Jan
10
Fusible web management
Filed Under Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorials, Product demo, Raw edge | 27 Comments
Today I’d like to pass along a few little tips about how to wrangle your fusible web… the kind that comes on a bolt.
My web of choice for raw-edge fusible machine appliqué is Pellon’s Wonder-Under, regular weight. Your mileage may vary. I’ve kind-of got it down now, but it was not always so. When it comes to paper-backed fusible web, I suffer from separation anxiety. As in, the web separates from the paper backing before I get a chance to use it. Arggh!
In the past, I’ve tried passing an iron over it on top of a teflon appliqué pressing sheet in an attempt to stick it back to the paper… what a mess. Now I just chuck it when I find that’s it separated.
Here’s what I do now to alleviate the separation issue.
First of all, don’t let the clerks in the store roll it up for you. You know what happens, say, if you place one towel on top of another and roll them up together? The top one ooches along and ends up sticking out farther than the bottom one by the time you get there. I don’t know which law of physics makes this so, but the same thing happens with fusible web and its paper backing. Rolling the product encourages separation. Just ask them to fold it loosely for you.
Then, as soon as you get home, cut it into squares. This is information that I got from my pal Pam Crooks, who got it from the estimable Sue Nickels, machine appliquér extraordinaire. I keep a separate rotary cutter for cutting paper and this purpose. The width of the product is 17″, so if you cut it into 8 1/2″ squares that’s just right, and the squares fit perfectly into a gallon-size zippy bag.
Not only are they flat and happy and much easier to work with than a big floppy hunk, keeping the squares in a bag prevents them from drying out, another culprit in the separation issue.
I keep scraps in an old box lid that fits into the zippy bag when not in use.
As I work on a pattern I start with the smaller pieces and only start a new square when there’s a motif that’s bigger than my biggest scrap of fusible. It’s soooo nice to reach into that bag and pull out a nice fresh, flat sheet in such a manageable size.
Here’s another tip for working with paper-backed fusible web: trace the smaller pieces inside the larger pieces. I learned from Sue Nickels in her book Machine Applique: A Sampler of Techniques
Let’s say we’re starting with a pattern like this.
The leaves will fit inside the basket with enough room to spare to cut everything out roughly.
While you’re at it, go ahead and trace the flower center inside the flower.
Use a circle template tool to trace nice round circles. Use a size that is a little bit bigger than the circle. (When you trace, the circle shrinks.)
The arrow is my attempt at telestration in Photoshop.
Last tip for working with fusible web: the smallest, itty-bitty pieces like flower centers are too small to cut the center out of. Then it can be hard to get the paper backing started to peel it off when you’re ready to fuse. I tried the ‘scratch it with a pin’ technique but somehow was never skilled enough to do it without fraying a thread or two. My new favorite strategy is that, once the motif is rough-cut, I peel up one side of the paper, going into the motif area a little bit.
Then I lay the paper back down and cut out the motif on the drawn line. When I’m ready to take the backing off, part of it has already been started. In this case, separation is good. :)
Okay, that is my most sage advice for fusible web management. I hope it proves to be of use to you.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Dec
23
‘Tis the Season
Filed Under Books, Borders, Embellishment, Fusible web, Holiday, Improvisational appliqué, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Raw edge | 3 Comments
And here’s my quilt of the same name.
I made this little 18 x 18 wall quilt last year, just putting together some motifs from A Merry Little Christmas to Appliqué and filling in the white space with some cute red and green buttons. I used different prints and widths for side and top and bottom borders, something I’ve become fond of doing. The Christmas cracker is tied with embroidery thread. This one’s machine appliquéd and machine quilted.
If you’d like to see more Christmassy quilts, click on the ‘Holiday’ category in the left sidebar and that’ll bring up the ones I posted last year.
A very happy holiday time to you all! See you next year.
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Dec
13
Fusible web appliqué tips
Filed Under Articles, Designers, Fusible web, Holiday, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Raw edge | Comments Off on Fusible web appliqué tips
Kim Jamieson-Hirst of Chatterbox Quilts in Calgary, Alberta, has posted a very nice article on her website giving lots of tips and information about fusible-web appliqué. Visit Chatterbox Quilts and click on the Tips and Techniques page.
You can use Kim’s information to make her brand-new, exceedingly cute table runner pattern, Bundle Up. It’s on the Patterns page at Chatterbox, or go directly to
Kim’s Etsy shop.
