The Quilting Makes The Quilt

The design of a quilt is important in  successful composition.
That can be enhanced by proper quilting. It is not always evident right away what will be best for a particular quilt.
There are no hard and fast rules. A lot of this can come from experience.
The quilting should not overwhelm the quilt design itself. There currently is a tendency to “quilt the bejebbers” out of a quilt. There are quilts that can be improved with that approach. Generally they are simple quilts with solid or traditional fabrics.
Bejeebers quilting would have destroyed what had been created with the detailed fabrics and design of the piecing in this quilt.
I personally believe that Bejebbers quilting started when we started machine quilting our quilts. It was furthered with the use of mid and long arm machines. There is nothing wrong with either machine quilting or quilts being quilted on a mid or long arm machine.
If used appropriately they can make it possible to quilt a quilt much faster than we could when we hand quilted all our work. I find that machine quilting is VERY appropriate for quilts with a graphic design that would be destroyed with the soft effect hand quilting would create.
Think about this next time you are thinking about quilting your next quilt.

Another Quilt Designing Tutorial

I wanted to be sure I was pleased with the colors and the order I used them when I made our king size bed quilt.

I cut narrow strips of each fabric which I had backed with a fusible.

I arranged them on a piece of graph paper and fused them in place.

I added an additional layer of fusible to the back of this and cut and moved them to get the design.

This showed 1/4 of the quilt.

I wanted to see how the entire quilt would look so I made this to view it.

I made this viewing device from two 12 inch mirror tiles.

I taped the edges of each with clear tape so prevent cutting myself on sharp edges.

I then joined the two tiles with a piece of duct tape.

You are seeing the back of the device in this picture.

By placing the mirrors on the corner I can see the way the finished design will work if I use this as the center.

This is what it would look like if I used the opposite corner as the center.

I felt very confidant going ahead cutting all the strips to make the quilt after seeing what the quilt would look like.

This is the finished quilt on our bed.

I realize you can buy mirrors to use to do this, but they are very limited in size. For the cost of a set of those you can make several of these sets and I am sure your friends would be happy to get a set you made.

Not only can they be used to test how  quilt design will work, but they are also handy when designing blocks for a quilt.

By opening them at a 60 degree angle, rather than the 90 degree angle I used here you can also see other possibilities when you are designing.

A Touch Of Red

I designed this for a workshop I taught.
I used a variety of fabrics including Japanese fabrics, Austrian fabrics, Gutcheon polished and plain cottons and Hoffman cotton.

 

 

You can see the freezer paper curved diamond shapes I used to mark the quilting lines. By doing this there will be no lines that I would get marking with something else.on the work.

You can see the lines I quilted using those shapes for the quilting. I have also quilted the borders, and did some ditch quilting before I did this. That quilting follows the patterns in the border fabrics and is not visible in these photos.

The freezer paper designs can be used more than once. I just reused the 4 shapes to again mark my quilting lines. Because I used white thread for all the quilting it is not easy to see all the quilting lines.

All the curved diamond shapes have now been quilted. The only thing left to quilt are the background triangles.

How Can You Design A Quilt With One Of A Kind Fabric?

I have been doing a lot of fabric dyeing recently.
Each piece is one of a kind.
So many people live in fear of using these fabrics because if they make a mistake there is no more.

If I wanted to use this piece of fabric knowing there was no more if I made a mistake I would print it with my computer printer.
If would be a good idea to make multiple copies. Be sure you make a note of the size of the original piece of fabric as you will want all the others you print to be sized at the same ratio to the original.

This is a smaller piece of hand dyed one of a kind fabric that I would consider using with the one above.

This could also work with the other 2 fabrics.

I could also use this fabric.
In addition to all of these I could also use some solid or almost solid hand dyes. I would take photos of those too and print them.
I do recommend saving the images of each fabric so you can print more if you like.
I hope you will no longer be afraid to cut and use these gorgeous one of a kind fabrics you create.
You can also use this same idea if you have a “too precious to cut” commercial fabric or have a limited amount of a specific fabric.
Once you have come up with a design you like all you have to do is cut it from your fabric in the appropriate size.
You could use a very simple traditional quilt pattern and make it very contemporary with your one of a kind fabric. Simple designs are usually the best way to use these complex fabrics.
UPDATE: One person commented that it is NOT appropriate to scan and print commercial fabric. I am not suggesting you scan and print it as fabric. I am suggesting you scan to a paper copy to play with to decide how you will use it. That is a perfectly permissible way to design.

