Sister's Choice Quilts

How I Applique Stem Units

The Tumbling Leaves pattern calls for nine Maple Leaf blocks, each with an appliquéd stem.  The little unit that the stem is appliquéd onto is only 2 inches square.  

The first step is to make bias stems.  The pattern said to cut bias strips 3/4" wide.  I thought that was way, way too small.  I cut mine 1 1/2" inches wide.  I like to sew them wrong sides together with a 1/8" seam allowance.

Cut a 45 degree bias strip, fold it wrong sides together and stitch it with a 1/8" seam allowance.  Insert a metal Celtic Bias bar (whichever one in the pack is closest in size.  You twist it slightly using the bias bar as a guide so that the seam allowance is completely hidden underneath.  Press well.  The photo above shows my bias strip, stitched, but not twisted onto the bias bar.

This is a bias strip which has been twisted around the bias bar and pressed.   It was supposed to end up about 5/8" wide according to the pattern, and I think mine were 1/2".  Close enough.  You can't see that unfinished seam at all, since it is turned around to the back.  Easy peasy.

I fooled around a bit trying to figure out how to secure my bias strip on a perfect diagonal.  I tried pins and the results were unreliable.  I then tried my little SewLine glue pen and that was the way to go.  I just stuck it on the background square and appliquéd it in place.  No need for pins.

I set up all my little Maple Leaf units for assembly line sewing.

My appliqué technique is to use an open toe appliqué foot (#20 on my Bernina), invisible thread on the top, regular thread on the bottom, and a blind hem stitch.  I do fusible appliqué  (I used Pellon Wonder Under because it was what I had on hand), with a raw edge on my fabric.  No starch, no turned under edges.   I am not an appliqué expert by any stretch of the imagination, but the results were acceptable to me.

If you enlarge the photo, you can clearly see that my appliqué is far from perfect, but that invisible thread really does disappear.

I guess my message is--even if you aren't an expert, give appliqué a try.  There are so many cute projects that incorporate appliqué.  Life is short, try something new.

Making Perfect Circles for Applique

The first step in making perfect appliqué circles is a product appropriately called Perfect Circles, by Karen Kay Buckley.  The package consists of a whole bunch of circles which range in size from 2 1/4 inches to 4 1/2 inches.  They are made from heat resistant plastic, and will not melt when ironed.  There is a package with even smaller circles available as well, but the large ones are the ones I have used.

First step is to trace the size circle you are making on the wrong side of your fabric.  I needed a four and half inch finished circle, so I had to guestimate a quarter inch seam allowance all the way around.  It gets turned over, so precision isn't critical.

I grabbed my cut out circles and went out to the porch where the light was good to baste my circles.  Here is how I did it:

Here is the wrong side of my circle resting on my leg while I baste it about an eighth of an inch from the edge.

 

Once you baste all around the edge of the fabric, place your template plastic circle on top of the wrong side of your fabric circle, centering it.  Gently pull both ends of your gathering thread until the edge folds over evenly all around the circle.

 

Here is my little set up on the ironing board. By the way, I am using my Steady Betty board on top of the ironing board so I have a super firm surface for pressing.   I sprayed a bit of liquid starch into a little bowl.  I applied it with the brush all around the inside edge of the circle.  You could also just spray the whole circle with the starch but it made a mess and seemed wasteful of the starch.  Using the brush just apply the starch where you want it.

Once you get the edges pretty saturated with the starch, iron all around your turned edge.  I then let everything sit for a bit to thoroughly dry out before removing the plastic circle.

And there is my finished perfect circle.  Took longer to explain than to make it!

These circles will get cut equally into quarters to be appliquéd to the wedge sections.  More on that in a future post.  

Dimestore, Quilted

This is a little spring table topper for my son in law.  He seems to be getting a lot of goodies from me lately, but he deserves it, so that's ok.  One of his wines just won a gold medal in our local county judging and I am pretty excited for him.  He is a winemaker, maybe I have mentioned that before.  He makes California wines in the Italian style.  His Sangiovese is what won this year.  His label is La Folia.  Win or not, I promised him a cheerful and seasonal table topper and here it is.

This is Dimestore, a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's Company, made up in Urban Cowgirl by Urban Chics for Moda.  I finished the top a couple of years ago, but only just got it quilted this last weekend.  His china set will go with it just perfectly and I think it will look splendid on his table.

I quilted it with my Wiggle Stitch, which never lets me down.  I have a tutorial on how I do it, check it out if you are interested.

 

Come On, Admit It

Let's be honest.  Is your ironing board cover disgusting?  I doubt it is as revolting a sight as mine, but I bet it  shows some signs of wear and tear.  Three years ago I made myself a new ironing board cover.  I used a tutorial by Sew Much Good, which was excellent, and had a new cover fairly painlessly in just a couple of hours.

