quilterpenny

The Grand Convergence Experiment - Quilt Top Done!

2007-09-26T21:34:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that just a little more than 2 months ago, quilting daughter, Stephanie, began The Grand Convergence Experiment.

And what a difference!

For those who have followed, this project began when Stephanie took out an "ugly" quilt and wanted to do something special with it.

One of Ricky Tims' books happened to be sitting around, so she got the idea of turning her ugly Irish Chain quilt into a Grand Convergence quilt. And Grand it is.

As you read down the blog, you will see how she got from there to here. And, actually it was fairly easy.

Once the blocks were re-constructed, she added borders to each block that would make them cock-eyed. Next was to simply sew the blocks together just as you would any other quilt.

The biggest decision was how to do the borders. As with so many things having to do with quilting, best laid plans and measuring still didn't create the perfect border.

She wanted to put the 9 patch squares next to the quilt top. She measured carefully, and she sewed what she thought were perfect 1/4 inch seam allowances. But when all of the little 9 patches were done, they didn't fit right.

Thus, the purple strip between the quilt top and the 9 patch border - just the size needed for the 9 patches to fit evenly around the quilt.

Another quilting problem solved.

And then there was the back. When it came time, she didn't have enough of one fabric for the back. So she created a pieced back.

She allowed me to pre-shrink the Hobbs Heirloom batting, and now the quilt is layered and ready for the next step.

Now, all that's left is the quilting. It will be interesting to see what she decides about that. Both of us are hand quilters. But she may want to finish this quilt in relatively short order.

Time will tell - I'll keep you posted!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com

The Grand Convergence Experiment - Borders on the Blocks

2007-09-17T15:19:00.001-07:00

Borders on the blocks? Don’t you mean sashing?

Not exactly.

When all of the converged blocks were complete and trimmed, it turned out that they were various sizes.

As the blocks were sewn together, it was apparent that there would be some variation, partially because of the number of seams in the block, and also depending on the position and / or angle of the seams.

For example, the block with the curved strips running from top to bottom ended up being more of a rectangle than a square. And the block pictured above should have been about the smallest because it had the most seams in it.

The surprise was that there was one set of blocks that was a full inch smaller than the others. Stephanie rejected my idea of just adding a small piece of fabric around the block to make it the same size as the others.

However, she liked the idea of setting the blocks on a diagonal; mostly because she doesn’t like traditional sashing.

The first step was to make sure that all of the blocks were trimmed so the sides were even.

Then, she cut rectangles 5 inches wide by 15 inches long. Cut on the diagonal, the long side of the half-rectangle triangle fit on the sides of each of the blocks. The one block that was significantly smaller did get a 1 inch border added.

These triangle pieces were added to each side of the blocks. The result was that each of the blocks was square, the same size, and the converged blocks in the center were placed on an angle.

Because the converged blocks are square, and the resulting blocks on an angle are square, all of the blocks are at the same angle in the quilt. Somewhat boring, but not much choice.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

The Convergence Experiment - Block 4

2007-09-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

There it sits on the flannel wall, yet another block with lots of little, curved pieces.

Even with the curves, this block can be sewn together just as a regular patchwork block.

Because I like to work in columns and then rows, I identified two columns to start with. The lone column will be sewn on separately.

First fold over the fabrics in the right side of a pair of columns so that the fabric is right sides together.

Take these 6 pairs of patches to your machine and chain sew them together.

Because these were gentle curves, it was not that difficult to keep the ends matched. And as I sewed, I didn’t get the bubbles and tunnels I got when I sewed the longer and more curved pieces.

Using the same technique as with the longer curved pieces, match the edges of the patches, sew somewhat slowly and curve the pieces as they feed into the sewing machine.

Once you have sewn the patches together, carry them back to your flannel board and open the pairs up. You do not need to cut the threads between the patches. And, in fact, keeping the threads attached will help you keep the patches in order.

Next, sew these two sets together so you have rows of 4 patches.

Again, by keeping the threads between the rows attached, you will be able to keep the patches in order.

Fold the final column of patches onto the rows, and sew them together. Once this is done, you should have 3 rows with 5 patches sewn together in each row.

Next, you will sew the rows together. The first step is to fold the top row down onto the middle row, right sides together.

This is a somewhat longer curve, although it is pretty gentle, and doesn’t require too much adjusting. I was able to match the seams and face the seam allowances in opposite directions, just as in any other quilt block.

Once the top seam is sewn, open up the two rows, and then fold up the bottom row onto the middle row, and sew that seam.

This, too, is a gentle curve, and doesn’t require much adjustment. You should also be able to face the seam allowances in opposite directions in this row. Just check to see how they were sewn in the previous row to prevent any possible cross-overs.

Once sewn, open the bottom row, and you’re done.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

Curved Blocks in the Grand Convergence Experiment

2007-08-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

There it sits on the flannel wall, these curved pieces seemed a little more challenging.

Not because they were curves, but because it was hard for me to figure out exactly how I was going to sew them together because of the point.

It took Stephanie to point out the best way to do it. And once she did, it became obvious.

She split the block into two sections at the point where the curve went from one side of the block to the other.

The idea, then, is to sew the pieces in each of the sections together, and then, sew the halves together to complete the block.

Beginning with the bottom two pieces, fold one section on top of the other so the right sides face together. I chose to fold the pieced section on top of the yellow batik fabric. That way, I could keep track of the seam allowances on the pieced section, and make sure they all stayed facing the same direction.

It looks very much like sewing two triangles together in that there were little dog-ears sticking out.

One of the big differences is that the only part of the raw edge you can line up is about 1/2 inch long. After that, the pieces begin to curve and become un-aligned.

This block will be sewn together in the same way as the first block with the wavy pink batik. As you sew, you will need to adjust the fabric, lining up the raw edges and moving the fabric around so it will go under the needle straight.

In doing that, you will create little bubbles and tunnels. Just be sure that the seam allowance remains flat so you don’t sew in the puckers or tucks.

The key is to keep the edge flat so that you don’t stitch any puckers or pleats into the seam.

Once the first seam is stitched, follow the same procedure to sew the other section together.

Now with both halves sewn together, you can sew the center seam, and your block will be complete.

