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

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.

I carefull clipped the seam allowance. You can see that I didn’t clip right up to the freezer paper. And you can see how small the hole is!

Then I carefully turned the inner edge.

And once the outer edge was prepped, I removed the freezer paper.

And finally, I cut a piece of red to place under the bud. There is no need to prep the edges of the red piece of fabric. It will be covered up.

So here are both buds glued in placed in the border. Remember, you always have options!!

In my spare time I am still making hexies…and still loving it!!

Til next time…

Kerry

17Mar2014

Surrounded by talent!

Posted in Bruin, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Quilting Tools, Sue Garman Pattern, Sunday Afternoon Applique Group, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Our Sunday Afternoon Applique Group met yesterday and wait til you see the Show and Tell! This is Christie’s version of Aunt Millie’s Garden. Spectacular! This materpiece was machine quilted by Carl of Lilac Lanes in Alliston. This is the fourth (!) Aunt Millie’s Garden to come out of this group…and we are patiently waithing for one more…stitch, Kathy, stitch!!

Next, we have Lynn’s “Woodland Creatures” a quilt designed by Rosemary Makhan, who sadly passed away recently. The more we looked at the quilt, the more detail we found! This masterpiece was machine quilted by Ruth at Stitching Impressions.

I spent most of Saturday working on my border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”.

Before I know it I will be finished!!

Til next time…

Kerry

29Jan2014

Filling a Vase One Flower At A Time

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

The first border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore” is not nearly as daunting as I thought it would be. No really! If you take a good look at the pieces, you will see that most of them are very simple shapes and easy to do. There is just lots of them!!

I have most of the leaves prepped and glued onto my paper pattern. This is proving to be a really effecient method because I have not lost a single piece!

Once a few of the leaves were in place, I started to add the buds and flowers.

These flowers are so dainty and super-simple. I love them!

Now, it’s time to add the teensy, tiny yellow centre.

Very dainty!

So, now it’s just a matter of adding each flower…one at a time…until you have a vase full of lovely flowers!

I am now going to make a pot of tea. I have lots of stitching to do!

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

3Nov2013

Hey It’s Good To Be Back Home Again!

Posted in Civil War Bride Quilt, Hand-Applique Techniques, Jenny and Bruin, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

Vacations are wonderful! Coming back home is wonderful, too. Don’t get me wrong…we had an amazing time in Florida. We swam, we lounged by the pool, we walked and we ate (boy did we eat!) Of course, the best part was the hot weather. When we left Barrie on Thursday the 24th, it was snowing! Fast forward a couple of hours and we were basking in the sunshine! I stitched when I could and managed to finish the bottom border of my Civil War Bride Quilt.

As soon as I came home, I washed my border in the bathroom sink. Then, I placed the wet border on a couple of towels to dry. I turned my back for a split second and saw that Jenny was making herself very comfortable.

Of course, Bruin had to get in on the action!

And now…on to the last border!

Til next time…

Kerry

3Oct2013

Birds and Butterflies

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

I was very excited to begin the second side border of the Civil War Bride Quilt! When I start a border or a block, I never really have a clear picture in my mind of how it is going to look when it is finished. So I just start prepping pieces in colours that I think will work and audition them. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t!

I love the bird….I love the butterflies. I just don’t love the way they look together. It just looks a little blah. I may change them, but I’ll wait until I add a few more pieces. Sometimes things have a way of growing on me once I add more pieces. I have a sneaking suspicion that because I used black and gray for the bird, the butterflies should be a bit more colorful.