Shawl With MAGIC FRINGE Instruction

This drapes beautifully when you wear it.

I have had many requests for instructions for this shawl so I wrote these up to share with you.

 

Shawl With MAGIC FRINGE

This is a pattern that can be made with a variety of yarns and needle sizes.

The directions are flexible and the size is up to you and the amount of yarn you have.

I made mine with MODA DEA Ticker Tape ribbon yarn – a bulky category yarn. I used about 3 1/2 skeins for a nice size shawl.

I used size 15 needles, working back and forth on a circular needle which is what I prefer for any item of this size or larger. You can also use regular single pointed needles.

 

Instructions:

Cast on 6 stitches.

Row 1 and all wrong side (uneven) rows: Purl

Row 2 (right side) Knit 1, increase 1 stitch in next stitch by knitting first in the front of the stitch and then in the back of the stitch, place a marker on needle and knit remaining 4 stitches.

Row 4: Knit 2 stitches,  increase one stitch in next stitch, pass marker and knit remaining 4 stitches.

Continue to increase one stitch before the marker (in right side knit rows) until you have used about half of your yarn.

 

Decrease as follows: Knit 2 stitches together before the marker on each right side row.

 

When only 6 stitches remain purl the last wrong side row.

Knit 2 together, cut yarn (leaving at least 8 inches) and pull it through the stitch.

Take the needle out of the remaining 4 stitches and unravel….YES, that is when the MAGIC happens.

You can see me doing these steps if you go to my blog post:

http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2013/12/magic-shawlit-worked.html

 

Variations: You can use any bulky yarn with size 15 needles.

You can also use finer yarn and smaller needles. I would suggest you do a swatch with the yarn and needles you plan on using.

This can be made smaller to make a scarf rather than a shawl.

There are so many gorgeous yarns available today that would be perfect to use with these instructions.

 

It’s quick, easy and something you can do for gifts for everyone on your list!

 

I would love to see a picture of your finished shawl or scarf.

Sunrise - Sunset Quilt Tutorial - Rerun

This blog post has had almost 10,000 views since I posted it a little over 2 years ago.

That means there are still a few people out there who haven’t seen it!

I have lost track of the number of people who have made one of these – and some of you have made a lot of them.

I also call it the Potato Chip quilt since you can’t make just one! It is so much fun and so easy.

How many have you made Cassandra?

There has been so much interest in this quilt I thought I'd share how I did it with you.
As I said before I got the idea on line somewhere but I don't know where.
That is almost irrelevant as I "did my own thing" - just using the basic idea.
FABRIC REQUIREMENTS
38 different fabric strips. Each one should be 2 1/2 inches wide by the width of the fabric.
An accent fabric - 1/2 yard
SELECTING YOUR FABRICS
I suggest you choose fabrics that have something in common, but still have a variety of light, medium and dark.
I would also suggest you do not chose large prints with a lot of colors in them as they create their own set of design issues. Save them for something else.
TIPS FOR CHOOSING AN ACCENT FABRIC
1. Your accent fabric should contrast with each one of your fabrics. An example of that would be if you choose to use green and blue fabrics for your strips, you might choose pink or red for the accent.
2. It is also a good idea to choose an accent fabric that is more dramatic than the fabrics you chose for you strips.

ARRANGING THE ORDER OF YOUR FABRICS
1. Try to arrange your fabrics so the values and colors are evenly distributed in the order of the strips.
2. You can not preplan what is going to go next to what else so it is important you have kept this in mind when deciding the order of the strips. The finished quilt will be a pleasant surprise if you keep this in mind.
CUTTING
1. Cut a 2 1/2 inch by the width of the fabric strip from each of your fabrics. It is not necessary nor desirable that they each be exactly the same length
2. Cut 38 2 1/2 inch x 4 1/2 inch pieces from your accent fabric.
CONSTRUCTION - NOW THE FUN BEGINS!
You will sew all of the fabrics and spacers together to create one long strip which will measure approximately 1750 inches long.
1. Cut off 18 inches from the first strip and throw it in your scrap bin or the wastebasket. DO NOT USE IT
2. To the end of this first strip sew a spacer.
3. Sew the next long strip to the other end of the spacer.
4. Sew another spacer to the end of this strip.
5. Continue in this manner until you have sewn all the strips and spacers together ending with spacer.

