A Good Way to Spend the Evening!

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

It was going to be a very exciting evening! I have completed another four blocks from Sue Garman’s “Friend’s of Baltimore” and they are ready to be stitched together into a row. I already have one row stitched together. You can read about that here. When I cut my background blocks, I always cut them 2″ or 3″ larger than the finished size. So, before I could stitch the blocks together, I had to trim them down to the correct size. Here is what I did to make the job so easy and stress-free…The best part is, I never had to measure anything!

I made a window template with the opening the exact measurement of the unfinished size of the block. The finished size is 15″, so I needed to trim the blocks down to 15 1/2″, therefore I made the opening 15 1/2″. (I hope that makes sense!)

So now I could place the window template on the block and make sure that everything was centred nicely.

Next, I traced around the opening with a marking pen.

Then I trimmed the excess fabric away by cutting on the marked line. Easy peasy!

So, once I trimmed all the blocks to the correct size, I started to stitch the blocks together in a row.

Ta da! An evening well spent!

Til next time…

Kerry

17Jan2013

It’s the little things that amuse me!

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

Believe it or not, this is a freezer paper template! Pretty tiny!

And this is the prepped piece. Stop the madness!

Some of the pieces in the block are smaller than the scraps in my garbage container!

Here is where the itty bitty piece goes…

…and this is the rest of the flower!

It is a little slow-going, but it is starting to look like I am accomplishing something!

I have not done much hand-quilting since before the holidays. It is time to get hand-quilting again! Bruin joins me every evening as I sit and stitch the (very chilly) evening away!

Til next time….

Kerry

24Nov2012

Stitching the day away!

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

The weatherman was right. We have snow! I love a good snowfall. Especially if I am indoors…quilting!

All that was left to do on the Civil War Bride block was to embroider a few stems.

So now the block is complete!

All of the blocks are on my design wall to keep the inspiration flowing! It is sort of the opposite of “out of sight, out of mind”. (Always in sight, always on my mind!)

The fabrics are chosen and my freezer paper copies are ready for the next block of Civil War Bride quilt. The tail on this bird is made up of 18 (yikes!) feathers!

I can’t think of a better way to spend a snowy day than curling up on the couch, stitching the day away! This block has lots of starts and stops, so it’s a bit time consuming.

Til next time..

Kerry

29Oct2012

All I Can Do Is Laugh!!

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

Well I had a great idea! I am ready to start hand-quilting Sue Garman’s “Bouquets For A New Day’. I have always quilted in a hoop, but I thought it might be time to graduate to a floor frame. I did a bit of research on floor frames and decided I wasn’t ready to jump in that deep. So I opted for an Omni-Grid floor frame. I thought it might give me a feel for quilting on a frame without a huge investment. I could not wait to get started!

So I marked my quilt under the watchful eye of Bruin.

I am doing cross-hatching in the background. The lines are 3/4″ apart. That is a lot of quilting!

I assembled the frame and put the quilt in it. I gathered all my stuff (scissor, needles, thread and thimble). I put on a pot of coffee. Life was so good!

I left the room just for a minute to pour myself a cup of cup of coffee….

…..and Bruin found a new cat bed!

I am making slow (but steady) progress on “Friends of Baltimore”.

Til next time….

Kerry

28Aug2012

Officially Finished…with a few days to spare!

Posted in Amy's Quilt, Bouquet For a New Day, Hand-Applique Techniques, Quilt Labels, Sue Garman Pattern, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I am “Officially Finished” Amy and Bruce’s wedding quilt! The quilt has a binding, a hanging sleeve…..

…and a label!!

The thing that surprised me the most was how much I loved having a hand-quilting project to work on. I knew I would miss having something to stitch on in the evenings. I kept thinking about my unfinished blocks of “Bouquets for a New Day”. I only have 4 blocks left to finish…. and a sawtooth border that is not going to make itself!! Hopefully, I can get it finished in the near future so I do not suffer too long from “Hand-Quilting Withdrawal”!

I worked on this block today. I am auditioning my fabrics for something that says “vase” to me.

I love this bit of detail. It is ” reverse appliqued” so the background shows from underneath the leaf!

Til next time…..

Kerry

11Aug2012

Measure twice…..stitch once!!

Posted in Amy's Quilt, Hand-Quilting Tools, Uncategorized by Simple Bird Applique

I was making some pretty impressive progress on Amy’s quilt. It was easy to sit and stitch while being inspired by the athletes competing in the Olympics. The trouble was, I was a little distracted. Every time I completed another few lines of the background quilting in the outer border, I said to myself….”Something looks a little off.” But, then I would look up at the TV and see that someone had just won a race, or a medal! And then I just kept on stitching!

Well! More than just a few hours (and lines) later, I noticed that I had marked some of the lines 1 1/4″ apart and some 1 3/4″ apart. Always one to look for the silver lining, I used this as an opportunity to test the Frixion marker I had used to mark the lines.

After I un-stitched all the background lines in the border (yikes!), I put some water in my steam iron and gave the lines a blast of steam. (Important note: The iron NEVER touched the quilt top. I held the iron a couple of inches from the quilt top.)

I must say I was bedazzled!! (See below.) The lines instantly disappeared…not a trace of any of the marking were left!

bedazzled:

be·daz·zle (b -d z l). tr.v. be·daz·zled, be·daz·zling, be·daz·zles. 1. To dazzle so completely as to make blind. 2. To please irresistibly; enchant.

Til next time….

Kerry