Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted in Friends of Baltimore, Grandmother's Flower Garden, Hand-Piecing, Hand-Quilting Techniques, Hexagons, Inklingo, Slow Stitching Sunday, Sunday Afternoon Applique Group, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

This past week I have been busy with non-quilting activities, but I still managed to find the time to work away on the last corner block in the border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. And, as usual, I started with the vase. This just might be my favourite vase!

Slowly, I filled the vase….first with some stems and leaves. You can see that some of the leaves and flowers cover the seam line and flow from the block onto the border.

So now I have prepped as far as I can. I am going to stitch everything…well, maybe not everything!… in place this afternoon at my Sunday Afternoon Applique Group. Once all of the stitching is done, I will attach this border to the rest of the quilt, and then fill in the missing pieces. I am linking up to Slow Stitching Sunday. Check it out and see what some fine quilters are up to today!

My hexies are taking on a life of their own. I am not exactly sure where this quilt is heading. I am just making it up as I go! Have you tried Inklingo yet? All of these hexies were made using Inklingo. Inklingo is fast, efficient, super-simple and extremely addictive! Betcha can’t make just one!!

And, finally, a couple of people asked me if I would show the back of my hexie stitching once it has been pressed. It’s all about spiralling the seams!

Til next time….

Kerry

28Dec2014

Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted in Hand-Piecing, Hexagons, Inklingo, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I have discovered the addictive (very addictive!) world of Hand-Piecing! A couple of weeks ago, I decided to start another hexie quilt. I needed a little inspiration so I found myself on Pinterest admiring the hundreds and hundreds of hexie quilt images. Long story short, I clicked on a hexie quilt that was made using Inklingo. I had heard of Inklingo a couple of years ago, even spent some time on the website, but that is all that became of it. This time when I checked out the website, I could see the beauty of the Inklingo concept. First I downloaded the free pattern for the diamond stars, fired up my ink-jet printer, watched a few Inklingo videos on Youtube, threaded up a needle and BAM!! Before I knew it, I had completed four stars!!

So, then I thought “If I can hand-piece these stars, I can hand-piece anything, including hexies!” I purchased the 2″ hexie patterns and the rest is history! So this is what I have been working on today….I am linking up to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday. Check it out and see what quilters are working on today!

Pressing these hexies are easy when you know how!

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

10Sep2014

Getting Ready For A Vacation!

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

Hubby and I and 2 other couples are leaving on Sunday for a week in the sunny south. We have had this holiday planned for a while now and we are all very, very excited. Who wouldn’t be? We are going to Barbados! The other 2 wives are busy planning where we will be eating, daily excursions to must-see tourist areas and flight schedules. Not me. I am too busy prepping my applique so I can do some serious stitching! My biggest fear is that when I travel, I will have absolutely nothing to do. True story. So I always take my applique with me wherever I go. I have stitched in Nova Scotia….

…at the cottage….

…The Royal York in Toronto. We actually missed our flight to Nova Scotia so I had lots of time to stitch while we waited for the next flight.

…on the Amoeba in Antigua…..

…and in Florida.

Wherever I go with my stitching, I take my bag with me. I pack this bag before I pack my suitcase. Again…true story! My bag has everything in it that I will need….thread, a package of needles, a few pins, scissosrs, close-up glasses, Thread Heaven and ThimblePads.

So…on to the border. I love fabrics that go from light to dark across the width, like this purple one.

I needed some purple berries to finish off the bouquet in the vase and I thought this might be the perfect fabric. I cut a few dark berries, a few medium ones and a couple light ones.

I just kept adding flowers, buds, leaves and stems, until the right side was complete. Voila!

Finally, I have something to hand-quilt! I spent the weekend marking and basting my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. I decided to quilt a Baptist fan design. So far, so good!

Til next time….

Kerry

3Sep2014

Not bad for a rainy day!

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

I love to have lots of projects on the go. It keeps things interesting. I am in the process of putting the finishing touches on my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. So…here are all the flowers stitched together. And I have started to fill in the side sections. I must admit it is a little awkward stitching with a cat lying on my lap, but somehow I manage!

Next, I started filling in the top and bottom sections. Just one more row to add on the left side and I will be finally ready to start hand-quilting. I have been without a hand-quilting project for some time and I am can’t wait to start!

It rained all day Monday, so I decided that would be a good day to spend on the third border Friends of Baltimore. First, I added the stems and leaves, and then added the flowers…

I just kept adding more stems and leaves and flowers…

Not bad for a rainy day!

Til next time…

Kerry

18Aug2014

Talking to myself and other fun stuff!

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

I made a deal with myself…I couldn’t start the third border of “Friends of Baltimore” until I completed The Elissa block from Sue Garman’s “Ladies of the Sea”.

Oddly enough, I make deals with myself all the time……clean the bathroom and then you can sit and stitch…start dinner and while the pasta is cooking you can sit and stitch….get up a little earlier and you can sit and stitch. You get the picture!

So, here we go! I decided to start with the vines coming out of the bouquet. I should mention that I have traced the design on the background with a Clover water soluble marker.

I was just itching to start the vase…so that is what I did! I used the same blues as I did for the flowers in The Elissa block.