6. Press seams to one side.
CREATING THE QUILT TOP FROM THE ONE LONG STRIP
1. Bring both ends of the strip to meet and place them right sides together.
2. Sew them together and you will now have a piece that is about 875" long.
Cut them apart on the fold at the end of the seam. (Do not press the seam now - You will do that later)
3. Match up both end of your strip and sew them together just as you did the first seam. This time you will only have to sew about 437 inches. Cut open on the seam as you did before.


4. Do the same thing 3 more times for a total of 5 seams. The last one will be about 55 inches.

PRESSING
Now it is time to press all the seams to one side.
I press first from the back with a dry iron.
I turn it over and press carefully from the front with a steam iron, making sure if there are any tucks in my pressing I press them out.
When all the strips have been sewn together I do a row of stitching less than 1/4 inch away from the edge to prevent any stitching that has been cut from coming undone.

All that is left is the quilting and finishing.
BET YOU CAN'T MAKE JUST ONE!

Studio Closet Organization Expanded To Entire Studio!

I decided one necessity was to organize the fabrics in my studio. They had been purchased and shoved in any available nook or cranny.

It was interesting to see what I had. I found I had almost no true blue – no navy, no royal, and no powder blue and very little brown.

When I started quilting that was about all that was available and I had boxes of those colors.

I decided if I wanted fabrics visible and accessible I would have to fold them so I could see each one.

No more “stacks” of fabric in a drawer.

For everything over 1/4 yard I found my 6 inch ruler was the perfect tool.

I laid the ruler across the fabric that was folded in half crosswise.

I start by bringing the end of the fabric over the ruler.

I continue until the entire length of the piece is rolled around the ruler.

Then I slip the ruler out, which slides out easy.

I then fold the entire piece in half. If it is from 2-7 yards this is the end of the process and I put it in a drawer with the edge up.

If it is from 1/2 to 1 yard I fold it one more time and it is ready to be put in a drawer.

I did not come up with the idea of using a ruler to fold fabric. I read about someone else doing it.

But – I did have to come up with a way to fold my fabric into a size that worked in my storage drawers.

This shows two dresser drawers that hold most of my 1/2 to 1 yard pieces.

This shows one of the Elfa drawers that holds larger pieces of fabric or collections of similar fabric.

I found fabrics that I had forgotten about or never knew I had. I have a lot of fabrics that were given to me for winning quilt competitions and that is why I wasn’t aware of some of them!

I hope this may be the spark that gives you an idea of how to store your fabric palette.

It is so much easier to design a quilt if you can look at your fabrics and see what you have.

Katy Korkos Prize Winning Potato Chip Quilt

I continue to amazed at the variety of quilts people are creating with my Potato Chip (Sunrise/Sunset) quilt tutorial.

She won a red ribbon at the Los Alamos County fair with this recently. This quilt has been creating a lot of interest on her Facebook page.

Whether they know it or not, I feel everyone has their own color signature.  This definitely has Katy’s signature if you go to her web page and see her other work.

www.katykorkos.com

Here's today's puzzle:

A “Delicious” Potato Chip Quilt From Australia

I received this picture of this great Potato Chip quilt from my friend Cassandra in Australia this morning.

This is what she had to say: “I spent Friday and Saturday at the Canberra Craft and Quilt Fair. Lots of lovely quilts to admire and time to catch up with fellow quilters. Today four of us met up for tea and chat at my house. We exchanged news and views and showed and told. Kathy Johnson, recently arrived here from the States on a posting, has joined both the local quilt groups and was encouraged by several members of Queanbeyan Quilters to make a simple strip quilt. Today she proudly whipped out the finished top to show us, with the borders on and ready to quilt. We were all suitably impressed with both her industry and once again with how versatile this pattern is.”

Who would have thought when I posted my Potato Chip (Sunrise, Sunset) tutorial the influence it would be making far away in Australia?

When I saw this quilt I loved it. My next thought was it reminds me of candy – Liquorice Allsorts, a very British candy!

