Monday, March 13, 2017

Onward

The quilting is done.  What a letdown and yet a relief.  Now I need to block it.  Not my favorite activity.  I keep my styrofoam blocking board in our detached garage, which keeps it in good shape and out of the way.  Unfortunately, the mountains have been full of tremendous winds in the last week and trying bring the board into the house would be insane.  Meanwhile that project is on hold until DH can bring board in.

I started redoing my picture of our dog Dixie.  You can read what happened to that project several months ago here.  After looking at the little quilt for all this time and still loving it, I finally decided what to do.  It came together so well first time around that I really didn't want to start over.  So...I cut the dog off the quilt, trimmed it carefully, and then painted the edges with Inktense pencil and medium.  A tiny bit of batting showed only on the cut edge because I had already quilted it.  I heat set the color by ironing the edges.  So, it is ready to thread paint onto a new, quilted background.

The background pieces were fixed to muslin (as the dog is), but I had to do that part over because the fusible gummed up my needle so badly.  I managed to quilt the dog in spite of the problems.  I decided to use a new technique developed by Lara Bucella, which she writes about in her book, "Crafted Appliqué - New Possibilities."

TIP:  Get her book to get complete directions.

Instead of using fusible web she uses Modpodge to adhere fabric to fabric.  I remember using that for decoupage many years ago.  Today Joann's carries a large variety of Modpodge glues.  You paint the Modpodge onto the back of the fabric and let it dry (an hour or so).  Make sure it doesn't soak through to the front.  I lay it all on a garbage bag to protect the surface of my table.  Use a light hand with a foam brush, which can be washed clean and used again.  When dry, cut your pieces and iron them onto a fabric background.  One of the real benefits is that the edges stay sharp - no fraying - beautiful!

There are several labels on Modpodge, so what is the right one to use?

**"Fabric" (blue label):  Treated fabric pieces cling to the background fabric in the planning stage.  They will not stay forever even when ironed so you need to stitch the pieces down when you have them where you want them.

**"Gloss" (red label):  When ironed it will stick tight.  I used this today and found that I could gently, but firmly pull it off if necessary, but it does iron on pretty securely.  I will still quilt it later.  It has about the same stiffness as fusible web.  It is supposed to wash well, but I haven't tried that yet.

Supplies for Modpodge fusing.

The author says that freezer paper patterns will gently adhere to the back of the Gloss treated fabric, but I had no success with that.  Those patterns have to be reversed.  What I did discover is that I could cut the freezer paper pattern right side up.  Set the treated fabric on a non-fabric pressing cloth (silicone or teflon) right side up, glue side down, and lightly iron the freezer paper to the right side of the fabric.  It stays put long enough to cut the pattern.  None of this turning yourself inside out trying to get your brain around backwards patterns.  The pieces are cut about 1/16 inch larger than the pattern so adjoining pieces will overlap and iron on to each other.  I ironed the pieces together on the silicone sheet and was able to lift them up as a unit ready to place on the muslin background.

Treated fabric on pressing cloth with pattern underneath.  It all sits on my light table.
TIP:  If you are following a special design or pattern, place a copy of that design under the pressing sheet (hopefully you have one that you can see through) so you can see where to put the cut pieces before ironing.  I set it up on my light table so I could see the design lines better.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story.  I have to stop now to block the other quilt!

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you a new adventure - try something different.






11 comments:

  1. Never heard of using Modpodge for applique. Interesting. Thanks for the info!

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  2. I'll let you know how it works, but it will be a couple of weeks. I have to finish the big quilt first: binding and quilting the border.

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  3. I played with this technique in November, making flowers from scraps.
    http://quiltfabrication.blogspot.com/2016/11/blossoms.html
    Haven't dared to wash it yet though, so no idea how it holds up. If you try washing, let us know the results. Thanks for sharing on Midweek Makers

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    1. I don't intend to wash the doggie quilt, but I am going to try a practice piece in the water before I do it again. It will work great for this project. So far, I really like the process...and no stray fusible on the iron and ironing board.

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  4. I've never heard of this technique, I'm going to have to check out the book if I ever decide I want to do applique

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  5. I love trying out new techniques. Sometimes they work and sometimes they are not a fit, but this one is working great for me.

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  6. I'm always looking for new appliqué techniques and this is a new to me. Thanks for sharing. Guess I will need to put Modpodge on my shopping list.

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    1. So far I am very happy. I am anxious to get back to it, but must finish my other quilt first.

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  7. I tried this technique white making leaves and it was ok best I thought the treated fabric ended up being very stiff. Maybe I used to much or the wrong kind. I'll be interested to see how the project ends up and how you like the technique.i probablly should have gotten her book to really do it right. I was just " winging it"

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    Replies
    1. The "Gloss" Modpodge is stiffer than the the "Fabric" one, but once ironed to fabric I don't find it too stiff. I'll let you know when I get back to it to do the quilting.

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