One Piece at a Time

The WINNER is

I used an online random number generator (how nerdy is that) and it is:

Donna Caldwell

Who wrote

            “UFO's Yes I have so many ET came to my house looking for a trip home....oh not that type of UFO..but seriously the quilting room runneth over..I currently have a bella going on the design wall and a kaleidiscope and several other blocks ..kind of looks A.D.H.D. Oh and don't mention the ones in the closet!!!OH NO! Donna”

So Donna your e-mail is on the way. If you don’t get it post a comment and I will try to get to you that way.

It seems that many of us are in the same boat. All I have to say is that finishing quilts is over-rated. Sometimes we just have to wait for the right inspiration. I always tell people I have to live long enough to finish all my projects. At the current rate I think I need to live to be 130, at least. Here is a picture of my UFO’s, the ones I could find that is.

FLICKR Group announcement

I have started a group on flickr for us. I thought this group would be fun for those of us doing Floribunda. I’m calling it Florabuddies. If you don’t know about flickr it is a free photo sharing website. If you want to join here is the link

http://www.flickr.com/groups/florabuddies

I have uploaded some pictures of my fabric selection, the center block and block 1. It would be fun to see what other people are doing with it.

Finally, since it is Friday I wanted to leave you with something fun for the weekend. I found this absolutely hysterical blog this morning called Cake Wreaks. Some of the cakes are, shall we say, interesting and some are hilarious.

Happy Weekend

First Ever GIVE-AWAY

Welcome to my first ever GIVE-AWAY. Here’s the deal. Leave a comment in the comment section telling me what’s in your UFO basket. Tomorrow morning I will pick a comment at random and that person will get the PRIZE. Many of you lovely lovely blog readers left comments yesterday and those count so you don’t have to write in again.

FLORABUNDA Block of the Month update

I haven’t had a chance to get over to FLICKR to set up an album but it is on my “to do” list for today.

Some people have asked about where they can find the Miss Hannah Pattern. The short answer is that this will be part of the BOM and you will get it for FREE in December. If you absolutely can’t wait until then I will have it for sale in my Etsy shop hopefully by next week (more on that later).

INFO about today’s PRIZE

I’ve made a little “Appliqué Care Package”. There is a package of Thimble Pads, a very cute mini bottle of Roxanne’s Glue Baste and Pearl Pereira’s appliqué tool. This isn’t the exact one I use but is very similar and you can find them here (along with other yummy things). This is very handy for tucking fabric in as you appliqué around points (lesson coming).

Have fun and THANK YOU for all your wonderful comments. I have to go now because he

Has been patiently waiting for his W-A-L-K (we can’t say that word in this house)

What’s in Your UFO Basket?

First, I want to thank all of you for the lovely response to the BOM Florabunda. I think this is going to be huge fun. I’m thinking we might need an online gallery so I’m looking into having a FLICKR group for us. I will let you know as soon as I figure it out.

Also, to thank you I am going to do my very first GIVE-AWAY tomorrow. I’m going to one of my favorite quilt shops later today to pick out some goodies.

Lastly, I want to know what’s in your UFO basket (Un Finished Object). Be sure to think about it and post it in comments tomorrow to qualify for the GIVE-AWAY.

The quilt shown above is one of MANY in my UFO basket (it’s a very big basket actually). Let me explain. A few years ago I had a small obsession with circular quilts. After I made Sri Yantra I designed a few more in a circular pattern. I think it was because I was in a show called ART+MATH or maybe I was just being incredibly nerdy. When I showed the above quilt to my doctor friend he said

“Make sure you don’t induce epileptic seizures in your audience”

So now the quilt is referenced as “The Epileptic Seizure Quilt” and lives in my UFO basket. It does actually make me a little dizzy when I look at it. Does anyone have a better name?

DISCLAIMER: I hope people aren’t offended by this, I mean no disrespect for people dealing with epilepsy.

