Sunday afternoon stitching…

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

My Christmas baking is finally done!

So that means I have more time for important stuff…like stitching!

My Sunday Afternoon Applique Group met today. We all agreed we should have been shopping/baking/wrapping, but it was sure nice to sit and stitch (and relax!) for a couple of hours with a great group of ladies! I decided to work on the tail feathers of my Civil War Bride block. Long, skinny pieces can be tricky to stitch. Here are a few tips:

Remember, there is no need to fold the seam allowance over if it is going to be covered with another piece. Leave it “raw”.

Begin stitching here…

…and end here.

When I am finished stitching the piece in place, I baste along the raw edge, just inside the seam allowance.

So when I put the next feather in place, the piece I am covering lays nice and flat.

I still have a few feathers to stitch!

I have chosen the fabric for the half-square triangle sashing for my Friends of Baltimore quilt. The fabric is not royal blue or navy blue…just somewhere in between! I am going to start to sew the half-square triangles together, and maybe start to stitch the finished blocks together! So exciting!

Til next time….

Kerry

13Dec2012

Spare time??

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

This time of year, spare time is a rare commodity. But I still managed to find the time to finish this block from Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”.

And here is a close up.

My Sunday Afternoon Group meets the third Sunday of every month so that means we meet this Sunday….already! Every year we begin a new project so I offered to design next year’s quilt. Here is a preview of the first block. They haven’t seen it yet, so mum’s the word!

I am taking the plunge and using my collection of batiks. (I’ve never really used batiks but somehow I ended up with an amazing batik collection!!) So far, I love them! The colours are so vibrant and saturated. The best part is the fabric does not fray. I am now an OFB… Official Fan of Batiks!

I pre-washed every last one of them…

…and Bruin found yet another (!) cat bed!

I have started the next block of The Civil War Bride. First, I stitched some branches and some leaves..

I used every inch of the branch fabric!

The tail feathers have me very intrigued! They seem to fit together like a puzzle. I love puzzles!

And here are the tail feathers just waiting to be stitched!

Til next time…

Kerry

28Nov2012

Stitching merrily along!

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

I was all set to start the “Family Album” block in Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”.

Then I looked at the pattern cover to see exactly how much I had left to do…(heavy sigh)…a lot!!

So I put all my finished block on my design wall to gather some inspiration and I realized that I almost had a complete row finished… except for one block.

So I am working on that block instead in the hopes that I can have a row completed by December 31. That is my goal! If you look closely at the pattern, you will see that the sashing is made up of many, many, many red and white half-square triangles.

First I stitched the bias in place.

I always join my bias stems underneath another piece of fabric. You can use up a lot of short strips this way.

Then I added the bird and some leaves….

…and some more leaves.

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

20Nov2012

Hand-quilting the night away!

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

What is it about hand-quilting that is so darn relaxing? I am making pretty steady progress on Sue Garman’s “Bouquets For A New Day”. When I sit down to quilt, I am always surprised at how quickly time (and stress!) seem to slip away.

And here is a close-up. I am using a Frixion pen to mark the cross-hatching. There was a bit of a discussion in my Sunday Afternoon Applique Group regarding these pens. I am always careful to test the marker on a scrap of fabric before marking the quilt top.

When my block is finished, I like to give it a warm bath to remove all residue left from the glue, starch and marking pens. Even though I pre-wash all (and I do mean all!) of my fabric in Synthrapol, my heart still skips a beat when I do this!

I am getting ready to start the next block of Sue Garman’s “Friend’s of Baltimore”. My least favorite part of appliquing is the tracing. So here is how I avoid tracing…

First, I scan the patterns and then “reflect” them. Then I print the patterns directly on to freezer paper. When a pattern has lots of layers and pieces, I usually print two or three copies. Here is the original pattern.

And here are the freezer paper copies. If you look closely, you will see that they are printed “backwards”.

The fabric for this block is already pre-washed and has the usual amount of cat hair on it!!

Til next time…

Kerry

14Nov2012

Moving right along…..

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

Since I have finished the basket block from Sue Garman’s “Friends of Baltimore”, I thought I would work on the next block of Civil War Bride. Compared to the basket block, I should have this block completed in no time! I started with the bias stems.

I have been hoarding this piece of fabric for a long time now. I just thought on the off chance if I needed a fabric that looked like real strawberries, I would be ready!!

So I added the strawberries!

Then I added all the leaves. I must say, after reading Teresa’s post (see my last post for details!), I have been chopping my fabric into smaller pieces, and I am coming across a few green fabrics that I had forgotten all about. I love using a variety of greens in my blocks!!

I am getting the tops of the strawberries prepped. As you can see, they are tiny with some pretty nifty peaks and valleys! Lots of fun!!

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

19Oct2012

Block 5 of Civil War Bride Finished!

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

The sun was shining and it was a very productive day! I stitched the last leaf on the 5th block of Civil War Bride Quilt.

And the top row is now complete!

Since my sewing machine was on the dining room table anyway, I stitched Aunt Eliza’s Star from Barbara Brackman’s Grandmother’s Choice. Even if you are not making the blocks, the stories that go with these blocks are very inspiring and moving and worth reading.

I went to go visit my quilt today!

Colleen, from Elite Quilting, is basting “Bouquets For a New Day” together for me on her long arm machine. That will save me from spending a couple of hours on my hands and knees basting it by hand. Life is good!! Lucky for me, Colleen was just finishing up as I arrived, so now the hand-quilting can begin!

Til next time…..

Kerry

2Oct2012

Civil War Bride Block 4!

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

The 4th block of The Civil War Bride Quilt is finished! I love the shadows on the bird created by the dark fabric.

I am stitching the blocks together as I complete them to keep me inspired and to keep the momentum going. If you look at the original quilt, you will see that I have actually flipped this block upside down so that the bird is flying upwards, and not toward the ground. Now, on to the 5th block!

Jenny is impressed with the progress I am making on Barbara Brackman’s Grandmother’s Choice. These blocks are an amazing way to use up some of that stash! In my infinite wisdom, I decided to make 3 blocks a week instead of one block. Here are the “Union Square Blocks” from Week 3.

I hand-pieced one Kansas Sunflower Block from Week 4. I think I will try English Paper Piecing the remaining 2 blocks. The points are just a little daunting to attempt on the sewing machine! It is hard to believe that this…

can look like this!

The second last block of Sue Garman’s Bouquets For a New Day is finished!

Just one more block to go! Then I can start to stitch it all together, and then on to the sawtooth inner border. Yikes!

Til next time…..

Kerry

9Sep2012

Starting…..as opposed to finishing!!

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

Just when I thought I could not squeeze another project into my already crammed quilting schedule, something exciting came along and grabbed my attention!

While I was checking out Barbara Brackman’s Material Culture, a little button caught my eye. The button reads as follows: September 1st I’ll start a new blog with a free pattern Block of the Week. The topic: The Fight for Women’s Rights. Click on the button to see it.

How could I not click on the button??

So naturally, my life came to a complete halt! Out came the cutting mat and the rotary cutter and the ruler and the sewing machine…oh…and some fabric and away I went! I cut out one block….then said to myself…”If you are going to make one block, you might as well make three!”.

So…here are my blocks for Week 1. (Technically, this is Week 2 and I am already behind!) Wish me luck!