Monday, December 31, 2018

Sister's quilt - part Three

This is a continuation of the posts about the making of the blue and lights quilt for my sister, Colleen Wilson.

I continued to make paisley blocks with some embroidery or embellishment.  The size and shape of the paisley's were slightly modified for each set of 6, and I decided to put a darker fabric as the center for each of the set of 6 blocks.  Here it is on the design wall so far:



Some of the blocks have couched rick rack on them.  Before I added the rick-rack, I backed those pieces with a tear away backing.  After the rick-rack was added, I then glued the pieces to the dissolving applique foundation.

Here is a close up picture of how I handled turning the edges with both the backing and the fabric.  I used washable school glue in this step (the purple) , and I really put a lot on those spots.  If you look towards the upper tip, you can see that the glue is applied much thinner because there is only the fabric to turn in that area. 





One thing that I learned from another quilter a long time ago was how to handle the tips of applique.  After I glued and turned back all the edges, I snipped off the excess fabric from behind the tip and wet it down pretty well with Fray Check.  After it dried, the tip holds it's shape and the pieces of fiber won't split apart when they're pierced with the needle.



I learned a lot from other quilters along the way and continue to learn from them now.  I hope you have friends around that share your love of quilting too.



Friday, December 28, 2018

Quick and fun vest

I found a cool pattern for a quick and fun Modern Silhouette Vest that is sewn on the serger (and a little bit on the sewing machine).  I never know for sure how a pattern is going to fit, so I always sew it in a test fabric.  In this case, I had a couple of yards of cotton duck left over from making pressing boards, so it became the test fabric.

The pattern is #IJ986CR by Mary Ann Donze Design and published by Indygo Junction and it can be made in 3 different lengths and two different lapels.  I made it in the longest length with the widest lapel.



What fun it was to serge it all with black thread.  It was super quick to make up.  The only thing that needed a little modification was the shoulder slope.



But I liked the test garment so well that I lived with the slight fitting problem, and have worn it several times.  Now to make it in the real fabric!

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Fabric Microwave bowls

I noticed at several of my friends' homes that they have hand made fabric bowls that they put their ceramic bowls into when they microwave their leftovers or soup.  They can remove the bowls without burning their fingers because the fabric doesn't get hot.  I'm pretty sure that I've made some of these before, but didn't have any in the house.

Well, I decided to resolve that issue!  I found my old pattern (there are several on the internet for free too) and made 4 of them straight from the pattern.  Then I modified the pattern to fit our larger chili bowls and made 2 of them.



Now we have our own fabric microwave bowls too!

I hope you try making one for yourself, or several for you and your friends.

Monday, December 24, 2018

Modern Small Quilt Group - Vancouver, WA

This summer, some people from my local quilt guild decided to start up a small quilt group focused on modern quilts.  I was so glad that there were enough people interested so that the group formed quickly.  I've been making modern style quilts for a while and a special interest group of like minded quilters seemed exciting.  I was really hoping we'd have some younger gals show up, but alas, none so far have come to the meetings.

Many cities have Modern Quilt Guilds and a lot of the younger quilters have joined those guilds instead of the traditional quilt guilds.  I think it's because most of us in the guilds have aged and the younger people want to hang around their own age group.  I'm a little sad that we all can't be one big happy family, but I do understand.  Our guild is like most others, in that we still have classes and other activities on weekdays, which is really hard on people that work or have small kids.  We have existing small groups, many that are closed to new members.  We don't have a blog.  And, in our case, there is a modern quilt guild right across the river in Portland that is very active.

The traditional guilds may shrink in size and modern quilt groups may be the ones that grow and survive.  Progress happens whether we accept it or stand  in the way.

I hope you can embrace change.   I'm sure trying to myself.

Friday, December 21, 2018

Knitting hats

I don't know about you, but as soon as it gets chilly outside, I want to figure out ways to stay warm.  The thermostat goes up; I put on heavy socks; the sweaters come of the closet, and I turn up the temperature on my shower.  Knitting things seems to be another favorite go to solution.

I couldn't remember how much yarn it takes to knit a hat, so I bought 2 skeins of each color.  (You only need one!).  So, I knitted the two hats that I planned, and then knitted three more that I hadn't planned.

I found both patterns for free on Ravelry, which is a super website for knitters.  One of my knitting friends told me about the site several years ago.  If you're a knitter and you haven't already learned about it, please go and check it out.

