Cotton and Coffee Design House

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November 30 2022

Cotton and Coffee Design House Piecework

To Press Open Or To One Side....

To press open or to press to one side…. that is the question!

I’ve noticed more andmore patterns are instructing to “press as desired.” This is all well and good, but I want to know what is the BEST way to press for easy seam interlock. When I sew seams together, they must interlock for me. When I see a “press as desired” in a pattern I want to scream. To some this might mean, press open, others it might mean press to one side. But what side? So “press as desired” never cuts it in my opinion (and I’m full of those ;)).

So when would we press a seam open? On my I See The Stars quilt there are areas where I tell the maker to do this. Why? Because, when a lot of seams are all intersecting in the same spot, pressing to the side would cause bulk. Eight pointed stars are an example of this and on rare occasions, other areas might require this also. But normally, you would always want to press to one side.

Pressing to one side creates stability within the seam. If a few stitches pull out, the fabric is reinforced with the seam. When a quilt is first made, we don’t think about how it will be used. I don’t display my quilts very often and they are either given away or used heavily. Just the normal wear on a quilt will cause movement. This movement can cause stress on any seam. Most of us love our 50 wt Auriful to sew with don’t we. While that thread is a dream to piece with,it really isn’t that strong to hold the quilt together over the years. Quilt purist and quilt utility makers will always have a debate over what thread is the best to use and I’ll save that argument for another day, but pressing a seam to theside, really does matter.

Another reason it’s best to press as many seams to the side as possible is if you are going to be sending it out to a longarmer, or even quilting it yourself. Unless it’s a pantograph, custom quilting usually requires some sort of stitch in the ditch. We longarmers need that seam to be pressed to one side to find the perfect ditch to sew in. When a seam is pressed open, there really isn’t a ditch. On an open seam, all one is doing is stitching on the threads of that open seam and causing it to become weaker.

And last but not least, my most important reason for wanting to press to one side is so that my seams intersect perfectly. Not sure if I can explain this, but I roll my seams together. I do not press them beforehand and I do not pinch them tightly before sewing. I never pin and just let my fingers find the seams with the lightest of touch. Once found, I will hold them together until it gets under my needle, but I never try and flatten it beforehand.

Plotting out pressing schematics on a pattern is no easy task, but a well written pattern should always include it. “Press as desired” should never be an option and please call me out on it, if you ever see it show up in one of my patterns….

November 16 2022

What Do You Sew With?

Cotton and Coffee Design House Piecework, Sewing Machines featherweight, janome, sewingmachines

Let’s talk sewing machines….. there a slew of brands, models, sizes and colors out there today on the market, but what exactly is the best one to use? Is there a best? If you ask 10 different quilters what features are a must for someone buying a machine for quilting, I’m sure you would get 10 different answers. But what exactly do we need?

As a backdrop I’d like to give you some history of my sewing machine adventures throughout the years. Some of you might know I also run a t-shirt quilt business. We have 2 computerized longarm machines (was a dealer for 10 years). Over the 20 years we’ve operated that business, plus the 50 years I’ve been sewing overall, I’ve had just about every brand of machine out there. Okay, maybe not EVERY brand, but almost. In our t-shirt business, speed is about the most important feature needed in our shop. I have (2) Janome 1600p’s, a Janome Memory Craft 6300 for its fast zig zag stitch, a Brother high speed (for sewing zippers to the leaders for the longarm machines) and a Janome (MC400e)stand alone embroidery machine for stitching names only. These are workhorses. I’m not really sure why I have so many Janome machines. We don’t really have many issues with them, so when we need a new machine for the business, I tend to lean toward Janome. I’m really not picky at all about brand. I am dumbfounded to all the hype about one brand over another brand, but I do favor the Janome 1600p over the Brother high speed (can’t remember the model) just because I think it runs smoother. The Janomes were more expensive so I do think you get what you pay for most of the time. That being said, I’ve have had issues with all them throughout the years, but like any machine that is worked in a high production setting, problems will arise.

When I come home to sew in my cozy studio the switch is flipped on what I want to sew on. Gone are the florescent lights, the noise of the longarm machines and the rush to get the work out. At home is where I want to relax, turn on some music or an audio book and just mindlessly stitch. This is where I’m at today, but over the years my favorite features for a home sewing machine have been different. There have been times I really cared about speed and to some extent I still do. There have also been times when I’ve cared about decorative stitches and embroidery attachments. Other times, I’ve cared about the look or brand of a machine. When I was 14 I started on a Kenmore and probably owned that machine longer than any other, but over the years I have owned/own brands such as Janome, Bernina, Viking, Pfaff, Singer, Brother and Baby Lock machines. All had their strengths and weaknesses. Nowadays, I mostly come home and settle down with my all time FAVORITE machine…..a 1940 Singer Featherweight.