Happy holidays, and bundle up!
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Nov
12
Off the Bed — On the Back
Filed Under Baltimore Album, Blanket stitch, Designers, Embellishment, Fusible web, Improvisational appliqué, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Raw edge | 6 Comments
Before Elly’s lecture began (see the November 6 post), I was looking around the shop when I heard my name called. I turned around and, happy day! it was the podcaster extraordinaire Annie Smith, whom I hardly ever get to see due to her incredibly active traveling, teaching, and speaking schedule.
Annie was teaching a class next door to our lecture and had just a minute before her class was going to start. “Did you see my coat at PIQF?” she asked me with excitement. I had to confess that although I had admired the garments, I missed entirely the fact that one of them was hers and also that the special exhibit “Off the Bed — On the Back” had been curated by one of my own guild members, Rachel Clark.
Annie sent me pictures of the coat and the accompanying quilt, along with the story of how they were made (which reads a little like The Perils of Pauline). Here’s the sometimes harrowing account:
“Rachel asked me to be a part of the exhibit when she saw my West of Baltimore quilt.
Each of the pieces in the exhibit was to be a specific technique of quilt making, (i.e.: log cabin, paper piecing, Hawaiian quilting, Baltimore appliqué — which was mine).
My quilter, Melodee Wade, quilted each of the coat pieces first, then the appliqué was designed and stitched to the coat. The hard part was that I was working like crazy to get the coat finished and Rachel asked me what the name of my quilt was.
Quilt?!
Oh yeah, I remember now… after a conversation LAST October…. little quilts, the quilt design is put on the coat… yeah, right. So I stopped working on the coat design — I was having quilter’s block anyway after being seized with ultimate stress of doing a quilt too — and began the quilt. The vase in the center of the quilt is on the back of the coat, and then I wanted to do some simple vines for the border. Or at least, what I thought was simple. I have to remember that the quilt will always tell you what it wants, and the quilt just grew on my design wall. I knew when to stop and that it was perfect — when I added all of the little yellow dots as detail.
My friend Aneda Phillips, who made the West of Baltimore pattern cover quilt, stitched all of the appliqué while I went back to finishing the coat. When she returned the pieces of the quilt so I could assemble it, I mis-cut the center [Ed. note: GASP] and had to make another one from scratch and do all of the stitching on it, as Aneda was finishing up her quilts for her Market booth.
Then back to the coat. It had to be done in panels, appliqué then sew the seams together, then connect the design. The hardest part was the two flowers that are on the side seams of the coat. At that point, the coat was wearing me while I stitched them down! I do fusible, fine machine appliqué where I use a tiny blanket stitch and match all of the threads to the appliqué fabrics. There is some hand embroidery on the quilt and coat. I even made covered buttons with little appliqué flowers on them.
The name of the quilt is “Midnight in the Garden” and the coat is “A Rose Tree in a Baltimore Garden”. A Rose Tree is a traditional Baltimore appliqué pattern which I used for the shawl collar of the coat.
The appliqué fabrics and coat lining were generously donated by Robert Kaufman Fabrics. I used Peggy Toole’s “Florentine II” fabric as the lining and focus fabric for all of the appliqué. You can a little bit of the gorgeous lining fabric in the front collar picture. The fabric is amazing.
All in all, I worked on the quilt and coat for three weeks, 12 to 18 hours a day to get it done in time for PIQF. And then, I didn’t even get to attend the show, as I was teaching in Canada!
Melodee is an incredible quilter. I just gave her the pieces and let her do her thing. She did some neat swirled feathers in places that aren’t covered by appliqué — and that’s the thing, she had no idea where the appliqué was going. She just quilted as if they were separate whole cloth quilts. I was amazed when I sewed the panels together — the quilting from one dovetailed into the other and in some places it’s hard to see the seam line. I know that it was totally random, but I love when magic happens like that.
I use Melodee exclusively to do the quilting for me. She always enhances everything I do, making my pieces better. Mel does it all free-motion on a non-computerized Gammill.”
Kay here… I’ll add that in addition to her quilting talents, Melodee is one of the nicest, most gracious people you could ever hope to meet. Her contact is melodeewade@aol.com if you’re interested in contacting her for your longarm quilting needs.
