Filling a Vase and Binding My Grandmother’s Flower Garden

Posted in Grandmother's Flower Garden, Hand-Quilting Techniques, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

This past week I have been working away on the corner block that finishes off the third border on Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. I get goosebumps just thinking about how close I am finishing this once-in-a-lifetime quilt!!

First, I traced the design on the background with a Clover water soluble blue marker. I always like to start with the vase.

Next, I added the base.

Next came the decorative oval and I knew I just had to use this gold swirly fabric.

I used this fabric already on this vase and I loved the effect it gave.

Something told me the red vase was lacking something, but what? The two fabrics have a lot of motion going on and I needed to separate the red and the gold swirly fabric. So I cut a freezer paper template just a little bigger than the gold swirly piece. Using this new template, I cut an oval out of the same gold I used on the base, placed it underneath and voila!

Once I was over that little hurdle, I was ready to start filling the vase!

I stitched the block to the border so that I could continue adding the flowers and leaves.

Since the right-hand side of the block is complete (and everything is stitched in place, I might add!), it is now time to add the border to the rest of the quilt. Now I can start to fill in the left-hand side of the block. So far, so good!

Still here? Good! Since I already had my sewing machine out, I decided to put the binding on my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. First, I carefully trimmed the quilt so I had straight edges to work with. I am always a little nervous when putting my rotary cutter anywhere near my quilts! I always mark the line I am going to cut with my blue marker, just as an extra safety precaution.

I chose a bright orange polka dot for the flange. I cut the pieces 1″ wide and pressed them in half lengthwise. Then I stitched them to all 4 sides of the quilt. The folded edge is towards the middle and the raw edges are lined up with the edge of the quilt.

Next, I cut my binding strips, joined them into one long strip and pressed them in half lengthwise. I stitched the binding on as usual, on top of the orange flange.

So, now I am going to make a pot of tea and spend the afternoon hand stitching the binding. Sweet!

Til next time…

Kerry

25Oct2014

Stitching the weekend away….

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

Last night I put the last quilting stitch in my Grandmother’s Flower Garden. I started this quilt soon after visiting “The City Quilter” in New York, where I innocently purchased a few packages of paper hexies. You can see that post here. I am toying with the idea of doing a binding with an added flange, just for something different!

I spent Friday evening adding the red berries and embroidering the stems to the border of Friends of Baltimore. I used 2 strands of embroidery thread for the stems and one strand for the tendrils around each rose.

Once the yellow centers were added to each rose…

…..I filled the bathtub with hot, soapy water and tossed the border into the tub. You can read this post and see why I do this!

So, this morning, I was ready to trim the border to the proper size (I always cut my blocks and borders larger that required to allow for shrinkage). The border was a little wrinkled after it dried and so I placed it right side down on a thick towel and pressed it.

Then I placed the border on the paper pattern and pinned it in place matching the leaves and flowers.

I marked the finished line on the border with a washable blue marker and then unpinned it from the paper pattern. Next, I took my rotary cutter and a long ruler and trimmed 1/4″ away from the blue mark. Not going to lie, this is always a little nerve-racking. A lot could go wrong at this point!

So…this is what the border will look like once it is stitched to the rest of the quilt, but I can’t add the border until the corner block is finished.

Til next time….

Kerry

21Oct2014

Almost Finished is Good!

Posted in "To Everything There is a Season", Friends of Baltimore, Grandmother's Flower Garden, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

To me, applique is about the journey, not about the destination. With the kind of applique I do, there are 2 parts to the journey. First, there is the prep work, which consists of ironing the seam allowance over a freezer paper template. You can see how I prep my pieces in this blog post. If I had my way, I would prep all day long…literally! I think it has something to do with “instant gratification”. When I prep, I can see the design coming alive before my very eyes. Very rewarding!

The second part of the applique journey is the stitching, which is my least favourite part. I must confess, I find it terribly boring, so thank goodness for audio books!

So, my usual way of working is to prep a bit, then stitch a bit, just to keep the momentum going. But, I didn’t do that when I started working on the left side of the third border on Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. I prepped the entire left side without stopping to stitch anything in place. Remind me never to do that again!

After a weekend marathon of stitching (and listining to “The Deep Blue Good-by, written by John D. MacDonald) I am almost finished stitching the border. I just need to add the red berries, just like I did on the right hand side.

Also, I am almost finished hand-quilting my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. Sweet!

Of course, I had a bit of time to start a new-ish project! This is the beginning of the centre medallion of my block-of-the -month “To Everything There Is A Season”. So far, so good! (Note to Self….stitch everything in place before you prep one more piece!)

Til 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

21Jul2014

I Turned A Corner!

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

When I stitched the first border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”, I did what I do to all my blocks and borders. I washed the border. (I should mention that I pre-wash all of my fabrics in Synthrapol before I cut into them.) Something odd happened. For the very first time one of my red fabrics ran. Yikes! You can read more about that post here. If you remember, I Googled “what do I do when my fabrics run” and did exactly what I was told! I went to the store and purchased Oxi-Clean and some colour magnet sheets so I could re-wash the border and (hopefully!) remove the spots of red. The article I read also said to dry the fabric as soon as possible so, once the border was re-washed, I put it in the dryer and all was good. The red marks disappeared!