Fold one half on top of the other, facing right sides together. If you want the center seams to line up, you will want to begin sewing the halves together in the center.

Beginning about 1/2 inch before the spot where the seam allowances meet, put your sewing machine needle in the fabric.

Line up the edges of the two sections and begin sewing, using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Because the pieced block is on the bottom, I need to watch the seam allowances on that section to be sure that they stay facing their original direction.

Once the seam is sewn from the center to the edge of the block, take the pieces out of the machine, and repeat the process with the other half of the seam – stitching from the center to the edge of the block.

The block is done! Actually, pretty easy.

This finished block ends up being a rectangle, and the edges do not line up, with the batik being longer than the pieced sections. These will need to be trimmed before it is sewn to make the quilt.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

Sewing Curves in the Grand Convergence Experiment

2007-08-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

Sewing curves presents some interesting challenges, especially when the pieces have curves going both "in and "out."

These relatively gentle curves are somewhat easier than sewing tighter curves or circles. The Ricky Tims way is to simply sew, and not worry about keeping a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Ricky also believes in ironing the strips to get them to lay flat. The key word here is iron - not press, like most quilters.

Instead of trying to describe with words how to stitch these pieces together, there is a short video showing you exactly how to sew them.

Watch the video on YouTube

Penny Halgren
www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

The Grand Convergence Experiment - Sewing the First Block

2007-08-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

There it sits on the flannel wall, just waiting for me to garner the courage to begin sewing – all of those curved pieces.

And so it began one Friday evening. If Ricky can do it, I can, too.

Beginning with what I considered to be the easiest block, I took two of the curved pieces, and placed them right sides facing together.

As you can see in the picture below, the edges of these pieces do not line up at all, and I will need to adjust the fabric as I sew.

When I got it to the machine, it was easier than I thought it would be.

Without using any pins, I lined up the ends of the strips. They looked very much like sewing two triangles together in that there were little dog-ears sticking out.

Unlike Ricky, I sewed rather slowly, adjusting the fabric every inch or so. I kept the bottom fabric flat, curving it as necessary so it went through the needle straight.

The top fabric was adjusted often, and frequently it had little bubbles in it as it curved around to match the edge of the bottom fabric. The key was in keeping the edge flat so that I didn’t stitch any puckers or pleats into the seam.

A little tunnel

Flat seam

Once the first seam was stitched, I removed the strips from my machine and took them over to the ironing board to press.

Ricky believes in ironing fabric, not that whimpy pressing. So, I ironed the seam allowance to one side. In this case, it was the strip fabric, since it is a solid piece of fabric, not pieced.

One of my rules about pressing seam allowances is to avoid pressing seam allowances to a side where there are a bunch of pieced patches, when I can press the seams to a side where there is just a strip of fabric.

Once those strips were ironed, I returned the section to the flannel wall.

The second pair of strips was removed and taken to the sewing machine to sew together.

After experiencing success with the first seam, the second pair was much easier to sew.

I used the same technique – holding the bottom fabric flat while adjusting the top fabric as necessary to make the curves.

Once the second seam was done, I carried it back to the flannel wall to enjoy.

And the last seam was easiest of all. Using the same process, I stitched the center seam to create the finished block.

Observations –

The finished block is no longer square. Stephanie observed at one point that since there are different numbers of patches in these blocks, that they will be different sizes. We have not addressed that issue.
Although the striped pieces are shorter than the blue and green pieces, this has nothing to do with the sewing. As I compared them to the other block that was cut the same, I saw that for some reason the striped fabric is just shorter. Stephanie is out of town now, so she’ll be surprised when she returns – or maybe not. (She may have figured that out days ago. Or, maybe she cut it that way.)
The pieced blocks (the 9 patch blocks in this quilt) do change shape somewhat because of the seam allowances being removed. It will be interesting to see some of the other blocks that are cut into the pieced blocks in different shapes.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

www.How-to-Quilt.com
www.The-QuiltingCoach.com

Fabric for the Grand Convergence Experiment

2007-07-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

Shopping day arrived, and Stephanie and I met at our local quilt shop, that happens to have a ton of fabric.

Since the teal fabric in her "ugly" quilt is a batik, she decided that the fabric to converge should also be batiks.

Looking through the selection of batiks, she came up with 3 fabrics that she liked.

Each one was chosen for a different reason. The purple and fuscia mostly because those are two of her favorite colors, and the yellow because it will add some light contrast.

Because we weren't exactly sure how this quilt will go together, we decided to get 1 1/2 yards of each fabric.

Each of the squares is approximately 18 inches square. It will take 1/2 yard just to cut the two 18 inch squares. And, since we don't know what we will do for borders, we decided to get enough extra to have some flexibility. Plus, Stephanie said "I like those fabrics, and wouldn't mind adding them to my stash."

Next it was time to cut the squares.

Since this took no creativity at all, she allowed me to cut the plain squares of fabric.

First, I folded the new batik so I would be able to cut an 18 inch square from it.

Next, I laid the ugly quilt square on top of the layers of fabric.

And, finally, I cut around the outside of the ugly quilt square.

We now had 2 beautiful batik squares of each color to match with our ugly quilt squares.

And, we're ready to do the fancy cutting - but I'm leaving that up to Stephanie. After all, it's her quilt.

Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
TheQuiltingCoach

The Grand Convergence Experiment - Cutting the Quilt Top

2007-07-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Determine how you want to take your quilt apart. In my case, I wanted to have 9 blocks in each section.

The first thing to do is look at how the blocks were sewn together into the quilt top. Look for the seams of rows or columns.

In this case, the quilt was sewn together in rows. Since I wanted squares, I knew that I would need to work around some of the seams.

The sections were to be 3 rows by 3 columns. So the first thing to do was to remove a section 3 rows wide, which is fairly simple.

Step 1

Press your seam allowance so that the right sides of the quilt top are facing together and the seam allowance is clear of the quilt top.

Next, take a seam ripper or a pair of sharp scissors and cut every third stitch. This doesn't need to be an exact science. The idea is to cut enough stitches so that the seam will come apart easily. I have found that cutting every third to fifth stitch accomplishes that.

Step 2

Once the stitches have been cut, turn the quilt top over so that the continuous thread is facing you.