It was about two years overdue, but I made myself a new one yesterday, using this fast and easy tutorial.  I really couldn't stand looking at that sad, stained cover for one more minute.

The first step is to cut a two yard long by 20 inches wide piece of fabric.  The great thing about this is that you and a friend could buy a two yard length of fabric, cut it in half lengthwise and each get a new ironing board cover out of it.  Or make one for now and one for later, or one for you and one for a gift.  Seriously?  My friend Lisa gave me a cute ironing board cover once, and I think it was one of the best presents I ever received.  I was thrilled.

So let me show you the process:

I flipped the ironing board on top of the wrong side of the fabric and traced around it about three inches out from the edge of the board.  I used a combination of pins, tailors chalk and a ruler.

Then I cut on my drawn line all around the piece of fabric.

The next step is to make a mile of bias tape.  Why is it I can never just do that without checking a reference book for the right technique?  I am always afraid I am doing something wrong.  After pressing the  bias tape in half, the next step is to attach it to the cover with some 1/4" wide elastic.

You carefully position the elastic on the inside fold of the bias tape and sew the raw edge of the bias tape all around the cover, being careful not to catch the elastic in your stitching.  (Check out the tutorial, the author's photos and instructions are way better than mine).

Fiddle around with the elastic until it is just right, and secure it with some stitches.  Now place your new ironing board cover on your board and fiddle a bit more until it is even and taut all around.

And there you go.  Now I just need to promise myself to do this every year instead of every three. So, how about it?  Want a new ironing board cover in a couple of hours?  Check out that tutorial and make yourself one!

And while you are here, notice in the background that all my Steampunk blocks are done!  Now I am appliquéing the center circles in place.   Lattices are next.  Ugh.  I hate making lattices.

 

Easiest Quilt Labels Ever

 Do you hate making quilt labels?  I do.  I used to be fairly good about labeling the quilts I made, and still am, but only the ones I give away.  It seems such a bother, such a last minute after thought.  I know how important it is, so for me, it's one more thing to feel guilty about, like not flossing before bedtime, or neglecting to recycle properly.

So, recently I discovered a couple of quilt labels that were made in this very clever manner.  I tried it out on the baby quilt Sara made and think this will be my new "go to" method of putting on a label.

So, here's what I did.  I cut out a four inch square of white cotton fabric, and a four inch square of freezer paper.  I ironed the freezer paper to the fabric and folded the two layers to form a triangle.  The purpose of the freezer paper is to make a firm surface to write on.  You know how when you try to write on a piece of fabric, it is kind of all over the place?  Well, this keeps it all firm and steady and easy to write on without messing up.

 Not the neatest printing job, but there you have it, I have written my label.  I should have squeezed in the town and state where the quilt was made, but I forgot.  When you try this, you will do a much better job than I did.

 Now, whip off that piece of freezer paper and discard it.

 

 Place the folded triangle right up to the edge of the back of your quilt, snugging it into the corner.  Using your sewing machine, sew a couple of inches along the two short sides of the triangle.  Keep back from your quarter inch seam allowance.  I think I did a 1/8" seam.  Don't bother going all around the triangle, just do the two sides.   You can do this before or after you have sewn on the binding (but before you hand sew the edge of the binding down).

The idea is to affix the raw edges of the label to the quilt.  Your stitching lines will be under the binding and will not show.  The folded edge is now on the outside edge, forming a little pocket in the corner on the back of the quilt.  I suppose if the pocket aspect bugs you, you could hand stitch down the folded edge to the backing, but it didn't bother me.

I had already sewn the binding to the quilt, so all I had to do was flip my binding over and hand sew down as usual. 

This could not have been faster or easier.  Took three times longer to explain than to do it.  No more excuses not to attach a label to your quilts!

Orange Peel Block Tutorial

Lucky me, I have had lots of sewing time this week.  I am still working on getting the border on my Rhubarb Whirl quilt, and won't subject you another photo of that thing in progress.  It's coming along very well.

Do you remember me posting about wanting to make an Orange Peel quilt awhile back?  (Sometimes this block is called Flower Petals or Melon Peel).

I think this block is usually appliqued, either by hand or by machine.  I tried doing that, and my results were not so great.  I got better looking blocks if I did hand applique, but honestly, do I want to be working on this project until 2025?

So.  I ordered an acrylic template set from Baycreek Quilting Templates and decided to try machine piecing these blocks together.  And you know what?  I think I like making them that way.  Make no mistake about it, these blocks do not go together like greased lightening.  The cutting is fairly time consuming, but the piecing is easy, and I will be happy to show you how I do it.

FIrmly finger press the center points on the peel and background units.  Can you see my little creases?  I am going to match those up.

