Thursday Tidbit - Standard Bed Sizes

Have you ever found the perfect quilt pattern, selected the perfect fabrics, yet still aren't sure if it will fit the size of your bed?  There's a couple of great booklets available with all kinds of quilter's math in them that include bed charts, but I've found a basic chart on bed sizes to share with you today.



Image Source:  Pacific Star Products

This handy diagram shows actual mattress sizes.  You can click on the link in the caption to print your own copy of this diagram for future reference.

Once you know the mattress size, you can decide how long you want the drop to be (i.e., how much you want it to hang over the sides), or if you want a pillow tuck, etc. to begin determining the finished size of your desired quilt.

Now, you can look at your perfect pattern and know if it will fit your bed!  And if it doesn't, at least you now have a point of reference to figure out how many more blocks and /or borders to add to get it to the correct size.

Thursday Tidbit - Swatch Buddies

We found the coolest notions at Quilt Market, and they have finally arrived at the shop!

Have you ever been planning a quilt and need to match fabrics that you already own?  It's often a pain to remember to carry swatches around - I've seen them come into the shop in various forms:  wads of fabrics, baggies of scraps, photo albums with swatches tucked behind plastic pages.

Introducing Swatch Buddies.

These work like a paint fan deck.  Attach your swatch to the 1"x2" plastic card using the included double-sided tape.  There are stickers for the back of the swatch to denote yardage, designer, collection and store where purchased.  You can arrange your swatches by color or project; they come with their own ring holder, and you can peel off the swatch and re-used the card for your next project!

The best thing about these (in my opinion) is that they are small yet organized, and you can actually hold the fabric swatch next to the fabrics you are considering to see if they match.  They are also small and portable - they go where you go!

We carry them in 12 Count, 24 Count, and 48 Count sizes.  Check them out today!

Thursday Tidbit - Thread Sizing

A couple of weeks ago I discussed sizing of needles.  Today I want to talk about sizing of thread.

The general rule is:  The LARGER the number, the SMALLER (finer) the thread.

And just to be clear in this discussion, I am talking about the types of cotton threads you would find in a general quilting or sewing store.  Large cones of thread used for commercial sewing and general all-purpose threads found in discount stores may or may not adhere to this sizing formula (and most of them contain a polyester component).

Here's a picture I took of a sampling of threads in our store (You may have to click on the picture to get a better view).  On the left is Sulky Blendables in 12 wt.  It's a fairly large thread used for decorative stitching and quilting.

Next to it is Mettler 50wt thread.  This is the weight most used for general sewing and piecing.  We carry Gutermann, Mettler, Star, and Aurifil thread in this size.

To the right of that is Mettler 60wt thread.  It is slightly finer than the 50wt.  I have seen it used for piecing, machine quilting, applique, and hand piecing.  I personally use it for applique and English Paper Piecing, since its finer size makes for smaller stitches in handwork.

Finally, there's YLI Silk 100wt.  This is the smallest thread we carry, and it is used primarily for hand applique.

Floss/Perle Cotton is sized the same way.  The larger the number, the smaller the thread.  Size 5 perle cotton is larger than size 8 or size 12.

One more thing.  I did not include hand quilting thread in this discussion.  It is in a class all its own, and is generally all about the same size.  If a spool is marked "Quilting" or "Hand Quilting", it will usually have a coating on it to make it smoother to pull through all the layers of the quilt sandwich.  NEVER use this thread in your sewing machine!  The coating may rub off inside the machine and gunk up the mechanics.

Thursday Tidbit - My Favorite New Fabric Marker

There are all kinds of fabric marking pens, pencils, and tools out there in the marketplace, and I have used many of them over the years.  But I've discovered a new one lately and it is currently my favorite!

I wanted to mark the hand quilting lines on this new mini quilt in the shop.

I knew I needed a marker that I could remove the lines fairly easily when I was finished.  The Sewline Duo Marker  + Eraser Set was just the ticket!

This is a 2 pen set.  The first one you use is the pink one.  It does the actual marking.  It has a tip like a felt-tip pen.

After marking my test lines, I practiced my big stitch quilting.

After quilting for a bit, I then used the white eraser pen.  It has a chiseled tip and you just drag it over the marker lines and they disappear!!  I know it's hard to see in these pics, but if you click on them, you should be able to get a closer look.

This is a great tool if you make a marking mistake.  Just erase it and try again.  I have tested it on several threads (including floss) and the color of the thread remained the same and didn't run.  My daughter found this set and has used it for marking embroidery as well as rough sketching on T-shirts prior to design painting.  I think it's awesome!

I Have an Idea......

After teaching a class a couple of weeks ago, I had (what I thought was) a bright idea.

I've been quilting for 20 years now.  (Just writing that makes me feel very old....since I didn't start until well into adulthood....).  Anyway, there is lots of quilting lore, tips and magic that I take for granted.  In talking to new(ish) quilters, I have realized that many of us old-timers take so much for granted that we forget to share the tidbits.  I LOOOOOOVE sharing the tidbits and seeing the light bulb go off in another quilter's eyes, but let's face it - my job keeps me away from more of the face-to-face contact with my quilting peeps than I'd like on a daily basis.

So, how would you like for me to do a weekly posting regarding some of the small things that I just assume everybody already knows but may not?  Or would that be boring?  It might be basic quilting knowledge, or a helpful hint, or a product review, or something else entirely.  I certainly don't want to sound condescending; I truly want to share what I know with all of you.  And I admit that I don't know it all, but I have tried a lot of different things and I have learned much "the hard way", if you know what I mean!

So, what do you think?  Would you find "Tidbit Thursday" a helpful thing?  What do you want to know about?  Should I do this?