Loosen one end of the thread and gently pull it. Because the threads on the other side of the quilt top are cut, it should be relatively easy to pull this thread out.

Gently pulling the thread, will unstitch the seam.

Step 3

Now, you have a row 3 blocks high, and it needs to be split into sections 3 blocks wide. Because this quilt was sewn completely in rows, taking the "column" seams apart is a little trickier.

In the picture below, the seam running from top to bottom is the seam joining the two rows.

You need to cut the stitches on both sides of that seam just enough to be able to cut apart the seam that runs from left to right.

Once that is done, the entire section can be removed.

The picture above shows the stitches that were cut that held the row together.

Now the seams running left to right can be cut, and the entire section will come apart. Remove the stitches and extra threads as you did in the previous steps.

Step 4

Since the stitches were cut that held the rows together, the very ends of those seams will be unsewn, and will need to be stitched back together. To do this, I place the sewn part of the quilt top in my sewing machine, making a solid starting point.

Simply stitch to the end of the section. There is no need to backstitch either at the beginning or at the end. These seams will be stitched over when the quilt top is put back together.

Step 5

Now just press the seam allowances you just sewed, just as you would on your quilt top. And you are done!

Continue to take apart the sections of your quilt using the same techniques.

Happy Quilting!

Penny is the author of 8 books for beginner quilters and a self-taught quilter of more than 25 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create a beautiful quilt.

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

This quilt project is inspired by Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts book. If you would like to order a copy, visit:
http://www.how-to-quilt.com/ricky.shtml

The Grand Convergence Experiment Begins

2007-07-04T15:02:00.001-07:00

It's always good to start at the beginning....

Although, it looks like this project is beginning in the middle.

We have a quilt top that is quite complete - although it doesn't have borders.

It has 7 blocks across and 11 blocks high. The blocks alternate a simple 9 patch with a solid block.

Stephanie decided that we should split the quilt into smaller units and converge each of the units with fabric. Possibly converging the units using two different fabrics.

And she decided that the quilt should be divided into a kind of 9 patch unit. As you can see in the picture, each unit will be 3 blocks wide and 3 blocks high.

And so, the first project will be to cut the units out of the quilt top. We will end up with spare parts, of course. Based on how I see this needs to be taken apart, it looks like we will be able to re-sew the "spare parts" together into additional block units.

Time will tell....and we will report our progress.

Happy Quilting!

Penny
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

The Grand Convergence Experiment

2007-07-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

A Grand Experiment with an Ugly Quilt ?

Quilting daughter, Stephanie, is home. And with her came this quilt top.

Like all quilters, Stephanie has tops that have not been finished for various reasons.

This one was supposed to be a reverse Irish Chain quilt, and she declared that it has two problems.

First, it doesn't look like an Irish Chain at all. And second, it's boring. She says it needs some spark.

It hung on the design wall for several days, just waiting for some inspiration. And sure enough, the inspiration came.

Stephanie was glancing through Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts book, and got an idea - a great idea for a Grand Experiment.

She asked - "How about if we cut up this quilt and make a convergence quilt with it?"

Sounded like a great plan to me. So, we decided to do it.

Because Ricky has agreed to be interviewed in our October Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation, Stephanie thought it would be a good idea to share this project with quilters so they will have something to talk about with Ricky....or some questions to ask.

So, here is the plan.

We will post progress of the Grand Convergence Experiment right here on this blog.

In addition, detailed step-by-step instructions will be posted in the member's area of TheQuiltingCoach.com

If you are interested in following Ricky's specific instructions, and see his convergence quilts, you may want to invest in his book, Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts.

In the meantime, Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

Butterflies in Quilts

2007-06-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Occasionally quilters are presented with an opportunity to finish another quilter's project.

After I had been making quilts for several years, my mother-in-law presented me with a stack of butterfly quilt blocks that she had made in the 1930s when she was about 10 years old.

These are appliqué blocks. The 1/4 inch seam allowances are turned under and the butterfly wings and bodies are secured with embroidery floss in fairly long running stitches.

Each butterfly is made from different fabric. The upper wings have been made from a print and the lower wings from a solid fabric that coordinates with the upper wings. The bodies are a print and have been appliquéd on top of the wings, but not secured with the embroidery floss.

These quilt blocks hung around my house for several months before I finally decided what to do with them.

Christmas was coming, and she had 5 grandchildren. One of her sons had just gotten married and had no children yet. So, I decided to divide the blocks up as evenly as I could and make a quilt for each grandchild and one for the son and his wife who didn't have children yet.

Christmas morning was exciting. I had been able to keep the surprise from her as well as all of my brothers and sisters-in-law. It was great fun to have made a quilt that spanned three generations - from grandmother to grandchildren.

Members of TheQuiltingCoach.com can get more details about the project as well as the pattern for the butterflies - for free!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

Santa is Coming to Town

2006-12-22T17:47:00.000-08:00

I know, it's late! But I thought I'd share a Santa Quilt anyway.

This was quite a fun quilt to make. There are basically two different blocks - Santas and trees. And, as you can see, the quilt also has some very basic shapes - triangles, rectangles and squares.

One thing that makes this quilt a little different is the Santa beards. Each Santa has a small square sewn between its face and body. The piece sticks out from the quilt top, and, after the quilt was done, I "fringed" the beards.

An additional point of interest is the Santa hats. These were finished triangles sewn between the head and background fabric, so they would stick out from the quilt. Then each Santa hat was secured to the quilt top with a bell.

The hand quilting pattern is very basic. In the snow (background) areas, I quilted clamshells to look like puffs of snow. Each tree had a different, yet simple quilting design, and the Santas were quilted around the outside - pretty simple.

Embroidery stitching created Santa eyes and defined the legs.

This was quite a fun quilt to put together. It was fairly simple, but took some time because of the detail. The lady I gave it to fell in love with it the instant she saw it, making it also a very rewarding project.

Happy Quilting!

Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

Give a Teacher an Apple that They can Keep for a Lifetime

2006-11-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

It's never too early to begin thinking about those year-end teacher gifts.

Tradition has it that students should bring an apple to a teacher to win her (or his) favor. Why not give your child's teacher an apple that they can keep forever, and possibly pass onto their future generation?

