Sewing With Nancy

Have you ever wondered where I receive my sewing and quilting inspiration? Well, sometimes, it's on the road when I'm attending a quilting or sewing consumer show. Today, I'm at the Quilt Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm going to share with you the latest in machines, notions, fabrics, and beautiful quilts where you're going to be inspired to do quilting. Join me "On the Road," next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program

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Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing, quilting and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting and special-effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, makers of sewing, knitting quilting and embroidery products for over 25 years. Experience the Clover difference. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. When I'm at a consumer show for sewing or quilting I learn a lot from the vendors and I'd like to pass along some information to you that I recently learned about. Cathy Brown, educational consultant with Babylock is with me today to talk about quilting the batting, the backing, and the top layers. Many people use a traditional sewing machine or a long-arm quilter. That takes up a lot of room. You can talk to me about the cousin of a big long-arm machine. This machine is like the cousin to a long-arm machine. The important thing is not everyone has the space for a long-arm machine. It's a small footprint. But they still want to do the large projects. This machine has all the space that you need to do your large projects. This is the "long" arm. This machine is dedicated to free motion stitching. So, when I stitch on this machine I have all the space I need in the world to get that stitching taken care of. I can do a king size quilt on it and have all the space to do maybe a 12" block see the block in its entirety. I really like this big space, little cabinetry. Then you can stitch so that even if you move slowly or quickly you have even stitches. Absolutely. There's a feature on this machine that's available and it's called stitch regulation. So, what stitch regulation does this little pod moves along the top of the surface of the table and underneath the quilt. It tells the information about how fast the quilt is moving to the machine. So when I stitch slowly, it's going to stitch slowly. But when I go faster, it's going to match the speed the machine needs to stitch with how fast I'm moving the quilt. I don't have to think about it. So, every stitch is the same length no matter if you sew slowly or very quickly. Absolutely. Do some more stitching for me. You got it. I like your gloves that you're using. They help me move the quilt. It give me kind of traction. Sure. Our hands are smooth, naturally. It's easier to move the quilt sandwich when I have an ability to just press down lightly. This gives me more traction. I can just move the quilt any way I want to go because it's free stitching. What a beautiful design you're making while you're talking. Thank you! I've been practicing a little! I would say you have. So if you are really into quilting and you have a small sewing machine and you'd like to have something mid-size but still have a lot of room this is a great innovation for quilters. It can be done so easily because each stitch length can be the same. Cathy, thank you for showing us this great innovation. My pleasure, thank you. You're welcome. Now, for some newness in fabric. I'm with Diane Magidson from Sew Batik. We're obviously standing in her booth filled with lots of batik fabrics. Diane, I have really enjoyed using batiks for quilt tops. Yes. The beauty of batik fabric is that it's tightly woven beautiful colors. I found it interesting when you talked to me about the thread count of batiks. Right, thread count is 205 threads per inch which is a very tight woven fabric. That's what gives it so much beauty for appliqu and crispness. Yep, that's right. I have used that same fabric as the backing. Right. You put your top, your batting, and your backing and you start to sew. We all know this sound, "thud, thud, thud." Even with a new needle, it's so thick to get through. So, as a fabric designer, you did something very clever. I'm holding a backing fabric. I mean, you have to take our word for it but you're not going to get the thud. Right, it's 108" wide. And we use, instead of 40 