Place a pin where those center crease marks line up.

Place pins at the beginning and end of the seam line where you will be stitching. 

Notice my pin placement.  Take just the teensiest "bite" out of the fabric with the pins.  I don't know why this is important, but it is.

Stitch those two curved pieces together, slowly, with your needle in the down position.  Your background piece will be on the top.  Here is another tip--take a *narrow* quarter inch seam allowance.  Don't think about it too hard, but just try to be on the narrow side of a quarter inch.

No need to get up and press, unless you want to.  I just finger pressed the stitched side, and then repeated the procedure for the other side of the unit.

And there you go, one of the four units you need to make one block.  I know, it isn't a quilt you are going to get done in a weekend, but if you make a few blocks a week you will have it done before you know it.

How To Make A Perfect Pinwheel Block

The quilt I have been working on recently has a lot of pinwheel blocks.  (And yes, I did fix that one that was turned wrong).  A friend reminded me that when I made a pinwheel quilt about six years ago I announced that I would never make another pinwheel block in my life.  I thought they were fussy and fiddly and I must have unsewed half of the ones I made.  What happened to change my mind?

I got a tip that was a complete game changer for me as far as pinwheel blocks are concerned.

I took a class with Carrie Nelson (Moda Rosie, Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, LaVie en Rosie) and learned from her how to make a perfect, flat pinwheel.  A few people commented that they didn't have good luck with pinwheel blocks, so I just have to share what Carrie taught me.  It only takes seconds and makes all the difference.

First, arrange your half square triangles in the correct pinwheel pattern for your project.

Sew the top two units together.  Sew the bottom two units together.

RIght sides together, place a pin at the exact point where the four half square triangles intersect.  Get that pin right on the point on both the top and bottom sections.  Sew the two sections together, carefully removing the pin as you get to it.

So, here is the secret:

See where my seam ripper is aimed?  Remove those three or four little stitches that are at the top of the vertical seam leading up to the raw edge.  Insert your seam ripper and gently tug them out.  They come out easily.

Now flip the block over and do the exact same thing on the other side.  Obviously, be careful and don't remove any stitches below that horizontal seam line.

Fiddle with the seam with your fingers, pressing the seams in opposing directions.  Look what happens!  The center seams flop apart and form a mini pinwheel.  

The significance of this, is that now your pinwheel block center is going to lie as flat as a pancake and all your points will come together perfectly.

Trust me, this took five times longer to describe than to actually do it.  If you haven't heard of this method for pinwheel blocks, give it a try.  I think you will be pleased with the results.

I Broke Up With My Thread Catcher

I made this little thread catcher a couple of years ago.  (Tutorial here). It is cute, makes a fun little gift for girlfriends, and is fine for hand sewing or to take to classes or on retreats.  The problem is, it is too darn small for general purposes.  We haven't really quarreled, but the bloom is off the rose.  It is just not suitable for my needs.  I have been thinking of breaking up with this thread catcher for awhile now, and when I saw a blog post by The Quilt Barn yesterday, my mind was made up.  Tara linked to a tutorial created by The Sewing Chick for the perfect (for me) thread catcher.

So there you have it.  Sorry little thread catcher, you have been replaced.  My new thread catcher was easy to make with materials I had on hand, is cute as can be, and is big as a bucket.

That's more like it.  Plenty of room not just for threads, but little snippets and any other trimmings.

I did make one change to the instructions, which called for canvas duck fabric, which I did not have on hand.  The canvas is used inside the basket for stiffining.  I took muslin instead and used Steam A Seam to give it more body in place of the canvas.  It worked fine.

My brown corner square fabric arrived yesterday, so I am now ready to finish up the remaining four blocks of Metro Hoops and with luck, wrap that project up this weekend.  Hope you all have some great plans this weekend to do just what it is that will make you happy.

Once More With Feeling...

I know I have posted on how to make flying geese in the past, but I continue to get requests from readers on what my favorite method is.  Without a doubt, my favorite method is to make the flying geese units larger than necessary, and to use Monique Dillard's Fit to be Geese ruler to accurately trim them down to a uniform, perfect size.  The ruler comes with instructions, but I am sharing some photos to show you how I do it.  

For my current project, I need 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch finished geese.  I used Monique's "Mini Fit to be Geese" ruler for this project.  I cut 2 1/2 inch squares of print fabric for my geese, and cut them in half once on the diagonal.  For the "sky" part of the unit, I cut 2 1/4 inch squares of background fabric, and cut those in half once on the diagonal.  I sewed the sky units to the short sides of the geese units and ended up with units that look like those in the photo below.  Too large, but with plenty of room to be trimmed down to the perfect size.

Kind of wonky, oversized flying geese.  No prob, I have my Fit to be Geese ruler to make things right.

