Stitch or Puff - Evolution of a Design

I have four blocks on this quilt that are turquoise, as opposed to the black and rust of all the other blocks.  I stitched out the design I had drawn.  It had gold quilting in the center in a wavy grid, which I did first.  By the time I finished the rest of the quilting I noticed that the gold didn't even show.  It had no character.  What do do?  I decided to remove the gold stitching from the 2 inch center.  Then I sprayed it with water to relax the fibers.  As I walked by later I noticed the the center of the block now puffed up and looked so pretty, except for the seam down the middle.

Gold removed.  You can see old stitch marks.  Nice puff in the center square. 

  I placed a pin perpendicular to the seam to see what it would look like with four quadrants defined.  Voila!  I liked the puff in four quarters better than the closer stitching that had been there.  So...I stitched two straight, perpendicular lines and then a little, accent line in between, all with gold.  The gold still doesn't show much, but the puff does.  In the right light there is a bit of glitz visible.

Gold stitching in the center.  Puff remains.

TIP:  Sometimes you can't plan ahead, so be open to ideas as they stumble across your quilt.

I don't like the poor backstitching on two of the feathers.  I think I will do them over because they are so visible with the red thread.  Yes, I know!  I am fussy.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you design serendipity.

The Error of My Ways

I would dearly love to have a quilt go together with no problems.  Is it possible?  I guess it would be if I did a really simple one without complicated piecing and color arranging, but I am not drawn to simplicity.  You get to listen to me vent as I try to solve the problems.  Sorry!  It does help to clarify the difficulties by writing about them.

I am making 36 square blocks with the same pattern. Each block is made of two half-square triangles, but each of those triangles is made with 14 pieces.  The finished blocks will each be 7 inches square (not counting seam allowance).  Three of the 14 pieces that make up a triangle vary in color in order to produce a complex design.  Below is the part of the design that threw me a curve this week and forced a bit of ripping and redoing.

Graphic of four blocks on point.

Note the four triangles with check marks.  They have to go the right way to create a bit of structure to the center of the quilt.   The checked black triangles must all be north and south, while the red ones must be in the east and west positions.  Those checked triangles are each a corner of a different block.  It really makes a difference when you look at the total design.  The graphic above shows one of four exact groupings that occur symmetrically in the quilt.  I am sorry, but I am not going to divulge the complete design so you just have to take my word for it.

Two of those four checked triangles were going the right way and two were oriented the wrong way - grrrrrrr!  I  had switched black for red and red for black.  A secondary design had vanished.  Some required the rip-and-redo treatment.  The others hadn't been sewn yet, and were only glued so they were really quick and easy.

I am so glad I discovered the goof before I went any further, and it only took about an hour to re-establish order.

TIP:  This is where a design wall is helpful.  I walk into my sewing room frequently and look at my work on the wall, analyze design and color choices, and find mistakes.  My wall is cheap.  I hung a flannel-backed tablecloth flannel side out, and it works great.

Off topic TIP:
I found a website with a solution that might help some of you.  It tells you a simple way to clean a cutting mat if it begins to hug fuzz in the cuts.  Here is a great fix.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you easy fixes if you run afoul of perfection.

Who is a Designer?

I read somewhere, but don't remember where, that a designer is a problem solver.  Interesting concept.  I mentioned it my daughter and she noted that designers in all fields are simply problem solvers:  computer techs, architects, landscapers, painters, business people, etc.  Notice to all quilters:   know that you are designers!  Those who sew patterns created by others are designers in the their choice of fabrics and in solving the complications that almost always arise from stitching, fitting, poorly written directions, and on and on.  Isn't that so cool?

I must confess that the mundane tasks that have kept me busy the last two weeks have nothing to do with progress, but everything to do with designing the direction of my seam ripper.  "Again?" you say.  Yes, again.  I thought I was finished quilting, but looked at the fires I was so excited about.  Stepping back I saw what looked like several isolated campfires out on the Sahara desert, unattached, no interconnection.  Besides where did they get the wood?  It made my beautiful Phoenix bird look like he was stuck in space instead of arising from anything.  For two weeks I practiced my ripping skills and took out every stitch of thread-painted flame and McTavishing in the area beneath the bird.  Urgggggh!  I broke one seam ripper that fell on the floor sharp side down and snapped the point off.  The other one came loose from its handle.  Fortunately, all I had to do was twist it back in so it wasn't ruined and I was able to continue my destruction.

I try to test all my designs before sewing, and thought that I had created a workable, beautiful plan.  It failed.  Now I am on my third and last attempt.  I can't rip anymore or the fabric will disintegrate.  Part of designing is figuring out what went wrong so I have analyzed my shortcomings in depth.  The fault lies mainly in the fact that my brain works within a box and I am drawn to photorealism and symmetry.  I have a husband and daughter who wouldn't recognize a brain box if it hit them on the head (called learning disabilities).  As a result they tend to the abstract form of creative thinking.  I never could figure out "abstract."  So, I left my realistic flames and went back to the original drawing where fire is only suggested, not defined.  I cut and spread a few pieces of fire-suggestive fabric on the quilt before I did the ripping and decided that I finally had the final solution.  This is not easy for me, but it is happening.

