Making room for this new Long Arm adventure

 As a caretaker for 6 years, my life simply did NOT exist!  NADA!  NO!  NOPE!  Nina who?  FOR REAL folks!  If you've been a caretaker, you KNOW!  If you've been a caretaker, I APPLAUD YOU!!!  It's constant and I was all he had!  I'm saying this to bring up a point, as a caretaker you do NOT have time for your own home!  I kept his apartment clean, cooked for him, took him to Dr. appointments, shopped for him...you get the picture.  My life and my family were no longer first, they were second to last...I was last.    

Enough of all that, you get the point!  (You really don't want me to get on that wagon!)

After reading that, I'm assuming you can guess what my sewing room looked like after 6 years of what I call "blowing and going".  You know, Dad takes a nap, I have 30 minutes to sew, he wakes up and time to tend to him again.  Nothing gets cleaned up, you just have to enjoy sewing for the few minutes you can.  Now, my life is all about getting my life back...this includes my house!  We've been working on it and 2021 is the year to reclaim our home!  

Let's focus on the sewing room and this new addition coming in...

This is the space the long arm is going to live in.  The white table is all junked up and needs to go!  ALL that STUFF needs to go too!  I will have 2 feet of walking space between the 12' frame and my brown sewing table, so this can stay where it is.  

THIS IS A NON JUDGEMENT ZONE!

PLEASE?

There's a LOT OF WORK TO DO!

A LOT of things had been donated!

Aren't you proud of me?

Almost there!

Time for these to come out!

They are SO heavy, they will come out in pieces!

AH! That felt good!

Space is ready for it's new occupant!

And here she is!

There's still more work to do in this room, and the rest of my house, but it took 8 years to get this way!  My Dad passed 1.5 years ago, so now it's time for me to claim my house back!

This is a step in the right direction though!  Having a new reason to clear things out is great motivation!  The other side of the room is almost done...I'm getting a new cutting table!  Woohoo!  

More later!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

New Adventure

I have to tell you about something that just happened!

I GOT A LONG ARM!

I am a DOMESTIC MACHINE quilter!  

I TEACH it!  I LOVE it!  I KNOW it! 

Long Arm?  Hmmmm???? 

We've all looked at Long arms at all the quilt shows!  There's always the opportunity to "test drive" different brands, and it's just fun to try them!  WHY NOT?!?!  I have several friends who have long arms and quilt for others as their business, and I've had the opportunity to play on their long arms too.  I've toyed with the idea of getting one for a few years...and I just kept backing away from it, never getting very serious about it.  I'd "test drive" used ones in my area, but either the machine didn't feel good or it was too expensive or I simply didn't have the money at that time.  Then, the question always comes into your head, "Do you REALLY want a long arm?".  About 6 months ago I just decided that if a long arm was in my future it was just going to have to fall in my lap.  I left the decision in God's hands and kind of forgot about it.

THEN, one day I get a text from an APQS dealer I had talked to some time ago, and she told me about a man who's wife has Dementia and can't use her machine anymore...am I still looking and would I be interested?  WELL...After taking care of my Dad for 6 years who had Dementia, (he passed 1.5 years ago), my heart went out to this husband!  I took a friend with me who has a long arm, as I didn't know how to load a long arm, and wouldn't know how to troubleshoot a machine that's been sitting for a while.  Sounded like a FUN day trip anyway...it was an easy 2 hour drive.  Once we got it oiled and ready to quilt, it was so much fun!  It just felt right!  Does that make sense to you?  This man was such a pleasure to work with too!  We agreed on a good price for the machine.  I told him I had to make room for it...aka, CLEAN OUT MY SEWING ROOM!  He said it's been sitting here unused for this long, a few more weeks doesn't matter.  

AND HERE SHE IS!!!  APQS LUCEY!

This is going to be a huge learning curve!  But I'm going to share this process with you!  The good, and the ugly!  HAHA!

More later!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

EPP project FINALE!

