
You cut 2 1/2-inch crosswise fabric strips,
cut them in half, sew 'em back together,
and sew 'em into a loop.
Mm-hmm, there's the light bulb.
And then, you just slide them at random widths
and cut the loops in half.
That's how easy it is.
You just cut one side.
So, there's my scissors cutting the loop in half
and then you sew 'em back together.
And that's it.
I didn't fuss too much where I cut the clip,
other than make sure it's half or less
or you'll have a really tiny,
little tiny, tiny rectangle.
So, there are no rules.
Throw all the rules out the window, right?
And just sew for fun.
And pin.
Do some straight-line machine quilting.
Pin that tape measure twill tape
down the middle and stitch it, top stitch done.
We include the printable and how to appliqué those numbers on
or don't appliqué them.
And that's it, that's how we make a wall hanging
from 2 1/2-inch strips.
This requires many seams, right?
I don't even want to count how many seams,
but it still goes together quickly.
Here's a project for my sister Diana
that says, "Why would you wanna cut fabric apart
and sew it back together?"
This is our Fun Fusible Art Quilt.
There is no sewing in this.
But I made sure there was some sewing into it.
Because I used a Sulky 12 weight variegated thread
and I do some machine quilting top stitching on it.
But it's really rectangles and squares of fabric.
And I start with a background fabric.
This was a plate in my kitchen.
I have a plate in my kitchen that
has fun spots and unusual colors.
So, I thought, "I need to make a quilt out of that."
And I finally did.
I think I had it for two years.
But this is Pellon Peltex.
This is not batting.
It looks like it is, but it's not batting, it's Peltex.
Peltex technically is in the batting category,
but it's a non, right, it's a non-woven, thick interfacing.
Think hat brims.
And it's fusible on one side.
You can do this with non-fusible if you have your friend,
Pellon Wonder-Under, handy.
Here he is.
You can do this with Pellon Wonder-Under as well.
And you just fuse fabric to both sides.
So, I fused a square of green on the back,
turned it over, and on the other side, I cut squares.
But I did use Wonder-Under
and fuse it to the back of strips.
So, these are just fabric strips.
They look like they're about four inches wide.
The first thing I do is cut squares.
So, yeah, we did a video.
Now we pose.
We pose and smile for the screenshot
so that you don't catch us with our mouth open.
So, we pose right before we wrap for the day of recording.
So, this was actually taken, this photo was taken
in Vilas Hall on campus at PBS Wisconsin last year
when we were virtual for the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show.
When I was making this is when we were going live virtual.
So, between the sessions, I went out in the hallway
and moved some furniture around and took this picture.
Someone said, "What are you doing?"
I'm like, "Well, I just knew you had this
"cool modern furniture here
and it would look really great with this quilt."
I said, "I promise I'll put the chairs back."
"Well, here, let me help you," she said.
[audience laughing]
So, there's our bundle box.
All the fabrics are put together.
In fact, quarter packs work great too for this.
They all coordinate solids.
If you have a bunch of solids, this is a solid stash buster.
Use your spray starch.
Prepare those fabrics for the process.
And cut strips.
Oh, and I tell you exactly what we used.
Dana does our illustrating.
So, this is a 20 by 20-inch square, and I think
those are four-inch crosswise fabric strips.
Yeah, we cut, we did eight-inch crosswise fabric strips.
Does everyone know what a crosswise fabric strip is?
Fabric is 40, say 42 inches wide.
A crosswise fabric strip is cut salvage to salvage.
So, we cut eight-inch crosswise fabric strips.
And then, eight-inch strips of Pellon fusible Wonder-Under.
Fused it to the back and then cut it apart again.
So, we cut it into four-inch strips and I'll show you why.
There I am cutting, I'll show you step by step.
So, if you ever have a sister that says,
"I wanna start sewing," send them to the blog
because I do it step by step by step.
Just so there's no frustration and no questions.
So, there I am, cutting it into four-inch squares.
And I take all those squares
and cut circles from half of them.
Or leave it, you know, make your circles from the rectangle.
So I have a stack of squares and a stack of circles,
and they all have that paperback fusible web.
And I just work from the background and press,
there's my dots, choose your layout.
You can lay out how we have it
or you can decide how to lay it out.
And then, you just fuse it to the front of the quilt.
I start in the middle and work out.
You do trim this before you cut it.
So, I started in the middle with a square
and I just work clockwise and I fuse
all those squares onto the background.