TIP:  By all means test ideas.  They are more likely to lead to success although there are occasional failures.  Planning is beneficial, but the designer must allow some flexibility in case things don't work out as planned.

After unsewing, it was clear that I had a lot of fabric easing to do so I pinned the affected part of the quilt on a styrofoam board as if blocking it.  I stuck lots of pins in the areas where the fabric resisted flattening.  Then I sprayed it to death with water two or three times, and could almost watch it shrink.  Finally, I took the hair dryer to it in the hope of heat-shrinking it further down to a workable amount of ease.  That did a pretty good job of it, but I decided to nail it down by quilting a grid, black on black.  My wonderful dual feed foot slurps up loose fabric like a desert traveller drinking soup and settled it down ready for the next step.  Now I will fuse and appliqué bits of fabric on top and McTavish the whole thing with red swirlies, going over the grid as well where it shows.  The new pieces of fabric on top will strengthen the weakened areas where I had to rip.

Dual feed foot on a tester scrap showing grid quilting and a tiny bit of fused "flame"
(the red piece is not the fabric I will be using to suggest fire but it will do for testing)

TIP: Heat and moisture work well to get rid of excess fabric.  In those few places that threatened to pleat I used a stylus right in front of the presser foot to force the fabric into submission.  Be careful not to run over the stylus!

Talk about designing.  All that took a lot of problem solving.  The new design has to work because I don't know what else I can do at this point.  At least I won't be quilting until I get the bits of flame-suggesting fabric laid out to my satisfaction.  No more ripping!!!!!

Enjoy designing this week.  I am certainly enjoying it more than reverse sewing.

No-Sew-Time

Do you ever have times when the sewing just isn't getting done?  I love to sew and find it therapeutic, satisfying, challenging and gratifying, but once in awhile it just doesn't happen.  Maybe I am solving a problem.  Maybe I am not enthusiastic about the next task (ripping, basting).  Maybe life gets in the way and I don't have time.  Maybe my sewing room is too much of a mess.

I found myself in No-Sew-Time this week.  I finished the background for my Phoenix, I got it sandwiched and pinned all ready to start quilting.  Although excited to get started, I sometimes set myself other tasks, which my inner genie says must get done first.  Quilting will be the reward.  So, I tackled the mess in my sewing room since I could hardly move in there anyway.  I put away all the papers and paper patterns.  I went through the memorabilia boxes, repacked them and sent them off to new residential space.  I separated fabrics and scraps that had taken over the bed.  I made swags for my bedroom windows.  I went through my closet and took a load to the Thrift Store.  Finally I did the long avoided:  I cut down three T-shirts that were too long and hemmed them (they have only waited three years or more get the treatment).  Now I have new T-shirts without buying any.  Now I can move in my sewing room.  Now I can find the bed.  Now I can start quilting tomorrow.

TIP:  Really?!!!  I found this on Facebook.

I welcomed three quilts home last week from the show circuit.  The one below spent a lot of time in the inner regions of my skull before I actually put my ideas into Illustrator.  Eventually I came up with the design and figured out how to do it.  Not every step went smoothly, but it all came together in the end.  There are some glitches and of course the judges found them, even some I didn't know were there, but I still love the quilt and enjoyed doing it.  It mirrors the beautiful designs of the Mediterranean where nearly every surface is intricately decorated.  I pieced, appliquéd, beaded and painted.  The little stars at the bottom are stenciled with gold Tsukineko ink.   I quilted it on my home machine.

Mediterranean Mélange

Up close

Sew a happy seam this week.

Appliqué Problem and Solutions

Here is the promised post on why I had to briefly quit work on the Phoenix.

I recently finished an art quilt with lots of complex design in it.  In the center is a Mariner's Compass among other things.  In each corner around the center is a complex baroque-style appliqué reminiscent of the intricate designs of the Middle East.  I applied the appliqué with gold, metallic blanket stitch.  It looked so nice before quilting and I was very pleased.  Then I quilted the quilt with two batts - wool and cotton.  This made the quilt very heavy, but the central motifs are puffy, pretty, and fully filled.  The appliqué, on the other hand, looked rumpled and ugly to my eye.  I didn't know what I could do about it, but I put it in a show anyhow.  The judge said the appliqué was "very good," which was like getting a "B" grade.  Not too bad, but I would have preferred an "excellent."

In the quilting process I stitched around the appliqué before doing the filler design, as is recommended.  I didn't notice the buckling until later after blocking the quilt, and I almost cried. My beautiful appliqué didn't look so beautiful anymore.  What to do?  Before I tell you what I did I will explain what I might have done early in the process, or rather what I will think about doing next time.

Rumpled Appliqué

*I like the double batting everywhere except the corners.  I could have cut away the wool under the corners only.  I am sure the appliqué would have laid flatter and the corners would have receded behind the other motifs.  It might have been a nice effect.

*Trapunto?  The appliqué is probably wrinkled because the dense background fill squeezed the unquilted fabric.  I don't know that trapunto would work since the extra batting would have to push up from behind the background fabric into the appliqué motifs.

