Snowman - From RedWork to Applique

I love to think outside the box. Most of my quilts are done in color combinations other than what the designer used. I tend to take liberties with a design. One thing I've been contemplating for awhile but haven't had time to experiment with is taking a Redwork design and turning it into an applique design.

The project I chose to experiment with is the snowman from the Bird Brain Designs pattern Winter Partners.

I chose this one because the design is large and seemed like an easy one to adapt to applique. Here is the drawing of the snowman.

Remember if you want to do something like this and you want it to look like the original design you need to REVERSE the image. In other words trace from the wrong side of the drawing, Here's the pattern taped to my studio window (on a rainy Southern CA day) so I can trace on the wrong side.

I traced the images onto fusible web.

I then fused them to the wrong side of my snowman fabrics.

One of my "Must Haves" is an Applique Pressing Sheet. 

Here is the snowman drawing with the pressing sheet over the top of it. I know it is a little hard to see but if you look closely you'll see the snowman design. I use the Lightbox App on my phone but needed my phone to take the picture. So when I'm working with it, the lines will show up better. 

I'm going to fuse the entire design onto the pressing sheet. It will be one solid piece that I will then transfer onto the background fabric. Here's the snowman transformed into fabric.

I chose a dark navy blue as my background. I finger pressed it in both directions to find the center of the fabric.

Then I found the center of the snowman design. I positioned it onto the background matching both centers (the snowman and the background). Then I fused the snowman in place.

He's a little crooked.  Guess I didn't get find the exact center of the snowman. It's such a whimsical design that it just adds a little more whimsy. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it - lol.

I realized after I got everything fused down that I should have traced the eyebrows and smile when I had the fabric on the pressing sheet. I placed the pattern on top of the design and used my Point Turner to trace an indentation onto the fabric. Then I followed that with a Black Micron Pigma Pen.

I squared up the block and now it is time to add the borders. Check back soon to see how I finish it. 

Happy Stitching and Quilting,

Carol

Perle Cotton Bubbles

Looking for a great way to control your balls of perle cotton? Our "Bubbles" really come in handy. Since I lead a "grab and go" lifestyle I usually just put everything I'm working on it a tote bag and carry it everywhere to work on whenever I have free time. The first time I did this, I went to grab a ball of perle cotton and it had  unrolled and gotten tangled up. After that experience I make sure that all of my thread is contained in one of our Perle Cotton Bubbles.

I wish I could take credit for this idea but it came from the creative, always inspired Robin and Tina Kinglsey from Bird Brain Designs. But I totally embrace the idea. It keeps everything nice and neat. Here's what's involved in getting these ready for you. 

We order them in a box of 2000. The bottoms come in one box.

Here's what 2000 "Bubbles" look like.

This is 2000 Lids

Now all they need is the little hole. This is where ours differ from those you buy from Bird Brain Designs. If you notice in the picture above, there is a hole in the end of the Bubble. This requires drilling a hole in the bottom. We tried this but I found that there was a little burr from the drill bit which I thought could be a problem when pulling the thread through the hole. We tried smoothing it out but I just wasn't happy with it. So we put the hole on the side of ours. 

This means that my husband, Alan punches a hole with a hole punch in the side of every one of those Bubbles. He does it from the inside so there is nothing rough near the thread. It is a very smooth hole. Talk about a time consuming and tedious task. Not to mention that if he does too many at a time he gets a blister in the palm of his hand. 

I have tried every hole punch I can find to try to make it easier but the one that works best is the good old fashioned cheap metal one. The more ergonomic ones break after just a couple punches.

The Official "Bubble" Hole Punch

Our 13 month old granddaughter Tristyn likes to "help." She likes to play in the box or grab them and give them to Grandpa to punch the holes. She gets a little frustrated with him when he can't punch holes as fast as she gives them to him.

Our Granddaughter Tristyn - 13 Months Old

They are available individually or in our Perle Cotton Bubble Pack of 12.He also counts out the bubbles and lids and packs them up in bags. This way when you want 12 they are already packaged up for you.

