Learning the Brother ScanNCut

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! Things are good here. Grace and Buttercup remain happy and healthy. I had my birthday last week so I'm another year closer to Medicare. Just two more years to go! I look forward to hopefully saving a lot of money on health insurance.

I mentioned last week that I got myself a Brother ScanNCut for my birthday. I spent some time this week learning how to use it. I decided to make an applique baby quilt for my niece's baby who is due in November. There are two applique shapes in this quilt -- a petal and a circle. I was able to scan the shapes and save them in a cutting format on a USB stick. I did some editing and created a couple of sheets full of the shapes and then cut the shapes out of the applique paper I use.

Brother ScanNCut - Applique Shapes

Brother ScanNCut - Petals Page Leftovers

I generally like to do turned-edge applique if the shapes aren't too complicated. I like to cut the shape out of a wash-away stabilizer, glue or fuse the stabilizer to the back of the fabric and fold the edges of the fabric over the stabilizer to create my applique shapes. I currently use the C&T Wash-Away Applique Paper for my appliques. This link goes to the sheets but I actually have a couple of big rolls of the paper. I got them for just $5 each a long time ago when C&T used to have these incredible annual warehouse sales.

C&T Wash-Away Applique Paper

This paper has a light fusible on one side and is a little thicker than some of the other wash-away papers I've tried. It is thick enough that the edges hold up pretty well when folding the fabric edges to the back. I like the applique stabilizer that is included in the Judy Niemeyer patterns better, but I haven't been able to figure out what it is that they use so I can get some for myself. Back to the ScanNCut -- I did have a few problems while figuring out the interface. My first problem was when I tested my cutting setup using a piece of paper. Even though I tested a corner of the paper on the sticky mat to make sure that it would come off after the cutting, I had a lot of trouble getting the paper off of the mat after the cutting.  What I found was that the sticky mat was stickier in the middle than it was on the edges. So, from now on I'll start with the low-tack mat and move to the regular mat if I'm having trouble getting enough stick. I also had some trouble figuring out the editing interface and would get to spots where I couldn't figure out how to back out of where I was without doing a cut. I power-cycled several times when I got into this situation. In the process, something happened to my USB stick so the ScanNCut doesn't recognize it anymore even though everything is fine on it when I put it in my computer. I moved my files from the original USB stick to a different one and everything is working fine now. I also figured out how you can get out of the editing without cutting anything. There's a lot of other stuff the ScanNCut can do, but this is what I'll be doing most with it so this was a really good start.

As I mentioned above, the project I'm using to learn the ScanNCut is an applique baby quilt. I'm working on the Spring Baby Quilt shared by Pat Bravo in the Bernina We All Sew blog. I'm following the design of the quilt in the blog, but using my own techniques. As mentioned above, I use a wash-away stabilizer. I cut the applique shape from the stabilizer and adhere the stabilizer to the wrong side of my fabric. I use a water-soluable glue to glue the raw edges of the fabric to the back side of the applique, enclosing the stabilizer.

Spring Baby Quilt - Stabilizer and Glue on Back of Applique

I like to use the Apliquick rods when turning the applique edges to the back. These are a bit expensive, but they work really well for me. When just using my fingers for the turning, I would get glue on my fingers and the applique edge would then stick to my finger and it was a big mess trying to get things to look nice. 

Spring Baby Quilt - Nicely Turned Applique Edge

After folding the edge over, I turn over the applique to check the smoothness of the edge from the front. If it looks good, I press down on the edge against the table to flatten everything out and then turn it back over to do the next edge. For the petal shape, once the edges were folded over, I put a little bit of glue on the tips and then folded the edge over to make sure that the fabric would stay behind the applique shape when sewing on the applique with my sewing machine.

