New Project In My Pipeline: Seven Sisters or Seven Stars Quilt for Hand Piecing

Inspiration: Seven Sisters Quilt Top by Martha Dellasega Gray (2014)

 

Isn't that Seven Sisters quilt top glorious?!  It was completed in 2014 by Martha Dellasega Gray and you can read all about it on her Q is for Quilter blog here.  I can't help myself, I have to make one, too (or at least START one!).  But before we start talking about the new project, I should do a quick recap of all my preexisting sewing projects for the sake of accountability:

• My StyleArc Nova Midi Dress: Fabric purchased, nothing cut out yet, found my Swedish Tracing Paper but still need to clear off my cutting table before tracing off the pattern pieces and making a start.  Still weighing pros and cons of sizing/pattern alteration options and bodice construction methods, and need a good stretch of uninterrupted time to work on that (I've had mostly fits and snatches of time here and there for sewing lately).
• My Deco Quilt: Remaining blocks for the entire quilt have been all cut out and ready to sew since before the move, but I haven't touched this one in over two months.  I am finding that I really miss having a big design wall where I can arrange/display a work in progress.  Seeing the quilt take shape on my design wall while working on the blocks was a major motivator in my previous studio, whereas completed blocks packed away in the closet are literally out of sight and out of mind.  There is one large wall in the central hallway of our new home that would work for a design wall, just to the left of our shared office and directly across from my little sewing room...  I have suggested a design wall in this location to my husband several times but the idea has not been well received thus far.  😞.  

My Deco Quilt In Progress, On My Old Design Wall, Boo Hoo...

Whig Rose Applique Progress, Christmas Tumbler Top + a Sizzling Star Quilt Finish

Hello, my friends!  How is your January shaking out so far?  Our Christmas decorations are packed away, my sons are out of my house and back at their respective colleges, and I've been sewing up a storm.  I won't get my hands on the first patterns for my Sarah Fielke BOMs until the LAST day of January, so I've been working on the backlog of client quilts in my queue and moving personal projects along so I'll be ready to kick off an Applique-Palooza on January 31st. Today I have two personal projects to share and one client's quilt to showcase.  I'll be linking up with all the usual suspects (favorite linky parties, listed on my blog sidebar).

FrankenWhiggish Rose Applique

Thanks largely to the Medici the Magnificent series on Netflix, I stitched the last of the leaves on my Whig Rose blocks last night.  Woo-hoo!  

FrankenWhiggish Rose Needleturn Applique In Progress

This is the first time I've had all nine blocks in progress on my design wall and I've gotta say, it's looking really encouraging!  The center block is the only one that's 100% finished, but I had forgotten that I had a second block (bottom left) that was nearly finished except for the stuffed berries near the corner tulips.  

Rebecca's Ultimate Etsy Gift Guide for Quilters and Crafters

 Hello, friends, and happy Nearly Thanksgiving to those of you in the United States!  Today's post is something I've never done before -- a shopping guide chock full of gift-worthy goodies that I personally would love to find under my tree on Christmas morning.  If you have quilters, sewists, or embroiderers on your shopping list this year, I have some suggestions that are sure to be received with delight.  (If YOU are the quilter/sewist/embroiderer reading this post, you may find a few items for your OWN wish list).  What's more, every item on my list is in stock and coming from a small craft business owner via Etsy -- and none of them contains those pesky microchips that are delaying just about everything else you might want to buy for the holidays this year.

A Few of My Favorite Tools

Each of the items on this list is something I personally own and love, or something I currently have on my own wish list.  Feel free to share this post with others, post on social media or wherever.  Disclaimer: this post does contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking my link.  I do appreciate your support of my wicked thread addiction!  😉

 Beautiful Tools: Where Form Meets Function

The items in this section are a pleasure to own and use because they combine the finest craftsmanship with beautiful design.  Bonus: They make great Instagram props to "style" your work-in-progress photos.

1. Hand Embroidered Felted Wool Pin Cushion from Etsy maker Martha of Quilt Shenanigans.  Who is this good for?  Anyone who does any kind of sewing at all can use a pin cushion, and these must take Martha hours to individually hand stitch and embellish with tiny beads.  Her hand stitching is exquisite, the felted wool is soft and luxurious to the touch, and the pin cushion is well-packed to hold its shape and is stable on a flat surface.  Even the slenderest pins slide in and out with ease, and she has lots of beautiful designs in stock to choose from.   

