Applique Fun!

Fusible shape on wrong side of fabric

I really love fusible applique.  I always loved applique but I just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to tackle the needle turn technique (or any other hand method for that matter).  When I bought my Bernina back in the mid 90's, the blanket stitch located in one of the decorative stitch menus became my absolute fave and I've never looked back.  I did have my share of difficulties and tried other quilters' suggestions on which stabilizers and fusible products I should use.  My aha! moment came back in 2007 when Sue Nickels came to our guild to present a workshop on this technique .  It was absolutely fantastic and now I'm eagerly anticipating her return in 2012.

Blanket stitching around my applique

I use Lite Steam a Seam II which has two pieces of paper with the fusible attached to one of those sheets.  I trace my design on the paper side that has the fusible on the other.  I trim about 1/4" away from the pencil line, place on wrong side of my fabric, press with iron (follow directions on fusible package) and cut out on pencil line.  I prep my background fabric with one or two applications of spray starch giving it the consistency of a piece of copy paper.  I then peel the fusible away from my shape and place it on the background fabric.  The fusible is sticky and can be moved as long as it hasn't been fused with the iron.  Now the real fun begins---stitching!!

Sue and Pat's fabulous book

Note:  If you're not fortunate enough to be able to take a workshop with Ms. Nickels, she and her sister, Pat Holly, have written a book called Stitch Raw Edge Applique.  It is published and available through AQS and will give you all the directions, hints and tips to speed you on your way to absolutely fantastic raw edge applique!  She also has a website which I know you'll want to check out. 

More to come!!

Sedona Sunset, Draft #3

There are times when a new quilt design doesn't make the first cut.  Sometimes, it doesn't make the second either.  Hence the saying, "third time's a charm"!  This story began when I started designing a quilt for my boyfriend over three years ago.  I designed a whole cloth quilt in which the design was all in the free-motion machine quilting.  I thought Draft #1 was a great design but it didn't translate well in the materials I chose.  I used wool batting and let's just say it was the first time and probably the last time I'll use it.  So after spending at least a year working on it, I knew it just wouldn't do and I decided to start over.  Sigh...

Draft #2 didn't seem to work much better.  I got the clever idea to paint the southwestern motifs on this quilt to mimic applique.  I used Elmer's Blue School Glue Gel as a resist to keep the paint where I wanted it but I wasn't happy with those results either.  For an example that this technique does work, check out the white flowers in the background of my banner.  That is where the glue was applied to the fabric prior to me painting it.  Anyway, I didn't care for the effect in this instance and went back to the drawing board.  Sigh...

Draft #2 was designed with Electric Quilt 7.0 software and I still loved it but it needed a little tweaking.  Gone were the painted motifs.  Appliques stepped in to take their place.  In order to get the effect of the painted shapes, I decided to use batiks and my hand painted fabrics using raw edge applique.  Yum!

My hand painted fabrics with my printed design from EQ7.

I have to admit that starting a new quilt is so exciting.  There's all the beautiful fabrics and threads from which to choose and maybe, if you're really lucky (and willing to start over), you will create a quilt that not only meets your expectations but exceeds them!!  Right now, I'm at the beginning of Draft #3 and let's hope it's the last one for Sedona Sunset.

Best Laid Plans???

I had so many wonderful intentions to post regularly now that I have started my blog.  Well. . . things don't always go as planned.  Less than a week after I jumped in the "pool", my computer got tempermental and didn't cooperate with me at all.  How rude!!  Anyway, my wonderful son-in-law is our family technology guru and he graciously agreed to take a look.  We contracted a little virus- - -not good.  Fortunately, he got us fixed up, loaded the appropriate software to prevent future illnesses and got me lined up to back up everything easily and effortlessly.  Thank you, John!

Before this all went down, I did get started on a new project or two.  Promising pics and details soon!!

I finally got in the pool!!

Well, I finally jumped into the deep end of the pool!  My daughter has been trying to convince me to start a blog for quite a while and now. . . I have.  This is not easy for me as I am not accustomed to talking about myself or my life in general with people I have never met.  In fact, I haven't yet composed my "About Me" section as I'm not exactly sure what to write.  If I talk about myself, my accomplishments, etc., am I bragging about myself or am I just sharing?  And while I find what I do interesting (most of the time), will others?

I will share with you that I am a quilt artist and designer and enjoy anything that involves fabric, paint, thread, beads, crystals and lots of color!  New quilts are constantly floating through my mind, so many that I don't have enough lifetimes to get them all done.  Our wonderful quilt guild, the Hearts 'n Hands Quilt Guild of O'Fallon, Illinois, held our bi-annual quilt show, "Quilts from the Heart", last weekend and it was fabulous!  I'm always amazed at the number of talented women within our midst.  They quietly sit through our meetings, soaking up information from the guest speakers we have and then every other year, they blow us away with these fabulous quilts they enter in the show.  This is not a juried show but one where the general public votes for their favorites.  I'm proud to say that I won not one but two ribbons.  Thanks to all the other folks out there who like bright colors like me.

Now that I've gotten my feet wet in the "blogging" pool, maybe writing my next post will be easier.  I hope to share not only my interests with you but also information if you are also interested in designing and crafting your own art quilts.

Happy Quilting!