Design Wall Monday: K's Quilt for Bobbby is Ready for the Handoff!

Somehow, in between Mary Poppins rehearsals, laundry, and driving kids around, I managed to get K's quilt for her son all kitted up and ready for her to assemble the blocks into a quilt top.  I threw the blocks up on my design wall just to be sure I didn't make any mistakes before I packed the blocks up in labeled ziplock bags:

Blocks Laid Out on Design Wall, Ready To Assemble Quilt Top

I am giving K a diagram of the quilt top along with instructions for setting up her sewing machine for patchwork, straight set piecing instructions, and instructions for attaching the borders.  As long as she gets this back to me by May 1st, I should be able to get it machine quilted for her in time for the early June Quillow service.

By the way, this will be a regular quilt, not a quillow -- K doesn't think her son would want to bother trying to fold it up and stuff it into a pillow, and sewing the pillow cover to the back of the quilt would really restrict the quilting design since those stitches would have to go through all 3 layers of the quilt. 

Here's a closer look at the center block of the quilt:

I ended up doing fusible applique with a single blanket stitched edge, and a double stitched satin stitch for the black cross.  Interestingly, when I attempted to shorten the stitch length so that the satin stitches were touching, I got tunneling and puckering on my sample even though I was using a stabilizer beneath the decorative stitching.  Sewing the lines with the default satin stitch spacing and then going back over them again was the key to getting that full, solid coverage without any problems.  The black and gold thread are both Isacord polyester embroidery thread.

Considering that the only time I ever did machine applique like this was the little sample heart we did in machine mastery class however many years ago, I think this came out pretty good.  How do I love my Bernina?  Let me count the ways...

And now this Bird Woman needs to get some sleep!

Ready-to-Wear Inspiration: Decorative Machine Stitches at Lucky Brand and Quilt Block Bodices at Anthropologie

Riley Schiffli Shorts from Lucky Brand, $79.50

A couple of catalogs caught my eye yesterday as I was tossing them into the recycle bin.  You know all those decorative stitches programmed into our sewing machines -- hundreds and hundreds of them?  What to my wondering eyes should appear, but cutoff jean shorts at Lucky Brand Jeans that have been decorated with decorative machine stitches along the cut edge to look like eyelet.  How cute is that? 

Hmmm..  Somewhere I have a pair of beloved jeans with a ripped knee that I couldn't bear to throw away.  Maybe I'll try to create a longer version of these shorts?  The only thing that I haven't worked out in my head is that bulky double-felled side seam.  I might have to completely open up that seam to do the embroidery stitches, then resew it with matching jeans thread, because I can't imagine decorative stitches would form properly if I tried to stitch them across that thick seam.



Sunburst Maxi Dress from Anthropologie, $228

The other interesting piece I saw was in an Anthropologie catalog.  At first glance, I thought the bodice of this summer maxi dress was made from a paper-pieced quilt block.  Closer inspection indicates that the starburst design is embroidered and beaded, but still -- why NOT make a dress bodice out of quilt blocks?  I'm not sure I like the bib-like shape of this dress, but there's no reason any pattern for a woven fabric couldn't be cut from quilt blocks that were made just a bit larger than the pattern pieces.  I think I'd line the bodice to make sure the raw edges of the seam allowances don't unravel and come apart as the dress was washed. 

Well, I'm in dire and desperate need of a haircut and my appointment is at noon.  I have several errands to run beforehand, so I'd best step away from the computer and get on with the day.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!