If you're new to the Question and Answer post it's very simple...ask a question and my wonderful readers from all over the world will answer it for you!!
Just ask a question in the comment section. Anyone who reads my blog from all over the world, can answer that question by clicking in the "REPLY " button under THAT question.
There are so many helpful people in the world who can share so much...some have blogs, and some do not. I thought this would be the perfect solution for everyone to ask any question and then we can all help!!
Just an FYI...when you are clicking "reply" in any blog comment format, you are not "replying" directly to that person's email address. You are just replying on my blog under the question, so everyone has to return here to see the answers.
Ask questions about cooking, recipes, crafting, sewing, blogging, photography, vacations in other countries or states, decorating, families, babies...anything goes.
Here's how it will work...
- post your question in the comment section
- everyone will read the question
- if someone has a helpful answer, that person will click the "REPLY" button right under that particular question and post the answer!!
- that way everyone can read the answer too!!
- this is helpful for some who don't like to share their email address or who are "no replies" and there isn't an email address to respond to
- just come back to this post to see if your question has been answered!!
If you'd like to read the other Q and A post you can click HERE and HERE and HERE to see how it works or to see if some questions might be helpful for you too.
Have a great day everyone,
~Karen~
I love the questions posts too! I have a Q, what thread do you use? Cotton, poly, etc is it all down to personal preference or are they made for different uses, fabrics and tensions?
ReplyDeleteAs a quilter who works with cotton, I love to piece with cotton threads. When I quilt the layers, if my goal is heavy decorative (dense) quilting, I'll use a thinner poly, like Isacord. However, if I'm quilting a meandering design which is less dense, I'll stick with a cotton thread for quilting. :)
DeleteI use whatever thread works. My blood pressure goes up a little bit when someone tells me that their sewing machine salesperson/repairperson told them to only use "X" thread in the machine. I don't buy that (and usually make a rude sound) - it's a machine and you should be able to make any thread work in it, though sometimes it takes some changes to your settings or a different needle.
DeleteFor piecing, I use plain ol' Coats & Clark Dual Duty. I know there are some purists out there that pooh-pooh C&C, but if they're not just parroting what they've been told, it's likely because it's a 'lint-y' thread. Aurifil is made from long strands of cotton, Dual Duty is made of short strands (wrapped around a poly core). Remember the hair conditioner commercial that shows a strand of hair super-magnified with little 'scales' sticking out (before) or smoothed down (after)? That's kinda the way short and long strands work in thread. The short strands break/fall off more, and that's what give you lint in your machine. My solution? Clean your machine. Do it often. There are no felt pads in the working part of a sewing machine... ;-)
I use specialty threads mostly when I'm machine quilting - rayon, holo-shimmer, metallic, etc. - depending on the look I want. BUT if C&C gives me the look I want that's what I'll use.
Cotton thread or poly cotton is perfect for machine piecing, but I always use a high quality poly like Isacord (my absolute favorite. It is strong and I can't say enough good about it)for my machine quilting. I will use Sulky thread (the kind labeled for machine embroidery)sometimes, but it doesn't seem as strong as Isacord. My husband calls me a thread "snob", but I've been sewing for 40 years and I know what I like :)
DeleteI love Aurifil thread and just about everything that Superior Threads makes but it depends on the project. There are definitely threads for different uses and fabrics.
ReplyDeleteMy question is this - Karen does a great job with help for Bloggers that use BlogHer. I use WordPress for my blog and I wonder if there is a blog out there with helpful hints about using WordPress?
Hey Irelle! My sister has a Blog and she's helped me figure stuff out since I switched from blogspot to WordPress :) I found it pretty frustrating having to learn everything all over again, but now I find it MUCH better :)
DeleteCheck it out and good luck!! http://desperatelyseekingwp.com/
I use WordPress too and it can be a little difficult to find good information specifically for that platform. I have found this blog to be really helpful: http://bloggingwithamy.com/ Amy covers everything about blogging and has specific tutorials on WordPress. Love it!
DeleteMy question is - I read lots of blogs and when they have a lot of photographs on one of the posts how do you get them all side by side?.
ReplyDeleteHi Donna,
DeleteI particularly use picmonkey .com and make a collage with them.
This is the only way that works for me to have photographs side by side.