One by one by one, working around.
Now, when you watch the video,
you might have to think of the song, "Yakety Sax,"
because we speed it up, and Dana and I are pressing
and pressing and pressing and it's in fast forward.
It's kind of a time loop that shows you.
Just keep working out and press all those squares in place.
You could stop here.
That's pretty fun.
It's a fun wall hanging.
But I like spots.
I'll wear polka dots later this week.
Then I do the same thing with the circles.
Peel off the paper backing.
If you forget to peel it off, don't worry,
it'll fall right off and you'll be like,
"Oh, yes, I have to peel off the paper backing."
Now, if you've ever lost your religion trying to peel
the paper backing off the fusible, let it cool.
If you're impatient like me, put it in the freezer.
[audience laughing]
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Especially if you've been pressing a lot.
The ironing board gets warm and then
it takes longer for things to cool down.
That was Dana's idea.
Just put it in the freezer.
I'm like, "Okay," it works.
Freeze your fusible and then the paper backing releases.
And just stick a little pin between the layers
and that'll help separate it too.
So, again, working in whichever order you want.
Now, the caution with the squares was,
you don't wanna touch your iron to the fusible
because the fusible is on here.
Don't touch your iron on here.
Or else you'll be saying, "Do you sell hot iron cleaner?"
[audience chuckling] Mm-hmm, yes.
So, now it's covered, it's all covered with fabric squares.
So, now you can put your dots anywhere you'd like.
And it's just a fun, easy process.
It's fun to sew with kids too.
But it makes a modern art quilt in no time.
Now I need to add sewing to it.
So, I put in 12 weight thread
and a Schmetz top stitching needle
into my sewing machine, and I use
Clover's Ultimate straight-line machine quilting foot,
which Nancy and I developed, and I stitch.
You can see that foot there on the machine.
It has a sliding gauge, and you can get
parallel line rows of stitching.
I have another quilt I'll show you next
that I just quilted to death.
I love straight-line machine quilting.
You just, I quilt it to death and it looks fabulous.
This isn't holding layers together,
it's the fusible is holding it, so I have wider seams.
And we use this for a cutaway,
or a stunt of sample, so it's not finished.
We started but didn't finish.
But it stitches beautifully.
Just put the top stitching needle in
with your top stitching thread.
And then you have fun fusible art.
So, I made a no sewing project that
I turned it into a little bit of sewing.
And it's super easy to do and it doesn't move around.
If you've never done straight-line machine quilting,
a project like this is great
because you don't have to worry about rolling the fabric
or the layers shifting and you get to the end of the seam
and one's longer than the other.
Not with this.
It's all glued down with that Wonder-Under
so you can just stitch away with great results.
So, that's fun fusible art.
I'll put it over here.
And another, speaking of straight-line machine quilting,
this is our Shades and Shadows wall hanging.
And I talk about quilting it to death,
you can see all that straight-line machine quilting,
and you can see I haven't finished my binding.
And I use Wonder Pins for that.
Let me see if we have that pulled up.
I think that was going to be a little bonus.
Oh, sneak peek.
But this is a great thing
because you just go to nancyzieman.com/blog
and you'll land right at the blog site.
And there's our new tutorial today,
Dana's Sew A Celebration table runner
and my Sew-In-A-Cinch gift bags.
And you just search.
Here's a little search button that looks like
a magnifying glass and I just type "shades and shadows."
And the tutorial comes up.
Only because I know the name.
But you can search for a wall hanging
or straight-line machine quilting.
I try to put as many keywords in there
as I think you might search for.
And this is the tutorial for that.
And this kit, this bundle makes two.
When I started designing this project,
it was after we launched the Mod Mini Quilt Challenge
for the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in May.
And one of the designers at PBS Wisconsin
came up with this cool logo.
I'm like, "That will make a great quilt."
That's what the logo looks like.
So, I broke it down and made it into a quilt
and figured out very quickly that, see the background,
half of it's pink, half of it's purple?
Well, I need to cut a square in half
to come up with those triangles.
So, I'm like, "This is going to be a duo."
So, you can make two just as fast
as you make one from cutting the pieces.
And it's a fusible art quilt.
See, there's the logo that Brian designed at PBS Wisconsin.
Like, thanks Brian, that's a quilt.
And it doesn't matter which way it goes.
It ends up being which way when you put your rod pocket on.
So, we have a Mod Mini Quilt Challenge every May.
That's what that's talking about.