This quilt with an apple is simple to make, and involves every child in the class.

Although I don't remember how large this quilt was, I do remember that my son wanted it to be BIG! And, in all fairness, there were 30 students in his 5th grade class, and I wanted every one to sign their name.

We made this quilt for my son's 5th grade teacher. Every student signed their name on the background.

And so, this was a fairly large quilt. In reality, the size doesn't matter a lot. You just want to make it large enough for the apple and all of the children's names.

This was just about the easiest teacher quilt I ever made. The most difficult part was getting an apple shape that I was happy with.

To get the shape, I took a piece of butcher paper, folded it in half and then drew a kind of apple slice shape. Keeping it folded, I cut out the shape, unfolded it and had a somewhat-too-symetrical apple shape. It probably would have been better if I had been able to draw it freehand. But, the teacher didn't complain.

The apple, stem and leaf, were hand appliqued onto a solid background fabric. They could also easily be machine appliqued onto the solid fabric. The saying on the apple is: "A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart."

The idea was that this was to look like a chalkboard (or more correctly, a whiteboard). So the background was an off-white, and the border was brown, in keeping with the border surrounding the whiteboards in his classroom. I'm certain that black or green would work. Then you would use white paint or ink for the kids to sign their names.

For the backing fabric, we chose a bright blue that had crayons, pencils and other school-like images. Generally I prefer to use a light fabric on the back when I use white on the quilt top. However, the overriding factor here was that it was for my son's teacher, and I let his pick the fabric.

The quilt was layered and hand quilted. The only quilting was horizontal lines that made it look like the chalkboard had lines on it (which some of them actually do).

One day when his teacher was out for a training, I took the quilt into the class and had all of the children sign their name. There was only one student who changed his mind after he started to sign, and scratched his name out

Most teachers are very forgiving of less-than-perfect quilts, especially when the students are the ones causing the imperfections. After all, the teacher knows her kids!

Feel free to copy the design.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

Late last night even as the owls were hooting, the cats were howling, and the spiders were crawling, my tame animals and I were safely tucked away busily getting ready for the throngs of children who ring our doorbell and shout “Trick or Treat” every year.

Or something.

The truth is that since we are the only house on a busy street, well, Halloween is just like any other night of the year – dark and quiet on the outside, bustling with activity on the inside.

And this night was no different.

Although we weren’t getting ready for kids to Trick or Treat, we were jumping for joy because CJ from the video shop called and said that the Step-by-Step DVDs would be ready to pick up on Thursday. Yeah!

We were posting the latest pictures of the Turkey for the Troops fabric postcards, which now number 93. Check ‘em out:

http://www.fabric-postcards.com/turkeypostcards.shtml

We were putting the finishing touches on the monthly newsletter and the package of 10 free patterns, which will be posted Nov. 1.

And we were designing a 9 patch pumpkin quilt block. And that was the most exciting event of the evening.

We were so excited, we decided to share the pattern with you – for free!

It’s posted on the Free Quilt Patterns page on the website:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/patterns/free-quilt-patterns.shtml

Or you can go directly to the pdf file:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/patterns/9patchpumpkin.pdf

This is an original design, made from squares, triangles, and a baseball home plate. (‘Tis the season – or the end of baseball season anyway.) You’ll see what I mean when you look at the templates for the pattern.

This should be a pretty easy pattern to put together. For the beginning quilters among us, just remember to start by sewing the pieces in each of the 9 patches together, and then sew the patches together, one row at a time. Once you have the 3 rows done, then, sew the rows together. Sound confusing? It’s not really. Just take it one step at a time. Hmmm - - - maybe the pumpkin block is a topic for another Step-by-Step Guide.

Anyway, Happy Halloween! May the Great Pumpkin visit your Pumpkin Patch in Peace J

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

www.How-to-Quilt.com

Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Fabric-Postcards.com

Quilt Greetings Across the Miles

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com

Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

P.S. Now that we have added a packet of 10 patterns to the newsletter each month, you may wish to consider getting a printed version of the newsletter each month. No, you won’t be getting 60+ pages of quilt patterns in the mail, but you will get the newsletter printed out and a disc with the patterns on it. Plus you get printed copies of all of the newsletters for 2006.

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/newsletter/printed.shtml

2006-10-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

Fun and Easy Rag Quilting

The first time I heard the term “Rag Quilting,” I though it had something to do with using big, long rags of fabric and somehow weaving them together to make a quilt.

Boy, was I wrong!

It turns out that rag quilting got its name from the ragged edges on the quilt. No doubt in my mind that this quilt design was created by a quilter as a variation of a Quilt as You Go kind of pattern – whether it was intentional or accidental is something only that quilter knows.

Wide seam allowances are common for rag quilting – usually at least 1.” So, if you would like each block to be an 8” square when finished, you should cut 10” squares of fabric and 7¾” batting or flannel.

To make a rag quilt, you take 2 squares of fabric (could be triangles or any other shape, but squares are most common), and a piece of batting for each block in your quilt. You could use a piece of flannel instead. The batting or flannel should be cut about 1¼” smaller than the squares of fabric.

Place one square of fabric right side down on your table. Place the piece of batting or flannel in the center of the fabric. And then place the other piece of fabric right side up on top of the batting. You now have a stack with 3 layers, and the right sides of the fabric are facing out.

Stitch through all of the layers, to secure them in place. Usually these squares are machine stitched, using a simple straight stitch, making an X through the square. To do that, you begin in one corner and stitch to the opposite corner. Take your square out of the machine, and repeat the process on the other corner. You could do some fancy quilting in each block if you would like.

Continue this layering and stitching for as many squares as you would like – depending on how large you would like your quilt to be.

Once you have all of your squares/blocks stitched, it is time to begin to sew them together to make your quilt.

The process is the similar as if you were sewing blocks together to make a quilt top, with just a slight twist or two. Take two blocks and place them WRONG sides together. Stitch them together using a 1” seam allowance. Sew the seam along the entire edge of the fabric, and do not backstitch.

Sew the blocks in each row together. Now you have a bunch of rows of blocks with all of the seam allowances facing to one side (usually the front side).