My New Favorite Pin Cushion, made by Martha of Quilt Shenanigans on Etsy 

2. Handmade, Hand Paired Embroidery Scissors from Maison Sajou.  These are manufactured by a 200-year old company in France, but available in several Etsy shops.  I got mine from Penelope Textiles' Etsy shop.  A few things to know: There are lots and lots of cheap imitations out there for a fraction of the price, but while the mass-produced knockoffs might look just as cute as photo props, there is no comparison to the way they actually cut.  It's like the difference between a Wustof steak knife versus the plastic knife that comes with your takeout order.  The lesser version SORT of cuts, but not cleanly or easily and it's not a joy to use!  Authentic Maison Sajou scissors are individually handmade by French craftsmen, with hand paired blades that are kept together throughout the entire production process to ensure that they match up perfectly. They are sharp, accurate, and cut smoothly and cleanly all the way to the tip (which is absolutely crucial for snipping the inside corner seam allowances in needle turned applique).  Who is this good for?  Anyone who enjoys any kind of hand stitching like cross stitch, embroidery, needle turned applique, or hand quilting would love to receive a pair of Sajou scissors!  In addition to the Hare design that I own, there is also a cute Eiffel tower version, gorgeous Art Nouveau Peacock scissors, and other historic reissue designs to choose from.  Of course, if you just want a cute pair of scissors for a photo prop, those cheaper knockoffs will suit you just fine!

Hand Paired Hare Embroidery Scissors from Maison Sajou, via Penelope Textiles on Etsy

SQUIRREL!! Needle-Turn Applique Tangent Delays Completion of Jingle BOM Quilt Top

Good morning!  Yes, I'm aware that it's afternoon, but I'm running sluggish this morning even after my second high-test espresso beverage, so it's still Monday Morning Mode for me.

I've been having so much fun working on this needle-turn applique block from the workshop I took two weekends ago, taught by Christa Smith of Cottonberry Quilts.  I deliberately chose wild and wacky fabrics for my block to give myself a break from the monotony of the soft, traditional color palette of my Frankenwhiggish Rose needle-turn applique WIPFAE (Work In Progress Forever And Ever), and I fussy-cut my leaves and berry-circle-thingys, out of Tula Pink's snail print and Kaffe Fassett's feather print fabrics.  There have been some unanticipated benefits to all of this reckless abandon!

My Workshop Block In Progress, Which I Have No Business Working on Right Now

First of all, the FUN FACTOR.  I am enjoying these bright, playful colors!  Second, since I cut each leaf out of a different section of the feather print, each one is different.  Each one is a delightful surprise as I finish stitching it and see what it's going to look like!  And, with these wacky fabrics and each leaf having a different part of the print anyway, it takes some of the pressure off that comes from trying to sew a block that is 100% symmetrical with every block 100% identical.  I think that the prepared edge applique method is probably better for when I want identical shapes that need to be placed precisely symmetrically on the block.  The drawn turning line for needle-turn smudges as I'm handling the piece during stitching and it's just more difficult to get each leaf to turn out exactly the same as the last one when I'm turning the edge under as I'm stitching it down.  

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy...

I started this piece using the Aurifil 80 weight cotton thread that Christa had on her supply list, but I quickly switched back to my YLI 100 weight silk thread as the Aurifil was constantly -- CONSTANTLY breaking on me.  Everyone hand stitches differently, and I'm not aware that any of the other students were having trouble with their Aurifil thread breaking, but I gotta do what works for me.  My suspicion is that my tiny stitches have something to do with it.  The more stitches per inch on your project, the more times each section of your length of thread is getting abraded by being dragged through your fabrics before it gets made into a stitch.  But hand stitching is incredibly personal, and everyone does it a little differently -- definitely a situation where "your mileage may vary."  Thread that works great for others snarls or breaks for me, and needles that work for others immediately bend on me, too.  

