My guest for the July Let's Go Sew Sew with Joanne Banko, Sew, Tell Me show was my friend Heather Banks. Heather is a quilt pattern designer, a partner with Accquilt and an educator for OESD, Oklahoma Embroidery Supply and Design.
Her passion is teaching and helping others to express their creativity through sewing and embroidery. Heather and her husband live near Nashville, TN where they enjoy rural living with their three dogs and their bees!
Heather shared lots of ideas for using old jeans in new ways. Here are some highlights from the show, with inspiring pictures, resources for Inventive Denim project instructions, along with a few of Heather's tips for experiencing more enjoyment in your sewing space!
You'll find contact info for Heather and a link to watch a replay of the entire show at the end of this post.
Her passion is teaching and helping others to express their creativity through sewing and embroidery. Heather and her husband live near Nashville, TN where they enjoy rural living with their three dogs and their bees!
Heather shared lots of ideas for using old jeans in new ways. Here are some highlights from the show, with inspiring pictures, resources for Inventive Denim project instructions, along with a few of Heather's tips for experiencing more enjoyment in your sewing space!
You'll find contact info for Heather and a link to watch a replay of the entire show at the end of this post.
Heather has over a dozen denim PDF patterns available on her Etsy site. You'll find them when you CLICK HERE.
Her Dizzy Denim pattern was featured in an issue of Quiltmaker magazine. Not just for quilts, this block makes a great focal point for a colorful tote.
Heather's signature "faux" cathedral windows rag quilt pattern is designed to coordinate with her Accuquilt die. Find out more about this GO! Rag Circle 6 1/2 inch die for the Accuquilt GO HERE.
This cool tool cuts the circle with important notches and it snips the entire circle so it's ready to fluff up as a rag quilt when laundered. Heather talked about other methods for cutting circle but it's easy to see why her favorite method is using her Accuquilt GO machine. Explore more about the Accuquilt cutting system HERE.
This cool tool cuts the circle with important notches and it snips the entire circle so it's ready to fluff up as a rag quilt when laundered. Heather talked about other methods for cutting circle but it's easy to see why her favorite method is using her Accuquilt GO machine. Explore more about the Accuquilt cutting system HERE.
This is what a completed circle looks like.
Of course denim quilts are perfectly pet approved! Rugged, yet beautiful, and so much fun to make. Heather told us she cut 300 circles before she had to clean out the fuzz left from fringing with the special die. That's pretty impressive!
Using a quilt as you go method, these blocks work for so many different projects, including table runners, placemats, totes, and all kinds of colorful quilts paired with 5-inch charm squares and optional batting. Heather showed exactly how to cut and sew the blocks during the show.
Denim can be re-worked into a wide variety of creative projects.
Combine patchwork with denim for pillows and use every part of old jeans for embellishment. even zipper teeth can be used as an accent!
How about using strips of denim to make coiled bowls? These are all the rage! While this pic didn't make it into the show, I hope to have Heather on in the future to show us how it's done.
Denim doesn't have to be blue. Here we see a pretty pink piece she decorated with small pattern stitches on the embroidery side of her machine and turned into a cute little duffel bag. Yet another example of Heather's creativity that we didn't get to see during the show.
In talking about storing jeans for future use, Heather told us she likes to sort by color, and often cuts up the jeans into usable pieces, keeping the extra parts such as pockets, zippers, etc. aside to use for embellishment purposes.
In talking about storing jeans for future use, Heather told us she likes to sort by color, and often cuts up the jeans into usable pieces, keeping the extra parts such as pockets, zippers, etc. aside to use for embellishment purposes.
Heather spends a lot of time creating in her sewing space. She shared some of her favorite tools on the show, including her favorite blue ink wash away fabric marking pen, brand name Leonis, found HERE online.
Having a mini iron is an essential in her sewing repertoire. When I asked Heather what helps make her sewing space a happy place, she said she likes to see what she has, so storing supplies in clear containers helps her make her sewing space a happy place. Having her 3 dogs near by, with their dog beds finding a prominent place in her space keeps her happy too!!!
Having a mini iron is an essential in her sewing repertoire. When I asked Heather what helps make her sewing space a happy place, she said she likes to see what she has, so storing supplies in clear containers helps her make her sewing space a happy place. Having her 3 dogs near by, with their dog beds finding a prominent place in her space keeps her happy too!!!
Oh yes! Heather has many other interests that keep her busy. Living in a rural environment, Heather and her hubby grow veggies for canning, raise chickens, and are known as the the Banks Beekeepers.
Connect with Heather and learn more from her when you visit her sites:
Website: sewingwithheather.com
You Tube channel:
www.youtube.com/@sewingwithheather
Etsy Store:
www.etsy.com/shop/InventiveDenim
Private Facebook Group: The Education Connection (with Cindy Hogan)
Connect with Heather and learn more from her when you visit her sites:
Website: sewingwithheather.com
You Tube channel:
www.youtube.com/@sewingwithheather
Etsy Store:
www.etsy.com/shop/InventiveDenim
Private Facebook Group: The Education Connection (with Cindy Hogan)
Watch the replay video on my Let's Go Sew with Joanne Banko You Tube channel HERE.
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