lisahelenquilts

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My May Tree

Hello, Everyone! This is my monthly stray from quilting- another month, another tree! Please glance back to the posts from each previous month this year to see my other trees. This month I went Patriotic. We have Memorial Day at the end of the month and I wanted to remember our Vets and honor the meaning of the holiday.

Have a wonderful May, enjoy the warmer weather and have a nice Memorial Day. Is anyone going camping? Until Next time, find some time to sew! Read the full article

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Paulette's Quilt- Finished!

Hello, Everyone! I’m happy to share this with you, another special quilt has been finished. I’m excited to share it with you because it’s my original design. This quilt has been a year-long journey and I’m so glad Paulette and Fred now have their quilt. Please go to my 7-10-20 blog about Paulette’s quilt. That post gives you all the background on this design and its journey to become a quilt top. Today I will share the second half of this journey- the quilting. As I make a quilt top I like to ponder the quilting design. When I’m done with a top I always take a black and white picture of it and print 3 copies. Looking at the black and white print allows you to see secondary patterns in a quilt and gives more ideas for quilting. I then take a pencil and ruler to the prints and start toying with quilting designs. I try to push my creativity to make two styles; a freestyle (or structured) pattern and one that uses rulers. For this quilt I always felt I needed to showcase the focal fabric Paulette loves and follow that feel for the quilt pattern. I had just gotten the Panto-Graph for my longarm (see the 3-10-21 post). The set came with a paper pattern that fit the style of the focal fabric so I went for it! We used a 50 weight thread from Superior Threads called Raisin. The thread color is beautiful against the different browns on the top, I hope some of the pictures show that.

scrap fabric strip to test tension and basting the top edge of the quilt

So while this quilt’s journey has ended, the quilt pattern journey has just begun. I have plans for this pattern because I created it. My next task is to make another quilt (I have a vision of Kaffe Fassett fabrics) and develop the pattern to sell. Until next time, find some time to sew! Read the full article

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My April Tree

Hello, Everyone! It's my monthly stray from quilting- another month, another tree! Please glance back to the posts from March and February, to see my other trees. I wanted to change my tree a little early but that wasn't the case, I apologize. Oh, I'm so glad to have color back on my tree this month! I have felt eggs, bunnies and silk flowers this month. Once again, I think it's cute and fun. Happy Spring! Happy Easter! Oh, I must comment on the giant egg at the top of my tree. I saw a YouTube tutorial from the Ornament Girl . It's a quilted Easter Egg, made with pieces of fabric and pins. It's fun to make, it looks totally like a quilted item. I got together with my friends and taught them to make them too. The YouTube channel has more tutorials on different shapes and styles, check it out.

Have a wonderful Easter and a wonderful Spring! Until next time, find some time to sew! Read the full article

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Pantograph set- I Have a New Toy!

Hello, Everyone! Today I want to show you my new toy. Isn’t it fun when we get something new to play with! Last month I purchased a Pantograph for my longarm. It is a laser light mounted to the sewing head. A paper pattern is utilized; it is unrolled and laid on the table (that’s part of the frame). A second set of handlebars is assembled on the back side of the sewing head; I work from that side of the table. Basically, you move across the quilt, tracing the pattern on the paper with the laser light, sewing as you go. At the left you can see the laser light attached to the machine head- it looks like two small black cylinders crossed. That light points to the pattern sitting on the frame table, and then see the stitching, as it transfers onto the quilt. This was practice, to get used to using the Pantograph I really enjoy this tool, I can buy (and create my original) patterns. It elevates my longarm skill. I have already longarmed a quilt using the Pantograph. It will be in a blog post in the near future. I want to give credit to the Pantograph pattern you are seeing here: Pattern name- Drift by Keryn Emerson available at www.GoldenThreads.com item# ROLL-KE-RD126 I’m excited to move down my quilting road with my new tool! Using my sketching skills to design my own patterns interests me as well. I have a beautiful Patriotic quilt top that I made at a Mystery Quilt class in 2019; I've been pondering the longarming ever since. Read the full article

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My March Tree

Hello, Everyone! Today I’m straying from quilting! It’s March first! Do you remember the post a month ago- I decided to do something a little cra-cra for 2021? If you didn’t see it, go back and read it, that’s how this ball got rolling! So without further ado, voila! so much green! It’s SO CUTE! I get to smile at my tree and be joyful of my Irish heritage this month. And I got some ideas cooking for next month... Until next month, find some time to sew! Read the full article

