QUILTsocial Issue 21

OUILT

ISSUE

21

2 ways

to make

'square in

a square'

quilt blocks

3 too cool

for school

pencil

cases

Creating

a needle roll

with the

Brother

NQ900

Simple

free motion

quilt designs

3 ways to

make simple

embroidery

stitches

extraordinary

Making the

easiest DIY

zipper pulls

ever!

Making a double T table runner using the PFAFF performance icon

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Editor's

Letter

As I write to you, there's a snowstorm today and it's

the middle of January. Although I'm not affected

by Seasonal Affective Disorder, with today's kind of

scenario, I'm craving the hot summer months and

the sun's restorative rays. It's just all white out there,

except for the evergreens.

As the days are ever so slowly getting longer, I

perk up on seeing the colors Christine Baker uses

in her needle roll project that kick starts this issue.

They are dreamy. The hand stitching is perfect for

the winter months, as we huddle indoors thanks

to lousy weather and more lockdowns due to the

Covid variant this winter. Hand embroidery on quilt

blocks adds dimension and enriches the look of a

quilt. It may not be traditional to add this element

to our quilting, but the DMC threads used here are

colorfast and hold their place for a very long time.

Colorful as they are they provide that boost we

crave while waiting for sunny days.

This is the perfect issue if you're looking to shatter

the winter blahs, wherever you are in the world.

Robin's three 'too cool for school' pencil cases are

terrific, quick-to-make, quilted projects that offer

that instant gratification. And come September,

you'll be ready to gift these colorful pencil cases to a

young child.

Quilting is a life saver under any circumstance. It

comforts and keeps us engaged.

Enjoy the issue,

Cheerfully,

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

3

OUILT

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and download our free ebook

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PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ART DIRECTOR

Carla A. Canonico

carla@QUILTsocial.com

PUBLISHER, ADVERTISING SALES

John De Fusco

john@QUILTsocial.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Carla A. Canonico, John De Fusco

BLOGGERS/CONTRIBUTORS

Christine Baker

christinebaker-fairfieldroaddesigns.blogspot.ca

Sarah Vanderburgh

sewjoycreations.com

Robin Bogaert

quiltingintheloft.com

GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGN

Carla A. Canonico

carla@QUILTsocial.com

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Sondra Armas

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WHERE TO GET YOUR COPY

QUILTsocial is a quarterly eMagazine published by A Needle

Pulling Thread. It is available free for personal use online at

https://QUILTsocial.com.

A limited number of printed copies of QUILTsocial are available

for purchase at select quilt shops and specialty stores. Ask for it

at your local shop. QUILTsocial is not available by subscription.

QUILT SHOPS

If you are interested in carrying QUILTsocial in your store, please

email john@QUILTsocial.com.

EDITORIAL

Designers and other contributors who would like to be

considered for future issues please email carla@QUILTsocial.com

with a brief description of your work and your proposed project

for the magazine.

©2022 QUILTsocial. All rights reserved. Issue 21. ISSN 2368-5913.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without written

permission from the publisher.

All designs, patterns, and information in this magazine are for

private, non-commercial use only, and are copyrighted material

owned by their respective creators or owners.

Advertiser Index

64 A Needle Pulling Thread Magazine

29 Brother BQ3100

63 Brother Luminaire 2

62 Business Directory

02 Husqvarna Viking

59 Mary Ellen Products Best Press

61 Northcott Fabrics

47 PFAFF

04 QUILTsocial.com

07 #TheSewGoesOn

4 OUILTsocial | issue 21

OUILT

issue 21

CONTENTS

8 3 easy ways to transfer embroidery designs

11 5 simple embroidery stitches to sew by hand on evenweave fabric

13 3 key embroidery filling stitches for your embroidery designs

15 4 essential stitches that add dimension to your embroidery

17 3 ways to make simple embroidery stitches extraordinary

20 5 great features of the NQ900 sewing machine

21 Use 505 Spray and the NQ900 sewing maching to easily baste your project

22 5 simple steps to make pockets for a needle roll

24 7 essential steps to sew together a needle roll

26 Select the perfect decorative stitch for machine sewn binding

30 Sewing up 3 too cool for school pencil cases

32 Sewing up a sharp looking pencil case for back to school

36 Using applique to make a zippy school bus pencil case

41 Stay organized and sew up a pretty zippered pencil case

45 Making the easiest DIY zipper pulls ever

48 The double T block makes this Halloween table runner a real treat

50 Piecing blocks are quick and accurate with the PFAFF performance icon

52 2 ways to make square in a square quilt blocks

54 Easy piecing a double T table runner with precision

55 Simple free motion quilt designs for a Halloween double T table runner

58 A beginner quilter's journey making the QAL Spectrum Quilt

5

don't miss these

projects & tutorials online!

OUILT

.com

READ NOW

READ NOW

100+ decorative stitches on the

new Brother BQ3100: how do you choose?

and there's so much more!

2 great

template

sets you

need for

impressive

free motion

quilting

READ NOW

READ NOW

Sewing the pieces together –

it’s quilt assembly day!


I {heart} ruler quilting –

read this and you will too!

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804 Main Street

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kellyscreativesewing@gmail.com

Specialize in Sewing, Embroidery machines,

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info@kaquiltstudio.com

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While we are sew at home,

together we keep the spirit

of sewing alive.

#TheSewGoesOn

Be part of a passionate sewing

community. Share your sewing and

quilting projects on Instagram using

#TheSewGoesOn

Look for giveaways, supplies and special offers!

Share your love of sewing

7

3 easy ways to transfer

embroidery designs

Christine’s finished Toned-Down Circle Embroidery Sampler

One of Christine’s blocks from the Cuppa wall hanging by Sue Spargo

Christine Baker

Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve been doing a lot of

embroidery. I’ve spent years doing the basic stitches like back

stitch, stem stitch, chain stitch and French knots on my wool

applique pieces but I never tried anything more complicated

until Sue Spargo had a 90-day stitch along on her Instagram

page last summer. Every day she showed us more and more

stitches and the amazing ways that you can put them together,

and it really helped me to deal with the stress I was feeling from

the pandemic. Here’s a picture of my finished ‘Toned Down

Sampler’ and as you can see, there are way more than the basic

stitches in this one.

I’ve since done a second stitch along with Sue and am currently

working away on the project from her Cuppa book. Here’s a

close-up of one of the blocks.

When I started

doing all of this

embroidery, I made

myself a needle

book because

all of a sudden, I

had many, many

different needles

than what I had

always used for my

wool applique, and

I was having trouble

keeping track of

which needle was

which.

Unfortunately,

A needle book made with felted wool

now that I’ve been

using this needle

book, I find that the

pages get stuck on

the needles and

I’d rather be able

to see all of the

different needles

at once instead

of having to flip

through the pages

to find the one

needle that I need.

The inside of the wool needle book


So we’re making a needle roll! We’ll

work on the embroidery on the

outside of the roll and then we’ll sew

the needle roll together.

Here are the amazing embroidery

supplies that we will use to make the

outside embroidered side of the needle

roll. I’ve got a SURELight M4M LED 3-in-1

Lamp, lots of DMC embroidery floss and

perle cottons, UNIQUE notions, CLOVER

notions, DMC Magic Paper, DMC Charles

Craft Monaco Needlework Fabric and

many other products to try out.

The first step in starting our embroidery

project is deciding on the fabric to use.

For the outside of the needle roll, we’re

going to embroider on this lovely Charles

Craft Monaco Needlework Fabric. Up

until now, I’ve done all my embroidery

on wool, but I’ve heard that there’s

nothing that can compare to stitching

on evenweave fabric. The package

contains a piece of cotton evenweave

fabric that is 20” x 24” so I’ve cut my piece

8” x 20”. Because it’s a looser weave than

other types of fabrics, I’ve zigzagged the

edges with my Brother NQ-900 sewing

machine to prevent fraying.

Next, we decide on an embroidery

design. I’ve designed this cute flower

garden for us to use on the outside of

the needle roll. Download it to your

computer and then print it out. If the

square on the design doesn’t measure 1”,

you’ll need to adjust your printer settings.

Flower Garden embroidery pattern

Since the design is on two pages, fold

over the edge of page 2 along the left

side of the rectangle and tape it to page

1 so that the edges of the rectangles

line up.

Now we need to transfer our design to

the evenweave fabric. There are many,

many ways to transfer embroidery

designs, but I’ll focus on just a few

easy ones.

A selection of indispensable embroidery tools

Tape the two pages together to make the

complete design.

Use a sunny window to trace an embroidery

design easily.

Zigzagging the edge of the evenweave fabric

prevents it from fraying

Method 1 – Tracing

Probably the easiest method of all,

tracing is simple and easy if you can

see through the fabric. This evenweave

fabric isn’t the easiest to see through,

but when you use a light box (or your

kitchen window), tracing is quite simple!

First tape your paper design to the

window, then tape your Charles Craft

Monaco Needlework Fabric over top.

Now, what kind of tool should we use

to trace the design? I chose the blue

end of a UNIQUE Sewing 2-in-1 Dual-Tip

Wash-out/Air Erasable Fine Tip Marking

Pen. Although both ends can be used to

transfer pattern markings for needlecraft,

quilting, crafting and sewing, the blue

ink can be removed with a damp cloth

while the purple disappearing ink should

only be used on projects that will be

completed within 24 hours since the ink

normally disappears in 48 to 72 hours.

The blue wash-out pen is best only used

on washable fabric. To remove the blue

markings, rub gently with a clean damp

cloth well moistened with plain water.

Photos by Christine Baker

The design is drawn with the blue end of a

UNIQUE Sewing 2-in-1 Dual-Tip Wash-out/Air

Erasable Fine Tip Marking Pen.

OUILTsocial | issue 21 9

Place the DMC Magic Paper on top of your

embroidery design with the paper side down.

Peel off the paper backing of the DMC Magic Paper.

Method 2 – DMC Magic Paper

The second technique I tried was using

DMC Magic Paper. This neat product is

super easy to use and to stitch through.

First you place one paper backed sheet

of the Magic Paper on top of your

embroidery design and trace it with any

type of pencil or marker (make sure that

the paper side is down). I wouldn’t use

a ball point pen because the ink might

transfer to your threads as you’re stitching.

Next, cut your design out, leaving a

border around the drawn lines and

remove the paper backing of the DMC

Magic Paper to expose the sticky side of

the transfer ‘fabric’. Be careful that the

design doesn’t fold in on itself and stick!

Now all we have to do is position the

DMC Magic Paper on the DMC Charles

Craft Monaco Needlework Fabric and then

stick it down! You can see that one tiny

corner of the Magic Paper did fold over

on me before I was able to position it,

but I won’t worry about it because it isn’t

anywhere near the embroidery design.

This paper would be amazing for

transferring designs to fabrics that you

can’t see through such as wool! I can’t

wait to try it for my wool applique

embroidery because I’ve really been

struggling with transferring designs

to my wool backgrounds. When your

embroidery is done, rinse it all off;

the magic paper will dissolve in a few

seconds, and you’ll be left with your

wonderful embroidery piece.

Method 3 – Drawing directly on the

fabric

For this last transfer method, I wanted to

try out the Clover Pen Style Chaco Liner to

draw some straight lines directly onto

my fabric. I have the silver Chaco Liner

but it also comes in blue, pink, white

and yellow. The great thing about this

product is that the Pen Style Chaco

Liner’s fine point permits accurate

drawing of both straight lines and free

hand curves. The fine point makes lines

and marks more visible and is easy to

use with a straight edge ruler. There are

also ‘easy’ replacement refills available for

all of the colors. You simply just remove

the tip of the liner and screw it onto the

replacement cartridge. Easy and mess

free!!

The chalk washes or brushes away

easily, so it’s ideal for use in needlecraft,

quilting and sewing projects. The only

thing to keep in mind though is that

you wouldn’t want to mark your whole

embroidery piece first and then start

stitching because your hand will brush

away your marks before you get to them

all. So just mark a small section at a time

with this type of product.

The Clover Chaco Liner Pen Style is

another product that is great for use

with fabrics like wool. See how easy it is

to see the marks! And easy to remove

too without having to soak in water!!

Now that the embroidery design has

been transferred to the DMC Charles

Craft Monaco Needlework Fabric.

Stick the DMC Magic Paper in place on the

Charles Craft Monaco Needlework Fabric.

Marking a straight line with a ruler and Clover

Pen Style Chaco Liner

A Clover Pen Style Chaco Liner can also be used to

mark lines on felted wool.


5 simple embroidery stitches

to sew by hand on evenweave fabric

Now we embroider the design on the evenweave fabric.

First, though, we should talk about threads and needles. There

are so many amazing threads available for embroidery – from

cotton, silk, and wool to rayon, metallics, and novelty threads!

And most come in a variety of weights.

Threads

Embroidery floss has six strands that you can divide – so you

can use 1 or 2 strands for fine embroidery or up to 6 strands

for more dramatic stitches. DMC embroidery floss comes in

solid colors and variegated cottons. It’s also available in Satin

Floss (rayon), Light Effects (polyester) and Mouline Etoile (73%

cotton –27% Polyamide metallic). All of these can be divided up

and used as single strands but each one has a different type

of texture and finish. Matte, shiny or sparkly – whatever your

pleasure!

