"Invisible" Machine Applique

I would definitely recommend Pearl's DVD for learning the process of freezer paper applique - however - she does not show any machine stitching in the DVD, just hand applique.

After a long time of practicing and reading up on various methods of stitching, I finally learned that the best way to accomplish "invisible" machine applique is to experiment with the stitches on your machine, and with the threads you have. Here are two blog postings that can be helpful on choosing the stitch settings for your machine: BlackBird Designs and BunnyHill Designs. On my Viking D1, I use a blanket stitch that has a couple of forward stitches, followed by one stitch bite going into the fabric. The width is set at .5 and the length at 1.0. This does take practice, and it does seem at first that the needle isn't even going into the fabric because of the very narrow width. Just practice on your machine and find what's right for you! Don't forget too, that through the quilting process your applique pieces will likely get "sunk" into the batting and back, so the stitches will likely become even less visisble.

“Redwork” Outline Embroidery

I so enjoyed sewing the black outline embroidery blocks from Lydia Quigley’s Whitework Applique Samper.  (more about this in previous posts).

I’ve since added a couple of more outline embroidery projects to the list of handwork projects.

At first I thought I would make up some blocks from Margaret Docherty’s book Hearts and Tulips, using both fusible applique and outline embroidery.  Here’s a picture of the first block, I was partly through the second block when I thought this wasn’t turning out the way I’d like.  So  that book and its lovely patterns are shelved for a while!

I have often thought of a series of flower applique drawings in a Better Homes and Garden book, but I never did take the idea to planning a quilt with them.  I now realize they would make up very nicely as bluework sampler – blue outline embroidery with blue and white setting pieced blocks; the block size is just 4” so they are a great little quick project.  These flowers are all American state flowers, fifty are presented but there are some duplicates.  Some of those duplicates are the same as ones that represent out provinces, and I’ll make up drawings for our provinces as well.  I don’t care what the flowers might officially represent, I just like the detailed drawings and the flower name given and drawn on each block pattern.

Then I came aross this month’s installment of Anne Sutton’s A Tisket a Tasket.  Looking at the previous blocks I had made, I realized that they were looking too cluttered with the orphan blocks that I wanted to use with them in a quilt – and, these blocks kind of deserved their own fabric theme.  So I started to make them up with a dark brown thread outline embroidery which I think will go very nicely with the orphan blocks – here are two done, shown with paper copies of two more and a possible block setting.

For outline embroidery, I back my fabric with a very light fusible interfacing.  This gives the fabric just enough body that I don’t need a hoop.  I used a red transfer pencil for the basket blocks, and a black transfer marker for the flower blocks.  I’ve also in the past just pencil traced the outline with the help of a lightbox.

Applique – Honoring Emma

I was happy to find Lori Smith’s new applique pattern – Honoring Emma– I like Lori Smith’s applique designs because of their flowy curvy shapes, and this one had just the right size of blocks, a small centre medallion, and a good variety of designs throughout the blocks.  (Oh! and her new sampler patterns are wonderful too – I will likely end up starting one of those soon as well :))

I ended up making 3 versions of the first block (well, the two cotton ones aren’t fully finished).  As my optometrist would say, “better A, or better B?  Better B or better C?”, lol.  I’m going with C – the wool applique.

  There’s nothing particularly wrong with A and B, they just somehow didn’t seem right to me – not the look I wanted to achieve.  C is the first wool applique I’ve done and it was fun. I used a flannel background, and wool felt which was I think 60/40 wool/rayon. The layout was much easier than with needleturn, the stitching was quick and easy, and I got to do a bit of decorative embroidery on some of the flowers.  So I will soon move on, finally, to block two.

Try, Try, Again

Anyone who has read this blog, or knows my quilting style, knows that I am indecisive in choosing and sticking to quilt project.  I’ll plan a wonderful quilt, start a block and yuck.  I’ll prep a kit for quilt, then decide later to use those fabrics, or part of them, in something else.  I have sewn countless applique blocks in the past two years, all from different sources and never ending up to be just what I wanted.