So next time you're stitching and pulling the thread through your Perle Cotton Bubble you know what went into getting that ready for you.

Happy Stitching,

Carol

New Wall Hanging Project

Ok. I know Christmas just ended and you're probably wondering why I would post a Christmas themed project when you just finished putting all the decorations away. Two reasons - One I just finished it and really wanted to share it with you. Two - There's plenty of time to get started on it now and finish it in time for next Christmas.

This wall hanging in this post is my version of the Santa Portrait Trio Pattern by Bird Brain Designs. I have posted pictures in previous blog posts about the blocks. Now I have put them together.

Santa Portrait Trio Pattern Photo

I knew when I decided to make this that I wanted to keep the feel of a portrait but I also wanted to do something different. I wanted it to be a quilted project rather than a framed piece. I finished stitching the blocks and set them aside until I figured out how to set them. I toyed with traditional sashing and possibly little stitched cornerstones but that was too obvious and kind of boring. Then I thought of Attic Windows but I still didn't think it was the right setting.

You never know when or where inspiration will strike. I was in Michael's one day looking for I don't even remember what. I walked past the picture frames and I had the solution to my problem. Here's my inspiration.

Once I had the plan I was really excited to get going on it. I decided that I wanted to do 8" x 10" blocks so they would be a standard photo size. So I trimmed my blocks to 8 1/2" x 10 1/2".

Next came the math part. I decided to have a 1" finished border around my blocks. I measured the size of the small black border in the photo and the white piece between the pictures. I used those measurements to apply the same ratio to my project. I used the same technique to choose the two outer borders. Keeping with the style of the sample frame, I mitered all of my borders.

There was a lot of "dead" space in the first wide border. I quilted a holly motif on the top and bottom borders. In the center of the sides I quilted a single Christmas Tree and finished the rest of the side borders with the same holly motif. 

Now for the finished project.

My Santa Portrait Trio Wall Hanging

Here's what it looks like on the back.

Quilting Detail

We usually think of a color for borders and sashing fabrics. I know that had I done it that way it would have been a completely different look. When I look at the finished product, I think I achieved the look I was going for. It looks like framed Santa photos.

Happy Quilting and Stitching,

Carol

Friendship's Garden Quilt

I just finished this quilt. I had so much fun putting it all together I wanted to share the process with you.

First I want you to know that I can't take credit for the embroidery in the blocks. My friend Holly from Quilter's Cove had one of her employees do the stitching. She was going to put them together and never got around to doing that so she passed them on to me. I've had them for a couple months but finally had the time to assemble the quilt.

I tried a few different fabrics for the sashing. It was kind of like Goldilocks. I thought I had the perfect green. When I actually sewed the sashing between the blocks in the first row, I hated it. It was too bright. I toyed with black but it just didn't fit with the cheery blocks. Next I tried red. It matched the red in the blocks, but it came out too dark. Most of the cornerstone fabrics didn't show up and I wanted to add that extra sparkle of color. Finally I tried the pink. I thought it was way too much pink, but when I actually sewed the sashing into that first row, I really liked it. That was the winner. However, I didn't like that it was a solid fabric. It was a little too plain.

Section of Plain Pink Sashing

I recently saw the book "Doodle Quilting" by Cheryl Malkowski on SewCalGal's Blog. I bought a copy right away because I knew it would come in handy for the Santa Portrait Trio quilt I'm working on. I found the perfect way to incorporate some of the "doodles" in the book into the sashing to break up all that solid pink.

I chose to do a combination of leaves, circles and flowers as the quilting motif for the sashing. Instead of choosing a pink thread that would blend into the sashing, I chose to do the quilting in green. I wanted it to look like a printed fabric rather than a solid. Here's  what one of the sashing strips looks like quilted.

Sashing with the Quilting

After I had done a good part of the quilting, I got really excited. I had achieved the look I was going for. It was pink with an added splash of color and texture. Don't you just love when that happens?

