Unleashed in Quilt Land-- Report on Wednesday 27October PBS shows
Unleashed in Quilt Land (What I do instead of stress eating)
Quilting is what I do instead of stress eating. My daughters read this blog, so it's a way to share what I'm learning with them.
1. Fons and Porter #1605 Bluebonnet Baby Quilt
a. Use the window technique when preparing the Heat-n-Bond so there’s only a thin line of adhesive around the edge. Do this before fusing to the fabric.
b. Cut the stems on the bias so they curve easily, 1” wide.
C. Fold the stem in half lengthwise and iron to create the first crease. Mark with pen or chalk if necessary to make the crease easier to see.
D. Fold ½ the stem again, to hide the raw edge. Overcompensate a little to make sure no raw edge is showing. Iron again. Finger press open.
E. Stitch down the center crease created earlier.
F. Roll it over, add leaves, and press it all down. Blanket stitch down.
G. Make and use a placement guide to ensure accuracy of placement. You may also note thread colors, machine settings, and even fabrics swatches.
H. Place flowers and centers. Iron without steam. Blanket stitch them down as desired. Use auto-pivot feature of your machine if you have it.
I. To create en pointe triangles, just go ahead and make extra full blocks. Put them up as full blocks on the design wall and sew them with the rest. Cut off the unnecessary excess. Let it go and discard. This is much easier than trying to make perfect triangles with the seam allowance.
J. TIPS
a. Use the leaf template inside the flower to save on Heat-n-Bond, since the window technique means the largest waste would be inside the flower.
b. Use an old file folder to make the Guide. Then you can keep fabric samples, pattern copies, and even photos inside the file.
c. An artist’s/engineer’s circle template has a great selection of circles for the center of the flower. Keep one around.
2. America Sews #2705
A. Genealogy trees using software. (See americasews.com for info on software. Since they carefully never mentioned the name of the software on the air, I inferred that the company hadn’t paid for this plug.) Possibly kalcollections.com?
B. Lettering done on sewing machines is now common and can be done as appliqués and patches to use as captions and labels in conjunction with Printed Fabric paper.
C. Printing Fabric Paper—Print first on paper to test the picture orientation, cropping, etc. Best quality for paper, not photos.
D. Note and edit background color if necessary.
E. Use a 90 embroidery needle.
F. For pet memory quilts, use the paw prints on AmericaSews.com for free
G. Don’t forget printed fabric also can do scenery to record trips, etc.
H. Grocery tote pattern set from Coats and Clark is also available for free on website. They recommend using heavy thread, adjust tension, length the stitch to 3-4, and use a large 100/18 topstitch needle. Slow down!
3. Sewing with Nancy—Delightful Dresden Appliqué Pattern
a. Use the same template (Easy Dresden)
b. Cut the width of strips to length of Dresden wedges desired, plus a little for fudge factor.
c. Flip the template back and forth for max efficiency of fabric use.
d. Create scallops using fusible interfacing placed on the right side of the fabric with the scallop already traced on interfacing. (Great idea!) By stitching on the traced line then cutting the scallops, you get a pretty curve with less chance for error. Turn so right side shows, and interfacing folds the edge to the back. Iron. There. Gorgeous curves.
e. Why fusible? Because when you place the interfacing, put the nubby side facing outward. When you turn and iron, the fusible side locks down that nice edge. Cool, huh?
f. Sew the wedges together, then place on back as one piece.
g. Variation—mini tree skirt. Leave out two blades. Use batting and backing and sew up the edge using bias tape to create a tie. One beautiful mini tree skirt.
h. Dresden Peacocks! Designs are in the book. Use glue to place the peacock body, wings, and beak. Use metallic thread and beads for his headdress. Makes a great placemat.
i. Eleven Pines Wall Hanging uses reverse capability of the template to make bottom cuts into trees and top cuts into snowy winter sky. Watch the seam allowance to get a good balance. Add more fabric for a snowy base and sky top. Maybe star buttons? This pattern comes with the book.