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Stitch and Lilo Quilt

Hello, Everyone! Today I’d like to share a special quilt, one I made for a friend (with a famous past on my website :-o ). This quilt was a gift for her sister and the really great thing about it- she did the long-arming. If you look back to my May 3, 2020 blog- Custom Made Friends Quilt- you will meet Miss Alyssa. This past September Alyssa asked me if we could make a quilt for her younger sister. Alyssa had a theme idea of Lilo and Stitch; Stitch is her sister’s favorite Disney character. The quilt will live in a room with beach/ ocean decor so the Hawaiian aspect of the characters was perfect. We decided to make it a little smaller than queen size; this quilt finished at about 73” square. I saw a picture of a quilt with the same basic design idea I used here. I started with a 8” square of our Stitch and Lilo fabrics (we used four different patterns). I had a stash of Hawaiian style fabrics in my stash; I cut strips and framed the focal fabrics. I decided to sew the top and bottom strip on first, then the side strips. I decided to go completely scrappy/random with the framing process. I made about 12 blocks, laid them together and had to rethink. I was having trouble laying the squares together so they harmonized. The solution, and it worked out well, was to lay the rows out and design them as I went. I laid out one row of focal squares and then laid strips out. Read the full article

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I decided to do something a little cra-cra for 2021

Hello, Everyone! Today I’m straying from quilting! The Christmas holidays for the past 15 years have been a little bit of a journey for me. I lost my Mom in late 2005 and then lost my Dad in May 2006. For (probably) the next 5 years I didn’t feel like celebrating Christmas and didn’t decorate my home. For at least 5 years after that decorating and celebrating were done at a very minor level. Then the 9’ tall tree I had (for my wonderful 10’ ceilings) became a pain in the butt to put together (as I got older, haha) so the last couple years it didn’t come out again! A year ago I bought a 6’ tree. Before I made the purchase I had kept thinking about the last Christmas tree my Mom had… it was about 3 to 4’ tall and sat on a round table. Mom decorated it in white lights and clear crystal ornaments. The lights against the sparkle and gleam from the crystal was absolutely beautiful! You’d look at the tree and it had this white light aura surrounding it, like it was angelic. I debated replicating it and decided the memory was better (for now). This year my 6’ tree was set up for the second time. I was busy finishing quilts for clients so it didn’t get decorations- except for three that were given as gifts. I just plugged it in every night and enjoyed the glow from my Christmas tree. Enjoying the glowing tree gave me some inner peace… I reflected over the weird year we’d had and resigned myself to the same weirdness most likely being present for about 6 more months. Read the full article

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First Ladies Quilt- part 8

Hello, Everyone! Today I’m happy to share month eight of my First Ladies Quilt. If you are new to this series, I’ve been taking a Block of the Month class and making a quilt; the blocks are named after First Ladies. Please see past posts for all the blocks. A picture of the entire quilt is in the first post on 11-19-2019. This was the last month we made blocks. Starting next month we will start putting the quilt together and building the borders. I’m also behind with my posts; we are now finished with class sessions. I’m currently working month 11, the second to last set of borders. For our last blocks, our first one today is Abigail Filmore. It is constructed with squares, half-square triangles (HST) and flying geese units. A picture of it is below. It is 9-1/2" square. This block starts with a center square, 3-1/2”. That square is surrounded by 4 flying geese units at the north-south-east-west positions. As we made those units, each of the flying geese were sewn to a rectangle 2”x3-1/2”. Our four corner units were fun to make; they contain a 2” navy square with 2” HST (in green print with background fabric, and navy print with background) added to it. The corner units finished at 3-1/2” square. I liked the secondary pattern the finished block has. Using another colorway would really change the look of the block. Our last block is Jane Pierce. Like our last block this one also contains squares, HST, flying geese and rectangles. A picture of it is below. Read the full article

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New Years 2021 Mystery Quilt Retreat- Day 2 and 3

Hello, Everyone- WOW, what a whirlwind day 2 was! We sewed for the 5 hours during Zoom class, then I sewed until 9pm. My eyes gave up at that point! I sewed a little more than an hour on Sunday morning so I was "caught up" starting this morning's (Sunday) session. Let's back up to yesterday, day 2. We started with 40 squares, 3 1/2". We laid those out and started building upon them. Now it made sense why we made four of each- they formed the center quadrant for the block. We kept building on layers, at one point it got kind of crazy- We finished with 10 blocks, 11 1/2" square. Mine were 1/4" shy of the desired measurement. The picture above on the right, the bock in the bottom right corner is sewn. We were to use 9 blocks in the quilt. At this morning's class (day 3) we had our blocks ready to assemble into a quilt. I do apologize- I was squaring up my blocks as class began and did not photograph them for you. We arranged 9 blocks in 3 rows of three. I cut and sewed 2" wide pink sashing strips and cornerstones. The purple border around the blocks was cut at 2 1/2" wide. I chose to add cornerstones in light purple tonal. Please see the pictures below. In the first picture above, the quilt should get a 5" border around it and finish at about 50" square. You can see the strip of fabric on the right (with birds on it) that's the border fabric. As the quilt stands right now it's 40" square. I have been wanting to make a quilted table topper for the diningro Read the full article

