Over on Facebook and Instagram I’ve been sharing little peeks and bits of info about what will be covered in the class. Here’s a quick summary of what I’ve shared so far. . .
The theme is Monsters.
Mix & Match Monsters. 🙂
The pattern included in the class includes pages and pages of monster parts and you can put them together any way you like. Don’t worry if that sounds intimidating – over the course of the class you’ll see dozens of sample blocks for ideas and inspiration. You can copy as many or as few as you like. Here’s a GIF I made showing just a few ways I used a simple triangle shape.
Of course, you’ll learn the basics of Quilt As You Go and applique with fusible adhesive. . .
. . . and we even have a lesson on making pieced QAYG background blocks from scraps.
We talk about choosing fabrics and I show two different no-fuss-no-measure techniques for making your blocks. I love this grumpy “Get off my lawn!” monster. 🙂
I use a few different types of fabrics in the class and show you my tips for getting good contrast and monsters that really POP. I especially love the magnificent mottled monsters I got with these batiks.
Aren’t they gorgeous? I also really love saying magnificent mottled monsters. 🙂
We do a lot of different variations on eyes in the class. I think my favorite are these googly eyes.
Technically they’re faux trapunto eyes with needle sculpted pupils, but that makes them sound really hard and they’re actually super easy. You’ll see if you take the class. 🙂
I also like playing with eyelids. Look at just a few of the possibilities!
Grumpy eyes, sleepy eyes, surprised eyes – I love them all.
Update – Please be aware that Craftsy (now Bluprint) has added a subscription plan to their offerings, which changes the way instructor support happens. If you buy the class for your Forever Library, you get instructor support – which means I’ll answer any questions you post. If you watch the class as part of the streaming subscription, any questions you post go to the larger class community – not to me.
You know I love my 9″ circular needles. I think they’re the easiest way to knit socks and sleeves.
But, because they’re fairly new, there aren’t a lot of patterns written specifically for the 9 inch needle. I’m often asked how to translate your favorite sock pattern into one that can be used on a 9″ circular.
Here’s how to do it! And good news, it’s easy!
In this blog post, I’m going to show you a simple little example of a piece of knitting with 10 stitches. The green string is our yarn!
Step 1: Place your End of Round marker
If you’re familiar with knitting on circular needles, then you are probably already doing this step. The end of round marker is an interestingly-colored marker (different from all the rest!) that tells you when you’ve hit the end of your round.
Place stitch markers where the double points would be
Now, here’s the real trick. You want to place stitch markers on your work to note where would have been between the double point needles (shown in the image as orange).
Using our little example, let’s say the pattern told you to cast 3 sts onto one double point, 3 sts onto another and 4 sts onto a third needle. You would place markers to section off 3, 3 and then 4 sts.
This trick works whether you’re instructed to use 3 or 4 double point needles.
If the pattern called for 2 needles (such as when you knit socks on 2 circular needles), then you can do the same trick, just using fewer markers!
That’s it! Now you can knit, and easily follow the instructions as they refer to double point needles. If you want a bit more help, you might want to find stitch markers that contain numbers (to remind you which ‘needle’ would have been which.
You can now use 9″ circular needles on socks and sleeves… now that you know how to ‘translate’ the pattern! Happy knitting!
Now that Quilt Market is over I can finally share details about some of those BIG embroidery projects I was working on back in April. 🙂
This post is all about how I made this cat surrounded by lots and lots of embroidered flowers. It’s in an 18-inch hoop!
I started out by enlarging my favorite cat (Maurice) from my Cats Quilt pattern and appliquéing it on a big square of fabric. I enlarged him just a bit (printed the pattern page as big as I could and still get it to fit on a single page) and used my normal fusible adhesive method.
I stitched down all the edges, but I did NOT stitch the whiskers yet. They’re just drawn in for now with a fine-tip Sharpie.
Then it was time to add the flowers. It doesn’t matter that the full piece is bigger than a single sheet of paper because the Continuous Stitching pattern is a seamless repeating pattern. See how you can overlap the edges for a continuous pattern? That means you can make BIG embroidery. As big as you want!
It took me several sheets of Sulky Stick & Stitch (the new – and much better – name for Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy) to cover the whole hooped area.
I just stuck the sheets right over the cat. So many flowers!