Perle Cotton (or pearl cotton) comes in many different weights

– from #3 which is the heaviest to #12 which is the thinnest. Like

embroidery floss, DMC perle cotton comes in variegated or

solid colors. It is non-divisible and provides wonderful volume

and dimension to embroidery.

Choose the weight of thread to get the look you want. Fine

threads for fine embroidery and thicker threads for stitches that

are more dramatic. Once you’ve got your fabric and threads,

you need to pick your needles.

An assortment of DMC perle cottons and embroidery flosses

An assortment of hand embroidery needles

Needles

The type of needle you pick is determined by the type of stitch

you want to do. For basic stitches, like the ones in this feature,

I love to use Clover Chenille Needles. They have a large eye so

they’re fairly easy to thread and have a nice sharp point.

Use a milliner’s needle to make stitches that need to be

wrapped around the needle, like French knots.

For stitches that are woven over other stitches, use a tapestry

needle; they have a blunt tip that won’t split the foundation

stitches.

For all needle types, choose a larger needle for a thicker thread.

Like thread, usually the larger the number on the needle, the

smaller the needle, so a size 22 chenille needle is smaller than a

size 18 chenille needle. You can usually buy a package with an

assortment of sizes such as the Gold Eye Milliners Needles.

Stitches

There are so many different and amazing embroidery stitches!!

When I started really getting into embroidery last year, I couldn’t

believe how many stitches I didn’t know!! But many of the

stitches you find in embroidery books are simply variations of

the basics. This article is about the first five embroidery stitches

you should start with and master.

Before you start stitching, you may want to put your fabric into an

embroidery hoop like the UNIQUE CRAFT Plastic Embroidery Hoop.


A running stitch diagram

A diagram of the back stitch

A stem stitch diagram

A chain stitch diagram

A blanket stitch diagram

Stitch 1 – Running stitch

The running stitch is also known as the

darning stitch and a quilting stitch. To

make a running stitch, simply pass the

needle over and under the fabric in a

regular, even manner. You can make your

stitches as big or as small as you like.

Stitch 2 – Back stitch

The back stitch is a great, basic linear

stitch good for outlines or as the

foundation of other, more complicated

stitches. Basically, you come up from the

back of your fabric and push the needle

tip into the fabric behind where you

came up, then bring the needle tip up

to the front of the fabric, a little in front

of the first stitch. This way you make a

continuous line with your stitching.

Stitch 3 – Stem stitch

This easy, linear stitch makes a slightly

heavier line than the back stitch and

looks very nice around curves. If you’re

right-handed, you work from left to

right. Come up from the back of your

fabric along the line of your pattern,

keep the thread below your needle,

and make a small backward stitch. Pull

the fabric through and make another

small backward stitch so that your

needle comes out a little behind the

first stitch. Keep stitching in this manner,

overlapping each subsequent stitch,

but make sure your working thread is

always below your needle. When you go

around tight curves, make your stitches

a bit smaller to make the curve nice and

smooth.

Stitch 4 – Chain stitch

The chain stitch is a great one to use for

curves and heavy lines, and you can also

use it to fill in areas.

To make this stitch, come up from the

back of the fabric and then put the

tip of the needle back into the same

hole, bringing the tip of the needle to

the front of the fabric a short distance

along your drawn line with the thread

wrapped under the tip of the needle.

Pull the thread through and then put

the needle tip back into that second

hole and repeat the process making

sure that the thread is always under

the tip of the needle when you bring it

through to the front.

Stitch 5 – Blanket stitch (or

buttonhole stitch)

The blanket stitch is my old friend!! This

is the stitch I use all the time when

I’m doing wool applique and fusible

applique, so I can almost do it in my

sleep!! This stitch can actually be worked

in two different directions. I do my

blanket stitch working from left to right

and my friend Nellie, who is also righthanded,

does hers right to left. Either

way, it’s a great edging stitch!

First, come up to the front along the

edge of your applique or on the drawn

line, then put your needle into the

applique and come up a little way down

the edge (or the line), making sure that

the thread is tucked behind the needle

tip. Pull the thread all the way through

and repeat.

Here is a little video showing all these

basic stitches and some of the DMC

threads I’m using for my project.

Use these different stitches to embroider

the stems of the flowers and the lines

under the flowers like I did. Don’t worry

if some of my stems and lines look like

they have more complicated stitches.

They started out as running stitches,

back stitches, stem stitches, and chain

stitches, but I’ll show you how I threaded

and wrapped them to make them more

interesting.

Now that you’ve mastered some of these

basic stitches using Clover Needles and

DMC Floss and Threads, it’s time to learn

how to fill in areas of your applique

design with more great stitches.

Part of the needle roll applique design


3 key embroidery filling stitches

for your embroidery designs

Now we’re learning about three different embroidery stitches

that are useful for filling in areas in your embroidery designs. I’m

again using Clover Chenille Needles for all of these stitches.

Even though the chenille needles have a large eye, you may still

have problems with threading them. There are lots of needle

threaders available on the market, but I particularly like the

Clover Embroidery Threader because it has a flat tip that makes

for smooth threading even when you use it with thick threads.

It also works with all types of threads, yarns and embroidery

needles, so it’s a super versatile tool to have on hand.

Stitch 1 – Satin stitch

In order for the satin stitch to be effective for filling in an

area, the stitches should be even and placed close together.

Sometimes using a hoop to hold your fabric makes it easier

to achieve better tension. I don’t use a hoop when I’m doing

my wool embroidery, but I do find that the 6” UNIQUE Craft

Plastic Embroidery Hoop is a nice size to hold in your hand, and it

keeps the DMC Charles Craft Monaco Needlework Fabric nice and

secure while I’m stitching.

To do this stitch, make a single straight stitch from one edge of

your area to the opposite edge. Bring the needle back to the

front, very close to the stitch just made, and back down on the

opposite side of the shape. Continue until you fill in the shape.

This stitch is only really useful for filling in small areas because a

long satin stitch can snag and become loose.

To give your satin stitch a more defined edge, outline your area

with either a back stitch or a chain stitch and then do the satin

stitch over top.

I used the satin stitch and a back stitch to embroider the word

‘Needles’ on the DMC Magic Paper which is fused to the Charles

Craft Monaco Needlework Fabric. The variegated DMC Perle

Cotton #106 size 8 worked well to cover the area and looks lovely

Stitch 2 – Long and short stitch

This is a variation on the satin stitch where you do long and

short stitches beside each other to break up the area so you

don’t have super long satin stitches that can get snagged. With

this method, keep stitching and overlapping with different

lengths of stitches until you fill in the entire area.

Threading a needle with the Clover

Embroidery Threader

A satin stitch diagram

The satin stitch created with DMC variegated size

8 perle cotton

A long and short stitch diagram


The purple flower petals stitched with a long and

short stitch

A fly stitch diagram

This is the stitch I used to fill in my purple flower with one of the satin flosses from the

DMC Radiant Treasures pack. The satin floss has a lovely sheen to it.

Notice in the photo that I used the back stitch to outline the petals afterwards, just to

give them a more finished look.

Stitch 3 – Fly stitch

The fly stitch can be used in different ways depending on how close together you

place the stitches. You can also stitch them solo in a freeform manner (like in the left

part of the diagram), or place them together in a row (like in the right part of the

diagram).

To make the fly stitch, bring the thread up at the top left and insert the needle at the

top right, and then make a stitch between and below the two points. With the thread

wrapped under the tip of the needle, pull the thread through the fabric, and then

secure with a small vertical straight stitch.

Here are two leaf shapes I made using the fly stitch. As you can see, I stacked my stitches

very close together and followed the shape of the outside of the leaf to determine how

wide to make each stitch. The small vertical stitches that secure the bottom of each fly

stitch also serve to make a vein in the center of each leaf. The variegated size DMC #94

Size 8 perle cotton gives the leaves a beautiful and interesting look.

Stitch 4 – Variation on chain stitch

I love stitching the chain stitch, especially with variegated thread! Here is one of my

flowers stitched with a continuous spiral chain stitch. I started stitching on the outside of

the circle and then kept stitching in a continuous chain inward until I got to the middle.

Use the satin stitch to embroider the word ‘Needles’ and the rest of these stitches

to fill in some of the flower and leaf shapes. Remember to change the size of the

Clover Chenille Needle depending on the weight of the DMC Thread you’re using and if

you’re still finding it hard to thread your needle, use a needle threader like the Clover

Embroidery Threader.

Two leaves stitched with a fly stitch and DMC #94 size 8 variegated perle cotton


A chain stitched in a spiral using variegated DMC perle cotton makes a flower head

4 essential stitches that add dimension to your embroidery

Let's we put away the chenille needles

and get out a pack of assorted Clover

Milliners Needles. Milliner’s needles are

sometimes referred to as straw needles

and were traditionally used for hat

making. They are long, thin, and sharp

and there is little difference in width

between the shaft of the needle and

the area of the eye. This makes them

exceptionally good for using when

doing stitches that are wound around

the needle.

An assortment of hand embroidery needles

Stitch 1 – French knot

The first stitch, the French knot, is a very

useful little stitch. I’ve done French knots

for a long time but was never very happy

with how they turned out until I started

using a milliner’s needle to do them. Use

the smallest milliner’s needle that your

thread will go through. For a size 8 DMC

perle cotton, you probably need a size 3

milliner’s needle. The size of your thread

and the number of wraps on the needle

determines the size of your finished

French knot.

Bring your needle and thread to the

front of your fabric, twist the needle

around the thread 2 or 3 times, and then

insert the needle tip back into the fabric

1 or 2 threads away from where the

thread first came out of the fabric. Push

the wraps down to the fabric with your

non-dominant hand and pull the needle

through to the back of the fabric.

I used a bunch of French knots stitched

close together to make the center of my

purple flower.

Stitch 2 – Pistil stitch

The pistil stitch is basically a variation

on the French knot. It’s an interesting

looking stitch that you can use for things

like the middle of a flower. The motions

used to make a pistil stitch are almost

the same as the French knot. First bring

your needle and thread to the front of

your fabric, and then twist the needle

around the thread 2 times. Now insert

the needle tip back into the fabric, a little

distance away from where the thread

first came out of the fabric, holding the

‘tail’ of the stitch taut against the fabric.

Push the wraps down to the fabric with

your non-dominant hand and pull

the needle through to the back of the

fabric holding the knot with your nondominant

hand the entire time.

This stitch works best if your fabric is

held taut in an embroidery hoop like

my 6” UNIQUE Craft Plastic Embroidery

Hoop. It’s a nice size to hold in your hand

and it keeps the Charles Craft Monaco

Needlework Fabric nice and secure while

stitching.

I used the pistil stitch to make a

dandelion-type flower with three strands

of the DMC #617 Mouline Etoile Floss –

Blanc which gives the flower embroidery

a little dazzle!

French knots stitched close together make the

center of the purple flower

A pistil stitch diagram

A French knot diagram

Pistil stitches created with DMC Mouline Etoile floss


Stitch 3 – Bullion knot

Before last summer, I had never even

heard of the bullion knot, but it’s quickly

become my new favorite! It’s such

a versatile stitch that you can use to

outline shapes, make petals on a flower,

create bullion roses, and even turn into

bugs like bumble bees, ladybugs and

inchworms!

I find it easier to do this stitch using a

twisted thread like perle cotton instead

of stranded threads like embroidery floss.

Bring the thread from the back of the

fabric, insert the needle tip a short

distance away, and bring the tip up close

to where the thread comes out of the

fabric. The distance between these two

points is the size of the stitch.

Wrap the thread around the needle tip 4 or

5 times (the more you practice this stitch

the better you’ll get and the more wraps

you can do to make longer stitches). Make

sure you don’t cross the wraps on the

needle, and that the coil of wraps on the

needle are the same width as the distance

between where the needle enters and

emerges from the fabric.

Gently pull the thread through, holding

the coil of thread between your first

finger and thumb on your non-dominant

hand. Make sure to keep hold of the

coil as you pull the needle and working

thread up and away from you. As the coil

tightens, change direction and pull the

thread towards you. Once the thread is

all the way through, insert the tip of the

needle back into the point where it first

emerged, and your bullion knot should

lie flat against the fabric.

If you want your bullion knots to have

more dimension, all you do is wrap the

needle with more wraps than will fit in

the distance between where the needle

goes into and comes out of the fabric.

This is what I did to make the petals on

this flower. I did about 12 wraps on the

needle using the DMC Perle Cotton but

only had a small space between where

the needle goes into and comes out of

the fabric. This causes the knot to bow

outward in a curve instead of lying flat

against the fabric.


A bullion stitch diagram

The center of this flower is stitched with

a blanket stitch worked in a circle instead

of a line.

Bullion knots create the petals of a circular flower

Stitch 4 – Double cast on stitch

By grouping together 3 to 8 double

cast stitches together, you can make

beautiful flowers with lots of dimension.

You can also do a row of these stitches in

a zigzag formation across your fabric to

give your piece amazing texture.

This is one of the few embroidery

stitches that you create working with a

double thread, so the first thing you do

is thread your milliner’s needle with DMC

Perle Cotton, and then knot the two

ends of the thread together. Now bring

your needle to the front of your work.