I am not going to be shy…I love the way this vase turned out!!

Next, I added a few more leaves and tiny stems.

And a few purple flowers….

Next, I added some pretty posies!

When I filled the vase with all of the flowers, something started to niggle at me. The light pink rose gets lost in the boquet.

So then, I started a conversation with myself. I guess by now you have figured out that I talk to myself…a lot!! I started to think that in real life, someone may have put a pale pink rose into a vase with brightly coloured flowers and it might look just fine. Someone else might look at the block and think it looks just fine. Maybe I am just being too critical of my work. But the reality is, I know that if it bugs me now, it is going to bug me even more once it is quilted. So I replaced the flower with one that has just a little more oomph!

Dandy!

I have added a few more rows onto my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. Only two more rows to go…yippee! I have already decided (after many converastions with myself!) about how I am going to hand-quilt it. I will keep you posted!

Til next time…

Kerry

11Aug2014

Lazy Days of Summer

Posted in Amherst Island, Hexagons by Simple Bird Applique

This past weekend my husband and I travelled to Amherst Island with my sister-in-law and her husband to attend the Emerald Music Festival. We stayed in a wonderful cottage that belongs to my husband’s cousin. Not only was it filled with some awesome antiques, she also had a collection of old quilts that immediately caught my attention…this one especially. It is hand-appliqued and hand-quilted The applique pieces are pretty worn in some spots. This is the only block that has at least some of each appliqued piece. The rest are pretty faded.

I love the scalloped edge. Sadly, there was no label. (Note to self…label ALL quilts!)

We had a blast cooking breakfast on this 1952 Moffat stove…once we figured out how to turn it on!!

And best of all, I found the perfect spot to work away on my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt.

DSCN6000

Til next time…

Kerry

7Aug2014

Anchors Aweigh!

Posted in Hexagons, Ladies of the Sea, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Now that the leaves, flowers and most of the ship is stitched, it is time to start the anchor. It is just a teensy bit challenging, so I thought I would show you how I tackled it. You can see it is a little on the small side. Just take a deep breath!

First, I placed it on the fabric so that most of the straight pieces are on the bias rather than the straight grain.

Next, I reverse appliqued the inner circle. When I do fiddley pieces like this, I don’t cut out the whole piece at once, just the section I am working on. It is easier to handle if it a big piece of fabric. No doubt about it, this is a tiny seam allowance, so I used just a dab of Fray Check on the seam allowance.

I trimmed a small part of the seam allowance and prepped it before trimming more seam allowance…

These right angles can be tricky, so I fold the section to be prepped towards myself so I can really get my mini-iron in the corner.

That wasn’t so hard, now was it??

This is the part I really enjoy…taking the freezer paper out!

So once that was done, I placed it on the block, along with the rope, which I will be honest, was a piece of cake compared to the anchor!

Since I don’t have any handquilting on the go right now, I am managing to get my hexies stitched together. Sweet!

Til next time…

Kerry

10Jun2014

That Value Thing Again!

Posted in Hexagons, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

A huge thank you to everyone very graciously let me know that my dainty pink rose does not show up. It is that “value” thing again. I must say I was pleasantly surprised, though, when my daughter asked me about the photo in question. She said “In your last blog post, you posted a picture of your border and the pink rose at the bottom doesn’t show up. Is it supposed to show up?” I was pleasantly surprised because I didn’t realize she even read my blog! Sweet!

The fabrics I chose for the rose petals are the same “value” as the background. That means there is very little contrast between the rose and the background and so it doesn’t show up very well. How can you tell if your fabrics are the same value or not? Well, I installed an app on my tablet called “Grayscale It”. It changes my color photo…

….to black and white. It is so much easier to judge “value” and “contrast” when you can see your fabrics in shades of black, white and gray.

If you take a look at the flower in the bottom left corner, you can see that it is a good example of light, medium and dark. The pink rose is a good example of light, lighter and lightest!! Interesting!

This is the same problem I had with my leaves a couple of posts ago. You can read more about that here.

Who knew that making hexies could be so much fun? I have made 50 (50!) of the pretty flowers and am now onto making the “paths”.

The “path” is the part that creates a white border around each flower. I find this whole process very intriguing!

So I have about 200 more hexagons to prep to complete the path. Yikes!

Til next time…

Kerry

23May2014

Always more than one option….

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

It occurs to me from time to time that quilting is a lot like life. You rarely are in a situation where you do not have options. And the option you choose is really up to you (and not the Quilt Police!). There are a few dainty buds in the border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. How you decide to make them is totally up to you!

Here are the buds……they are the same but I am going to prep them two different ways.

First, I ironed both buds to the wrong side of the fabric and cut them out.

For the first bud, I prepped it in my normal way.

Next, I removed the freezer paper and cut out the circle to use as a pattern for the red centre and prepped it.

Bud #1.

For Bud # 2, I decided to do reverse applique. I think this term often confuses people. (You are not appliqueing in reverse!) You are simply reversing the layers. For Bud #1, I placed the red piece on top of the green piece. Bud #2 involves placing the green piece on top of the red piece.

This technique involves cutting a hole in the centre of the fabric and still leave a seam allowance that you can turn.