Folk Art Mexican Rose

EDITED TO ADD: The three winners have been selected and have been notified. Thanks to all who stopped by and especially to those who commented!

I'd like to welcome you to Bountiful Heirlooms, my humble (and sometimes neglected) quilting and stitching blog (more quilting than stitching lately). Today's my day for the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 9 Blog Tour. And it's your chance to win one of three copies of this fabulous special issue -- one from Quiltmaker or one of two from me! You just need to make a comment before Sunday, May 4 at midnight mountain time.

I'm thrilled to be included among such talented designers. Plus, every interaction I have with the staff at Quiltmaker magazine is always a pleasure. Congratulations to Quiltmaker for another terrific issue!

So, let me start with my block.

This block was inspired by a hand-carved chest I bought in Guadalajara, Mexico. I chose warm colors that also reminded me of the summer I lived in Mexico.

But when I decided to make the block into a table runner, I selected fabrics from my stash -- scraps, actually, from a quilt that went into my book Triple-Play Scrap Quilting. (You can see that quilt in the header for my blog -- third quilt from the right.)

Here's the table runner (44 inches by 16 inches) as it appeared in the Quiltmaker gallery:

I made the table runner in about two hours. It took longer to quilt it than to sew the top -- but I'm sure you'll agree that in this case the quilting definitely makes the quilt!

Although I quilted the borders and sashing with straight lines, it's the fabulous free-motion quilting done by Vicki Hoth, education coordinator for Handi Quilter and my co-worker, that really makes this table runner shine!

Vicki quilted the table runner on an HQ24 Fusion longarm machine. It has enough throat space that the entire table runner fit and there was no need to even roll it. I quilted some plumb lines through the batting and backing, squared up the table runner with the plumb lines, and basted it down along all four edges. Then Vicki worked her magic!

Don't you love the trapunto-like dimension the quilting created? And we didn't even use a double batting -- only a single 80/20 white batting.

Time for some tips for how I did this block.

I typically use Kim Diehl's freezer-paper method for machine applique. But I was in a bit of a hurry and decided to use Mistyfuse. Mistyfuse is different from other fusibles in that it doesn't have backing paper. So, instead of tracing a pattern to the paper, adhering it to the fabric, and then cutting out the design, with Mistyfuse there's no paper to on which to trace your design first. You simply adhere the fusible to the fabric and then cut out the shapes.

I had ordered a custom die from AccuQuilt to further simplify cutting the pieces. It didn't cost much more than buying one of their standard dies, and it ensured accuracy with every piece I cut (not to mention being fast)!

After I received the die, I traced over the cutting lines with a Sharpie to make it easier to see where the fabric would be cut. Since the price was the same regardless of how many pieces were on the die, I added a couple extra circles in smaller sizes for future use.

Next step was to fuse the Mistyfuse to the back of each of the fabrics. Note that the photos of the fusing and cutting process show fabrics from my test block -- not the fabrics I used in my finished table runner blocks. I used the Goddess Sheets recommended by Mistyfuse for pressing.

Above are two of the pieces I used in my test block. Just need to add another Goddess Sheet on top and press away.

After all of the fabrics had Mistyfuse on the back, it was just a matter of layering the fabrics over the cutting lines on the die and running it through my AccuQuilt Go! Baby. I cut through two layers of fabric backed with the Mistyfuse at a time, although I probably could have layered more.

And here's the finished result -- perfectly cut pieces ready to fuse to the background.

I layered the pieces on the background fabric, carefully topped with a Goddess Sheet, and ironed them in place.

Then I used monofilament thread on top and a light neutral thread in the bobbin (probably should've used white -- duh!) and used a tiny blanket stitch to secure the fused pieces.

I was quite surprised that the fused fabric was able to take the quilting so well and create the fabulous trapunto look.

I can safely say that I'll be using Mistyfuse again in the future. Plus, I have a feeling there are other custom dies from AccuQuilt in my future as well!

Now, be sure to leave a comment by midnight on Sunday, May 4 for your opportunity to win a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 9. But if you're not one of the lucky winners, this fabulous issue is available to purchase on May 6.

And thanks for visiting!