The block I am working on needed a bit of extra-special quilting.  The  cross-hatching in the background causes anything that isn’t quilted to puff out and look baggy…like the vase.

I am using beige quilting thread for the background.  When I am quilting on top of a shape, I like to match the color of the thread to the color of the fabric.  If I can’t find the color I am looking for in  Dual-Duty quilt thread or YLI quilt thread, I use Mettler 40 weight, which is a machine quilting or hand-quilting weight thread.  Mettler 40 weight does not have a coating on it like true hand-quilting thread.  So, to make the thread glide through the fabric easier and to protect it from knotting and shredding, I use Thread Heaven.

First I quilted around each point of the star, and then surrounded it with Echo Quilting.

And here is the finished block!

Til next time…

Kerry

On Thursday, I noticed a bit of commotion around the tree (and our cat was going crazy!)  Good thing he is an indoor cat!  The baby birds were finally leaving the nest!  I made sure my still-living-at-home, recently graduated 21 year-old daughter was paying close attention!  Here is the Mom and Dad and one of the babies.

The other baby is over here, maybe in a time-out?

Anyway…back to the block!  I added a few more flowers and leaves…

Next, it was time to make the vine.  First I ironed the freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric.  I trimmed just one side of the vine.

I prepped one side…

…then, I trimmed the other side.

I finished prepping the vine, removed the freezer paper and added a few dabs of glue….

…..and added it to the bouquet!

In the meantime, I  noticed that I had forgotten a little bud in the top right hand corner of the bouquet.  So I prepped the missing bud, and also the blossom that goes at the end of the vine.  And stitched them in place.

Here is the missing bud…

…and the blossom at the end of the vine.  Spiffy!

I must confess, I did not look at the pattern, and mixed the two pieces up.  I did not think it mattered….keep reading!…

So once all flowers and vines and leaves stitched in place, it was time to make the stems.  I used bias bars to make them and used 4 different fabrics.  I did not want to glue all the stems in place before stitching them, so I glued and stitched a few at a time.  I took a few minutes and traced the stems so I wouldn’t have to keep putting the background back on the lightbox.

I added a few more stems and stitched them in place…

…voila!

Next, I added the leaves.  So far, so good!

I was pretty impressed with myself (which usually means I have screwed up somewhere!) and started prepping the ribbon.  I put the pattern back on the light box and started to glue the ribbon in place.  Yikes!  Good thing I keep the stitch ripper handy!

Ah….that’s better!

Til next time…

Kerry

Each time I stuck a pin into the styrofoam, I thought about voo-doo dolls.

(Sometimes its really hard to stay focused!)   According to wikipedia, the most popular stereotype of using a voo-doo doll involves sticking pins into it.  But did you know that there are different emotions and feelings attached to the color of pins that can be used?  I did a bit more research and found out that yellow pins means  money and blue pins mean love!  Check out the color of my pins!

OK…where was I?

I made another copy of the pattern and taped it to the light box.  Then, I placed a background square on the pattern and put a few (yellow!)  pins in it.  Next, I took a water-soluble marker and traced the seam lines on the background.

This block has lots of pieces so I won’t be gluing all the pieces in place before I start to stitch.  I like to glue a few pieces in place, stitch them, and then glue a few more pieces in place.  So, I will be unpinning  the background square from the pattern, stitching, and then I will be placing it on the pattern again.  I use the traced seam lines as a guide to make sure everything is lined up properly.

It can be a little confusing trying to figure out which pieces go where.  First I start with the stems.

Then I add a few pieces.  I usually start at the outer edge and work inwards.

So far…so good!

Til next time…

Kerry

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I am far from organized.  (organized: functioning within a formal structure, as in the coordination and direction of activities).  Being organized does not come easy for me.  (I would like to think that is a sign of a highly creative mind!)

Take, for instance, my Dilemna-of-the-Week.   My beloved Gingher embroidery scissors went missing.  They seemed to have vanished into thin air.  I checked all the obvious  places, but they were gone!  I asked my family members if they had seen my scissors.  Picture lots of eye rolling.  No one had seen my scissors and no one seemed concerned that my stuff was disappearing into thin air!

Then I remembered gathering up a load of fabrics and throwing them into the washer to be pre-washed.  I must have gathered up my scissors also, because that is indeed where they were found!

So when I start a block that has many, many pieces in it,  like this one,  this  is what I do to stay organized…

When I cut out my pattern, I keep it in sections, like bunches of leaves or whole flowers.   I prep one section at a time.

Next, I place a  copy of the pattern on my plywood-styrofoam thingy.  It is actually a sub-floor that I bought at Home Depot for $5.85.  It is particle board on one side and styrofoam on the other side.  It measures 24 inches square.

Once my pieces are prepped…

…I pin them in place.

Now I know exactly where they are!  How is that or being organized?

Til next time….

Kerry

So, while the fabrics were soaking, I decided to start making my freezer paper templates.  I took a good look at the pattern.  I only had one thought:  that is a whole lot of templates, and a whole lot of tracing!  (Between you and I, tracing is the part I dislike the most!)  So this is how I avoid tracing…

This particular pattern is larger than an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper, so it has been divided in four parts.

I scan each individual sheet and import the images to my computer.

Next I open up Adobe Illustrator…

…and I scroll down and click on PLACE.

The image then pops up on the screen like magic!

This is the really cool part!  I hit REFLECT and the image….well, it reflects!  (If you use the needleturn method and trace your patterns on the right side of fabric, you do not need to reflect the pattern.)

You know you have done this properly if the writing on the pattern is backwards!  I place a piece of freezer paper in the printer, click on print…

…. and voila!

Now, I am going to make one big pattern out of the 4 sections.  I trim the patterns on the dotted lines.