*I could have cut away the blue fabric from behind the appliqué leaving a narrow seam on all those curves before layering the sandwich so the batting could push up and fill the motifs.  This would be dicey since I did not secure the appliqué with a straight stitch before doing the blanket stitch so the narrow seam might not be dependable.

*I could have secured the appliqué first with a straight stitch, which I have never done before.  I don't know how it would look.  Worth testing!

*I could have finished the appliqué with satin stitch and then cut away the back.  My old machine had a poor satin stitch so I would not have attempted it then.  My new machine does a beautiful one so I am ready to learn how to do it well.

I finally came up with two reasonably viable options:

*I thought of machine quilting narrow echo lines inside the appliqué.  How's that for insane?  I was afraid to do that with my brand new machine because I have not done enough free motion quilting on it to know its idiosyncrasies, especially the touch of the foot pedal.  Uneven stitches would be very noticeable.

*I finally decided to hand stitch tiny, gold seed beads all over the appliqué, 1/4 inch apart.  Once I found the beads and bought needles I used a slightly off-white Bottom Line thread and spent 27 hours sewing on tiny, little beads.  The beads evened out the fullness into a more uniform look.  In addition, the gold beads make it sparkle.  They are not noticeable from a distance, but they are very obvious and attractive up close.   The appliqué metamorphosed from a rumply, bumply error into carefully embellished,  planned texture.  I am sooooooo happy!

Beaded appliqué - click to see large.

TIP:  You may dread the extra work, but going that extra mile is usually worth it.

The judge also noted that some of my border lines (there are several) were not straight to her satisfaction, so after the beading was done, I soaked the quilt and re-blocked it.  Every line in the quilt has been pinned into absolutely straight submission (it didn't take much!).  Live and learn.  Tomorrow the pins come out.  I have applied to another show and will hear in a few weeks if this quilt gets juried in.

TIP:  The judges' comments are not meant to hurt.  Take them to heart and learn to make better quilts. I have learned how to improve and enhance my work by showing my quilts.  Try it!  You don't have to start big - try your local quilt guild show or the county fair.

Sew a happy seam this week.

Travels and Quilting

I have been almost all the way across the width of Beautiful America in the last two weeks to celebrate the graduation of two grandchildren, one from Florida State U and the other from Washington State U.  We had such a good time with them and their families.

I find that my interest in quilting has influenced my way of looking at the world.  As we drove those many miles I kept picking out patterns and designs that might have a place in quilting as well as colors created by nature that would look nice in a quilt palette.  I keep a lot of ideas on Pinterest, but there are a ton more in the world around us.

Check out the carpets and upholstery of the places you visit.  People look askance at me as I walk into hotels, theaters, and restaurants and start taking pictures of the carpet.  Some floor coverings are truly beautiful.  This restaurant upholstery has some lovely colors as well as designs.

Upholstery in an Indian restaurant.

Other places from which I draw inspiration are gates and fences.  They come in grids, diamonds, wrought iron curls and scrolls, split rail (interesting triangles), pickets, etc.  Driving across the country I saw lots of variety.

How about a bas relief from Pompeii?  Cobblestones, bricks and walls often provide inspiration.  

Bas Relief from a bathouse in Pompeii, Italy

Cobblestones laid in patterns.  Wall of design.  These also from Pompeii.

I love wind turbines.  They are HUGE as I discovered when we passed a single wing on an elongated semi-truck.  When you look at the standing turbine it is hard to fathom how big they really are.  In some places large forests of turbines sprouted from the flat prairies.  I find them calming in their slow, productive rotation.  One morning they stood tall and white against the pink rising sun anchored in a soft cushion of light ground fog.  So pretty.  Do they relate to quilts?  I don't know, but they are in my mind so may appear in a design somewhere, sometime.  No photos because we always saw them from the Interstate - not a good place to stop.

In a forest of deciduous trees I see stippling in the leaves.  How about making the stipple in the shapes of leaves?  Must try that.  

Leaf Stippling

Long leaf pines remind me of the tight, straight lines that I often use around feathers in my quilting.  The infant trees look like a clump of grass among the tall, straight trunks of older members of their kind.

Long leaf pines

While in Florida we visited Leon Sinks Geological Area, Tallahassee.  Hidden in the beautiful forest were many sinkholes, some dry and some with water.  The most beautiful was so quiet and pretty, and it had circles repeated all over the water surface from tiny fish and insects.  The colors would also make a gorgeous quilt.

Finally, I found McTavishing in the clouds.  They can be a constant source of inspiration and are always changing.

A cloud for McTavishing.

I also noticed along the road huge billboards advertising quilt stores.  We have come a long way in recent years ladies and gents.  I waved to the Handi-Quilter truck as it rumbled by.

Happy stitching this week.

Near Death Situation

I had a near death situation this afternoon.  My sewing machine began to clank and chirp.  My husband listened and said, "Stop right now and take it in."  So I bundled up to beat the major incoming snowstorm, drove an hour off my mountain, and visited my very accommodating sewing machine guru.  Of course  the ornery thing didn't clank and didn't chirp for him, and his diagnosis was that it is OK.  He said to take it home try again and if it still makes ominous noises bring it back.  Sure thing....in the predicted two feet of snow???  Not going to happen until the roads clear so, dear machine, you had better work!

