Wow... this last week flew by! I have been busy house-hunting, spending time with the boys, preparing for an eventual move... Sapphire, the younger cat, has been spending more time in my quilt room than the quilter! My To Do list is growing by the minute: - Finish small art quilt (should be able to post a picture today) - Quilt green wall hanging - Search for more fabric for the Drunkard's Path quilt - Complete double wedding ring bed runner - Work on round robin quilt Speaking of round … [Read more...] about Days flying by
machine applique
Fusible web applique
This week I was working on a Christmas row quilt. For the gift boxes row I needed to fuse large squares to the background fabric, and then machine applique them. I chose to use only a few strips of fusible web (Heat'n Bond Lite) on the wrong side of each box (see picture) so I would not end up with too thick a surface to free-motion quilt on. Since I did not put the strips of fusible web very close to the edge of the boxes, I was concerned that the fabric would fray. To my delight, the fraying … [Read more...] about Fusible web applique
Fusible applique tips
When working with fusible applique, I like to cut out some of the paper within the applique design, so as to avoid having a stiff applique area. Additionally, the less glue in my project the better, as the needle will move easily while I quilt. It also helps to have that 'window' if you want to include a particular section of fabric design. Here is what I mean: … [Read more...] about Fusible applique tips
Embroidery and Applique Inspiration
As I always quilt my projects, I own a few books with quilting designs. Looking at them, one can easily see how they could be used as patterns for embroidery and applique. Have you used any designs as such? Those with continuous line lend themselves more readily for stitchery and applique. One book in particular comes to mind, with designs so lovely I have thumbed through its pages very often for inspiration: Hari Walner's Continuous-Line Quilting Designs: 80 Patterns for Blocks, Borders, … [Read more...] about Embroidery and Applique Inspiration
Sunbonnet Sue
What do you think I wonder about as I lay awake in the middle of the night? Yeah... my next quilt project. I love Sunbonnet Sue and am planning a wall hanging based on three books I have. I will likely use applique instead of redwork embroidery. I wonder what it would look like if I mixed ideas of two separate books - one about boys and one about girls! Here are the books which are inspiring me: Sunbonnet Sue and Scottie at Play, by Suzanne Zaruba Cirillo and The Ultimate Sunbonnet Sue … [Read more...] about Sunbonnet Sue
Cat on quilt
As I watch Jamie, my oldest cat, sleeping and totally oblivious to the sound of my fingers on the keyboard, I imagine if someday I can portray her in one of my art quilts. She is no ordinary cat to me, although she has no particularly distinctive features. In the meantime, here is one of the cats I made a little while ago, which must be adorning a special home right now... The quilt on which he is sitting is from the book "The Best of Black Mountain Quilts" by Teri Christopherson (I found … [Read more...] about Cat on quilt