Mar
11
Step by Step Portrait Art Quilts
Filed Under Blog hops, Books, Designers | 6 Comments
I’m delighted today to turn the blog over to author, designer, and educator Margaret Bucklew!
Margaret just came out with a new book, Step by Step Portrait Art Quilts: Learn to Create Realistic Portrait and Pictorial Quilts, and today is the first day of a fun blog hop to celebrate its release!
Take it away, Margaret!
We each have our own first quilting experiences, some with more fanfare than others.
Once I had made quilts for everyone in the immediate family, I decided to include myself, and found a pattern with pieced triangular trees interspersed with schoolhouses. I wanted to use colors to reflect fall foliage and have some leaves falling within negative space on the quilt; however, those falling leaves presented a problem. They would need to be appliquéd onto the top. Uh-Oh! I had no idea how to appliqué. To me, the falling leaves had to be on the quilt, so I cut out shapes of leaves and pinned the fabric onto the top not knowing how they would permanently be affixed.
My one and only quilt class was needleturn appliqué. What a wonderful class! I was hooked. The leaves were appliquéd, the quilt was completed, and my appliqué adventure began. I love needleturn, but it is slow going. Machine appliqué is another option.
If you are like I was, a bit afraid to try appliqué, I have a super easy free block for you to use for practice and perhaps make more blocks and turn them into a quilt or a pillow.
This graphic indicates how the block would look if you needleturned, used a blanket stitch, or used a zig zag or satin stitch. Also shown in the pattern are easy-to-follow images indicating how to put on the back pieces covered by the front pieces.
I hope you’ll use the free pattern and give appliqué a try.
I migrated from being afraid of appliqué to designing appliqué quilts! A love of portrait work led me into developing a technique to create realistic portrait and pictorial appliqué quilts.
For a few more appliqué tips, please visit the next blog in the book blog tour.
If you are interested in giving portrait or pictorial quilts a try, my “Step by Step Portrait Art Quilts: Learn to Create Realistic Portrait and Pictorial Quilts” book might be just the answer for you. The book is available both in print and as an eBook.
Thank you Margaret! Be sure to follow the rest of the blog hop all this week for more fun with appliqué and information about the book. Here’s the schedule!
Tuesday
Sew Useful Designs
Wednesday
A Passion for Applique
Thursday
Jackie’s Art Quilts
Friday
Quilting and Sewing Videos
Thanks again Margaret, and congratulations! Enjoy every minute.
Until next time,
Kay
By Kay Mackenzie
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