Blooming Good!

I made a lot of progress on flowers over the past 2 days.  This one is my favorite.  I love the way the pink/green print really connects the flower to the stem.

This was my progress by the end of Saturday.

 And by the end of Sunday, I can almost declare this section done.   (Just 3 leaves to go)

 But there's another weekend worth of leaves to be done on the right 2/3 of the panel.

I don't have Photoshop so my photo splicing is really rough, but this is kind of where I think I'm going.  I want some open space in the middle balance out all the vines.  I'm considering trying some trapunto. If I extend the vines under the bird to the lower right corner, and same from the circle vine going toward the upper left, I'd end up with a 15" x 30" rectangle in the center.


I'm open to suggestions.  What would you do with the center?

Petal Progress

I got one of the small flowers stitched last night.  I was thinking of the large flowers when I was picking fabric placement, so I'm not entirely happy with this one.  But not unhappy enough to  un-sew it.

Unfortunately, I already had the outer 3 petals stitched on this one too.  Clever color placement, however will make for improvements.

Leaves

My daughter had friends over Saturday to watch movies and eat pizza to celebrate her birthday, so I was displaced to the bedroom to applique and listen to football on the radio.

I have a rather alarming pile of green batik scraps.

Which means that there's a lot of variety in my leaves.   13 leaves finished over 2 days.

As is the one blossom that I made months ago using the freezer paper method.  The others will be back basting.

Thanks for all of you who took the time to leave comments about format. I like the classic format too, so you'll keep seeing posts this way.

Vining for you

The problem with hand applique is that progress is slow.  I added blue centers to the flowers in the upper right corner of the section I put in the last post. 

Then I lost interest and started drawing the flowers that drew me to Esther's mystery quilt  in the first place onto the back of a strip which will be the bottom of my revised quilt.

For several evenings, I've been adding vines.

And more vines.  I have a couple more stems to add then it's on to leaves, and at long last those flowers that I love.

Little Progress

I am still trying to adjust to my new work schedule.  After a decade of consulting work, I'm finding it a real challenge to work scheduled hours 5 days per week, and have to factor in commuting time.  It's amazing how exhausted I am at the end of the day, trying to absorb and retain all the new information.

I've added some leaves to the corner of my variation of Esther Aliu's Heart's Desire.  The cluster of 5 flowers is from the outer border corner vase.  The buds on the left were already drawn on the back of the fabric which was supposed to be like the upper left block before I gave up on the original.  I think I'll add more leaves once I figure out what is going into that lower left block.

I have a few hours today to work on quilts...will I end up working on this, or something entirely different????

Technique Snob

I've been pondering discussions I've been reading where quilters feel it necessary to defend using a specific style or technique in quilt making.  And I'll be the first to admit that while I can admire any quilt, I go weak in the knees when I see something made with needle-turn applique and hand quilting.  It is always my preferred style.  Not only do I like the finished look, but also how well it holds up over time.  I envision every quilt I make as a potential heirloom.  

After finishing some hand applique flowers for Leah Day, I decided to make a second set using a fusible and raw edge applique technique so I could compare them for myself (for real...not just what I thought they'd be like).  Here are my observations:

The flower on the left (1A) I made by drawing the petals on the back of the material freehand and using back-basting needleturn.  The yellow centers are yo-yos.  The one on the right (1B) is reversed b/c I made the pattern off the one on the left and forgot to flip the pattern for fusable (user error). 

Even though flowers A and B had all the petals made from one fabric, I think that A has a lot more dimention.  Both A & B were pressed with steam and a hot iron.  I took all the pictures outside in the same location at the same time.   You can see that I also had some puckering from the double line of stitching that I did on the raw-edge version (B) since it was on the bias and it never occured to me to use a stabilizer.

 I have to admit, that this is my first serious attempt at raw-edge applique.  On the up side, it only took a couple hours to make all 4 flowers, compared to a week of evenings watching TV for the needle-turn.   My practice with free-motion quilting made my stitching pretty even and I did do 2 rows of stitching, which I read somewhere gives a better finished product.  The thread-painting effect of petals also allowed me to cut out large pieces of fabric for flowers 3&4 saving the time and fuss of arranging each individually.

That being said, I really dislike the raw edges.  I was using scrap fabrics and the edges of the lower thread count fabrics look frayed already and it's never been washed.  The decision of if I would EVER do raw-edge applique again would come down to quilting.  These flowers were designed to show off Leah's dense free-motion quilting.  Not only will that improve the "flat" look of the "B" flowers, but will add another layer of thread to keep the raw edges contained. 