And our wonderful sponsors for Quilt Show
sponsor that as well.
And then, the tutorial is here on how to make these quilts.
It's a duo.
And you start by, there's your list of project supplies.
There's the bundle box, of course we have a video,
and there's all my pieces.
Now, I didn't take a picture of cutting
all the pieces because I forgot.
[audience laughing]
I was having so much fun designing it
and making it, I forgot to take photos.
But I tell you exactly in the blog tutorial,
cut some squares, cut some squares in half
to make triangles, and then cut some circles.
But you don't see any circles here
because I don't cut circles.
I cut squares, I use Clover's 5 in 1 sliding gauge,
that Nancy and I designed.
This one, it's a six-inch one.
And very quickly, I went back to them a couple years ago
and said, "We need a long one, we need a 12-inch one as well."
And you can make circles with this.
This is a circle maker.
There's a little place where you put your finger or thumb,
you set the gauge, say if you wanted a six-inch circle,
you set it for three, and there's a little place
where you can put your pen and trace circles.
That's how I make circles.
Make circles from squares.
Cut your background fabrics, cut them into triangles,
and then cut your squares and your circle fabrics.
And I tell you exactly how.
And I do use Pellon Fleece when I make my wall hangings.
This isn't the Peltex; it's Pellon Fleece.
I like making wall hangings from Pellon Fleece.
You can use the 80/20 batting, but if you use
any sort of fusible or fusible spray,
basting spray, to put it all together,
you can get a little bit of bearding.
The glue gets on the needle a little bit
and can pull through.
So, when I'm making wall hangings,
I use the Pellon Fleece.
And I do use the fusible fleece too
if I'm doing something like this.
And I found that out the hard way.
I was making a Bob Ross challenge quilt for Cherrywood
and I was using the supplies we had at our cottage
and I had some old fusible
that was beyond its life expectancy.
It got gooey and all of the 80/20 batting
was pulling through.
So, I shared that in the Stitch it! Sister's video,
"Straight-line Machine Quilting."
So, I love making challenge quilts because they're smaller,
usually, and it's a fun place to try a different technique.
So, we have great challenges
at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show that you can join.
How are we doing on time, good?
So, cut squares, cut rectangles, triangles from your squares,
and then you just start piecing it together.
I do have some marking tips for this offset.
There's a little bit of offset right here.
It took me a little bit to figure that out.
Well, I tell you right there what the dimension is
so you can line it up very easily.
There I am making my circles from squares.
And then, just cut them out.
And it's all fusible and just overlapping.
That's why I call it Shadows and Shades.
Overlapping different tones of fabrics
creates kind of a shadow effect.
And it's really easy and it's pretty much
a wow factor for people that don't quilt,
that don't realize just by putting those
different tones together, you get those shadows.
So, that's our Shadows and Shades wall hanging tutorial.
And it's all there at the blog.
And the glue from the Wonder-Under
can come around your fabric pieces.
You know, it doesn't necessarily mean it will stay on the back.
So, I always use a pressing cloth
'cause I don't wanna be cleaning my iron.
And you can use a regular pressing cloth.
I use the appliqué pressing cloth.
It's kind of made from a Teflon
and this washes up nicely with soap and water.
And that's it.
Just pin your back section, do some seaming down the middle.
That was it for the stitching for the front.
The rest is fusible.
It's an art quilt.
You can be a modern quilter by just
doing a little fusing and pressing.
That's it.
And then, you do some final pressing.
And then, you layer it with backing and batting.
And then, I do use spray.
I do use June Tailor Basting Spray instead of pinning.
If you don't have that, you can use pins, safety pins.
Clover has new Wonder Pins that just came out
and you could do it with one hand.
You tuck down, you scoop up, and you clip with one hand.
When you're not holding it in the air.
[audience laughing]
One hand, you can scoop down and clip that.
Just by pushing down.
[audience laughing]
Yes, one-handed.
So those are really nice.
But don't use both.
Don't use pins and basting spray.
And I do a little marking before I do the quilting.
One marked line right down the middle.
You could also do it on diagonal; you can decide.
And then, just set your machine with that
Ultimate Quilt 'n Stitch Presser Foot,
and stitch right on the line.
And I love using Sulky 12 weight thread.
It's just beautiful.
And I know some of you are looking
for Sulky 12 weight thread.
Mm-hmm.
So, these are variegated and it looks like
you changed threads, but you really didn't.
It's the same spool of thread
with many different colors on it.