Spring Baby Quilt - Dab of Glue on the Point

Spring Baby Quilt - Tip Folded Over

Spring Baby Quilt - Finished Applique Shape

Once all of the applique shapes were prepared, I positioned them on the background fabric. To hold them in place, I first put a dab of glue on the back of the shape and pressed it to the background. Then I added a pin to hold the shape in place since there is a lot of handling of the top while I sew the shapes to the background. My background is a solid (not quite) sage green fabric. My niece talked about doing the baby's room in sage green (and also used sage green in her wedding), but I I like a slightly yellower green better for this quilt so I pushed the color a little bit. Here is how it looks so far:

Spring Baby Quilt

When placing the shapes, I was going to use an air-erasable pen to draw registration lines to make sure that the petals were aligned perfectly. But then I happened to look at the picture of the sample and noticed that the shapes weren't perfectly aligned and that gave the quilt a whimsical look that I really liked so I decided to be more free-form in my positioning. I now have about half of the applique shapes sewn to the background fabric. I'm using a double blanket stitch to sew the shapes.

Spring Baby Quilt - Blanket Stitch Applique

I'm matching the color (but not necessarily the value) of the thread to the applique. I usually match my bobbin thread to my top thread, but I decided that I just didn't want to wind all of those bobbins so I instead am using a green thread in the bobbin that matches the background. I'll also use that thread for the quilting. So far I'm pretty happy with how this is turning out.

Last Wednesday I attended out quilt guild's workshop. It was the Guyon Grey workshop with Linda Hahn. Linda is known for her New York Beauty technique. I've made New York Beauty blocks before and I'm comfortable with them, but it's always good to try other techniques because you never know what you might want to use. Linda is an entertaining teacher and it was nice to try her technique, but I don't think her technique is right for me. She has you cut everything oversized and then trim it to shape after sewing. That does give you a block of the right size with everything placed pretty well, but I found that my background pieces were a bit stretched.

Guyon Grey - Blocks From Class

I'll probably make a few more blocks with her method, then might go back to my previous methods. She does have her own foundation paper that you can buy from her Web site. I really liked how this paper worked with foundation paper piecing. It's stiff enough to hold its shape well while stitching, but, like the C&T applique paper, it's a leave-in stabilizer that becomes a soft, thin layer in your quilt after washing. I ordered more of the paper to play with (since the guild members bought all of the paper she had brought with her).

I also made more progress on my Scarfscape designed by Laura Nelkin. 

Scarfscape

I'm almost done with the bias strip that runs along the length of the scarf. When that is done, I'll be picking up stitches along the long edge and then will knit a beaded lace border. I like how the yarn has transitioned from dark purple to navy to teal in the section that's finished!

Finally, I made some more progress on my Flying Beauties cross stitch. 

Flying Beauties

I'm making good progress on the background and added the first dragonfly. It's fun to see this picture materialize!

Nancy

Scarfscape Started

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! We're continuing to enjoy our summer. Our weather has been good -- some hot days and some cooler days. It's really nice to have a mix! 

This week I started a new project -- the Scarfscape scarf designed by Laura Nelkin. I've been wanting to do some knitting and then this project came in the mail and it fit the bill. So I cast on and started knitting away.

Scarfscape

It's hard to see in the picture because of the darkness of the yarn, but this scarf starts with a short beaded binding.

Scarfscape - Beaded binding

Then you knit a long bias strip. We're using a beautiful color-changing yarn so the bias strip will change from purple to blue by the time we get to the other side.

Scarfscape - Color-changing Yarn

We'll finish the bias strip with another section of beaded binding, but this time the beads will be purple since the yarn will be blue by then. Then we'll pick up along the long edge of the scarf and knit a lace border that will take us through the greens, yellows and oranges in the yarn. The yarn is a soft camel/silk mix that feels wonderful in my hands and will create a really drapey scarf. This is the second project in Laura's 2025 N-Club. In this club, we get three bigger projects scattered through the year. I didn't really like the first project this year, so I'll probably just keep the yarn for another project. It's still fun to get these surprise projects throughout the year! 