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New Years 2021 Mystery Quilt Retreat

Hello, Everyone! Happy New Year! I hope you are all well and hopeful, as I, for a better 2021. This weekend my local quilt shop, Windy Moon Quilts, is having a ZOOM class for a Mystery Quilt. A couple weeks ago when I received the email announcing this class this news was what finally got me excited about the holidays! I registered for the class and picked up my kit on New Years Eve. The kit has 10 fat quarters, and three other fabrics that are 1/3, ½ and 1 yard cuts. The fabrics are below. We “arrived” at class at 10am. Just before we began we were emailed 5 clues. These were cutting clues. We cut up our stack of 10 fat quarters and labeled all our stacks. We had a variety of rectangles, squares and half-square-triangles. The pattern was Accuquilt GO Cutter friendly; we had 490 pieces cut in 2 hours. Side note- the Accuquilt Go is a die cut system to help save time cutting fabric pieces for quilting. Windy Moon Quilts in Reno and Sparks carries this system. When we finished cutting we took a break to eat lunch. Then we started sewing. We combined a 2” square with two HST segments. Then we combined that piece with a HST segment. The finished piece is 3 ½” square. We have a total of 40 squares; 4 each of ten patterns. They are pictured below. I’m excited for day #2 of our Mystery Quilt Class tomorrow. Look for the next post tomorrow evening! Read the full article

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Christmas Tree Skirt Class

Hello, Everyone! Today I’d like to tell you about a class I’m teaching. It will be here at my home in Reno, NV. It will be for a Christmas Tree Skirt. The size is 52" diameter. A picture of it is below. Some of my students have expressed interest in the bargello pattern, here��s a small and festive project to try it out. The construction is easier than it looks! binary comment Class size is very limited to abide by social distancing and wearing a mask is required. If you’d like more information about this class please contact me- Please watch for a bargello quilt class offered in early 2021. Read the full article

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Christmas Table Runner Class

Hello, Everyone! Today I'd like to tell you about a class I'm teaching. It will be here at my home in Reno, NV. It will be for a Table Runner; the size is just shy of 18"x34". A picture of it is below. Some of my students have expressed interest in the bargello pattern, here's a small and festive project to try it out. Class size is very limited to abide by social distancing and wearing a mask is required. If you'd like more information about this class please contact me- Please watch for a second class offering- for another Christmas project with bargello. In early 2021 watch for a bargello quilt class. Read the full article

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Exiting the Rubber Stamping / Scrap booking World...

Hello, Everyone! About 22 years ago I found the crafting world of Rubber Stamping and Scrap booking. I loved making cards, tags, stationary, anything that a rubber stamped image would be good on. And I kept attending Stampin' Up parties and kept collecting SUPPLIES. About 12 years ago I starting quilting. Then rubber stamping slowly went to the wayside. Last month I decided I'm going to abandon rubber stamping. I am currently posting all my supplies on my Etsy shop. I wanted to share this with you because if any of you enjoy rubber stamping or scrap booking please take a look at Lisa Helen Quilts in our Etsy Shop. If you are looking for a particular supply please contact me. If you are in the Reno NV area we can meet; I have a lot of paper, cardstock, etc. Stuff that would be heavy to ship. I also have ink pads and embossing supplies. Let's be honest- ask, I probably have it. How's about the diecut system they had (have?) I think it's called the Big Shot. I have the machine and a bunch of dies and embossing plates. PLEASE- do both of us a big favor- contact me. THANK YOU! Read the full article