Hope this helps,
Eva
If you just want a couple of them side by side you have to reduce their size. If you are in COMPOSE mode, right click on your photo and choose Small or Medium. Then insert another photo and do the same. If using HTML MODE you will see code and the photos are in the section that looks like below. You would change the Height and the Width but make sure to keep it even. So you could change 320 to 300 and 240 to 220 as an example, removing 20 from each. Do this until you get the size you want. EXAMPLE of HTML code (I cut out the code in the middle of height and width to save space) img border="0" height="320" width="240"
DeleteThanks for both the replies I will give it ago this evening.
DeleteI've been using Picassa to make collages. There are several varieties. You can move the pictures around so they are in the order you want them in, and Picassa is free and extremely easy to use. When I want to blog I want to blog and not fuss with Photoshop.
DeleteI also use Picasa! Love this program!
DeleteI use PicMonkey too and it is super user friendly.
DeleteHi Karen
ReplyDeleteI found your blog when I was looking for something sewing related & love all your helpful advice. My question is "what took me so long?". Just wanted to say thanks for a great blog that is now on my daily reading list.
Val
Hi!
ReplyDeleteHow do you get your social media buttons side by side? I've also tried to make my link party buttons side by side in with no luck. I use blogger...any advice would be helpful.
Thanks-
ali
www.40tasks.blogspot.com
Hi
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask if anyone knows any good tutorial on cutting out patterns and fabric in general. I'm new to sewing and I always seem to get it wrong. I can't even cut out two perfectly like squares.
thankss
Belu, Are you garmet sewing or making quilts? For quilting, a rotary cutter, quilting ruler (like Olfa brand) and a self healing mat make precision work out of cutting squares. I don't have much experience with garmet sewing ... Good luck!
Deletehttp://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2013/01/marking-cutting-fabric.html Tilly and the Buttons has a great 'How to Sew' series, including a section on marking/ cutting fabric :)
DeleteI'm with Belu - I definitely need help with cutting fabric. I have a rotary cutter and mat, but always seem to cut my fabric wonky!
ReplyDeleteIf I need to cut strips, perhaps 3 inches by the width of fabric (WOF), I start by pressing my fabric. Wrinkles will add extra wonkyness.
DeleteThen I fold in half so the selvedge edges are together. The folded WOF is half the original and is somewhere between 20 to 22 inches. It fits nicely on my cutting mat and my long 6 x 24 ruler can span it. When we fold this way, we tend to align one of the fabric cut edges, but those cuts can be unstraight and that causes problems. To fix this, I hold the folded fabric up by the selvedges and slightly shift them right to left while I watch the fold at the bottom. When all the wrinkles near the bottom are smooth, I know I've adjusted the fold properly and I can lay my fabric down on the cutting mat.
I use my 6 x 24 ruler and put it near the cut edges, making sure if the edges are uneven that I start where the ruler is over both pieces of the folded fabric. Since my ruler is only 6 inches wide, I could place it slightly off a perfect perpendicular from the fold but it would still look pretty good to the human eye. So to make it even better, I can use a wider ruler, my 12.5 inch square one. This 2nd ruler is placed on the fabric fold and touching the long ruler. I make sure they are firmly touching all the way along their sides. I align one of the 2nd rulers lines (not a solid one b/c it's harder to see) with folded edge of the fabric and make sure the long ruler is still touching the 2nd one. Now that long ruler is very accurately perpendicular to the fold.
To make the cut, I start near the fold and work away from my body for safety. I place my non-cutting hand on the long ruler near the fabric fold and slide the ruler forward about 8 inches. Then I stop cutting and just keep the blade still - no need to move that hand. But the hand which supports the ruler needs to "spider walk" up the long ruler about 8 more inches. Once it's in the new position, I can cut again about 8 inches. Repeat until the WOF is cut.
Now pull away the cut off edge and open the fold. If there's no V shape where the fold used to be, you did a great job and that edge of your fabric is perfect. Do the happy dance and repeat the process 3 inches away to get your width of fabric. For the 2nd cut, I don't use the 2nd ruler since I can use the perfect cut edge along the WOF to line up my long ruler.
Hope this helps! It's faster to do it than to describe the process.
I fold my fabric like SeeingStars does, but what works for me and what I use most often is one of June Tailor's Shape Cut Rulers. These are big plastic "things" with slots every half inch for inserting the rotary blade and cutting (you'll have to do a search and look at one to see what I mean). They have the smaller versions at JoAnn's, but I use the larger one (12x18) that works perfectly with fat quarters.