This week I also decided to make a new bag. We had our English Paper Piecing (EPP) group meeting on Friday and the first rosette in my La Passacaglia project has gotten large enough that I had to fold it to get it into my bag for our meeting last month. I don't like folding these pieces. It just feels messy to me. So I decided to make a new, bigger Project Bag from the pattern by ByAnnie.  I had already made the largest size in the pattern and this was the bag that was too small for my rosettes, so I measured my large rosette (adding on the length needed for the last round that will complete the rosette), added a couple of inches for insurance and did the math to make a bag of the desired size. 

New Project Bag

It's a very large bag (about 28" square) so the jury is still out on how practical it will be to use. But it fits the rosette perfectly!

New Project Bag With Rosette Inside

I took the bag to our meeting last week and it was definitely a bit floppy, but it was really nice to work on the rosette without any folds from the bag. The La Passacaglia pattern has four large rosettes and then a bunch of smaller rosettes so I think I'll probably use this bag while working on the large rosettes, then I'll switch to my smaller bag when working on the smaller rosettes and then just keep the finished rosettes in this bag. La Passacaglia is a very long-term project, so I'm fine with having made a bag specifically for this project. And, while we're talking about La Passacaglia designed by Willyne Hammerstein, I made some more progress on my rosette at our meeting.

La Passacaglia

I finished adding another round to the rosette and started basting the pieces for the next round to the paper templates. This next round will be dark purple stars, like the green stars after the smaller black round. I've cut the fabric for all of the star points, but still need to pick the fabric for the star centers and the diamonds that separate the stars. It will be exciting when this first rosette is finished! But that's still a ways down the road since these rounds are getting really big!

I also made some more progress on my current cross-stitch project -- Flying Beauties. 

Flying Beauties

I got some of the straight stitches done on the butterfly on the right. I really love how these small stitches really bring the picture to life! 

Finally, I got myself a new toy -- a Brother ScanNCut. With this machine, I can scan an applique shape and have the machine cut it for me, much more neatly than I can cut it myself. It's certainly not something that I need (I can cut the shapes out by hand), but I think it will be nice to play with and to get better, smoother shapes for my applique.  It comes with a sample project -- a little gift box made out of cardstock.

Cardstock Gift Box

It's hard to see since the cardstock is such a dark color, but the gift box has a design drawn on it in pen and then is cut out from the cardstock. It was definitely very easy to make this little project. I'm hoping to play around with using it to cut some appliques this week to see how that works. One of the presenters at our quilt guild meeting demonstrated how easy it was to scan an applique, clean up the scan, cut out the applique, create a file to sew the edges of the applique on her embroidery machine then move the embriodery file over to her sewing machine and finish the applique. I don't have any current plans to get the embroidery module for my sewing machine, but I did get the machine with that option so I could change my mind in the future. But I was intrigued by the ease of cutting the appliques and decided to splurge on one of these for myself for my birthday. I think it will be fun to play with!

Nancy

Jungle Magnolia Month 5 Finished

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! Life here is good. The horses are out of the pasture across the street so I've been taking Grace over there to swim in the pond and chase tennis balls and frisbees. Life doesn't get any better than that!

This week I was able to finish the month 5 part of my Jungle Magnolia Block-of-the-Month designed by Judy Niemeyer. I had made the first couple of units last week, so this week I made the final unit -- a Lone Star variation.

Jungle Magnolia - Lone Star Units

These Lone Star units were easier to make than the ones in my Amazon Star quilt because this pattern used the strip piecing method for creating the units. Once the Lone Star units were done, I put all of the units together into this month's blocks.

Jungle Magnolia - B Blocks

Jungle Magnolia - Single B Block

Finally, I was able to remove all of the papers and attach the B units to the rest of the finished units. I don't have room to lay out the entire quilt, so here's one corner so far.

Jungle Magnolia - Progress So Far

In the process of attaching this month's blocks, we also sewed together some of the large "pie pieces" that make up the quilt. At the end of last month, the quilt was divided into 16 pie pieces. We are now down to 8 pie pieces. It was so exciting to sew some of the big pieces together! Only one more month and I'll have a completed quilt top!