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Reburbished Dresser

Hello, Everyone! Today, something different! I had this old dresser sitting on my front porch. The delivery guys liked it- something to set packages on. My fabric storage method is labeled cardboard boxes with neatly folded fabric inside. Recently I saw a picture in a magazine of a dresser being used as fabric storage. Look what I did!!! It’s SO CUTE!!!! We started by removing all the hardware and sanding it down. That got the varnish off. Then I put 3 coats of paint on the parts I wasn’t going to decoupage fabric onto. I measured all the spaces I wanted to decoupage and cut all the fabric. Then the decoupage started. I applied a coat over the fabric once a day for four days. Allowing the decoupage dry for 24 hours resulted in no stickiness. (The last table I finished this way, I think I let it dry just a couple hours between coats, it was sticky for a few months). I had to find the perfect hardware- I found the acrylic green knobs at Etsy. Such a great finishing touch! So now, I’m going to line the drawers with shelf paper and fill it with fabric! I’ve been wanting to get my fabric into a more visible storage system so I will actually use my stash. I’m hoping this will help. The top drawer will be for fat quarters, jelly rolls, etc. I’ll post an update when I have it filled with fabric. I hope my idea has inspired you for a storage idea. Read the full article

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First Ladies Quilt- part 7

Hello, Everyone! Today I’m happy to share month seven of my First Ladies Quilt. If you are new to this series, I’ve been taking a Block of the Month class and making a quilt. The blocks are named after First Ladies (of our nation's Presidents). Please see past posts for all the blocks. A picture of the quilt is in the first post on 11-19-2019. This month both my blocks went together very nicely and my points are practically perfect. I took the time to finger press my bias seams (please see my March 18, 2020 Helpful Ideas post and affiliate link for this must-have pressing tool) and trimmed all my half square triangles and flying geese pieces as I went. Taking the time for these extra steps really make a nicer finished quilt block. The first block today is Ellen Wilson; she was Woodrow Wilson’s first wife and the mother of Eleanor Wilson. Please see the block is below. The center segment starts with a cream square 2-3/4”. It’s surrounded by purple and cream flying geese and cream squares, finishing at 5”. Our center is surrounded by more flying geese and half square triangles. The blue and cream flying geese segments are 2-3/4" by 5". The corner half square triangle segments are 2-3/4" square. I like this block. It turned out nicely. My second block today is Edith Wilson, Woodrow Wilson’s second wife. Her bio (included with the block) mentions an interesting tidbit- she lived 1872 to 1961, 89 years. The day she died would have been Woodrow’s 105th birthday. Read the full article

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First Ladies Quilt- part 6

Hello, Everyone! Today I'd like to continue with another installment of our beautiful First Ladies Quilt. We made two more blocks this month, and I must say, they were tough. Stacked and turned flying geese and half-square triangle segments slowed me down a little. The first is Jacqueline Kennedy. See the block below. This block plays with flying geese and half square triangles (HST) to form an arrow pattern. It starts with a center square 3-1/2”. The flying geese segments to the top, bottom and sides (or North, South, East and West) are a stack of two with the purple strategically placed to form the arrow. Those segments are 3-1/2”uf. The four corners are a 2” red square with two red HST to form another arrow, and a 2” corner square of background fabric. Those segments are also 3-1/2”uf. Please see them both below. flying geese segmentcorner segment As I constructed each flying geese unit I trimmed them to their correct size, I also squared up the HST. When those units are then sewn together it’s much easier to match points. And of course, a much prettier finished block. Our next block is Lady Bird Johnson. See the block below. This block also starts with center square, this one 2-3/4” – a little smaller than the first block. Again the flying geese segments follow the N-S-E-W block pattern, this time three in each segment with one turned to form the diamond. Each of those four segments are 2-3/4” x 3-7/8”uf. Read the full article

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Another Very Special Quilt!

Hello, Everyone! I am happy to share my heartwarming experience with you. It is experiences like this that are blessings for us quilters and bring such joy to our daily lives. A friend introduced me to a gal who wanted to finish a quilt. Samantha is starting college this month. She lives here in Reno and is attending college in Texas. Samantha made a quilt top with her Grandma when she was 8 years old; this quilt top is amazing for a child's skill level. Sam wanted to finish the quilt and take it with her to college. As we took a close look at it, there were just two spots that had to be fixed (we had to widen the seam allowance a little). There were two small puckers at corners; we left those alone for character. Samantha remembered, when they made the quilt Grandma made the friendship stars so they’d be perfect. We squared up the outside edge on the long sides just ¾”. Samantha decided on a small patriotic print for the backing and a navy blue binding. Samantha decided to do a wavy crosshatch quilting on the domestic sewing machine, the same pattern as both baby quilts I’ve posted about recently. The quilting is done in a beige 35wt. thread. The finished size is 40” x 52”. Here it is. Samantha and her quiltI love the traditional flag! Such a beautiful, traditional flag pattern and colors, the quilting choice and blue binding make the quilt so beautiful. It radiates a rich, vibrant feel. Read the full article