Applique the Mary way!

Even teachers like to take a class!
Today I had fun with my guild learning about "Easy Breezy Applique" with needle-turn expert Mary Sorensen.

Mary has a very cool set up with a video camera and projector, so everyone could easliy see each stitch as she guided us through the process. After each technique, she personally checked with every student to see how they were doing, offering lots of tips and encouragement.

Our project was this pretty bouquet, which splills out into a pieced border.

One of the most important things taught today is that a class project is not a UFO! The learning process does not have to result in a finished item. Since the All Stars are working on finishing UFOs this year, we were glad to know this class was not adding our lists!

A handwork class makes a nice change from whirring machines and miles of electric cords all over the floors. Everyone had plenty of room, too, with no need for cutting & ironing stations!

We learned about curves and points and tucking seam allowances. We sewed in layers to "pre-assemble" some flowers before they went on the background. We whined a bit, because we were so intent on doing a good job!

A lot of fun in class is seeing all the fabric that the other people have, and what sort of sewing equipment they brought along. I noticed several cute pincushions among the debris.

This is my new teacher supply kit...it's handy to grab when going to take a class, too. When the supply list calls for thread to match all the different fabrics, my pre-wound bobbins-in-a-doughnut come in mighty handy!
(thanks, Superior Threads!).

It's so much fun to be able to get a good close-up look at Mary's work...

....and then indulge in our second love, buying some beautiful patterns! Mary also had a few of the tools and needles she likes to use, but she did not have a great big sales pitch.

She was there to teach and did a wonderful job. I know the guild will be talking about this class for a long time!

If you've ever taken an applique class, after a day of hard work, this is about what you have to show:

(That's my background square on top of the pattern with one leaf sewn down, and two flower petals under construction!)

It may not impress anyone who asks, "What did you do today?" but another quilter will know that tiny pieces can represent a whole lot of learning, and a great deal of fun!

Happy 2011, Quilters!

The year is new, but I want to take a quick look back to 2010 & 09!
Do you remember Snap Happy Bags?

I learned how to make them at Mrs. Starbuck's house and wrote a post on Dec. 9, 2009.
Recently, I made 30 (some of them are above) as a small "thank-you" gift for the people who had served the guild as chairmen or other positions during my 2 year term as President (also known as "The Reign of Terror").
I was pleased to receive an email today from Rosemary Wissink to let me know the Stitchin Sisters, home of the Snap Happy Bag, have a website with loads of fun bags and other patterns!
Check it out:  http://www.stitchinsis.com/
While you are there, be sure to read about their special project to provide sewing machines for women in Africa. If, like me, you are interested in projects that help women become financially stable (especially in third world countries) you'll want to learn even more by visiting www.amaniafrica.org

I am making NO resolutions for this year, other than to generally try to do better at everything.
Now, I know that breaks all the "rules" of setting goals, the first two being to state a specific goal, and then to have it be measurable!
We'll just have to see if I end up any better at the end of 2011. But along the way, I want to share a number of helpful websites and maybe you will find them of use, too. All are free.
The first is TickTock Timer, which allows you to set a digital timer for whatever amount you decide. When the time runs out, it makes a big GONG sound three times! I am using it right now so I won't spend too much time on the computer! Have you ever sworn you'd be "just 5 more minutes" and then looked an hour later?
You know you have!

Well, the GONG just went off! 
I wanted to leave you with a picture of Shayla O'Puss, who is doing very well with her yearly resolution to sit on every quilt possible....but Blogger seems to be overloaded right now.
  

Catnip Bags for Quilters' Cats

The stockings have been hung by the chimney with care, but somebody is going to have to fill them.....you-know-who!

Whether it's you or Santa, don't forget some treats for the most important person in the house. Yes, I mean your cat! At least that's the way they see it.

