Havels Sewing » Reviews

Free Mixed Media Quilt Project By Terry White

Luv2Sew — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:48:08 +0000

Scrappy Spider Web

This is an upcycle project using bits of tissue paper, packaging, wrapping paper, travel brochures, stickers and sticker waste, magazine rips, junk mail, catalogs, postcards – and a flea market frame completes the project.

You Will Need:

1/4″ graph paper to draft the design to complete a 3″ square (or copy and use the pattern provided).

Cereal box cardboard or cardstock for two scrap sheets, you will be making four 3″ squares out of the blue scrap sheet (each square makes two blocks). The yellow scrap sheet will be the background for the quilt and it should fit in your frame.

Scraps as described above. Enough to cover the two scrap sheets. Two sets of color were used in this project: blue/green and orange/yellow.

Fabrick contrasting to the blue/green – I used dark purple

Several sheets of copy paper

Glue

Marking tools – pen or pencil

Crayons, paints, color pencils and markers to add exra design, color and texture

Havel’s 60mm Jumbo Rotary Cutter, mat and ruler

Havel’s Non-Stick Teflon 9″ inch scissors

Flea market frame

Draft a 3″ Spider Web quilt block using 1/4″ graph paper. Make several copies on regular copy paper.

Shade one of the copies to make a two-color block.
Use this as your guide for making pieces and the arrangement of blocks.

Make blue and green scrap sheet. Use the cardstock as a base. Layer big scrap pieces and glue to sheet. Ad smaller pieces on top and add marks of color if desired. Press with a heavy book and let dry overnight.

Make scrap sheet of yellow an orange pieces. This will be your background.
Glue big scraps down and glue to cardstock. Press with a heavy book and let dry overnight.

Cut 3″ fabric squares from a highly contrasting fabric. This is a dark purple hand dyed fabric.
The hand dye adds extra texture to the design.

I use Havel’s Jumbo Rotary Cutter because it has a long lasting blade of
Japanese steel (I use this a lot!) and the ergonomic soft handle is easy on my hands.

Glue the fabric to a 3″ square of copy paper. This adds stability to the fabric.

Cut out and glue a copy of the spider web block to the back of blue/green scrap sheet. Cut out square.

Make X marks to correspond with shaded pieces of quilt block design.

Cut out the pieces with Havel’s Teflon Scissors. They are coated stainless steel, and isn’t that smart? The size makes it easy to cut through thick layers. The Teflon makes it easy to cut through sticky adhesive, paint, wax from crayons and layers of paper. The blades are serrated for a nice grip on various materials.

Arrange and glue the X marked pieces on one purple square.
Arrange and glue the unmarked pieces on the other purple square.

Arrange and glue the quilt blocks onto the yellow scrap sheet. At this point make additions like corner squares and smaller scraps to add decoration. I cut the fish image from an ad in a travel brochure.

Press with heavy books.
Frame with flea market frame.

Click here to watch Terry’s instructional video for “Scrappy Spider Web”

Do you have a question or comment for Terry? Post it here!

Fab Shop Network Calls Our Sew Creative Scissors “Cool Tools”

Luv2Sew — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:05:00 +0000

The FabShop Network recently posted a blog entry on their FabTalk site about Havel’s Sewing’s 7-inch serrated sewing scissors. Take a look:

http://blog.fabshophop.com/blog/

Tuesday Afternoon Fabric Finds: Sew Deerly Loved

Luv2Sew — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:33:10 +0000

We found Sew Deerly Loved when we were searching for Heather Ross Munki Munki fabric. This little shop delivered in a big way. And besides running the Sew Deerly Loved Etsy shop, this busy fabric seller has six kids, quilts and writes a lovely blog: lovely little handmades.

The shop is stocked with a great selection of Japanese fabrics and quilting cottons – sold in yardage, fabric sets and bundles. You’ll also find a great deal of popular patterns. And customer feedback is 100% positive!

Tuesday Afternoon Fabric Finds: Reprodepot.com

Luv2Sew — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:37:09 +0000

If you love vintage fabrics OR vintage-style fabrics, then you will love love love Reprodepot.com. With gracious customer service and a lovely selection, shopping this site is quite a treat.

Reprodepot offers a variety of Japanese fabrics as well as decade-specific styles. The site is well-organized and styles are clearly labeled.

Check out the multitude of great patterns available on the site, too.

Tuesday Afternoon Fabric Find – Elkabee’s Fabric Paradise

Luv2Sew — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:23:43 +0000

There’s a lot to love about Elkabee’s Fabric Paradise. The selection alone is out of this world – it’s large, it’s diverse, and it’s priced pleasantly. One of our favorite features of the site is its organization: you can browse fabrics by manufacturer. By scanning each fabric company’s selection, you can get a real feel for their individual design styles. For instance, P & B Textiles has more novelty fabric than Free Spirit.

It’s actually a neat way to learn more about where your favorite fabric comes from.

Another terrific feature: the Sale Fabrics. The prices are right and the fabrics are often ones that you can still find hanging out at other shops for almost 30% more than what Elkabee’s Fabric Paradise is selling them for.

Take a look and make an order.

Sew, Mama, Sew’s “Best of the Decade” List

Luv2Sew — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:29:47 +0000

The fantastic blog belonging to the online shop Sew, Mama, Sew features a thoughful and thought-provoking list of the best and most influential designers and more within the sewing industry. She predicts future trends, as well. Take a look.

To read the list, click here.

Changing the Way You Think About Scissors

Luv2Sew — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:36:15 +0000

Havel’s Sewing is built on innovative solutions for sewists’ and quilters’ needs. So, when we find a happy customer, we like to hear just exactly what it is that has made them happy with our products. Check out this review on Sharon Darling’s Quilter’s Review. She reviews our Snip-Eze, our seam ripper, our machine embroidery scissors and our applique scissors.