Well, my experiment is over and it's time for these poseys to head to the post office so they can enjoy their vacation in North Carolina.

Free Form Flowers

I was extended a challenge by Leah Day for a collaboration that would combine my love of applique with her amazing FMQ.

I thought that I was going to have 14 hours of car time to applique on this project over the weekend on our way to Wyoming to camp.  However, I ended up either driving or supervising Skater Girl who has a driving permit.

Once camp was set up, I doodled out this funky flower on the fabric and stitched down a couple petals while it rained.  I'm trying to decide if I'll add some small yellow yo-yo's for a center. 

When I got home, I drew this funky zinnia.  The center still needs to be stitched, but I just couldn't wait to post the picture.

WIP on Wed - July 20

Not much quilting time for me this week, just work, fun travel and a couple days under the weather.

Still slowly working on Esther's block using back basting.  A couple more evenings of TV and I should have this one done.

And I got sidetracked designing a beginners sampler quilt.  A couple of the lady riders from the motorcycle club were talking this weekend about taking a quilting class.  I told them that was a silly idea since I'd teach them.  I put together several blocks that look hard but are actually easy.  The missing 3 blocks will either be paper piecing, applique and curved piecing or 3 more 9-patch variations depending upon their confidence levels at that point.

Now I'm off to Work on Wed...

Love Entwined

I got this block nearly finished Monday while the window guys were banging on my nerves.  Just a couple hearts today for the finish.  I am still debating on the "slits" in the hearts.    Esther's "Stories Behind the Blocks" post from the Yahoo Group says "The pierced hearts that join together to flower in collects of 4 go on to unify the blocks. As with traditional folk motifs, a hole in the heart represents hardship, pain or difficulty. And of course, all beauty and longing, desire and harmony is momentary, just as life is."  As I was working on this yesterday, I felt like I needed to leave only a 1/4" edge around the hearts, and leave the rest as a large gaping hole.  But maybe by the time I get the blocks all finished, there will be some healing.  

Back Basting Applique - Part 2

I've had lots of questions about this technique.  Hopefully this post will answer all of them.
I am using the Be Still My Heart block from Esther's Heart's Desire BOM.  This pattern is free until March 15th, when she will offer block 2 of the Mystery Block of the Month free for a month.  It's a good block to practice this technique on since there are long, sweeping turns rather than a lot of fussy inside & outside points.

Once your shape is basted and cut out, you are going  to cut and remove the basting thread where you are going to do the needleturn.  I pull about 2" worth of thread on a straight section like this, or about 1" on a more complicated piece.

I like to start stitching in the middle of a straight section since it's sometimes hard to get started and do an inside or outside point at the same time.

Here's my technique for needle turn:
On a straight section like this, I like to turn under 1-1.5"  before I start to stitch.  Grab the seam allowance that you are going to turn under with the tip of your needle.

Fold that allowance under, using your thumb to hold it in place.  In this picture, you can see the little holes that were made by the basting stitch (click to enlarge if you need to).  This is your fold line.

Use the needle to tidy this edge. In this case, I'll use the tip of the needle to push that pointy section right of the needle under.  And I'll use the tip of the needle to pull some of the fabric  left of the needle out to be more rounded.  Once I like how it looks, I typically run the thumb of my needle hand over the fold to finger press it.

I then scoot my thumb over the section that I just turned to hold it in place, and to be closer to my stitching area for better control.

Then just stitch-away.  My stitches are typically 5mm apart on straight sections and as close as 3mm on inside and outside points.

The next piece in this pattern will be layered on top of this green piece.  Since I won't be able to see well through it, like I did with the first piece, it's time for a different technique.

I mark the outline of the piece with large pins.  In this case, I only need to mark 2 sides b/c the outside green petal marks the outside (left side in the picture.)

On the front side, I know that the chunk of fabric I'm going to use next needs to cover the petal and the pins.

I used the edge of my yardage to line up with the outer left petal.  I use short applique pins to hold the fabric in place.  The pins are placed outside the petal on the left and outside the location-marking pins on the right.

That way, when I flip it to the back to baste, I can see that the pins are outside the design area and I have enough fabric to cover the shape.  Also, with the pins on the opposite side from the basting, the thread doesn't get caught while you are stitching.

Baste in place using a contrasting thread.  I like longer stitches for straight edges and stitch closer together for smaller or more complicated pieces.

I make small corrections sometimes when basting too. The line I drew on the right, seemed to get narrow, so I moved the basting line to the inside of the drawn line.  I'll make corrections to my wonky stitching line when I trim the shape.