Jingle BOM, My First Applique Stitches in 2013 (Still a WIP)

See?  I'm sure a psychiatrist could diagnose me with half a dozen personality disorders based on the size of those stitches.  I've tried to make my stitches bigger because I know they are way smaller than necessary (small enough to cause distortion, IMPOSSIBLE to remove, like weaving the two fabrics together instead of stitching them) and most importantly -- those neurotic microscopic stitches make a slow stitching process even slower so nothing ever gets finished, but I'm on autopilot when I get into a stitching groove and this is what comes out.  I think I'm doing better now, but when I look at the back side of other quilters' applique -- GORGEOUS applique, skillfully made by quilters who know what they are doing -- I can still see that my stitches are closer together than they need to be:

My Applique Stitches Today

It would be easier to compare the stitch length if I'd included a penny in the photo from today, but if you click on the photos to enlarge them you can see that in 2013 there were places where I had more than one applique stitch on a single thread of the background fabric.  In the photo from today, most of my applique stitches span SEVERAL threads of background fabric.  I'm calling that PROGRESS, in my applique skills as well as in my mental health!  ;-)

Backside View, So You Can See What's Stitched Down and What's Just Pin Basted

Silk thread is just as fine as the 80 weight cotton, and it disappears just as well as I stitch it into the applique, but it is much, MUCH stronger.  Also slippery so it doesn't need any Thread Heaven or beeswax, and it shimmers in my sewing kit like jewels.  

So, speaking of that Jingle BOM (and speaking of WASTED EFFORT that no one will notice or appreciate in a finished quilt)...

Jingle BOM in Progress, On My Design Wall.

I spent some time in the studio over the weekend and finished cutting the stripes I wanted from my border print fabric.  In the photo above, I decided that I didn't like the small scale of the yellow/gold poinsettias in the outer border.  I like them in the INNER border near the applique medallion, but I'm cutting the flowered stripe out of the outer borders and seaming the adjacent stripes together to make it look like the flowers were never there.  

Delicate Border Print Stripe Surgery In Progress

I didn't think about how long it would take to cut these pieces in a single layer, carefully lining the stripe up with the quarter inch mark on my ruler all the way down both sides of each stripe for all four border lengths.

Sewing the Border Back Together Without the Poinsettias

Anyway, I've got all these border stripes cut now, and all but one of them is sewn back together, and then I'll have the outer borders ready to attach.  Meanwhile, I determined that I might not be able to live with my most recent plan for the inner border stripes.  I was going to "fill in" between the border stripe and the medallion with a green fabric, but when I measured and did the math it just seems like the green fabric would be too wide next to the skinnier stripes of the border print and the proportions might be off.  That would mean I need to do divide that space between more than one fabric border rather than just the green...  Delays, delays, delays!  UGH!  I want this project FINISHED already!!

And meanwhile that baby to whom I've promised a quilt is already over four weeks old with her quilt not started yet, and my church is sending me threatening letters about Quillow Sunday deadlines for June.

My EQ8 Design for the Baby Clam Shells Quilt That Isn't Started Yet

Okay, they are not intended to be threatening letters.  I PERCEIVE them to be threatening letters because my son's graduation quilt is a HIGH PRESSURE project with a hard deadline, and I haven't started that yet, either.  Aaargh!!!!!

My EQ8 Design for Lars's Graduation Quilt, Not Yet Started

Hey, I did another thing, though.  I got the binding made for the guild outreach cuddle quilt and hand stitched the label onto the back of the quilt yesterday:

Label Attached!  Bottom Edge Will Be Secured By Binding

This outreach quilt was pieced by another quilter and when I picked it up at the October(!) guild meeting, it was packaged into a little kit with batting, backing, label, and binding strips for me to finish.  But the binding fabric was a stripe, and now that we have seen my obsessive-compulsive applique stitches no one should be surprised that I was unable to join those binding strips without carefully aligning the stripes and glue basting each seam like a crazy person...  Binding is done now, ready to be sewn to the quilt.

Binding Made, Ready to Attach (After Quilt Label)

Sorry those two photos ended up out of order -- I took the picture of the binding before I attached the quilt label.  I was supposed to finish this quilt and bring it back to the NOVEMBER meeting, by the way, but it wasn't finished in time for the November meeting.  Or in time for the December meeting, or the January meeting...  We're rooting for the February meeting, and I don't think I should sign out any outreach quilt kits anymore.  If I'd made the whole thing out of fabrics in my own stash I wouldn't feel like I was "late" turning it in.