Chances are you also have friends who own (or are owned by) a cat...or three, or four....so it's time to do some production style sewing. It's faster and easier to make several Catnip Bags at one time.
Look through your scraps and find some you can cut into squares about 4" x 4". Do not worry about anything being exact! We are making something that will be chewed on, for heaven's sake!

I like to use batiks because 1) they are firmly woven and 2) I have a ton of them! Can't stand to throw out a tiny scrap. And I enjoy seeing those batiks scattered around the house as they get carried and tossed all over the place.

 There's nothing like finding some "pre-sewn" patchwork, or in other words, extra pieces left over from a quilt. The additional benefit is that you do not need to think about the size...it's whatever those HST units are.
Just find a larger scrap for the other side, then sew around the smaller piece using a small stitch (I had my machine on 2.0). 
Right sides together, of course.

 Who cares what the seam allownace is? Make it different on each side if you want! Use any part of the foot to judge, as long as you are inside the fabric.

The tricky bit with anything like this (pincushions, pillows, etc) is remembering to leave an opening. I often do it right away so I don't forget, but today I managed to make four bags that all had openings on the last side sewn!
On one side, sew for a little bit, then backstitch.
Lift up the presser foot and pull the bag along about 2", then put the foot back down, backstitch,  and then continue until you get back where you started.

 If you want to chop off the excess you can...and I do mean chop! Nobody will see the inside!
Note that there looks like a little flap up at the top...I leave the extra fabric there at the opening so it will tuck inside easily when the bag is turned right side out.
Which is what you need to do now.
If you suddenly realize you sewed the pieces right sides out, don't worry about it! Go on to the next step, and when you're done trim, the seam allowances with pinking shears...it will look like you meant to do it that way!

 I rolled up a piece of scrap paper to make a funnel for pouring the catnip into the bag.
Don't fill it completely. A couple tablespoons will do...or, as I had two small bags of catnip, I put half into each of the bags I made. Don't measure! Just do it!

Tuck the opening's seam allowance to the inside and top stitch it closed.
You can stitch all around the bag if you like.
This is about as fast as anything you can make!
Put the catnip bags into ziplock bags until it's time to give the gift!

I think these would be great items for a boutique at a quilt show. Even if you don't personally care for cats, how many quilters do you know who have cats? Point made!
With a bit more time you could actaully do a mouse or fish shape for cuteness. But I do like the patchwork look...this would be a good time to make some string pieced fabric.
Just remember to set your machine for a smaller stitch length!

Shayla O'Puss has already received her catnip bags, so Santa will be bringing her some of those plastic cage balls with bells in them!
The bags in this post are for a couple of cat friends at other quilters' houses.

Coming soon: a Challenge FAIL, fabric postcards tutorial, and more Florida quilt shops

Holiday UFOs: The Next Generation

Quilters' busy lives just kick into full gear this time of year.
So with all the shopping, planning, mailing, traveling (etc!), of course I figured this would be the perfect time to finish up some UFOs.
Not my own, but ones from my mother. She passed away seven years ago, and it's time now to let go of a lot of her things that I've held on to. SO...these are not just UFOs, they are second generation UFOs!

This is the one I finished today. It's not too bad in the picture, but I am here to tell you The Really Awful Truth About Other People's UFOs:
There is usually a good reason they were not finished! 
Could be that time ran out, but more often it is that the piecing was not going well and there are just too many "boo-boos" to ignore.

Mom's holiday UFOs were not her best work, and she was a casual sort of machine quilter (but did lovely handwork), so I decided to keep right in that vein of things and not treat these table runners and quick projects as overly precious. The point was to get them done and given away!
I started at the guild's retreat in November, and worked my way through most of the small pieces.
Today's project was this Karen Combs class piece. Oh, yeah...it was obvious why it had not been turned into anything but a big block with a crooked border!
I persevered, especially with my "don't obsess, just sew" attitude and chose to do an all-machine binding.
Here's how:

 Make a binding and sew it on, mitering the corners as usual but sew in on the back!
After that, I went all around folding the binding up (to the outside) and creasing it.
Then I turned the quilt over to the right side and started wrapping the binding to the front, top stitching as I went.