 I have feathers on my mind and the final border awaits:  a 2 1/2 inch width to quilt with feathers.  I am told that all quilting designs should be worked out when you first start planning your quilt.  I disagree.  As I piece my fabrics I get better acquainted with my quilt.  I suck in ideas from all around me.  I create ideas in my head.  I think about quilting in my dreams.  Finally, except for fillers,  I sit down with my pad of tracing paper and start drawing.  Many times my planned designs land in the trash and I end up with totally different ideas based on something I just saw somewhere.  I don't start drawing until an idea crystallizes and that sometimes doesn't happen until I am ready to work on a particular part of the quilt.  That's OK...for me anyway.

Here is the paper design for the spokes I mentioned last week.  I was so excited as I liked the look.  I printed the feathers on Sulky Sticky Fabri-solvey, but realized immediately that I had a problem. I thought that the size of the drawing was exactly the right size, but too late I realized I should have printed it smaller.  Oh well, that didn't spoil the idea so I printed a sheet the right size and stuck it to the quilt.  Then my needle gummed up very badly as it tried to negotiate the adhesive and two layers of batting.  This definitely was not going to work.

Tracing paper design

N.B.  I have used the Sticky Fabri-solvy successfully before and have recommended it to you.  However, I think the problem here was the thickness of the batting or maybe they have changed the adhesive.  Whatever the problem, it didn't work this time.

TIP:  Measure before you print, measure before you sew, test ideas and products for each individual quilt, exercise your mental flexibility.

I have read of quilters who draw the spine of a feather on their quilt, and then let the needle figure out the feathers.  I am a line-follower and was reluctant to do this.  However, on my dark fabric, I could see no other solution.  I began hesitantly, and guess what, I did it!  I have drawn so many feathers on tracing paper over the years, and that skill just communicated itself to the needle.  I learned a few things as I progressed through twelve spokes, and I am happy with the results.

After much figuring of dimensions and practice with pencil and paper I have finally started the outer borders...free hand.  I marked only circles and spine on my quilt.

Basic design marked with white ceramic Sew-line pencil

Incomplete freehand feathers.

TIP: When you are practicing with paper and pencil take careful notice of where you have to erase.  What was wrong with that line?  How can you avoid sewing a bad line like that?  Solve the problems ahead of time so you don't have to "erase" your sewing.  Train your eye to look ahead.

TIP:  Bite the bullet and try something new!  Draw your ideas on paper first.  You may be in for a big surprise as to the capabilities of that needle.  I certainly was.

BTW my sewing machine was not sick.  I have always had problems winding the bobbin on this machine and it ends up with a rat's nest at the beginning.  That's what was jamming up the works.  My faithful repairman showed me a different way to wind the bobbin (not in the manual).  I can pass the thread through an almost invisible, tiny hole in the top of the bobbin and hold the thread end until the thing gets to winding properly, then cut it off.  So easy...and it works like a charm!  No more snarls from me or the machine.

Return to Quilting

I am back after two wonderful weeks in Seattle for Christmas with family.  I love driving across the empty, snowy landscape.  It is always beautiful and reminds me of a quilt thrown across the hills like a freshly made bed.  I am home and eager to quilt, but must first clear and clean the house, write thank you notes and compose my annual letter.  January promises to be a very busy month.

My Christmas gifts included a set of 36 Derwent's Inktense pencils, which I have been dreaming of for months.  See Sherry Rogers-Harrison's website, which features some of her quilts on her Home page.  She does gorgeous quilting and then "paints" the designs with these pencils.  I am intrigued and can't wait to get started.

My other quilting-related acquisition is a design that my 15 year old granddaughter drew to decorate her father's iPad.  It is a stunning phoenix surrounded by zentangle-type patterns that will translate well into patchwork and quilting.  This very talented, young artist gave me permission to use it, and I have already translated it into quilt language.  I am eager to start, but have a lot of work to finish my current WIP.  Sometimes it is hard to be patient, but I find that creative ideas and sewing solutions present themselves better if I give them time to percolate through my brain.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.  I wish you lots of quilting fun.

Finding Designs

I design my own quilts.  Have you ever tried it?  Of course you have.  You may have used a published pattern, but if you chose your own color palette you have taken a baby step into designing.   There are many ways to design, but here are a few:

*Try mixing two standard blocks.  It is amazing what you can come up with.

*Use a one or more of a familiar block and place them creatively in space.

*Add something new and different to your block.

*Make a grid of triangles on paper and fill them in with color.  See what designs you can create.  Substitute fabrics for the colors.

*Try appliqué.  There are tons of ways to use almost any beautiful shape.

Look around you and see the designs in your environment: flowers, clouds, fences, trees, leaves, wrought iron gates, houses, wildlife, floors, rugs, wallpaper, etc.  What tools do you need?  Only pencil and paper, a sprinkle of imagination, and a pinch of inspiration.  Optional aids might be the computer and crayons or colored pencils.