Whatever.  I'm headed upstairs to either work on the Jingle borders OR bind the outreach quilt, depending on my mood when I get to the top of the stairs.  Have a great week, everyone!  I'm linking up with:

• ·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com  
• ·       Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/
• ·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
• ·       Moving it Forward at Em’s Scrap Bag: http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.au/
• ·       BOMs Away at Katie Mae Quilts: https://www.katiemaequilts.com/blog/  
• WIPs on Wednesday at Esther's Blog: http://www.esthersquiltblog.com·       
• Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/

...And Now, Hand Stitching the Machine Embroidered Quilt Label

Appliqueing the Label to the Quilt Back Prior to Binding

So remember the label for my Tabby Mountain quilt that I designed in my Bernina v8 Designer Plus embroidery software and stitched out on my B 750QE sewing machine?  I designed and stitched out the label back in March, and stuck it on my design wall until the quilt was finished.  

Machine Embroidered, But Sewn to the Quilt Backing By Hand

There is a fatigue that sets in near the end of the quilting process, a desire to just be DONE WITH IT already, and I think that's why so many quilters don't label their quilts at all.  They want to "just get it done," and plan to add a label "later," but then they get excited about a new project and later never comes.  I try to combat that tendency by getting my label ready BEFORE I start quilting, so that it's ready to go as soon as I trim the finished quilt.

Hand/Machine Wash COLD Gentle, Dry Flat or Tumble LOW, DO NOT OVERDRY!

This quilt does have a wool batting, so I've included care instructions on my label.  I don't want to scare off my gift recipient from using her quilt with overly involved care instructions, but the main points to convey are washing in COLD water instead of warm, GENTLE cycle if machine washed (less vigorous agitation and a less aggressive spin cycle) and to avoid overdrying the quilt.   I used this batting on my son Lars's Drunken Dragons quilt several years ago and, even though I confess that I have not always followed those care instructions myself, that quilt is aging nicely.  The wool batting is warm and snuggly and has a nice drape, even with a densely quilted quilt, and I can tell as I'm hand stitching the label that it's a great batting for hand quilting as well.  My needle is just gliding through it like a hot knife cutting into a stick of butter. 

I like to put my quilt label in one of the corners of my quilts so that only two sides of the label need to be appliqued to the quilt backing.  The other two sides will be secured by the binding stitches.  That helps to ensure the label won't ever fall off the quilt (although my hand stitches are spaced as close together as machine stitches, so they're pretty secure).  

One funny thing -- I'm using 60/2 cotton embroidery thread to applique the label to the quilt backing, and it feels like I'm sewing with ROPE now that I've grown accustomed to using YLI silk thread for needle turned applique!  

I did end up having to buy binding fabric, but I found a pretty purple fabric at my local Bernina dealer 5 minutes from my house rather than having to travel to my not-quite-local quilt shop (also a Bernina dealer, coincidentally) that is between 40 minutes and an hour and a half away, depending on whether I hit rush hour traffic on the Interstate.  I wish my local Bernina dealer carried more fabric inventory, and more contemporary fabric lines (Tula Pink, Kona and Bella Solids, Kaffe Fassett), like the faraway dealer does.  Anyway, today I didn't need a whole bunch of different fabrics; I just needed ONE fabric that would complement the fabrics in my quilt for a binding, and I'm glad I found it at my Bernina dealer's shop.  It's so nice to walk in and be greeted people who treat me like family and call me by name.

Eagerly Awaiting Binding!

And now, here it is nearly 9 PM, and I have prewashed/preshrunk my binding fabric but haven't yet cut and joined the strips, let alone sewn it to my quilt.  

So obviously, my To-Do for Tuesday has got to be BINDING THIS QUILT!  And that's it, folks, because whenever I try to come up with a list of weekly goals for this linky, I just end up feeling badly about not reaching them.  ONE goal, that's all: Just the binding!

I'm linking up with: 

• ·       To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com
• ·       WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

VICTORY! FW1930s Block 88 "Prudence," Second-Try Success

FW1930s Block 88, Prudence

Second time's the charm!  I am SO glad to be finished with the Pernicious Prudence block.  I set my first awful attempt aside, the one I was trying to save with EPP, and started over on this block.  I found several tutorials online from other quilters who had simplified the block construction by adding seams in various places, but I really wanted to challenge myself to make the block exactly as it appears in he book. 