I don’t normally have problems with the Sulky Stick & Stitch pulling loose, but I don’t usually stitch this large, so I started stitching in all the overlapping areas first, just to keep things secure.
Here are some details of the different kids of flowers. . .
One of the things I love about working with Sulky Stick & Stitch is that I can change my mind about things partway through stitching. All the markings will wash away, so I don’t really have to stick with my original drawing. Take these tulips. . .
Those little purple dashes were supposed to be dots, but when I got to them I changed them to dashes. No big deal.
All the stitching is finally finished! I just skipped right over that applique cat – it was easy to see him through the stabilizer.
Here it is having its soak.
Yep – that’s the messy back. Here are some more shots of the back of the piece.
I do NOT believe that that back of your work should be as pretty as the front. 🙂 I’m a thread-carrier and it would drive me batty to tie off my thread after each individual flower!
But – recognizing that I’m a thread carrier means I do something a little different with pieces like this. See how dark green that fabric is? That’s not the same lime green you see on the front of the piece! That’s because I backed the piece with a second layer of darker fabric behind the main fabric. It keeps my thread carries from showing through to the front! Tricky. 🙂
I soaked the piece for about an hour in cold water, sprayed off the bits of mushy stabilizer, gave it another quick swish in clean water, then ironed it dry. One more step before finishing. . .
Remember how I didn’t stitch those whiskers when I appliquéd the cat? Time to do it now. I waited because I wanted the black whisker lines to go over the embroidered flowers. This part was totally nerve-wracking, but it did just fine. 🙂
I hooped the finished piece in a quilting hoop using this method. No way was I letting glue anywhere near a piece that took this long to stitch!
Finished!
That is one BIG embroidery piece!
I’m super happy with this piece! Sulky had it hanging in their booth for Quilt Market and they’ll be exhibiting it at a few more shows, but Jo has already claimed it for her room when it comes home. 🙂
Here are the other BIG embroidery pieces I stitched for the same project.
I love instant delivery. I love being able to print directly onto specialty papers like Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy, freezer paper, and fusible adhesive. And I love being able to click through to additional resources and tutorials.
But they’re new territory for a lot of people!
I get a lot of questions about digital patterns and have heard some heartbreaking stories that could have been avoided if people had known just a few good practices when working with this kind of file.
So here are some simple suggestions for you.
When you download your digital pattern file, make sure to save it where you know you can find it.
Most computers have a factory-created folder called downloads and all downloaded files are automatically saved there. You can change your computer settings to save downloads to your desktop or another folder, or you can just open the downloads folder after you download your pattern, and then move it to where you want it to live permanently. I suggest a folder called Shiny Happy World Patterns. 🙂
Save a backup!
I can’t count the number of heartbreaking emails I’ve gotten from people whose computers crashed and they’re trying to replace all their digital patterns because they didn’t have a backup. 🙁
If you have a free Google account, you have a HUGE amount of free storage space on Google Drive. You can also save a backup to an external hard drive, another cloud service, or even a flash drive. I know a couple of people who store a backup of all their digital patterns on a flash drive – which makes it super easy to take to a copy shop for printing if you don’t have a printer.
Saving the email with the download link is NOT a safe way to back up your files.
A lot of shopping cart services have an expiration date on those links – some as short as a week.
Many shopping cart services have a limit to the number of times you can download a pattern – a few limit it to a single download!
Digital delivery services change and companies go out of business. Download links don’t remian functional forever. A pattern actually saved to your computer (and backed up) is yours forever.
Only print the pages you need
As a designer, one of the things I love about digital patterns is that I can include loads of additional information and photos – way more than I could possibly justify if I had to think about the printing costs associated with books and paper patterns. And I can include links to video tutorials going into more detail teaching every single skill used in the project.
The only pages you really need to print out are the pattern pages – the actual templates that you’ll be cutting out or tracing. And many times you don’t even need to print all of those. All of my applique patterns, for example, include a regular version of the image which you can use for needle-turn applique and as a placement guide for other techniques, plus a whole separate set of templates with all the pieces reversed and exploded and ready to print on fusible adhesive or freezer paper. You don’t need both sets! Choose your technique and then print only the pages you need.
