Stitching the weekend away….

Posted in Friends of Baltimore, Grandmother's Flower Garden, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Last night I put the last quilting stitch in my Grandmother’s Flower Garden. I started this quilt soon after visiting “The City Quilter” in New York, where I innocently purchased a few packages of paper hexies. You can see that post here. I am toying with the idea of doing a binding with an added flange, just for something different!

I spent Friday evening adding the red berries and embroidering the stems to the border of Friends of Baltimore. I used 2 strands of embroidery thread for the stems and one strand for the tendrils around each rose.

Once the yellow centers were added to each rose…

…..I filled the bathtub with hot, soapy water and tossed the border into the tub. You can read this post and see why I do this!

So, this morning, I was ready to trim the border to the proper size (I always cut my blocks and borders larger that required to allow for shrinkage). The border was a little wrinkled after it dried and so I placed it right side down on a thick towel and pressed it.

Then I placed the border on the paper pattern and pinned it in place matching the leaves and flowers.

I marked the finished line on the border with a washable blue marker and then unpinned it from the paper pattern. Next, I took my rotary cutter and a long ruler and trimmed 1/4″ away from the blue mark. Not going to lie, this is always a little nerve-racking. A lot could go wrong at this point!

So…this is what the border will look like once it is stitched to the rest of the quilt, but I can’t add the border until the corner block is finished.

Til next time….

Kerry

21Oct2014

Almost Finished is Good!

Posted in "To Everything There is a Season", Friends of Baltimore, Grandmother's Flower Garden, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

To me, applique is about the journey, not about the destination. With the kind of applique I do, there are 2 parts to the journey. First, there is the prep work, which consists of ironing the seam allowance over a freezer paper template. You can see how I prep my pieces in this blog post. If I had my way, I would prep all day long…literally! I think it has something to do with “instant gratification”. When I prep, I can see the design coming alive before my very eyes. Very rewarding!

The second part of the applique journey is the stitching, which is my least favourite part. I must confess, I find it terribly boring, so thank goodness for audio books!

So, my usual way of working is to prep a bit, then stitch a bit, just to keep the momentum going. But, I didn’t do that when I started working on the left side of the third border on Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. I prepped the entire left side without stopping to stitch anything in place. Remind me never to do that again!

After a weekend marathon of stitching (and listining to “The Deep Blue Good-by, written by John D. MacDonald) I am almost finished stitching the border. I just need to add the red berries, just like I did on the right hand side.

Also, I am almost finished hand-quilting my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. Sweet!

Of course, I had a bit of time to start a new-ish project! This is the beginning of the centre medallion of my block-of-the -month “To Everything There Is A Season”. So far, so good! (Note to Self….stitch everything in place before you prep one more piece!)

Til next time…

Kerry

13Oct2014

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Posted in Grandmother's Flower Garden, Grandmothers Choice, Hexagons, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

My apologies for not including the information regarding my new hoop. It is made in Canada by Quilters Woodwork in St. Mary’s, Ontario. I purchased mine at a local quilt shop in Cookstown, Ontario called Country Concessions.

When I can get my hoop away from the cat, I love to sit and hand quilt in the evening. Here is my Grandmother’s Flower Garden, which I am currently working on. I am already thinking about my next hand-quilting project. I don’t like too much time to slip by between projects, because the callouses on my fingers soften and then I have to go through the whole process again!

Maybe I will take the time to put the rest of my Grandmother’s Choice blocks together so that I have something to hand-quilt. These are the fabrics I am considering for the sashing and borders. Pretty pink!

I mentioned in an earlier post that my Civil War Bride Quilt won a ribbon at the local Ploughing Match. The quilts were judged and awarded ribbons back in May and the ribbon winning quilts were kept until the Ploughing Match, which was held in Essa Township while we were in Barbados. So, I just recently was re-united with my quilt. Yippee! I had no doubt that it would be kept safe and sound, but the fact that I had a more than one dream about my quilt disappearing made me think that maybe it was on my mind more than I realized. I was pleasantly surprised when I came home from running errands yesterday to find that the my Hubby has taken the time to hang the quilt in the livingroom. What a lovely sight!

Till next time…

Kerry

10Oct2014

A New Hoop and Other Fun Stuff!

Posted in Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Earlier this year, I treated myself to a new quilt hoop. I have always hand quilted using a hoop, and I thought it was time to graduate to the kind of hoop with a base that tucks under my legs, which leaves my hands free to quilt. I love it!! No more aching shoulders and neck, because the quilt is supported with the hoop and not my arms.

Today, we discovered that my hoop also can be used as the perfect hiding spot. “Gee..has anyone seen the cat?”

“Here he is!” Sneaky!

Last year I taught a Beginner Applique Class to a great group of ladies. They wanted to continue to improve their skills, so I am teaching them how to make a Baltimore quilt. Pretty ambitious, I know! But I have faith in them! Yesterday was our first day. We will meet once a month and work on various blocks while learning new techniques. These are the fabrics I will be using for my blocks.

Here is first block. It is a variation of the Rose of Sharon block.

First I started with the buds. The buds actually are made of two layers of fabrics.

Next, I added the leaves…

…and some more leaves and some bias stems.

Next, it was time to stitch the flowers. The flowers are also two layers, so I wanted to reduce the bulk before I stitched them onto the background. First I prepped both layers.

Then I stitched the top layer onto the bottom layer.

Next, I carefully trimmed the bottom layer of fabric away, cutting a 1/4″ away from the stitching.

And finally, I added the flowers to the block.

I am still working away on the third border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore” quilt. I have finished the right side of the vase and now I am working on the left side.

Til next time…

Kerry

2Oct2014

To Everything There Is A Season…Block 7

Posted in "To Everything There is a Season", Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Here it is the beginning of another month and that means it’s time to post the next block of a block-of -the-month I launched back in April. To see the last 6 blocks, click here.

For those that have ordered the patterns, thank you very much!! I am really overwhelmed by the positive response to the patterns. I’ll answer some FAQs…there will be 12 blocks in total. The blocks measure 18″ x 18″ without the seam allowance. There is be a beautiful center medallion that combines elements of all the blocks. It is spectacular! And, finally, there will be outer borders. The finished size should approximately 90″ square.

There are 2 ways to order the pattern, which are available on my website. You can purchase a full size paper pattern and I will send it to you in the mail. The cost is $10.00 and includes shipping in Canada and the US and also includes a colour picture of the block or….you can purchase the downloadable pattern for $7.00. Some people have had trouble downloading the pattern (you will need Adobe Reader to download the patterns) and for those people, I sent a 6 page PDF of the pattern which seems to have worked well. This month I have included the 6 page PDF in the link. along with the full-size pattern and a colour picture. Hopefully that works for everyone!

So….here is the block!

I must admit this block intimidated me because of the shading and I just didn’t know if I could carry it off. I procrastinated all month long (not like me at all!) and when we came back from Barbados I finally started the block. That way, I only had one week to make the block. Talk about pressure, but sometimes that is the only way to get things done!! Can anyone relate to that?

So I started (very cautiously) with some leaves…