On her latest podcast,(11/10/08), Annie tells more about the creation of the coat and jacket, describing how they grew on her design wall and what a wonderful experience it was for her to let go and let that happen. Go give a listen, and you’ll also hear a hilarious story of how dedicated a quilter can be when it comes to acquiring an industrial Bernina for $100.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Sep
26
American Quilter celebrates appliqué
Filed Under Articles, Baltimore Album, Designers, Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Needleturn | Comments Off on American Quilter celebrates appliqué
The November 2008 issue of American Quilter magazine, put out by the American Quilters Society, features “Appliqué Your Way” … yay!
Faye Labanaris contributes an article with photo tutorials for four different kinds of needleturn hand appliqué. Suzanne Marshall shares her method for creating bias stems. And Ann Holmes shows how she constructs her pieces for machine appliqué, in which “there’s no sewing until you quilt it.”
Not only is this issue full of great appliqué information, there’s a bagful of eye candy in the form of the winners of the recent Nashville show. Best of Show and Best Hand Workmanship Award both went to Baltimore Album-style quilts :).
The celebration continues in the next issue with Jeana Kimball’s back-basting technique. Jeana is one of my all-time favorite appliqué idols and I can’t wait to see this article.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Jul
22
Hillary pattern benefits companion animals
Filed Under Designers, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Raw edge | Comments Off on Hillary pattern benefits companion animals
Leafing through my Keepsake Quilting catalog, I noticed a darling pattern for an appliquéd calico cat gazing at me with green eyes from atop a patchwork quilt. I went googling to find out more about the pattern. I was delighted to find out on Roberta Williams’ website that Hillary is the 18-year-old cat of Roberta’s good friend Diane Gaudynski, and that the two designers are donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this pattern to the Morris Animal Foundation.
That’s a lovely thing to do and I applaud them.
I’m off to Long Beach tomorrow to show my wares at the International Quilt Festival. I’m pretty darned excited! I’ve trained the DH Dana as a cashier. He’s being an awfully good sport. See you when I get back!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Jul
2
Little Homes
Filed Under Books, Fusible web, Improvisational appliqué, Machine appliqué, Patterns, Raw edge | Comments Off on Little Homes
While I was at Quilt Market in Portland, I saw the display by Ackfeld Manufacturing of bunches of darling wire hangers, and it got my mind spinning with ideas. I ordered some of the little hangers and as soon as I got home I set out making some little quilts. I love small things so this was a barrel of fun for me, and it also have me a chance to show off the motifs from my new book Home: A Heartfelt Nap Quilt and how you can use them different ways.
These are all machine appliquéd with a blanket stitch, and I just used scraps left over from making the original Home quilt. I didn’t really plan anything out in advance, just chose the motifs and played around until I thought, ‘hey, that looks good,’ then fused them down. It’s great working this way in between fussier projects!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
May
12
Barbara Brandeburg’s machine appliqué tutorial
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Designers, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorials, Raw edge, Topstitch, Zigzag | Comments Off on Barbara Brandeburg’s machine appliqué tutorial
I found the most fabulous photo tutorial on designer Barbara Brandeburg’s blog. She has posted a wonderful step-by-step visual guide to creating raw-edge fusible appliqué. Hurry over to her blog and look on the righthand sidebar for “Easy Appliqué Tutorial” and have it all laid out before your eyes.
While you’re there, read her posts answering questions about appliqué. It’s a treasure trove over there. Thank you Barbara! You can also shop for her highly attractive patterns.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
May
6
APQ site is good resource
Filed Under Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorials, Prepared edge, Raw edge | Comments Off on APQ site is good resource
Not that long ago, American Patchwork & Quilting magazine launched a companion website called AllPeopleQuilt … APQ, get it? I was intrigued by a mention in the latest print magazine about quilting classes on-line, so I surfed on over to check it out.
Two appliqué classes head up their list of offerings. Linda Hohag is demonstrating a starch technique, and Pat Sloan is showing how to she does fusible appliqué. It looks like these are on-demand videos.
On the site, there’s also an area called “Try Techniques.” Click on the Appliqué section for gobs of free tips and tricks for a variety of methods.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Apr
1
A Spot of Tea
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Books, Borders, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Raw edge | 2 Comments
Look at this cute thing I just stitched up to hang in my booth at quilt shows!
I made this version of “A Little More Tea” smaller than the sampler pattern in Teapots 2 to Appliqué…it has 9 of the 16 designs. I call this one “A Spot of Tea.”
The appliqué notes in Teapots 2 are all about the back-basting, or no-template prep method for hand appliqué. For this cheery sample I used fusible appliqué with a small machine blanket stitch.