DeleteI've been impressed with the accuracy of these things and I've made many quilts using them, including Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street. In addition to the accuracy, they also make the cutting go much faster than using just a ruler. I have no affiliation with June Tailor, she just has a product that I use and love.
I fold my fabric one more time so I'm cutting through four layers instead of two. From there, I use a large ruler (9'1/2" square), and line up the bottom fold, butt my second ruler (6 x 24")up against the larger ruler, and slice. As long as I line up on the bottom fold, I never get wonky strips or squares. I also check my fold and cut edge with the 9 1/2" ruler every few strips, ensuring that it remains square. And I never use the cutting mat lines as a guide. If I'm cutting a lot of strips, I may have to refold and press if I've got a lot of yardage.
DeleteWhen cutting multiple strips, I use a strip cutting ruler. It's called Shape Cut and made by June Tailor. It's marked in 1/2" increments, with slots at each increment. Fabric has to be folded twice as the ruler is only 12" wide, but you lay it down once and make multiple cuts. I find with this that my strips, and later squares are all pretty exact. And it's fast! And yes, pre-pressing is most important!
DeleteThank you so much everyone! I don't have a 6 X 24 ruler, so sounds like I need to go get me one :)
DeleteAn interesting note - do not use the lines on your cutting mat to measure from as your cutting mat was printed on a roller and could be off. Or, when you buy your cutting mat, check out the measurements on it before trusting your fabric to measure from. I checked out mine after learning this and found it to be not only off, but wonky as well - spent good money for it too!
DeleteSS and Sandy: I use pattern weight and an Olfa cutter and pad almost exclusively now. I also have a small diameter Olfa cutter for close cuts. No pinning, NO lifting of fabric = less shifting.
DeleteI also cut out my pattern pieces before! I place them on the fabric. It is an extra step, but I think it is worth it to avoid ooopsies! Keep your blade sharp. You can use commercial wgts, cans of food, small heavy objects or make little bean bags if you don't want to purchase them just yet. I also like a large area to spread out fabric (that could be the floor and moving the mat from place to place). I have a conference table and a 5ft mat, so I can do an entire section at a time. If you are getting a lot of slippage of fabric and pattern, a temp. adhesive spray that dissolves itself would help. Last hint: keep your cutter perpendicular when cutting, if you slant it in and out you may distort the cuts. Go slowly and use a metal straight edge until you master this skill. If you cut the pattern correctly you are going to start off ACES!
Hi, anyone knows how can I get the blog translate running? I tried but only appeared the tool box (without languages):(
ReplyDeleteAre you using Blogger? If you go to your layout and click gadget, then find the translate gadget and click on it to add it to your blog. If you want to read another blog and translate, if they don't have a button, you can right click with your mouse and you should see translate, which you can click on. I suppose it depends on what browser you use, but it works for me using Chrome.
DeleteI don't the answer but sooooooo glad you asked. There are several that post on this page week after week, and they are so talented, but I cannot understand a word they said. Thanks for asking my question... : )
DeleteThank you so much for helped me!I didn´t have the google chrome and this was the problem but now I have the translate working!
DeleteI would be interested in knowing how others hang quilts on their walls. I have a few small quilts just tacked in the upper corners, but I have some larger quilts I'd like to hang, but not sure how. They have sleeves, it's just the hangers I'm wondering about.
ReplyDeleteI use decorative curtain rods with round clip type curtain holders that slide onto the rod Clip the quilt up and you can be a "quick change artist".
DeleteI use curtain rods or dowels in the sleeve of the quilt and let the rod hang out on each side about an inch. Then you hammer a nail in the wall whatever distance apart your rod is and place the rod on top of the nails, so that the rod is resting on top of the nails at each end. If you do want to move things around later, you only have 2 little nail holes.
DeleteI use screen door molding - you can find it someplace like Lowe's or a hardware store. It's a thin wood about 1" wide, 1/8" or so thick, and about 4-5' long. It's normally used to attach screen to screen doors. It's pretty inexpensive, and I just cut it to the width of my quilt and slip it into the sleeve. I have nails in the wall about 4" in from the edges of the quilt, and set the molding on them. You won't see the molding as it's inside the sleeve. If your quilt is really heavy, you might need to tape a couple of the moldings together to get it a little sturdier.