 The white thread there is from sewing the binding on the back side. The idea is to make the folded edge of the binding cover up that stitching.
I matched the thread to the binding fabric, and sewed very close to the folded edge. But whenever you are topstitching, you can always consider using a contrasting thread...maybe gold?..and possibly a fancy stitch pattern!.

To complete the mitered corners, stop sewing when you reach the binding seam (the white thread here). Backstitch, trim the threads, turn the quilt and fold the next side's binding in place. Start sewing at the corner. 

When you get back around to where you started, finish the ends with the method you like.

 Here we are on the back of the quilt, and the white stitching is the bobbin thread from sewing down the binding on the front. Yes, it shows...this is a utility style of binding, but it's quick, gets the job done, is really sturdy, and most people are not going to care about the back. It doesn't look too bad (but it will NOT win you any points at a judged quilt show!).

As I say, it's important to know what quilt you are making: An heirloom? A show entry? A utility quilt? Something just for fun? etc etc! Each one requires a different level of time and skill.
I still have a few more of Mom's UFOs to complete. Some of them are bound to be heirlooms for family members. Those will take longer.
But the fun ones she would have made quickly to give away...those I will do in the same way she would have done them!

Stitchin' Sisters have a Mystery Quilt

The Stitchin' Sisters meet at the Methodist Church in Yulee FL.

They have been learning how to sew and making quilts for several years now, under the leadership of Julie Mainor. Each Tuesday they are at the church making a variety of patterns for gifts, charities, and even occaisionally themselves!

I was honored to be their first "outside" teacher, and provider of their first Mystery Quilt!

We had a wonderful time making The Stadium Quilt, a small quilt designed to be taken to a sporting event.

Of course at the end of the class everyone gets a picture of the quilt to add to their Clues (the instructions broken up by steps).
I like to design these Mystery Quilts with some techniques to learn. The Stitchin' Sisters have a lot of beginners, so they learned about making triangles: Quarter-square triangles, and two different ways to make Half-square triangles!

Usually these days quilters make HSTs with squares cut 7/8" or 1" larger than the finished size, or they use the printed paper for triangles.

This is the first way I learned about making lots of HSTs....on a grid....because you always seem to need a batch!

On the wrong side of the lighter fabric, draw a grid of squares the desired size (choice of formula above) with one diagonal line through each square. Layer it right sides together with a dark fabric. Sew 1/4" away from each side of the diagonal line. Cut on the drawn lines, press open, and, as in the photo above, you get 24 HST units (from a 3 x 4 grid)!

The best part of class is seeing all the different fabric choices. There were lots of the expected sports teams, especially the local college teams...but not one Jaguars! There were even some out-of-state teams. You can get a printed fabric for just about anyone's favorite team, which makes this sort of quilt a great gift.

There were also some lovely quilts made with fish fabrics, flowers and just pretty colors. One lady had fabric she'd saved for over 15 years!

See...it pays to buy it when you see it, even if you don't use it right away!

The Stitchin' Sisters had a covered dish lunch that was unbelieveable! Those ladies sure can cook, and there was so much food they called their husbands to come over an eat with us. I think a few of those guys were waiting for the call!

I should have taken a picture for you, but I was too busy filling my plate with the best fried chicken ever.

Fabric...food...fun...the Stitchin' Sisters have it all! What a great day it was, and I heard since then that most of the quilts are finished!

I showed my two samples, which were quilted onto fleece that was printed in a team motif. If you do that, you can have a double sided statement of your team spirit! (or any of the other zillions of motifs available...really, have you looked at what all is printed on that fleece stuff?)

When you use the fleece, it can be both back & batting, which makes a light weight quilt that can be moved easily through the machine while quilting. I did all-by-machine bindings on those....trust me, you don't want to hand stitch on that fleece!

