Everything’s Happening…

…except sewing!  Dang, it has been hard to find any time to quilt for the last 2 weeks!  I have made just the teeniest little bit of progress on my tulip quilt, finishing up most of the trapunto and free motion embroidery on these blocks:

I’ve been using wool batting on the tulips. Here’s a shot of the backside of a block before I’ve cut away the excess batting:

And here’s a shot after it’s been trimmed:

The thing to notice is there are 2 weights of batting (the thick wool behind tulips and an ultra-thin polyester behind the feathers) and also that I didn’t trim the feather batting very closely. I’m thinking that because this batting is so thin, it really won’t matter…we’ll see! Here’s what a typical tulip looks like once the edges are finished with the EKG-edge finishing design:

I always try to use a thread color that doesn’t match the fabric and I always use a shiny thread, either a rayon or a polyester. That little bit of sheen makes all the difference! Here’s a closeup of a tulip stem; these are free motion embroidered but not trapuntoed:

Starting this weekend, I should really have some good chunks of time to quilt, so hopefully, there will be some good posts coming up!

Filed under Appli-K-Kutz Fabric Cutting Dies, Free Motion Embroidery, Trapunto. 2 Comments

Slow Progress on New Dancing Feather Quilt and Fabric Extravaganza!

I haven’t had much time for quilting this last week, but I’ve started working on my new quilt. First up, I did straight stitching in free motion mode just inside the edges of all the feathers:

This is functional stitching, not decorative, so my goal is to not draw attention to that stitched line. Because of that, I use very lightweight threads for this kind of work, like Invisifil or Bottom Line, in a closely matched solid color. Next up, I outlined all edges of the flower applique shapes in the block centers with Monopoly invisible thread by Superior Threads:

(You can’t see the thread that outlines the flower parts…that’s why they call it invisible!) My goal in the next part was to try to carry the feather curves into the quilting design, so the applique and quilting around the applique would read as “one design.” It’s still too early to tell if this will work, but here’s how I started out:

I marked a curve in soap (that’s the white line in the photo above) that would be the spine guideline for short feathers that would flow from between each of the applique feathers. The curve echoes only the upper curve of the applique feathers, since the available space for quilting won’t allow me to echo the entire feather. Here’s a really terrible shot of what this looks like before any background quilting is added:

I’m not wild about this so far, but I’m not going to let that get to me yet. I think it will take on a better look once all 4 blocks are done and the background quilting has been added. For the very center, I cut a thin cardboard version of the center feathers with my Sizzix machine, and I’m laying it between the 4 feather “pinwheels” to trace the shape:

…and here’s what one of those center feathers looks like after it’s been stitched:

I’ve got a long way to go, but this has been a fun quilt to work on so far. And some great news on the storefront…beginning today, all fabric in our online store is discounted 10% off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, from the day that bolt of fabric arrives at our warehouse. These are tough economic times and this is our way of trying to help out fellow quilters. We’ve got about 1000 bolts of batiks in stock now, with more on the way!

Filed under Appli-K-Kutz Fabric Cutting Dies, Free Motion Embroidery, Free Motion Quilting, Sizzix, Trapunto. 7 Comments

Fourth Block Finished, Blended Felt Applique Nearly Done, and a Great Blog Worth Reading!

That last flower block is done now. I ended up stitching the EKG edge finishing design after I’d stitched all the swirly vine-like structures inside the large plumes:

I joined the 4 blocks together and this is where the project stands now:

I’m on the fence as far as what I’m going to do next. It’s definitely calling out for something to be done as the border, but I’m undecided so far about what my next move will be. That’s ok, though. This is just being done on a whim, so there’s no rush to move this forward. I’m nearly done with the hand work on that small blended felt project:

(Those “tentacle-like” things are really stylized stamens. My plan is to put beads on their tips, but I think I’m going to quilt this and I’ve already broken 2 free motion feet on beads, so I’m leaving the beading until the very end!) This began as 2 cuts from Accuquilt Die #55029:

and the Appli-K-Kutz Straight Feather, Small Die:

I used the 2 smaller heart shapes from the Accuquilt die, and then I decided I wanted to applique a 3rd size of heart in cotton fabric, so I traced an even smaller heart onto a piece of mylar:

…and then used that mylar to prepare my applique shape by starching the edges and pressing them into submission. (There are 2 heart shapes because I was also working on another applique project.) I don’t have a picture of it after I’d appliqued it, but this gives you an idea of what I was trying to do:

My next step will be to attach this to fabric and quilt it. I have no idea if this will even work, but I want to give it a shot!

And here’s a tip on a great blog. I met Kay online and then had the pleasure of meeting her for real in a class. She blew me away with her free motion skills (you should see her feathers!) and now she’s posted a wonderful tutorial on thread painting she just did on a hummingbird. You can check out her blog here.

Filed under Free Motion Embroidery, Free Motion Quilting, Sizzix, Trapunto. 4 Comments

Eye Candy for Quilters

I was able to spend about an hour working on a quilt that has been so much fun for me. I’ve got a long way to go on the quilting part of it, but here’s what the top looked like just after I’d finished spray basting it on my spray basting wall:

Many of the applique shapes were trapuntoed, and it’s always so much fun to see textures evolve as you go about quilting it:

You can see that the heart and the bird seem a bit “poofed up.” You may not be able to tell from this photo, but I used a thicker batting for the heart trapunto than I used for the birds. I really like how you can create different textural effects by doing something as simple as altering the loft of battings that you use. This next shot shows a smaller heart that’s also been trapuntoed:

I did a very poor job of satin stitching around that heart when I added the trapunto layer, so I ended up couching a heavy decorative yarn along the edge to cover my crummy work. Not only did it work, but I like the end heart much better! Here’s an off-kilter view of a block that features a “quartet of feathers:”

There’s no trapunto on that block, but I love it anyway! And last but not least, here’s a shot of one of the birds from the bottom panel. You can start to see how “poofed” up he is but I used a very low loft batting for him:

…and here’s his partner from that same block:

I’ll be sad when I finish this quilt; it’s been so nice to have it close by and to work on it!

Filed under Appli-K-Kutz Fabric Cutting Dies, Free Motion Embroidery, Free Motion Quilting, Sizzix, Trapunto. 7 Comments

A Pocketful of Posies

I’m working on a new quilt and it’s pretty simple. It’s set on square and is an every-other-block kind of an arrangement. This is the basic posey block:

All of these applique shapes are being free motion embroidered or trapuntoed while they are still in just the block stage. I’m not sure what I did wrong with my camera yesterday, but these photos are not as crisp as they usually are. Here is a pair of leaves that are finished with the EKG edge finishing design:

The photos of the posies with their edges finished are really hazy, so they’re not even worth showing. One thing about these posies that’s kind of cool is that there is a second fabric behind the posey to color its center. That’s a little clearer in this other shot from another project that has some wool felt posies in it:

And here’s what the back of the block looks like once it’s ready for piecing:

I know what I want to do design-wise in the every-other blocks, but I haven’t chosen my background fabric yet so I can’t get started. I’m determined to use something from my existing. So far, this whole quilt is from fabrics that have been sitting around here for awhile. Stay tuned!

Filed under Free Motion Embroidery, Sizzix. 6 Comments