Partially Quilted

Here's what a small portion of it looks like from the back.

 I added yellow for the binding to give it a little more color and sparkle. Here's the finished quilt.

Finished Friendship's Garden Quilt

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I'd love to know what you think. 

Happy Quilting and Stitching,

Carol

Celebrate The Seasons Banner

I just finished putting together my version of the Celebrate the Seasons pattern. Now that I'm feeling more confident with my stitching, it is time to branch out and apply my same philosophy to my Redwork projects as I do to my quilting projects. My mom taught me many years ago when I first started quilting that it is my quilt and I can use any fabric I want and make it any way I want. It doesn't have to look just like the picture. Once in awhile I do something similar to the pattern but more often than not, I put my own spin on things.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Here is the pattern for a quilt I was asked to make a sample of to test the pattern and then to sell at shows.

The Pattern

Here's a picture of my finished quilt:

My Confetti Quilt

I've been making minor changes to some of the Bird Brain Designs patterns but for the most part, except for fabric choices, I've made them like the pattern. Celebrate the Seasons is the first one I've done where I've really changed it up to make it mine.

So just like I have shown above, here is the picture from the pattern for the project.

Celebrate the Seasons

And here is my version that I just finished this morning.

My Version of Celebrate the Seasons

It is going to make its show debut at the Tucson Quilt Fiesta! in January. I have been working hard to get UFOs finished during my break. I hope to have several new things in our booth by then.

Happy Quilting and Stitching,

Carol

RedWork Christmas Tree

My youngest daughter Renee and her husband Grant live with us. She is all about Christmas. It is her favorite holiday. Last year they lived in a one room apartment and Renee had just about every corner of the place decorated. By the middle of December she had Grant excited about it too.

When they moved in with us all of the decorations came too. We got all of the decorations out of the attic on Friday. The decorating started that day and we're still not quite done. The "main" tree will go up this weekend. I believe at last count we have 7 or 8 artificial trees in various sizes and shapes.

Since there's an extra tree, I decided to decorate it with some RedWork Ornaments that I made for the show in Phoenix earlier this month. I used the Santa RedWork Ornament Set and the ornaments from the Heartfelt Angel Stocking pattern. We had the same tree on display at the show. I liked it so much in our booth that I wanted to do the same thing at home. It is on the landing of our staircase.

I'm almost done with the Winter Partners Pillows. I just have to do the Running Stitch "quilting" and then stuff them. I'll post a picture of them when I'm done.

Happy Stitching and Quilting,
Carol

New Bolts of Fabric

It has been awhile since I have had a chance to go "bolt" shopping. While we were on the way to Puyallup, WA for the Northwest Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival this weekend, we stopped at the EE Schenck warehouse. This was my first trip to that facility, and it definitely won't be my last. It is 80,000 square feet of fabric, notions, batting, books, and patterns. All I was interested in was fabric, and believe me that was overwhelming in itself. I'm glad that was all I had to worry about.

EE Schenck Warehouse in Portland, OR

I was looking for some fabric to finish up a couple models for our booth. I wanted some to have on hand to use in future samples and some just to sell as 1 yard cuts.

I knew I would have limited time, both because I needed to get to Puyallup and because Alan has a limited amount of patience for things like this. He doesn't get as excited being around all those gorgeous fabrics as the rest of us do. So I went online before we got there. Found the fabrics I was interested in  and made a list. Once I got there I found out that it doesn't really work that way. That just means they carry those fabrics. They might not be in stock. So my great plan went out the window. With rows and rows of fabric to now look at I was BRIEFLY overwhelmed. Then I took a couple deep breaths and started walking the aisles.

I found things that I knew were perfect right away. I grabbed those. Made notes of things that I thought would work. Things that I added to a "Wish List"for later. 

I also had to audition fabrics to finish up my Friendships Garden Quilt. Here are a couple pictures of that process. I think I finally got the winning combination but I was so busy writing down the SKUs and other information that I forgot to take a picture. 