weight thread we used a 30 weight thread, which is a fuller stronger, lighter, a beautiful feel to the thread. And 30 weight is actually bigger, not smaller. Right, it's bigger. Because it's bigger, and it's not as tightly woven. It won't get the pop. It quilts beautifully. It's quilting the thread and if you do happen to sort of make a mistake. Oh, heaven forbid. Not that we do, but you can pull out the thread and you're not going to see where your stitches were. Also, this backing fabric is 108" up to 112" wide so that's up to a king size quilt. Right. So you don't have to piece the backing. No piecing. No issues with long arm quilting and having a seam running somewhere down the middle. Great, so let's look at some of your quilts. Okay. Here's a rainbow garden. It's a beautiful quilt that actually uses our gradation batiks on the front. We coordinated it with a pinpoint fabric on the back. It's a beautiful, beautiful way to use both the gradations and a traditional batik. The next one is called On Eagle's Wings. Right, and that is a traditional paper piecing but we did it without paper piecing. We made it a pineapple that you use a ruler for and we used gradation in the sashing to add some accents. These are lovely quilts. Thank you. This is a great innovation. It helps not having to buy two lengths of fabric. Right. It's all in one. It's not thick. Diane, thank you for being our guest on Sewing with Nancy. Thank you so much, Nancy, it's a pleasure. I hope you'll enjoy this, as I am doing as well. Have you ever wondered what makes a prize winning quilt? Well, we're going to show you today. You're going to see a quilt that really will give you goose bumps up and down your spine from a distance, as well as up close. To tell us about how quilts are judged and the qualifications that they look for please welcome Klaudeen Hansen. Klaudeen, you've been with us before on Sewing with Nancy and you're a National Quilt Association certified judge. You come with great credentials and can talk about this quilt made by Betty Ekern Suiter. It's called Creattion Springs Forth. It is an absolutely lovely creation. It's fun to talk about a quilt that has all these fabulous elements that make a quilt so outstanding as a winner here at Quilt Expo. This quilt has, from a distance the factor that we sometimes call the "Oh, wow." You can't help but feel "oh, wow" when you look at this quilt. The reason for that is that all the elements are in harmony. Everything is graceful. Your eye moves quickly and gracefully from one corner of the quilt to another without any hesitation at all with blank sapces or odd colors. It really does work well. The border relates well to the center unit. So we're seeing all kinds of elements in this quilt that make it truly wonderful. I've kind of been known to sew 10-20-30 minutes. This was not made in those short increments of time. Let's share with our viewers how many hours Betty spent on this quilt. Betty spent thousands of hours on this quilt. It's just a fabulous quilt. I think she maybe has miles and miles of thread in the quilt. I know it's four year's worth. It really takes some time to do that. Let's look at this quilt from the medallion going outward. The hand quilting is phenomenal. Yes, when you get up close to the quilt you can observe the beautiful appliqu stitches. They are close and tight and smooth and everything is very even. Then, the quilting is complementary to all of that. This quilting is stippling. It's done within like 1/16 of an inch of everything. It's hand stippling. It's all hand quilted. It's an amazing quilt to look at. We certainly understand how it could take four years to produce a masterpiece like this one. Then, as the stitching radiates from the center the style changes. Yes, it does. That also adds to the visual texture and the harmony of this quilt because those stitches are a little bit further spaced but still contain all of the elements to give it shadows where the stitches are and little bits of light. Then, as we go out, we see something new. We see the reverse appliqu and these red lines that are out here. That's another technique that is extremely well handled. The whole design as it works its way out becomes beautiful feather stitching up here as well as the grid. It's just one of those that gives you goose bumps just like you said. It has such cohesiveness. You know, it's not going to be a technique that I'll be able to master