Some people print all the instruction pages and keep them in a binder, but a lot of people skip that step too. You can set your computer, phone or tablet next to your sewing machine and work directly from the screen if you like.
Print at 100% size – no scaling
The exact look and wording of the printing dialog will vary depending on your computer and your printer, but it will look something like this.
I drew a big pink arrow pointing to the stuff you need to look for – language about size or scaling. Unless the instructions state otherwise, you want to print at 100%.
Sometimes a PDF won’t print. It’s usually a problem with needing an update – either your browser, your version of Adobe Reader or your printer driver. It’s hard for me to help with that because the problem is usually specific to the software on your computer. I can tell you that there are no “protections” of any kind on my PDF patterns – if you can download the pattern you should be able to print it. One workaround that can help is to print it as an image. There are instructions here for how to do that, as well as some more troubleshooting tips for weird printer problems.
Updating your browser can fix a whole host of weird problems. It’s the “Have you tried changing your sewing machine needle?” fix of the tech world. Any time I run into tech difficulties on ANY site, my first stop is always to visit www.whatismybrowser.com. It will tell you if there’s an update available for your browser. Running that update has helped solve really weird problems more times than I can count.
Those tips address the most common questions and problems people run into with digital patterns. If you have any more tips or suggestions for people – please include them in the comments!
Having trouble downloading a pattern? Want to know how you can work with digital patterns if you don’t have a printer? You’ll find answers to lots of tech questions on the FAQ page.
Here’s a list of links all about choosing a quilt pattern – and even designing your own!
I used running stitch for the whole thing – learn how to stitch a running stitch here. It’s the easiest embroidery stitch there is – the first one I teach to beginners.
You don’t have to use just one stitch. It would be adorable to use the lazy daisy stitch for the raindrops. Or maybe rows of French knots. Have fun with it! (Those links go to how-to videos.)
You can use any thread colors you like.
You don’t have to stitch it on white fabric. I love the “Lite-Brite” effect I got when I stitched it on a black T-shirt for my daughter.
Find tips for embroidering T-shirts here. Again – Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvy is my favorite product for that. It transfers the pattern and stabilizes the stretchy fabric in one step – and washes away completely. That stuff is magic!
We’ve all done this, right? You have a ball (or partial ball) of yarn, and you want to know how much you can knit/crochet until you run out. How do you calculate this?
I’ll show you!
How to calculate how many stitches you can get from your yarn
I’m detailing each of these steps, below!
Calculate how many yards of yarn you have
Calculate how many stitches you get per yard (using your gauge)
Calculate how many stitches you can get from your yardage!
How to calculate how much yardage you have
If you have full skeins of yarn, this step is easy. Just read the label.
But, if you have partial skeins, you’ll need to do some calculating. The best way to do this calculation is by using weight. Read this blog post for step-by-step instructions!
This blog post has some typical measurements for crochet.
Calculate how many stitches you can get from your yardage!
Let’s put it all together now!
To begin, multiply your yardage by 36 to get the length in inches.
So, if I have 110 yards, that’s 3960 inches.
Divide this number by your inch/stitch measurement (that you got in step 2), which for single crochet with a worsted weight is 1.8″.
3960/1.8 is 2200 single crochets!
That’s your number! A good pattern will contain stitch counts at the end of each row, so you can add them up and determine how many extra rows you can sneak into a cowl, or whether you’ll need so skip some rows of sleeve length to get your sweater to work!
When I made the first cat quilt for my daughter Jo, she asked for cuddle fleece on the back. Until then I had only used it for stuffed animals, but she thought it would make an exceptionally cuddly quilt.
She was right.
After sleeping under it the first night she came to me and very seriously said, “Mommy. You should never use anything else on the back of your quilts.”
She was right again. 🙂
Wonderfully – I’ve found that it’s no harder to work with than a woven fabric on the back!
Note – I’ve heard from a few people with Brother machines that they do NOT like pulling the cuddle fleece through. We think it might be that the Brother feed dogs are less “grabby” than other manufacturers? Just be aware – if you have a Brother machine you may need to give it some extra help to get it to move through the machine.
A lot of people have asked me whether they have to do anything special to use cuddle fleece on the back of their quilts.
Do they need to use a special needle?
Do they needle to use a particular thread?
Do they have to use a walking foot?