Option 1

Option 2

I'm still thinking about it though. At first I thought the red was overpowering, now I'm not so sure. There is red in the blocks and it is just going to be in some of the cornerstones of the sashing. So maybe it isn't as out of place as I originally thought. What do you think? Leave me your suggestions in a comment.

I'll finalize the fabrics for Friendships Garden this weekend. Then I'll order them after Thanksgiving. I'll get to work on them right away so I can get the quilt finished during my break between Thanksgiving and the second week of January. Fortunately the blocks are all done. All I have to do is assemble the quilt top, quilt and bind it.

Here are the fabrics that I came away with yesterday.

I'll cut some of these up tonight and they will be for sale in the booth tomorrow. I'll put them on the website after the show.

Happy Quilting,

Carol

Trip to Lake County CA

We took an extra couple days on our way to a show in Portland, OR to visit our friends Robin and Tina of Bird Brain Designs. They live in Lake County CA. We drove through that area once several years ago and were excited to have a chance to stay and visit. Plus it was nice to basically take an R&R day for a change.

We got a tour of their new studio in Kelseyville.

Studio Entrance
The cute yellow car belongs to the owner of their next door neighbor Kelsey Creek Brewing

The studio has only been open since mid-June. So it is a work in progress. They have combined their RedWork and Wool designs with their love of antiques to create a warm and inviting space.

The studio is open Monday - Saturday. If you are ever in the area, they would love to have you stop by. There are lots of cute shops and other things to do in the vicinity.

If you can't make it to the studio, you'll find most of their RedWork designs along with all the goodies you need to stitch them in our booth at shows. We are the "Baby Birds." They are only doing a few shows a year, we're doing the rest for them.

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We saw lots of interesting things on this trip. Watch for future blog posts about those. In the meantime Happy Stitching.

Carol

Santa Trio Portrait Block #2

I finished my second block of this project. It helped to pass the time while I was waiting for my granddaughter to come out of surgery last week. I am always happy to have some hand work with me in situations like that. It helps to get my mind off what is going on. Not that you can put it out of your mind but it is a welcome distraction.

I have been talking about Sulky's Sticky Fabri-Solvy throughout this process. One thing I want to stress when working with this product is to set your printer to Draft setting when making a copy or printing from your printer. Less ink gets on the stabilizer. I find that is rinses out a little better this way.

Today I'm going to address what happens after the stitching is done. You may find it helpful to peel away the excess stabilizer along the outside of the stitching. I wouldn't try cutting it away from the inside, just large amounts around the outside edge. This is optional. I have done it without trimming too.

Fill the sink with some warm water. Put the completed project in the sink.

Put the project in a sink full of warm water to dissolve the Fabri--Solvy

Agitate it around for about 2-3 minutes. The stabilizer will start to dissolve almost immediately. Once it appears to be completely dissolved, empty the water and then run clean, clear water over everything to rinse out any excess Fabri-Solvy. When you are satisfied that all of the stabilizer has dissolved, hang it up to dry.

Hang it up to dry

If you discover after it is dry that the fabric is still a little sticky, just repeat the process a second time. Because I like to test things to see what you can and cannot do, I have also put my project in the washer to rinse out the Fabri-Solvy.

I have encountered a situation where there was still a little bit of residue after rinsing. I contacted Sulky about this. They also stress that it is important to set your printer to Draft when printing onto the stabilizer and I really think this makes all the difference in successfully removing all traces of the ink. They also suggested putting it in the washer with some Shout or similar stain removal product,maybe in with some other similar items so you have a little more agitation. In one case I know of it took two such treatments on cold water setting. However, in all of the cases I personally know of, it has come out every time.

When you are ready to finish up the project, put the stitching face down on top of a towel and press it. The towel underneath helps you get into all those little areas. You can use a little spray starch if you like. Now you're ready to finish up your project.