Take a ¼” backstitch and bring the needle

point close to the emerging thread.

Leave the needle in your fabric and

separate the two sides of the thread, and

then place them behind your needle.

Take your left hand and make a loop in

the left side thread by twisting the thread

like shown in the diagram. Pull the knot

down to the base of the needle until it

is taut. Now take the right-hand thread

in your right hand and twist it to make a

loop and slide it onto the needle tip.

Pull on the free thread until the loop goes

to the bottom of the needle and is taut.

Keep repeating left and then right until

the length of the stitches on your needle

is the same length as the backstitch.

Now hold on to the

stitches with your

right thumb and

forefinger and pull

the needle all the

way through with

your right hand. Pull

the needle with the

free thread towards

you and then

put your needle

through the fabric

to the back at the

base of your stitch.

A double cast on

stitch diagram

I used six of these double cast on

stitches to make each of my four pink

flowers with size 3 DMC Perle Cotton

#3689 and a size 1 milliner’s needle. I

made a French knot in the center of

each flower with size 3 DMC Perle Cotton

#3328.

Watch my video on how to make these

four stitches

I bet your head is just swimming with all

the possible ways you can include these

stitches in your embroidery designs

using Clover Gold Eye Milliners Needles!

Take some time to practice these stitches

– you’ll be so glad you did. And use them

to embroider a few of the flowers on

your needle roll.

Six double cast on stitches create the petals of

a flower

3 ways

to make simple embroidery stitches extraordinary

I’ve used the SURELight M4M LED 3-in-1

Lamp, and it’s really quite awesome!

The light has multi levels of brightness

each with different temperature options

(warm or cool light). Although I use it

on a table, it comes with a giant clip for

attaching to your work surface or chair

as well as a floor stand. Because it can

be powered with AC or the enclosed

battery compartment, you can bring this

light to any work area. There is also a 2x

magnifier on an adjustable goose neck

to help clearly see the fine details of your

embroidery project.

Let's talk about whipped, threaded, and

woven embroidery stitches and how to

use whipping and threading to change a

basic embroidery stitch into something

more interesting. For this type of stitch,

it’s important to use a blunt needle such

as a DMC Tapestry Needle so the needle

doesn’t pierce the fabric or split the

threads of previous stitches.

Technique 1 – Whipping

Almost any stitch can be whipped

with another thread to create a more

interesting stitch. The simplest stitch to

whip is the running stitch. You can easily

work a whipped running stitch around

tight corners or in intricate designs and

you can change the look of the finished

product by changing the spacing of the

foundation stitches or by changing the

weight of threads you use.

When you start with a backstitch as

your foundation, you create a whipped

backstitch which has a slightly raised finish

that looks a lot like a rope or cord. It’s great

for enhancing the edges of an applique

design or for making flower stems.

To stitch a whipped stitch, bring your

needle to the front of your fabric slightly

below the foundation stitch at the right

end of the row. Slide the needle behind

the next stitch from above, and pull

the thread through. Repeat until you

whipped all of the foundation stitches.

Here are examples of some of the

whipped stitches on my embroidery. The

top line is a blue and yellow whipped

backstitch that’s stitched with six strands

of DMC Rayon Satin embroidery floss

from the DMC Satin Floss 8 pack – Radiant

Treasures. The bottom is a pink chain

stitch that’s stitched with six strands of

embroidery floss from the DMC Light

Effects Floss 6 pack – Tropical Glow and

then is whipped with 6 strands of blue

rayon embroidery floss.

Technique 2 – Threading

Threading is similar to whipping because

it starts with a line of foundation stitches

like a running stitch, backstitch or chain

stitch. We’re still using a DMC Tapestry

Needle so that we don’t catch the base

fabric or other stitches.

The SURELight M4M LED 3-in-1 Lamp

A whipped backstitch diagram

Whipped backstitch and whipped chain stitch


A threaded running stitch diagram

A woven wheel stitch diagram

A whipped and woven circle stitch diagram

To work this stitch, we start with a running stitch. Bring your

needle to the front of your fabric slightly below the foundation

stitch at the right end of the row. Slide the needle behind the

next stitch from the bottom and pull the thread through. Now,

slide the needle under the next stitch from above the line and

pull your thread through. Keep threading, alternating from

above and below until you complete the entire line. If you’re

doing this stitch around an object, make sure you have an even

number of foundation stitches.

Here is an example of some threaded stitches on my needle roll

embroidery. On the top is a line of purple backstitches worked

in 6 strands of purple DMC Rayon Satin embroidery floss from

the Radiant Treasures 8 pack. I used a tapestry needled to thread

6 strands of yellow embroidery floss from the DMC Light Effects

– Tropical Glow 6 pack through the purple backstitches. On the

bottom is a line of pink running stitches that I double threaded

with 6 strands of blue embroidery floss by threading in one

direction and then turning around and threading back towards

the beginning. As you can see, you can pull the threaded

stitches tight like in the top row, or leave them fairly loose like in

the bottom row, both of which give a totally different look.

Technique 3 – Weaving

Stitches, such as the woven wheel stitch or the whipped and

woven circle stitch involve weaving over the top of foundation

stitches, and add lots of great texture to your embroidery piece.

Woven wheel stitch (or woven circle)

To make a woven wheel, the first thing you do is stitch a circle of

‘spokes’ which are basically just evenly spaced straight stitches

all coming out of the same point in the middle. For the woven

wheel to work, you need to have an uneven number of spokes –

5 or 7 work well. Once again, use a DMC Tapestry Needle so that

you don’t catch the base fabric or other stitches.

Next, bring your needle up to the front of your fabric near

the center of the wheel. Working counterclockwise, alternate

passing your needle over and under the spokes. Continue

around in circles until complete.

You can leave some of the spokes showing outside of the

weaving, or you can fill the spokes in entirely like I did to make

my blue hollyhock flowers. I made the bottom circle the largest

and then made them smaller and smaller as I went up the stem.

I used 6 strands of royal blue DMC Rayon Satin embroidery floss

from the Radiant Treasures 8 pack. The stem is worked in a stem

stitch using DMC Perle Cotton.

Whipped and woven circle

The last stitch for this part is the whipped and woven circle.

For this stitch, you start with the same type of spokes like in

the woven wheel, but you can have any number of spokes – it

doesn’t have to be an uneven number like before.

A whipped and woven circle over top of detached chain stitches

Threaded backstitch and double threaded running stitch


First, stitch a circle of evenly spaced

spokes coming out of the same point in

the middle, then bring your needle up

to the front of your fabric near the center

of the wheel. Working clockwise, pass

your needle over the first spoke, then

under the first and second spokes. Pull

the thread through until taut, then go

over the second spoke and under spokes

2 and 3. Repeat this process of over one

spoke and under two, and continue to

work around the circle until complete.

As you can see, to make my whipped

and woven circle, I didn’t just use straight

stitches, I used detached chain stitches

worked in a circle with their tails all

meeting in the center of the circle. I

stitched these detached chain stitches

with size 5 DMC Perle Cotton #3328, and

then made the whipped and woven

circle using size 8 DMC Perle Cotton #322.

You can also use pistil stitches to make

your spokes!

Watch my video on how to do all of the

stitches we talked about.

The last step!

Once you complete all the embroidery

you want to do on your needle roll, you

need to remove the DMC Magic Paper and

the blue marker lines that you made with

the UNIQUE Sewing 2-in-1 Dual-Tip Washout/Air

Erasable Fine Tip Marking Pen.

You can remove the pen marks by

dabbing them with a damp cloth, but

you have to rinse the DMC Magic Paper

in water in order to remove it. So, I opted

to just soak my entire embroidery piece

in lukewarm water, and then rinsed it

under cool water to finish removing any

of the sticky residue.

And the finished piece…

Here's my finished embroidery after

drying it. I used my iron to get rid

of most of the wrinkles, but I didn’t

want to press down too much on my

dimensional flowers.

Soaking to remove the DMC Magic Paper

Woven wheel stitched flowers on a green stem

I really enjoyed all of this handwork

and I hope you did too! I love hand

embroidery and am excited to share

it with other quilters. All the products I

used here made the embroidery process

easy and the end product beautiful. I

think I prefer doing my embroidery with

the different weights of DMC Perle Cotton,

but I do like the different looks that you

can achieve with threads like the DMC

Mouline Etoile Floss, the DMC Satin Floss

and the DMC Light Effects embroidery

floss. I found the Charles Craft Monaco

Needlework Fabric very nice to stitch

on, but prefer to do embroidery on

felted wool. The wool is much heavier

(so you don’t have to be very neat on

the back) and you don’t need to use an

embroidery hoop.

The DMC Magic Paper was a wonderful

surprise, and I’m sure I’ll be using it

for my wool embroidery in the future.

And, the SURELight M4M LED 3-in-1

Lamp is a great tool to have beside my

favorite chair!

Now that I’ve finished the embroidery

part of my needle roll, I can’t wait to

finish up the inside storage part which

I’ll show you how to do in the feature

that follows, using my Brother NQ900

sewing machine!

The completed embroidery piece


5 great features of the NQ900 sewing machine

The Brother NQ900 sewing machine. The NQ900 sewing machine set up at quilt retreat. The extension table legs fold up for travel or storage.

I hope you’ve had time to finish your

hand-embroidered panel, because we’ll

make it into a needle roll for storing all

your hand embroidery needles. To do

this I’ll use my wonderful Brother NQ900

sewing machine.

I first introduced you to the Brother

NQ900 in my QUILTsocial post – 6 features

I love on the Brother NQ900 sewing machine.

During that week I showed you how to

make the adorable baby quilt shown

above, so if you have any baby showers to

go to in the next few months, check out

that fast and fun pattern.

I loved testing the NQ900 sewing

machine so much, that when it came

time to send it back to Brother, I asked

if I could purchase it! We’ve done a lot

of sewing together since then, and I still

find it to be a great machine. Like I said

back in 2017, the NQ900 has lots of great

features and after more than four years

of using this machine, here are the ones I

still find the best!

FEATURE 1

The first thing to mention about this

machine is its portability. At just 23lbs, the

Brother NQ900 is so easy to take along on

vacation, to classes, on a quilt cruise, or as

I’m going next, to quilt retreat!

FEATURE 2

The extension table on the NQ900 is not

only huge, but it also has fold-up legs

so it can be easily stored or slipped into

a bag to take along with the machine.

I can’t tell you how much I love this

feature – especially when I see other

quilters struggling to transport their

extension tables!


FEATURE 3

The needle threader on this machine

blew me away when I first tried the

machine, and it still works just as great

now as it did on day one! It’s so easy

to use, I just had to make a little video

to show you. The needle threader can

be used with machine needles 75/11

through 100/16.

A short video showing how to use the

needle threader on the NQ900. Brother

NQ900 sewing machine:

FEATURE 4

I still love how this machine won’t stitch

if the presser foot is up. If the foot is

up, the stop/start button glows red

and the machine beeps if you put your

foot down on the foot pedal. This is

a wonderful feature, especially when

using the free-motion quilting foot as it

prevents you from getting those huge

bird’s nests of thread on the back of your

quilt. Here’s what each color means:

• Green: The machine is ready to sew

or is sewing.

• Red: The machine can’t sew.

• Orange: The machine is winding the

bobbin thread, or the bobbin winder

shaft is moved to the right side.

FEATURE 5

Another super feature is that you can’t

thread the NQ900 when the presser foot

is down. A little cover, called the upper

thread shutter, slides over the take-up

lever and prevents you from pulling

the thread through. If you thread your

sewing machine when the foot is down,

you may not get the thread between the

two tension discs and when you sew, the

tension between your top and bottom

threads may be completely unbalanced.

I see this happen a lot when I’m teaching

beginner machine quilting classes, so I

wish this feature was available on every

machine!

Red glowing start/stop button

The upper thread shutter is closed, preventing the

machine from being threaded.

Use 505 Spray and the NQ900 sewing machine

to easily baste your project

Let's start sewing our needle roll

featuring the hand-embroidered panel

we created

Weight Sew-In Interfacing. I also used

this beautiful purple floral batik fabric

as the inside fabric for my needle roll.

3. Spray one side of the interfacing with

Odif 505 Temporary Adhesive Spray

and stick that fabric rectangle to the

interfacing, aligning all the raw edges.

I used my favorite presser foot J – it has a

clear front with an offset thread passage

- to baste the two layers together along

all sides about an 1⁄8" from the edge. You

can see on the previous photo of the

sewing machine screen, that when stitch

#29 is selected, the machine tells you to

use foot J.

The Brother NQ900 sewing machine

materials

fabric

• 7½" x 19" embroidered outside panel,

pieced fabric panel or patterned fabric

• 2 fat quarters of batik fabrics (or

smaller pieces as noted in the

following directions)

• 7½" x 19" HeatnBond Non-Woven Firm

Weight Sew-In Interfacing

• 1 package UNIQUE Medium Rick Rack

in Hot Pink

• 9" x 7” felted wool or craft felt

notions

• Odif 505 Temporary Adhesive Spray

• Clover Pen Style Chaco liner

• UNIQUE Double Sided Cutting Mat

18” x 24”

• Omnigrid Ruler

6” x 24”

• OLFA Rotary Cutter 45mm

• UNIQUE quilting Clever Clips Small

1. Measure the

finished size of

the embroidered

panel. Mine is

7½" x 19".

