Product reviews and demos pt. 2

Ok so I've finally be able to test some of these products as far as prepping and cutting goes. Some of the products failed in this 1st testing experiment. but I still have another one to do with them before I give you a final and over all conclusion as to the best method and what to buy. 

So today I used a couple different products that I'll list below. 

Martha Stewart Crafts Flocking, Glitter & Foil sheets ( 3 different products )
Provo Craft Yudu Foil and Flocking sheets ( 2 different Products )
June's Tones foil transfer 
Heat & Bond Lite
Cricut Transfer tape

So what I basically did for this test is cut big enough pieces of the Heat & Bond and applied it to the proper side of the transfer materials so that I can have them ready for cutting in my Cricut. This step was successful. 
Now came to the mounting and cutting part. Mounting the foils onto the cutting mat was ok until you had to pull it off to readjust. This caused the paper to come off and basically making it very difficult to handle even with the Heat & Bond attached. So this method with foil is a FAIL right out the gate because I didn't even get to cut it. 
Now on a side note. I did have success with my second method using the Heat & Bond. And that's basically cutting your shapes or whatever out first them pressing the Heat & Bond on your shirt then doing the foils on top of that. But I'll go over this method in Part 3 a little later.

Top: Marth Stewart Crafts Foil   Middle: June's Tones foil  Bottom: Provo Craft Yudu foil

Next I went with the flocking. Heat & Bond onto the flocking. the MSC flocking has a plastic sheet backing and the Yudu flocking has a heavy paper backing on it. Everything went well up until the cutting. This method did not cut the flocking so good even with proper settings. The flocking would just tear and look over all crappy with the cuts. So this is sort of a FAIL as well. 
Top: Yudu Flocking  Middle 1: MSC Flocking  

So lastly I have the MSC glitter. Heat & Bond placement great. Cutting was a half and half. You can't really do a kiss cut with this method because of the glitter but the plastic backing sheet on the glitter is thin enough to cut full through and get a good result but still not what I was looking to accomplish with this product. 
Top: MSC Glitter sheets  Middle: Kiss Cut method (Fail) Bottom: Full cut method. 

I'm going to try 1 more test and see how that comes out this way I can do a final comparison and give you an overall idea of what is the best way to go with these products . Stay Tuned!

Product reviews and demos

Hey Everyone, 

So I've been buying a lot of products lately for T-Shirt design. Mainly to see what is out there on the general retail market for the everyday consumer so to avoid the endless hours of online combing for the lowest wholesale market specific prices and vendors.

As far as the garments go, I've only used one vendor so far out of New Jersey. Their shipping was extremely fast and product overall was a 9 out of 10 . Sizing is very good especially for the plus sizes that run long to accommodate for belly room in the shirt. 

I've been buying some 8.5 x 11 glitter heat transfer sheets made by Tulip Brand. Retail wise they run you 14.99 and you get 4 sheets per package and they have 3 different color packages to choose from. I've been mainly using the Urban pack which is has Purple, Pink, Multi Silver and Aqua sheets. I've been using my Cricut Personal to cut out my designs from the sheets then weed my design ( take away the excess material) then place and heat press using my iron.
Tulip Fashion Glitter Shimmer Transfer Sheets

Instructions.
*Cutting these glitter sheets on a cricut machine you want to place the shiny poly side down and the backing side up. set the blade dial to 3. your speed to 2 and your pressure to 2 and cut. NOTE: make sure your images are cut in reverse or flipped so that when you put it on the garment it's facing the right way.
*Weed your image.
*Place image on shirt, have iron at the highest setting usually COTTON, no steam. If using a pressing sheet ( silicon or wax paper ) keep iron moving over the whole design do not let it stay in one place for a long period of time because the poly sheet is not heat resistant and will shrink and melt. This is the only CON to the product. also you want to make sure you do a 10 second count and peel hot to warm. full cooling will cause the adhesive on the poly sheet to really stick to the garment and may cause the glitter transfer to pull off.
 This is an example of the Aqua Glitter Sheet

The next product I've used is Foil transfer sheets. This product is applied using adhesive with the option of heat. So far I've purchased 4 brands and have only used 2 out of the 4 since I've just recently purchased the other 2.

