Sep 06 08
More Leaves, Fabric Dyeing and Fabric Give Away!!
The nights are cooling off and that means fall is just around the corner and that means my annual infatuation with leaves will soon gear up to full swing ! I was able to get a bit more work done on my current leaf quilt. Remember that giant dandelion leaf I posted about earlier? Well, I finished the free motion embroidery within the leaf block and here’s a halfway through shot as it was still on the machine bed. I think it shows how much interest a little thread work can add to a quilt:
The light green inner leaf is done in just a micro stipple design. I had intended to do something edgey because that leaf has so much pointy stuff on it, but the light green pieces of fabric were so tiny that all I could get in there was a micro stipple. The outer dark green section is the angular swirl and I really like it there because it goes with those edgy spikes on the leaf!
Here’s another large leaf block I’ve been working on for the same quilt. Here’s the giant oak leaf after it had been fused:
(I know I use those oak leaves a lot but their shapes are so darn interesting!) Now here is a shot after the inside and outside edges have been embroidered with a satin stitch:
In general, I am not wild about the satin stitch and usually like raw edge applique, but sometimes I really like the effect that an outline in a different color can have, and that’s what I was going for here. It seems to almost electrify that edge. (This strategy is also very useful if you get your applique done and realize you don’t have enough contrast between your leaf and the background fabric…in fact, this was how I used this technique the first time because I needed to use the color of a thick satin stitch to salvage a poor fabric color choice!) Next up is a close up of the embroidery within the oak leaf. That is the irregular swirl (I think it works here because it is a curvaceous design and that oak leaf has such great curves) and it is stitched in LAVA thread by Superior threads. This was my first experience with LAVA and it went great! Don’t you just love how Superior Threads actually TELLS you the correct needle type and size to use with all their threads?!! They are one hot thread company!
These are both just in a block stage, so once the other blocks are done and the top is pieced and basted into a quilt sandwich, I’ll stitch just outside the edges of all the satin stitching and this will make those leaves protrude OUTWARD, making them more important. If I were to have waited and done all this stitching when it was in a quilt sandwich, these leaves would have receded into the quilt, and they would be less important.
I also got to dye some fabric last week…about 20 yards of cotton sateen in blues, greens and purples, and several yards of silk charmeuse:
and many fat half yards of Egyptian cotton:
Overall, I was very happy with my colors except for my turquoise. I used many different blues but the turquoise largely washed out-I think this jar of dye is just plain way too old so I pitched it. BUT…I am happy to give away the piece of hand dyed cotton sateen below. It’s about 40 in x 44 in and this stuff makes a great background fabric for applique and when you quilt it, it throws off incredible shadows that really highlight your quilting. I am hoping it will find a new home with some other quilter who will do something really fun with it! So, anyone who comments on my blog or sends an email with “fabric give away” in the subject line by 1 am on Sunday 9/14/08 will be eligible for the drawing and I’ll post next Sunday who the winner is! Don’t forget to leave your name and email address!
Well I will throw my hat into the fabric give away. I probably won’t win the first commenter hardly ever does but if I don’t do it now I will probably forget. Great fabric.
Gotta be in it to win it they say…….so please, I’d love to be in the running. Love your quilting, just wish mine could look as classy – but it doesn’t!!
It is a gorgeous piece of fabric so please count me in!! My email is attached to my profile but just in case it is baker@westnet.com.au
PS Your work is just so stunning
I’ll take a chance at winning your beautiful fabric, too! And I love your quilting, it is really inspiring!
Ooooh! The colours are lovely, please include me in the draw.
Metbury
Please please, I don’t normally enter these things but I ‘know’ how much fun that piece would be..
Sally
I love your work and your videos! I have been using them with my 4H quilting group and the kids turned out some fabulous quilts this year! Please add my name to your drawing…your dyed fabrics are beautiful!
I love it! Please add me to your draw.
Hy Patsy, I´m from germany.
I found your blog a few days ago, and I like your work very much. I can learn a lot…
Greatings Susi
I’d love to be in the drawing. I just LOVE your work. The quilting is incredible.
uh oh – I may have missed the fabric giveaway, but I visited YOU about 5:00 am! re-watching (for the unteenth time) your innies and outies! What fun – thank you. It was a nice visit. 😎
Hi!
Of course I’d like to have a fabric from you. I do love your quilts!