So, it makes a really wow quilt
with that Sulky 12 weight thread.
Just stitch on the line and quilt it to death.
I didn't make that up.
A quilting judge told me that years ago.
I'm like, "What are you looking for
in a great competition quilt?"
She told me, of course, the competition five things.
And then she said, "It better be quilted to death."
Okay.
That's a great way to quilt it to death.
And, you know, when you do your quilting,
it kind of can get off, not square, so just trim that.
Trim it square, put some binding on.
I did do a fun binding.
I do stitch around the quilt before I bind.
And I did a binding of different colors.
Oh, rod pocket.
I catch my rod pocket in the binding seams
so I don't have to do any hand sewing.
And then, like the other one, I just pin it usually.
Or if I'm going for a car ride,
I'll take my wall hangings along and do some hand stitching.
But I wanna get onto the next front.
Whoops, excuse me.
I wanna get onto making the next front.
I don't worry about finishing the rod pocket,
until I have to when I'm trapped in the car.
[audience laughing]
Anyway, there's rod pocket, easy rod pocket directions,
to add a rod pocket to any quilt
and just catch it in that first seam.
If you forget, you're gonna have to sew it
on the top and bottom, your rod pocket.
And it's a great hanging sleeve.
And I had leftover strips from my fat quarters,
so I sew different colors together.
And you can see, it makes a different color,
a two-color binding.
So, you just stitch your binding strips together
and make a fun binding.
And it's easy, binding is easy, it's intimidating.
I taught my sister Dana how to do quilt binding.
She never wanted to do it, but now she's mastered it
with our easy techniques, and I hear her telling people,
"Yeah, Dana taught me how to do quilt binding."
Just go to the blog and there's
easy quilt binding techniques there.
And it's really fun to use your scraps
and make a scrappy binding for a quilt.
And I use Clover's Hot Ruler and fold under the first end.
And then, do use a little fusible tape.
Has anyone tried this method?
When you're binding your quilt and you've bound
all the way around and you have that funny intersection
and how to make that happen?
Well, we show you how.
Nancy showed me how.
And you just start by fusing over a little bit
of that first seam with fusible tape.
Stitch it to your quilt.
There it is.
Can you see that fusible?
You bind your quilt all the way around.
And I stop a quarter inch from the edge,
back stitch, and then cut my threads,
turn the corner, back up.
This is what Dana was like, "Wow, I had no idea."
So, when you're watching the video
and I'm showing you how to do this, it's for real.
We don't have time to rehearse.
I'm like, "Come on Dana, we're gonna shoot some videos
and I'll show you how to make this the Nancy Zieman way."
So, her reactions are real.
Sometimes she catches me off guard, asking me questions.
But then you just fold, turn the corner,
fold the fabric, the binding over itself.
I love using Clover stiletto
because my finger can't get in there.
I need something smaller.
And then, turn the corner, back stitch.
I back stitch right off the back and come forward.
And then, here you go, there's that funny intersection.
What are you gonna do, right?
You used to leave both ends open and try to guess
at how much, you know, to take up in the seam.
This, you just tuck.
You tuck that binding into the previous one.
Peel off that paper back fusible web,
love my fusible web, peel off that webbing,
that paper, tuck it in, and press it.
Let it cool; be patient.
'Cause if you don't let it cool, it will come undone.
Let it cool, go have some lunch or coffee,
and then turn it wrong side out and clip off the extra.
That's it.
That's binding the Nancy Zieman way.
And then, you wrap it to the back and do some stitching.
So, I still need to do a little stitching on this one.
But that's the fun, fusible art way
of doing a Shades and Shadow quilt.
Let's see what's next in the bag of tricks.
And I do have the samples if you wanna see those here.
We can talk about, maybe, a casserole carrier.
Simple rectangles and squares.
The Wrap It Up! Casserole Carrier, I have it here.
Here it is, simple rectangles and squares.
And I did wanna show you the hot ruler.
Does anyone use Clover's Hot Ruler?
Yes, it's a flexible ruler.
It comes in two sizes.
A small and kind of a corner pocket, rounded corner.
And these I've had for years.
And this is the brand new size we're launching at the show.
It just came in,
so, it just came in last week, it's a larger size,
and there's also a large square.
So, I said"These are great,"
John's here from Clover this weekend,
"These are great, but we need bigger ones.
We wanna do bigger things in hems and things."
So there's a big square, and here's the big square,
and a rectangle hot ruler.