With the Jungle Magnolia portion finished, I was able to go back to the Amazon Star quilt and prepare the binding. When deciding on the color for the binding, I realized that I almost always choose a darker binding to create a frame around my quilt. But looking at this quilt, I decided that the binding should be yellow so that it blends into the rest of the quilt.

Amazon Star - Binding

I went with a scrappy binding since the rest of the quilt is scrappy. And I put some of the light green in the binding because it fit in so well with the yellows and will provide a little sparkle. I put the top and the binding in a bag and put it with the rest of my top that need quilting. I really want to start quilting some of these tops, but I have several higher priority projects to work on first.

I was also able to spend some time this week working on some of my non-quilting projects. I made some good progress on my Flying Beauties cross-stitch project. 

Flying Beauties

I'm working on getting all of the cross stitch that touches the first butterfly (on the right) so I can add the straight stitching on top that really defines the object. Cross stitch instructions always have you do all of the cross stitches and then do the detail stitching. I find the detail stitching tedious, especially when there's a bunch of it when I feel like I'm almost done with my project. So, I always do the detail stitching in the middle of doing the cross stitching to keep things more interesting for me. As I was working on the light green fern behind the butterflies, I realized that I screwed up and stitched the bottom right section one column too far to the right. This isn't a big deal since the fern leaves have space around them, so I stopped working on that part and will fill it in after I stitch the dragonfly that will be in the bottom right of the picture. Then I can figure out the best way to move anything else that might need to be adjusted. It bothers my perfectionist nature, but not enough to go to the trouble of pulling out the existing stitches and restitching them in the right place!

I also made some progress on my Kalme Throw designed by DeBrosse.

Kalme Throw

It's not much, but it is progress. The lilac stitch marker shows where I had stopped last time I included this project in my blog. This blanket takes a lot of time because the stitches are small and there are 214 stitches in each row. 

Finally, I signed up for the August workshop from one of my guilds. I don't need another project, but it's fun to get together with the ladies in the guild. This month's speaker is Linda Hahn and she is teaching a project-centric workshop. She is teaching her Guyon Grey quilt. It is a New York Beauty quilt with a subtle Rail Fence background and the pattern is only available in her workshops.

Guyon Grey - Fabric Prepared For Class

I love the colors she uses in her pattern, but I wanted to do something different. So I decided to use yellows and oranges for the New York Beauty center, dark blues for the spikes and light blues for the background. As usual with scrap quilts, I'll make some blocks and then lay them out when deciding what other fabrics to add to the quilt. I love to work that way!

Nancy

Amazon Star Top Finished

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well and is enjoying their summer! It's hard to believe that August is just around the corner! Time sure does fly!!

This week, I was able to finish my Amazon Star quilt top designed by Judy Niemeyer. 

Amazon Star

I was amazed at how easily this quilt went together! The only "difficult" part was wrangling the quilt when insetting the large squares in the corners. The quilt is 104"x104", so there was a lot of fabric to wrestle with while sewing these Y-seams! If Judy were writing this pattern today, it would be even easier to put together. Last week I mentioned the smart corners that she uses now, but her newer patterns have also made the Lone Star units easier to make. In this pattern, you sewed each strip of diamonds separately. In newer patterns (like the Jungle Magnolia I'm also working on below), you sew strips together and then cut them into the needed rows of diamonds. So much easier! We got our next next packet for the Jungle Magnolia Block-of-the-Month (BOM) on the day I finished piecing Amazon Star, so I put this aside to work on the BOM. When I catch back up on the BOM, I'll prepare the binding for this quilt and then put it in my to-be-quilted pile. I'll need to find a longarmer to baste this quilt for me before I can quilt it. But I know this quilt will be really fun to quilt when I get to it! Except, of course, for having to wrangle the bulk of it! 

As mentioned above, this week I got the next packet for my Jungle Magnolia BOM also designed by Judy Niemeyer. I've made this my highest priority because I'm usually so bad about getting behind on these things. So I started on it right away. I got the first couple of units finished this weekend.

Jungle Magnolia - B5 Units

Jungle Magnolia - B6 Units

Jungle Magnolia - B7 Units

These units will be put together like this:

Jungle Magnolia - Unit Placement

And a Lone Star-style unit will be slipped into the bottom of these units. After I assemble the block, I'm curious to see how it will be added to the rest of the quilt!

Nancy

Amazon Star Assembly Begun

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! I've been working like a crazy person on my Amazon Star quilt designed by Judy Niemeyer. I'm not sure why, but I'm really driven to finish this one! (Or, at least, the quilt top. It'll be a while before I can do the quilting....). 

First, I had to finish making all of the units. There were quite a few left to do, but some of them were pretty small. The part 5 units were pretty quick:

Amazon Star - Part 5 Right Units

Amazon Star - Part 5 Left Units

The part 6 units were also pretty quick.

Amazon Star - Part 6 Right Units

Amazon Star - Part 6 Left Units

With those units, I was starting to see the quilt come together.

Amazon Star - Units Through Part 6

This was getting me excited! Now I just had to make the outer units.

Amazon Star - Part 7 Units

Amazon Star - Part 8 Right Units

Amazon Star - Part 8 Left Units

As the spikes got longer, the units got more difficult to make. For the final units, I found that I had to use pins to hold the fabric pieces in place while sewing.

Amazon Star - Part 9 Right Units

Amazon Star - Part 9 Left Units

Whew! With all of the units finished, I was able to start the assembly. I got the center star put together, then got the side pieces assembled. Here is everything laid out on the floor:

Amazon Star - Current Progress

Now I'm starting on the assembly of the corner units. The sewing itself goes pretty quickly, but I have to take the time to pull out the papers from the units when instructed. The hardest part about the sewing is that this is an old Judy Niemeyer pattern so it doesn't have the "smart corners" integrated into the pattern pieces. On current patterns, Judy has you cut off the extra fabric on the corners so that you can just line of the edges of the pieces in the corners to get things to fit properly. In the older patterns this isn't done so you have to figure out how to do that yourself. This can be difficult when the pieces have very sharp corners. This is hard to explain in words, so let me show you an example. Here is a place where I'm connecting a sharp spike to another piece. Here are the pieces from each side:

Pieces From Spke Side

Pieces From Other Side

I had to figure out how far the point of the spike needed to protrude in order to get a straight edges from the spike to the yellow piece. It look completely wrong! But, as you can see, when you press the seam, you get a straight edge:

Resulting Straight Edge

The trick to getting the straight edge is to line up the pieces so that the point of the "v" created when you lay the one piece on top of the other is exactly 1/4" from the raw edge you are sewing. This can be difficult to get right. In the newer Judy Niemeyer patterns, the pattern piece would have the tip of the blue piece cut off so that you just line up those edges to get perfect matches. I hope that makes sense!

Anyway, that's all for this week. I'm guessing I'll have this top completely assembled by next week. Cross your fingers for me!

Nancy

Amazon Star Part 4 Finished

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe! We continue to have evening thunderstorms here. I'm very thankful for the precipitation! It's hard to say that when so many are getting excessive precipitation right now! My heart goes out to all of them!!

I've been concentrating on my Amazon Star quilt designed by Judy Niemeyer. I was able to finish the eight Lone Star units for part 3:

Amazon Star - Part 3 Units

And I was able to finish the 16 units for part 4:

Amazon Star - Part 4 Right Units

Amazon Star - Part 4 Left Units

Here's what these units look like when put together:

Amazon Star - Current Progress

I've started working on part 5, but haven't taken any pictures. 

This was my week for having my monthly quilt guild meetings, so I did also spend a day helping to make Quilts of Valor for veterans and I spent an afternoon working on my English Paper Piecing project, but I don't have any pictures of either of those. It's always so much fun to get together with my quilting friends!

Nancy