General Craft & DIY discussion

Does anyone quilt? I never have, but my aunt has made some really nice ones. Two have been hunting scenes. She gave my daughter a Sylvester & Tweety one when she was born, too.

I used to, or at least know how. My grandmother did beautiful quilts ... I think the last one she did when she was in her 80s.

Does it take much equipment, Chelsea? I see stuff sold for doing it all the time, but I wonder if it is really necessary.

My grandmother made all of her quilt tops sitting in her rocking chair. She had a little basket that sat beside the chair and she kept the cut pieces in it and as she finished each block, they went in the 'quilt box' in the bedroom. That was the extent of her 'supplies' ... quilt pieces, needle, thread, scissors and something to put all of it in.

Most of her quilt tops later in life got sent to someone who put the backing on, batting in and quilted it by machine.

She did do a few hand quilted quilts up until she was in her late 60s, but that required a quilting frame big enough to wrap the quilt/batting/backing around and stretch. My grandfather made her quilting frame out of the wooden frame of an old screen door.

It's good to know what's really needed. So much of the instructional stuff out there is just some sort of commercial for gadgets. In building or carpentry, "This Old House" & Norm's "Yankee Workshop" are prime examples. I wonder how many DIYers are scared off just because of the buy-in.

Jim wrote: "It's good to know what's really needed. So much of the instructional stuff out there is just some sort of commercial for gadgets. In building or carpentry, "This Old House" & Norm's "Yankee Works..."

I don't know, but carpenters 100 years ago sure managed without any of the high $ fancy electric tools. We did all of the building and repair work at the ranch with hand saws, hammers, chisels, hand augers, plane,s screwdrivers, etc. and that's what I learned with and what I'm the most comfortable with today.

Same with any of the household chores, in fact I'm looking for a hand rotary mixer now because I don't want to replace the hand held electric mixer. I don't use one often and I'd much rather have a hand driven one than an electric one.

I'm even nostalgic over the old wire double frame my grandmother used to use to make toast with over the fire in the coal cook stove. I seem to have to replace the electric toaster every year or two now.

I surely appreciate my electric tools & much prefer many of them to hand tools, especially now. I quit being a remodeler professionally about 20 years ago because something went wrong in my right arm. It's a repetitive stress thing so I can hammer some, but a few squares of shingles will start ripping ligaments out of my forearm. I can't use a handsaw for too long either. I can do most projects around our place, but work on a computer now. The money is a whole lot better & I don't miss the super cold, wet or hot days much, either.

The speed & accuracy of power tools is a real plus, too. I made my first shaving horse out of a 8" log 6' long, all with hand tools. It worked fine. When we moved here, I made another out of sawn lumber with power tools & it's better. Plus it was a lot faster to make.

Still, it's easy to spend more time & money fiddling with gadgets than with projects. People often ask me why I don't have a 4 wheeler. I don't need one. I have my little pickup (Chevy S10), a lawn tractor, a big tractor, & a pony. A 4 wheeler would just be one more expense & item to maintain. Yes, I could occasionally use it, but not often enough to make it worth the expense & hassle.

Jim,

I started taking an online class to learn how to quilt, and it went over some handy tools to have. It is called Modern Patchwork by Rachel Denbow, and it is a total blast. I especially love it because of her modern aesthetic. There is also a new website that offers classes for quilting, amongst a bunch of other crafty classes called Craftsy. I've taken a peak, and it looks pretty cool! I think many of those classes also go over tools. I find the most useful tools to be square rulers, a cutting mat, and a rotary cutter, and the sewing machine.

http://www.craftsy.com/
http://shopredvelvet.com/collections/...

I never thought of an online class for quilting or any other sort of craft, but it makes sense. I have used YouTube videos for learning how to cast on or spin. Is it expensive?

I'm not sure about Craftsy, but the modern patchwork was $28, and worth every penny! But I also love that style, and got a lot of inspiration out of it.

That sounds quite reasonable.

I'm new to quilting and this is a picture of my first quilt I made for my daughter's 21st birthday out of her old cheerleading t-shirts.

Very nice!

Thanks, Jim!

Now, I want to make one for me, maybe that will be my next project.

What are you going to make yours out of, Eileen? Do you have a theme or anything?

I don't have a clue yet on what it's going to look like. Haven't given it much thought, all I know is I enjoyed making it and want to make one for myself.

Very nice Eileen! I love the colors!

Thanks, Foxtower!

Does anyone know of a way to resharpen the blades in rotary cutters? I hate throwing them away and have old ones saved hoping to recycle.

Interesting question. I googled it & found a good video showing how it is done here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdd3J...

The sharpener she is using is sold on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CEAM88/