Quiltivate

Portable Pressing Station

This is brilliant! Fantastic creation from Kevin Kosbab at Feed Dog - he created a portable ironing station out of an IKEA laundry basket plus a few spare parts. 

I'd make this tomorrow if our nearest IKEA wasn't two states away! Come on, Denver ... get crackin' on that beautiful blue building, would ya?

Thanks, Kevin!

Making A Living

There's an interesting conversation that has been started over at TheCreativeLife.net. A few months ago, Kim Werker and Betsy Greer started talking about whether or not it is possible in today's economy to make a living by creating things or by freelancing or whatever. Although they're not talking specifically about making quilts, I think the conversation is relevant for lots of us for various reasons. 

I've been mulling around similar thoughts for the past year since I quit my 9-to-5 for Quiltivate and the newly-launched Quilt Builder. I'm even one step removed, I think, from the creative world: I am not actually trying to sell the things I make to support my family, but I am trying to help equip those who do make quilts either for fun or for income with the Quilt Builder.

Last February I posted that I thought the economic slowdown was actually causing an increased interest on the homemade and DIY desires of lots of people. And I still believe this is true! But, in this economy, is the handmade "movement" enough to support the makers? And what about the services and suppliers who are supporting the makers? I hope so, but I guess that remains to be seen. What do you think? Are you struggling with your work as a creator, or are things going great? I'm curious for your insights on this topic. How are things going for you? Thanks for opening up this can of worms, Betsy and Kim! P.S. - You can also follow these great gals on Twitter: Betsy is @craftivista, Kim is @kpwerker and I am @quiltivate, while you're at it. Do you Tweet? What's your @?

Wahoo for Rotary Cutters!

 

Craftzine is at it again! This time Becky shares some instances when you might want to use a rotary cutter instead of scissors or a utility knife. 

Do you use a rotary cutter? I have used sharp fabric scissors for some sewing projects where I used delicate fabrics, but I couldn't imagine putting together a quilt without a rotary cutter!

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Speaking of useful tools, how many drafts of your quilt do you plan with graph paper and colored pencils before you land on the design you love? Now you can toss that graph paper and colored pencils out the window, and your calculator, too, while you're at it (well, don't literally toss it out the window ... that would be littering, but you know what I mean). 

Design your quilt right here and now using the brand new Quiltivate Quilt Builder and you'll get full-color, full-size images of your quilt block and quilt top AND accurate fabric calculations to make the quilt you've designed. It's so easy and super fun! What are you waiting for? Get started now: pick a block!

Quiltivate Quilt Builder Launched!

Long have we quilters grudgingly helped support the graph paper and colored pencil industry ... but no more! Today, we're excited to announce the launch of the brand new Quiltivate Quilt Builder! 

To get started, pick a block and click on it. You'll jump right into the Quilt Builder where you will get to choose colors to represent fabrics in your quilt block, determine the quilt top layout and size, choose backing and binding fabric, and even add borders! At the end, you'll get a detailed quilt plan giving you fabric calculations and full-sized, full-color images based on your quilt. Print this out to take with you to the fabric store and to refer to when assembling your quilt at the sewing machine. 

This is an actual quilt plan using the Flock block you can view and print and use to make your own Flock quilt. And this video gives a run-down of what all is included in your quilt plan when you create a quilt using the Quilt Builder:

So, what are you waiting for? Get going designing your quilt - pick a block! 

DIY Sewing Machine Troubleshooting

Here are some helpful hints from the gals and guys over at Craftzine on how to troubleshoot your sewing machine if the tension seems off.

Alright - I'll be the first to admit it: I don't do routine maintenance on my sewing machine. Do you? I'm sure it would save some money and effort in the long-run. Maybe I'll go look at my manual.

Washing Quilts

 

So I guess it's probably not the best idea ever to wash hand-made quilts in Tide, even though it's Tide Free. I don't have any antique quilts (these are all new ones), but it sounds like my using plain ol' laundry detergent could prematurely age my quilts. Yikes! 

How do you wash your quilts? 

Here are some great tips and links from Eva at CraftGossip.com. I really like the idea of using Johnson's Baby Shampoo, seeing as I tend to have that on-hand these days.

Thanks, Eva! And thanks to @CraftyCheryl for the link on Twitter!