Sri Yantra Quilt

Appliqué Lesson 5: The Stitch, Starting and Stopping

Starting the Stitch

Here are some notes on what I’m using for Florabunda. Right now we only really need background fabric. I always cut my blocks bigger to allow for any shrinkage from the appliqué. It does happen. My blocks are all cut 14” square. I’m very partial to sateen for backgrounds. It has a little extra sheen and is lovely to stitch on. I especially like Spelcher Vogel sateen which is a bit pricey ($12/yard) but worth the price. As a rough rule I always plan on 1 yard to cut 4 background blocks. You can probably do with less than that. I do this because I don’t usually know exactly what size my blocks are going to be until after I buy the fabric. That being said, if you cut your blocks 13” you could probably get all 12 blocks cut from 1 ½ yards. If you are going to do the center medallion than plan on using another yard for that. I hope that helps.

The Appliqué Stitch

To stitch the appliqué in place you will need to make a small slipstitch along the folded edge of the appliqué shape. I like to start my stitching by knotting my thread and slipping into the fold of the appliqué shape. Place the needle into the background fabric next to where it came up through the appliqué. Catch a small amount of background fabric as you guide the needle into the edge of the appliqué. Try to only catch a few threads of the appliqué when you bring your needle up through the shape as shown. Keep your stitches close together so that the edge of the appliqué remains smooth. A good stitch spacing to aim for is 10 to 12 stitches per inch. To finish I bring the needle to the back of the block, take a small stitch into the background fabric behind the appliqué and use this stitch to make a knot as shown. I then tuck this thread behind the appliqué by threading my needle in between the background fabric and the appliqué and pulling it up through the background fabric a small distance from the knot. I cut the thread at the background fabric to prevent any fabric tails.

THE STITCH

I start my stitching from the front by slipping the thread into the applique f 

Place needle in background next to where it came up from the applique

Catch a small amount of background fabric as you guide the needle into the edge of the appliqué

Try to only catch a few threads of the appliqué when you bring your needle up through the shape as shown

Pull thread up and keep going

STOPPING

When you are done stitching around a shape bring thread up on the back and catch a few threads of the background fabric

Insert your needle through the loop this stitch makes to form a knot

Pull moderately tight

Thread needle between the background fabric and applique and come up slightly away from the knot

Cut the thread where it comes up. This will prevent the threads on the back from showing through.

Florabunda: Block 1

 

Here is Block 1 of my 2010 Block of the Month: Florabunda. I’m a little new to putting patterns up on my blog so if you have any trouble downloading the pattern let me know by leaving a comment. I have the pattern in two forms. The first is a full size pattern (12” square you can download here ) that you can save to a USB drive and take to a copy place to have printed. The other is a ¼ size drawing (download here) that should print on a regular printer. You can make 4 copies of this one and tape it together for a full size pattern. Good luck and let me know how it goes. If we have enough people doing this it would be fun to have a gallery.

Also, I have added some tips for pressing the appliqué pieces. If you look closely you will see that mine isn’t actually stitched yet (Ooops). I decided to take the kids to Avatar in IMAX 3D and I had a 3D movie hangover.

 
I can cut multiple shapes by pinning. These scissors from Karen Kay Buckley help.

Clip your inner points

  
I press my inner points first 

This is how I fold the puter points 

After applying a little starch I press the outer point

Viola! A finished flower

For Friday

Appliqué Lesson 4: Basting and Stuffed Circles

Basting Appliqué Block

Before I begin stitching I like to baste all my appliqué shapes into place. This eliminates the problem of your thread getting tangled up on pins. Some people like to sew their shapes down but I find it’s much easier to use Roxanne’s Glue Baste. To do this find the center of your background fabric. Pin the pattern onto the backside of your background fabric making sure the centers are aligned. You should be able to see the pattern through the fabric. If not, use a light box. Baste the appliqué pieces in place by placing a small amount of glue onto the background fabric and pressing the shapes in place. Be sure to pay attention to the layering of complicated shapes so that no raw edges are exposed.

Making Stuffed Circles

One of the ways I add dimension to my quilts is by adding stuffed circles. I use Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect Circle templates. There are some other circle templates available as well; I just find these very durable. To add the stuffing I use a fusible web to trace my circles. I then fuse this web onto some lightweight batting and cut out the circles. These circles can then be fused onto the back side of your fabric circles. To finish these circles I stitch around the edge of the fabric as shown. Place the circle template on top of the batting and pull the stitching thread to pull the seam allowance in. Once the circle is formed use your stencil brush to apply some starch and press until the circle is dry (I just set the iron down right on top and wait a few seconds). After you remove the template you will have a nice stuffed circle for you appliqué. You can also omit the batting for a flatter circle appliqué shape.

