Scrappy Quilts

Last year I participated in a Quiltville Yahoo group block swap. It was for Bonnie’s Chunky Churndash block.

I loved the blocks I made for the swap. (There's a little preview of what I'm doing for the setting blocks.)

But unfortunately I wasn’t happy with many of the blocks I received in return. Some will work in my quilt. Some were well made, but in fabrics that I'm not sure will fit into the quilt I have in mind.

And some that I can't make work because they were so distorted during sewing and/or pressing that they are misshapen. Plus, they didn't follow the swap rules (i.e. dark fabrics in the corners and lights in the outside of the pieced squares). These were the worst  of the bunch.

Sadly this swap kind of turned me off swapping blocks in the future. In the time it took to make the blocks I swapped, I could have done more blocks that would have fit into my quilt.

So now I do need to make a few more chunky churndash blocks to have enough for my intended quilt. But I also knew that I didn’t want to do hourglass setting blocks like Bonnie’s original quilt. Then I remembered one of Kim Diehl’s quilts and the darling appliqued blocks she used in her Peas in a Pod quilt (from “Simple Comforts”).

So I cut freezer paper templates for the dozens of arcs that I would need for the setting blocks. I went through my scrap basket to find scraps that would work for the arcs.

 Yup, I only used scrappy bits of fabrics – from leftover 2-1/2 inch strips, trimmings from backings and borders, and miscellaneous pieces of fabric – none of which was bigger than about a 6-inch square. Every arc is a unique fabric – and with only a couple exceptions, they aren’t used in any of the chunky churndash blocks in the quilt. I was somewhat indiscriminate in selecting fabrics for the arcs. I used pretty much any scrap except for 30s repros, batiks and brights.

I figured that I would take the fabric scraps and templates with me to Philadelphia next week and finish the prepping by pressing the fabrics around the templates in my hotel room. But I got started and couldn’t stop! I got them all prepped in about 90 minutes.

Then I started mixing and matching them onto the background fabric – and about 30 minutes later I had all of my blocks glued to the backgrounds and ready to machine applique.

I laid out a few of the blocks on the floor to see how the quilt might look when assembled – and I’m loving it.

I do love scrap quilts – but I like to do some things that unify the blocks. Here are my “rules” for scrap quilts:

1) Each block must look great by itself. The 3 fabrics I used in each block were carefully selected from my fat quarter stash to go together. Even though I used a variety of fabrics in all of the blocks (some of which wouldn’t go with each other), those in each block are definitely coordinated. I think this makes the quilt easier on the eyes because each block, in and of itself, is very pleasing to the eye.

2) Depending on the quilt pattern, there is at least one fabric that unifies the quilt. This might be a sashing fabric, as in this 9-patch square-in-square quilt top (needing to be quilted).

 The black sashing creates that unity, and also gives the eyes a place to rest as you look at the quilt with many different fabrics and colors. For the chunky churndash quilt, the unifying fabric will be the background of the appliqued setting blocks. (I have enough to use it for the border as well, but may opt for the srappy border that Kim did in her original quilt.)

3) Lastly, I try to use fabrics that are a similar style. For example, I’m not including any 30s reproductions in my chunky churndash quilt because they are just too “cute” for the look I’m going for. Similarly, some of the fabulous “modern” or “pop” fabric collections that are so popular today probably wouldn’t fit in this quilt (although together they would make a wonderful quilt in their own right.) I'm also avoiding florals for the most part because they are too "realistic" and not folk-arty enough. Civil war repros, on the other hand, would work in my quilt, as well as the fabrics from Kansas Troubles, for example.

I guess I’m just not enough of a risk-taker or rule-breaker to go totally scrappy and mix different styles of fabrics.

Time to get these blocks appliqued so I can get the top finished and deduct some fabric from my stash account!

Bye for now. (PS: yes, my computer is back in business. They claim I had a virus and several malware programs on the system. It's working now -- but I'm surprised that I had a virus, etc.  I run virus protection and malware software.  Oh well.)