My knitting tension changes daily, since I'm not a constant knitter.  The first day that I knit the hat, it was way too big.  So, I changed needles and knit it a second time.  Just right.  My daughters tried on the hat and it was snug on them, so I used slightly larger needles when I made their hats.  They seem tighter than the ones I knit for myself on smaller needles.  Oh well, I'm sure they'll still fit.

So here are 3 of the hats that I finished.   The 4th and 5th ones are duplicates of these.




I hope you find ways to stay warm this winter too!

Monday, December 17, 2018

Shadow Selfie #9 - Fall Strolling

This is the 9th quilt that I've made in the shadow selfie series.

We took a nice shadow picture while walking in Walla Walla, WA in September.   It called out to use an orange background to both represent fall and to complete the color effect of the series.  I bought a nice new orange batik and cut it into wedges for the background.

I wanted to try using a different technique than the others in the series, so I placed the black fabric on the background, placed the picture on top of that, and triple stitched around the edges.  Here it is pinned in place:


Here I'm showing the stitching and the settings on the triple stitch.


I used 2.4 stitch length on the long straight lines.


Then I reduced the stitch length to 1.5 to go around the smaller curvy edges.


Then, I cut off the paper, and removed the excess black fabric.  And since there was a lot of fraying at the edges, I zig zag stitched around the outside edges.

I wanted to add some fall leaves at the bottom to make it feel like we were strolling through the downed fall leaves.  I got the idea to use some of my fancy fabrics, including lame and organza and make leaves out of them.  Here is a picture of the sandwich that I made.  The layers are dissolving foundation, organza, thread (if used), organza, and Solvy.  I used a blue dissolving marking pen for the first set, but it was too hard to see.  On the later sets of leaves, I marked with a permanent marker on the Solvy.



 I zig zag stitched around the edges with a .4 stitch length and 1.4 stitch width. 



Then I dissolved all of the disappearing products in warm water in the sink, laid the pieces flat to dry, and cut them out.  Here's what the leaves looked like after they were cut out.


And here is the finished quilt. The piece is 12" x 12" and has traditional black binding to go along with the rest of the series.

Shadow Selfie Series #9, Fall Strolling by Joanne Adams Roth
I hope you like it.  And I hope you have liked seeing this series of 9 Shadow Selfie Quilts.





Monday, December 10, 2018

Shadow Selfie #8 - Anniversary

This is the 8th quilt that I've made in the shadow selfie series.

We took a nice shadow picture on our anniversary this year while touring the Oregon Gardens in Silverton, OR.   It called out to me to use a red background and add some hearts.  I had a piece of red ombre fabric in my stash and quilted around my picture with black thread.  After I removed the paper, I used Derwent Inktense pencils and fabric medium to paint the shadow.  After I quilted the piece, I used Fabrico markers to fill in the hearts.

The piece is 12" x 12" and has traditional black binding to go along with the rest of the series.

Shadow Selfie #8 - Anniversary by Joanne Adams Roth


I hope you like it!

Monday, December 3, 2018

Quilt sleeves - another method

I've written posts about quilt sleeves a couple of times.  Just search on the word "sleeves" and you will find them.  This post is about another method.

Several friends use this method to insure that they get some excess fabric to allow for the handing rod/pole.  You really must allow for this space so that the rod/pole doesn't show a bump on the front side of the quilt when its displayed.  All you need is an extra 1/2" and it really does make a difference in how the quilt looks when it's hanging in a show.

Here is how this method works.

1.  Measure and cut the the material 9" wide times the width of the top of our quilt.  In my example, I cut it 9" x 12", because my little quilt is 12" wide.



2.  Press it with wrong sides together in half lengthwise.
3.  Sew a 1/4" seam on the raw edges.



4.  Fold over to the wrong side (or inside) 1/2" twice and both ends and stitch in place.




5.  Baste with your longest basting stitch, 1/4" from the folded edge.




6.  Press the seam towards one side, centering it.



7.  Turn the sleeve over and press the basted seam towards one side; it should already be centered.
8.  Pin the sleeve onto the top backside of your quilt, leaving approximately 1" from the top.  Make sure the basted seam faces out and the sewn seam is against the backside of your quilt.




9.  Slip stitch the top, bottom and both ends to the quilt.



10.  Remove the basting thread.



There you have it.  A quilt sleeve that has room for the hanging rod/pole.

I hope you try this method too.