 
Stitched Circle with Batting Fused Inside 

Place Template on Top of Batting

Hold Circle While Pulling Thread

Brush Circle with Starch and Press

Announcing Florabunda: Block of the Month

 

I am happy to announce my very first, all designed by me, Block of the Month Quilt.  Starting next week I will be posting a quilt pattern each month (hopefully with a picture of the completed block). These patterns will be free to download from my blog for the whole of 2010. There will be two ways to finish this quilt. You can make the free patterns and finish it as a twin size quilt OR you can combine these with my pattern “Miss Hannah” for a medallion quilt. The blocks I have designed are very compatible with the starch and press appliqué method I have been writing about this week but really ANY appliqué method would work great. This is going to be fun. Maybe if we get enough people doing this we can have an online photo gallery going. Let me know what you think.

Applique Lesson 3: Stems

As you might imagine, stems are a big part of my appliqué process. I have two favorite ways of making stems, one uses the Clover Bias Tape Maker (find it here)  and the other uses Bias Press Bars (find it here). If I had to pick between the two I think I would pick the bias press bar method. It’s more labor intensive but the extra fabric gives your stems a slightly stuffed look and you can get very narrow stems.

Cutting Along the Bias

Both methods I use for stems require the use of bias strips. To cut along the bias place a quilting ruler on the fabric with the 45˚line along the selvedge or straight grain. Cut along the ruler’s edge to establish the bias. From here you can cut strips in desired widths using your quilting ruler.

Making Stems with Bias Tape Maker

To use the Clover Bias Tape Maker to make stems I cut a length of fabric ½” wide along the bias. This fabric can be threaded into the Bias Tape Maker and pressed using your iron as shown. Sometimes it is helpful to use a small amount of starch on the fabric to ease pressing.

Making Stems with Bias Press Bars

To make stems using Bias Press Bars cut a length of fabric at an appropriate width along the bias. I generally use 1/8” or 3/16” Bias Press Bars and I cut my strips ¾” to 1” wide. Fold the strip of fabric in half lengthwise with the wrong sides together. Sew along the length of the fabric keeping your stitching line at the desired stem width from the folded edge. Cut extra fabric from the seam very close to the stitching. Insert the Bias Press Bar and turn the stitching to one of the large flat sides. Press the remaining seam allowance to one side, making sure that the seam allowance doesn’t extend over the edge of the stem. Remove Bias Press Bar.

Appliqué Lesson 2: Making Shapes

This week I am going to share my very simple appliqué process with you. These are the directions I am adding to my patterns so if anything is unclear or misspelled (Debbie) please let me know so I can refine.

First I have a few more supplies to add to my list from Friday.

1.    Roxanne’s Glue Baste: Can’t live without it

2.    Sharpie Fine Point Marker

3.    ThimblePads: I’m a wimp when it comes to pain. You can find these at many quilt stores.

 Making Appliqué Shapes

To make your appliqué shapes you must first make a template using heat resistant Mylar or Templar. I trace the pattern onto the Templar using a fine point Sharpie. After your shape is traced cut the template out. At this point it is a good idea to check the template for smoothness. I usually run my finger over the edge until I find any bumps. These bumps can be filed off with a finger nail file.

Once you have your templates made it is time to use them to make your fabric shapes. Use a washable fabric marker to trace around your template onto the wrong side of your appliqué fabric. Cut around this traced line giving yourself a ¼” turn under allowance. Clip any inside curves.

Now it’s time to press. I generally use my iron on its cotton setting with little or no steam. Place the template on the wrong side of the appliqué shape. Using your stencil brush apply the liquid starch to the turn under allowance of a small portion of your shape. Let it soak into the fabric. With you iron, gently press the turn under allowance over the template. Repeat this process until all the turn under allowances are pressed (parts of the appliqué shape that go under other shapes need not be pressed). Some shapes will need to have their points pressed further as shown.