Bed of Roses – Block 4

Posted in Bed of Roses, Bed of Roses BOM, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Block 4 of Sue Garman’s “Bed of Roses” could very well be my favourite block…so far! Do not be intimidated. This block is very simple. Yes…even for a beginner. First, I started with the bias strips.

Next, I added the leaves.

The flowers are sooooo easy! They are really all the same shapes, just different sizes. It is the fabrics that make them come alive!. I have added 3 more fabrics to this block, so there is a good variety of light, medium and dark pink.

I mean, really, could it get any easier?

So once all the flowers were finished….

…..I added the berries.

By the way, I almost never leave the house without my bag of applique. We are going to a friend’s cabin for the day, so I am prepared. Because heaven forbid I sit there with nothing to do!

When I do work at home, Bruin is such a help. He keeps my pieces warm and organized!

And finally, I added a cute little vase!

Here is the finished block! Block 4 (and Blocks 1, 2 and 3) are available on my website Simple Bird Studio.

Til next time…..

Kerry

23Aug2015

So much creativity! So much fun!

Posted in Bed of Roses, Bed of Roses QAL, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I believe that everyone is capable of creating beautiful things. But how often do we just allow ourselves to be creative, for the sake of being creative?

About 15 years ago, I discovered the quilts of Paula Nadelstern and I haven’t looked at fabric the same way since. This is a quilt I made using her technique and I can’t remember when I felt so creative.

If you look really closely at this section, you will the the centre is made up of polar bear faces. Does it get any better than that?

I also came to appreciate all fabrics, especially ones that are truly symmetrical. There are many fabrics that may look symmetrical, but are not. So don’t be fooled! This is a classic example of a symmetrical fabric brimming with possibilities.

Although beautiful, this is not a symmetrical shape. Symmetrical simply means that you can cut the motif right down the middle and end up with mirror images.

Truly symmetrical fabrics are very rare, and so you should pick them up whenever you find them.

Joan, at Vibes and Scribes (in Ireland!) very graciously sent me two fabulous fabrics that just happen to be truly symmetrical. Let me show you what I did with the first one….

First, I laid it on the table and drooled. Who wouldn’t?

I knew that I wanted to make a vase from this fabric. I found a shape in the fabric which I thought to be very vase-like and traced the shape onto a piece of template plastic. Next, I used that piece of plastic to make a freezer paper template and ironed it onto the back of the fabric and prepped the piece the way I normally do.

Here is the beginning of my vase. I could have easily left off the outside gold trim, but I just love the effect it has.

…and of course, every vase should have a base.

So far, so good!

The creative wheels starting turning and I wondered if I could make a few of the flowers from this same fabric? Of course I can! I cut a few simple shapes and starting playing. I think the key is to keep the shapes simple and let this stunning piece of fabric speak for itself! I added a dark chocolate brown piece which I used in the flower on the far right. I added this fabric to help define the shapes and so that the flowers do not look so smooshy.

Of course, when you are being truly creative, you are in total control of the situation. Just do what you want to and remember…changing your mind is certainly an option.

This piece is made of 3 simple leaf shapes. But look what happens when you flip them around and change the placement just a smidge. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Speaking of changing my mind…..do you remember this picture? And have you noticed there has been no further progress? That is because I changed my mind and decided to have this quilt machine quilted by Ruth at Stitching Impressions. So I spent an afternoon or two ripping out all of my hand-quilting stitches, knowing I was making the right decision. (Anyone who thinks that hand-quilting stitches are not very strong should spend a day or two ripping them out. Yikes!)

Ruth contacted me earlier this week and said my quilt will be ready to pick up next week. Here is a sneak peak. Major goosebumps!!!

And last, but not least, I am working away on Block 4 of Bed of Roses. Scrumptuous!

Til next time…

Kerry

2Aug2015

Bed of Roses – Block 3

Posted in Bed of Roses, Bed of Roses BOM, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

When I begin a new quilting project, I soon form an impression or a feeling about the quilt. The impression I have about Sue Garman’s “Bed of Roses” is that it is a perfect example of the quote by Aristotle: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. The part (or pieces) of this quilt are actually quite simple….bias strips, circles and very simple shapes. Put them altogether and you end up with an awesome and very complex looking block. This block (and Blocks 1 & 2) are available on my website Simple Bird Studio. You can order just the patterns, or you can order each pattern with the same fabrics I am using.

If you would like a few simple tips on how to make bias strips, circles and other common shapes, you can watch my youtube videos. Always entertaining!

So, let’s start with the bias. These pieces get glued in place first because they will go under the next piece. Notice that I have trimmed these bias strips on an angle where they meet and will be covered.

Next, I added the flowers, which are made up some very simple pieces.

The next shape is very unassuming (and not very exciting!). But just you wait!

Add some more simple pieces and look what you end up with. I can’t be the only one getting goosebumps!

Now this next piece might look a little overwhelming, but just clip the curves and away you go!