Quilting is what I do instead of stress eating. My daughters read this blog, so it's a way to share what I'm learning with them.
1. Fons and Porter #1605 Bluebonnet Baby Quilt
a. Use the window technique when preparing the Heat-n-Bond so there’s only a thin line of adhesive around the edge. Do this before fusing to the fabric.
b. Cut the stems on the bias so they curve easily, 1” wide.
C. Fold the stem in half lengthwise and iron to create the first crease. Mark with pen or chalk if necessary to make the crease easier to see.
D. Fold ½ the stem again, to hide the raw edge. Overcompensate a little to make sure no raw edge is showing. Iron again. Finger press open.
E. Stitch down the center crease created earlier.
F. Roll it over, add leaves, and press it all down. Blanket stitch down.
G. Make and use a placement guide to ensure accuracy of placement. You may also note thread colors, machine settings, and even fabrics swatches.
H. Place flowers and centers. Iron without steam. Blanket stitch them down as desired. Use auto-pivot feature of your machine if you have it.
I. To create en pointe triangles, just go ahead and make extra full blocks. Put them up as full blocks on the design wall and sew them with the rest. Cut off the unnecessary excess. Let it go and discard. This is much easier than trying to make perfect triangles with the seam allowance.
J. TIPS
a. Use the leaf template inside the flower to save on Heat-n-Bond, since the window technique means the largest waste would be inside the flower.
b. Use an old file folder to make the Guide. Then you can keep fabric samples, pattern copies, and even photos inside the file.
c. An artist’s/engineer’s circle template has a great selection of circles for the center of the flower. Keep one around.
2. America Sews #2705
A. Genealogy trees using software. (See americasews.com for info on software. Since they carefully never mentioned the name of the software on the air, I inferred that the company hadn’t paid for this plug.) Possibly kalcollections.com?
B. Lettering done on sewing machines is now common and can be done as appliqués and patches to use as captions and labels in conjunction with Printed Fabric paper.
C. Printing Fabric Paper—Print first on paper to test the picture orientation, cropping, etc. Best quality for paper, not photos.
D. Note and edit background color if necessary.
E. Use a 90 embroidery needle.
F. For pet memory quilts, use the paw prints on AmericaSews.com for free
G. Don’t forget printed fabric also can do scenery to record trips, etc.
H. Grocery tote pattern set from Coats and Clark is also available for free on website. They recommend using heavy thread, adjust tension, length the stitch to 3-4, and use a large 100/18 topstitch needle. Slow down!
3. Sewing with Nancy—Delightful Dresden Appliqué Pattern
a. Use the same template (Easy Dresden)
b. Cut the width of strips to length of Dresden wedges desired, plus a little for fudge factor.
c. Flip the template back and forth for max efficiency of fabric use.
d. Create scallops using fusible interfacing placed on the right side of the fabric with the scallop already traced on interfacing. (Great idea!) By stitching on the traced line then cutting the scallops, you get a pretty curve with less chance for error. Turn so right side shows, and interfacing folds the edge to the back. Iron. There. Gorgeous curves.
e. Why fusible? Because when you place the interfacing, put the nubby side facing outward. When you turn and iron, the fusible side locks down that nice edge. Cool, huh?
f. Sew the wedges together, then place on back as one piece.
g. Variation—mini tree skirt. Leave out two blades. Use batting and backing and sew up the edge using bias tape to create a tie. One beautiful mini tree skirt.
h. Dresden Peacocks! Designs are in the book. Use glue to place the peacock body, wings, and beak. Use metallic thread and beads for his headdress. Makes a great placemat.
i. Eleven Pines Wall Hanging uses reverse capability of the template to make bottom cuts into trees and top cuts into snowy winter sky. Watch the seam allowance to get a good balance. Add more fabric for a snowy base and sky top. Maybe star buttons? This pattern comes with the book.
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