Selecting Fabrics Part 2

This second group of fabrics met my "elegant" expectation but presented some problems. I could not transfer the quilting design onto the black or red fabrics with a light table like the blue quilt. I solved the problem by having Quilting Creations International make me custom stencils for the blocks. These designs will be added to the QCI line this spring and we will have them on our website as soon as they are available.

The next problem was thread. I originally planned to use a taupe for all the colors. Bad choice. It was too obvious on the cream and did nothing for the red or black. Cream on cream was nice but what about the red and the black? I made some samples and determined red on black and red on red was the best. I then tried several red threads. My husband, Andy, voted for metallic and I agreed. Problem solved.

Red metallic thread for the black and red, cream on cream.

Final problem - What to quilt in the outside border? I eventually quilted 1/2" parallel lines. Stitching the close lines with the walking foot slightly stretched and distorted the border. Luckily, the wool batting blocked nicely so the borders lie flat.

Triangle parallel lines repeat in the border.

Finished!

Selecting Fabric Part I

This fabric is traditional and in my comfort zone. I love blue! However, when I got the fabric home and laid it out, I wasn't sure it was the look I wanted. How often does that happen? I went ahead and made the quilt testing my pattern and quilting design because I like the fabric so much. Here it is before the final blocking.

 I was able to transfer the printed design to the cream and tan fabrics using a light table.
Chalk and Stabilo pencil worked great for the blue triangles and border.

I quilted with thread that blended but still showed the quilting design.  

 Navy thread, busy print, and dark value makes the design hard to see in the outside border.
Although I am pleased with my quilt and will use it on my table,
I still want a more elegant look for HMQS. . . . next blog.

Quilting Design for HMQS Display

I designed three different feather blocks and a feather border. The white block feather is also in the center square. The little black square motif is in the border corners and is also repeated in the four corners of the center square. These are formal feathers so I have to backtrack. The extra work is worth it because they are such pretty feathers. For the triangles I will do parallel lines and maybe in the outside border as well.

Fabric comes next. Like I said earlier, I'm doing this project backwards.

Designing a Quilt for HMQS

I have been working on a new quilt for the teacher display at HMQS in May. Usually quilters select the pattern and fabric, piece the quilt, and then figure out the quilting design. Since my focus is on machine quilting I'm doing it backwards. I want feathers and lots of them so I need the piecing to be simple with large open areas.

Although I like these blocks and they look great with borders, the feather designs I have in mind are not triangles and the pieces are still relatively small.

The block on the left is a little too plain but the Federal Square block on the right works. One decision made - check back to see the feather quilting design!

Introduction to Machine Quilting Class

Village Dry Goods and I teamed to do a local workshop prior to HMQS.  Our Introduction to Machine Quilting class was too big for the shop so we met in the fire station kitchen (the large meeting room was scheduled with important political meetings.)

It was a little crazy with 15 quilters learning the basics but I love to see the excitement as students figure out that they can free motion quilt.

When quilters get together we make connections.  During introductions I discovered the mother of my son-in-law's business partner was in the class!

We often have a machine or two which do not want to cooperate but we can usually coax them into working with a few adjustments. In this class we had Singer, Bernina, Phaff, Viking, Brother, and Janome machines. One students decided it was time to replace an ancient Singer and another said the $100 box store machine had to go. Did you notice the wood extension table a nice husband made?

HMQS 2012

HMQS (Home Machine Quilting Show) always offers a wide variety of classes with outstanding instructors. I'm excited to be teaching two machine quilting classes on the domestic machine this year. Both classes are hands on and built around a fun and useful project. The Patriot Dream Tote is particularly appropriate for the  Star Spangled Quilting Event theme!

Feather FUNdamentals Table Runner Traditional, Formal, and Freeform Feathers

Patriot Dream ToteA Variety of Blocks and Designs on a Printed Panel

Class registration on line at http://hmqs.org/ and easy to do. 

Give-a-way Winner

After a trip to Indiana to see my new grand daughter, Joy . . .

. . . . it is time to draw for the winner of the prize. Thanks to all who visited and posted a comment. The comments were informative and fun, although not quite as funny as the puns on Applique Addict. Check back because I plan to blog about fixes and help for some of the challenges posted.

The winner is . . . . (drum roll) . . . . Nancy Sue. Congratulations! She will be receiving both Skillbuilder Studio videos.