Once that is done, open the seam allowances, and sew the rows together, continuing to place the WRONG sides of the fabric together, so your seam allowances will face the top (right side) of the quilt.

After all of your blocks are sewn together, clip the seam allowances – that is what makes the “ragged” edge, or fringe. Take a very sharp pair of scissors and cut about ½” into the seam allowance, making sure not to cut into the stitching. Make these slices about ¼” apart from each other. These slices are from the edge of the fabric toward the stitching that holds the seams together.

Once all of the seams are clipped, shake your quilt out to remove as many of the loose threads as possible, then wash the quilt and place it in the dryer. This will cause the clipped seam allowances to fringe even more. Be sure to clean the lint trap on your dryer.

And, now you’re done!

Read here for more Tips for Maiking Rag Quilts.

Discover a complete Guide for making a Rag Quilt in a Weekend!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles

This article courtesy of http://www.How-to-Quilt.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.

©2006, Penny Halgren

How closely should quilting be done on a quilt?

2006-09-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

Quilters Ask Questions, and We Answer Them

A: To make a great design and enhance the beauty of the quilt

Given current manufacturing processes, this is more likely to be the determining factor when you decide how much quilting to put on your quilt.

My experience is that when you have a solid fabric or a relatively simple quilt design, having extensive quilting adds a lot to the quilt. Once I did massive quilting on a fabric that had a very “busy” design, and none of the quilting was to be seen. It would have been just as effective to stitch in the ditch every 4.”

If you have an interesting block design, or if you are doing appliqué, your quilting stitches can make something either stand out or fade into the background.

One of my all time favorite quilts (in this close-up picture and in the picture above) was made for my daughter, Stephanie’s, 5^th grade teacher and her new baby.

Stephanie liked the picture on this thank you card, so we decided to make a quilt using the design.

The fabrics are mostly hand dyed, and relatively solid. The pattern in most of the fabrics is created from the variation in the dying. We used quilting stitches to get some texture and an idea of the various feathers, fur, spots, etc. on the animals.

Looking back at the space quilt, I used quilting stitches to make the blocks stand out, and the more intricate quilting stitches to make the rest of the quilt fade into the background.

This leads into the second question: What kind of stitching can be done on a log cabin quilt?

Like so much in quilting – you can do pretty much anything! But, that’s not really too helpful.

The thing about log cabin quilts is that there are tons of patches – which means lots of seams, and usually fairly small expanses of fabric. Generally the logs in a log cabin are 1- 1½” wide, which doesn’t leave much space for fancy quilting designs without crossing a lot of seams.

While stitching across seams is not difficult, sometimes it interferes with the flow of the quilting design.

To keep it relatively simple, on log cabins, I usually stitch in the ditch. Sometimes I have added a second row of quilting 1/8” – ¼” away from the first row. Or, if your log cabins make a definite design, such as hearts, you could quilt around the pattern, leaving the actual pattern unquilted so it will stand out. Then quilt fairly heavily between each of the patterns, so they recess into the background.

Hope that helps!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles

This article courtesy of http://www.How-to-Quilt.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.

Fabric Postcard Photo Quilts

2006-08-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

You may have seen or heard about postcard quilts. Quilters around the world are creating fabric postcards and sending them to their friends in the mail. Imagine how pleased you would be to receive one of these little handmade treasures from one of your quilting friends.

As with so many things quilted, everyone has a somewhat different idea of a postcard quilt. One form of traditional postcard quilt is a full-size quilt made up of 4” by 6” rectangles (postcard size patches) sewn in rows, and offset, like you would build a wall.

A different, yet still traditional form, is where the postcard shaped block is set like a block surrounded by sashing. This, too, is generally a full size quilt, and may have a central theme – travel, baby, college, etc.

Also popular are landscape postcard quilts, or small appliqué pieces that might be a replica of a picture postcard – a scene in a town, lighthouse, bouquet of flowers, etc. This style quilt might range in size from postcard size – 4” by 6” up to 12” by 18” or more.

Ideas for designs and sizes vary. Some quilters create a foundation by painting or dying fabric and then use quilting stitches, buttons or other notions to embellish their design. Others meticulously appliqué a scene that looks exactly like a picture postcard or creative design. In some cases, quilters create photo quilts by transferring a favorite photograph onto fabric and adding a border to complete the design.

It’s both easy and fun to make these little treasures, and then send them through the mail to your family and friends. Using just a home computer, scanner and printer, you can transfer a favorite photograph onto fabric, add a border and backing, finish the edges, and send it through the mail. You can include a personal greeting printed or hand written on the address side of the quilt postcard.

The US Post Office has size regulations for your finished fabric postcard to qualify for the postcard rate, or you can pay the full first class rate (39 cents) to mail your little quilt. A quick trip to your post office and a visit to the postal worker will help you decide how is best to mail your card.

While adding buttons, rickrack, netting, and other embellishments makes the quilt card fun, these may survive better inside an envelope. Although they may not have as much of an impact as seeing a fabric card stacked in your mail, opening an envelope to find a quilt postcard must be just as fun.

It’s not too late to start making these for your holiday greetings. Each one takes very little time, and if you make several at once, your efficiency will increase.

You can get more information about making postcard quilts at:

www.Fabric-Postcards.com

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles

Robin's Nest DVD Update

2006-08-17T19:09:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

The weekend passed, and Stephanie (my quilting daughter) and I made yet another attempt to convert the file into a real DVD. But to no avail. Twice it got stuck on 'verifying the media.'

So, bright and early Monday morning, CJ got the call. He admitted to much confusion about my problems, since he said that "it should be so easy." Man, I've heard that story so many times now, I know it by heart.

As we talked about what was going on, he suggested that I put a DVD into my DVD drive and see if it played. Guess what - pictures, no sound. I tried another one. Nothing at all - no pictures, no sound.

Time to shut off the computer and regroup.

Regrouping for me in this particular instance was to call my son, the engineer who built my computer.

After listening to my tale of woe, he declared that it was really time for me to just get a new computer.

I should have known. Both he and Stephanie have been complaining for years about how slow my machine is. But, I'm a quilter who uses a Singer Featherweight sewing machine from 1950-something. Why would I need a brand new computer?