I had the wonderful good fortune to take a cruise through the Mediterranean in 2009.  Every surface is heavily decorated in the whole region from southern Italy to North Africa.  There are mosaics, sculptures, frescos, paintings and architecture.  Magnificent!  I took many pictures that now reside in the quilting folder on my computer for reference, and I look at them often.  Here are some examples:

Mosaic for patchwork and border

Overall plan for a quilt.

Love the black and white detail. 

I have incorporated the black and white arch idea in the quilt I am currently working on.

Black and white and Pumpkin Seed

Look at that background.  It is a beautiful, popular FMQ design.

A bowl - whole cloth or appliqué

Mosaic compass with extras

A door with FMQ designs

Look at other peoples' work as well, but find your own way.  It is not cool to just copy someone else's designs precisely unless you buy their pattern or take their class.  You can use elements from different sources and put them together in your own way.  Caveat:  Don't mistake my meaning here.  You can learn a lot by taking a class, but take that new technique or idea home and incorporate it into your own creations.

My greatest leap into quilt design came from doing Rhapsody quilts (Ricky Tims) and Spiral quilts (RaNae Merrill).  When you design you truly start from scratch and end up with something that is uniquely yours.  It does not provide instant gratification, but it is so much fun.

TIP:  Reach out, stretch your intellect, try something new.  Grow.  You may not think you are an artist now, but you can become one.  It is up to you.

Design Flaw

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving.  I think all that turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie gave me a case of Blogger's Block.  I also have a case of Designer's Block.  Well not exactly, but I ran into a problem I haven't solved yet.  I played around with a spiral design by skewing it in Illustrator.  Is that fun, or what?  I came up with the following plan for a 48 x 48 inch quilt with lots of room for magnificent FMQ.  Not so bad.  Then I started breaking it up into the pattern pieces that will be needed to make the quilt.

Roman Candle

See the part that runs from the center ending in a paddle with red and blue? It is made up of two long, skinny triangles, mirror images of each other.   Well, I isolated that triangle in Illustrator and it is about 24 inches long!  Oooops!  Design flaw.  How on earth am I going to print a paper piecing pattern on 8.5 x 11 inch paper?

Recalcitrant fan or paddle piece.

*Can I glue pieces of paper together with washable glue?  I don't have any Paper Solvy on hand to try it.

*Can I tape two pieces together?  I am reluctant to to do that because of increased bulk and sticky on the needle.

*How about tracing it onto freezer paper?  I worry that some of the points are too narrow to do it that way.

*The best idea I have come up with is to trace it by hand on Golden Threads tissue, which comes in a roll.  I haven't used it for paper piecing and I am afraid it is too thin to put through my printer (worth a try though).  Maybe tracing paper?

*Of course, I can always redesign that portion of the pattern.  Last resort!

Now is the time to incubate the problem and let the ideas percolate as I walk the dog, practice the piano, cook dinner, sleep at night, work on the current UFO.   Finally, I will sample some of the possible solutions.  I also welcome any ideas from you, my readers.

How to Practice FMQ

How do you learn and continue to improve your free motion quilting?  Every teacher, every book, every online tutorial has thoughts on this process so this post reflects my own journey.  When you sit down at the machine for the first time you'll find that the quilting foot doesn't hold the fabric down,  the foot pedal wants to send the machine into outer space, your eye doesn't know what to look at, your hands are helpless, and the quilt bulk is totally unmanageable.  At least that is the way I felt.

1.  CHALLENGE:  Back and neck get stiff and sore.
CAUSE:  Poor posture.  Chair and machine don't meld to maintain good posture.
SOLUTION:  Get a good chair.  Plant your feet flat on the floor with thighs parallel to said floor.  Forearms parallel to the floor from elbow to sewing table.  Sit straight.  I found it helpful to get an unstable cushion (yoga cushion).  It takes some getting used to, but will strengthen your back and help you sit straight.

2.  CHALLENGE:  Body and brain tension.
CAUSE:  FMQ is intense because there is a lot to think about to get it right.
SOLUTION:  Take periodic breaks, walk around and stretch.  Drink water.  You will learn to relax as you do more FMQ.

3.  CHALLENGE:  Quilting doesn't look like the planned design.
CAUSE:  Inexperience.  Design may be too difficult at this stage.
SOLUTION:  Practice your design with paper and pencil before sewing.  This helps build muscle memory and eye-hand coordination.  It really works!  Doodle.  Doodle with the sewing machine.

4.  CHALLENGE:  I don't know what designs are best to learn with.
CAUSE:  Inexperience
SOLUTION:  Draw, then quilt some loops like the letter "e" and start with those.  Medium size is best for learning.  Keep practicing with any letter of the alphabet - it is OK to backtrack.  In fact that is a useful skill.  Look at books and online tutorials.  Leah Day has over 400 quilting motifs and has arranged them so that you can find the ones for your level of expertise.  She has short videos with each of them.  Practice on them.