 It's COMPLETED!!!

I'm SO excited to reveal the finished project!

This is entirely EPP by hand!  It was so much fun to make!

The quilting is done in a purple metallic thread...

Doesn't that just make it shine!!!

And there is a little bit of ruler work in the quilting...

I can't make all those lines straight without my rulers!

And, HERE IT IS!!!

Here are some close ups of the quilting.

This black thread is Hologram (or Tinsel) Thread

It's like a thin strand of plastic and it's fun to stitch with!

Lots of lines!

And I love the sparkle!

The center

The outer edges

This was a fun project and a beautiful wall hanging I enjoy looking at!

I hope you enjoyed this journey with me!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

EPP Project Continued

 Well...I've left you hanging...

So Sorry!

That was not nice of me...huh?

Well...here it is...let's continue...

So now that all the hexagone flowers are together...

How are we going to arrange them?

There's 7 hexagone flowers...

so...

1 in the middle 

and

6 around it!

Like this!

FIRST...

Lets sew the diamonds and triangles to the center,

Then sew all the other hexagones around it!

Here we go!

AND...

TA DA!!!

Here it is so far!

LOTS of FUN!!!

Can't WAIT to get to the quilting...

so many ideas!!!!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

EPP FUN continued...

 EPP FUN...

Continued!

This is where we left off...

There are 36 1" Hexagons cut EXACTLY the same!

HOW do you get them EXACTLY the same?

By using an acrylic template!

Like this one...

Use this acrylic template to cut out all your fabric hexagons

EXACTLY the same,

then wrap them onto the die cut paper hexagons.

NOW...

We're going to whip stitch these together 

creating hexagon flowers.

Notice how I've turned each flower one time

so each flower is different from the next.

This is what you have now!

6 hexagon flowers made from the EXACT

same cuts of fabric,

but look totally different!

How COOL is this!?!?

Now...

let's make something with it!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

English Paper Piecing - EPP

EPP Creative fun!

English paper piecing is a lot of things....

• Simple,
• Nothing new,
• Been around for a LONG time,
• Hand work,
• Old fashioned...some say...
• Keeps hands busy
• (and minds fresh),
• Different ways to do it, as most anything,
• Modern?
• Creative?
• Fun?

Well...

Like anything else,

If you take a fresh look at it

You can really have some FUN!!!

Here's what we're starting with,

A FUN, MODERN, FUNKY fabric!

Then we're fussy cutting 36 hexagons
EXACTLY
the same!
Can you see the repeat?

Stay tuned in

as I share the progress on this FUN project!

How do you get the EXACT repeat every time?

Want to learn EPP?

Upcoming class on August 14

go here to register:

(I recommend getting the kit as well!)

https://www.quiltfest.com/register/online-quilt-festival/workshops-by-instructor/nina-clotfelter/

Sew the pieces of life together,

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com
ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

From One Design to Another

From One Design to Another

This is ONE of the classes I'm teaching at the Mancuso Quilt Fest June 25-29.

Registration ends June 17

Sign up soon!

Class is Live

Let's have some fun thinking OUTSIDE the box! In this class, FROM ONE DESIGN TO ANOTHER, we'll learn how to look at a free motion quilting design and change it a little to create a different design. Sometimes, this is just realizing what works for you, how do I simplify this design, I like this but want it fuller/slimmer, or what can I come up with? YES, the goal is to take the "blinders" off and get you seeing ALL the possibilities! You'll really get to see my "What If" mentality in this class. You'll make a sampler in this class. (Designs change as students sometimes suggest designs and every class moves at a different pace.)

This is a 3 hour class, full of fun designs, creating, and possibilities!

From One Design to Another

www.quiltfest.com

#quilting, #quiltfest, #freemotionquilting, #quiltingdesigns, #ninaquilts, #ninaclotfelter, #thinkoutsidethebox, #quiltoutsidethebox

Sew the pieces of life together,

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com