June's Tones Foils ( they also sell adhesive) one that I've already tried.
This Product comes in a few forms. you can get a 16pc value kit with different types of foils that are 6x12in sheets for around $13. You can also buy by the sheet 6x12in or 12x12in and a 12in x 50ft roll ( best value) as low as $31.20. I haven't seen this product in stores and I've just ordered directly from the company's website.
The cross bones are the Junes Tones Rainbow foil. I used Heat & Bond cut out shapes as my adhesive.


Simply Screen Foil Sheets by Plaid. ( they also sell adhesive) second I've tried
This product comes in a 6 sheet pack of 8x11 sheets for 9.99 but I haven't seen them in the stores anymore which has caused me to look at other products of the same type

Martha Stewart Crafts Foil Sheets ( adhesive also available ) not yet tried
This products comes in a set of 6 sheets you get 3 different colors in each package. There are 3 different color sets to choose from as well. The sheets are 6x7in and sells for 9.99 - 11.49. So far I've only been able to find the at Michaels.

YUDU Foil Sheets by Provo Craft ( adhesive also available ) not yet tried
This product comes in a set of 6 sheets and 2 colors in each package. There are 5 different color sets to choose from. Each sheet is 12x16in and sells for around 9.99. I haven't seen these in store yet. Jo-Ann's website does carry them you can also find a few online retailers or directly from Provo Craft. 

Martha Stewart Crafts also has a line of Glitter transfer sheets at the 6x7in size but you need adhesive for this. And she has a line of Flocking which again you need adhesive.

Provo Craft also carries Flocking sheets and you'll need adhesive to do the transferring over to your garment. These run you alil more price wise and you only get 4 sheets in a pack and 2 colors with 5 different color sets to choose from. Same sizing on sheet 12x16in. 

Once I test the rest of these products I'll post pictures and instructs on how I use them and do a "bang for your buck" comparison on everything. My next step is to get the actual heat transfer vinyl, glitter and flocking that does not need adhesive you just cut, weed and press. The products listed above you have to take and extra step.


My suggestion is that if you do decide to purchase these or any of the products that are carried in major crafting retail chains is to keep an eye out for coupons usually you'll find 40% - 50% off ones for Jo-Ann's, AC Moore and Michael's

Long over due.

WOW! It's been awhile since I've updated so I think better take the time and do so.

I guess I'll just give alil run down of what been going on since last time to keep everyone up to date. I've finished a few quilting tops. Also started a few tops and completed some quilts as and and I think I have 1 in the process of being quilted now for completion. I've also jumped backed into the whole T-shirt thing, but this time using heat transfer stuff such as, foils, vinyl, flocking and glitters. Trying to come up with some more designs to hopefully start selling by the beginning of the year. In other news my day is great was awarded employee of the quarter this week for 3rd quarter of the year. Was a very nice surprise and it's really cool to feel appreciated for the efforts I make everyday.

So I think over the next few weeks I'll glance over my blog and tie up some loose ends as far as some tutorials I've half assed on here and need to finish up. Also thinking about doing some more "Give Aways" I just gotta think of what will be fun . I just like to share and give back and make someone's day alil brighter. So I promise i'll be back within the next week to get this blog back in gear :)

Start Quilt for Dummies : Part 1

Hey Everyone,

So it's been a bit and I figured I'd do a little sew a long / lesson for everyone. I've decided to, and as you can probably tell by the title, make a Star Quilt of the Lone Star / Bethlehem style. All the photo's i'll be posting is my second attempt. I do have photos of my first but I got as far as trying to square up my final pieced diamonds and ran right into an EPIC FAIL. So I walked away for 2 days and came back with a clear head and got the job done. Well all 8 diamond pieces that is. Anyways lets just get to the fun :) Sit back enjoy and sew along if you'd like. 