So, make sure you stop by the Clover booth,
the Nancy Zieman Sewing Studio booth,
and tell them, you know, "Deanna did a great job
with those larger hot rulers."
And thank you, John, for making it happen.
But the casserole carrier, you know, we have a video
and a bundle box and a tutorial.
And it's in different colors.
Our bundle boxes are in different colors.
These are actually retired fabrics.
So, they're on clearance right now.
Simple Wrap It Up! Casserole Carrier.
There's your list of supplies and handy notions.
And, of course, the first thing you do
is press your fabric, right?
And you cut simple rectangles.
This is all simple rectangles. [Velcro ripping]
Four different layers, six different, actually.
And there's an opening here.
And that's where I keep a pot holder, usually.
So, we have a pot holder tutorial too.
You can really impress your friends with some bias binding.
This is actually bias.
When you do square quilt binding,
you don't have to cut it on the bias.
This is bias binding, but it's such a small project.
I love doing bias.
So, it's easy to do.
But the pot holder can hide in there.
We also have tutorials for easy table runners,
simple rectangles.
Simple squares, napkins, mitered corner napkins.
They're so fast to make.
I wanted to show you these two because you can set
a whole entire table or picnic with beautiful things.
And the towel topper.
I made these when I was really young, towel toppers.
One of the first things I sewed.
But they're really fun and really popular
and just use a ready made towel and some simple rectangles.
And you can have an accessorized table.
So, those are here to show you.
But I wanted to show you quickly how to make this
just from simple rectangles and squares.
Oh, I had a pattern in there too.
And I did add handles.
And there is some hook and loop tape
that holds it all together.
And it's made from just rectangles.
Rectangles of fabric.
And you don't have to remember the dimensions
because they're at the blog site.
But it's 13 by 36 rectangles.
And I'll cut that from fabric, outer fabric.
This is, it looks like fleece batting, but it's Insul-Fleece.
It has that shiny side to it.
That has some nice insulating properties for hot and cold.
So, you see the Insul-Fleece.
And then, the third layer is Teflon Iron-Quick.
So, each rectangle, you cut three fabrics,
the pretty fabric, the Insul-Fleece,
and then the Iron-Quick.
And you can quilt it.
You can quilt it.
I did not quilt the sample that I showed you,
but you can do your straight-line machine quilting,
if you can see that.
You can straight-line machine quilt it
at this point before you assemble it.
Now, there's outer fabric and inner fabric.
So, you'd cut your set of three pieces for the inner,
the red part, and then three pieces
for the outer, the yellow.
You could use the same fabric.
And we're going to use Nancy's wrapped corners again.
So, we're going to do some sewing
and sew those long rectangle edges.
Here, I'm telling you to cut your pieces.
Yes, you'll need two outer fabric, two inner fabric,
two Insul-Fleece, and two Iron-Quick.
I do use interfacing.
The first one I made, I did not interface
the pretty fabric and it kind of wrinkled and puckered.
So, I do recommend using interfacing.
So, that doesn't have it, but the blog post
tells you to do it, and the samples all have it too.
And then, cut some hook and loop tape or Velcro.
Four six-inch sections hold it all together.
I used Clover's Double-Sided Basting Tape.
You can't pin through Velcro.
And don't ever try to sew through the sticky back Velcro.
[Deanna growling]
Right.
You'll be buying new needles.
The needle will gum up and you'll just kind of,
kinda like in Wisconsin where you're trying to drive
through too deep of snow, you're not gonna get very far.
Oh, put it in four wheel drive.
Okay, she has four wheel drive.
And you make a couple loops. [chuckles]
You make a couple loops of cotton webbing for the handles.
Actually make one loop, it's one big loop.
And you stitch that.
You wanna stitch that in place before.
Right, you stitch that in place before you assemble it.
Make your sections and assemble it.
I didn't bring one, but my secret for handles,
regardless if it's a purse, a handbag,
a lunch bag, a large tote, a shopping tote,
handles are always about six inches apart.
So, I mark my handle placement with a 6 by 24-inch ruler.
Now you know my secret.
So, you sew your sections together.
But I always sew the sides, the long seams,
do Nancy's wrapped corners.
Now, because we're turning this right side out,
you do need to leave an opening.
Not to worry, I don't sew my opening shut.
I just make sure it lands right here where I'm gonna catch it
when I sew the two pieces together.
So, yeah, no hand stitching.