but boy, to appreciate it, I think is wonderful. A quilt, I always like to check the back of it. Yes, we look at the stitches from the front and the back. These stitches are as even and as lovely from the back as they are from the front. It is nice to see it labeled, from the history standpoint. This quilt has all of the elements that could make it last for more than a hundred years. Then it has its history right on the back. Klaudeen, this is a phenomenal Best of Show Quilt that you've chosen, you and your co-workers. I thank you for sharing with us the beauty of it what you look for, harmony, cohesiveness, wow factor. Oh, yes. It gives me something to strive for. It does make us all work a little bit harder to make our quilts more beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us the beauty of it. I hope that you have enjoyed seeing Creation Springs Forth from Betty Ekern Suiter. Part of many consumer shows are special exhibits. At the Quilt Expo and " Sewing with Nancy on the Road" there's no exception to that. We had beautiful special exhibits. Vi Calombe, from Mission, South Dakota is one of the artists that we're featuring. I had to show you her quilts. Welcome to Sewing with Nancy, Vi. Thank you, and I'm honored to be here. It's a privilege to be here. Thank you. All of your quilts are circular. They tell a story. Tell us about this brilliant quilt that we're standing in front of. This quilt is named Modoc Sunset. I am Native American. I'm a Modoc from Northern California. My daughter named it after the tribe because of the brilliance. It resembles a sunset we see in the evenings. The colorations are superb. All of your quilts and we'll see some of them, are made with stars. I only make stars, I was stereotyping. I'm from Dakota they said the Dakota women there make stars so I should make stars. So, I make stars. Well, what a beautiful piece of artwork. The sunset, you just see that as the circular goes around. You made a quilt as a tribute to your brother. I did, my brother lived in the Southwest. He was a cowboy at rodeos. After he passed away, I made a tribute quilt to him. It's in the colors of the Southwest. It is. Turquoise, tans, browns. I like your stippling of the feather. It's not the traditional quilting feather. No, when I sent my quilt to the quilter I said I want a feather. A "feather" feather not a feather that we know in the quilting world. This is like an eagle feather. It is an eagle feather on my quilt. How appropriate for you. It was. It is for the quilt, and it was for my brother, also. Now, in traditional Indian culture there was a calendar kept and this next quilt talks to that calendar. It does. The Indians, years and years ago had winter accounts that were done on buffalo hides. When the buffalo hides became extinct they started quilting. But on the buffalo hide, they told events honorings, whatever. So on my Pow Wow Pony quilt, it is my winter account. It has horses. I live on a ranch, so there are many horses. Sure. Four children, feathers show my four children. The directions, east, west, north and south are representated on the quilt, also. You have some beautiful beading in the very center of that quilt. There's a medallion in the middle that's beaded. The medallions are made at home. A lot of the women bead medallions so I thought it was appropriate to put a medallion in the middle of my paper piecing. Your inspiration. Tell me where you find inspiration. I get my inspiration from the country I live in. I live in a very serene, beautiful country. I get it from my culture. I get it from all over. Whenver I see color, I'm excited so I try to do a lot of color in a quilt. It shows. The beautiful displays here just send goose bumps up and down my spine. Thank you. Thank you for being our guest, for sharing your art for sharing your skill and this special exhibit with us. Thank you very much, I enjoyed being here. You're very welcome. Special exhibits are all part of learning and inspiration. Each year, I look forward to the Kids Quilt Contest at Quilt Expo. Eager stitchers, 15 years and younger enter their 45" square or smaller quilt. Often, the quilts feature a scene from a vacation or hobby. It's truly enjoyable to see the personality of the young person come through in their work of art. Equally impressive is the workmanship in the piecing and quilting together and choice of color. Prizes are awarded to the top three quilt contestants.