Heart to Heart Blocks

The weather is kind of grey, with snow possible, so I ran my errands early and got into my sewing room by about 10:30 a.m.  Finished the heart appliques for the remaining five blocks in about two hours.  Tonight while watching the Olympics I'll cut out leaves and flowers to embellish the blocks, and get them prepped for applique.  I also ordered online some black fabric with white pin-dots to use as sashing.

 

I don't have a design wall, so had to photograph on my "design floor". 

Lunch time: sandwich with leftover meatloaf. I got some grass-fed beef and pork from my brother's ranch. Totally organic, well cared for, no hormones or steroids. And because they never had any grain (which is a good thing since cattle stomachs were never intended for digesting grain), the meat is very lean. No grease to pour off after cooking the meatloaf.

Branding day at the PX ranch. I wonder which of these ended up in my freezer? (I'm probably glad I don't know.)

 

 

 

 

Which of these is not like the others?

One of these blocks -- the upper right block -- was hand appliqued via needleturn a couple years ago. But the other three I did via machine applique this evening. I was able to do these three blocks in the time that it took to do the original one. Even though Kim Diehl recommends using the smoke monofilament thread on dark fabrics, I was too lazy to re-thread my machine and used the translucent clear on each piece.  I couldn't tell any difference from using the smoke. I'm loving this technique!

I thought this would be a good project for Valentine's / President's Day / Olympics weekend. Six more blocks to do the hearts and then there is some embellishment on each one. The blocks finish about 12 inches wide by 16 inches high.  The design is called "Heart to Heart" and is by Laurie Bird, Rose Cottage Design. Laurie also designs fabrics for Windham, as does her sister Michelle Blackhurst.

I so want to start a new quilt, but I told myself that I need to finish one of my WIPs (aka UFOs) for every new quilt I start. I decided that sewing several Dear Jane blocks would count as well so I will keep that quilt moving. (I just can't drop everything else to focus just on Dear Jane.) I'll get this one done, maybe a few DJ blocks, and then who knows what fun project I'll start.

Bye for now.

Machine Appliqué the Kim Diehl Way

After three 8-hour classes with Kim and completing  my first quilt using her method, I thought I’d note some of the tips and tricks that she shared during the classes, as well as some things I learned around the way.

First of all, the instructions Kim includes in her books are very thorough, easy to follow and consistent with what she teaches. However, as is typical in any class, she provided additional tips in response to questions and problems that class members ran into.

Preparing the Pieces to be Appliquéd
Kim uses a Rowenta travel iron to press the seam allowances to the waxy side of freezer paper.  The tip of your iron needs to come to a point rather than be too rounded. I used a Clover mini-iron which also worked fine, however because it is lightweight, I needed to put a lot more pressure on the piece than Kim did with her travel iron. After working for about an hour with Clover mini-iron, my hand was cramping up. You need to hold it just right to give enough pressure AND to avoid touching the hot area of the iron (which is the entire metal area, not just the pressing tip). Since I have not been a fan of Rowenta irons,  I picked up a less  expensive Black & Decker travel iron, similar to one someone had in class, that Kim said was a good one because of its shape and weight.

I was using my June Tailor Quilter’s Press surface (first photo below) to prepare my appliqué pieces, but  Kim indicated that a stiffer pressing surface would be better. I used her Omnigrid Fold-away Cutting Station (second photo) and it did work much better.

 
I wish I had done a Flip video recording of Kim demonstrating how she uses the flat of her finger to pull the seam allowance fabric over the freezer paper with her left hand and then immediately sweeps the iron tip over the fabric as she moves her finger away. She can do a small circle piece in about 30 seconds. I’ve gotten better with practice, but I still have a long way to go.

Even for those who want to hand appliqué the project, Kim’s technique for using freezer paper to prepare the pieces is great because you simply glue to the background and stitch away. The stitching goes very quickly because you don’t need to take time while stitching to turn the seam allowance under. And the results are very precise.