Thanks again Cassandra for another great quilt picture and story.

You can find my tutorial for this quilt at:

http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2011/04/sunrise-sunset-quilt-tutorial.html

And yes, a puzzle today!

Triangle Quilt Finished

I needed a little time to resolve some quilting and structural issues this quilt created.

I was able to resolve them. The quilt hangs perfectly flat.

I did almost all the quilting in the ditch through the quilt and the batting only. Because it is in the ditch it is hard to see.

I stitched 1/2 inch from the edge of the quilt and removed the batting from the seam allowance. I folded the 1/2 inch under and ironed it in place.

I cut the backing fabric the same size as the front of the quilt and fused a piece of Timtex (cut 3/4 inch smaller than the backing) to the wrong side of the fabric.

I folded the edge over the Timtex and fused the edge in place.

I put the batting and Timtex together and fused everything very securely.

This is the finished back of the quilt. I hand stitched the backing to the quilt around the edge.

I made a thread loop close to the top of the quilt on the back to hang it.

This shows the seam I created in the backing 2 inches from the bottom.

I inserted a 1” finished rod pocket in the seam.

I inserted this tent pole in the casing which just happened to be the exact length I needed. It makes the bottom hang perfectly straight.

A PERFECT finish for a unique quilt!

Quilting Tutorial–Marking Difficult Fabric–Part 2

For the triangular spaces I had left to quilt on the each side of the quilt I chose to use straight lines. The piece didn’t call for any more curved quilting lines.

I used a ruler and my Chalkoner to mark a set of lines to quilt on one of the triangles.

The next step was to quilt this set of lines.

Using the even feed foot I am continuing quilting all the lines I have drawn.

To stitch the second set of lines 1/2 inch to the right of the first set I put the needle in the far right position and followed the first stitching with the left edge of the presser foot.

I drew the second set of lines on the other side of the triangle the same way I drew the first set.

I stitched all the lines starting at the inside edge of the triangle section and finished at the outer edge of the quilt.

I stitched the drawn lines first and then set the needle position to the far left and stitched 1/2 inch away from the lines.

This shows the complete quilting on one of the triangles. I did one triangle at a time from start to finish.

By the time I finished each triangle you could no longer see the lines I had marked with my Chalkoner.

I really enjoy the quilting process. I enjoy doing the stitching and I love to see how the quilting that is done in harmony with the quilt adds so much to the piece.

I feel like I am on the home stretch with this quilt as I only have to trim the edges, bind it and add casings to both the top and bottom edges

Quilting Tutorial: Marking Difficult Fabrics–Part 1

When I showed the quilt I am finishing for Jessica’s room I had questions about how I was going to mark the sections I had yet to do.

They were very legitimate questions as the background fabric is one of those that is hard to see marks on.

Add to that the fact that there is already a layer of wool batting behind the fabric because most of the quilt has already been quilted.

These are my 2 favorite things for marking quilting lines.

The Chalkoner has a wheel at the bottom and it dispenses a very fine line of chalk. I only use the white powder as the colors were difficult to impossible to remove.

I have had mine “forever” and had to do a Google search to find a source if you are interested in this.

http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Item_ID=1164&Store_id=516&page_id=23

It can be refilled. I have never used up the chalk in my original one.

I also use the Clover tailor’s chalk that you can get here.

http://www.jinnybeyer.com/ax_commerce/detail.cfm?productID=4DE6731FFD019FB1D65C773F3A2DFAA9

You may have other favorite marking devices but these work better than anything else I have tried and I probably have tried them all!

I made a pattern for my quilting lines from a piece of heavy template plastic. I laid this on one section of the quilt and marked all the horizontal quilting curved lines.

I used the Chalkoner. By the time I finished quilting you could no longer see any of the marking. I sometimes have to remark some areas.

I then did the same thing for the vertical curves. It is not easy to see the quilting on the pictures of this quilt. To me that is not a big deal. The quilting design enhances the design of the quilt. To me that is what quilting should do, not shout so loud it overpowers what you have created with your piecing.

Stay tuned and tomorrow I will share with you the way I quilted the triangle sections on the edges of this quilt.

In case you haven’t seen the entire quilt I’m adding a photo of it.