Thursday, December 19, 2019

Vinyl Weeding Hack #2


Here is another short, but fabulous vinyl weeding hack for you all! I hope it's as helpful to you, as it has been to me :)

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Last minute FAST Christmas Tree

We have had a lot going on this December. I'm very grateful for all of it, but it's left me with little to no time to decorate, let alone get shopping done.

Of course I'm still using this weekend to make some last minute gifts in my studio, so I realized I wouldn't have time to put up our Christmas tree :( Our tree is 8 feet tall, and takes up a lot of space. I takes me a few hours to decorate, and like I said takes up most of our foyer, so it's hard to walk around, and it's right in front of my studio door, where I need to be in order to make those last minute gifts. (usually I'm watching Christmas movies by now).

So I formulated a new plan....I got a small 4 foot tree pre-light that came in this cute vase base. And I decided to put it in our bedroom. Hey who says the tree needs to go in the main part of the house? My goal here was to keep this simple and elegant, and to be able to put the entire thing up in 45 min or less.

I put on some Christmas music, and got out the candy cane mesh ribbon! I used twist ties to attach the ribbon to the tree, and used it in place of garland. It takes up a lot of space on the tree, and fills the whole thing out so nicely. I cut the ribbon into 3 feet sections so that it was easier to work with and just wrapped it around the tree, starting at the top and working my way down. Every 6 inches or so I'd bunch it together and attach it to a branch with a twist tie.
I then added some small red bows all around the tree, and for the top.....Christmas Picks! Yup you read that correctly, I gathered up some Christmas Picks, bunched them together and zip tied them to the top of the tree! Easy peasy and it looks amazing. I feel like the entire tree looks like it came from a department store! I'm so happy with how it came out!
Now that the tree is up, things look a little bit more festive....which means I'm off to start gift making! Better late than never I guess!
Happy Decorating Everyone!
-Kat  :) 

Thursday, November 28, 2019

You Might be a quilter if.....

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on! Thank you for your support.

 A few years ago my husband  was making fun of me for doodling free motion quilting designs in a notebook during a 2 hour car drive (and in the restaurant while we waited for our lunch).

He said..and I quote: "Hey Scribbles, am I gonna have to start bringing a coloring book and crayons with us when ever we go someplace?"

 I started to tell him that I use PENCIL not crayons..when what he said really hit me. A coloring book!! What a fantastic idea!

That will really force my brain to think differently when it comes to choosing designs for spaces. I went out and bought coloring books the very next day. (This was back before coloring books for adults we trendy, so I bought a child's book)

To this day I'll pull out a child's coloring book and just doodle in it and all around the lines. Pretending that each black line is another color of fabric and I have to quilt in or around it. It's a great way to get those creative juices flowing!

 So next time you see a 40ish year old woman without kids doodling in a child's coloring book. Don't judge...she just might be a quilter.

Seriously, coloring books have helped me practice free motion designs for years, it's a great way to learn "pathing" (taking a designs from one space to another) and it helps to doodle out your free motion designs before quilting them.

 A nice set of colored pencils and a coloring book make excellent gifts for quilters.I prefer to use children's coloring books, because they have more open spaces to doodle in. I like to practice my quilting designs in those open spaces, whereas adult coloring books have lots of fine lines and tiny spaces. They lack open white space to practice in. Adult coloring books are great if you want to actually color, and not work on pathing and designs.

 Here are some of my favorite coloring items:  (click on the photo to view the product directly)
Metallic Colors!!! I love these so much..they are so fun.
You gotta have a pencil sharpener...am I right?!
Happy Doodling and Quilting everyone! -Kat

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Vinyl Weeding Hack

How annoying is it, when you are weeding your vinyl project, and the vinyl is sticking to your tools?!!

 It drives me nuts, so I had to come up with a way to fix it.

 I knew that there had to be a way to 'clean' the vinyl off my tools in a fast, efficient and easy way while weeding.

This Hack does just that, get the vinyl off your tools, on the fly while weeding.

 Use this method and the vinyl won't stick around on your tools for long! This hack makes weeding sooo much faster, and less stressful.


Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Fabric Panel Art Project

This video teaches you another way to use fabric panels aside from quilting them. Hang the finished artwork in any room! This would be adorable in a baby's nursery.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on! Thank you for your support.

The supplies used for this tutorial are:
CANVAS: http://michaelstores.pxf.io/c/1939724...
RICE/FAIRY LIGHTS: http://michaelstores.pxf.io/c/1939724...
STAPLE GUN: http://michaelstores.pxf.io/c/1939724...

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We specialize in longarm quilting, SVG cuttable designs, and machine embroidery designs. But that doesn't mean that you won't see other kinds of projects here too! We love to sew, paint , and play with glitter. If it's fun, and the outcome is some type of art then we are in!

About Me

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I love all things crafty! Visit my website www.calicocali.com for tutorials, longarm quilting, svg designs, embroidery designs, nail decals, notions and more. Let’s Be Friends! Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/calicocalidesigns/ Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/calicocalidesigns/ Subscribe to our Youtube channel so that you don’t miss out on any of our fun tutorials! I hope you love our designs as much as I enjoy creating them. Happy Sewing Everyone!!! – Kat 🙂