After I thought about it, I realized that my computer was built before we thought about doing DVDs. Heck, it may have been built before DVDs! After all, my son added the DVD drive last year, just as a 'nice thing to do,' not dreaming I would really come to rely on it.

So, he ordered the computer, and it is on its way.

In the meantime, I'm using this time to collect frames of video for pictures in the book, and then writing the book to go along with the DVD.

Greetings,

The weekend passed, and Stephanie (my quilting daughter) and I made yet another attempt to convert the file into a real DVD. But to no avail. Twice it got stuck on 'verifying the media.'

So, bright and early Monday morning, CJ got the call. He admitted to much confusion about my problems, since he said that "it should be so easy." Man, I've heard that story so many times now, I know it by heart.

As we talked about what was going on, he suggested that I put a DVD into my DVD drive and see if it played. Guess what - pictures, no sound. I tried another one. Nothing at all.

Time to shut off the computer and regroup.

Regrouping for me in this particular instance was to call my son, the engineer who built my computer.

After listening to my tale of woe, he declared that it was really time for me to just get a new computer.

I should have known. Both he and Stephanie have been complaining for years about how slow my machine is. But, I'm a quilter who uses a Singer Featherweight sewing machine from 1950-something. Why would I need a brand new computer?

After I thought about it, I realized that my computer was built before we thought about doing DVDs. Heck, it may have been built before DVDs! After all, my son added the DVD drive last year, just as a 'nice thing to do,' not dreaming I would really come to rely on it.

So, he ordered the computer, and it is on its way.

In the meantime, I'm using this time to collect frames of video for pictures in the book, and then writing the book to go along with the DVD.

So, while we have a moment, I'll explain what I have discovered about making a DVD. Who knows whether this is all really true. It's just what I have pieced together from my experience and asking a bunch of questions.

The Video Story Continues

In my previous blog, I described the process up to getting the AVI files.

I really have not much of a clue exactly what an AVI file is. What I know is that it is huge! My little 4 GB file exploded into a 26 GB file - and that is just for one of the DVDs that represents 1 1/2 hours of video.

Once in that format, I needed to convert it into an mpeg file - so you could watch it on either your TV or computer. No problem!

Oh, but first, I need to add a menu - so you can jump around on the DVD and look at just the parts you want.

So, I need some software to do that. Oh, now that was exciting, too!

I called around to different video places. I had already tried to find people online to help - to no avail.

Three phone calls, and I found CJ. What a guy! He has walked me through this, and has been incredibly patient.

The first thing he suggested was an Adobe program that would insert the Menu and Chapters, and then compress the file and burn it to a DVD. Sounded great!

I found the program, downloaded the trial version, and tried to install it. Got an error message. Tried again. Got the same error message. No go.

The next day, I called CJ again. He suggested that my computer didn't have Service Pack 2. Hmmm - I thought it did. Oh well, I'll try again. But first, I checked. Using the Microsoft website, I confirmed that I did have SP2 installed. Something else was wrong.

So, I got on the phone to Adobe. I got ahold of a very helpful technician who determined that my problem was that my computer had an AMD processor, and their software works only with Intel. So much for that program.

Next day, back on the phone to CJ. He told me that he had an AMD processor on his computer (at least I'm not alone here), and that he had an earlier version of the program that might work for me. Niiice.

Ran over to his shop, bought the program, took it home and loaded it up. Sure enough, it installed, I opened up my project and started to rock and roll.

This program works with Photoshop, so I could create a cute little menu and then import it to my project. That done, I added buttons and chapters, and was ready to build a DVD.

And that's were I am now. Building a DVD. Well, temporarily stopped, becuase this computer, as reliable as it has been, would prefer to take a rest and not make a movie. It's great for still pictures, but movies - well, that's apparently too advanced. Hmmm. Not really, maybe it is just that movies take up too much space.

So, the new computer should arrive next week, and we'll be off to the movies once more. I anticipate smooth sailing from there on. And with good fortune and good weather, the DVDs should be ready by September. Only a few weeks past my original estimate.

In the meantime, Stephanie and I have created 3 great packages of goodies for you - depending on what you want or need for your quiltmaking project. And as I gather everything and get it ready to go, I'm getting more excited. Can't wait to show it to you!

And now it's time to format some more photographs for the book, and get writing!

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles

Robin's Nest DVD Saga

2006-08-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Greetings Quilters!

So many of you sent emails encouraging me with the Robin's Nest DVD project that I have decided to keep you updated on the progress via this blog.

And, as a matter of education, to also divulge all of the challenges along the way. Education in that I hope you will avoid some of the mistakes I have made. And, if any of you have insights that will shortcut my learning curve - pass them on!

Last Friday, I was hopeful that I would be able to transform my movie project file into a movie on a DVD that would be ready for duplication.

Alas, that was not to be.

I made another attempt on Saturday, and got a little further along the way. The program transformed the project, and got stuck on verifying the media. I guess that means that it couldn't find the DVD disc or disc drive. Before it stopped, a box opened asking what I wanted to have happen on that drive, and I clicked it shut (aka Cancel), since none of the options seemed right.

After some thought, tonight I will tell it to open a file when it gets to that point. Who knows, maybe that will make a difference! I'll report in tomorrow.

In the meantime....

Some History

In the June survey a lot of you said that you would like to see a step-by-step, from start to finish, DVD. So, I decided to take the plunge and do it!

A little robin had been nesting in a tree fern outside the window at my office, and just watching her inspired a quilt block. Once the quilt block was created, it was just a matter of gathering a camera and making a quilt.

Sounds so easy, right?

The quilt part was easy. I fired up my EQ5 program, and drew up a block, and then a small wall hanging - just four 9" blocks, some sashing and some borders. I wanted to make this an easy project for beginning quilters; and expandable for those who want to make something larger or more complicated.

Then I rounded up a camera. Hmmm. Now the first challenge. How to hold the camera and sew at the same time. Seems pretty impossible.

As I looked around my house, I discovered that I had possession of some old camera equipment that my dad didn't want to move to their new house. Among the treasures were a couple of tripods - one tabletop one, and one stand-on-the-floor tripod. Now I was set.

And the filming began. I decided that it would be "just in my house" - no fancy spots, no studio, just in my sewing areas. So, the lighting isn't perfect; but you can see what you need to see.