On the front side, cut out the shape.  In doing this tutorial, I realized that I leave a 5mm seam allowance.  (about half-way b/w 1/8 and 1/4").  That little extra wiggle room is good for fine-tuning the folds, but doesn't make for too much bulk.

Line up the next piece the same way.  I'm feeling for the pins that I used to mark the point of this petal.  And I can feel the outside of the green petal through the pink to make sure I have the design covered.  Pin on the front side, baste on the back.

Since these pieces won't overlap with each other, I'll baste all 6 of them down, then I'll do the stitching on all of them before I go through the same process for the center petals.

So, what do you think?  Are you ready to try?

Back Basting Applique - Getting Started

I was trying to explain back-basting to Lynne at Lily's Quilts and decided it might be easier to just get started on Esther's  Hearts Desire BOM and take pictures.


After taping together the parts of the pattern, secure it to your window (OK, you can use a light box if you have one) with the "right" side facing the neighbors.

 Press a centering seam into the fabric, then tape it to the window over the pattern, also right side to the neighbors.  Use a pencil to trace the design on the back side of the fabric.

If you have template plastic and an extra 6 minutes,  you could make templates for some of the repeating elements to make sure they are exactly the same shape if that kind of detail bothers you.

The first thing I'm going to applique is the large 6-petaled motif.  Place a chunk of the design fabric, bigger than the shape  that you want to use on the table, right side down. (You'll be trimming it to shape later)  Place the backing fabric over it, also face down. Make sure that the chunk of fabric completely covers the shape.  This background is thin enough that you can see the dark fabric through it.  Otherwise, I hold it up to the light & make sure that there is enough fabric for the motif with some extra around the edges.  Pin in place.  For a big piece like this, I used a dozen applique pins but would typically use 2 or 3.  After it's pinned, double check position by holding it up to the light.

With thread that contrasts with both the background and the design fabric, baste on the line.  This dotted line will be your fold line for the needle turn.

This is a good place for a tip about needles.  When I baste, I use a rather thick sewing needle - the kind that comes in a multi-pack from the dollar store.  It leaves bigger holes in the fabric when the thread is removed, helping to mark both the fold, and where it should attach to the background.

Once it is basted, flip it over and trim to 1/8" or whatever size seam you want to work with.  If your stitching line was a little wobbly (like mine was on this point) you can improve the shape of the piece with careful trimming.

Tracing the whole design, basting and trimming only took me 15 minutes (including pictures).  And TA-DA!  Not only am I ready to sew, but the piece is exactly the right shape and in exactly the right place.  No templates. No freezer paper. No glue. No mystery positioning.

These are my MUST HAVE applique tools. I love the YLI # 100 silk thread. The stitches are nearly invisible.  I like Thread Heaven thread conditioner for applique, but will use bees wax in a pinch.  My preference is an 11 or 12 applique needle.  You really need the silk thread to use a needle that small.

Then it's just basic needle turn technique for the stitching.  Fold on the dotted line, making sure it matches up to the dotted line on the background.

Super simple.  I love back-basting needle turn applique.  Before someone showed me how, I was an applique hater.  Now...I'm Applique Addict.

Ojibwe Applique - sections joined

My quilting progress this weekend was slowed considerably by a sore throat that came on Friday afternoon, necessitating gallons of herbal tea and excess sleep.

I finished up the detailed applique for Ojibwe inspired quilt and decided I needed to connect the 5 sections before I finished with the leaves.  Sadly, I couldn't find any notes from when I designed this in 2005 as to the measurements of each section and only a vague idea on how they were supposed to go together.  And to make things more frustrating, I don't seem to have any more of one green fabric for the corner leaves.

Here's the upper left corner in which all the applique is finished.  Now the weird thing to me is that even with the guess on measurements the vine turned out the shape I'd originally planned but there's a big gap with no leaves or flowers where the panels join.

#$&*@#^!&@^!

I was really looking forward to being done with this.

The only other quiltish accomplishment was the purchase of this pile.  They came from 2 different thrift stores.  The bottom two are 100% cotton sheets that cost $2.50 each and are destined to be quilt backs.  The top 4 were the finds off the "all you can stuff in a bag for $1".  The brown are linen pants and the other 3 plaid cotton shirts.  The shirts I have in mind for a very functional quilt for one of my brothers.  I'm trying to convince myself to use linen in a quilt.  I'm just afraid how well it'll hold up in a bed quilt and regular laundering.

I think it's time for more tea and a soft pillow. zzzzz