This time around, I precut ALL of my shapes using the templates printed off the CD, but with seam allowances enlarged to 3/8".  I was more careful with my FPP to be sure that my fabric pieces completely covered the foundation papers, and one thing that made a huge difference was that this time I did not sew through any of the seam allowances of any of the angled or Y-seams.  I marked my foundations with a little red "X" to remind myself where I had to start right on the seam intersection, and backstitched those seams.  That made it MUCH easier to precisely align the raw fabric edges on the wonky crooked seam lines, because each seam allowance became a little "hinge" where I could pivot the fabric. 

I also was more careful in trimming the seam allowances of each completed foundation paper segment this time.  I always trim the block segments with my ruler and rotary cutter, laying the 1/4" ruler line right on top of the seam line on the foundation pattern, and then slicing next to the ruler edge rather than trimming the segments to size by cutting along the dotted line with a scissor.  Well, this is not an easy feat when you have pieces with inside angles like with this Prudence block.  In my first attempt, I just cut those inside corners on the dotted line.  But on my second, more successful go, I opened the loose seam allowances up at those corners and cut the fabric straight at the overlaps so the raw edges at the crucial intersections would be straight and flush.  I should have taken a picture to explain this better, but my phone was playing music from the stereo in the other room...  So, no pictures from those stages.

Lots of Seams Pressed Open in Prudence Block

I pressed the center seams open on the center octagon as well as the side triangles to reduce bulk: 

Center Seam on Side Triangle Sections Pressed Open to Reduce Bulk Around Octagon

Everything comes along nicely in this block right up until this point, when you realize that you have to sew the big corner sections to the center thingy that is shaped like a vintage Christmas ornament: 

Prudence's Point of No Return

Yikes, right?!  But this time, it wasn't that bad.  Tedious and time-consuming, but actually POSSIBLE.  I stitched one side to the center completely by machine, one little straight edge at a time, pinning and backstitching and clipping, then pivoting, pinning, backstitching, and clipping again.  On the second side, I decided it would be faster AND more accurate to stitch the seams around the octagon by hand, so that's what I did. 

Hand Stitching Around Octagon for Greater Control

I just drew my 1/4" seamline in chalk from the start of one seam to the beginning of the next, and backstitched along the chalk line.  It's easier to keep your seam allowances out of the way when stitching by hand than when you have to flatten everything and fold the rest of the block out of the way so you can stitch these itty bitty angled seams by machine.  Once I had the seam around the octagon completely stitched all the way around, it wasn't a big deal to machine stitch the rest of that seam alongside the skinny red triangles and then closing the green corners of the block.

So Prudence is done.  She's not perfect, but she's pretty accurate considering what a pain the in the arse she was.  And best of all, she measures precisely 6 1/2".  I'm calling it a win.

Prudence Finished at 6 1/2" Square

I did the foundation paper piecing of this block on my Bernina 750QE with 9 mm Patchwork foot 97D, because I love the bright lights and auto knotting features for sewing right down those FPP lines and it's so easy to center the stitching line between the narrow open toe area on that foot.  Then, after trimming the completed FPP sections and removing the papers, I finished piecing the blocks on my 1934 Featherweight with my vintage Singer Cloth Guide screwed into the machine bed at 1/4" from the needle and the original multipurpose foot that came on that machine.  I really prefer my Featherweight for Y-seams because the computerized Bernina sometimes takes an unpredictable extra stitch in the wrong direction when I press the reverse button.  The all-mechanical Featherweight immediately changes direction when I flip the lever up or down, so every stitch is controlled as precisely as if I was stitching by hand.  I also love the narrow feed dogs of the Featherweight for piecing.  It took some measuring and fiddling to get that seam guide attached at exactly the right distance from the needle, so I just leave it on the machine.  That's the other reason I'm doing the FPP part on my Bernina, so I don't have to remove the seam guide from my Featherweight.

Here's my collection of 6" sampler blocks so far, from The Farmer's Wife, Farmer's Wife 1930s, and Charise's Vintage Block Quilt Along:

Completed 6" Sampler Blocks

I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and then I'm headed out for a belated birthday girls' night in celebration of my good friend and theatre sister (yes, that's a Thing).  Happy Thursday!