5.  CHALLENGE:  I don't want to ruin my quilt with my imperfect skills.
CAUSE:  Lack of experience and practice.
SOLUTION:  Make at least a dozen 12-inch square sandwiches of fabric-batting-fabric.  I used muslin that I had, but you can raid your stash, buy fat quarters or whatever.  Pin the sandwiches together so they are ready when the mood strikes, or for daily practice sessions.

6. CHALLENGE:  My needle has a mind of it's own and doesn't always obey.
CAUSE:  Inexperience.
SOLUTION:  Keep your eye about 1/4 inch in front of the needle and it will follow.  Amazing, but true!  There is some kind of mystic connection between the eye, the hands and the needle.  Don't try to move your hands at the same time you are moving the fabric under the needle.  Stop, rearrange and start again.

7.  CHALLENGE:  My hands and feet don't coordinate.
CAUSE:  It takes some getting used to.  Sometimes your foot makes the machine go when you are not ready and that can cause havoc.  Sometimes the puppy steps on the foot pedal - urrghhhhh!
SOLUTION:  Work on keeping the machine going at a steady speed.  Listen to the machine.  You can hear when you are getting irregular.  Take your foot all the way off the pedal when you stop and don't put it back until you and your hands are ready to stitch.  It is not cool to stitch a finger.

8.  CHALLENGE:  After stopping then starting again the needle jogs off to the side.
CAUSE:  The fabric is pulling.
SOLUTION:  This is tricky because it is hard to get started along the same line again without a jog when the weight of the quilt is not supported.  Arrange the fabric in a nest around the machine so that you have complete control of the portion around the needle.  Bring the needle up then move it down almost to the fabric by hand so you are sure it will land in the right place.  Do a stitch in the same hole where you stopped, then start slowly as you move the fabric carefully.  You have to hold the fabric very steady as you start.  Practice this regularly on your little squares, but realize that managing a big quilt will be a bit more difficult...but you can do it.

9.  CHALLENGE:  Stitching in the ditch to anchor the quilt.
CAUSE:  It is intense and difficult to stay in the ditch.  It just is!
SOLUTION:  Stitch two inch squares together into a 12 inch "quilt," batting and all.  Practice sewing right in the ditch.  Be careful at intersections where the seam allowance may be switching to the opposite side.  When done correctly the thread will bury into the seam and be essentially invisible.

TIP:  I'd rather stay positive, but I must warn you about a couple of things.  Stippling is one of the hardest stitches to master.  Straight lines are also hard to manage until you have more control.  These are important to learn, but not critical at first so get your feet wet with easier designs.

When you feel reasonably confident with the alphabet, look at some books with patterns.  Most quilting books have some ideas and there are designs all over the Internet.  Before you know it you will gain competence with eye-hand-foot coordination and will notice that you can follow a line.  When I was finally able to follow a line exactly, I realized I could do just about anything with a needle and quilt.

TIP:  I found it great fun to quilt on medium to large floral fabric, following the edges of the flowers and leaves.  It great for beginners because the occasional misplaced stitches are not obvious.  Looks pretty too.

What are my recommended goals at this stage of the game?
*Maintain good posture.
*Strive for a regular, steady speed with the machine.  Some people go fast, some slow.  Some
machines have the option of a slow, set speed.  Decide what works for you.
*Aim for stitches that are all the same length.  No one is perfect, but it is an admirable goal.
*Keep your eye ahead of the needle.
*Learn to stop and start in the same place without the needle going off to the side.
*Draw designs.  Doodle.  Practice 15 to 20 minutes each day on the machine.
*Have fun with it.

TIP:  You learn to quilt by quilting.  With some practice under your belt go ahead and quilt your quilt.  Most people won't even notice the imperfections.  I promise you will get better with each quilt.

Here is one of my early quilts.  I tried my hand at FMQ and thought it looked so awful that I ripped out ALL the quilting and started over.  That is probably not the best way to practice quilting, but when I went back to it, I did a much better job.  I did simple, large flower petals in the plain areas and followed the border design in the fancy spots.  You really can't see the quilting in the border areas.  That is real advantage on this quilt!  I got a lot of practice doing this, and you know what?  The quilt is not ruined!

Crossings

Spiral Quilt

When I first saw RaNae Merrill's book, "Simply Amazing Spiral Quilts" I was so fascinated that I bought a copy.  I didn't get inside it for awhile because I kept looking at the cover photo trying to figure out how she did that quilt (why open the book when it is such fun to challenge your brain to solve the problem).  I was so thrilled when I figured out that the basic design was nothing but a pentagon and triangle kaleidoscope that I immediately sat down and read the book.  During this time I went to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival where the complete gallery of the Hoffman Challenge for that year was on display, and fell in love with the fabric for the next year's challenge.  It wasn't long before I delved into the design process for a spiral quilt and bought the challenge fabric to use in it.  The rest is history.

Although variations are possible it is probably easiest to start with a wedge 1/6th or 1/8th of a circle.  Draw some shapes on it and use a mirror to see if you like the repeated design...or decide on shapes you think you would like to fit into the wedge.  They do not have to be even, but these lines will be seams and you must be able to sew them together.