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I've been quilting for a long time like when I was little. But this is my first really, like, big quilt that I made. My mom has always been making beautiful quilts like ever since I can remember. I thought it would be a really nice idea to try and make one myself. Putting the binding around the edges of the quilt and like, doing the corners, and things because it was a little more difficult. I was three years old and I used the old sewing machine that my grandma had that I could jam up and she could fix easily.

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I've been quilting with both of my grandmothers since I was three years old... My favorite part was picking out the fabrics from grandma's quilt stash. We've used scrap fabrics that we had at home. Mostly, I picked out colors that I liked. I like most the challenging issues that come with quilting like the sewing machine getting jammed on accident when I don't hold the strings properly. My favorite part was using the fabrics that I picked out, and creating using my creativity to turn a picture into a quilt. I had a hard time keeping the fabrics on while I was trying to sew on them and quilting, I probably could've-- I had to make sure my back was flat while I was quilting it so it wouldn't get all rumpled. I really enjoy how I get to choose whatever I want and just everything. At our local library the librarians taught me. They're all very good at quilting. One of them has a quilt in the show, and it's really nice. So yeah, I learned at a library. I like being able to make something with my hands you know, kind of be able to do it and it'll be something that I personally have done and not just something that I say hey, I bought this at WalMart, or whatever. One of the interesting parts about the Quilt Expo is that there's a center set up, as you can see behind me. It's called Quilt to Give. This is our third year of making the same quilt but making full-sized quilts, twin, double, or queen that we give to people in need. We have all volunteers. To share her experience and why she sews in the Quilt to Give area is our volunteer, Sharon. Welcome to Sewing with Nancy, Sharon. Thank you, Nancy. You were sewing yesterday, making the Quilt to Give which is an easy pattern. It's has columns. It has patchy centers. You worked on a really bright one. I did, it was fun. In the center, we just used a striped fabric so it was easy. Definitely. You told me that you volunteered last year and now you're volunteering again this year. What's important about this to you? Well, it's important to do things for other people I enjoy doing that. Plus, it was fun to meet the people the people who came to volunteer. There were a lot of other people who just came to sit in for a half an hour or however much time they wanted to take away from the Expo to help somebody else for a while. It was fun to talk with them. We have some different stations set up and you can do this too, at your community group at an expo, or even with some friends. Just before we were recording, someone handed me some fabric so we have a table that we sort fabric. Then someone decides what color combinations should go together. There's a chart that you can fill out. You worked on some piecing yesterday. I did, I finished the borders on this quilt and then I worked on the back. Other people do the cutting after they determine which fabrics to use and piece the center. And pressing, you've always got to press. Then we had someone who is putting the columns together and doing the quilting with a long-arm quilting machine. Boy, that's a great part. It is, it's wonderful to get that done. About how much time are people spending in the Quilt to Give area? It varies, but I'd say most people stay at least an hour. You know, a lot can be accomplished in an hour of sewing together. Yes, for sure. The old-fashioned quilting bee. You know, this is the modern Quilt to Give version. Really, whatever people make for others you know, you can do it together. I think it's just a great event. It is. Sharon, you're going to now work with the cutting of fabrics. Tell me why you volunteer. Well, I volunteer because I really love quilting. I'm a member of the Mad City Quilt Guild. We've volunteered since the beginning of Quilt Expo. Thank you. So, I love doing it. Well, you can tell that. When I was watching you work earlier today there was just a lot of joy in sewing and quilting for others. Thank you for being part of this and for all the volunteers that have been part of it for these three days, and in the past. I hope that you will be encouraged for your sewing group, quilting group to give to others in need. The gift is in the giving, I always say. I know that you feel the same. So, Quilt to Give, you can certainly find information at my blog at nancyzieman.com. We have the free instructions on the Quilt to Give. Then give away to others, and you'll enjoy the process. Thanks, Sharon, for joining me. I hope that you will volunteer soon. I began this program by telling you that I often go to quilt shows and sewing shows to be inspired, so that I can learn from others all their quilting and sewing expertise. I hope that's what you found. Now I'm standing in front of a quilted yurt. Quilted yurts are usually used by nomadic people in Central Asia but never quilted and beautiful like this. This is made by Linzi Upton of Scotland. It was a collaboration with the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Natural Fibers and Linzi worked with many participants in the United States and Scotland to create the panels in this beautiful work of art. It's inspiring. If you'd like to know more about this quilted yurt please go to all things Sewing with Nancy

which is at my website

nancyzieman.com where you can re-watch this program and 51 other shows. You can participate on our blog, sign up Facebook and all social media. Well, thanks for joining me. I hope you were inspired. Bye for now. Nancy's autobiograhy, "Seams Unlikely" includes behind the scenes insights to Sewing with Nancy plus details of the challenges she's faced in life. TV's most recognized sewing teacher gives encouragement to pursue your dreams. The autographed book is $12.99, plus shipping and handling. To order this book, call 1-800-336-8373 or visit our website at sewingwithnancy.com/2726 Order item number BK2726, Seams Unlikely autographed book. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's website at nancyzieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing with Nancy, TV's longest airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman

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Baby Lock Madeira Threads Koala Studios Clover Amazing Designs, and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Oliso. Sewing with Nancy is a co-production of Nancy Zieman Productions and Wisconsin Public Television.