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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

YARDAGE INFORMATION

I found this information the other day and thought how interesting it was to see it put into charts. I think it is good information so I thought I would share it with you. I found it on Minnesota Charms. They had lots of information on fabric yardages and cutting...:)


yardage chart

Interesting to see it put out in a chart like this. 


sewing information


I use fat quarters a lot so this chart was really interesting to me. 



sewing information

And then those of you who use jelly rolls, here are some cutting instruction for you. I haven't used jelly rolls yet, but I saw a show on PBS the other day and thought I really need to try that some time. :)



Happy sewing and have a great day! :)

Monday, February 24, 2014

SPRING CELEBRATION!!

Are you looking for some new spring items for you and your home? If so, come join us at the Old Farmhouse Gathering Spring Celebration! Come see all the wonderful goodies this great team has put together. They are some of the most talented people around! So just click on over to see what the celebration is all about right here on Etsy!! Or just go to Etsy and search with the letters NBCOFG.  Hope to see you there! :)






Sunday, February 23, 2014

CELEBRATION SNEAK PEEK!

Here is a sneak peak of some of the wonderful items this talented team will have to offer during the Spring Celebration starting tomorrow...Monday morning!!! :)






Friday, February 21, 2014

LET'S CELEBRATE!!

Hopefully spring is starting to "spring" for some of you and for those that it isn't just hang on it is coming! :)  The Old Farmhouse Gathering team is trying to help Spring get here faster with our Spring Celebration. Starts in just a few days...........! I will be posting the link as soon as it gets started. So mark your calenders for Monday....February 24th! See you there!!! :)




Wednesday, February 19, 2014

DID YOU KNOW???

Did you know that those twist ties on your bread actually mean something? I didn't until my daughter told me about them. When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you 'squeeze' for freshness or softness? Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day has a different color twist tie.


bread ties



They are:

Monday = Blue
Tuesday = Green
Thursday = Red
Friday = White
Saturday = Yellow

So if today was Thursday, you would want red twist tie; not white which is Fridays (almost a week old)! The colors go alphabetically by color Blue- Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday through Saturday. Very easy to remember. I thought this was interesting. I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers DO have different twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors. These can be used for all different projects around the house.





bread


You learn something new everyday! So enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping. :)




Thanks for shopping with me and have a great day! :)

Monday, February 17, 2014

NORTHERN BIRDS

Winter up north can be cold and locked in ice this time of year, but there also are some really wonderful things going on up here. One of them is all the visitor's I get at the bird feeders! I just love my birds! I always say that "birds are God's gift to man".  My favorite winter birds are the Chestnut Chickadees. They are so cute and friendly. I have 3 varieties of Chickadees, but the Chestnut's are my favorite. I think it is because they are so little (only about 3 inches tall!) and so very friendly. I can be standing right by the feeders putting food in them and they just sit there and talk to me. :)


birdfeeders

We also have the  Boreal Chickadees....they are just busy little birds. I put these peanut block out and they just love them! The Black Cap Chickadees love the sunflower seeds!



birdfeeders

Then there is this new species of bird up here in Alaska....they are called the "mooseobins". :) We are visited by them quite often. They love the sunflower seeds also! They come and lick this feeder dry!

moose

Unlike the lower 48, we have had a mild winter. We had a few feet of snow on the ground the first of January, but then the rains came and melted a lot of it away so we have been able to see the ground for several weeks now. Usually we don't see dirt from November to April so we have been enjoying it. :) Good thing is that so much of the snow is already gone so when spring comes (we call it break-up up here) we won't have so much water around which will just suit me fine! 

So.....everyone down there stay warm if you can and hopefully you are visited by lots of birds too! :) 

Have a great day! :)

Friday, February 14, 2014

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!! Enjoy the day with your sweetie! :)





Monday, February 10, 2014

PRE-WASHING FABRICS: PROS AND CONS


A big debate in the world of quilting is whether or not fabric should be washed before it’s ever used in a quilt. There are many arguments for both. I personally do not pre-wash (was told by my local quilt shop I didn't need to with today's fabrics) unless it is red. Red ALWAYS bleeds regardless of the fabric so I do pre-wash red. Sooooo..........Prewash? Don’t prewash? That is the question! Most quilters seem to have a very definite opinion on the subject. There are many benefits to both options, so let’s take a look at them today.

                 


Arguments FOR prewashing: It prevents vibrant dyes from spreading onto other fabric. Some bright colors, like reds and purples, can run and bleed when they are washed. This can be very devastating if it happens to a finished quilt. When fabrics are washed beforehand, the chance of this happening lessens. Fabric shrinks when it’s washed and dried. When woven together, the fibers of the fabrics are pulled nice and straight, so laundering causes them to either shrink or relax back into their normal shape. This can cause some distortion in a finished quilt if the items have not been previously washed before they were cut and sewn. Any sizing or chemicals that have been used on the fabric are removed before the fabric is used. This is especially beneficial to those who have sensitive skin. 



Arguments AGAINST prewashing: The amount of shrinkage really isn’t that bad. Yes, it’s still there, but it creates the cozy, crinkly effect many quilters desire. With today’s quality fabrics and dye, bleeding is not much of an issue. Most manufacturers realize that a vast amount of quilters do not prewash, so they ensure that the dyes are set completely. Brand new fabric has sizing, creating a nice crisp material. This creates ease when cutting and piecing. Once the sizing is washed out, the fabric loses that crispness. Prewashing takes too much time! Plenty of quilters prefer to spend their precious crafting time cutting and sewing, not prewashing. When creating quilts that aren’t often used, like wall hangings and heirloom quilts, prewashing is unnecessary. The fabrics remain sharp, vibrant, and smooth







So.......which are you??? Do you pre-wash or not????



Have a great day! :)

Colleen :)

Monday, February 3, 2014

QUILTING/SEWING TIPS

I am always keeping a list of tips on sewing that maybe some day I will get to use. I decided that I would start to share them with all of you. Maybe some of you already do these, but maybe there are a few that might learn a new tip. So here is the first of the tips. 


  •  Use a toilet brush (dry and clean) to pick up loose threads around sewing area on the carpet. (I don't have a toilet brush....I am a sponge user so I just added this picture for you)



  • To clean leftover fusibles on your iron, use fabric softener sheets. Heat your iron-no steam and iron the fabric softener until the fusible is removed. It may take a few sheets.




  • If your thimble is a little too large for your finger, remove it, lick your finger and put the thimble back on. Now the thimble won’t fly off your finger!



I will have to try the first one since I haven’t tried it yet and if your room is like mine the thread is about to strangle me!

I actually do use the fabric softener sheets to clean my iron and it works absolutely wonderful!! It is a great idea!

Now the last one………………….I don’t know about that one……………if you are like me my hands are dirty from handling the scissors, needles, etc so why in heaven’s name would I want to lick my finger!! I will let you all try this one and let me know if it works! :)

So, these are a few tips I have for you. I will put together a few more again for later. 


Enjoy your day!!


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