Basic outline of one 30º wedge

I know, I said to use a bigger basic wedge than the example above, but I never start out with the simplest possibility.  Two of these, side by side, will make 1/6th of a circle and the larger number of wedges increases the design possibilities.  The process is the same.  For this first spiral of mine I chose only two shapes because I saw them in the quilt on the book cover, and thus could visualize the potential results.  Illustrator is my software of choice.  You can draw your design on paper if you prefer.

The next step is to draw lines that create triangles within one of the shapes.  There are several ways to do this, but I started with the pentagon and used the "Pinwheel Spiral" as below.

Step 1 (fig 1):  After you have drawn the outline of the pentagon use a ruler and pencil or the pen tool in Illustrator to draw a straight line from point A to a point on line BC about 3/4"-1" from point B.  The chosen distance for that point does not have to be exact but 1" (give or take) is a good place to start for an entry level spiromaniac.  You can measure the distance or guess.

TIP:  The lines you draw within the pentagon shape create triangles.  If you are using the computer I recommend that you draw the complete triangle with the pen tool on a separate layer so that it can be filled with color later.  If you are drawing with pencil this is not necessary as you can color in the lines with your choice of coloring implements.

Step 2 (fig 2 & 3):  Next you draw another line from point B to a point on line CD about 3/4"-1" from point C.

Step 3 (fig 3):  Now go back to where the second line crosses the first line (red circle on Figure 2) and erase or adjust the line so it no longer crosses over the second line.

Step 4 (fig 4):  Continue in this manner until your drawing looks like Figure 4.

Step 5 (fig 5):  Second round.  Continue as you did for the first round, but place the first point at the intersection of the large end of a first-round triangle (red circles) and the second point 3/4"-1"  from the intersection of the first and second first-round triangles.  Erase the overlap as you did in step 3.

Continue in this manner, completing 2 or 3 more rounds as you work toward the center.

Look at that:  it is basically a Twisted Log Cabin!  If your pentagon's sides are equal and every triangle's broad end is the same measurement, then the center will also be a pentagon.  My centers are always wonky because my pentagons are not always equilateral and I don't measure my points precisely, but I rather like the quirkiness they give to a design that is otherwise so ordered.  The triangles do not have to be perfect, but the points must be in the right place and the large ends must lie on the line of the previous round.

Give this a try.  It is fun, and while you are at it, work the triangle piece at the lower part of the wedge and fill it in the same way.

TIP:  You are designing your own quilt.  There is nothing wrong with adapting an idea from someone else, but once you get the technique down, modify it to make it your own.

Stay tuned for my next post, which will continue with the process.  These quilts are beautiful, but they require spending design time, pattern prep time, and sewing time, so I will give you a few days to work out the basics as described here.

Quilt Colorado Show

One week of total fun with a great bunch of cousins and another week opening boxes that have been in storage for 20 years.  It was like Christmas in July.  Now to recover and get back to work.

Before tackling the unpacking my daughter and I absconded and went to see Quilt Colorado, which is a great show put on by the Colorado Quilt Council.  This year it was open to members only, but with over 800 members there were lots of beautiful entries.  There were numerous categories and lots of winners so I didn't take photos of all the winners, just the quilts that struck my fancy.

The "Best of Show" was awarded for "Fire in the Sky," which was absolutely exquisite.  Alice Kay Arnett's piecing was excellent and Sherry Reynolds' quilting was, once again, impeccable.  I wish I had a photo of the back as it was as beautiful as the front.  I also wish I had taken detail photos.  Live and learn!

Fire in the Sky by Alice Kay Arnett, pieced by Sherry Reynolds - Best of Show

Here is another quilt with beautiful quilting, which won "Best Home Machine Quilting."  I did get photos of the details, which follow.

Sunlit Circles by Ann Petersen.  Best Home Machine Quilting

"Affairs of the Heart" reminds me of a "Dear Jane" quilt with all the small blocks, each different from the others.  All the blocks have a heart theme.  I was especially attracted by the black background, which made the many colors glow.

Affairs of the Heart by Barb Donaho

I loved this kitty just because.  He looks like he is ready to jump out and catch a fly...or something.

His Arms Open Wide by Teresa Rives - Meritorious

This is a stunning, artistic quilt with the orchids beautifully highlighted against a dark background.

Orchids by Sharon Schlotzhauer - 3rd place Mixed Media Innovative

I think this was the most colorful quilt in the whole show.  It jumped right off the rod and made you want to dance and exclaim, "Wow!"  It deservedly won "Best Use of Color and Design," and is a lovely example of the Modern Quilt with color, line, movement and dimension.

Second Encounter by Shirley Gisi - Best use of Color and Design

Enough for today.  There are a few more, which I will share in the next post.

Columbine

Columbine

Hiking in the mountains, I found this lovely grouping of columbine, my favorite flower.  My first thought was that it would make a pretty, little quilt.  I had recently taken a class on using hot ribbon to finish the edges of fused appliqué and that was my first idea.  If you are interested in that technique there is also a U-tube video.   I didn't like the results for this particular project so I shelved it and didn't revisit the idea for a long time.  Then I began doing blanket stitch appliqué and decided to try again.