The past few weeks I’ve sewn two needleturn blocks – the same but different fabrics – and now I’m making it up as wool applique on felt.  I’ve also sewn one and half bluework blocks, from Margaret Docherty’s Hearts and Tulips book, but came to realize that it wasn’t working out how I imagined.  The past few months I’ve been following Anne Sutton’s (BunnyHill Designs) A Tisket a Tasket block of the month, working it as a fusible applique project.  Now I’m thinking of turning it into a redwork quilt.  I’ll post pictures of all these efforts in the next few days.

Meanwhile, I did get a quilt quilted! (With of course one or two areas tried out, ripped out, and re-quilted).  Here’s the Stars and Nine Patch,

Two more tops!

After almost two weeks without making a stitch with a sewing machine, I got back into it with a bang on Friday morning.

First up was a quilt top that need the intervention of an Exorcist. Really. It was intended to have four outline stitched blocks set diagonally with framed sixteen patch blocks. I had the centre sewn, the pieced border bits made up (see post about "January", below) , and I ordered a wonderful border fabric to bring out the red and black in the fabrics and embroidery. No luck – when it arrived, it was way short than I needed, end of bolt. So back to the drawing board, and a decision to use the embroidered blocks in a wallhanging; and make up some other blocks to add into the quilt, which would make it bigger, without needing the wide border.

After much fighting with the diagonal set, and working out the measurement of the four patch borders, voila! – a quilt called Changes – representing all the variations of this top; and most important the pinwheels representing the whirling challenges of life with two teenagers and my oldest son’s wedding in the fall.

Then I got to a quilt I’m naming Hodgepodge Strippy – I had written about the top in an earlier note. I had some concern that I wouldn’t have enough 4” patches to make up a good amount of blocks for a lap quiilt, and sure enough the most I could make was 20. EQ saved my sanity on this quilt. I was constantly drawing and re-drawing it to use up what I had without running out! What I wanted to do, and would have liked best, was 6 rows of 5 blocks each, with a 5” sash in between each row. But….nope.

So this is what I came up with – even the border ended up to be much narrower than I would have liked because I ran out of fabric. I’m going to use a red fabric for the binding, to bring out the slight pink in the sashing/border fabric. I’d also like to quilt it in such a way that all the plain fabric sort of blends together to make the coloured hodgepodge strips look as if they’re floating.

This quilt will be for my neice, or my sister, depending on how fast I want to quilt it! Neice’s birthday is in June, sister’s is in August.

Both of these pictures could have been better – the quilts are even and squared – but a teenager was being held against his will to hold them up for pictures!

Sewing on the porch

Spring has finally arrived here, and with it the anticipation that I now get to spend more time outside, doing what I like best in the warmer months – applique and hand work.

Over the years I seem to have fallen into a routine of piecing and quilt-top making during the winter, and quilting and applique in the summer. While I do work on all types throughout the year, there’s definitely an emphasis on quilting and applique in the summer. I get to enjoy the weather, and when its too hot, I can sit in the air conditioning and quilt my quilts at the machine. Little ironing is needed, which is great, because my studio is small and even a hot iron on for a couple of hours can really make thngs warm!

It was good timing on my part when I went browsing for patterns at Lori Smith's website about a week ago. She had just posted some new patterns, one which I very much liked called Honoring Emma, An Album Quilt. It arrived yesterday and I was again very lucky to pretty decisively choose my fabrics – decisive is not my strong point!. I enjoyed a lovely afternoon out in the sun, cutting up fabric and making little block kits for the pattern.

Another quilt that I’ve started is from Margaret Docherty’s new book Hearts and Tulips. I’ve decided to sew the blocks with a blue outline stitch with highlights of blanket stitch applique – all blue on white.

I “had” to get in on a a block of the month wallhanging size applique quilt called Summertime (that’s appropriate, lol) at Homestead Hearth. I looked at the quilt and program for a few weeks, and felt it was something I didn’t want to pass up :)

As with piecing, I like to have a variety of applique and handwork projects on the go – none of these are meant to be done this summer, or even this year!