Hi Patsy,
Love your site, love your quilting and love your fabric. Count me in the draw please,
Cheers Edith
I would love to be in the drawing also. I just purchased your DVD’s. Just love your ideas…..exactly what I was looking for to jazz up my quilts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I definitely would like to be in on the drawing. You are such an inspiration and the information on dyeing fabric made me feel that I could do it too. So far I have tried some pieces but I am still in the experimental stages. I have been trying to find cotton brocades as some of my quilts are African inspired and in parts of Africa that is the kind of fabric used. It gives a secondary texture which I like. I have even tried old table cloths and napkins. The cotton sateen looks very good.
Love it,
Helen
Your work is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing not only your tips on quilting but also your fabric with us.
I would like to be in the drawing.
I love your site and your wonderful leaves.
Liebe Grüsse
Susanne
Count me in! I love the fabric and would really enjoy using it in my work.
Thanks for the website and the videos, I have two and love them.
Tina
Patsy,
Long time reader! I love when you give tips about thread choices. I always wonder what you are using in a given quilt. I would love to use your fabric. Oooo I hope I win!
stacey.koehler@comcast.net
Stacey
Patsy – I love the hand dyed fabric and would love to be entered in the give away. I am also really interested to hear how you use the silk charmeuse. The colors of that are luschious. Do you use it in quilts? Do you have to fuse it to an interfacing first? Thanks, Claudia W
Hi Patsy,
There are days when my creative juices have just run dry.
That is when I jump online and check out your web blog.
Your gorgeous fabrics and quilting motifs really get me jazzed up and inspired! After a few minutes at your site, I run to my quilt studio and create something wonderful.
Thank you for your generous nature and enthusiasm. It is contageous.
May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn in Oregon
Your names are all in the hat! And thanks for all the kind words-I wish there were a yard of fabric for everyone! Here is the scoop on the silk charmeuse…if you think of the level of lustre on cotton sateen as a 6/10, then the lustre on the silk charmeuse is about 11/10! Because of that, this stuff is pretty eye-catching, but not in a garrish or distracting kind of way. I have used it mainly in applique; it fuses very easily and if you use it for trapuntoed applique, it adds more drama to the trapunto because it throws off such intense shadows once you quilt it. I haven’t tried it for a background yet, but I think it would be quite cool!
Patsy, Please enter me in the drawing; that fabric is just dying (haha)to come and live at my house, so please, pick me, pick me. I’m always so excited when I find a new post on your blog. Your fabric is luscious and your quilting inspires me to try harder. Thanks for sharing with us.
Hi Patsy,
your blog and your quilting is always wonderful. I like these hand dyed fabrics so much because of the colors and the effects when they are quilted. So I like to be entered in the give away.
Thanks for all your creative ideas! Best wishes from Cologne Germany
Hi Patsy
you’ve been inspiring my quilting for a couple of years and I love the colors you achieve when you dye. I would be very excited to receive this new creation. Thanks. kathy
Patsy, patsy, patsy…your work is awesome , as usual, and I love the sheen on the fabric! I’m thinking that fabric would look awesome in a little journal project I’ve got going…so put my name in there as well! I think you have my email address. I love my light!
Please consider me for that delicious fabric.
I think your blog is wonderful with all the techniques that you share. You inspire me to be a better DSM quilter.
Thanks,
Pam
Wow, I just discovered your blog and it is amazing! I will come by again for sure.
Please put my name in the hat for the fabric, I would love to work with it!
Thanks,
Lauraline
Love your blog! Your work is gorgeous! Please put me in the hat for the giveaway. I would love some of that yummy fabric. It is beautiful!
Hello, you have agrat blog and I love your work! congratulations. I wish I could dye fabrics like you =) I would love to win this giveaway. Thanks Patsy
Hi Patsy,
I really like the oak leaf design you have done. *sigh* another want to do thing! *grin*
Please include my name into the draw for the fabric. I still haven’t explored hand-dyeing yet, but I’m hoping to.
Reading this blog on how you used the satin stitch for the applique… I think I am getting closer to losing my intimidation over this technique too!
Thanks a bunch for your inspiration!
-Alice
Thanks to everyone for these absolutely wonderful comments! Everyone’s name is in the hat!!
I just found your site and am ever so excited I did! Your work is so inspirational. Looking forward to trying out the techniques and returning again and again.
Kathy L.
Hey very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds
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