One Piece at a Time

The Most Amazing Discovery

Warning…post for appliqué nerds.

As you can see in the above picture I make all my appliqué shapes beforehand. One very wonderful time saver has been using Roxanne’s Glue Baste to pre-assemble my appliqué elements and then to glue baste the whole block together before I begin stitching. I have used Roxanne’s Glue Baste for years and I have always had one GIANT complaint.

That thin needle applicator ALWAYS gets clogged, even if I carefully wash it out after each use. The other day I discovered these in my bathroom drawer.

For those of you who do not have children with braces these are the handy dental floss gadgets that your children will never use to floss their braces. Well, let me tell you, they are great for getting your glue baste un-clogged. Just thread them through the applicator. Lucky for me, I have tons, since my kids no longer have braces but I’m pretty sure they are available at most grocery stores.

Helpful Tools and a Resource

 

Since I do most of my appliqué by making all my shapes beforehand using starch and an iron it is really important to have a convenient ironing surface. Seriously, who wants to stand at an ironing board for multiple hours when you can sit listening to your ipod and press fabric into flower petals. I made this ironing board a couple of years ago and it has saved my back. You can make it too, here’s how. At your local home improvement center they usually have sheets of particle board. I think I found a 24”x48” sheet. You can often have them cut it for you so I had mine cut into two 24” squares. These can then be covered with a layer of batting and a layer of fabric. Just cut out pieces about 32” square. I used a spray baste to bind the batting to the board. After that I stretched the fabric firmly around and stapled it on the back. If the staples don’t go in all the way use a hammer to pound them in. When this cover gets messy from too much starch just replace it with another square of batting and fabric.

Also, I have added another site to my Favorite Websites list. Karen Kay Buckley is an amazing quilter and teacher. Her web site is full of inspiration and her shop has a wonderful and very complete selection of tools for appliqué. If you ever have the opportunity to take a class from her, DO IT. She is a really Great teacher and you will learn so much.

A Little About My Design Process

Heads up Quilters!!! In 2010 I am planning on doing two (not one but TWO) Block of the Months on this blog. One will be completely appliquéd (well, maybe a little piecing in the sashing) The other will have two options, one completely pieced and one combining piecing and appliqué. Lucky for me my friend Debbie is going to sew the completely pieced one in her special Debbie colors. I’m going the combo quilt.

Speaking of that, I was working on the design for the center medallion the other day and I thought I would show you a little of my process. I knew that I wanted to have a center flower with other flowers radiating out. I have designed many different flowers for quilts so I started with a few of my favorites. After fiddling with the flowers I draw ¼ of the quilt. (This only works if you have a symmetrical design)

Then I go to my local Kinkos and use the large format copier to make 4 copies. Paste those together and Ta Da

A Little Christmas Appliqué

 

As promised here is a picture of my little Christmas quilt with all the appliqué pieces glue basted on. My favorite method for appliqué is sometimes called the starch and press method. I wrote about it in a previous post that can be found here. The great thing about this method is that all your shapes are made first. After that it is simply a matter of placing them and glue basting them down. I’ve tried a couple types of fabric glue but Roxanne’s Glue is my favorite. It doesn’t get so hard that it’s difficult to sew through which can be a problem with some glues.

Here is a picture of the appliqué pieces all made.

Here is a picture of all my favorite appliqué tools.

1.       Glasses: sadly the magnification is getting larger every year

2.       Blunt tip scissors: I can’t be trusted with the sharp tips on most days

3.       John James Gold N’Glide needles: sharps number 10

4.       Applique turner: that’s the funny looking wood thing

5.       Thread Heaven: keeps the thread from tangling

6.       Thimble pads: all the protection of a thimble without the bulk

7.       Metler 60wt. thread in matching colors

Now, as soon as I can bribe one of my kids I will have pictures of the stitching. I just haven’t perfected the art of sewing and photographing at the same time.

OUCH!

Today’s Quilt Lab entry has nothing to do with actual quilting but more personal maintenance. A few years ago I had a job making very small detectors for a company. It was a very hand intensive task. I had to do a ton of crimping with a pair of side cutters and my left hand really started to hurt. It turns out I have developed arthritis in my left hand. This seemed really odd to me since I am right handed so I started noticing what kinds of tasks my left hand did. Last weekend I was sewing quilt bindings on some table runners I made for my Etsy shop (coming soon) when my hand really started to hurt, it dawned on me that I use my left hand to hold things still so I can do things to them with my right hand. Not only do I hold things but I hold them with a pretty tight grip. Luckily there are hand exercises that can really help this so if you find this happening to you go here and do these. I definitely want to keep my hands in shape because I have so many more quilts to make.

Quilt Lab: Flying Geese Ruler

For all you quilters out there today I am introducing a new category called Quilt Lab. In this section I hope to show you some of the tricks I have learned over the years and some of the gadgets I have found that make quilting easier. Today’s topic is the Quilt-in-a-Day Flying Geese ruler. For those of you who have struggled with cutting off the points in your Flying Geese units this ruler is for you. It has somewhat complicated directions but in the end you will have flying geese with perfect ¼” allowances so no more lopped off point. So, here we go.

For each size Flying Goose unit you will cut two squares of different sizes (follow package directions for your particular size) Center the smaller square on the large square, right sides together, and draw a diagonal line.

 

Sew a ¼” seam on each side of this drawn line.

Cut the unit in two along your drawn line.

Press the seams toward the larger triangle.

Now, take two of these units and line them up as shown. Draw a diagonal line and sew a ¼” seam on either side of this line.

 

 

Cut the unit apart along the drawn line.

Clip the seam allowance of the most recent seam between the other two seams as shown.

Press so that the large triangle open and flat.

Each ruler has the ability to make two different sizes of flying geese. Here I am making the smaller size. Use the triangle marked on the ruler to cut the top and first size of the unit.

Turn the cut unit over and align the ruler to cut the bottom and second side.

Viola, a perfect Flying Goose.

The Quilt with No Name

I think I should rename this post Appliqué for people with OCD (I actually haven’t been diagnosed but I have my suspicions).

My favorite method for appliqué is the starch and press method. In this method you make a template out of some heat resistant plastic such as templar or Mylar and turn under all the seam allowances before you even sew. This method works great for any very precise, intricate pattern like, say, the ones I usually design.

Here is my pattern, which I haven’t named yet so if anyone has any ideas I’m all ears. As soon as I get this all done I will put the pattern in my ETSY shop for purchase (more on this later)

Here are a couple of pictures of my tools. This quilt I’m trying a new glue called Appli-Glue which you can get from jilillystudio.com. This glue comes with a no-clog tip which is heavenly.

Here I am making a petal with my template.

Here I am making a circle. I use these heat resistant Mylar circles that you can get from karenkaybuckley.com. To get perfect circles you can just stitch around the edges, pull and press with starch.

 

 

I then place my pattern behind the background fabric and glue everything on…

TA DA

 

All ready to go and no pins to get your thread all tangled in.

Thanks to my daughter for taking the action (ha!) shots.