2. Cut a piece of

fabric and a piece

of interfacing

this same size. I The inner fabric and

wanted my roll to interfacing are cut

be a little stiff (so the same size as the

that the needle embroidered panel.

packages don’t easily slide out) so

I used HeatnBond Non-Woven Firm

Spray interfacing with 505 Spray

4. Baste the two layers together

along the outside edges. I selected

straight stitch #29 on my NQ900 and

extended the length of the stitch to

5.0mm.

Select straight stitch #29 and set stitch length to

5.0mm.

Baste the two layers together.

5. Make some placement marks: Fold

the fabric in half end to end and

mark the center of the batik fabric

rectangle. Fold each end into the

marked center and mark these two

lines. The fabric will now be divided

into quarters. I used my rotary cutting

ruler and a Pen Style Chaco liner to

mark these three lines.

Mark the center and quarter marks with a chaco liner.


5 simple steps

to make pockets for a needle roll

STEP 1 Measure your needle packages

The first thing you need to do is measure how deep you need

to make the pockets that will hold the needle packages. My

packages are all about 4" tall and the name of the needles will

still be visible if the pocket is 3" deep. Measure your needle

packages to see if they are the same size.

STEP 2 Cut your fabric

The pockets will have a folded top edge, so to make a pocket

3" deep, cut the first pocket 6" x 19" (the length of the needle

roll). I’ll use the same fabric for my pockets as I used for the

base fabric. You can do the same or use different fabrics for the

pockets.

Brother NQ900

Measure the height of the needle packages.

Cut the pocket fabric 6" wide.


STEP 3 Fold and press

Fold the fabric in half lengthwise with

wrong sides together. Use a hot iron

to press a nice crisp fold along the top

edge of the pocket. Your pocket should

now measure 3" x 19".

This will be the bottom set of pockets,

but in order to have enough space for all

my needle packages, I’ll need a second

set along the top edge of the roll that

will tuck underneath the bottom row of

pockets. Following these same directions,

I cut this pocket 9" x 19", folded it in half

to make a 4½" x 19" pocket and sewed

rick rack to it as well.

STEP 5 Add wool rectangles

Now, to make this needle roll absolutely

perfect, I need to have small pieces of

wool to store each of the needles I’m

using at the moment in front of the

pocket where the package is stored.

I’ll end up with 16 little pockets, but I

really don’t want to sew down 16 small

squares of wool, so I’ll put one piece of

wool in front of each pair of pockets. I

cut eight pieces of a nice thick felted

wool 4" x 1½" - you could also use felt if

you don’t have wool.

Fold the narrower pocket in half and

in quarters the same as you did for the

interfacing layer and mark those points

with the Chaco liner. Center each of

the wool rectangles on each quarter of

the pocket.

Pin these wool rectangles in place; sew

down the shorter ends to secure them

to the pocket.

Take the wider pocket strip and arrange

the remaining four wool rectangles on

it, aligning them with the placement

of the wool rectangles on the narrower

strip. Pin in place and sew them down

the same as the ones on the narrower

pocket strip.

Fold in half and press.

STEP 4 Add rick rack

I want to use some UNIQUE Medium

Hot Pink Rick Rack to embellish and

strengthen the top of the pocket. I cut

a piece 20" long and placed it on the

pocket along the folded edge. About ½"

should hang over each end of the pocket.

I then used a straight stitch on my NQ900

to sew the rick rack onto the fabric.

Center the wool rectangles on each quarter of the pocket.

Align wool rectangles on wide pocket strip.

Sew down the short ends of the wool rectangles.

Sew rick rack to pocket.


7 essential steps to sew together a needle roll

STEP 2

Measure 4½" from the top of the

interfaced layer and mark a sewing line

all the way along the pocket. This will

make the pockets 3" deep (the same as

the smaller pocket).

STEP 4

Next, I’ll use a wide zigzag stitch on the

NQ900 to secure the bottom raw edge

of the pocket. I’m doing this so the

needle packages in the bottom level of

pockets don’t get caught on this raw

edge. It doesn’t matter what color thread

you use because it will be totally hidden

by the bottom pocket fabric.

The Brother NQ900

STEP 1

Lay the wider pocket on top of the

interfaced fabric layer and align it so its

folded top edge is 1¼" from the top of

the interfaced layer. Use UNIQUE quilting

Clever Clips to hold it in place on each

end of the interfacing layer.

Mark a sewing line along the pocket.

STEP 3

I’ll use my Brother NQ900 to sew along

this marked line from one end of the

pocket to the other.

Zigzag along the raw edge of the top pocket.

STEP 5

Use the UNIQUE quilting Clever Clips

to secure the narrow pocket to the

interfaced fabric layer. The raw edge of

this pocket will be aligned with bottom

raw edge of the interfaced fabric layer

and it will overlap the bottom of the top

pocket so it hides all the stitching done

in the previous two steps.

Align pocket 1¼" from the top of the interfaced layer.


Sew along the drawn line.

Clip bottom pocket section to interfaced fabric.

STEP 6

With everything clipped together, we

can use the walking foot on the Brother

NQ900 to sew along the marked lines

on the interfaced fabric and pocket

sections. This will divide each of the top

and bottom pocket sections into four.

Sew down the center of each of these to

create a total of 8 small pockets in each

row. You can mark these sewing lines, or

just do like I did and eyeball it. You’ll see

that sewing down the middle of each

of the sections also divides the wool

rectangles in half.

STEP 7

The last step for is to create the ties you’ll

use to secure the needle roll when it is

tied up.

First, cut a piece of the UNIQUE Medium

Hot Pink Rick Rack about 30" long. Since

this product is 100% polyester, you can

melt the ends with a candle to prevent

them from unravelling. I find that

passing the end of the ribbon or rick rack

just through the bottom of the flame

works best. If you pass it through at the

tip of the flame it may leave the rick-rack

black and sooty.

Fold the rick rack in half and pin it to the

center of the embroidered panel at the

end that says Needles. Make sure the

ends of the rick rack are laying along the

panel and not the other direction.

We’re almost there! Next, the needle roll

will be finished!

My Brother NQ900 has been such a help

sewing these pockets for the needle

roll and it had no problem whatsoever

sewing through all the layers, especially

since the UNIQUE Clever Clips held the

bulky layers of fabrics secure.

Sew down the marked lines and halfway

between them to create the small pockets.

Melt the ends of the rick rack with a candle.

Pin folded rick rack to front of needle roll.


Select the perfect decorative stitch

for machine sewn binding

NQ900 from Brother

Now I'll use this awesome machine to make binding,

and complete the embroidered needle roll!

Make the binding

1. Cut four 2½" strips from your fat quarter of binding

fabric (or two 2½" x width of fabric strips from

yardage). Sew them together with a mitered

(diagonal) join.

2. Cut off the excess fabric, press the seams open

and fold the binding strip, wrong sides together;

press along its length. If you’d like more detailed

instructions on how to make binding, check out

my QUILTsocial post - Do You Know How to Bind a

Quilt?.

3. Sew the binding to the front of the needle roll

using a 3⁄8" seam.

4. Fold the binding around to the inside of the

needle roll and clip the binding in place using

UNIQUE quilting Clever Clips. When clipping, make

sure to pull the binding tight so the folded edge

of the binding covers the stitching line. Clip all the

way around.

5. Choose a top thread that will look nice on the

outside of the needle roll, and a bobbin thread that

blends nicely with the inside fabric and the binding.

Sew binding strips together with a mitered join.

Sew binding to front of needle roll

Fold binding to the inside of the roll and clip in place.


Clip all the way around.

6. Select the stitch you want to use to secure the binding

from the many stitches available on the Brother NQ900.

You can use pretty much any decorative or straight

stitch for this, but if you use a straight stitch you need

to be careful that your stitches catch the binding on

the inside of the roll. If you use a wider decorative stitch,

you can be pretty sure that at least one part of the

stitch will catch the binding.

I’ll use the Shell Tuck edge stitch since I want it to

be wide enough to catch the binding, but not too

decorative that it competes with my embroidery

stitches. On my NQ900, this stitch is #39 in the Utility

Stitch grouping (the left most group shown on the

lid of the machine). The screen on the machine

shows which stitch had been selected and that I

should be using pressor foot J.

The lid of the NQ900 shows the variety of available stitches.

Select Utility Stitch #39


Here is a close up of what the stitch looks like from the outside

of the needle roll:

And now…..we’re finished! Here's what the inside of the

needle roll looks like with a few of my many packs of needles

tucked inside.

The shell stitch on the binding on the outside of the needle roll.

The inside of the needle roll

The next image shows the needle roll rolled up and tied with

the rick rack. I really love how it turned out and I hope you do

too! It's the perfect size to tuck into my embroidery bag and will

store a ton of needles!

See how the stitch shows on the inside of the needle roll in

the photo. Since one part of the stitch extends onto the

binding, you can see it’s still secure even at the lower

corner, where the straight stitches didn’t quite catch the

folded edge of the binding.

The rolled and tied up needle roll.

The Shell Stitch on the inside of the needle roll binding.

Thanks for joining me as I worked on my Brother NQ900 and

used some awesome sewing supplies, including the UNIQUE

quilting Clever Clips, to make this project. Hopefully, this

little storage case will help you (and me) keep all our hand

embroidery needles safe, secure, and organized. I really love

doing hand embroidery and I hope this project has piqued your

interest in trying hand embroidery, too.

Christine Baker

christinebaker-fairfieldroaddesigns.blogspot.ca


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29

Sewing up

3

Too Cool for School pencil cases

Robin Bogaert

Too Cool for School pencil cases and zipper pulls

By now I’m sure most of us are thinking about prepping the

kids and grandkids for back-to-school. After the past year and

a half we’re looking forward to healthy and positive in-person

class experiences. The sewing focus of these articles is all about

positivity with super cute pencil cases and zipper pulls to get

our little students excited and happy to be heading back. I’ll

be utilizing small fabric scraps from my own stash along with

HEATNBOND Lite Iron-On Adhesive Sheets, COSTUMAKERS General

Purpose Closed End Zipper, FAIRFIELD Quilter’s 80/20 Quilt Batting,

UNIQUE SEWING Wash-out Marker, ELAN Snap-Clip, DMC Matte

Cotton Yarn and FABRIC FUSE by HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric

Adhesive.

If you have any zipper insertion fears, follow along as I show you

some easy tips to make your zipper sewing confidence improve

dramatically.

I know most of us have children or grandkids who just

love to get ready for back-to-school and school supplies

are an important part of this process. Let’s begin first by

demonstrating how to make a trendy, cute and customized

pencil case. This pencil case is sure to garner a smile and some

excitement for pencil, marker, crayon and even snack storage.

Below is the pencil case with my grandson Eli’s name appliqued on

it. He starts Montessori School this fall and is naturally apprehensive.

I’m sure this little case will help him to feel a little more excited

about starting school and his new learning adventure.

The pencil case

Supplies needed for these 3 pencil case projects


materials

Š scraps of cotton fabric in yellow, wood grain tan, gray, pink,

black and lining fabric (any color from your stash)

Š HEATNBOND Lite Iron-On Adhesive Sheets

Š COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper (9”,

23cm)

Š FAIRFIELD Quilter’s 80/20 Quilt Batting

Š UNIQUE SEWING Wash-out Marker

Š FABRIC FUSE by HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric Adhesive

Š thread to match your fabric

Š iron

Š sewing machine

Š scissors

Š parchment paper or a teflon pressing sheet

Š free motion or walking foot

Š basic sewing supplies

Š black permanent marker

Š circle template or protractor – 4” and 5” (optional)

Cutting instructions

• yellow fabric

» (1) 7 ½” x 8”

• gray fabric

» (1) 3” x 8”

» (1) 1” x 2” (for zipper extension)

• wood grain tan fabric

» (2) 5” diameter circles

» (1) 1 ½” x 8” strip (use the wash out marker to trace

around circle template)

• pink fabric

» (2) 4” diameter circles (use the wash out marker to trace

around circle template)

• lining fabric

» (1) 8” x 12” (to be squared after quilting)

• black fabric for lettering

» Cut a scrap piece of fabric to fit chosen letters

• batting

» (1) 8 x 12” (to be squared after quilting)

» (1) 4” circle

» (1) 5” circle

Supplies all ready to go to make the pencil case

Fabric and batting cut along with a zipper, ready to sew the pencil case

Photos by Robin Bogaert

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

31

Sewing up

a sharp looking pencil case for back to school

Sewing instructions

Step 1

To prepare the appliqued name on my

pencil case, I used the Britannica font in

Microsoft Word sized up to 150 as shown.

Step 3

Using the FabricFuse place a few dots of

glue on the corners of the paper and in

between the letters to hold the name

in place on the wrong side of the paper.

Glue the paper glue side to the right side

of the black letter fabric.

TIP Make sure the glue is not directly

on the letters as this is great fusing glue

and it will make the paper stick to the

fabric. The glue is used to hold the name

pattern in place and will be cut away

after fusing. It’s very effective glue and

takes very little time to dry (5 minutes).

