How’s this for something different?

I think my soul died a little while I was making this quilt. It’s the Turning Twenty Again pattern (first time I’ve ever followed a pattern) and it’s sooooo far outside my comfort zone with the fabrics (Emilie’s raspberry patch from connectingthreads.com)

Anywho. It’s for my mom who loves the fabric and the quilt. She’s seen it on my design wall yesterday and today but she doesn’t know it’s for her. I’ve given her three quilts so far all of which had lots of problems. The first had photo transfers which washed off and it was one of my first so it’s…okay, it’s crappy.

The second was a pink and brown ohio rose with buttons, but i f’d it all up during quilting. The third was the nicest top in black and white with a thread painted bird on it, but it got all messed up when i quilted it on my DSM. So this is a new one, which I’ll quilt on my frame and make sure it looks all nice and pretty.

I’m going to do custom quilting on it but I have no idea what. I looked around and I think I saw 2-3 TT without pantographs. It should be fun

Applique Follow up.

I need to figure out how to reply to comments until that happens, here’s how i roll.

I design the applique with paper and pencil

I scan the applique into photoshop and tweak it, adjust it, often times mirror it if i’m only drawing half.

Then I print on to Ricky Tim’s Stable Stuff. Let me clarify that the ONLY reason I use his product is because it’s already cut at 8.5×11 My prefered product is Floriani stitch and wash fusible, which apparently comes in 8.5×11 sheets (just found that out, sigh) but i have a big roll. It’s the same weight at the Stable Stuff, but it has a fusible on it, so you can skip a step in the gluing process.

The edges are turned with my thumb nail, which I grew out just for applique. They’re ironed dry/flat and then glued together with the school glue. I applique them down with sulky mono (it’s a poly) using the zig zag on my bernina 1.6 width, 2 length.

The most important part to doing this method of applique (as I’ve learned over the past few months) is that the finished quilt can’t just be washed. It had to be soaked. The stabilizer will turn to fiber when wet, but the glue doesn’t come out with just one quick washing. It needs to sit for a few hours (i do overnight) and then it can be washed regularly.

I wash in cold with synthrapol. I use cold because of the way myfabrics are dyed. I can’t wash in hot after using retayne. There you go, applianswers.

keep on keepin’ on

I’m not sure where these motifs will end up, but I like ’em

96 triangles left. woohoo

Applique and more triangles.

I’m having nightmares about half square triangles. They keep attacking me and hissing :(!

Anyway. Here’s how I do applique

First I design the applique (duh) and then mark and number the pieces to determine what needs to be turned and what doesn’t. My pieces are cut from a watersoluble foundation and then glued to the fabric before they’re turned. It’s basically Sharon Schambers technique, but I don’t personally like her foundation, since I’m not going to pay 4$ a yard first of all and because i’d have to cut those sheets down to fit in my printer.

Anywho, i cut out and turn all my pieces and then use my layout sheet to put them together upsidedown and backwards

I think this works really well to do things in units and then glue them to the quilt. This is particularly handy if you’re doing multiples (which I am. You ladies fans of multiples? I THOUGHT SO)

It’s all glued together with the elmer’s CLEAR washable school glue, which is super stickier when compared to the white glue and it’s clear so less crap to wash out=yay

Then I keep going and have a bunch of handy units to glue down with the clear glue and then machine applique. I couldn’t decide between the blanket stitch and invisible applique so i did both. Invisible on the purple oval, green rayon on the green pieces and a bright turquoiuse on the circle.

Now they’re good to go!

I have 22 more triangles to piece for this border, then a solid 8 inch purple border, then 128 more 2 inch triangles in black and purple, then a 10 inch black border. Waahoo.

I’ve been going nonstop since about 10am. I am wiped. Anyway, one more unit of applique to put together. yay.

I can’t figure out how to turn my comments back on

Which is weird, but whatever. I’ll figure it out when I have time.

I have pneumonia! It sucks, but whatever again.

I’m waiting for 25 yards of fabric to come in from Dharma and until it comes I have nothing to piece so I started on the applique for my pink and green quilt.

This is my little prototype which I’m glad I did because it’s not exactly what i wanted so I’ll have to redesign the applique. It’s a little lopsided on the bottom. I’m not sure if I’m going to do a blanket stitch or zig zag with the invisible thread. I like the idea of the blanket stitch but I would have for anyone to assume I’d applique with fusibles.  I’m gonna try out both and see what I like.

The way I figure I can either spend each day reading emails from people begging me to blog again, or I can just say a big “%$#@ you!” to the people who have a problem with me which lets face it is a problem they have with themselves.

Out of respect for mutual friends I won’t go into it (as I haven’t yet) I’ll just write what I want and if anyone has a problem with it. Well…nah, I won’t say anything foul. I’m a gentleman after all.

I finished my lonestar

I have a new quilt on my frame:

And I’m waiting on more fabric to dye, so I can continue piecing my next big quilt:

It’s much brighter than that. I’m growing out my thumbnail so i can turn all the edges for some pretty serious applique.