DeleteInstead of using nails in the wall, I use cup hooks. I find them on the hardware aisle at the supermarket. Nails seem to change and can angle down but the cup hooks keep the rod, dowel, etc, up.
DeleteI found a magnet you attach to the wall with Command strips. Then you put something metal in the sleeve on the back of the quilt. Then that metal piece just grabs onto the magnet on the wall. I think this is where I got it: http://magnetficent.net/
DeleteI would like to know ... What is your favorite filling for pin cushions?
ReplyDeleteCrushed walnut shells from the pet store - Pretty sure it's for lizards!
DeleteI'm with Julia, crushed walnut shells from the pet store or our local feed store sells it by the pound. I tried sand but it made my pins rusty.
DeleteI use cut up wool yarn but I also put curtain weights in the bottom so it doesn't fly off the table.
DeleteDoes anyone know how to add a watermark to your photos? I thought Karen had posted a tutorial on this but I can't seem to find it.
ReplyDeleteYou can add a watermark using a number of programs. You can do it with the Paint program on your computer if you have that, Picasa, or photoshop-like place. Just go to where it say "text" choose the size, font, and color you want and type what you want.
DeleteIf you use blogger your photos are stored on Picasa. Sign in to blogger and in a separate window open up Picasa. All you have to do is google Picasa and click on it and you will be logged in automatically if you are signed into your blogger acct. Then choose a photo from your album and go to "edit in creative kit". When that opens up you can do all kinds of editing from there, including adding text. Just save whatever you do when you are done and that's it.
I use Picmonkey.com - a free editing site. You just add text and fade it out until it's "watermarked". Really user friendly!
DeleteI am wondering if someone could direct me to a few single women's blogs. Either recently widowed or divorced. I am writing a research paper and would love some input that I am hoping these types of blogs would bring. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOne of the subjects on my blog is grief. Look at the beginning when I'm talking about dementia, or around August 1st when my husband died. I'm remaking my life and I talk about it. Generally I'll tag those posts with "grief".
DeleteDebbie,
DeleteI have been blogging regularly for about a year. I began three years ago but didn't really get it going until last April. I lost my husband to a long battle with cancer August 17, 2012. The blog reflects my strong faith in God,the recent loss of my husband, my continued life without him, my love of cooking and quilting and all that makes me me. Feel free to stop over and read for a while. You can always contact me through the blog.
Thank you so much Stella and Mtn Mama, I will be stopping over at your blogs. :0)
DeleteDo you ever use designs from the internet and/or Pinterest when you make handmade cards or other crafts? How do you credit your source? I don't sell my cards, so I'm not profiting from someone else's design. I wish I had more information because I definitely don't want to violate any copyright law!
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, most card designs on the internet are not copyrighted. I make many cards using sketches from others or copying their placement. I'm still using my own stamps and paper and changing it up a little. It's good of you to ask, but don't loose any sleep over it!
DeleteI am new to blogging. I would like to know how to start having advertising on my blog. I know I will need to build my site up more...what other affillate sites could I use beside adsense thru google?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know a good website or cookbook for French recipes? I would love to start cooking French cuisine and haven't found a good source.
ReplyDeleteThe infamous... Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Enjoy!
DeleteI am trying to make infinity scarfs but have been told you need to put a twist in material or twist seams before sewing. The tutorials I have checked I just don't understand. Anyone have simple directions for a newbie like me?
ReplyDeleteLay out your rectangle of fabric on a flat surface. Take the short right hand side and fold it over the short left hand side. Before you sew the short side, flip the fabric top to bottom, bottom to top (if there is a right and wrong side you would now see the reverse).
DeleteIf you are not sure, try it with a piece of paper rectangle, colored on one side, plain on the other. Usually the twist goes in the front when wearing, but you decide!
ps: only flip the top piece of fabric! Check out mobius strips in wikipedia for a drawing...Hope this helps
DeleteI know this is not really relevant, but I am wondering if anyone knows of a free genealogy program that runs on Android? I would love to take all my info with me, when I visit the library, courthouses, etc.
ReplyDeleteIs there a large dedicated site where people can sell or trade fabric? I have seen a few smaller ones on flicker but would love one where everybody goes.
ReplyDeleteI bought a long, elastic camisole bra that had "rubbery" squiggles inside the hem that keep it from riding up while wearing. Is there such a product available for home sewists? I'm assuming it would come in a tube, maybe, to be squiggled and allowed to dry, so it would stay put.
ReplyDelete