Step 4

Cut the HeatnBond Lite slightly larger

than the name paper pattern and fuse

this glue side to the wrong side of the

fabric with a hot dry iron. Press down for

about 10 seconds. Don’t move the iron.

TIP Use parchment paper or a Teflon

pressing sheet to avoid getting glue on

your iron.

Settings on my computer to design my name

applique using Britannica font size 150

Step 2

Change the name print to a blue outline

and then print it out on a printer. Cut

out the name leaving a ¼” border. Place

on the right side of the lettering fabric.

Get ready to fuse with FabricFuse by

HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric Adhesive

and HeatnBond Light Iron-On Adhesive

as shown below.

Using FabricFuse by HeatnBond to secure a name

pattern to fabric makes it easy to cut out

Glue side of the HeatnBond Lite is fused to the

wrong side of the fabric

Step 5

Cut the letters out accurately through

all layers, peel off front paper and paper

backing for HeatnBond Lite Iron-On

Adhesive. Set the letters aside.

Letters to be cut out individually through all layers

The Eli name applique is now secured to the fabric

and ready for the letters to be cut out individually

HeatnBond Lite, FabricFuse and printed name

ready for machine applique

32

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

Step 6

Center the name in the top ½ of the

yellow fabric as shown and fuse with

a hot iron. Use a small zigzag or satin

stitch to adhere the letters to the fabric.

Step 8

Sandwich the front of the pencil case

fabric with the 8” x 12” batting and lining

as shown and quilt as desired with

matching thread.

Quilting Design Tip: I used my UNIQUE

Sewing Wash-out Marker and a ruler, drew

horizontal lines on the yellow fabric and

vertical lines on the gray fabric to mimic

what a pencil looks like and then quilted it

with matching colored thread.

Step 11

Add the zipper extension fabric by

marking a line on the zipper as shown,

¼” from the zipper stop. Pin the fabric ¼”

above the line and sew with a ¼” seam

allowance to sew on the marked line

and avoid hitting the zipper stop. Fold

and press the zipper extension fabric

towards the end of the zipper (it will be

slightly long and can be cut off after the

zipper is sewn to the pencil case).

Centering the letters on the top half of the fabric

Marking the fabric with a UNIQUE sewing Washout

Marker, ready for quilting

Pressing the letters

Step 7

Sew the 3” x 8” gray strip of fabric and the

1½” x 8” piece of tan (wood grain) fabric

to the 7½” x 8” yellow fabric as shown.

Quilting is complete

Step 9

Square up the pencil case sandwich

even with the edges of the pencil case

front.

Step 10

Quilt as desired the pencil tip circles

(5”) sandwiched with batting and the 4”

eraser circles sandwiched with batting

as shown. If you want to, you can also

zigzag the edges.

Marking for the zipper extension with the

UNIQUE sewing Wash-out Marker

Sewing the gray and tan strips to the pencil body

fabric in yellow

Quilting on the pencil tip and eraser end circles

Pinning the zipper extension

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

33

Step 13

Sew the zipper close to the zipper

prongs with a zipper foot and needle

position to the far left. This may vary by

machine so check your own settings.

Sewing line for the zipper extension

Step 12

To baste the zipper in place and make

it super easy to sew, using FabricFuse,

place a thin line of glue along the top

right side of the pencil case as shown.

Place the right-side edge of the zipper

on top of the glue as shown matching

the ends and upper edge. Once the

zipper is down, let it dry for about 5

minutes (you can even use a blow dryer

to speed up the process).

Using a bead of FabricFuse for zipper basting is

an effective way to have it hold the zipper in place

so that the zipper can be sewn without moving.

Zipper machine-sewn on one side with a zipper foot

Step 14

Roll up the bottom side of the pencil

case front, match and hand sew-baste

the other open zipper right side edge to

the right side of the pencil case fabric as

shown.

Note: The reason for hand sewn basting is,

this side will have more stress when trying

to sew it. It is difficult to hold in place with

pins or glue so sew-basting takes very little

time and insures accurately sewn results.

Rolling the other side of the fabric to prepare to line

up the zipper and sew it

Hand sew basting the other side of the zipper to

prepare it for machine sewing with a zipper foot

Step 15

Sew the other side of the zipper with

a zipper foot and sewing machine

as discussed in step 13. Once the zip

insertion is complete you can remove

the basting stitches easily by just

snipping them out.

TIP Move the zipper pull out of the way

as you sew, so that it does not distort

your sewing lines.

Zipper glue basted in place with FabricFuse by

HeatnBond prior to machine zipper foot sewing

Sewing the hand sew basted side of the zipper

with a zipper foot and sewing machine

34

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

Step 16

Leave the pencil case

wrong side out and

sew the eraser circle

right side of fabric to

right side of pencil

case gray end, pin,

gather if necessary

and sew with a ¼”

seam allowance as

shown. This is the

trickiest part of this

whole pencil case

Sewing the eraser

end circle right sides

together with gray

end of pencil slowly

and carefully

project; sew slowly through all layers of

fabric. It is recommended to use the free

arm of your sewing machine to do this.

Step 17

Cut the 4” tan pencil tip circle fabric

in half. Fold it again in half right sides

together and sew the straight edge with

a ¼” seam allowance as shown.

Step 18

Once the pencil tip fabric is prepared,

turn it right side out and insert it inside

the pencil end of the pencil case right

sides together. Make sure the seam for

the pencil tip fabric is opposite to the

zipper to reduce sewing bulk. Pin and

sew with a ¼” seam allowance.

Pencil tip fabric pinned right sides together with

the pencil tip fabric strip

The completed pencil

case shown from the

lining side

This is what

your pencil

case should

look like

with all

components

sewn.

Step 19

Turn your pencil case to the right

side and add pencil lead to the tip

with a permanent marker.

Cutting the pencil tip in ½ to ready it for sewing

on the pencil case

Step 20

Admire your efforts!

Pencil lead drawn in with a permanent marker

The folded pencil tip

right sides together

Sewing the seam on

the pencil tip with a

¼” seam allowance

The completed pencil case so versatile for snacks, pencils and school supplies.


Using applique to make

a zippy school bus pencil case

School bus pencil case

I want to discuss

applique the easy

way with this sweet

school bus pencil

case, another great

opportunity for

zipper insertion

mastery as

well! I’ll feature

a free pattern

download and

some very useful

sewing notions…

HeatnBond Lite Iron-

On Adhesive Sheets,

COSTUMAKERS

General Purpose

Closed End Zippers,

Fairfield Quilter’s

Supplies needed for the school bus pencil case 80/20 Quilt Batting,

UNIQUE sewing

Wash-out Marker, FabricFuse by HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric

Adhesive and Fabric FunFabric Markers

I’m sure we can all think of a child, grandchild, niece, nephew

or neighbour who would just love this little pencil case. A great

pay-it-forward opportunity as well. Fill it full of snacks or school

supplies and give it to a child. Happiness is about giving.

materials

• free PDF downloadable school bus applique pattern

available here: School Bus Applique

• freezer paper

• lining fabric (blue)

• batting

• front fabric (blue as shown)

• 9” [23cm] zipper (white or to match fabric)

• scraps of fabric (refer to photo)

» yellow for school bus

» black

» red

» white

» gray

• thread to match

» black

» blue

» yellow

» white

» red

» gray

• sewing machine

• free motion foot (optional)

• walking foot (optional)

• zipper foot

• zigzag or open toe foot for your machine

• fusible web (I used HeatnBond Lite Iron-On Adhesive)

• FabricFuse by HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric Adhesive

• flat flower head pins (optional)

• UNIQUE sewingWash-out Marker (optional but helpful)

• iron

• parchment paper or a Teflon pressing sheet (optional

• small scissors

• basic sewing supplies

• light box (optional)

36

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

cutting instructions

From the scraps of fabric listed in the

supplies list, cut the following:

• yellow fabric for the bus – 4” x 6”

• batting – 12” x 14”

• lining fabric – 12” x 14”

• fabric for the front of the pencil case –

10¼” width x 13½” length

sewing instructions

Step 1

Download the School Bus Applique

Pattern, print it out and trace each

pattern piece individually onto the matte

side of freezer paper or printer paper as

shown.

Note: If you don’t have freezer paper, I

recommend you get some as this is the

easiest way to keep applique patterns

directionally upright (you do not have to

reverse the pattern) and gives you stiffness

to cut through the pattern, fabric and

fusible with accuracy.

Step 2

Iron the shiny side of the freezer paper

pieces onto the right side of the

corresponding fabric pieces and cut out

with space around the individual pieces

as shown.

Note: The shiny side adheres only

temporarily to your fabric and will not

harm it.

Freezer paper ironed to fabric and cut out roughly

Step 3

Lay each freezer paper applique piece

carefully onto the HeatnBond Lite Iron-

On Adhesive. The fabric should be wrong

side down onto the glue side (shiny side)

of the adhesive as shown.

Step 4

Cover with parchment paper or a Teflon

pressing sheet and iron, pressing for

about 10 seconds with a hot dry iron.

Ironing the appliques with parchment paper on

top to protect the Olisso iron

Step 5

Remove the pressing sheet and let the

adhesive cool for a minute. Cut out each

pattern piece using the freezer paper

pattern as your guide. Cut through

all 3 layers, freezer paper, fabric, and

HeatnBond Lite Iron-On Adhesive.

School bus pattern traced onto the matte side of

freezer paper

Pattern pieces and fabric laid out on HeatnBond

Lite Iron-On adhesive

Applique pieces cut out accurately through all

3 layers


Step 6

Find the center of your pencil case

front fabric and mark with a UNIQUE

sewingWash-out Marker; this is to get

ready to center the applique in the top ½

of the fabric.

Step 8

Keep building the applique and then

mark any other details you may want

with a UNIQUE sewing Wash-out Marker

as shown below. These details also show

on the downloaded paper applique

pattern.

Satin stitching with an open toe foot

Step 11

It’s time to sandwich the lining and front

of the pencil case. Sandwich the batting

in between to be ready for quilting as

shown.

Marking for satin stitch embellishment with a

UNIQUE sewing Wash-out Marker

Marking the center of the fabric with UNIQUE

sewing Wash-out Marker for applique placement

Step 7

Start to remove the freezer paper and

paper backing off the adhesive. Lay out

the applique pieces on the front of the

fabric to audition, and press with an iron.

Press as you lay down each piece so as

not to lose pieces.

Step 9

Add hubcap details with a Fabric

FunFabric Marker (black) as shown below

(optional). I felt that it was easier to use

a marker then to try and applique these

tiny details.

Sandwiching the pencil case with the front fabric,

batting and backing

Step 12

Quilt as desired and square up the

quilted sandwich. As you can see, I

quilted a spiral, reminiscent of the tires

– the wheels on the bus go round and

round…

Removing all paper and placing applique pieces

to build a school bus

Marking details with a Fabric FunFabric Marker

Step 10

Zigzag and satin stitch any remaining

details to complete your applique.

TIP It is recommended to stabilize your

fabric on the back of the applique to

avoid puckering. I ironed the shiny side

of the freezer paper to the back of the

entire upper half of my front of the

pencil case fabric before starting the

satin stitch.

Quilting the pencil case

38

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

It’s time for zipper insertion. We’re

going to do it like we did earlier where

we glue basted one side of the zipper

and hand basted the other side. Both

are great time savers and allow the

zipper to be secured while sewn with a

zipper foot.

Step 13

Run a bead of glue with FabricFuse by

HeatnBond along the upper right edge

of the pencil case fabric (above the

school bus as shown), lay the zipper right

side down along the edge matching

sides, allow to dry for 5 minutes, and

then sew with a zipper foot.

Step 14

Once the upper

side of the zipper

is sewn with a

zipper foot, fold

the bottom

(RS) edge up to

match the RS

edge of the other

side of the zipper

and hand baste

as shown. Sew

once again with

a zipper foot;

you can remove

basting stitches

and cut off any

excess zipper

end at this point

in the process.

The needle

position needs to

be to the far left,

and stitch close

to the zipper

teeth or look at

your zipper foot

and adjust the

needle position

as necessary.

Pencil case rolled up to other right side of zipper and hand basted

Back side of zipper, zipper is hand basted on one side and glue basted on

the other

Running a bead of FabricFuse along the top edge

of the pencil case

Allowing the glue to dry for 5 minutes

Zipper sewn by machine with a zipper foot, needle position to the far left


Step 15

With the right sides of the fabric together,

the zipper prongs teeth facing upwards

and zipper open to the middle, use flat

flower head pins to pin both sides and

sew with tack stitches at each end.

Step 16

Clip the corners.

Step 17

Turn to the right side and admire your

efforts!

Zipper pinned with zipper prongs upward and sides pinned

Pencil case pinned on both sides

The finished school bus pencil case, ready for a new little student

Lining complete with corners clipped

40

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

Stay organized and sew up

a Pretty Zippered

Pencil Case

This Pretty

Zippered Pencil

Case can be

made in any

style or color of

fabric. You can

make it for back

to school and to

fit your little one’s

personality!

