Tag Archives: Q and A

Just a quick follow up.. I’ve gotten the same question about a dozen times today, so I figured I’d just post it here, so you all can see.. if you have more questions feel free to email me or leave a comment..(also if you have a question, be sure to leave your email address so I can get back to you).  Read more... (241 words, 1 image)

I have received some questions on my blog… I thought I’d take a minute and answer them for you. Sorry for the delay I just dropped off a truckload of food for Girls Camp today!! Whew!!!! Just making some brownies and pulled pork tonight and I can check camp off my list this year :-)

About the Ink Stain Fix:

Q-How do you keep the fabric from fraying in the wash?

A- The fabric I picked is underwear, so it’s a stretch knit that usually doesn’t fray… I have also noticed in the past that the heat & bond helps to keep the fabric from unravelling. I’ll admit I’m still experimenting with applique, but that’s just what I have noticed. Also when I do the raw edge applique on something I’m going for a “messy” look so if it frays a bit in the wash I’m okay with that.

Q-Where to I get my appliqué patterns?

A-A good friend of mine posts alot of them on her blog, www.amazingmae.blogspot.com she is my applique hero! She just draws them herself. Otherwise I use images from my cricut (cut it out of paper then trace)… computer images printed in reverse or good ol’ Martha’s site (a wealth of patterns there)

Q-Where did you get the tutorial for the sundress? (which STILL needs to be finished AUGH!)

A- The tutorial for the sundress came from Heather Ross.. you can find it here (she wrote Weekend Sewing… a good book!)

Q- If you did not use charm packs for the Patchwork skirt, how much fabric would you need?

A- you would need

1/2 yd matching fabric for waistband and ties

1/2 yd matching fabric for skirt band

1/2″ wide elastic

3/4 yard for the main fabric.

You would do everything the same, except cut 2 pieces 10″ x 32.5″ from the main fabric for the skirt (instead of piecing the charm squares)

Q- Where to you get charm packs?

A- I get them at my local quilt shop- (Among Friends in Louisville) but you can also get them online, I know fat quarter shop has a bunch.

Q- Can you make the skirt (twirly or patchwork) in a larger size.

A- Yes you can… I just have not taken the time to figure out yet. My 13 yr old daughter wants one. One of my next projects is to use my trusty dress form and figure it out. I’ll share when I do.- I believe it will require the use of a zipper —- eeekkkkk!!!

Q-Is a gathering stitch the same as a basting stitch and why 2 rows?

A- Yes a gathering stitch is the same as a basting stitch (at least in my vocab). You set your machine to the longest stitch length (mine goes up to 6 but you could also use 4).

The reason you sew two rows it to keep your gathers straight. Heirloom sewers use 3 rows of stitching, but I only do that when a teacher makes me :-)…. you want the gathers on the waist to be lined up neatly against each other and not bunched up (the top of the fabric should still line up)… 2 rows of stitching helps with this.

Q: What did you do for your sons party it was a safari theme?

A: Andrew’s party was a safari theme, but not nearly as elaborate. I’ll have to share it soon… just not as many creative ideas in that one.

Q-How did I get to meet Garth Brooks?

A: Okay… this is copied from my personal blog from that night… enjoy if your really curious! otherwise just skip it.

We just had the best night, and even though it is very late I wanted to blog about it before I forgot. First I must say, this is my 2nd encounter with a celebrity in a months time… but just know these are the ONLY 2 celebs I’ve ever met… this is NOT my normal life. (the other one was Nick Lachey)

That being said tonight was soooo cool!!!! Jeff’s office (he’s a dentist) runs a Smiles for Life campaign, basically you get your teeth whitened and write the check to charity not the office… 100% of the whitening fee goes to charity. Jeff’s office worked really really hard this year and were able to donate alot of $. Garth Brooks’ charity Teamates for Kids is a large recipent of this $, as a show of apprecation he did a “meet and greet” and a concert tonight.

He was SOOO nice, and I am not just saying that. There was a professional photographer there, so I would have had to wait for them to get a picture with him, then paid for the pic. He (garth) saw that i had my camera and asked the photographer to take a picture of just us with my camera… how cool!! Plus he took the time to talk to each of my kids, Sydney had to ask him if he knows Hannah Montana (he does).. and he kept telling Kari how pretty she was…Many of you may remember the last picture I had with Garth… I was in the back and you couldn’t even see me… this totally makes up for that!!!

The concert tonight was just unreal. I was sitting there thinking “I’m going to see Garth Brooks perform at the Grand Ole Opry”… It was such a great expierence. It was hands down the best concert I have ever been to. Since it was a somewhat small group, the concert had more of a feel of a MTV Storytellers than a concert. He had his band and sang all his great songs (Thunder Rolls, Friends in Low Places, Unanwsered prayers)… He also gave an incredible rendition of “The Dance.” and an acoustic version of Redstrokes.

He played for 3 hours we were so lucky. At the encore, he came out and sang songs of people that inspired him.

Just him and his Guitar.

He sang, Sweet Baby James, Fire and Rain, Piano Man, Leader of the Band… by far my favorite part, he really has an incredible singing voice. Then he closed with Don McClean’s “Day the Music Died”… you know the “bye, bye miss american pie” song… He got the whole audience to sing the chours… it was just cool to sit there with him and sing that song at the Opry, everyone was blaring out “took my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry…”

Andrew and Sydney slept the entire show! They just laid down on the bench and knoked out…noise and all. Kari did okay for a while, but I’m convinced that she has Strep (we brought Amoxil with us thankfully) and her fever came back 1/2 way though. I don’t think she understood how cool it was to be there.

Off to bed, and home tomorrow night.

I’m compiling a list of questions about the skirt tutorial I posted yesterday. If you have a question about the skirt, just leave a comment and I’ll answer them together in the next post.