Applique Process

Snow is still on the ground and now it is in my kitchen, too.  I finished this little wall hanging yesterday.  Its featured in the BH&G American Patchwork and Quilting 2011 Calendar for January.  I make wall hangings to hide the fuse box cover in my kitchen and had leave off one of the borders to get it to fit in the space.

Today, my daughter and her family came over for lunch after church and I caught this picture of our newest family member, Taralyn, who celebrated birthday #1 in November. Typical of one year olds, she is not still for long and typical of this Granny, I don't take pictures very fast, so she is in this rather awkward pose reaching for a ball she was plying with.  My daughter made her outfit - isn't she a doll!

Conntinuing the pledge to show process on my blog, I thought I would show how I finished prepping my applique block.  In the prior post, I showed how I apply the freezer paper and fold the piece edges over the paper and iron in place.   

I also cut bias strips for the stems, pressed with the seam open on the outside, such that when I pin it is place, the seam is not seen. 

I found this to be too bulky and had to trim the seam to keep the raw edge from showing from under the applique.  Not good.

So I decided to just cut the seam out all together.  (I have got to remember to redo my nails BEFORE I do these closeups!)

I cut the seam away such that approximately 1/8 inch was left of the folded over edge.

This has worked out great to remove the bulk from under the applique.

The white lines you see in the background are chalk lines I drew diagonally across the block for stem placement.

The next step was to remove the freezer paper from the flowers and leaves.  Now this is a another new step for me, as I usually leave the paper in, cut a slit in the background fabric after the piece is appliqued down and pull the paper out through the slit. 

I decided to try something different by removing the paper first, then basting the pieces in place prior to doing the needle turn applique.  By first pressing the pieces on the freezer paper, my folds are set and this should make the needle turn process so much easier - at least that is my thinking at this point.  We'll see how it goes.

And here is the  block, read for applique with all pieces basted in place. 

My mom used to tell me to always baste my pieces in place when doing blanket stitch applique, using thread that matched the applique and to leave the basting stitches in to strengthen the applique.  Of course your basting stitches had to be smaller and neater than mine in this piece.

I have used this concept, but I will be removing these stitches once the needle turn is complete. Therefore I made bigger stitches and used a contrast thread color. 

So there you have my progress on this block.  I just love this pattern (see prior post) and am looking forward to doing a little needle turn applique on this block.

Hope your Sunday was a relaxing one and thank you for stopping by,

Teresa

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Snow Day Fun...

So what did you do today in the snow?  Go walking and shake the snow off trees like we did as kids, take pictures of the snow, make snowmen or snowangels or maybe go sledding?  NOT ME - I enjoy the snow from the window.  I took advantage of a snow day from work to prep an applique project I have been wanting to get started.  I think I watched 5 episodes of Golden Girls after I got tired of the weather reports over and over again. 

So here is what I accomplished:

This is my pattern - Cottage Grove by the Quilt Company.  I am using the Fancy Hill Farm fabric by Robyn Randolph in reds and greens for my quilt.  I did have to add a few greens to get enough for the leaves, but for the most part, all the fabric will be from this collection.

I prep my applique pieces with freezer paper.  Cutting each shape out of the paper, and then placing the paper on the back side of the fabric with the shiny side up. Using a mini iron, I fold the fabric over the paper, ironing it down so it sticks.  Here is the finished leaf, all edges neatly turned under and ready to applique down.  The pattern calls for these to be fused down, but I prefer needle turned so no raw edges.

This is the block I will work on first.  The pieces are just lying against the background fabric.  I also made a bunch of 1/2 inch bias strips to use as the stems and and vines in the borders.

For the quilt, I had to prep 80 leaves, 8 big flowers, 2 small flowers, 8 rosebuds and circles for all.  It took me all morning, but was so much fun working on this while watching the snow falling outside my window.

This project will go with me to retreat on Thursday.  I can't wait!!!!

Hope you have had a good day,

Teresa
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Lazy cats

We are under a winter storm watch and just the thought of snow and ice makes me want to curl up in my favorite chair and read or quilt or nap - anything but go out in the cold.  Apparently my cats have the same idea....

Here's Felicia in one of her favorite perches - a top the cable box.  I guess she likes a warm bed, but you would think she would want a soft one, too.

Felicia is deaf and rules the house.