Sometimes I pull fabrics and make blocks, then go hunting for a border that will work with them. In this case I started with the border fabric and pulled the teapot fabrics from there.
Cheerio,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Mar
22
Willie’s a homebody
Filed Under Machine appliqué, Stems/vines, Words, Zigzag | Comments Off on Willie’s a homebody
My little dog Willie loves to go places, and loves to come back. He’s a good traveler, but I think he’s the very happiest when all of his pack are at home.
As you know, he helps me in the studio and is my boon companion while I’m working on all of my “stuff.” Here he is checking out my latest project, Home.
Yes, that’s right, the ink was hardly dry on Teapots 2 to Appliqué when I was already hard at work on another quilt design. I’ve been in a phase of doing things I haven’t done before, and it’s great! Home is more primitive and folksy than what I’ve done before, and I love it.
I knew the word “Home” would be front and center, and didn’t worry about how I was going to get it on there until I was ready to do it. After all, I co-wrote an article about words in quilts, which appeared in American Quilter. I knew I had some tricks up my sleeve! But when it came to it, I ended up doing… guess what… something I hadn’t done before.
Okay, so I’ve made plenty of bias tape in my life with my trusty green gadget (see the post on stems and skinny stems) but I’ve usually stitched both sides, either by hand or machine. This time I just zig-zagged down the center of each strip with black thread. Then I made a trip to the store to get some fresh Fray Chek (the bottle in my drawer was ancient, probably came with me from Ohio 11 years ago). I used a tiny bit of this seam sealant on the raw ends of the letters to prevent fraying. I ended up with the folksy look I was after for this project.
Home‘s going to be a booklet with full-size patterns printed in it. Stay tuned!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Mar
4
Giveaway for kids
Filed Under Books, Fusible interfacing, Introduction, Machine appliqué, Prepared edge | 10 Comments
Admin note: The Giveaway for Kids has drawn to a close. All of the books have gone to good homes. Since the giveaway began, I’ve heard from quilters in about every state in this country. Each one has a heartfelt story to tell of the wonderful warming efforts that they and their groups put forth. It makes me know the depth of caring among quilters. We are a wonderful bunch and I’m happy to be a member of the community.
Due to a printing glitch and subsequent reprinting, I ended up with way more copies of In a Twinkle: Youthful Quilt Designs than I needed. It’s time for them to move away from home!
If you’re a member of a group that makes and donates quilts for kids in need, email me at “kay at kaymackenzie dot com” and tell me about your group. Include your address. I’ll send you 6 copies (as many as I can stuff in a bubble mailer) by the “slow boat to China,” Media Mail. If you feel like paying me back for the postage, you can PayPal a couple bucks to the same address.
If you’re not a member of such a group but you know somebody who is, feel free to spread the word.
This book includes step-by-step. illustrated instructions for five easy quilts and a comfy cozy flannel blankie, plus detailed instructions on the fusible-interfacing method for machine-appliquéing big, simple shapes.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Feb
17
Fun with thread color
Filed Under Articles, Blanket stitch, Color, Designers, Guest posts, Machine appliqué, Raw edge, Threads | Comments Off on Fun with thread color
Here’s a fabulous guest post by Diane Dixon of Metro Quiltworks about how your choice of thread can work a little magic on the look of your machine appliqué. Thank you, Diane, for this wonderful article!
Let’s Have Some Fun with Thread Color!
Thoughts about thread choices by Diane Dixon of Metro Quiltworks
The color of thread can be a very important feature for you to consider with your next appliqué project. The way the thread color interacts with the fabric can make the stitching either stand out in a bold contrast, or it can create subtle outlining of the appliqué piece without much contrast at all.
Some basic points to consider:
Matching thread color to fabric color:
Do you want the thread color to match the color of the fabric? This will create a subtle look that blends well with the appliqué pieces and may emphasize the overall look of the project since the thread color blends much more into the background.
Here’s an example of a lily flower having the thread in the same color family as the fabric. By using the blue thread in the center, the flower is more formal and contained. Notice the use of yellow thread on the yellow petals. Although both fabric and thread are in the same color family, there is still a subtle contrast because the fabric is lighter in some places than in others. Subtle, but not dull! Also, the lily pads are sewn with green or brown stitches to keep the pieces from getting too “busy” since the batiks used here are quite wild.
Contrasting thread color to fabric color:
Do you want the thread color to contrast with color of the fabric? Using contrast can create a wonderful visual look that can define edges and give excitement to individual appliqué pieces.