Believe it or not, it just gets easier from here! Add some leaves….

…and some circles……

…and you have just completed a very easy (but most complex looking!) block!! How easy was that?

Til next time…

Kerry

10Apr2015

Stippling and other fun stuff!

Posted in Bed of Roses, Bed of Roses Quilt Along, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Hand-Quilting Techniques, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I really wish I had more to show! I have been working away on my hexie quilt and loving every moment of it. The top left corner is almost complete, then I will continue the dark brown border and then…well who knows? This quilt seems to be designing itself! My only goal was to use up all 5 meters of the beige background, which I have had in my stash for 8 years…8 years! Seriously, it’s time to let go!!

I have finished all of the background stippling on the eagle block of my “Friends of Baltimore”. Turns out stippling is very relaxing, soothing and almost hypnotic. Time stands still when I work on this block. Still not sure what I am going to do with those triangles…..

Because the background is so heavily quilted, everything pops out, like the flowers and leaves, which I love because it almost looks dimensional! The eagle is a little baggy and needs some quilting. So, this is the “before” picture and in my next post you will see the “after” picture.

Life is short and we are not supposed to sweat the “small stuff”. So, I am not going to worry about the cat hair anymore. I just purchased a bulk package of lint rollers and I am making really good use of them!

My new and improved website is still under construction and hopefully will be ready to launch the end of next week. You have probably figured out by now that I am a huge fan of Sue Garman and her wonderful applique patterns. So, I will be selling some of her patterns on my website. And, I will be doing one of her patterns, Bed of Roses, as a Quilt-Along, complete with fabric kits! Last night I prewashed the fabrics so I could get started on the first block. So exciting!

Til next time….

Kerry

19Jan2015

So Close to a Finish!

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

I am in the process of finishing the fourth and final (!) border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. Once the flowers, vines and leaves were finished, I appliqued all of the tiny details, like the red berries, the yellow centers of the roses. The embroidery is done with just one strand of floss.

Once that was finally finished, I did what I did to all of my blocks and borders once I am finished stitching them….I poured a warm bath, added some suds….and tossed the border in!

Why do I do this? I do this because I use glue, starch and marking pens on my quilt blocks, so I want all of that to be removed before I stitch the blocks together. If you want, you can watch my Youtube video on Washing Blocks and you can also check out this post.

After the border was dry, I auditioned it along side the rest of the quilt. I think Jenny and Bruin are pleased with the results!

As you can see, I am not finished yet! I still have the remaining 2 corner blocks to do. Wanting to keep the momentum going, I started with the vase, an easy place to start.

Next, I started to add some leaves to the vase. I have found this little tip to be very helpful when lining up mulitple pieces. I prep the piece as usual and then remove the freezer paper template. I flip the template over and place it on top of the prepped piece. Then I draw on the remaining seam allowance.

As you start to glue the pieces in place, you can also see the emerging shape that will cover all of those raw edges (in this case, the rose).

And now I can start to fill in the rest of the vase. Lovely!

Til next time….

Kerry

8Jan2015

To Everything There Is A Season…Block 10

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

Happy New Year! Here is the 10th block of “To Everything There Is A Season”, a BOM I launched last April.

If you haven’t seen the blocks, here they are! The blocks are available on my website Simple Bird Studio.

I am sooooo close to finishing Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”! Once the border is finished, I just have to do the two corner blocks. Then add the sawtooth border. Then quilt it. Then bind it. Remember, one stitch at a time!!

Til next time….

Kerry

14Dec2014

Surrounded by Inspiration!

Posted in Bouquet For a New Day, Civil War Bride Quilt, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Today Hubby and I spent a bit of time picking out some porcelain tile that is to be installed at our front door and mudroom. No matter where I go, I seem to always see quilts designs….I have always loved clamshell quilts and one day I will make one!

How impressed would your quilting friends be if they came over and saw this floor in your sewing room? (Answer: Very Impressed!)

If this were my backsplash, I would be reminded of how much I love hexies while I am doing the dishes!

And, finally, isn’t this the perfect pattern for an appliqued quilt? Inspiration is everywhere!!

Last week, I started the final (!) border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. I would love to have this border finished by the end of the year. We will see….First I picked out the fabric for the vase. I like to start with the vase because it just feels like such an accomplishment once it is completed! This is one of my favorite fabrics. Do you recognize it?

I used it for a vase in my Civil War Bride Quilt. Notice the pattern is running up and down.

I used the same fabric for the vase in my “Bouquets For A New Day”. In this vase the pattern is running sideways.

And here is the fabric for the third time!

Now on to the fun part. All those curved pieces at the bottom of the vase need to line up properly. I did the same thing I did in my last post about lining up the pieces of the pine cones. First, I removed the freezer paper template from the prepped pieces. Next, I placed the template shiny side up on top of the prepped piece. Then I used a sharp white marking pencil and drew the seam allowance on the pieces. Can you see the white line? This just makes it so much easier to place the pieces in the correct spot.