I like my freezer paper templates to be double thickness.  So, I iron each section to a big piece of freezer paper and match all the dotted lines…like I am wallpapering…only better!

Now I get to cut out every one of those itty bitty pieces!

Here is a little something I want to share!

I use my light box all the time.  I love it…because I don’t have to trace the pattern on the background fabric.  Do you see a theme here?  Sometimes when there are multiple layers, it is hard to see what is underneath the pieces I have already glued in place. By gluing the leaves in place, I have covered up the flower that will sit on top of the leaves.  Confusing!   So here is what I do to make life easier.

I use my applique pressing sheet and build the flower on it, rather than on the block.  This is also called “off-block construction”.

I put just a dab of glue on each petal, and slowly add each piece, until I have a flower.

I very carefully lift the flower off the applique pressing sheet…

…and place it on the background.  Easy Peasy!

Til next time…

Kerry

This block is called “I Am An Anti”.  Honestly, I did not fussy cut the pink squares on purpose.  It just happened!

Next on the runway is “Carrie Nation”.

Followed by “Mr. Roosevelt’s Necktie”.

And, last but not least, is “Jack’s Delight”.

Jenny and Bruin like to keep me company when I sew.  They are kind of  famous!  Check out their youtube video here.

This is my latest finished block from “Bouquets For a New Day”. 5 more blocks to go!

The navy blue fabric in the vase is left over from an Irish Chain quilt I made for my Mom.

Most of this block from “Civil War Bride” is stitched in place.  I started to think that maybe the table that the vase is sitting on is too dark for the overall look of the block.  So I cut out another table piece and auditioned it.  I do like it better.

My #1 rule in applique (and life) is this….fix something while it’s in the block stage, rather than finish the whole quilt and kick yourself because you were too busy…or too tired…or too lazy to fix it!  I have been guilty of all 3!

Til next time…

Kerry

I have started working on the next block of Civil War Bride.  It can be tricky to figure out what order to place the stems on the background.  If the raw edge of “Stem A” is going to be covered with “Stem B”, then “Stem A” needs to be glued in place first.  (It’s easier than it sounds!!)

First, I put a few dabs of glue along the traced line, rather than putting glue on the actual stems. This will be “Stem A”. You can see that this stem will be covered by another stem.

Next, I carefully placed the stem on the line.  Because the stems are cut on the bias, they are easy to curve along the line.

Then,  I used the line that the next bias strip will be placed on as a guide to trim the stem to the correct length.  I have added a few dabs of glue to hold the next stem in place.

Now, another stem is in place….This is also a “Stem A”.

And, finally, the longer stem that covers these shorter stems is glued in place.  This is “Stem B”.

So…here are a bunch of “Stem A’s”, waiting to be covered by one long “Stem B”.

And, finally…all the stems are in place!

I thought this block needed a really special vase!   So I fussy-cut this fabric…

…and ended up with this vase!  Spiffy!

Next, I added some buds….

…and leaves and flowers!

Til next time…

Kerry

I made a window template  with the opening the exact measurement of the unfinished size of the block.  The finished size is 15″, so I needed to trim the blocks down to 15 1/2″, therefore I made the opening 15 1/2″.  (I hope that makes sense!)

So now I could place the window template on the block and make sure that everything was centred nicely.

Next, I traced around the opening with a marking pen.

Then I trimmed the excess fabric away by cutting on the marked line.  Easy peasy!

So, once I trimmed all the blocks to the correct size, I started to stitch the blocks together in a row.

Ta da!   An evening well spent!

Til next time…

Kerry

So, once the block was finally finished, I did what I do to all my finished blocks….I gave it a bath!  I like to wash everything out of my block…like glue, starch and anything else that shouldn’t be there!  First, I fill the sink with very hot water and a bit of soap.

Next, I take a very deep breath…and then I toss my block into the water.

I usually let it soak for a couple of hours.  Then I let the water out of the sink and rinse the block under hot water until there are no more suds.

Next, I gently squeeze the block so it is not dripping wet, but still fairly wet.  Finally, I spread the block out on a thick towel and pin the four corners.  Then I just let it air dry.  I should mention that I pre-wash all of my fabric in Synthrapol before even beginning the block.

So…while the block was drying, I started the next block of Civil War Bride.  First I traced the block…

….then I made lots of bias.  (You can never have too much bias!)

Oh!  And speaking of Civil War Bride, I finally made a decision.  I chose Nest #2!  Instead of putting 5 eggs in the nest just like the pattern, I chose to add 3 eggs…an egg to represent each one of my lovely children!

Til next time….

Kerry

However, I wanted to find a really interesting fabric for the wings.  A fabric  that would do the butterfly proud!  So I waited patiently.  Then, I came across this chunk of fabric in my stash.  (For those of you who are wondering, I am taking every bit of fabric for this quilt from my stash.)  I love this type of fabric!  The pattern repeat is symmetrical, rather than asymmetrical.  These fabrics are rare, so grab them when you find them!

This dark curly part caught my eye.

I cut the butterfly wings out of the fabric so that the wings would be mirror images of each other.  I placed the pattern so that the black curly part would be somewhere near the middle of the butterfly.  The beauty of doing this, is that you never really know what you will end up with!

And here is the proud butterfly!

So once I got that off my mind, I continued on with my “Friends of Baltimore” block.  I added some buds, stems and leaves.  If you look closely, you will see that I used 2 different greens for the wreath and the stems.   (Between you and I, that was a bit of an oopsy on my part.  Mum’s the word!)

Then came the  flowers, complete with buds and centers.

Next, came a pretty little bow…

… and, FINALLY, a couple of love birds!

Til next time….

Kerry