The first step was to enlarge the photo on my computer and trace it in Illustrator with enough artist's license to make it sewable.  It took 13 drawings of various parts to assemble the final, full-sized composite with a 16x20 inch quilt in mind.  It turned out a little larger because of the borders, but the flowers remained the same.  I am an intuitive quilter and frequently adjust my patterns to the moment.

I first sewed the background together so it would be ready when the appliqué was cut and prepared to fuse.

Final Design

TIP:  Having the flowers spill out over the inner frame adds dimension to the design and creates a unique composition.

Columbine graphic (reversed)

You can see here that I have reversed the design and labelled each part with a system of numbers and letters so I could keep the many pieces straight.  Finally I traced all the pieces onto the paper side of Soft Fuse.  Since I had simply reversed the entire design, I didn't have to worry about reversing each part when tracing.  I had already assembled several blue, green and white-on-white fabrics.

TIP:  A design like this is more interesting and has more depth when different fabrics are used for separate petals and parts.  

I then laid the full sized pattern on my ironing board, covered it with a translucent, heat-resistant, silicon sheet, and laid out the pieces on that sheet, carefully following the pattern.  When I had everything arranged to my liking I laid another heat-resistant sheet on top and ironed it all together.  The idea was that all the pieces would stick together and I could peel it all off the silicone sheet as a unit and lay it on the background.  Oh dear!  The minute I lifted it up it all fell apart, pieces everywhere, no numbers or letters.  A few of the smaller pieces went AWOL and had to be traced, fused and cut again.  At that point I was done quilting for the day.

The next day, fresh for a new start I sorted the mess, and matched pieces to the graphic, which was now positioned under the background fabric on my light table.  The fabric had peeled right off the silicon sheet with the fusible still in place so all the pieces were still usable.  I iron-tacked the pieces to the background lightly, just to hold them in place.  When all was complete again I carefully moved fabric and bouquet off the light table and onto the ironing board.  I covered the fusible pieces, now directly on the background, with the silicon sheet and ironed them down with a vengeance.  Success!

TIP:  Fusing the pieces all together and lifting them onto the background is a great idea but there must be enough overlap among the pieces or it won't work.  Look at your design carefully and assess whether this technique will work for you.  Even so, I misjudged mine!

TIP:  Don't use the light table (mine is my acrylic extender table) as an ironing board.  It is OK to lightly tack a piece in place, but a plastic table will be ruined by the sustained, high heat that is needed for the final fusing.

The fun thing about this small quilt with lots of pieces was that I was able to make it entirely from my stash.  In my next post I will talk about some special touches, the quilting, and the finished product.

Fabric for Rhapsody

Did you have fun creating a design?  I always do.  I love what Paul Nadelstern says about creativity:
"Please, let's not allow external pressure to dictate that we conform to an imaginary standard based on the mythological perfection of the quiltmaking legacy.

My next step is to go back to the little 8x8 inch initial drawing and assess the fabrics that I want to be my background.  The drawing is just that:  a background that will support appliqué.  I cut the fabrics to fit the various elements in the small design and glue them to the appropriate spot on the dull side of the freezer paper with glue stick or double-sided masking tape.  A mirror can give an idea of what two or more triangles will look like together, but I prefer to take a digital photo, bring it into the computer, and rotate to see how the four corners will look together.

I no longer have a photo of my chosen fabrics for the quilt I am describing so I just filled the spaces with color on the computer to give you the idea.  Below is the total design with color.  It would be more lively with real fabric.

Now that I know what fabrics I want where, I go back to my full size freezer paper corner (20x20" for this quilt, which will give me a finished quilt about 40x40"), and make a copy of that full size corner.  Did I mention that if the drawing is not done on a perfect square, the pieces won't fit together?  It pays to be fussy at the very start of the process.  I have no way to do a machine copy so I just hunker down and carefully trace it by rubbing or using a light box.  This will serve as a reference copy in case I need it down the road, and it pays to do it carefully.  Ask someone who knows about this!

TIP:  Don't have a light box?  If you have a plexiglas extender table for your machine, take it to a table or the ironing board, put a goose-neck desk lamp underneath and you have your lightbox.  No fuss, no muss, no expense.  You can also buy a square of plexiglass and set it on book stacks leaving space in the middle for a lamp underneath.

When I am satisfied with what I have done so far, I take a ruler and draw lines on the freezer paper that are parallel to a straight edge through all the elements to indicate the fabric grain.  This kind of quilt can easily go wonky with its seams wandering all over the grain and bias.  Cutting the pieces with grain in mind will minimize or eliminate potential problems.

Pardon my inaccurate drawing.  I did it on the computer for this post, long after finishing the quilt.  

This is why I draw my designs on paper with pencil and eraser! 

TIP:  I use a colored pencil for the grain lines to avoid mixing them up with seam lines.

TIP:  In spite of my slipshod example, I must stress that accurate lines and a perfect square make a beautiful quilt.  Skewed designs will not work and you will end up wearing a turban after pulling out all your hair.  The sloppy line design above will NOT work because the square is not perfect nor is the diagonal.  You can see where the fit is going to be pulling, rippled and rumpled.  My original was done carefully by hand and it paid off.