I’ve made this in

pastel shades sure

to suit a pretty

little princess

and with the

amazing help

of HeatnBond

Lite Iron-On

Adhesive Sheets,

COSTUMAKERS

General Purpose

Closed End Zippers,

Fairfield Quilter’s

80/20 Quilt

Batting, UNIQUE

sewing Wash-out

Marker, FabricFuse

by HeatnBond

Quickbond Fabric

Adhesive and

Fabric FunFabric

Markers

materials

• fabric for the

front of the

pencil case

» 11 small

pieces of

scrap fabric

for the

pencils

» 1 piece of

scrap fabric

for the part

above the

pencils

• white scrap

fabric for the

pencil tips

• fabric for the

back of the

pencil case

• batting

• lining fabric

• 9” (23cm)

zipper

• fabric markers

• thread to

match

• sewing

machine

• zipper foot

• free motion or

walking foot

• scissors

• basic sewing

supplies

• fabric adhesive

• fabric glue

• freezer paper

• fabric marking

pen

• iron

The Pretty Zippered Pencil Case

cutting

• Cut (11) 13⁄8” x 4½” from each of the 11 pieces of scrap fabric

(pencils).

• Cut (11) 7⁄8” x 1” rectangles from the white fabric (pencil tips).

• Cut a 2½” x 10¼” strip of scrap fabric for the top of the pencil

case (above pencils).

• Cut 6¾” x 10¼” of the fabric for the back of the pencil case.

• Cut 12” x 14” of the lining fabric.

• Cut 12” x 14” of batting.

• Cut (1) 7⁄8” x 1” rectangle from the freezer paper (this will be

your pattern for tracing the pencil tips). Find the center top

on the 1” side and mark it. Make a triangle by drawing a line

from both 7⁄8” sides to the center. See in the photo below,

the triangle template made from freezer paper in the center

of the white fabric flower. Trace out 11 pencil tips using this

freezer paper template as shown.

Supplies needed to make the Pretty Zippered

Pencil Case

Fabric and batting cut out with the triangle template cut from freezer paper


sewing instructions

Step 1

Sew all 11 pencil strips together.

Step 4

Sew the back piece (6¾” x 10¼”) to the

front of the Pretty Zippered Pencil Case

section as shown.

All 11 pencil strips sewn together

Step 2

Sew the top strip (2½” x 10¼” pink as

shown) to the pencil tips.

Gluing alternate pencil tips with Fabric Fuse by


Gluing alternate pencil tips with HeatnBond Lite

Iron-On Adhesive

Back laid out to be sewn to the front

All 11 pencil strips sewn together

Step 3

Using HeatnBond Lite Iron-On Adhesive

or Fabric Fuse by HeatnBond, fuse or

glue the white fabric tips to the top of

each pencil.

To fuse or glue? Using HeatnBond Lite or Fabric

Fuse by HeatnBond (glue)

Ironing the HeatnBond Lite with an Olliso Pro Iron

on the hot setting using parchment paper on top

to protect the iron

Back sewn to the front

Step 5

Satin stitch or zigzag the pencil points

in place.

Note: Stabilize the back of the fabric prior

to satin stitching.

42

Gluing alternate pencil tips with Fabric Fuse by


OUILTsocial

| issue 21

The completely fused and glued pencil tip section

Satin stitching with an open toe foot

Step 6

Make your quilt sandwich with the top

of the pretty pencil case, batting and

backing.

Step 9

Add some color to the pencil tips with

Fabric Fun Fabric Markers (these are

permanent colors meant for fabric).

These markers come in primary and

bright color packs of 10 or individual

pens. The bright pack is shown below.

These markers have a thin tip end perfect

for small areas and a wide tip for thicker

detail. I recommend making a sample

fabric as shown to see ahead of time

what the colors will look like on the

project. They are so pretty for this project.

Ask your local sewing retailer for these

versatile, gorgeous pens.

Step 10

Run a bead of Fabric Fuse along the

right-side top edge of the Pretty

Zippered Pencil Case, to glue the zipper

in place. Let it dry for 5 minutes.

Sandwiching the top batting and backing

Step 7

Quilt as desired. As shown below, I used

a free motion foot and wavy stitches,

simulating doodles.

Fabric Fun Fabric Markers and sample fabric

Glue basting the edge to prepare for zipper insertion

Step 11

Lay one right side of the zipper against

the glue, matching ends and edges. Sew

with a zipper foot, needle position to the

far left and zipper foot as close to the

zipper prongs as possible.

Quilting wavy lines with a free motion foot

Step 8

Square up the pencil case top.

Package of 10 Fabric Fun Fabric Markers with

colors in bright shades

Pencil case sandwich squared up

Tips of pencils colored in with Fabric Fun Fabric

Markers (Bright)

Sewing in the zipper with a zipper foot


Step 12

Fold up the bottom (back) part of the

case and hand baste the right-side edge

against the other right-side edge of the

zipper as shown.

Step 14

Open up the zipper to the center and

with the zipper prongs facing up on the

open end, pin both sides of the pencil

case right sides together. Sew the side

seams with a ¼’ seam allowance.

Step 15

Clip corners, turn to the right side and

admire your efforts.

Just look at what we made, 3 oh so

cute pencil cases, made with the help

of some tiny personal fabric scraps and

these great notions: HeatnBond Lite

Iron-On Adhesive Sheets, COSTUMAKERS

General Purpose Closed End Zippers,

Fairfield Quilter’s 80/20 Quilt Batting,

UNIQUE sewing Wash-out Marker,

FabricFuse by HeatnBond Quickbond Fabric

Adhesive and Fabric FunFabric Markers

Hand basting the other side of the zipper, ready

for machine sewing

Step 13

Machine sew the other side of the zipper

with a zipper foot, and remove basting

stitches (optional).

Important TIP It is helpful to move the

zipper while sewing so that there are no

stitch wobbles, keep the needle in the

down position if possible and then move

the zipper tab out of sewing range.

Pinning the sides, ready for sewing

The finished Pretty Zippered Pencil Case, ready for

a little one starting school

Machine sewing the hand basted side of the

zipper with a zipper foot

44

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

The completed ‘Pencil’ Pencil Case, School Bus Pencil Case and Pretty Little Zippered Pencil Case

I hope you liked the Pretty Zippered

Pencil Case. Having a little something

special ready and waiting for young

students could motivate them to feel

excited for the first day of school and

may just make them feel a little more

at ease and excited about beginning

school. Now I’m showing you how to

make the easiest zipper pull attachment

with no machine sewing required that

can go with the 3 cute back-to-school

pencil cases. These zipper pulls require

very few supplies and include DMC

Matte Cotton Yarn (or embroidery floss)

and an Elan Snap-Clip. These zipper pulls

add functionality and bright, cheerful

color to pencil cases, bags, backpacks

and more.

materials

• 5 to 6 skeins of DMC Matte Cotton

Yarn or embroidery floss

• Elan Snap-Clip ½” (the D-ring that

comes with it is not required)

• crewel embroidery needle or yarn

needle

• small scissors

Check out my Easy Zipper Pulls YouTube

video tutorial.

Making the easiest DIY

zipper pulls ever

4 bright and easy zipper pulls

Step 2

Cut a 36” length from the remaining 6

colors of embroidery floss, as shown.

I’m repeating my colors for a total of 6

rounds of color.

Step 3

Using the tassel mop color, tie one of the

6 colors around the center of the skein

and wrap it around the skein tightly

leaving a length of floss. Attach the snap

clip and use the extra length of floss to

wrap around the base of the snap clip

several times to secure it. Leave extra

floss to tie to the next color.

Supplies needed to make the easiest zipper pull ever

Step 1

Choose a cotton yarn

or embroidery floss

as the main color for

the tassel mop and

remove the paper

sleeve.

Note: You can use the

whole skein or unravel

½ of the skein to use. If Paper sleeves pulled

you don’t want to use

off of a skein of floss

for the main color in

up all of your gorgeous

the tassel mop

DMC Matte Cotton

Yarn, using ½ the skein will work as well.

6 lengths of 6 colors of DMC Matte Cotton Yarn

First piece of DMC Matte

Cotton Yarn wrapped

around the center of the

mop skein and securing

the Elan Snap-Clip

Building on the yarn wrap


Step 4

Continue to tie and wrap other colors

evenly on each side of the center wrap

incorporating your tied ends into the

wrapping until it looks like the picture

below. Use your yarn needle to burry

loose ends and tie off thread.

Building on the yarn wrap with other colors

Step 5

Bend your skein in half and using about

10” of the last color of floss, tie your

wrapped loop, split the floss in half and

use these split ends to tie it tight.

Step 7

Attach the tassel to your zipper and admire.

The final result with Elan Snap-Clip and DMC Matte Cotton Yarn

If you are more

of an auditory

learner, you may

wish to watch my

YouTube Tutorial

to make these

zippers pulls.

I hope you

enjoyed these

pencil case

tutorials and

that you have

built more

zipper insertion,

applique

and quilting

confidence. Be

sure to try these

zipper pulls for

the young ones

in your life to help

brighten up their

school year with

just 2 specific

sewing notions

DMC Matte Cotton

Yarn and Elan

Snap-Clip.

Happy Sewing.

Robin Bogaert

www.quiltingintheloft.com

Zipper pull bent and last color wraps the tassel

mop together with the arms of the zipper pull

Step 6

Cut the looped ends of your tassel so

that they’re even.

Cutting the loop ends so that the tassel mop is even

Bright, pretty, practical zipper pulls add a fun accessory to the back-to-school pencil cases.

46

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

47

The Double T block makes this Halloween

table runner a real treat

Sarah Vanderburgh

PFAFF performance icon with extension table

Bobbin winding on top of the PFAFF performance icon

It’s never too early or late to quilt for an upcoming holiday. I

decided to focus on piecing a table runner for Halloween with

the PFAFF performance icon. While it’s not the first one I made, I

did discover some tricks using the performance icon this time

that I thought I’d share. Of course, the ‘treat’ was getting to

create using this amazing machine again.

Bobbin trick

One of the features that I enjoy on the performance icon is the

bobbin winding setup; having it on top of the machine makes it

easy and accessible.

While getting ready for this project and winding my bobbin,

I discovered that the bobbin can only be put on the little

spindle one way. This means it’s impossible to wind the bobbin

incorrectly and the thread flows effortlessly off of it from the

bobbin case.

Needle trick

The second trick I discovered while sewing with the

performance icon this time around concerns the needle. I

usually activate the Needle Up/Down icon to have the needle

stay in the down position whenever I stop sewing. I love using

it as a third hand when piecing to help me keep the fabrics

lined up. With this icon engaged, the presser foot also lifts up

off the fabric to let you pivot the fabric with the needle down.

I discovered that when the icon is not engaged and you leave

the needle down, the foot still lifts! So much better than having

to manually lift the foot to pivot.

Double T runner

The tricks turn into treats as we get ready to sew and quilt a

table runner with the performance icon. I chose the traditional

double T patchwork block as a nod to Trick or Treat. This version

of the block changes the fabric placement to make the center

look like a piece of wrapped candy.

There is one trick to the fabric selection for this runner. To

emphasize the ‘T’ in the blocks it’s important that there is strong

contrast between the background, the T fabrics and the center

or candy fabric. I selected modern prints for my T fabrics and

tone-on-tone fabrics that are lighter for the candy fabrics and

black for the background fabric.

48

One way up for the bobbin

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

Photos by Sarah Vanderburgh

materials

finished size 15” x 45”

fabric

• background – ½ yd

• double ‘T’ fabric orange – ½ yd

• candy fabric orange – ¼ yd

• double T fabric blue – ½ yd

• candy fabric blue – ¼ yd

• backing fabric – 17½” x 48”

batting

• black low loft INSPIRA Fusible Fleece – 15½” x 45”

thread

• for piecing and quilting (I used light blue and black for

quilting)

cutting instructions

Background

• 140” of 2½” strips for binding

• 3 – 6¼” squares

• 6 – 6” squares

Double T fabric orange print


• 20 – 3⁄8” squares

Wrapped candy on the Double T runner

Candy fabric light orange

• 2 – 6¼” squares


Double T fabric blueprint


• 8 – 3⁄8” squares


Candy fabric light blue

• 1 – 6¼” square

• 1 – 5½” square

One way up for the bobbin

Fabric selection for the Double T runner


Piecing blocks are quick and accurate

with the PFAFF performance icon

Sewing half square triangles with the PFAFF

performance icon

User’s Guide on the Multi-Touch Screen open to

the Patchwork Program

Start/Stop button close to needle and just above

the Reverse button

Needle Up/Down button lit up while engaged

and sewing HSTs

Time to start sewing! We collected fabrics and cut out the

pieces to make a Double T runner. Regardless of the time of

year, it’s always a treat to sew with the PFAFF performance icon.

We’ll use the Patchwork Program to speed up the process of

piecing similar blocks.

Patchwork Program

The PFAFF performance icon comes with many built in features

to make sewing accurately easy and enjoyable. It’s been a while

since I used the Patchwork Program but I realized that sewing

together all of the half square triangles (HSTs) needed for this

project was a great opportunity to use it again. I touched the

program at the bottom of the Multi-Touch Screen then the

question mark at the top right. A pop-up came up where I

selected the program again and was brought right to the page

in the User’s Guide to reread how to use it. The built-in guide

makes it so easy to look things up in the moment – no leaving

the machine and getting distracted. The Multi-Touch Screen is

about the size of a small tablet so it’s easy to read too.