Glue Sticks and Basting Glue
You’ll need two types of glue for the method – an acid-free, water soluble glue stick and a liquid basting glue. Kim prefers Quilter’s Choice basting glue over Roxanne’s Glue Baste-it because the plastic tip doesn’t clog like the thin metal tip used on Roxanne’s. You’ll use the glue stick (as little as needed) to attach the paper side of freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric, and you’ll use the basting glue to attach the appliqué piece to the background (adding tiny glue dots on the seam allowance only).

Monofilament Thread
Depending on the color and value of the piece to be appliquéd, you’ll use either smoke or light monofilament thread. You can find the thread in nylon or polyester. If I recall correctly, Kim indicated that the nylon is more stretchy and a bit more temperamental. But that’s what I had, so I used it. The other big caution is that the thread can melt, so you need to be careful while pressing after sewing the appliqué pieces to the quilt.

My Pfaff needle-threader works fine with the monofilament, but the Baby Lock is automatic and sometimes it doesn't thread the needle with the monofilament. The trick to threading by hand is to put a small piece of white paper behind the needle and you can see the eye of the needle much easier.

Determining the Best Sewing Machine Settings
You need to do bunch of tests with your machine to decide what the best stitch length/width and upper tension should be set at. I used my Pfaff Tiptronic 2040 in class and found that a tension of 1 and stitch length and width of 1 or 2 both worked find. I ended up using stitch size 2 because it allowed me to sew faster than size 1 which is doing so many stitches that it was taking too long for my impatient nature.  For my Baby Lock Espire, I use a stitch length of 1.2 mm, width of 1.5 mm, and a tension of 1.8. The nice thing about my Espire is that I can save these settings and call them up with the touch of a button.

The other big reason to test your machine is to determine whether it starts the zigzag stitch to the left or to the right. If your machine has a locking stitch, you should use it at the beginning and the end because that not only locks the threads, but it also resets the zigzag to begin again in its default position.

Using an open-toe pressure foot also makes a big difference because you can see where the needle is sewing. Kim suggests just watching where the needle pierces the background fabric (which will be right next to the folded edge of the appliqué piece) and don’t bother looking at the other side of the zigzag. You can trust that your sewing machine is doing what it’s supposed to do.

That’s all for today. I’ll add more tips as I remember them.

Bittersweet Briar -- "Finished is better than perfect."

Last night I finished machine appliqueing the yellow berries, and tonight I finished the borders and appliqueing the circles in the border. So, this project from a class from Kim Diehl is now ready to quilt -- that is, after I pick out  backing fabric.  Because it is appliqued with monofilament thread, I have to be very careful when ironing. So I haven't done a final press of the quilt. I'll do that just before taking to be machine quilted.

I don't remember who I heard say "finished is better than perfect", but this quilt is the epitome of that statement. I used this quilt to learn Kim Diehl's machine applique technique and chose fabrics out of my stash, and for the border circles, the blossoms, and the spear-like petals on the large red petals I just used scraps.

But it's done, and while it isn't perfect, I learned what I needed to learn -- and I'm happy with both the learning process and the end result.

On another topic, I had a bit of a scare this evening...

It started yesterday when my downstairs carbon monoxide detector started to beep every 30 seconds or so. I figured it was a fluke because the main floor detector wasn't beeping. So I unplugged it and that was that. Then this evening the upstairs detector started to beep -- which made me wonder if indeed I had a carbon monoxide problem. My parents brought one of their detectors over and no beeps. But I called the gas company anyway and they dispatched a technician. I opened some windows and doors for fresh air just in case. In the meantime, my father went to the hardware store and bought a new CO detector  -- and, of course, it didn't beep. The tech tested my furnace, water heater and two gas fireplaces -- and no CO leaks. Turns out that both of my carbon monoxide detectors conked out a day apart from each other. Strange coincidence -- but at  least no real problem with carbon monoxide.