I can’t really describe the feeling when I’m sewing with my beloved machine. Is it because it’s so old and it gives me the feeling of an era my grandmother might have sewn her quilts in? Is it the fact that it actually purrs when in motion and this smooth, quiet sound is mesmerizing? Or maybe it’s the fact that I have it tuned up so well that it’s almost as fast as my Janome 1600p …okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but it is faster than most of my other machines. I’m not really sure what the lure is, but even though it does not have an up and down stitch button, a reverse button, no decorative stitches or a fancy thread cutter, I guess I’m just so attracted to the beauty and simplicity of it.

Featherweight machines are not for everyone because modern machines have so much more to offer. But if all you are wanting to do with a machine is to unwind and piece quilts, a Featherweight just might be for you. I’m not a collector, I bought mine to use. It runs like a champ and there’s rarely a time when I’ll sew on anything else. If you ever run across one grab it up and try one yourself. Give yourself some time with it. Sew with it, bond with it and you might just catch the Featherweight bug like I did.

This if course is my humble opinion., I’d love to hear what your favorite machines are….

October 22 2022

Progress of Squared Up Stars Pattern

Cotton and Coffee Design House Adobe Illustrator, Design, EQ8, Pattern Writing, Uncategorized

Update: It’s finished!!!! I have testers testing it as I type this! How exciting. The release date will be November 30th, so save the date!

I’ve been working on my first pattern for a few weeks now. Thank you for being so patient with me. I am itching to get this site going with lots and lots of patterns, but learning 3 programs at once and trying to write cohesively is not for the faint of heart. The course I’m taking includes EQ8, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Indesign. While I was familiar with EQ8, I was not that proficient in Illustrator. Years ago I use to use Corel (dating myself) for my digitized patterns that are on the market for longarm machines. I even taught a few classes back in the day on digitizing with Corel so I felt like it would be an easy transition from Corel to Illustrator. Boy was I wrong…

Since first switching to AI years ago, I have managed to work itfor simple tasks. Never did I think I could create quilt pattern diagrams with it, but here I am doing just that. There is a lot on the internet about using AI, but there’s not much geared for simple shapes that need manipulating in a way to create a quilt block. The pattern writing course I’m involved with is teaching this very thing.

EQ8 is a great program. While a lot of people design quilts with pen and graph paper, I’ve always been a computer nerd. I’ve had EQ since the first version. In the past, whenever I wanted to make a quilt, I would head for my EQ8 program and start designing. I could quickly come up with yardage for whatever I wanted to make and I’d head to the store with my list. EQ has always been my go to for designing quilts. Did you know that EQ8 and AI work wonderfully together? I had no idea. There are certain things EQ8 cannot do. While they have tons of different layouts, some things in my mind could not be constructed with EQ8. When I learned how to bring in EQ8 quilts into AI I realized the sky is the limit now with design.

I hope to show some tips on how to work with both programs in the future. Even if you never write patterns, it’s always good to have tools to let your imagination run wild.

The writing process is being done in Adobe Indesign. While many designers still write in other programs, I’m realizing ID is the industry standard when it comes to pattern writing now. I could write it in AI, but the features in ID make it so much easier to format.

So as you can see I’m off to a slow start. Learning these tools will be invaluable once I get rolling, so taking the time now to do so is where I need to be. My first pattern Squared up Stars will have to go through a few steps before it’s released. First it will go to a tech editor (to make sure it makes sense), then onto quilt testers and then the final launch date. I hope to be launching in late November, but who knows.

Hope this isn’t too much geek talk for quilters. Just wanted to give you a little inside look at what all goes into getting a pattern to market. 🙂

Until next time, happy quilting,

October 18 2022

Pattern Design with EQ8 and Adobe Illustrator

Cotton and Coffee Design House Adobe Illustrator, Design, EQ8 Adobe Illustrator, EQ8

Well now… I sure didn’t know how easy some tasks were in Illustrator. It’s amazing once one puts their mind to learning this program. I’ve dabbled in AI quite a bit for doing some minor things. In the past, I’ve designed ads, logos, forms and other items for my other business, but it was always mind boggling to be able to do certain things. I really have never used it for quilt design, but boy oh boy was I missing out.

I’ve had EQ8 since the first version. I’ve always used it to design my own quilts. It is very easy to use. On the fly, one can design a quilt very quickly and now I’m finding it’s a great tool to use in conjunction with AI. I had no idea I could bring my EQ8 blocks into AI as vector images. Well, there’s a few steps to make that happen, but once done, the sky is the limit as to placement of those blocks.

This is a sample of what AI is capable of creating. The log cabin block was brought into AI. I then quickly distributed the blocks on rotation and added these shapes to make it easier to piece. The main block now will be the log cabin block looking like it’s on-point, but it’s actually a long cabin square in a square. By making it a square in a square, the piecer will have an easier time assembling the quilt with no Y seams. I had a hard time trying to do this in EQ8. They do have a layout similar to what I’ve just created, but it would have created Y seams and I really want my patterns to be easy and Y seams are NOT my idea of a fun time. This design is in it’s infancy, but I’m loving what the possibilities are with these two programs talking to each-other.

Now back to the writing process with some other designs. Until next time…. happy quilting!