Here is an example of two pears on a plate. The purple stitching in different shades really defines the green pear from the green plate. Notice the yellow stitching on the green leaf, the outside plate stitching, and the effective purple on the stem as well.
In the close-up of the red floral appliqué example, there’s a combination of techniques to make this flower sing! Notice the center has a bright red center that uses the same thread color on both the center, and on the interior petals. By using the same thread color on different fabrics, another subtlety comes out. The bright blue stitching on the outside petals, and the red on the green leaf brings all of the colors to another level!
I sometimes enjoy using this technique specifically with smaller projects such as miniature wall hangings, pillows, or table runners because the thread choices really stand out in a more intimate piece – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try this out with larger pieces as well!
Thread colors play important roles and can change the look of any project. Don’t be afraid to go for it and have lots of fun!
Diane Dixon
Kay here again — be sure to visit Diane’s website to check out her colorful contemporary patterns for quilts, table runners, and wall hangings at Metro Quiltworks – A fresh look at quilt design. Thanks again Diane! I’ve been a “matcher” so far but now I’m inspired to try mixing it up!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Jan
18
Bethany Reynolds’ magic mirror hearts
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Designers, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorials | Comments Off on Bethany Reynolds’ magic mirror hearts
I found this fun photo tutorial on Bethany Reynolds’ website about how to use Stack-n-Whack® to make an appliqué heart!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Jan
14
Julie Hirota’s mosaic appliqué
Filed Under Designers, Fusible web, Improvisational appliqué, Machine appliqué, Raw edge | 3 Comments
Yesterday I took a workshop with Julie Hirota, an amazing appliqué artist and author of Art Glass Quilts. The last time she came to our guild, she taught her art glass, or “subtractive appliqué” technique.
Now Julie’s in a mosaic phase, and today we learned how to go about creating these gorgeous art quilts. Here are some highlights from the day.
We all made up our own designs. Here’s my improvisational mosaic flower.
Janet was sitting next to me. Here’s her project in progress.
And here’s Janet herself. She shared fabric with me. What a good workshop neighbor.
Julie Hirota, with her beautiful Queen of Hearts mosaic quilt.
Julie’s website is www.jhiro.com. If you’re in the mood for some eye candy, be sure to visit. Her work doesn’t look quite like anybody else’s, and it’s stunning.
Julie’s also into handbags lately (you can see some of them peeking out from behind her on the table.) They’re available at Julie’s Etsy shop.
Thanks Julie! I had a great time!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Dec
13
You’ve never seen it all
Filed Under Borders, Embellishment, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Raw edge, Threads | Comments Off on You’ve never seen it all
Mistress of machines Janet showed me a border she’d made for a round robin. I couldn’t believe it. Yet another edge treatment for fusible appliqué!
At first I thought Janet had used the machine embroidery technique that I’d seen on her pieces in the past. I asked her to describe how she’d done this beautiful stitching. Here’s what she told me.
Usually, when machine embroidering, Janet hoops the fabric. This time, since the oak leaves and acorns were fused onto the background fabric, there was enough stability so that she could skip the hoop. Instead of stitching back and forth a little at a time to simulate three strands of embroidery floss, Janet did a free-motion stitch traveling in one direction all the time, and went around each motif two or three times close to the edges. The veins on the leaves were done the same way. She used variegated Star cotton thread from Coats & Clark, which is one of her favorite threads for her machine work.
Here’s the project so far, with just the center and Janet’s fabulous appliquéd border. Janet told me I could put this picture up, but shh! don’t tell the person whose center that is, or we’ll get busted. :)
Until next time,
Kay
Dec
3
Positioning
Filed Under Hand appliqué, Improvisational appliqué, Machine appliqué | Comments Off on Positioning
What are some ways of positioning appliqué motifs on the background fabric?
• Freestyle
This is where you don’t worry about matching the pattern too exactly, and just place your pieces where you like. Maybe you’re not even using a pattern, just creating a design as you go!
• Eyeballing
Referring to the pattern, place your motifs on the background so that they look enough like the original for government work. Again, this is an admirable, freeing mentailty, and probably gives the blocks that attractive vintage look.
• Creasing the background
If an appliqué design is set on the diagonal, you can fold and crease the background to provide reference lines for positioning the motifs.
