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.

Fusible Methodology

I am busy again building my Phoenix bird and have developed a methodology, which helps with color choices.  I made enough errors at first that I have two nice pieces on which to practice thread painting, but that can't continue so I will share with you how I ended up managing the process.

Iron fusible material to the back of selected fabrics.  I use Soft Fuse, which I buy in a roll, but it also comes in sheets.

Fused fabrics

Draw the finished design on freezer paper in ink for better visualization and to use as a master copy.    Trace a copy in pencil also on freezer paper.  Number the pieces, note the intended color of each one and mark the edges where you will leave 1/4 extra fabric (little red arrows).

Master copy of drawing

Place the master copy on the ironing board and press it down (it is freezer paper after all).  Lay a silicone sheet over it.  You should be able to see the drawing through the sheet.  A few pins will hold it in place.

Now you are ready to cut up the pencil copy as I discussed in a post last month, cut the fabric around your little freezer paper patterns, and tack them onto the silicone sheet with the tip of the iron using the drawing underneath as your guide.  Align the freezer paper edges of each piece with the adjoining pieces, just like working on a puzzle.

TIP:  Cut out one little pattern piece at a time.  Don't cut up the whole thing while you are watching tv.  You'll never find which piece goes where.

Align the freezer paper patterns

This is where I ran into problems.  I couldn't see how the fabric colors interacted as I proceeded.  It was a little like painting with a blindfold on.  The colors on my pattern sometimes needed to be slightly changed.  My first attempt became a tester for thread painting because it was way too yellow for my red bird.  I had to draw a new pencil copy from the master copy and start over.  My solution to the visualization problem is to pull off the freezer paper pieces as soon as there were no more edges to align with that piece.  This way I could better see how the colors were working out as I went.

Remove patterns to assess color

Ahhh!  Much better.  Yes, I had to do my bird's wing over, but now it looks really nice, and I am a happy camper.  I also had to do one set of tail feathers over.  The cost of doing business I guess, but it has been very handy to have these cast-a-ways for thread painting practice.

TIP:  I've said it before, but in case you forgot, I repeat.  Maintain a positive attitude and turn your creative brain loose to solve your problems.

When all the pieces have been assembled with freezer paper patterns removed, you may want to make a change or two.  You still can by gently pulling pieces apart and replacing what you don't like.  When you are happy cover the completed artistic creation with another silicon sheet and iron it all together.  When cool, you can lift the whole thing off the sheet at once and put it up on your design wall.

TIP:  Always remember to admire your beautiful work and pat yourself on the back!  You may keep this tip private, but it is important to feel good about what you are doing.  If you don't, then step back and figure out what is bothering you.

One more comment on the color problem.  I often preview my colors by designing in Illustrator, but this was too complex a design and I didn't want to take the time to draw every feather on the computer.  Pencil is easier for me in this case!  Colored markers or crayons?  Can't make changes.  Colored pencils?  I don't have enough color variety in my set.  Watercolor paint?  Possible.  I didn't even think of using them until now.  The other thing is that colors on paper or computer do not always translate into the fabrics available.

TIP:  Sometimes you just have to make what is available work for you.  That's where creativity is a real friend.  Your artistic ability is there, and the more you use it, the better you get.

Happy stitching this week.