Filling the Fruit Bowl

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

Piece by piece, I am filling the bowl with yummy fruit! First I added a pear, some grapes, an apple and what I believe is to be a tomato. Next I added some peaches (or apricots…your choice!) I absolutely love the fabric that the peaches are made from. It is one of those fabrics that go from light to dark across the width. These fabrics are perfect for shading flowers (or fruit!). Grab them when you see them!

I was a little worried that there was not enough contrast between the peaches and the pear, so I took the block to the window to see it in natural sunlight. I think its just fine. Bruin is still a little unsure.

Next, I added another leaf, a pear, another tomato, some stems and a few more grapes. Peachy!

Til next time…

Kerry

18Nov2013

OK…where was I?

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

Now that I have finished Civil War Bride, I have some spare time on my hands. What will I do? Will I work on finishing some neglected UFO’s or start something totally brand new? Well…since I like to work on a number of projects at once, the answer is…both! I am going to work on finishing up Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore” and I am going to start Sue Garman’s “Ladies of the Sea” tomorrow. I have been wanting to start this quilt for a while now. I showed the pattern to my son a couple of years ago and told him I would like to make it for him. He said “Sweet”. A couple of months ago, he actually asked me if I had started it yet. I said I hadn’t. Last week he asked me again if I had started it and I told him I was getting ready organizing my fabrics and I would start it soon. He said “Sweet. Make sure you make it long enough to cover me”.
(He is 6′ 5″.) I was torn between mortified and ecstatic. Mortified because he wants to use the quilt. Ecstatic because he wants to use the quilt!

I try to keep all of my unfinished projects organized in clear containers. That way, when I am ready to pick up where I left off, I know exactly where everything is. How is that for organized? This is “Friends of Baltimore”. I have just 2 blocks left, then I can start the borders. (Have you seen the borders? Yikes!)

So, the fern block is finished, but still needed a bath. You can read more about “Washing My Blocks” here.

While that block was soaking, I started the next block, the fruit bowl. First, I traced the pattern on to my background with a Clover water soluble marker. I used my light box to do all of my tracing.

I started with the base of the bowl. All I can think about is how nice it would be to go whale watching right about now!

Next, I added some circles.

Now I was ready to add some leaves. I have been thinking about leaves lately. Probably because we have been raking them up before the snow falls. Leaves come in more colours than just shades of green.

I have been keeping my eyes open for some really different leaf fabrics to add to my stash of applique fabrics. Check these out! I especially like the second one from the left and decided to use that one in this block.

Here it is….

Til next time…

Kerry

29Sep2013

Bound and Determined!

Posted in Bouquet For a New Day, Hand-Quilting Tools, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Yippeel! I finally finished hand-quilting Sue Garman’s Bouquet For A New Day! I took the last stitch on Friday night at approximately 11:15 pm!

I had a relatively free weekend ahead, so I was bound and determined to bind this quilt. I noticed that the quilt was a little ruffled around the edges, so I ran a basting stitch around all four sides about 1/4″ away from the edge. It helped to keep all 3 layers together.

Next. I measured 4 1/4″ away from the red inner border and proceeded to trim all the way around. (Rather stressful. So much can go wrong at this point!)

All of the marking on this quilt (the cross-hatching and the cable border) were done with a Frixion marker. At this point I removed all of the markings with a steam iron. I did not touch the quilt top with the iron, I just held the iron a couple of inches above the quilt and let the steam remove the marks. Here are some before and after pictures.

Oh! And remember when I marked the top border with 2013 (the year the quilt was supposed to be finished)? Here it is.

Then, I (we) stitched the binding in place.

I like to stitch my binding on to the front of the quilt and hand stitch it to the back. I watched 4 episodes of Big Bang Theory while I stitched by hand….so it took about 2 hours!

One of the many things I love about blogging is that I have a permanent record of the quilts I am working on. I started hand-quilting Bouquet For a New Day in October 2012. You can look back on that post here.

And…the best part is…I finished it on Sunday, September 29, 2013!

Til next time…

Kerry

11Sep2013

All that fuss!

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

Of course I was procrastinating! Three of the four ferns were prepped and stitched in place. I even distracted myself long enough to make some berries. I knew what I had to do….make another fern!

For those of you who wondered, I do remove the freezer paper before it is stitched in place!

So once the last fern was done, everything quickly fell into place! Some pretty red flowers…

…and a really spiffy vase!

Next. more berries. Lots of berries!

And, finally….. another completed block! Makes me wonder what all the fuss was about!!

Til next time….

Kerry

28Aug2013

It’s a Deal!

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

My goal last week was to stitch the last block of Civil War Bride and take a wee break before starting the borders. I hadn’t worked on “Friend’s of Baltimore” in a while and I was suffering from “separation anxiety”. So, I started to work on the next block of “Friend’s of Baltimore”, which I must admit, had me very intimidated! The ferns have super-intense inner curves and I have been dreading doing them ever since I started this quilt. True story!

A running dialogue started in my head and it went something like this…”Yikes! Look at those ferns. There isn’t just one, there are four! How in the world am I ever going to do those ferns. I’ll just leave this block and start another one. Maybe I’ll just substitute some easier leaves. Oh sure! Take the easy way out! OK…here is what I will do. I will make just one of the ferns! And, after doing just one, if I still think they are way too difficult, I will just do some easier leaves. But here is the deal. I have to make one fern before I can start any other part of the block. Okay…..deal!”

And that is what I did. I trimmed a small section of the seam allowance and prepped it.

Then I trimmed a bit more. And prepped a bit more.

I am not saying it happened in the blink of an eye, but before I knew it, I finished one (!) fern!

I stitched it in place and then I added a few leaves and some stems.

I added a lovely flower…and another fern!