To stitch with the Patchwork Program, you simply press the

Start/Stop button which is located right above the Reverse

button close to the needle. The program will stitch out the

length of stitches you program into it and stop when it’s done.

Then you get your next set of fabrics ready and press the button

again. It’s a great feature to use when a large number of samesized

units is needed.

We’re sewing together the larger units needed for the blocks,

half square triangles and some flying geese units.

Making half square triangles

1. Draw 1 diagonal line on the back of each Double T orange

and blue print fabrics 6” squares.

2. Sew an orange print 6” square to a black background square,

right sides together, by sewing ¼” away from each side of

the drawn line.

3. Cut on the drawn line to create 2 HSTs. Press the seam to the

background fabric.

4. Repeat these steps with the remaining 2 orange squares.

5. Sew 1 blue square to 1 black background square, right sides

together, by sewing ¼” away from each side of the drawn line.

6. Cut on the drawn line to create 2 HSTs. Press the seam to the

blue fabric.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with the remaining blue square.

8. Trim each HST to 5½”. You should have 8 orange and black

HSTs and 4 blue and black HSTs.

50

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

One other feature that I use consistently when piecing is the

Needle Up/Down button. When engaged the needle stays in the

fabric when you stop sewing and the presser foot lifts off of the

fabric so you can pivot or manipulate it. You’ll know when any of

the button features across the face of the performance icon are

active because they will be lit up. I finally got a good photo of the

Needle Up/Down button engaged so I can show you.

Making flying geese blocks using the no-waste method

1. Using the light orange 6¼” square, place one orange print

33⁄8” square on the corner, right side down with the diagonal

line in the corner of the light square. Place a second orange

print 33⁄8” square on the corner diagonal to it with the drawn

line in the same direction.

2. Sew ¼” away on each side of the drawn line.

To make sure my stitching line is a ¼” away from the line, I use

the ¼ inch Quilting Foot for IDT System. The IDT System is built

into the performance icon and connects to the presser foot

to guide the layers of fabric evenly under the needle. Here’s a

video that shows the IDT System in action: What makes it so

perfect? PFAFF original IDT System?

3. Cut on the drawn line and press seams to the added

triangles.

4. On one unit, position 1 orange print 33⁄8” square on the

corner, right side down with the diagonal line at the corner

of the unit.

I use the Straight Needle Plate when sewing which prevents my

beginning fabric points from getting pulled into the plate hole.

The performance icon comes with 2 needle plates, including

the Straight Needle Plate.

5. Sew ¼” away on each side of the drawn line.

6. Cut on the drawn line and press seams to the added triangle.

7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 with the second unit.

8. Trim to make each of the flying geese units 3” tall and 5½”

wide.

9. Make a second set of 4 geese with the remaining light

orange 6¼” square and 4 orange print 33⁄8” squares by

repeating steps 1 to 8.

10. Make 2 sets of geese with 2 – 6¼” squares of background

fabric and 8 orange print 33⁄8” squares, using steps 1 to 8.

11. Make 1 set of geese with the remaining 6¼” square of

background fabric and 4 blue print 33⁄8” squares, using steps

1 to 8.

12. Make the final set of geese using 1 light blue 6¼” square and

4 light blueprint 33⁄8”” squares, following steps 1 to 8.

Here’s a sneak peek at the double T block layout so you can see

the half square triangles and flying geese units in position. This

is one of the orange double T blocks; you will have enough

units for one more orange block and one blue block.

The Patchwork Program made quick work of stitching the half

square triangles and the IDT System helped with accurate

piecing of the flying geese units. The built-in features of the

PFAFF performance icon are quick to locate and easy to use.

The ¼ inch Quilting Foot ensures I’m right on the mark!

Sewing a square to one half of a no-waste flying geese unit

Layout of the Double T block showing HST and flying geese units


2 ways to make square in

a square quilt blocks

Double T Runner

Square in a square units for Double T blocks

First triangle centered on center square

There are advantages to having more than one way to make

block units in quilting. One is that you can pick a method

that works with the fabric you have, in this case, what fabric

you don’t have! We used the Patchwork Program on the

performance icon to sew the half square triangles for the blocks

for the Double T runner. We also made the flying geese units.

At this point there is only the inner unit for the blocks to make

– the square in a square unit. The square in a square unit is the

center of the candies and the blocks in the Double T runner.

I used two different ways to make square in a square units

because I didn’t have enough of the light orange fabric to use

my go-to method of sew and flip. Regardless, it’s good practice

to try different methods to see which one you enjoy using and

give you results you’re happy with. The PFAFF performance icon

helped me to sew precisely for both methods and my units

ended up the same size.

Method 1

Double T orange using 33⁄8” squares cut on the diagonal

1. Cut 2 orange print squares on the diagonal. Finger press the

light orange square in half in both directions to give yourself

placement lines for the triangles.

2. Place one orange print triangle right side down across one

edge of the light orange fabric square with the point lined

up with the center of the square.

3. Sew the triangle to the square along the edge. The Original

IDT System and Straight Needle Plate help ensure precise

piecing of the triangles to the square.

4. On the edge opposite, sew another triangle in the same

manner. Press both seams to the triangles

5. Repeat placing a light orange triangle on each of the

remaining edges of the square. Press the seams to the

triangles. The unit should measure a 5½” square.

6. Repeat steps 1 to 6 to make a second orange square in a

square unit.

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OUILTsocial

| issue 21

Sewing the third triangle to make the square in a square unit

The Second triangle sewn to the opposite edge

Method 2

Double T blue using 3” squares sew and flip

1. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the 4 blue print 2½”

squares.

2. Place a blue print 2½” square right side down on the top left

corner of the light blue 5½” square with the diagonal line

opposite the corner.

3. Sew on the diagonal line. I used the Clear Open Toe Foot for

IDT System to sew these lines so I could clearly see the drawn

lines as I sewed.

4. Cut the excess seam allowance off leaving a ¼” seam

allowance. Press the seam to the blue print triangle.

5. Place a blue print 2½” square on the top right corner and

repeat steps 3 and 4.

6. Place a blue print 2½” square on the bottom right corner

and repeat steps 3 and 4.

7. Place the remaining blue print 2½” square on the bottom left

corner and repeat steps 3 and 4. The unit should measure a

5½” square.

These are the last units needed before putting the blocks

together. The precision piecing features of the PFAFF

performance icon meant I could use the fabric I had to make

the square in a square units. I can’t wait to see this runner

assembled!

Using the Clear Open Toe foot for IDT System for accurate sewing on the line


Easy piecing a Double T

table runner with precision

Sewing blocks with the PFAFF performance icon

Layout of the Double T block

¼ inch Right Guide Foot for IDT System

Clear Stitch-in-Ditch Foot for IDT System

it’s time to put them all together and make the Double T runner. A few

more treats are in store as we precisely piece the units with the PFAFF

performance icon.

Sewing the blocks together

The orange blocks and the blue blocks are assembled the same way.

Here is a photo of the units laid out in the proper direction.

1. Sew the flying geese units together into pairs, with the light fabric

geese to the left of the background fabric geese. Press the seam to

the light fabric geese.

2. To sew the top row of the block, sew 1 half square triangle (HST)

with the print fabric to the right side of the geese unit with the

geese pointing down. Press the seam to the HST.

3. Sew a second HST with the print fabric to the left edge of the unit

made. Press the seam to the HST.

For sewing the units together, I changed to the ¼ inch Right Guide

Foot for IDT System. A little extra help for keeping the seam allowance

consistent is always a treat! The performance icon actually comes with

11 presser feet, including the ¼ inch Quilting Foot for IDT System.

4. To sew the middle row together, sew 1 flying geese unit to both

the left and right sides of the square in a square unit with the

geese pointing towards the unit. Press the seams to the square in a

square unit.

5. To sew the bottom row of the block, sew 1 HST with the print fabric

to the right side of the geese unit with the geese pointing up. Press

the seam to the HST.

6. Sew a second HST with the print fabric to the left edge of the unit

made. Press the seam to the HST.

7. Sew the rows together, pressing each seam to the one below. The

block should measure a 15½” square.

8. Repeat steps 1 to 7 to make one more orange block and one blue block.

Time saving trick – Sew the three blocks at the same time and use the

Patchwork Program at each step. We used the Patchwork Program in

the second part of this feature when making the half square triangles.

Between chain piecing and the Patchwork Program, your blocks will

be stitched in no time.

Sewing blocks together

Sew the orange blocks to the opposite sides of the blue block. Press the

seams to the orange blocks. The runner should measure 15½ ” x 45½ “.

Start Quilting

The block assembly was a breeze with the performance icon so I

thought we could get started on the quilting. To quilt the runner, I

decided to use black low loft polyester INSPIRA Fusible Fleece. This

made it possible to have no pins as you fuse the fleece to the quilt top,

but the backing is not secured. I wasn’t too concerned as the runner

is a small enough project to have the backing fabric stay against the

fleece while I stitched in the ditch around the outside of the blocks

to secure the three layers. I used the Clear Stitch-in-Ditch Foot for IDT

System and black thread.

Now that all the piecing of the Double T runner is done, all that’s left is

the quilting. The PFAFF performance icon’s precise stitching made the

rows and blocks fit together perfectly.

54

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

Simple free -motion quilt designs for a

Halloween Double T table runner

Hopefully, you’re happy with your fabric

choices, and the double Ts in the blocks

are making you smile. Now we’re quilting

the runner to emphasize the T in the

blocks which is another chance to enjoy

the features of the PFAFF performance

icon.

Free-motion quilting the centers

We started quilting the table runner

layers together using the Stitch-in-the-

Ditch Foot around the outside of the T

fabrics. It’s time to change to the light

blue thread to do some free-motion

quilting in the light centers, or the

candy! I used the Open Toe Free-Motion

Foot to sew a spiral in the center of the

blocks. This foot attaches through the

hole in the presser foot ankle and is

tightened in place with the little screw

already attached to the machine. I

tried to use the quilting to make the

centers look like wrapped candy and

the light blue thread blends in nicely

with my fabric.

You can use the Open Toe Free-Motion

Foot for outline stitching as well which

isn’t something I really tried before this

runner. I used the same foot to stitch

inside each of the light blue triangles.

Once I went around the triangle I then

free-motion-quilted three little loops

or elongated circles inside the triangle

before moving to the next one.

Quilting inside the light blue triangles with the

Open Toe Free-Motion Foot

I kept going with this foot to stitch

¼” inside of the blueprint fabric. Then

I added a second outline stitch of a T

inside the blueprint fabrics to emphasize

the T shape. It was while I was doing this

stitching that I started to get the groove

of matching the speed of my hands

to the speed of the machine. I realized

that I could sew straight lines with this

foot too – maybe I’m becoming a freemotion

quilter!

Once I finished the blue center T block, I

decided to continue with the light blue

thread in the orange T blocks as well. The

thread provided a minimum of contrast

against the light orange and blended

just as well into the orange print as the

blue. I quilted the orange blocks in the

same order as the blue, starting with the

center then outlining the T fabric. In the

orange ones, I decided to just do the

one row of stitching in the T fabric as

I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to

keep my second row of stitches looking

consistent throughout the three blocks.

There was plenty of space to the right

of the needle for rolling up the runner

to get a smooth area for quilting on

the runner. There’s a lot of height

under the arm too, which makes it

effortless to maneuver the runner

around while quilting.

Free-motion quilted spiral in center of block

Quilted T outline inside of blue print fabric

Runner rolled up in the harp space of the PFAFF

performance icon while free-motion quilting


Background quilting

With the three blocks quilted I switched to black thread to do

the stitching in the background fabric. There isn’t much of it,

but I wanted the quilting to again help emphasize the T shapes.

I started with my go-to straight-line stitching and switched to

the ¼ inch Quilting Foot for IDT System. The guide marks on this

foot are spaced at ¼” intervals to help with turning corners and

maintaining consistent topstitching.

Front red guide mark indicates ¼” away from the edge for accurate

corner turning

I quilted with black thread simple lines ¼” apart in background

small triangles where the blocks join on the runner.

Adding a decorative stitch

The straight lines of black stitching are doing the job of

emphasizing the T shape in the blocks. This runner was

designed to be displayed during the Halloween season so

I decided to add a row of stitches that reflected the season.

There are so many decorative stitches built into the PFAFF

performance icon that it’s easy to find one for almost any

occasion! There’s a stitch chart you can look at to come up with

ideas too if you want to be inspired by the stitches.

The large Multi-Touch Screen makes it easy to see what the

stitch will look like on the runner. I picked stitch 6.2.6 because

it was a web with a tiny spider – the big spider is a bit too big

for me :). You can see in the photo far below that the Stitch Edit

icon is highlighted in green – that’s because I went into the

machine settings and changed the unit from millimeters to

inches so I could find out how wide the stitch was for placing it

on the runner. The numbers on the screen are in inches.

The

recommendations

in the top left of the

Multi-Touch screen

will tell you what foot

is recommended

for the selected

stitch. The large Maxi

foot 8 is used when

stitching out wide

stitches. Notice it is Maxi foot 8 beside the stitch 6.2.6

closed at the back

edge which means it won’t connect to the IDT System; it makes

sense because these large stitches move the needle side to side

as well as forward.