So, leave that eight-inch opening.
I tried a six; it's too bulky to fit through six.
Leave that eight-inch opening.
And then, sew; there's Nancy's wrapped corners.
Sew those two long side seams.
Sew the short seams using the wrapped corners.
That's how you get those good points.
And then, do some pressing.
You'll need to use that seam stick
because you have a big tube.
Unless you have a sleeve board on the ironing board.
It will work with a sleeve board.
Point out your corners.
Do a little creative fusible tape
to shut those eight-inch openings.
This is where you wanna sew the handle on.
You don't have to have a handle,
but use that six-inch ruler and draw the handle placement
and then stitch it on.
So, you'll have an outer assembly and an inner assembly.
Now I'm marking the placement for the hook and loop tape.
You have to make sure you place
the hook and loop tape on the right section.
So, here is the soft loop, here is the scratchy.
So you have to put the soft on the inside,
and then, the scratchy, the hook, on the opposite.
Otherwise, it won't work.
You might be tempted to put some here and there.
As I'm sewing along and thinking about my chores
and things I had to do, and I did it.
Just rip it off, reverse stitch it,
and then stitch it on the correct side.
And that's basically it.
You overlap them adjacent.
Wouldn't that be adjacent?
After you put your Velcro on, you sew your handle on.
Just don't sew your handles all the way on
'cause you need a little bit of lift to carry.
And then, you cross them over and just top stitch.
You could top stitch all the way around all four sides,
but just leave an opening for that pot holder.
Or you could put a cold pack in there from the freezer
to keep your ice cream dessert handy.
And just stitch.
And I stop before the Velcro.
And you have a great Wrap It Up! Casserole Carrier.
And then, we have a coordinating,
oh, we have it in Thanksgiving fabrics too.
And there really is no green Pyrex dish.
My sister Denise photoshopped it to match.
It's really a red one.
So, don't look in the stores for it; it doesn't exist.
And then we tell you, "Hey, if you like this project,
"you might also like these coordinating projects
that I showed you."
Oh, and then, this summer, we made it.
These are in the booth here this weekend
at the Nancy Zieman Sewing Studio.
These are rainbow fruit fabrics that are on clearance,
because fabric retires,
they're on clearance as one-yard cuts.
And so, I brought the samples down
and they're hanging in the booth by the one-yard fabric cuts.
And that's the Wrap It Up! Casserole Carrier.
And we have about six minutes.
Six minutes.
And I wanted to show you our Colorblocked Shoulder Bag.
Our Colorblocked Shoulder Bag is a little bit,
all of our projects are easy,
all of them are easy, simple sewing.
We break it all down.
It just may be more time-consuming.
And I make Colorblocked Shoulder Bags with Peltex.
Don't rip it.
So, there's that Peltex again.
It's got some travel wrinkles in it.
But I use our Colorblocked Shoulder Bag,
our trace and create template,
and I trace and make the bag shape out of Peltex.
And that's my foundation.
And I flip and trace and cut it out.
Now this is my pattern for cutting out fabric.
So, we have this in different variations
of fat quarter packs, half yard cuts, different shapes.
And this is the diagonal.
This is the diagonal Colorblocked Shoulder Bag.
And my sister Denise said,
"You should do one that has a diagonal."
So, I said, "If it's going to have a diagonal,
I'm going to add a diagonal pocket."
The original template doesn't include that,
but our bundle boxes do.
So, to create that pocket, this one's not a pocket.
After I sewed that one, I'm like,
"This would be a really cool pocket."
Guess how I made pockets?
Rectangle.
I cut rectangles, cut the rectangle in half.
So I have a rectangle of blue and a rectangle of pink,
and I cut it in half and I bound the edge.
I love binding.
I don't know why, it's just...
Am I weird? [audience laughing]
Well, I use-- yes, she's confirmed it.
I love binding.
And look, it's only this much.
Or, around the pot holder, it's only that much.
But this is not a curve.
So you don't have to use bias.
This is not bias.
You can use Clover's Bias Tape Maker.
But I just bound the edges, and that way
I don't have to stitch and turn it
or fold it over and top stitch it.
I just bind it.
You just wanna make sure that
you have two rectangles, cut it in half,
do a little binding, and you have two pockets.
And then, you just top stitch that on
before you sew your side seams.
Ta-da.
Thank you again for joining us.
I'll see you at the Nancy Zieman Sewing Studio booth.
Thank you. [audience applauding]
[upbeat music]