Starting and stopping as each short step was completed or when I decided it was time to change a camera angle, filming progressed. Day and night.

I found a halogen camera light, and sewed at night using that while filming. Then I realized that it cast a kind of pink glow. So much for the light at night. I finally discovered that during the day in the south part of my house with as much natural light as I could gather was the best.

Then limited to day filming, I spent most of Saturdays and Sundays filming and sewing, and many early mornings during the week.

As sections of filming were complete, I transferred the videos onto my computer into Windows Movie Maker. People told me that was a great program for editing movies, and it would convert them into the right format for DVDs, no problem. hmmm

I wish I could say now that it was that easy.

The first thing I learned was that it would have been better if I had used a series of video tapes, instead of using one tape and shooting over previous pictures. Minor lesson, though important.

Using Windows Movie Maker

As technology goes, using Windows Movie Maker to edit the video clips was very easy. After some experimenting, I discovered that I could slow it way down so I could cut out parts where I had stopped sewing and hadn't turned off the camera yet.

Not knowing any better, I just kept adding video clips onto the "project." I was amazed at how long this video was becoming - 4 hours, 5 hours, 6 hours. Then I got a warning! The program told me that 6 hours was probably about the maximum it should be.

OK - that works. When I got to the end of a section, I started a new "project." When I finished that stage of editing I had 2 project files - one 6 hours long, the other 2 hours long.

Then I merrily called my favorite audio/video CD duplicator place. I told them what I had, and asked if they could convert it into discs that could be played on computer or TV and add a Menu and Chapters. "Oh, yeah. No problem. Bring it in."

The only thing was that only 1 1/2 - 2 hours of video could go onto each DVD. But all I needed to do was write down the times for the end of each Chapter point and DVD. Easy.

A couple of days later, with timeline and DVDs in hand, I showed up at the shop, and conferred with the engineer. Sounded like everything was set, and I would have my copies in 2 weeks. He would let me know in a couple of days whether they needed anything else.

Well, a week later, I called them. Guess what! They couldn't open the file(s). They don't have Windows Movie Maker, and didn't have a clue what needed to be done. They did know that I really needed an AVI file format for them to work with.

More about AVI files later.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren

http://www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

http://www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

A Quilter's Journey - My First Quilt

2006-08-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Quilters-

Come along on my Quilting Journey. This excursion began some 25 years ago, and will continue well into the future.

Along the way, you will see many of the quilts I have made and hear the stories behind them. I'll reveal the inside secrets of many of these works of art - the quilting mistakes I made that led to the outcome, my thoughts as I was making them, and sometimes you will see who received these quilts.

Before we start, I will share that the biggest mistake I have made is in not keeping good pictures of each and every one of my quilts. I have given many away, and have no record of them. Two of my favorites were stolen with no pictures.

You are looking at the lone picture I have of this, my first, quilt. Cropped off of this picture is my mostly-naked daughter lying on the bottom of the quilt. She didn't like to wear clothes much - now she can't get enough clothes. Before I began writing tonight, I ransacked my house to find the quilt so I could take a picture of the whole, faded quilt. I hope Stephanie took it home when she was here at Christmas, or remembers where I stashed it safely away, along with the one I made for her brother. (It's too late to call Texas tonight- she surely will be in bed and not caring one hoot about that quilt.)

One thing I have done right is sign my quilts - first name and last name, and the year it was completed. A nice label would have been better, but sometimes by the time I finish a quilt, it's all I can do to sign my name with a permanent marker and get it on its way.

Like many quilters, many of my quilts have been made for other people. Lots of babies, and lots of teachers. After our second year at my kids' elementary school, I swear that the teachers fought to get my kids in their class, because they knew there would be a quilt at the end of the year. None were disappointed, and my kids got the best education going. You will see most of those quilts. Some were as amazing as the teachers!

And kids is where my quilting began.

As I was pregnant with my daughter, Stephanie, in 1981, my mother-in-law said she wanted to buy a quilt for the baby. All I had to do was find the one I wanted. Sounded easy. Then I began looking. I had never known about quilts before. I had done some needlepoint and rug-making, but knew nothing about quilting.

I searched unsuccessfully for a quilt to purchase. I wandered into a fabric store, started looking at quilt patterns, and found one I liked. Since I was blissfully ignorant, I knew not what I was getting into when I bought the pattern. It was an applique with mother and baby animals - horses, cats, dogs, and chickens, with a rooster crowing on atop the barn. Looked nice, and perfect for a new human mom and her baby.

Pattern and fabric in hand, I trundled home and began working. Following all directions and being quite careful, I spent hours, days and months on that quilt. It was not even close to complete when Stephanie was born. Since I was fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with her, I had plenty of hours to work on it, and many months after she turned 1, it was complete.

It was an interesting quilt to make. The barn was done in sections. There was a rectangular piece with the horses in it; then another with the hen and chick, and yet another with the dogs and cats (just below the hen and chick). Then the sections were appliqued onto the backing, and the rooftop and rooster were added.

Freezer Paper Applique

I used freezer paper to create the animal shapes with the 1/4" seam allowance folded under.

The freezer paper is cut into the desired shape. Cut the paper so that the right side of the pattern is on the dull side of the wax paper.

The fabric is cut the same shape (right side facing up) with the 1/4" seam allowance added.

Then you place the dull side of the freezer paper against the wrong side of the fabric. Fold the seam allowance onto the shiny side of the wax paper and iron. The heat of the iron somewhat melts the wax on the freezer paper and causes the fabric to stick to it.

Place the piece down on the background fabric, right side facing up and the shiny side of the wax paper facing the background fabric, and iron it in place. Again, the wax will melt slightly and the piece will stay in place - although I still pin the piece as I applique.

After the piece is appliqued to the background, cut a slice in the background, or cut out the background the shape of the appliqued piece leaving a 1/4" seam allowance, and remove the paper.

Back to the Barn Quilt

The biggest challenge was the white gate. It was made of one piece with the triangles cut out of the center, then the seam allowances folded under. Trying to keep it straight and flat, well, I still remember it! And I'm glad it's done.