It’s such a nice feeling when things line up properly!

Next, I added the top of the vase and the curvy section on top of it. Then I started to add the stems, leaves and flowers!

Til next time…
Kerry

3Dec2014

To Everything There Is A Season…Block 9

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

It’s that time again! Time to post the next block of “To Everything There Is A Season”, a BOM I launched back in April. It’s hard to believe this is the 9th block…3 more to go! This month’s block (and the previous 8) are available on my website Simple Bird Studio.

This block looks intimidating, but do not be fooled! It is an easy block, with lots of pieces. How many pieces you ask? There are 320 pieces in this block. I counted them myself!

I started in the center with the holly leaves.

Then I added some berries.

I am stitching as I go…prep a bit…stitch a bit…

Next, I started to add the pine boughs. This is where the fun begins! For the pine needles, I used my bias bars to make strips and then cut the strips into shorter pieces. The ends of each of these pieces are turned under and stitched.

Let me tell you about the pine cones. I constructed them off-block and then stitched them in place. Not just one pine cone….

…not just 4 pine cones….

Eight pine cones and some frosty snowflakes! Chilly!

Til next time…

Kerry

22Nov2014

Ah…Memories

Posted in Bouquet For a New Day, Hand-Applique Techniques, Hand-Quilting Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

It’s been 9 years years (to the day) that my Mom passed away. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. Although she did not quilt, she was always very interested in whatever quilt I was working on. My Mom did a fair amount of travelling and she always returned home with quilting fabric of some sort for me. Ah, memories!

This is the quilt that I made for my Mom.

It brings back some lovely memories for me and for that reason, I cherish it. I started this quilt about three years before she passed. I chose a pattern that I could stitch together fairly quickly and I assumed I would just have it machine quilted and that would be that! But no, my Mom insisted that I hand-quilt her quilt. I put up a bit of a fuss…I was working full time and my three teenage kids always seemed to have to be driven somewhere. I just didn’t think I had the time to hand-quilt a queen sized quilt at that stage in my life. But, there was no arguing with her. Long story short, I set aside 1 hour every evening to hand-quilt her quilt. Those small chunks of time added up and before I knew it, the quilt was finished! Not long after I finished the quilt, my Mom was diagnosed with cancer and a year later, she passed away.

I had some of the navy blue fabric left over and I have used it in a few special quilts. I used the fabric on my “Bouquet For A New Day”….

….and I used it in my daughter’s Christmas quilt……

…and, I also used it for one of the birds in my Civil War Bride quilt. Where will the special fabric show up next?

Till next time….

Kerry

14Nov2014

Ruching My Flower

Posted in Baltimore Class, Hand-Applique Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

My Beginner Baltimore Class meets next week and I am busy getting the second block ready. First, I traced the pattern onto the background with a blue Clover Water Soluble Marker. (I like the thick ones.) Then I glued the bias stems in place.

Then I prepped and added a few leaves…and a few more leaves!

Now comes the fun part! Ruching! But before I begin, let me show you the fabric I chose for my ruched flower.

I love all fabrics (really I do!) but I especially love fabrics that go from light to dark across the width. I’ll buy a shaded fabric whenever I see it, even if I don’t know what I will do with it! They are perfect for shading flowers….and for making ruched flowers. Here is what I did…

I cut a strip of fabric 1 1/4″ wide by the width of the fabric. Next, I pressed the edges into the middle on the wrong side.

Next, I threaded up a needle with thread that matches the fabric. Since this fabric has both very light pink and very dark burgundy, I chose to go middle-of-the-road and used a medium pink thread. If you look closely you can see that I have made little ticks along the top and bottom edges with a marking pencil. I spaced the marks 1 1/2″ apart. The marks along the top and bottom are off-set by 3/4″ to form a zig zag pattern.

I started stitching (really just a running stitch) at the first mark on the bottom side and worked toward the first mark on the top. The key to this method is to make sure that the last stitch ends with the thread on the front side…

….and then I insert the needle in the back of the fabric (very important!) and I simply continue stitching toward the next mark. How easy is that?

This is what it should look like….

So after I stitched a few zig-zags, I gathered the fabric on the thread and voila! Make sure you double your thread if using a regular sewing thread or you can also use a strong handquilting thread like Dual Duty. There is a lot of tension on the thread and it would be a shame if the thread broke and you had to start all over again. Ask me how I know!

Here is a fun fact…a 42″ strip of fabric gathers up to about 12″ when this ruching method is used.

I started at the light end of the strip, and carefully curled the ruched strip around the centre, tacking it in place as I went.

And finally….here is my block. Sweet!

Don’t forget to head on over to Stitching Impressions on Monday to see what Ruth is up to as we continue on the “Around The World Quilt Blog Tour”. Also, did you get goosebumps when you saw Rebecca’s Pineapple quilt at Cheeky Cognoscenti? I knew you would!!

Til next time….

Kerry