When I put the border on the paper pattern to trim it to the correct size, I noticed that the the appliques didn’t exactly match what was on the paper pattern. It looked like the area that was appliqued had shrunk in length. I know that a certain amount of shrinkage happens because of all the stitching. And the dryer would have caused a certain amount of shrinkage, also. Certainly not the end of the world! This is what I did to correct the (minor) problem…..

Just to give you an idea of how much shrinkage there was, the bud is supposed to be where my finger is. Just so you are not confused, you can only applique so far to the edge of the border, then the overlappping pieces can be glued and stitched in place once the corner block is added.

I moved the bud to where it was “supposed” to be. (Luckily, I had not stitched it in place yet!)

Next, I cut the bias stem. Notice I cut it under a piece of bias that crossed over it, so I could hide the join.

I just added a longer piece of bias.

Then I added a leaf to fill in the space. Looks good to me!

So once I shifted a few more pieces (and added 3 extra leaves) to fill in the space, the corner is finally complete!

I decided not to wash the corner block until it was part of the border. That way, I could also wash the pieces that overlapped the borders and the block. I filled the bathtub with just a few inches of water and placed the body of the quilt on the edge of the tub. I may not sound like it, but I was starting to get a little stressed!!

Once all the glue and starch was washed out, I pressed the water out and laid it out on a couple of thick towels to dry. All is good!

Til next time…

Kerry

2Jul2014

Ice cream and stitching go together!!

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

Canada Day is always a busy weekend for us because it is also our wedding anniversary. So, there is always lots to celebrate….and lots of cake and Canadian ice cream!

Even though it was a busy weekend, I still found some time to do a bit of stitching. When I finished the second border of Friends of Baltimore, I decided to take a bit of time and do some catch-up on a few projects. This is my second block of the Value Proposition Quilt Along, which you can find on a wonderful blog called Faeries and Fibres. Just click on the button at the top of the page called Quilt Alongs by Karen H. Concentrating on value (rather than colour) is more challenging than you might think!

I also took the time to stitch the first two rows of my hexagons together. I really am loving this whole hexie thing…can you tell??

So next, I decided to tackle the corner squares of Friends of Baltimore. To account for shrinkage, (which does occur) the four borders on this quilt are all cut the same length….

…..which means a corner block is needed. Some of the applique on the borders flows onto the corner square and cannot be stitched until the corner block is stitched to the border. This will make more sense as we go along. Trust me!

Now onto the corner block! I always like to start with the vase or the basket. I think it sets the tone of the block. When I bought this gold fabric, I thought it would make a great vase.

It also made a great butterfly on my Civil War Bride quilt!

Now, I am just filling the vase with flowers. Sweet!

Til next time…

Kerry

18Jun2014

Finishing a border and starting a binding!

Posted in Circle of Tulips, Friends of Baltimore, Hand-Applique Techniques, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized, washing my block by Simple Bird Applique

I spent yesterday putting the finishing touches on the second border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. All of the flowers and stems and leaves were finally stitched in place. So, it was time to add the little red berries…..

…and the embroidered stems. I like to use 2 strands of embroidery thread for the stems.

Each of the 13 roses has a (really tiny!) yellow center, so I prepped those, also.

Once the yellow centers were stitched in place, I did some more embroidery. Each of the roses and a few of the buds have these tiny little “hairs” stitched around them. They are stitched with just one strand of embroidery floss.

And now for the fun part! When I am finished stitching a block or border, I wash it to remove the glue and starch and the marks from my water-soluble marker. It is a simple process, really! I fill the sink with hot water and add a bit of dish soap or Soak (if I happen to have some on hand). Next, I just toss the block in and let it soak for about half an hour.

Then, I drain the water and rinse with tap water.

I leave it fairly wet and lay it out on a couple of thick towels to dry. Easy peasy!

Next on my “To Do” list was “Put Binding on Circle of Tulips”. To figure out how much binding I would need, I measured around each scallop and multiplied by the number of scallops.

According to my calculations, I need approximately 308″ of binding. I cut the bias strips 2 1/2″ wide and joined them all together in one long strip. Next, I pressed the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together.

And, I started stitching. So far, so good!

Til next time…

Kerry

5Jun2014

Progress feels good!

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

I am finally seeing some progress on a few of the quilts I am working on. As you can tell, I like to hand-applique and hand-quilt. As we all are very aware, both are time consuming, and it can be a long time before any results can be seen. So when I get close to finishing anything, I get really excited

First, I woke up yesterday with one thing on my mind. Finishing the hand-quilting on Circle of Tulips! I am sooooo close! I must admit, though, I have been in my pre-mourning stage for a week or two. I start to miss the quilt before it’s even finished and I wonder what I will do to fill the void. Sad, but true!!

So, after a couple of hours of stitching and watching re-runs of Downton Abbey, I am finished! Yippee!!

Now, I just have to bind it! The pattern for this block is available as a free download on my website.

I have also been making some progress on the second border of Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”. This is the left side of the vase almost finished.

So, now it’s time to start the right side of the vase! I added the fern and a few roses and buds.

These borders have lots (I mean lots!) of bias stems on it. So I end up with lots of short pieces. This is how I use up those tiny pieces…

I find a spot on the pattern where I can inconspicuously hide the joins. Now you see the joins….

DSCN5703

…and now you don’t!!

To keep my (extremely unorganized) self from losing track of all those leaves and flowers, I prep them in my usual way and then I glue the pieces to the paper pattern. Also, when I cut the freezer paper shapes out, I place them on the paper pattern in the spot they will eventually be glued and stitched, just to keep everything nice and organized.