Position the ruler over the unit and trim off the top according to the ruler's measurement, which is clearly marked for the size unit you are making.

Flip the unit upside down, position the ruler with everything all lined up, and trim the bottom of the unit.

Flip the unit 180 degrees, line it up with the lines designating your final measurement, and trim the third side.

Flip the unit again, and trim the remaining side. It is so easy, the lines keep you totally on track for a perfect finished unit.

Now, just compare that perfect flying goose unit with the ones on the left that are waiting to be trimmed.  Do you see the difference?  Sloppy, wonky, oversized geese are transformed into perfect, no sweat, go together without any fudging flying geese.  All exactly the finished size that you want.  Exactly, I promise.  Every single one.  If you don't have this ruler, get it.

How I Do Machine Applique

First of all, let me put it right out there that I am not an expert on this subject by any means.  I am learning as I go, and I am loving how fun machine applique is.   Several of you have emailed me to ask what technique I use, so I thought I would do a post on my methods.

There are dozens of ways to do machine applique, all which give good results.  This is just the way I happen to do it and so far so good as far as I am concerned.

A product that is so essential, I doubt I'd get good results without, is Seam A Seam 2.  It comes in sheets, but I find it more economical to buy it by the roll.

It comes with helpful instructions in three languages, telling you how to use it.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so here goes.

Basically, the stuff is a fusible interfacing that has paper on two sides.  One side of the paper comes off without hardly trying.  I am lifting that layer up in the photo above.  The layer on the bottom is the sticky iron on interfacing and another more secure layer of paper.

You want to trace your applique design *on the paper that is adhering most securely*.  You can also use a plastic template if you prefer.  Trace the design on the template, cut it out and trace around it on the top of the Seam A Seam 2.

I am using a Sharpie pen to trace my design.  The thing about applique is (and you will realize this at some point once you are into it), sometimes you need to reverse the design.  I don't know what to tell you about this, except to keep your wits about you.  If you want your kitty cat to be looking to the right, you may have to reverse the design in order to achieve that.  Nothing worse that cutting out your shape, ironing it onto your fabric, and then realizing Kitty is looking in the opposite direction.  Sometimes your pattern gives you a clue, but often not.  These simple star shapes don't have that issue since the design in the same no matter if it is reversed or not.

NOTE:  As some readers have commented, if your applique piece is large (such as my pumpkins), you may want to cut out the center of your Steam A Seam 2 shape to eliminate extra stiffness.  For the tiny shapes I don't think it matters so much.

Cut your paper pattern out, leaving a rough seam allowance all around the edges.

So, then remove that piece of paper that is practically falling off anyway, and iron the side that is now exposed to the WRONG side of your fabric.  This may seem obvious, but if you are a beginner, then God bless you, you might do it wrong the first time.  I did.  Use a pressing cloth.  The fusible stuff is sticky and will really mess up your iron.

Now you are ready to cut out your shape, just like playing paper dolls.

Cut on the lines.

Now you are ready to peel off that second layer of paper that wants to stick better.  It comes off pretty easily but you might need to use your fingernail or the point of your seam ripper to get it started.  What you now have on the wrong side of your applique shape is a sticky surface. 

Position your applique piece on the right side of your background.

Iron it down.  I am not using a pressing cloth in this picture in order for you to see things clearly.  But, when you iron your piece down *use a pressing cloth*.  Promise me. 

Now your little shape is all ready to applique in place.  You are going to use a blanket stitch and sew right over those raw edges, which are all stablilized by the Seam A Seam 2.  It will be a nice stiff surface to sew on.

I match my thread (top and bobbin) to the piece being appliqued.  I use an Open Toe applique foot.  In my case, a  #20 for my Bernina.  The thing about the open toe foot is that you can see just where the needle is going to go down, and therefore fudge it around a bit to get it in exactly the right spot. 

Tools, friends.  Use the right tool for the job and you will be a happy camper.

I set my machine to the Blanket Stitch, which on my Bernina is #25.  Your machine may have a different number, but see the little picture?  It is like a backwards comb.  That is what you want.  The needle goes down on the very outside edge of the applique piece for a couple of stitches, then takes a little bite into the body of the piece.  Isn't it neat and tidy?

Here is a finished star.  Some folks have asked if the star points are tricky and they really aren't.  With that open toe foot, you can totally see where you are, and going slowly, position your needle just right every time. 

Oh, that is another tip.  Go slowly.  And if you are working with a really teensy piece, you may want to shorten (make smaller) your stitch length.

I have not been doing this long, but I tell you, when I look at what I have accomplished, I am really satisfied!  I think applique adds a fabulous touch to a quilt.  If you haven't tried it, do give it a chance.  It is so fun.