• Tracing paper overlay
Now we’re getting to my territory (I have the curse of the precise. It’s not that much fun.) You can trace the pattern onto tracing paper to create a placement guide. Use vertical and horizontal centering lines to line up the guide with the background square.
• Vinyl overlay
The Piece O’ Cake gals advocate using upholstery vinyl to make a placement guide. They’ve even started offering their own Quilter’s Vinyl by the yard, and there are instructions on how to use it, on their website.
• Light box
This is good for tracing the placement guides, of course, but is also an direct and ingenious way of placing motifs for machine appliqué. Once you’ve gotten all of your pieces fused and cut out, put your pattern on the light box, put the background fabric over it (lined up with centering marks) and place all of the pieces for the block at once. Carefully transfer to the ironing board for fusing.
For dark backgrounds, you’ll need to use one of the overlay methods.
Okay quilters, what other ways are there to position your appliqué? There’s something about a lightweight interfacing overlay… help me out. I’ve heard of it but don’t know too much about it.
Until next time,
Kay
Oct
30
Spotlight on Sheril Drummond
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Raw edge, Spotlights, Stained glass | 5 Comments
There were certainly many fabulous quilts at the Pacific International Quilt Festival a couple of weeks ago. To my eyes, one of the very most striking entries was “Remembering Barbaro” by Sheril Drummond of Lexington, Kentucky.
Here’s the caption from the show: “Upon moving to Lexington in 1990, I soon became aware of the traditions surrounding the horse farms and the racing industry. When Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby, everyone was so excited to have a winner from this area. When he broke his leg during the very next race we were all saddened, and watched his valiant struggle for the next several months. Unfortunately, his struggle was in vain and when he passed it touched everyone’s hearts. This quilt is in his memory.”
My husband and I were following Barbaro’s story as well. Before I loved dogs I loved horses, and still do, so you can see why this quilt grabbed my eyes as I came around the corner at the show.
I contacted Sheril and she graciously permitted me to shine a spotlight on her piece, and to tell a little bit about her and her work.
Sheril has been quilting for about 20 years now. When she moved from northern California to Kentucky, she joined a Newcomers group, which led to a quilting group, need we say more? Sheril says that after she learned the basics she found she was not content with traditional quilting and felt moved to produce her own designs.
Her latest technique is a stained glass effect, beautifully evidenced in Barbaro.
To create her pattern, Sheril draws a basic shape, then divides it into sections with lights and darks in mind. The sections are fused onto a background, and the edges are finished with a machine blanket stitch. Sheril uses a variety of fabrics, some commercial, some hand-dyed, to wonderful effect, don’t you think?
In the last four years Sheril has been entering her work in some of the larger shows, and has had pieces accepted into Quilt Festival in Houston, the AQS show in Paducah, the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, and Quilt Expo in Nashville.
You can see more of Sheril’s stained-glass art quilts on her Serendipity blog. Sheril is thinking of publishing her patterns in the future. She currently teaches her methods in an all-day workshop; contact her at “shedrum at surfbest.net” if you’re in a group that would be interested.
Here are some students working in a class with Sheril. She’s the one sitting down on the right.
Thank you, Sheril for remembering Barbaro, and for creating these wonderful works of art.
Until next time,
Kay
Oct
4
Promote your sewing room!
Filed Under Articles, Improvisational appliqué, Machine appliqué, Prepared edge, Stems/vines, Topstitch, Words | Comments Off on Promote your sewing room!
One more quilt from “the article” (see previous two posts). This one had its own sidebar!
I made this quilted sign to hang in my sewing room, thereby elevating its status to a “studio.” If you make a sign for your sewing room it can be a studio too!
To form the letters, I made bias tape with my trusty green gadget, the original Clover® ¼” bias tape maker.
Then I used the fusible strip that comes on a roll, except I cut it in half lengthwise to make a very thin strip applied to the center of the bias tape only. That keeps things more flexible.
A fat eighth of fabric formed the backdrop as I played with the arrangement of the letters, sticking pins straight down into them to hold them until I was happy with how they looked. Then I fused them in place. I put tearaway stabilizer behind, and topstitched the letters on both sides. After removing the stabilizer, I added the strippy borders and machine-quilted the sign. Then I got into my button box and tied buttons through the quilt over all of the raw edges of the letters, and now it looks like a quirky typeface!
Bias tape letters are informal, folksy, and fun. Save this technique for a project where the letters are meant to be tall and skinny, because the wider the strips the less flexible they are.
Until next time,
Kay
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