Step 1. RESEARCH ( I've covered most of this for you here but still it's fun to do alil research of your own ) I've found a few links mainly videos I'm happy to share with you. 
First up is www.fonsandporter.com  , you may have to subscribe to their video feed to view the video on the bethlehem star. There are 2 parts to that series in the the 1400 series video 1401 and 1402. 
Next up is Jan Krentz full DVD on how to make a Lone Star Quilt. This one is a 3 day rental on Youtube that runs 3.99,
Last but not least and I think the most fun is Quilt in a Day - Radiant Star Technique , which is FREE and gives you some good tips. There are also some basic stuff floating around the internet too but nothing I felt was worth mentioning .

Step 2. Picking your fabric. I used a Jelly Roll of a fabric collection I bought at Joann's. Usually Jelly Rolls will have fabrics that all go together and from 1 whole collection. As mentioned the first star I did was crapped but I only used 10 strips from the Jelly Roll on the that star and the other 10 on the new one. Jelly Rolls are 2.5in x 42 - 44 in strips of fabric .

Step 3. After you've picked you're fabrics you can begin cutting. If you're using a Jelly Roll then no need to cut the strips because the work is done for you. If cutting you'll need to cut as many 2.5in strips selvedge to selvedge in all the colors that will be in your final pieced diamonds. 

At any time feel free to click on the images to enlarge them to get a better view :)

OK so now I'll walk you through everything I've done so far.
In the pic above I've picked out the strips I want to use for my diamonds to make my star and also the fabric I want to use as my background. I've set my strips in 3 rows of 3 since you'll be making a 9 piece diamond. If you look closely you'll see the pattern the colors will make in the end. The 2 full orange pieces are the top and bottom points.

This is how I laid out my fabric rows to get the ready to make strip sets.  

Row1A - Row1B - Row1C  /  Row2A - Row2B - Row2C  /  Row3A - Row3B - Row3C

Keep this in mind later on as well when you as piecing the rows together . 

Now you'll want to sew your strip sets together with a 1/4 in seam. You'll want to offset each fabric in the set so that when you go to cut a 45 degree angle later on you won't be wasting a lot of fabric. Remember each strip set has 3 strips only for this pieced diamond. 


Once you finishing sewing your first 2 strips together press your seam open rather then to 1 side. This will help you later on when you are piecing. Now sew your 3rd strip on, again offset the strip because of the 45 degree angle you'll be cutting. After you sew that strip press the seam open. and repeat this process for other 2 strip sets.

Pictured above is the way you'll want your strip sets looking when you are about to cut your new sections. You'll want to find the 45 degree angle and TRUE UP the end of the strip set so that you will get your diamond section rows. Once you do this you'll be ready to cut small strip sections on a 45 degree angle. Those sections will be cut at the same size the strips were wide which would be 2.5 inches.
You'll also need to cut 8 strip section for all 3 strip sets to get all the parts you'll need to make the 8 larger diamond that will make up your star.

When you're done cutting you should get 3 piles like this :)


This pics shows a mock up of the final diamond and how it should look.

In the pic above I had to do a drawing of how the row pieces get sewn together. Remember to do right sides facing and you'll also want to use spray starch and pins for this. Trust me it helps A LOT. So once you connect Row 1 to Row 2 repeat with Row 3 then do this process 7 more times to make your 8 ( 9 pieced diamonds )


Once all your diamonds are done press the seams open and WOW you've complete a whole 9 piece diamond that will become 1 point of your star.

Now you can lay out your full star on a table or a design wall and see how it looks. You can also audition your background fabric now too, to see if you like it or want to change it.

So there you have it folks the 1st part to my Star Quilt for Dummies sew a long.Keep any eye out for part 2 of the journey and any questions feel free to to email me at ananyimusic@aol.com

Fabric Overload !

HELLO Everyone :) 

Well it's been a awhile since I've last posted, I've just been busy working and what not. But right now I just wanna share my latest collection of fabrics I've acquired. I went alil nuts at Joann's today they had alot of stuff on clearance and on sale and I just couldn't help myself.

To get a better look just click the images to enlarge. 





Zig Zag Quilt Finished !

YAAA! So I finished the quilt the other day. It came out really great and the hubby really liked it and has used it every night since :) so happy. 
Now to break in this Cricut and Yudu machine :)

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