Maxie Makes Subscription Sewing Box - August 2018

Want a peek inside the August 2018 Maxie Makes Subscription Sewing Box?  Click the video below! This month features Bonnie Christine's newest fabric line, Gathered, for Art Gallery Fabrics. We brought a project that was requested several times when I polled earlier subscribers: Paper Piecing! Whether you love it or avoid it at all costs, with the help of my friend, Sarah Overton, you'll overcome any hesitations quickly with her expert tips and attention to detail in her original patterns. This month we make the Tony Danza Mini Quilt!

Just to give you a glimpse of the planning that went into this month's box, one of the first steps I usually take is to create a mock up of the project. The one above, left, was made in EQ8, quilt design software. I imported images of Bonnie's fabrics and and had fun creating with Sarah's block design. With a few final changes, the outcome, right, was fairly predictable!

Because Sarah is such a great teacher of paper piecing, I asked her to help with the video tutorial and we had so much fun that day! There were plenty of giggling bloopers, but we ommited them for the sake of respectability.

Join the learning fun! Click here to subscribe! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy sewing and God bless! Maxie

Maxie Mail Subscription Sewing Box is Here!

You probably know how passionate I am about sewing, and even more so about sharing that love of sewing and the benefits it brings, not only to our souls, but to those that we love. I understand what expressing this inspiration does for us, and that we are fulfilling an innate need to create when we work with our hands. So this project comes from an anticipated plan to share with you in such a way that will nurture that creativity inside you and help build skills that will give you the confidence to tackle anything your sewing heart desires!

Maxie Mail is a subscription box for sewists that comes right to your door every month, filled to the brim with happiness that will include fabrics, patterns, new ideas and tools to help you be successful in your sewing room. But perhaps most importantly, my motivation for this box is to sweeten your skills month to month, growing your knowledge and self assurance! There will even be something personal tucked inside, just to celebrate you! And if you subscribe before October 16, I’ll include one of my favorite notions in your box!

What's in the box? Having owned a quilt shop for over 12 years, I know the value of having the best fabric, quality tools and notions, well composed patterns and, of course, good instruction through either written or video tutorials. My box is packed with all of the above, and will include a password to the "Members Only" section where you'll find even more information, available exclusively to subscribers! Hop on over to the Maxie Mail Subscription Box page to read more about it and get started! It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Let's celebrate YOU! You get a value-packed surprise once a month, filled with something wonderful, easy enough for beginners yet sophisticated enough for the more experienced.

Thanks for visiting! Happy Sewing and God bless! Maxie

Presenting the "Hello, Bear Buck Forest" Quilt Kit!

Quilt kits make our lives easy and let us get straight to the fun of sewing! This project was a long time in the making, but today's the day that I can finally say that the "Hello, Bear Buck Forest" quilt kit is ready! The Buck Forest fabric line, designed by my daughter, Bonnie Christine, is now a basic with Art Gallery Fabrics, but it is originally a print from her "Hello, Bear" fabric line. Prompted by my good friend, Linda, I began to think about using Hello, Bear to make Buck Heads and border it all with a Buck Forest print.

The quilt, which is 76" x 84" includes sixteen (16) pre-fused, die cut buck heads, (ready to apply to the background fabrics!), background, sashing, outer border and binding fabrics!

I used Lite Steam-a-Seam2 as the fusible material for each head. This product is re-positionable and very easy to work with. Although touted as "no-sew" on the package, I recommend stitching around each head after fusing in place. To do this, simply drop your feed dogs and work free-motion style with each block individually, before constructing the entire quilt. I recommend a dark thread in the bobbin and top, and I'm loving this whimsical straight stitch, with about 3 rounds to hold everything securely.

However, I have to share that I found an even easier way to stitch the Buck Heads in place...on my Handi Quilter long arm machine! I simply loaded the completed quilt top without the batting and backing, put dark thread in the bobbin and top, and stitched away!

I may never look at applique´ the same again! I've stitched applique´ on my long arm in the past, but always when loaded with backing and batting, which results in a lot of stitches on the back side of the quilt. Working with only the top loaded prevents any of the these stitches on the back, and allows me to use dark thread in both the bobbin and the top, regardless of my backing fabric color! (This quilt's backing, by the way, is Art Gallery's billowy cotton voile. Soft.)

For the quilting, I chose a free-motion woodgrain design in Superior Thread's clear Monopoly, allowing me to stitch over the Buck Heads without conflicting with the applique´stitches. Straight lines or simple meandering would also be great with that same thread.

So, go ahead, order my kit (here) and whip up a Buck Forest quilt for your own little woodland adventurer!

PS...Want a little back side view of making a quilt kit?

There were so many details to work out in creating this in kit form, and I began with contacting Custom Pro-Dies to make a die that would allow me to cut each buck head accurately and quickly. That required a letter of permission to the die company from Bonnie Christine before they would even agree to make the die. That's right. Bonnie gave me exclusive rights because I gave birth to her.

Even before the die was ordered the quilt and yardage had to be determined. I work in Electric Quilt, so I downloaded Bonnie's fabrics into the program so that I could use the actual fabrics I wanted for the quilt. As soon as the die arrived I began the sample. I fused Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 on the back side of every buck fabric prior to running it through the die-cut machine. The machine will handle about 3 layers, so that required about 5-6 passes to cut sixteen Buck Heads.

After all the Buck Heads were ready, I cut the background fabrics to size and fused the heads in place. I use a steam press in my studio, which makes all the fusing more efficient and it results in a good, strong bond. This is how the rest went:

• Make the quilt top.
• Write a rough draft of the pattern as I sew.
• Stitch the applique´ on my HandiQuilter long arm machine.
• Reload the quilt with batting and backing. Quilting time!
• Bind the quilt.
• Photograph the quilt for the pattern. (This involved a trip to the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC!)
• Edit photos.
• Figure fabrics for X number of quilts and place an order with Art Gallery Fabrics.
• Order a boat load of Lite Steam a Seam2.
• Cut Buck Head fabrics and Steam a Seam to size for each block, 16 per quilt kit.
• Fuse Steam a Seam to each fabric, one by one.
• Run fabrics through die-cut machine.
• Cut fabrics for background blocks, sashing, outer border and binding.
• Prepare final draft of pattern and order copies.
• Assemble and package quilt kits.
• Begin dreaming about the next quilt I'll make...

Happy Sewing! Thanks for visiting! God bless, Maxie