Baby Quilt FINISHED!

Yesterday, I left you with the completed top….

I got it basted and sat down to do the quilting…..but where to begin?

My original plan was to video the quilting, but with the matching thread, you couldn’t see ANYTHING that I was doing….

….so….scratch that plan!!

I wanted to continue the flower theme so decided to work with Angela Walters “Petunia” ruler…..

If you use it correctly, it makes a fun flower!!….

I wanted to keep the quilting continuous, so I chose to quilt the flowers in a line.

I added the swirl in the center and the prongs leading out to the petals.

In the lower section, I wanted to do something different so just quilted parallel straight lines…..

That just left the center flowers!!

I outlined the flowers and leaves, going around each piece twice. I think that the double stitching will help secure the appliques for the long term.

…and in the background, I quilted the design that I call “You-turn”….

I am delighted with the quilt and am thinking about turning it into a pattern…what do you think?

Then, it was time to make the label. I printed the label, using a picture of the flowers on the quilt…..

To ship it, I rolled it into a cute roll, folded the label over and added my note…..

It is now winging its way to Kentucky, hopefully to be a comfort to a sweet little girl!!

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If you have an interest in ruler quilting, check out this online course…..

Click HERE for more information

It’s a plan!!

Last week, I discussed the appliques (cut-outs) for my upcoming Holiday Inn quilt. To recap, I was finding it too hard to cut out the fabrics…..

….so I had pretty much decided that I would applique them on.

In my practice quilting sessions, I played with different ways to stitch the appliques in place.

These were definitely a no…..

These looked okay but I still wanted them to look like they were UNDER the top fabric….

THEN…..I took the workshop about Reverse Applique and…..voila…..the solution appeared!!

I WILL DO THEM AS REVERSE APPLIQUE!!!

As soon as I got home from the workshop, I pulled two fabrics and drew in the shapes….

…and sewed around them…..

I cut out the top fabrics

….and then turned it over and cut out the backing fabric….

I played with stitching extra lines around the shapes on the front…..

I am not sure how much extra stitching/quilting that I will add after the fabrics are cut out, but I feel sure that this will be the perfect solution to my issue!!

Now I just have to get more fabric and find time to work on it!!

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Do you have a stack of scraps that you want to use in a fun design?

Check out this pattern for a quick and easy scrap quilt that will help empty your bins and bring a smile to your face!!

Full Color pattern includes step by step instructions for blocks and border.

Click HERE for more information.

Reversing the Applique

This past week, my guild presented a workshop about doing Reverse Applique by machine…… sounds interesting doesn’t it??

Well it WAS!!

Our teacher was guild member, Kay Davis…..

She is a master of Free-Motion Quilting on a Long-Arm and does some wonderful work.

These were two samples for the class…..

We started out by picking a stencil from Kay’s massive collection….

I picked this cute giraffe……

The first step was to trace the stencil on the dark fabric….

…..and make a quilt sandwich consisting of backing fabric, batting, batik (or print) fabric, and dark fabric on top…..

I grabbed a machine and quilted along each of the cut-outs, ensuring that I stitched all the way around each piece. If I needed to move to another cut-out, I simply stitched over to the new area.

The hardest part was seeing the lines through the free-motion foot. I am far too used to my open-toed foot!!

Next, I cut out the top fabric in each section, leaving the batik below.

I found that my Karen Buckley scissors were the best for this task……

They were sharp and got into even the smallest of spaces…..

One thing that I loved about this technique is that a small slit in the top fabric brings an amazing pop of color from the secondary fabric!

Before long I had my giraffe cut out……

Isn’t he cute??

Now I need to decide how to finish it off. I could add lots of FMQ to the surrounding fabric and cut out more shapes, but I don’t think that is where I am heading.

I want the giraffe to stay foremost in the piece so I may leave him just the way he is. But, that is a decision for another day.

There were several wonderful designs in progress, including Linda’s cat…..

Anne’s farm scene….

Sue went wild with a hummingbird and flowers…

Kyle worked on an amazing turtle….

….and Karry designed her own “MeMaw”…..

If you can’t tell, we had a MARVELOUS day!!

Have you tried this technique before??

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A Little Help for a Friend

On Friday my friend Ann came over asking for help with a project.

Brainstorming over ideas is one of my FAVORITE things to do, especially because I don’t have to actually DO any of the work!!

I was astounded as she brought out 13 gorgeous applique pieces…..

As I ogled at the intricate applique in each of the blocks, Ann told me that her mother had made most of them…..

….but she had finished up one or two herself…..

Aren’t they wonderful…..

When she first laid them out on the design wall, she had them all separated apart and was wondering what kind of sashing to use, thinking that she would turn it into a queen-size quilt.

This would mean that a large appliqued border would also be needed.

As we talked, I asked Ann if she was planning to use this on a bed and she immediately answered NO WAY!!

So why was she aiming for such a large quilt?

We started looking at photos of other Baltimore Album style quilts online and noticed that many did not have sashing at all.

SO….what would happen if we pushed them all together and turned them into a nice sized wall hanging?

At this point you could see the relief in her eyes that, if it was smaller, she might actually get it finished.

We finished up by talking about quilting ideas and both felt like some grid work was going to be needed.

Ann may get home and go back to the queen-sized idea but she at least left my house with a possible alternative!!

Lest you think that this advice was all one-sided, I showed her a project that I have taken on for a friend and Ann made some great suggestions about how to use a bunch of VERY DISPARATE blocks.

This synergy that happens when you brainstorm with others always amazes me….

What do you do when you get stuck on a project?

Is there a special friend that you brainstorm with?

If not, I would encourage you to find one….

…………………… IMMEDIATELY!!!

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More Applique from QuiltCon

Yesterday we looked at the winners and some of the other applique quilts from QuiltCon. Today, let’s finish them up!!

I love the shapes in this quilt. I would NEVER have thought of making them like this!!

“Odd Man Out” by Andrew Love

The couplets of color are perfect in this next quilt…..

“Moon Pie Mood Ring” by Laura Henneberry

These rings of color are beautifully hand appliqued…..

“Drift” by Linda Branting

This quilt used the fabrics from last year’s Wyndham Fabric Challenge.

“Exposing My Truths” by Lori Tourschere

Lori pieced and quilted the background before the applique overlay was added.

I don’t know about you but I get some of my best ideas while in the shower and that is what happened to Tia Curtis……

“Ideas In The Shower” by Tia Curtis

This is what she wrote about it…..

I love large-scale applique, but sometimes basting the pieces to get them ready for needle-turn applique is a bit of a pain. I was thinking of how I could make this easier on myself while I was in the shower and it came to me! Why don’t I baste the pieces with my longarm? I tried this exact technique out as soon as I threw on some clothes. I still need to tweak some things but overall the experiment was a success. I can’t wait to try it again with an even BIGGER design!!

We all look forward to seeing the next quilt!!

This next quilt is another where the background was quilted first and then the appliques were added….