 And then there is Topsy, Felicia's daughter.  She prefers to curl up in front of the heating vents - but at least the carpet is softer than the cable box.  Topsy used to have a grey smudge on top of her head that looked like she had been playing in the fireplace. 

Topsy is going blind.  She is the sweetest most humble cat I believe I have ever known.

Then we have Leah, aka Leo.  Now she has the right idea - lying on top of a soft pillow, on a bed covered by one of my mom's applique quilts - right where she knows she is NOT supposed to be.

Leah is a big cat, and is the most aggravating of them all.  She is also the baby of the three and is not related and therefore treated as an outcast by Felicia and Topsy.  She "followed" my son home from church one day (approx 3 miles walk).    He later confessed that he might have carried her part of the way. She did look pitiful when he brought her home and he had found her on the side of the road.  I wonder if she would "follow" him home now to his house?

These cats will probably outlive me!

Hope you have a nice Sunday,
Teresa

Old Projects...new projects....

I have not been blogging much lately, but have been keeping up todate in my blog reading.  I have seen all kinds of new years resolutions, posts with lists of ufo's and resolutions to complete projects before starting new projects.  I just can't bring myself to list my ufo's or resolve not to start anything new.  I wish you all much success in keeping your resolutions and I can't wait to see all the projects you finish up. 

My resolution this year is to enjoy what I do and not rush through it.  This is a good thing as the projects I have going right now are all handwork, and that always takes me longer to get done. 

I have been working away on my hexies.   I have five rows made so far on my "Granny's Posies" quilt and am having the best time making these little darlings.

I did finish a table runner made form the Jenny Beyer fabric I purchased in the fall. 

Here's a close up of the center...I just love this fabric! 

Note the pretty candle holders?  those are a Christmas gift from my good friend Darlene - thank you, I love them!  I think I saw a large crystal bluebird at Hobby Lobby that would look so pretty setting on this runner.

And yes, I have started a new project.  This is a Double Wedding Ring table runner that I will be making with my quilt club - Stitchin' Friends.  We met today and talked about fabrics, and I gave them their homework assignment to purchase their fabrics, and cut the strips.  Here is my homework sheet.

I shopped at Mary Jo's, QBee Quilts and Hobby Lobby, looking for the perfect fabric.  Just wasn't satisfied with anything I found.  Since it is going to be a table runner for the dining room, I got one of my dishes, went through my stash, and found the perfect FQ's for this project.  Better yet - it was a FQ pack I won a couple of years ago!

Here's wishing you all a wonderful new year. Fill your hours with projects you enjoy and save the others for another time...when you will enjoy them again. 

Teresa
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Happy Thanksgiving - a few days late

Wow...this holiday has just flown by.  Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas right around the corner.  I just don't know where the days go.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family blessings and lots of peace and relaxing.  I have enjoyed this time off work and managed to get some sewing done, decorations mostly are up for Christmas and have watched countless movies on the Hallmark Channel.  Life is good.

I began quilting on my Circus Stars quilt, and will share one of the blocks on front and the way the back is shaping up.  I am using the "big stitch" or utility stitch and had some trouble starting out - actually had to take out my quilting many times on the first block.  I am getting my stitches much straighter now, just need to work on getting them consistent in length.  I really do enjoy this method.   I think the back of the quilt is going to look neat - maybe not neat stitches, but I like the look and feel of it.

I also began putting together my supplies to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Took me several days to cut out all the flower fabrics as I wanted them all different.   Gathered up my supplies, cut out all my hexagon paper foundations and finished the first row.  I am enjoying this process and have not stitched one stitch my machine in quite awhile.  I think my sewing machine is feeling neglected.

So that is it for now.  Back to work tomorrow and into the routine.  At some point I have got to get some shopping done.  No way was I going to face the Black Friday mess.  I did go out some on Saturday, but just to go by a quilt shop and Hobby Lobby to get some decorations.  All in all, its been a great Thanksgiving, and I thank God for the many blessings in my life of family, friends and home.

Teresa

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And the winner is.....

Joyce, of One Loose Thread blog.    As soon as I receive the snail mail address it will be making its way to your home.  Joyce is a fellow South Carolinian, who I have not had the pleasure of meeting ...so maybe I will get to see this quilt finished and meet the quilter too!  What a prize that would be for me.