Sounds like a good idea for a future tutorial!

Happy Halloween & Happy Birthday!

It's hard to believe that Patchwork Pie is 3 years old!
Starting this blog was a Halloween gift to myself. I was scared to do it, but I have enjoyed sharing with everyone ....and will continue to do so! There has so much happening that I'm quite behind. I've got classes to tell you about, and shops to show (including a new one in my neighborhood!). Then next Sunday it's time to go on a quilters' retreat!
So just for today, I'd like to share this great retro-look fabric from Marcus Bros.
Don't you think it would make a fabulous set of fabric postcards? Maybe if I start them now, I'll have them done by next Halloween!
I'd like to truly thank my Followers and other Faithful Readers for enjoying a piece of the Pie with me. There are some new adventures ahead, and I'm glad to know I'll have you along for the ride!

Stripping for a Wedding (Blanket, that is!)

When my son and wife-to-be decided on a Native American wedding ceremony, to be conducted by a good friend who is an Iroquois medicine woman, they needed a white blanket.
So of course when your son asks for something special, it doesn't matter what else is on the schedule...I said I would make it! But there wasn't time to make a real quilt, so I fell back on 2 grand traditions: Strip piecing and "Summer spreads" (like a quilt but no batting layer).

First I collected all my white fabrics, which is hard because I generally do not use white. Then I asked all my friends for fabric, and finally I was "forced" to go fabric shopping!
After that, I randomly cut strips between 1.5" and 3" in width. The idea was to make something all white...but still show a lot of texture with the seams and slight differences among the whites.
For the foundations, I used pages from the Sunday newspaper sales flyers! It's lightweight and tears away easily. I cut them into 10.5" squares, as that is the largest size I could get from the most flyers.

Each square starts with a strip going diagonally, right side up.

Then lay another strip on top, with the right sides facing, and sew all the way to the end of the paper.
Don't bother to measure anything...just cut off the extra length.

Some of the short ends can be sewn into pairs, which are handy for filling up the paper foundation out near the corner...the seams get short there. I sewed a couple of short sets in between the full squares to keep that chain going!

 I did take the time to press the strips open, so there would not be any surprise tucks in the seams. But I only did it after I had 2 strips to press...one on each side of the center.

 Now it's time to trim!
Strip or string piecing is a wonderful way to use up scraps...and I must admit it bugged me to be "wasting" so much fabric that I bought just for this project!
Trim to the edge of the paper foundation, if you cut it a certain size. There is enough excess fabric here that I could have cut the blocks a bit larger, if I had wanted. Like maybe adding a forgotten seam allowance?

 Love that blue painters tape...it doesn't leave any residue on the ruler or fabric or whatever.
I trimmed the top and right side, using the ruler's edge, then turned the block around to finish the other two sides. The tape is marking where to line up the trimmed corner before making the second cut.

 All trimmed up and ready to go! Some of the fabrics had a shine, and I tried to get at least one of those in each block.
The paper comes off fairly easily if you fold it back and crease it before tearing.
And it helps a lot if you remember to sew all the strips with a shorter stitch!
The blocks are sewn together as with any quilt blocks. The seams are not intended to be matched...in fact, I don't think they could be!
All the seams can be set to run the same direction, or they can be set to alternate, which looks like an X or a diamond.

This is techincally not a quilt, as it has only two layers. The backing is white, and I just stitched "in the ditch" around each block to keep the thing from puffing up like a big marshmellow!
And beacuse it was to be part of the Blanket Ceremony, I finished the edge with a white satin blanket binding. 

It was hard to make something all white....I am a color-lover! Bright colors! Bold prints!
But I'm pleased with this, even if it is a lot more subtle than my usual work. 

Here's the happy couple with the blanket symbolizing their union. May they have a long and happy future together!
The white blanket's future is unknown at this time.
It might just stay as it is. Or I might take it apart and use it as a background for some appliques, and then quilt it with colorful thread!
Only time will tell.