Quilting lines ¼” apart in background small triangles

Stitch 6.2.6 on the Multi-Touch Screen

56

OUILTsocial

| issue 21

An additional three rows of straight-line stitching were added

to the other side of the decorative stitching.

Center of the quilted Double T runner

Adding rows of straight-line quilting beside stitch 6.2.6

You can see in the photo from the right that I also stitched

straight lines in the black squares that formed where the Double

T blocks meet. There’s not much I didn’t quilt on this runner!

Binding

The runner was bound with the background fabric for it to

blend in and not detract from the blocks or quilting. I didn’t

take pictures of this process as this post was getting long – but I

used the same method of sewing the binding to the back then

the front by machine when I made my Spring runner. Check out

the final post of that week to see some photos and how I did it:

Echo quilting makes the Spring Runner complete.

Now I have another seasonal quilted table runner ready to

enjoy! I have a lot of fun sewing with the PFAFF performance

icon and have gained so much confidence in my free-motion

quilting using this machine.

Sarah Vanderburgh

sewjoycreations.com

Quilted and bound end of the Double T runner


REVISITED!

A beginner quilter's

journey making the

QAL Spectrum Quilt

BLOCK 1

If you followed our Spectrum QAL on QUILTsocial

in 2020 into 2021, you might remember how intricate

some of the quilt blocks designed by Claire Haillot of

Quilting with Claire are. Soon after the completion of

the Spectrum QAL, Pam Voth of No Room For Phonies

suggested to undertake the QAL challenge from a

beginner quilter perspective.

A very adventurous undertaking! When inspired by

something it can be achieved!

BLOCK 2

Pam is completing her blocks

using fabric from the Delightful

collection by Riley Blake.

BLOCK 3

In this feature are Pam's first 6

blocks. Below are Claire's original

designs for her first 3 blocks.

Block 1

Block 2 Block 3


59

.

All of Pam Voth's

QAL quilt blocks

can be found on

QUILTsocial! See

what she has to

say about making

these sparkling

quilt blocks from a

beginner quilter's

perspective.

BLOCK 4

The instructions to all 12 Spectrum

QAL Blocks in 3 different fabric

lines have all been published on

QUILTsocial.com. You can still

access these by visiting

QAL 2020 Spectrum

Show us your quilt blocks with

#TheSewGoesOn

These blocks are linked

for quick access to the

instructions on QUILTsocial.

Stay tuned for Pam's next

6 QAL quilt blocks in our

upcoming QUILTsocial Issues

and her completed quilt!

BLOCK 5

BLOCK 6

Below are Claire's original designs

for her blocks 4 through 6.

Block 4 Block 5 Block 6


BOLD

REORDERABLE

BASICS

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Stonehenge Gradations, these fabrics will add visual interest and depth to any piece.

Head over to the Bold Beautiful Basics category at www.northcott.com to view the full range,

and use the Product Finder to see who carries them near you!

61

BUSINESS DIRECTORY To list your business in this space please call 1.866.969.2678.

CANADA

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Country Concessions

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Nestled in the east village of Port Credit, Gitta's is the place

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Hardanger House, designs by Betty Stokoe Oldham

PO Box 1623, Penhold, AB T0M 1R0

403.742.2749 bettyoldham53@gmail.com

tnplisting.com/hardanger-house

Hardanger embroidery charts and kits. Designs feature

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hausofstitches.ca

Our one of a kind store offers everything you need for

sewing, quilting, knitting, rug hooking and needlework.

Authorized dealers for Janome and Elna.

K & A Quilt Studio

90 Samnah Cres, Ingersoll ON N5C 3J7 (New Location!)

519.425.4141 kaquiltstudio.com

Where friends and creativity meet! Authorized distributor

of Husqvarna VIKING sewing machines, and a Kimberbell

Certified Shop. We stock full collections of quilting fabrics,

featuring Northcott and Moda, plus lots of patterns, books,

and samples to inspire you!

Kelly's Creative Sewing

804 Main St, Dartmouth, NS B2W 3V1

902.435.7380 kellyscreativesewing.ca

kellyscreativesewing@gmail.com

We offer sales and on-site service of high-end domestic

embroidery, sewing machines and sergers, as well as a

variety of educational programs.

Ottawa Sewing Centre

1390 Clyde Ave, #107, Ottawa, ON K2G 3H9

613.695.1386 ottawasewing.com

ottawasewing@gmail.com

Authorized Dealers for Brother, BabyLock, Elna, Q'nique &

Grace quilting frames. Specialize in sales, parts & servicing

for all makes & models of quilting/embroidery/sewing/

serger/overlock machines & cabinets by Sylvia Design.


Sew Inspired

375 Daniel St S, Arnprior, ON K7S 3K6

613.623.0500 sewinspired.ca

info@sewinspired.ca

Your Ottawa Valley PFAFF® Authorized Dealer. We have

a large supply of quilting & sewing supplies, knitting

supplies, as well as in stock PFAFF® sewing machines.

We also have a listing of sewing and quilting classes.

Sew With Vision

480 Parkland Dr, Halifax, NS B3S 1P9

902.479.2227, sewwithvision.net

Stitch By Stitch

550 Days Rd Unit 1, Kingston ON K7M 3R7

613.389.2223, stitchbystitchkingston.com

That Sewing Place

16610 Bayview Ave #10, Newmarket, ON L3X 1X3

905.715.7725, thatsewingplace.ca

The Quilt Store / Evelyn's Sewing Centre

17817 Leslie St, Unit 40, Newmarket, ON L3Y 8C6

905.853.7001 or toll-free 1.888.853.7001

The Quilt Store West

695 Plains Rd E, Unit 6, Burlington, ON L7T 2E8

905.631.0894 or toll-free 1.877.367.7070

thequiltstore.ca

Now with 2 locations to serve you, we are your Quilt

Store Destination! The staff here at The Quilt Store

is always on hand to provide Quilt Wisdom, Quilt

Inspiration and most of all we pride ourselves as the

place to make... All Your Quilt Dreams Come True!

The Stitcher's Muse Needleart

#101 - 890 Crace St, Nanaimo, BC V9R 2T3

250.591.6873 thestitchersmuse.com

info@thestitchersmuse.com

A divine little shop with supplies for all your hand

stitching needs! Friendly, knowledgeable, helpful staff.

Cross stitch, canvaswork, needlepoint, embroidery,

counted thread, lace making & more. Books, patterns,

fabric, threads, tools.

The Yarn Guy

15 Gower St, Toronto, ON M4B 1E3

416.752.1828 or toll-free 1.800.836.6536

theyarnguy.com info@sewknit.ca

See us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter! Knitting

machines, sewing machines, repairs, parts for Passap,

Studio, Singer, Silver Reed, Superba, White. Sewing

notions and supplies, books, ball yarns, coned yarns,

TAMM yarns, Paton's yarns, Bernat yarns, Phentex yarns,

Bernat kits & crafts.

Upper Canada Quiltworks – Quiltworks Studio

PO Box 64, Brockville, ON K6V 5T7

613.865.7299 uppercanadaquiltworks.com

uppercanadaquiltworksstudio@gmail.com

Quilt patterns and books, fabric and notions, felted

wool, wool kits, punchneedle patterns and supplies

and Valdani embroidery floss. Workshops in quilting,

punchneedle, wool applique, rug-hooking, sewing,

sign painting & more!

UNITED STATES

A Quilter's Folly

8213 Brodie Ln #100, Austin, TX 78745

512.899.3233, aquiltersfolly.com

A-1 Singer Sewing Center

1012 S Oliver St, Wichita KS 67218

316.685.0226, a-1singer.com

American Folk Art and Craft Supply

1415 Hanover St, West Hanover, MA 02339

781.871.7277, americanfolkartonline.com

Charlotte Sewing Studio

1109 Tamiami Trl Unit 2, Port Charlotte FL 33953

941.235.3555, charlottesewingstudio.com

Close to Home Sewing Center

277 Hebron Ave, Glastonbury CT 06033

860.633.0721, closetohomestores.com

Cottage Quilts * Sew Creative Studio

1310 Center Dr Unit A, Medford OR 97501

541.500.8071, cottage-quilts.com

Discount Fabric Warehouse

933 Kanoelehua Ave, Hilo HI 96720

808.935.1234, discountfabricwarehouse.com

El Cajon Sew & Vac

1077 Broadway, El Cajon CA 92021

619.442.2585, sewezr.com

Hursh's Country Store

2425 W Main St, Ephrata PA 17522

717.721.2575, hurshscountrystore.com

Jessamine Quilt Shop LLC

1301 Old Cherokee Rd, Lexington SC 29072-9047

803.490.1031, jessaminequiltshop.com

JS Linen and Curtain Outlet

1250 Northside Dr, Statesville NC 28625

704.871.1939, jslinenoutlet.com/js-quilt-shop

Just Sew Studio

51 Third St NE, Waite Park MN 56387

320.654.1580, justsewstudiomn.com

Keeping You Sewing

226 4th Ave S, Clinton IA 52732

563.242.6135, keepingyousewing.com

Lone Star Quiltworks

4301 S Texas Ave, Bryan TX 77802-4360

979.595.1072, lonestarquiltworks.com

Maryland Vacuum and Sewing Center

26845 Point Lookout Rd (Rt 5)

Leonardtown MD 20650

240.309.4019, mdvacsew.com

New England Sewing

501 Hartford Rd, Manchester CT 06040

860.647.8119, nesewing.com

Options Quilt Shop

102 E Commerce St, Jacksonville TX 75766

903.586.9546, optionsquiltshop.com

Paramount Sewing & Vacuum

3960 Rickey St SE, Salem OR 97317

503.990.8186, paramount-sew-vac.com

Pick Your Stitch

6701 Manlius Center Rd, East Syracuse NY 13057

315.437.0962, pickyourstitch.com

Quality Vac and Sew

1213 Gilmore Ave Ste E2B, Winona MN 55987-2632

507.452.2203, qualityvacandsew.com

Quilter's Attic Sewing Center

118 Maple Ave, Pine Bush NY 12566

845.744.5888, quiltersattic.com

Quilters' Corner @ Middlebury Sew-N-Vac

260 Court St Ste 4, Middlebury VT 05753

802.388.3559, middleburysewnvac.com

Quintessential Quilts

940 East Main St, Reedsburg WI 53959

608.524.8435, qquilts.com

Select Sewing

2415 East 65th St, Indianapolis IN 46220

317.255.6332, selectsewingservice.com

Sew Special

688 W Main St, Uniontown PA 15401

724.438.1765, sew-special.biz

Sew What? Fabric Shoppe

7 W Front St, Addison NY 14801

607.359.4308, sewwhatfabricshoppe.com

Sewing Solutions

1505 S Glenburine Rd, Ste G,

New Bern SC 28562-2689

252.633.1799, sewingsolutionsnc.com

Sierra Sewing, Quilting, and Vacuums

8056 S Virginia St Ste 6, Reno NV 89511

775.823.9700, sierrasewing.com

Singer Factory Distributor

4914 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago IL 60641

773.545.6834, singerfactorydistributor.com

Suddenly Sewing

5850 Kroger Dr Ste 110, Fort Worth TX 76244

817.741.5400, suddenlysewing.com

Thimbelina's Quilt Shop

118 North B St Ste B, Livingston MT 59047-2662

406.222.5904, thimbelinasquiltshop.com

Wise Monkey Quilting

501 Hwy 39 N, Denison IA 51442

712.393.7979, wisemonkeyquilting.com

Light Years Beyond

Presenting the Luminaire 2 Innov-ís XP2. Brilliant new quilting innovations and app-based

features available from your mobile devices let you find perfection in every stitch.

13.1"

Enjoy StitchVision technnology and see

your designs projected on fabric before

you begin to embroider.

Experience the comfort of sewing on 65

square inches of workspace, the largest of

any Brother machine.

Large 10.1” HD LCD touchscreen display

with capacitive technnology.

The Luminaire 2 has the magic of 192

built-in Disney embroidery designs and

10 decorative Disney stitches.

Stop your stitch in the perfect place just

by placing the Snowball End Point Sticker

on your project.

Enjoy 2-colour quilting sash designs, built-in

hexagon shapes for auto split sash, single or

triple stitching, and more.

Visit an authorized Brother dealer today to find out more!

brother.ca/en/XP2

Photos are for illustration purposes only. Brother and its logo are trademarks of Brother Industries, Ltd., Japan. All specifications are subject to change without notice. All registered trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective companies.

©2022 Brother International Corporation (Canada) Ltd. 1, rue Hôtel de Ville, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec, H9B 3H6. 01/2022-MS308

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A NEEDLE PULLING THREAD

QUILT SEW KNIT CROCHET CROSS STITCH EMBROIDER HOOK RUGS

A NEEDLE PULLING THREAD

THREAD

QUILT SEW KNIT CROCHET CROSS STITCH EMBROIDER HOOK RUGS

50

#TheSewGoesOn

Inspired by

WORDS

Make

Stay

Calm

& Stay

Visit www.ANPTmag.com to order!

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QUILTsocial Issue 21

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