This has been a fun weekend, starting with a pajama party sponsored by the York County Quilters.  Thank you Linda for all the work you put into the party and it sure was fun. (I forgot my camera - no pictures.)  Mary put together a mystery quilt project for us, and while I didn't quite get it finished, I did end up with two stacks of really cute blocks.  These were to make a rail fence type quilt, but I have a different idea rumbling around in my head, so decided to set them aside until I make up my mind.

While at the party, I finished block 9 (the last one) of the Gifts of Grace exchange.   I have so enjoyed making these sweet blocks, thank you Val Laird for freely sharing your designs. I have visions of applique butterflies, flowers and birds winging around these pretty  blocks, inspired by Beth Ferrier.  If you check out her block, its the banner at the top of the blog. I purchased that pattern off her website and have been looking for the perfect quilt to use it on.  Of course, she designed a gorgeous quilt pattern using the applique, but for those of you that know me, I seldom follow other people's patterns, just have to modify them or use pieces of them.

But in this case, I did follow the pattern given to me by Cathi.  Cathi is in Stitchin Friends, a quilt club that I am a member in too. Cathi recently won a Go-cutter and demo'ed it for us at Saturday's meeting. She was so generous to cut us all a dresden plate block to take home with us, and then to also give us a pattern for making this cute wall hanging, or in my case it will be a table topper.  We all brought our own fabric and got to use her go-cutter (Cathi did all the cutting - we're a lazy bunch). I finished mine up early this morning and have it ready to use - and I do love it!  Check out Cathi's blog and see how nice hers turned out as well.

Hope you have all had a great weekend and relaxing Sunday.
Teresa   22788

"Let Freedom Ring" Give-a-way

I am home from Washington and still feeling that patriotic pride that I always get when we have elections in this country.  I don't approve of all the mudslinging campaigns, but you have to admit, the freedom to vote your conscience is something we should take pride in and never for granted.

I won this pattern at the Quilters of SC Retreat a few weeks ago.  As much as I like the pattern, I know I will never make it, so I thought, what better time of year to place it in the hands of someone that will make it.  So I am giving it away.  Just leave me a post that you would like to have it, and I will draw a name on Sunday, Nov.14.  (Please make sure I have a way to contact you - either via blog or email.)

I thought I would share with you the process I go through to thread baste a quilt for handquilting.  I am so happy to have this one finally at that stage.  Today I had to piece the backing and batting, and once done, I laid the quilt sandwich (backing-batting-top) on the floor - just to make sure I had the top somewhat centered in the sandwich. But no way am I going to try to baste this on the floor - I dont' think my knees or back to take it. 

So I carefully fold the top and bottom ends into the center and carry it to my cutting table.  Here is is on the table and I start with the center of the quilt first.     I use those big binder clips to first fasten one side to the table.  Once clipped in place, I fold back the top and batting layers and smooth out the backing, then I lay the batting down and make sure it is smooth, and then the top.  Next step is to clip the top to the table on all four sides.

In basting the three layers together, I use some cheap thread that I have had way too long to remember, double thread the needle.  I use a spoon to help with the basting, sticking the needle into the spoon which causes the needle to curve upwards and makes basting much easier.  (Looks like I should have gotten a manicure before this picture was taken.)

 Just to keep myself amused and hopefully from concentrating on the pain in my back from bending over the table for hours, I put a book on tape in the cd player.   I find this really does help and today I basted for three hours without even realizing how long it had been.  The book I am listening to is "The Heir" by Johanna Lindsey.  I have not read (or listened) to her books before and got this one because it was on sale at Books a Million for $5.97.  Its actually a pretty good book, so far.

So that is my process for thread basting a quilt.  Next step - hand quilting!

Teresa

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Jenny Beyer Studio

I have been wanting to visit this studio for years, and Saturday we left home early enough to get to Great Falls, Virginia so that I could visit before closing time.  Oh, how I wish I lived close enough to take classes here.

I have admired Jenny Beyer quilts for some time now.  Her use of color and design just continue to amaze me.  The shop was filled with her quilts, fabrics and patterns and I was just in awe. 

The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful - it was a wonderful experience to visit this shop and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area - just outside of Washington, DC.  They gave me permission to take pictures inside and I have a few to show, but my photographic skills, or maybe its my camera, are very lacking.  But here are a few shots anyway.