Can I show actually doing some of the quilting?
Can I show what it looks like from the back?
I can show you all of that!
I’ve made a bunch of these now and I’ve found that I don’t really need to treat it any different from using a woven fabric background. In fact – I think it’s even less likely to get tiny folds or puckers in it. 🙂
A note about the fluff. . .
By the time I get to the backing/quilting/binding step of a project I’m always super excited to finish – and I don’t take the time to tumble the backing in the dryer to get rid of the fluff on those cut edges. 😛 If you’re more patient than me. . .
Cut the backing to size
Toss it in the dryer on air dry for 15-20 minutes. That will pull almost all of the fuzz off the edges and catch it in the lint trap.
Proceed as normal – baste, quilt and bind wearing whatever you want and not worrying about getting too messy. 🙂
Cuddle fleece makes an extra cuddly quilt with (in my opinion) the perfect weight. And it washes and wears beautifully!
Here are all my posts about layering and basting your quilt, and the final round of quilting.
Here are all my posts about hand quilting and Big Stitch quilting. I don’t use these techniques with fusible applique or Quilt As You Go, but I LOVE using Big Stitch Quilting with my cheater fabric.
I think a lot of the questions come from people who just can’t believe how easy it is. Like, there’s this nagging feeling that they must be missing an important, fussy step. For example – trimming the excess batting out of all the seam allowances. I can’t imagine anything more tedious or less fun and I’ve had several people ask if they have to do that. *shudders at the thought*
It really is dead simple and super easy. Have fun with it!
I usually use wool blend felt for the hair on my Dress Up Bunch dolls. It’s durable, easy to work with, and relatively inexpensive and it has a nice, classic look – even when I use non-traditional hair colors.
But you don’t have to use felt.
If you scroll through some of the photos in the Shiny Happy People group on Facebook you’ll find adorable dolls made with printed cotton fabric hair and cuddly fleece hair – but you can also use fun faux fur!
If you use a regular “hair-colored” fur you can make a doll with pretty realistic hair. If you use a more wild and funky fur (like the one I used) you can make a fun pixie. 🙂
Here are some tips to help you out. . .
Cut out the fur just like you would cut out the felt. Make sure the nap of the fur is running in the correct direction. To minimize flying fur bits, cut just through the fabric backing, as shown in this video – Intraux to Working with Faux Fur.
I stuck the fur piece for the bangs down to the top of the head using a glue stick, then appliqued the bangs edge with a wide and fairly open zigzag stitch.
After you get the bangs sewn in place, sew up the doll just like normal. You just need to make sure to smooth the fur into the seams. Here’s what the back of the head looks like – the fur is smoothed down between the back of the head piece and the back of the body piece.
Here’s how it looks when you clip the doll front to the doll back.
The fur on both pieces is smoothed between the layers.
Fur can be fat and difficult to pin. Sewing clips work really well with it.
And here’s my finished wild-haired pixie. 🙂
A couple more things. . .
I used Poppy’s bangs with this doll and they come down pretty close to her eyes. If you’re using a very long fur you might want to choose a doll with a higher hairline.
I skip the pigtails or the buns when I work with fur. They just don’t work very well with that fabric.
I usually follow these steps to make any of my Quilt As You Go applique quilts. . .
cut quilt blocks (and batting) 11 inches square
quilt the blocks
applique the blocks
outline stitch the applique
trim quilt blocks 10 1/2 inches square
sew the quilt blocks together
press seams open
baste to backing
quilt
bind
I’ve had several requests for more information about step 5 – specifically a video showing how to square and trim quilt blocks. It’s actually really easy – if you have the right tools.
Here’s how. . .
I don’t have very many rotary cutting rulers – but this is one that I really can’t imagine doing without. I highly recommend it if you do any quilting at all.
This is the exact ruler that I use to trim quilt blocks – the one you see in the video. It’s not inexpensive, but Joann’s always seems to have a good coupon and that can make a big difference. 🙂
For bigger quilt blocks (like the ones in this free Polaroid Quilt Block Tutorial) I use an even bigger ruler – one that’s a whopping 20 1/2 inches square! It’s a little unwieldy, so I only use it for the bigger blocks.
Did you hear the news that I have a new Craftsy class coming next month? 
I’ll show you!
