Turned Edge Machine Applique'

I was asked about the baskets shown in an earlier post.  They are part of Ruffled Roses, the 2011 BOM for www.thequiltshow.com     Here is a photo of the pattern, available at Sue Garman's Website

Ruffled Roses, designed by Sue Garman



Begun in January 2011, I'm finally getting back to it and hope to have the top finished this fall.  The applique' is being done with C&T Wash-Away Applique' sheets, a technique I'm doing a demo of at our guild meeting.  In are earlier post, HERE, I showed the steps for preparing the applique' shapes--turning the edges over the wash-away applique' sheets, using glue stick, then using a very narrow zig-zag stitch to sew the pieces to the background.  Here are more pieces ready for the demo:



EDIT:  At the demo I was asked to describe the glue tips I use to attach the pieces to the background holding them in place for sewing.  Here they are:

They are FolkArt brand Enamels Tip-Pen Craft Tip Set.  I got mine from Purple Daisies LLC at a quilt show.  You can probably find them at a craft or hobby shop.  There are 3 different size tips that allow for the tiniest drop of glue.  I place tiny drops of glue on the background, place the piece on the glue and then heat set with a dry iron.  The washable school glue dries very quickly and the piece is right where I want it for sewing--no pins to get in the way. 

These pieces are for the corner blocks on the basket borders:

I like this method for the speed in printing the pattern pieces and the speed in sewing.  The preparation time is more than I would have for hand needle-turn applique' but sewing by hand would take me a LOT more time.  The wash-away sheet will dissolve when the completed quilt is washed.  It acts as a stabilizer and there is no need to put a stabilizer under the background while sewing.  I'm also using a neutral putty-colored thread for all the pieces, no changing threads--of course, you could if you wanted the stitches to be close to invisible.  Here is my center: 

Our guild program is a round robin of 6 different applique' techniques, being demo-ed by 6 guild members.  I'm in charge of getting it organized--the only downside to that is, I don't get to see the other 5 demos!  Oh, well, it's still fun and will be an educational experience for our guild members.

I was also asked about the two quilts  I have in the Traditional Treasures Special Exhibit, opening tonight at International Quilt Festival in Chicago.  Those were shown in a previous post here:  Traditional Treasures 2013.  The quilts will then travel to Houston for the 2013 International Quilt Festival Fall show there so I will get to see them hanging in the special exhibits.  Very happy.

Grandmother's Choice is only 7 blocks away from being done--here is the sixth row: 

This block of the week, designed by Barbara Brackman, has very interesting historical information about the work of the suffragists who struggled to earn the right to vote for women, both here and in the UK.  

That's it for today--time to quilt!

Barbara

Claiming my Blog for Bloglovin'

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5015317/?claim=tkp5wtc4jdm">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

With the end of Google Reader July 1, those of us switching to Bloglovin', who also write blogs, have to "claim our blog".  That's what this is. 

I'll be back soon with some fun photos.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Summer Projects--Charge!

It's that time of year when I get going on all the projects I want/need to finish.  With our guild bi-annual show in October 2013 I have several things to work on.

None of these will make it in this year's show but I'm trying to get them further along.  Here's the design wall:

A small part of Ruffled Roses, BOM 2011 The Quilt Show

Antique Rose Star--mostly hand pieced--quite a few more to go.
 

Grandmother's Choice, row 6, I'm keeping up--only 9 more blocks to go

I'm teaching a few classes this summer and working on Fall class schedules and samples.  There's garden work to do--red raspberries are coming in now and a good crop of blackberries will start ripening in the next few weeks.  I've got 4 tomato plants--perhaps we'll plant more vegetables next year--there's room for it.  Mostly, it's keeping the yard mowed and weeding, weeding, weeding.  And moving things that have gotten too crowded.

 

I still have to put the binding on the red and white quilt and figure out the rest of my show entries.  I'm also hand quilting an old-timey looking nine-patch, using Big Stitch with perle cotton--fun and fast! 

 

The great news I received recently is the Special Exhibit, Traditional Treasures 2013, that will debut at International Quilt Festival in Chicago this month, will move to Houston--SO, I will get to see my two quilts hanging at Fall Festival there in October.  I'm very happy about that. 

 

That's it for now--let's quilt!

 

Barbara

 

 
 

Wedding Wishes Signature Quilt

When our niece asked me how to make a signature quilt to use at her wedding, instead of a guest book, I knew I now had the perfect gift for her wedding.
 

Wedding Wishes 2013
56" x 64" 
 

Jennifer gave me her colors so I selected fabrics from my stash for the blocks.  Having the perfect Jinny Beyer border print in the closet was a lucky find.  She asked for a snuggle-size, not bed-size, quilt so this layout worked well.

Here is a quick tutorial if you want to make a signature quilt for an event:  showers, reunions, birthdays, farewell parties, etc.:



  White squares cut 3.5", color squares cut 4", then cut in half.



 After sewing on 2 opposing triangles, press away from center, and trim even with the white square. 



Sew on the 2 remaining color triangles, press away from center.

Finished block before trimming.

To make it easier to sign, I cut 3" squares of freezer paper for each block.

  Using a dry iron, press the freezer paper to the wrong side of the block, shiny side down.

 I found the Pigma Micron pen .05 worked well for signing, the Sharpie not so much.  Each person selected the block they wanted to sign from the stack I took to the wedding.  They were asked to sign as above, with the writing going across the square--some signed with the writing diagonally so their writing is sideways in the quilt--oh, well!

Once home from the wedding, I trimmed each block to 5".  This was easy to do with a square ruler and it allowed the blocks to "float" in the sashing, no need to have the points touch the sashing precisely.  I needed  the project to be quick,  but not sloppy.