I tried to get a shot of the view from our hotel window here in Washington, so I held the lens right up to the glass and turned off the flash.  Its especially pretty at night when all the buildings are lit up and you can see the Washington Monument in the distance.  The trees are gorgeous here now and there is a brilliant orange and yellow one below my window.

Speaking of trees - the colors in Virginia on the trip up are simply amazing.  When we left Great Falls we came through McLean Va to get to DC - unbelievable mansions and all the colors of Fall - a very nice ride in.

And finally - someone asked if I had brought along some handwork, and well of course, what good quilter leaves home without some handwork?  I had it all neat and tidy in my little plastic box and was going to take a picture to show you - but, when I reached for it - I dumped it all out on the floor.  So here it is, crammed back into the box, somewhat in disarray. 

The conference has been wonderful, I have learned tons of compliance policies that I wish I did not know at this point as I have my work cut out for me when I get back to work.  Hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow and don't forget to VOTE.

Teresa
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What were YOU thinking?????

On my last post, I ended by saying I was running off to join the circus!  Out of 297 hits on my blog since that post, only ONE person commented on my running off to join the circus, and that was Thimbleanna who was intrigued by the idea.  One of my best friends did email me and ask what I was up to.  Now really......were you not even curious?  Did you think that was a perfectly normal thing for me to be doing?  Maybe you figured out what I was up to, or just thought - You go girl!

Well, I have some pictures to show you from my joining the circus....Circus Stars that is.

Know what this is?  Why its an empty project box - the operative word being EMPTY. 

And here is my quilt top spread out on our bed. This is a queen size bed and the top completely covers it with at east a 14 inch drop on each side. 

The next step will be to get it basted together so that I can start handquilting it.  I plan to use the big stitch quilting with these absolutely gorgeous threads from YLI.  Thank you Jane for helping me pick them out. These are Pearl Cotton #8 with wonderful names like Monet,  VanGogh, Renoir, etc.

In the spirit of the process pledge, I want to show you one hint I came up with in the later stages of joining these stars together.  Of course, I only had a few rows left when I came up with this, but it really helped these tired old eyes.  Many of the joining seams had to exactly cross a seam joint which on some seams was not a problem to see, but where the fabric was black and I was using black thread - I could not see where the "crosshairs" were to make sure I hit it just right.  I found that by taking a white chalk pencil and coloring the space where the "crosshairs" were, I could see with no problem where to sew across.

Well, that is it for now. In the morning I leave for the big circus - Washington, DC.  I will be at a conference all week. [I voted absentee ballot.] I hope to work in a visit to the Jenny Beyer Studio. I mean really - all work and no play is not being politically correct.

Have a great week!

Teresa

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Mid October - Hard to believe!

Yesterday, we had family pictures made and Fred and I did  a touch of Christmas shopping!  Can you believe Christmas is only about 9 weeks away!  Life is just flying past and I so wish I could slow it down a little.  

The month started out great, with the annual Quilters of SC retreat.  I am probably the last person to blog about the retreat, and I don't have any pictures to show, but I can show you something I finished there. 

Yeaaaaaaaaaaa...its my Be Attitudes quilt.   Well, its almost finished - the top is done anyway.

It is a beautiful day today, so I took some pictues outside, and we have lots of trees in our yard, so please just look beyond the shadows.

I have finished all the coloring and embroidery on my Acorn and Oak leaf Wreath - at least one of them.  I am making three which will eventually become a table runner.  I will be doing a demonstration on this technique at guild meeting tomorrow night and needed some in various stages for demonstration purposes.

Another project finished is the September Gifts of Grace block - Gentleness (see sidebar for link).  Just love the roses on thiss block!

Overseeing the photo shoot is Izzy - my daughter Ellen's  little pooch.

We took the kids to see Toy Story Disney on Ice. We rode the Monorail, saw the show and finished the outing at McDonalds  with chicken nuggets and icecream.  It was a fun day!

From Left to right are Ellen, Tess (5), Malachi (almost 4), Timothy (4) and the Leader-of-the-Pack, Levi (7)

Hope you are all enjoying some beautiful Fall weather. 

For me - I am running off to join the circus!!!  More on that later......

Teresa
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