Happy Stitching,
Carol

Santa Trio Part 2

I finished stitching the first block for my variation of Santa Portrait Trio on the way to the show in Paradise, CA. I have the next one in the hoop and about 1/3 of the way stitched. I had a lot of time in the car after the show. Here's my completed block.

I transfer my designs onto fabric using Sulky's Sticky Fabri-Solvy.

This is a paper backed dissolvable stabilizer that can be fed through a printer. I just put it in my paper tray oriented so that the design is going to print onto the stabilizer. I have a 3-in-one printer so I put the pattern on the glass. Be sure to use the "Draft" setting on your printer. Tell it to make a copy. You can also scan a design and print it or just print from a stored design on your computer. The Fabri-Solvy feeds through the paper tray and comes out with the design printed right on there.

Peel the stabilizer away from the paper. It is sticky on the back so all you need to do is finger press it onto your fabric. Put it in a hoop and start stitching.

Here is my next Santa Block ready to hoop and stitch.

You can start stitching in no time. There is no tracing, no light box, no holding your pattern up to a window. Super fast and super easy.

When you're all done stitching, the stabilizer rinses out with warm water. You can either fill the sink with water and agitate it a little bit or just run it under the faucet and gently rub it. The stabilizer dissolves and all you're left with is the stitching.

Of course you can use this product the way you would use any other dissolveable stabilizer. I have used it for machine embroidery as well as thread painting.

Happy Stitching,

Carol

Variation on Santa Portrait Trio

When I work on a quilt, I very rarely make it like the picture on the pattern. I like to give things my own spin.   I feel like I'm comfortable enough in my stitching now to do the same thing with an embroidery design. We are doing a show in Phoenix this fall that has a holiday theme. So I've been working on stockings and ornaments. Now I'm working on my version of Santa Portrait Trio. I'm still doing it in red because that is definitely a great Santa color. However instead of making it as one long panel suitable for framing as shown on the pattern, I decided to make three individual blocks. Here's what the pattern looks like.

Once I get all of my blocks stitched out, then I'll figure out how I want to set them. I'm planning to turn it into a wallhanging rather than a picture to frame. It is a way to take one thing. Think outside the box a little bit to turn it into something a little different. Here's my first block in progress.

Check back for progress reports. I started this the block at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach last weekend. There wasn't a lot of down time to work on it. However, I will have time next week in our travels to Paradise, CA.

International Quilt Festival Long Beach

We worked in the Bird Brain Designs booth at this show. It was quite different working for someone else for a change. I will say I kind of enjoyed just working for a change. Don't get me wrong. I love what I do but there is so much responsibility when it is your own booth. I could go home at night and not have to worry about the day's paperwork and preparing for the following day.

It was fun to see our regular customers. Some of them were a little confused since we weren't in our "normal" home. But it was good for them to see the association with the Bird Brain ladies and it was nice for their customers to put a face to us since Robin and Tina are only doing a few shows a year. We coined ourselves the "Baby Birds" since we are the mini version of them on the road.

Here's a picture of the four of us taking a minute to pose for a picture during a slow period on Sunday morning.

After many years of taking a break from hand embroidery, I am back to doing that. I always have a stitching project with me. Stay tuned for pictures of what I'm working on now. In the meantime, here are some Bird Brain Designs projects you might be interested in.

I haven't had a lot of time to quilt or stitch. My youngest daughter got married on June 30th. The wedding is over. They are on their honeymoon and I have a few days before we leave for a show in Denver. So I've had some time to finish up a couple projects. These are the two I just completed.

Nativity Pageant Stocking

Robin Kingsley of Bird Brain Designs did the stitching on this. I just finished it up. There are five compatible ornaments to go with it.

This is one of two pillowcases in the "Bee Humble Bee Kind" pattern.

Now it's on to the next project, From Marti Michell's Tessellating Windmill. This is Marti's sample.  I'm making it in hand dyes and black. I think it is going to be stunning when it's done. Stay tuned for progress pictures.