Til next time…

Kerry

13Aug2013

A Challenge…or is it?

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

As I was getting ready to start the next (and last!!) block of Civil War Bride, I noticed the horse shapes looked a little challenging. If I were to cut in between the horse’s legs, there would not be much of a seam allowance.

Don’t get me wrong, I am always up for a challenge! But it just takes a few simple steps to turn a challenging shape into something very do-able. So here is what I did…

First, I added a few lines.

So, now I have 3 very simple shapes!

I prepped the legs and glued them in place…

I started to prep the body, but I thought the ears looked a little dicey. So I drew a line…

…..and I made another simple shape.

I glued the ear in place…

And, finally…a very easy to stitch horse! And I didn’t even break a sweat!

With this cooler than normal weather, I am able to hand-quilt most nights. The borders are coming along very nicely. I am finished the bottom border and I have passed the half-way mark of the side border.

Finally, here is the last completed block of Civil War Bride!

Til next time….

Kerry

7Aug2013

An Epiphany!

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

I must say I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly I am quilting the borders of “Bouquet For A New Day”. The bottom border is finished and I have now marked the side borders. As I was marking the borders, my mind wandered and I had an epiphany! ( a sudden realization–a flash of recognition in which someone or something is seen in a new light).

I thought…it is all well and good that the borders match up in the center of the border. But…wouldn’t it be interesting to put a design or something at the center and have the borders flow out from the design?? I thought it would be fun to incorporate 2013 in the top border (the year this quilt better be finished!) So here is what I did…

First, I found a font in Illustrator that suited the quilt. Then I drew an oval around it and printed it out. The borders are only 5″ wide so the design could only be around 4″ tall. Next, I drew some lines on the pattern to help center it on the border fabric.

I put the quilt on my light box and placed the pattern just under the top layer. I used the lines on the pattern to make sure everything was nicely centered.

Next, I drew the lines with a Frixion marker.

Then, using the stencil I continued drawing the border, until I reached the oval.

I flipped the stencil over and continued on my merry way. Easy peasy!

In the meantime, I have been working away on the next Civil War Bride block. This block consists of a lot of layering. For instance…first the leaves, then the stem and then the feet!

This is the block so far!

Til next time….

Kerry

30Jul2013

Turning a Corner

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

Finally! I have finished hand-quilting all 12 blocks of Sue Garman’s “Bouquet For A New Day”.

Now I can start the border! I had my stencil picked out for the outer border and I was raring to go. I must admit, the half-square triangles had me a bit stumped. I know I could just quilt in the ditch, but I know myself well enough to know that boredom would quickly set in! So I decided on circles. Lots of circles!

The stencil I chose for the outer border did not fit the border exactly so here is what I did to make it fit. The stencil does have a nicely turned corner so I didn’t have to figure that out! First, I drew a line at the centre point of the border.

Next, I started tracing the stencil at the corner, and continued until I reached the centre mark.

Then, I flipped the stencil over and continued tracing.

And this is the nifty little design I ended up with at the centre of the border! Spiffy!

And guess what? When I got to the next corner, it fit perfectly!!

Til next time…

Kerry

12Jun2013

Parallel and Perpendicular

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

I was raring to go! I finished another 4 blocks of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”, which meant I was ready to stitch together another row! But first I had to add the embroidery to the schooner.

Before the embroidery…

…and after the embroidery!

Once all the ropes were stitched in place, I started to “square up” my blocks. When I say “square up” I mean any straight lines are running parallel and perpendicular to the edges of the block. Here are a few (hopefully!) helpful hints…

First of all, if you have ever wallpapered, you know that before you start, you have to use a plumb line to make sure you begin with a straight line. The same holds true for squaring-up a block. First you have to find a straight line somewhere in the block. It sounds easy, but there are no straight lines on this block!

So…using the schooner block as an example…here are my thoughts!

Luckily, there are some pretty obvious straight lines in this block. The masts! So, I want the masts to be parallel to the edge of the block.

Next, I placed my window template on the block. You can read more about that here.

So, I measured the distance from the bottom of the mast to the template.

Then I measured the distance from the top of the mast to the template. Both of those measurements need to be the same!

Then, I took my 6″ ruler and made sure that there was an equal distance from the applique to the template on both sides..

…and top and bottom.

When I was sure the block was square and centered..(and I mean really sure!) I marked along the inside of the template with a marking pen and then I cut on the line with my rotary cutter and ruler. Easy peasy!

So, once the blocks were trimmed, I started to sew the row together.

And, finally, 3 rows sewn together!

Til next time…

Kerry

7Jun2013

New legs for a peacock!

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

If you have some time on your hands on Saturday, June 15 at 10 am, come on down to Elite Quilting in Barrie, Ontario where I will be doing a demo of the starch and freezer paper method of hand-applique. The cost is $10.00. Colleen will also have all the supplies on hand for you purchase so you can go home and practice this method. Hope to see you there!

Back to the block! I must admit, I was a little alarmed how freakishly out of proportion the birds legs looks! So I gave the peacock some new legs. I like to use Ultra-Suede for the birds legs and beaks when they are just too darn tiny to applique!

Once the legs were stitched in place, I used a Micron marker on the edge of the Ultra-Suede to hide the stitches and add a bit of definition.

Once I felt better about his legs, I added the stems.

Next, some leaves and a bud.

And, finally, the rest of the leaves and the flowers! Spiffy!

I finished hand-quilting another block from Sue Garman’s “Bouquets for a New Day”. (Only 3 more blocks to go! Yippee!) The vase was very baggy!

So, just like the vase in the last block, I needed to add some quilting to the vase to make it…un-baggy! After much debate, I decided to do the same cross-hatching as in the background of the block, except I did the stitching in red thread. Voila!