 

 

 Here I am playing with the layout, trying to move the various colors around.  I placed the parents' blocks in the middle.  Everyone else went where their color decided they were going.  I received 40 blocks at the wedding and added 10 more for the set to work.  The sashing and cornerstones were cut 1.5".  The green perimeter triangles were cut from 8" squares, cut twice on the diagonals.  The green corner triangles were cut from 4.25" squares, cut once on the diagonal.  This was slightly oversized, and it allowed me to trim the edges square before adding the border print.

 

The border print was so perfect, I did not add any additional borders beyond  the quilt center.  The quilting was very  simple:  down the middle of the sashing strips, in both directions.  While it could have used more quilting, this was enough for the purpose of the quilt.

 

The bride and groom received the quilt yesterday and were very pleased with it.  They can now enjoy the well wishes of friends and family as they snuggle on the couch. 

 

Now I can move on to a few more projects that have deadlines--let's quilt!

 

Barbara

 

Studio Tour

Saturday my guild did a fund-raiser: an open house/studio tour.  The cost was $10 and there were 6 homes/gardens on the tour from noon-4.  Lessons learned:  fewer homes, another hour.  I had about 30 people here, of the 60 who paid to attend.  As the homes were all over the county, it was very difficult to make it to all 6 homes--one car-full did it!  And we had lots of rain the night before and all that morning--so the gardens at each home were not toured. 

I thought you might enjoy photos of my studio--it took some doing to get things looking this neat and tidy.  The closets were a big hit--18' x 9' tall, 4 rows of shelving, 3 lights.  What I really need to do is empty everything out of there and restock--I'm sure there are things in there I've "lost" that I really need to find.  But I'm just not up to that yet.  Here you go: 

 

It's 21' X 24' and it's all mine. Four sets of fluorescent lights, 2 sets of floor outlets for the sewing machine and iron station.  South and West facing windows--lots of natural light. 

Stuff accumulates to fill the space available--I really do need to empty those closets.  Several guests offered to come "shopping" when I do it.  The last time I had a sale for guild members  I was happy with the results and the shoppers were happy with their purchases.  Might have to have another sale later this year. 

Glad you could stop by--come back any time!

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Red and White Excitement

During 2012 I worked on the Just Takes 2 Block of the Month designed by Gay Bomers of Sentimental Stitches and Brenda Papadakis of Dear Jane.  They released patterns twice a month for all 12 months of the year.  The patterns were free for a month then could be purchased.  They are still available here. 

They decided to do this after attending the 2011 exhibit "Infinite Variety" in New York.  Knowing they could never make all the red and white quilts they saw there, they figured it would be fun to make a single block of many of those featured.  More info about that exhibit can be found here.

The Top, 104" x 110"

It was a long process but I kept up most of the time and then finished with a complex pieced border I designed.  I kept track of all the fabrics I used and the number of pieces:  59 different fabrics and 2770 pieces. 

This was one of those quilts that deserves a great quilter so I sent it to a wonderful longarm quilter in California:  Pamela Dransfeldt, the Joyful Quilter.  I found Pam when a Facebook friend posted a link to her work in 2009.  We collaborated on a quilt that year: 

Joyful Journey

She did a spectacular job on this quilt so I knew my Just Takes 2 was in good hands with her.  She's been working on it for almost 2 weeks now and has posted amazing photos.  I have been blown away with the interest that has been shown on Facebook by so many people.  Here are a few of her photos:

 

 

 

You can follow Pam's incredible work on Facebook--her page is Joyful Quilter.  She has quite a few more photos of this quilt as well as most of her customer's quilts  She's a terrific person with a terrific, supportive husband too.  I feel so fortunate to have found her--the internet has certainly made this a smaller world--or maybe it's a bigger world.  Either way, I'm glad I can introduce her to you.

 

Let's quilt!

 

 

Barbara



How to Make an Award-Winning Quilt

This is a recap of a lecture I gave April 18, 2013,  for the Heritage Quilters of Huntsville.  They have a show in October 2013, the 13th biannual judged quilt show, and so this is a timely topic for discussion.

Whether it's international or local competition, there are some elements of award-winning quilts that are the same. 

1.  Design:  Is the quilt interesting to look at?  Does it capture your attention and make you want to look closer? 



Harmony Within
Sue McCarty

2.  Color:  Are the colors appealing, appropriate, eye-catching, exciting?  Do they create a mood?  Sometimes,  the choice of color that is unexpected is what adds that "wow" factor:



Lynn Jones Droege pieced and appliqued
Quilted by Lisa Sipes
Sue Garman pattern Ruffled Roses

3.  Workmanship:  Is it well-done, with precise piecing, beautiful quilting, excellent finishing?





Scarlett Serenade
Sharon Schamber

4.  Quilting:  Does it grab you?  Does it make you look closer, does it enhance the overall effect of the quilt?

Sarah's Revival
Sue Garman
Hand Quilting

Georgann Wrinkle's Quilt
Sue Garman Longarm Quilting

5.  That Extra Special "Something":  Maybe it's a piped or curved binding.  Or embellishments that add the perfect sparkle.  Perhaps it's the statement the quilt makes, the emotion it evokes.  Maybe it's just such a spectacular quilt you have to give it all the glory it is due.  I feel that way about this quilt:

America, Let It Shine
Sherry Reynolds

The next time you go to a quilt show, think about these five things as you admire the quilts.  Whether you agree with the judges or not, perhaps you will understand their decisions more as you compare the quilts based on these elements.

Not every quilt has to be an award-winning quilt but that's a topic for another day.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara