it sounds too good to be true...

But it really isn't! Meet the latest tool to help you easily mark quilting lines - the Frixion Pen by Pilot.

It comes in range of colors (black, blue, red, purple, orange, fuchsia, etc) and was originally designed for crossword and sudoku puzzle enthusiasts who wanted an erasable pen. Yes, it is erasable on paper, but even better for quilters, it disappears from fabric when touched with a hot iron! Here I have marked a swatch of my latest project with a black Frixion pen:

Touching it with a hot iron:

and "TA-DA", the black marking is gone!

As with any marking tool, it's best to test it on all your fabrics before making a full commitment to using it somewhere that may cause you great anguish if it, in fact, cannot be removed. In these next two shots, I've marked all my fabrics with the pen to test it:

And now after ironing, the black marking is gone.

You can see a slight bit of white residue on the darkest fabric, but since I'm going to mark quilting lines that will be stitched on, that bit of white is just fine with me.

I used the black pen to mark all the quilting lines on this project, and I'm happy to report that after quilting, all the marks did indeed disappear, and I cannot find any traces of residue :)

DISCLAIMER: Some of my LQS customers did report having problems with these pens not removing from batik fabrics. So even though I already said it, I'll say it again. Make sure you test it first! The pens are probably available at your LQS, but if you can't find them there, try an office supply store like Office Max or Office Depot. The pens I tested were sort of like a very fine felt-tip; I know there are others being sold that resemble a highlighting marker in color and appearance, and I can't speak to how well those work. But those "felt-tips"? Well, I've got one in every color now!

Oh, and another thing you should know - if the project you've erased the markings from is exposed to cold temperatures (say the freezer or your cold car sitting outside overnight) the markings will come back! You can still remove them again with a hot iron, but I'm just letting you know :) I'm sure you don't routinely put your quilts in your freezer, but I'd hate for you to load up your car with a precious wedding or baby shower quilt gift in some freezing cold weather, only to discover that those black markings have re-appeared as the bride/mom-to-be opens your one-of-a-kind gift. Be prepared!

And just in case you're wondering, this is the quilt top that I was working on while testing the pens. It's called "Breakfast Blues", and it's the February Breakfast Club II project I'm teaching at my LQS :)

secret revealed - Happy Birthday!

The sneak peek that I gave you a couple of weeks ago can now be fully revealed...

"Mountains Every Day" is a wall quilt I made for my dear friend, Sarah, for her birthday last week. She has lived many places in her life, but loves the mountains. All mountains, I think, but especially those in Colorado. In fact, she and her family were just returning from a vacation there last week when I gave her this gift.

I first saw this fabulous quilt from Spotted Stones in December of 2010. I immediately knew that I wanted to make something like it for Sarah. So I tucked the idea away to simmer, and planned to start on it in early summer 2011.

And then - LUCKY ME! - Krista published the pattern for this spectacular quilt in 101 Patchwork Projects and Quilts in April, 2011. I rushed right out to the local Borders store to buy the magazine, and started ordering shot cottons like mad.

The mountains are made by piecing strip sets of shot cottons, and then using pattern provided templates to cut the mountain shapes. I found the pattern to be very accurate and easy to understand with many photos illustrating most steps of the process. Thank you Krista!

I quilted it in almost exactly the same manner that Krista did because I thought it was just perfect, and imitation is the most sincere form of flattery! I love how the different quilting motifs and colors of thread make the back an interesting art piece as well.

Sarah and I have known and loved each other for many years. We first met in 1990 when we were both having homes built in the same development, right next door to each other. That was one of the luckiest days of my life. We lived side by side for over 10 years, having our babies, watching over them as they splashed in their kiddie pools and yard-hopped from swing set to swing set. We spent many hours talking, laughing, crying, and supporting each other as only great friends do.

We still live quite close, although not side by side. We still talk and laugh and support and love each other, only now our conversations deal more with the kids' college, our jobs, and dreams of retirement fun with our husbands. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful friend.

Happy Birthday, Sarah, and THANK YOU for all the wonderful times past and all the great times to come. Love you!

like, hate, LOVE

This was like...

This was hate...

And now this is LOVE...


It's finished and I couldn't be happier. Happy with how it turned out, and happy I can cross this off the list and move on to other things :)

quilting the New Wave/circling the globe

Finally after many starts, stops, frustrations, and exasperation, the New Wave is quilted!!


I used an all over free-hand design of swirls - large, medium and small - to fill the entire top edge to edge.


Thread on top is King Tut variegated (40 wt) in Crushed Grapes; bottom thread is one of the purples (50wt) from Connecting Threads. Paige (my machine quilting guru friend) suggested in a recent post of hers here, that a lighter weight thread in the bobbin can make for a more successful machine quilting experience on your home sewing machine. And she was right!!


It took me SIX FULL BOBBINS to get this baby finished - SIX!!! I've never used that much thread before on a single quilt top. So much thread in fact, that while I was quilting (and filling bobbin after bobbin after bobbin) that I'm sure it must circle the globe at least three times!

Someday I'll give you the whole sad story about how I marked this quilt three times only to have the chalk rub off -Ultimate Quilt Pounce and I are NOT on speaking terms. But for now, though my neck and shoulders are killing me, I'm just so giddy to have this task done and (I think) done pretty darn well.

And now I see lots of TV couch time in my week ahead to hand-stitch the binding :)

more pillows

It's been "pillow central" around here for the last few days, and I have a couple of new ones to show you. Both pillow fronts are inspired by this tutorial at Film in the Fridge quilts and this post from Jessica at Give it a Go. And both pillows feature concentric quilting that I first learned about from Red Pepper Quilts' instructions found here.


My first 20" pillow uses several fabrics from Patty Young's Flora and Fauna line for Michael Miller and Kona Charcoal sashing. My daughter LOVES these fabrics and can't seem to stop collecting them. Here's a close-up of the concentric square quilting...

It's not difficult to sew, but the marking does take some concentration and patience. But if you can sew a straight line and pivot at corners, then you can do it!


And next up is a Halloween pillow using the same pattern for the front...

but the quilting is done in a spiderweb pattern...

I used the same principles as with the square quilting, but I sewed the intersecting straight lines where the pivots occur first. Then beginning near the pillow center, I just put a little curve into the quilting lines as I went, radiating out to the pillow edges, but never needing to cut the thread until the very end.

I'm so pleased with the spiderweb quilting, but I'm not sure what will happen to my Halloween pillow; it's not my favorite holiday, but I have a few friends who love that day. Maybe it will go to live with one of them...

Enjoy the day :)