A Bit of This and That!

Posted in Annabelle, Bruin, Owen's Quilt, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

It snowed all day. Literally, all day. Which meant I wasn’t going anywhere, except to my sewing room. I decided to put a pot of chili on and play “catch-up” on a few on-going quilt projects. First, I started making the sashing for Owen’s quilt. By stitching 4 simple half-square triangles to the corners of each sashing and adding some cornerstones…

…..this is what you get! Magical!

I must confess, I did not calculate for the half-square triangles for the red stars to continue out into the border. Oops. I’ll figure that out tomorrow.

So, I put Owen’s quilt away and dug out Annabelle. I finished stitching the leaves and the hexies, so, it was time for a bubble bath (for Annabelle, not for me!)

While Annabelle was soaking, I decided to go through my fabrics to find a suitable fabric for the 4″ border. To keep myself organized, I am keeping all of the fabrics for Annabelle in a plastic tote (complete with lid) to keep Bruin out. That plan will only work if I remember to place the lid on the tote!

Anyway, I auditioned a few fabrics, but nothing caught my eye. That is, until I saw the fabric I used for the vase. Hmmmm…

I thought that the stripes would make a nifty border. And the best part? They were exactly the right size…4 1/2″ wide! I think the Quilt Gods are trying to tell me something. Maybe I should listen!

After I did some serious measuring, I realized I only had 3 stripes long enough for the borders (28 1/2″). The fourth stripe was too short….but that wasn’t going to stop me!

I had a few smaller chunks of the stripe left over, so I thought I would try piecing it. First, I ironed the edge over on the left over piece, about 1/2″ or so.

Next, I placed it on the section that was too short and lined it up as best I could.

I carefully folded it over, (so now the two border pieces are right sides together) pinned it in place, held my breath and stitched on the folded line.

I exhaled. Then, I checked to make sure it matched (it did!). I trimmed the seam allowance to 1/4″ away from the stitched line. Finally, I trimmed the border to 28 1/2″.

Once that drama was over, I stitched all four borders on and added some cornerstones! Dandy!

Til next time…

Kerry

20Jan2014

Focused and Organized

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

After a week of procrastinating, I have finally started the first border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore” on Saturday. I traced the whole pattern onto my background, which did not take nearly as long as I anticipated. I like to use a Clover water-soluble marker when I trace my backgrounds. The markers come in two sizes…thick tip and thin tip. I always use the thick tip. The line is thicker (of course!) and much easier to see!

Next, I made a whole pile of leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. The leaves get stitched in place first, and then the bias stem is placed on top of the leaves, so I need to make all of the leaves first . I am trying my darndest to stay focused and organized all at the same time.

As you can see, each leaf has it’s own number. And they are actually backwards because when I print my patterns onto the freezer paper, I reverse the pattern. So…I take each leaf and match it up with the corresponding leaf on the paper pattern. A little time consuming, so when I have enough leaves to complete a vine, I yell “Bingo!” It helps to pass the time.

Once the first set of leaves was complete, I started working on the center vase. First, I did the cute little curly-cues. And then the rest of the vase.

Annabelle is coming along quite nicely. The hexies are mighty small and I am fussy cutting the fabric, so it is taking a bit of time! I love how the hexies gives just a burst of something a little different!

Til next time….

Kerry

10Jan2014

So….I went shopping!

Posted in Annabelle, Circle of Tulips, Grandmothers Choice, Hand-Applique Techniques, Owen's Quilt, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

This is Annabelle…so far.

I have been working on Annabelle between other projects. The pieces are huge compared to anything else I am working on, so it’s a nice break.

It has an appliqued centre, surrounded by applique borders. I have chosen to use mainly browns, rusts and golds. At some point, I have to add some dainty hexie-flowers that are in the borders, as well as the centre.

Each time I made these little hexie flowers out of brown, they just weren’t dainty enough. So….I looked at my focus fabric, and saw this colour, (circled in red) which I can only describe as “not exactly grey…not exactly blue”. I think little hexie flowers in this colour would look lovely!

I don’t think I have any fabric this colour. Even if I do have some, I wouldn’t know where to begin looking for it, so it might be quicker just to go fabric shopping! So, I went shopping and I found exactly what I was looking for!! Dainty!

Of course, I found a few more pieces to add to the mix!

Also, I am slowly, but surely making progress on “Circle of Tulips”.

This is a little something I am also working on. Sometimes I like to sit at my sewing machine and not applique! I have a large stack of blocks from Barbara Brackman’s “Grandmother’s Choice” Block-of-the-week and it’s time to do something with them. Barbara has a new Block-of-the Month starting soon, called “Threads of Memory”. Check it out here. I made 3 blocks every week, (instead of 1) so I have lots of blocks! The 16 blocks I chose varied in size a little, so I added corner triangles to all 4 sides of the blocks.

Then I was able to trim them all down to a consistent size (12 1/2″).

This is what I have done so far. I am making this quilt for Owen, a little boy who has a place in a lot of hearts. Owen is just a little over 1 year old so he is still in a crib. But one day he will be moving to a big boy bed and he will need a quilt.

Til next time……..

Kerry

5Dec2013

Just Play!

Posted in Annabelle, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I love starting a new quilt! I really have no business starting something new, when I should be starting the last (yipee!) block of Friends of Baltimore, but it’s what I do! The more quilts I have one the go, the happier I am. I believe that a body in motion stays in motion and creativity breeds creativity! So, this is what I did today….I played!

This quilt is called Annabelle. It is based on a quilt made by Ann Daggs in New York and dated 1818. This is my focus fabric. I think of choosing fabrics for a quilt like choosing actors for a movie. Only one fabric (or actor) can play the leading role.

And, no movie is complete without a supporting cast!

So, once I chose most of my fabrics, I started cutting, prepping and audtioning. At this stage, I just lay everything out on the paper pattern and play!