November 4th, 2014
Maybe it’s just me, but I almost always think a quilt is more interesting if the blocks are set on point as opposed to being set on square. Compare the quilt above with the quilt below as an example:
I guess the one exception for me is when the blocks are set on square but the elements inside the blocks are set along the diagonal, as in the quilt block below:
Anyway, I am digressing from today’s issue. If you have a quilt where you’re setting the blocks on point, then you’re going to need to square everything up at the end by throwing in some side setting triangles and corner setting triangles. This is not a big deal but because those triangles always start out a little larger than they need to be and ultimately get trimmed, it can be tough to know just how much “real estate” will be contained within the final triangle blocks. Back when I was finishing my applique with hand guided decorative embroidery using my sewing machine, this was not a big deal. When I made quilts like this one:
…I would actually piece and then trim my triangle blocks into the quilt, and then fuse my appliques inside the blocks. This way, I knew exactly how large the triangle blocks would be before I determined the applique shapes that would fit inside. Unfortunately, you just don’t have that luxury when you’re working with machine embroidery applique. You have to make a good estimate at how large those triangles will be after trimming and then digitize the design to that size. You applique/embroider a giant square that you will later chop into 4 side setting triangles. Here is the giant square for the quilt I’m working on now:
…and here it is after it’s been hacked into 4 triangles and pieced in place:
Again, I won’t know if the layout will work or not until I’ve completed the corner setting triangles and they’ve been pieced into the top and all triangles have been trimmed, but you can see in this closeup that there’s a good chance my placement won’t work:
I hate these nail-biting moments! I won’t know for sure for another day or two…please keep your fingers crossed for me!
Filed under
Machine Embroidered Applique.
November 2nd, 2014
The very kind and very talented Kelly Jackson of I Have a Notion is sponsoring a blog hop featuring my machine embroidery applique designs! How cool is that?! The hop begins Mon 11/10 and runs through 11/14 and you can read about and see how these kinds of designs are made. Check out this great line up that she has arranged:
I have been a quilter for several decades now and have met many embroiderers when I have traveled to teach. They always tried to entice me to get into embroidery and I never in a million years thought it was anything I’d enjoy. BUT…once I saw the incredible quilts that could be created by melding embroidery and quilting, I was hooked! I also should say that even though I spend a ton of time quilting and learning about quilting, I was completely naive about this aspect of the craft. I bring this up because when I talk to quilters about machine embroidery applique, they kind of look at me like they have no idea what I’m talking about. Please take a ride along all the blogs in this hop because you’ll be amazed at the cool stuff you can make when you meld embroidery and quilting. Here are some examples:
…and even quilted motifs can be done on an embroidery machine:
Please stop by and I promise you’ll be amazed at what you see and learn!
Filed under
Machine Embroidered Applique.
November 1st, 2014
You may be wondering why I have been so silent over the last 2 1/2 weeks. I was about to give a power point lecture to the Forsythe Quilters Guild in Winston Salem, NC 2 1/2 weeks ago and the hard drive on my laptop died as I went to boot up my computer. Talk about bad timing! Because I was on the road when it happened, I couldn’t do anything about it, so I was sans computer for about a week until I could buy a new laptop. (You kind of realize how tied you are to a computer when you don’t have access to one. It’s a bit of a sobering insight.) Anyway, I wasn’t too concerned because we back up all our computers onto Carbonite and have always gotten all our files back when hard drives have failed before. Well, I had just shy of 700,000 files on my computer (that’s a LOT of files) and it took nearly a full week to get them all downloaded onto a new laptop, hence the 2 weeks sans computer. I think I am now settled back in with my new laptop…phew!
On top of the weirdness of not having access to any of my computer files, the last couple weeks were also spent trying to begin the physical inventory in our warehouse. I have spent many, many hours every day on this project, so I haven’t done much quilting/sewing/embroidering in the last 2 weeks. I need to make things with my hands and to turn ideas in my head into actual physical objects (primarily quilts), so this has been an incredibly frustrating time. Because I don’t have pics of new work to show you, I’m throwing some old pics into this post because what’s the point of a post without photos?
…and how about a few interesting patterns for free motion quilting designs?
Sorry for the blogging drought but now you know why it happened. Hopefully, this has been a gratifying dose of color and design to keep you coming back! I currently have a 2 week break from working on the warehouse, so my plan is to engross myself in my sewing room where I can play with color and threads to my heart’s desire. Expect some posts! Oh, and I almost forgot…this is the scene outside our living room this morning:
Perfect day to hunker down in the sewing room!
Filed under
Site Updates.