Once all of that was complete, the rest was easy, simple borders, then batting, backing and quilting. Whoa! Batting - I used polyester. Our town had only chain fabric stores, so I used what they carried. (Now I use only cotton, silk or wool.)

And the quilting. Of course, my stitches were quite large - I thought 1/8" was pretty good. And someone told me to wrap the final stitch about 3 times through the fabric then string a long tail of thread through the center of the quilt; not to use knots (it will make your quilt lumpy!). Talk about an old wives' tale. That was a mess. It didn't look very good, and after Stephanie slept under the quilt once, the final stitches started coming out. With time, they have become more secure (who knows why), but I never did that again. I love knots! Tucked inside the quilt.

I followed every direction very carefully and couldn't even imagine a day when I might be able to make a quilt without specific instructions, let alone design my own quilt.

In retrospect, it was a crazy project. But, I stuck with it, and the quilt is still together today. Stephanie was easy on it - she used it for sleeping under, not dragging around the house and yard, or to practice cutting with scissors (like her brother did on a quilt. But that's a story for another day.) It has faded, and some of the fabric has small holes in it from a dog or cat claw. I kept some scraps of fabric so I could repair the quilt. Interesting - the scraps didn't fade! Why did I ever think they would match?

The quilt has been washed many times. It's had almost everything normal happen to it. And with the exception of the small holes, the fabric has held up well. It may also have to do with the fact that some of the fabric was polyester, too. Way back then, I hadn't discovered the benefits of using 100% cotton (oh - maybe that's why the applique was so difficult, and the seam allowance kept popping out). On the other hand, maybe it's in better condition having been made using poly fabric.

Little did anyone know what was beginning in my life.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

©2005, Penny Halgren
Penny is a quilter of more than 25 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

This article courtesy of http://www.How-to-Quilt.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.

Quick Baby Quilts

2006-08-04T06:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Quilters-

Baby quilts are quite fun to make, especially when you start with already-quilted fabric!

It seemed like all of my friends were having babies around the same time I was. Not really too much of a coincidence, since we were all about the same age, and got married about the same time.

So, with one baby myself, and having completed a couple of quilts already, I understood the pleasure of having a baby quilt, and also understood the meaning of using a baby quilt.

First, it is a truly amazing thing to think that someone loves you enough to spend hours and hours creating a special gift for a new baby. Especially knowing what babies do - throw up, pee, chew, and roll around. And they don't seem to care what they do it on or to.

That's where the understanding of how babies use a quilt helps determine the design. It also helps to know whether the mom will appreciate the quilt and use it carefully, or whether she will use it the same way as a blanket purchased at Walmart.

Of course, babies need blankets, and quilters love to make quilts. So why not make a quilt that a baby can use, throw up on, pee on, chew on, and roll around on?

One of my dear friends was having a baby, and I wasn't sure about how she would use the quilt, so I scouted possibilities at the local fabric shop. I discovered fabrics that were already quilted. Solid fabrics in nice colors. So, I purchased a baby yellow quilted fabric, and found some big pictures to use as templates for an applique design on the quilt. I'm sure the options are much wider today.

This was a very simple design - a kitty sniffing a ladybug that was resting on a flower plant's leaf, and a sun up in the sky.

I pressed fusible interfacing to each of the pieces to make my sewing easier, and in a quick few hours, the project was complete.

Applique looks pretty easy, and it really is. Here are a few things to keep in mind that will make yours easy and look great once completed.

Plan your design carefully and cut out all of the fabric pieces before you start sewing. For the best finished design, your pieces should overlap each other. The first applique I made, I tried to have the pieces just meet. That was a huge mistake! They never match up exactly, and I ended up with frayed edges and a mess.

I iron a very light weight fusible interfacing to the back of my fabric pieces. Then I draw the pattern on the fabric and cut it out. You could use a double sided fusible interfacing. This will help keep the pieces in place as you sew. It may cause the finished quilt to be a little stiffer - something to check out.

Lay out the pieces on your background fabric as you want them in your finished design. Do not iron them in place at this time.

Lightly draw an outline of the finished design on your background fabric. This will serve as a guide as you are sewing the individual pieces.

Remove the pieces from the background fabric and place them in an independent resting place. This could be an ironing board, table, or pile in your sewing area. I like to have mine organized like they will be sewn, so it is easier for me to see what the next piece is.

Find the bottom-most piece. This will be the first piece you sew. In the quilt above, for the cat, the bottom-most piece was his tail.

Once found and placed on your background fabric, sew it on.

Tip #1 - this is where the outline on your background fabric will come in handy.

Tip #2 - I use thread that matches the fabric I am sewing on the top for my applique. The bobbin thread stays the same color, and matches the bottom fabric.

Tip #3 - I adjust the tension on my machine so that most of the top thread goes around to the back and the bobbin thread is almost a straight thread running throuh a tunnel of top thread.

Tip #4 - I use something stiff under my background fabric to allow the fabric to slide through the machine without getting guided by the feed dogs. Long ago, I used plain paper, and that still works. There is also a woven material, much like a non-fusible interfacing, that you can use. One piece that is the size of the whole design seems to work the best.

Identify the next lowest piece, and place it on top of the piece just sewn. Sew this piece in place. If this fabric is a different color from the previous one, you may wish to change your top thread.

Continue stacking and sewing until your design is finished.

If you have used paper on the back of your design, now is the time to rip it out.

You're done!

Once I had all of the design pieces sewn on and the paper ripped out, I put a quick binding on. This binding was a store-bought double wide bias binding, that was made for quilts. It is about 1" on each side - so it is really extra wide. I machine stitched the binding on the front, folded it over to the back, and then hand stitched it closed on the back. After all, I did want something about this baby quilt to be hand stitched.

My friend, Roberta, loved her new baby quilt, and her baby, Hilary enjoyed it as well. What's really fun about this quilt is that Roberta had never really thought about making quilts. With this gift and the passage of some time, she, too, decided to take up quilting. Now not only do we share stories of our kids, but we share stories of our quilts!

You just never know where your passion for quilting will take you and / or your friends.

Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

©2006, Penny Halgren
Penny is a quilter of more than 24 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources they need to create beautiful quilts.

This article courtesy of http://www.How-to-Quilt.com.
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