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Appliqué books
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May
12
I found the most fabulous photo tutorial on designer Barbara Brandeburg’s blog. She has posted a wonderful step-by-step visual guide to creating raw-edge fusible appliqué. Hurry over to her blog and look on the righthand sidebar for “Easy Appliqué Tutorial” and have it all laid out before your eyes.
While you’re there, read her posts answering questions about appliqué. It’s a treasure trove over there. Thank you Barbara! You can also shop for her highly attractive patterns.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Designers, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorial, Raw edge, Topstitch, Zigzag | Leave a Comment
May
6
Not that long ago, American Patchwork & Quilting magazine launched a companion website called AllPeopleQuilt … APQ, get it? I was intrigued by a mention in the latest print magazine about quilting classes on-line, so I surfed on over to check it out.
Two appliqué classes head up their list of offerings. Linda Hohag is demonstrating a starch technique, and Pat Sloan is showing how to she does fusible appliqué. It looks like these are on-demand videos.
On the site, there’s also an area called “Try Techniques.” Click on the Appliqué section for gobs of free tips and tricks for a variety of methods.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Hand appliqué, Machine appliqué, Photo tutorial, Prepared edge, Raw edge | Leave a Comment
Apr
29
I subscribe to The Quilt Show on the internet with Ricky and Alex. I just got done watching an episode from Season 2 where Suzanne Marshall was the guest. She demonstrated some of her hand appliqué techniques, and I sat there amazed and agog as she showed some astounding things I had never seen before. I watched as she easily made bias tape without any kind of gadget or bar, then transitioned an appliqué pattern drawn on notebook paper into a beautifully hand-stitched block.
It just goes to show once again how many different ways there are to appliqué!
Ricky said that Suzanne’s first book, “Take-Away Appliqué,” is now out of print. However, her current book, “Adventure & Appliqué,” is going great guns, and contains the instructions for everything I mentioned above. Suzanne’s website is www.suzannequilts.com.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Books, Designers, Hand appliqué, Needleturn, Stems/vines | Leave a Comment
Apr
23
Kay has graciously invited me to be a guest on her blog, but before I begin, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Mary Warner-Stone, appliqué designer, lecturer, and teacher.
Here I am, appliqué in full swing, in front of my Fire Flower pattern.
I’ve been sewing since I was a kid. I discovered while trying to sew for 4-H and junior-high home-ec classes that sewing clothes just didn’t appeal to me. It was about that time I discovered the cathedral window quilt block in a women’s magazine. I fell in love with selecting fabrics from my mother’s stash, folding, ironing, hand stitching the seams. The entire process of making this fascinating block excited me. Rather clever to show the raggedy faces in the windows for a 12 year old kid wasn’t it?
I didn’t realize at the time that my passion for quilting was just beginning. I experimented with different quilt patterns and sewing on the machine, but always fell back into the rewards that hand sewing gave me. While in my early thirties, I took a class from a master appliqué artist, and I knew then that hand appliqué was the style of quilting I wanted to pursue.
I’ve since published six appliqué patterns, available on my website. I’ve been teaching both machine and hand appliqué, and just this year I’ve been invited to lecture at guilds.
Much as I like hand sewing, I have to admit I am not a notions junkie. I grew up with parents who were handy, creative, and frugal. If we could make it, or make it work, then there was no need to buy new. But I also understand the value of good tools, and I would like to share with you my finds and opinions about what works best for me. I’ll start with the use of a lap board for hand appliqué.
Good Tools for a Good Job
My dad taught me that working with the right tools will make any job easier. I’ve learned that also applies to hand appliqué. With the right tools, good tools, working on your project will be easier, quicker, and you’ll have fewer frustrations.
One of those tools I use every time I sit down to appliqué is the June Taylor Quilter’s Cut ‘n Press II board. It serves multiple uses for me, and is well worth the money.
When I start the set up of an appliqué block, I use the cutting side of the board to trace designs onto the freezer paper. The cutting side is also rough enough to act as a sandpaper board while tracing the designs to the fabric without the fabric slip-sliding around.
When I start to sew, I flip the board over to the padded side to lay my block on while I’m stitching. I prefer a board that is 12” by 18”. This is large enough for my blocks to lie flat without too much over-hang, but isn’t so big that the board teeters and falls off my lap while sewing. It’s important that you control both the block and the appliqué you’re sewing to the block. If your work flops around while you’re sewing it will have the tendency to warp, and the appliqué may pucker. Never a good thing! Laying the block on the June Taylor Quilter’s Cut ‘n Press while sewing will help eliminate this problem.
I also enjoy how it makes my sewing time more comfortable. My elbows and forearms rest on the cushioned board. No more scrunched arms close to my chest and tired hands from supporting the block during long stretches of sewing. I sit either cross-legged or with my feet resting on a footstool so that my knees are elevated closer to my chest.
The press side also works as a pincushion. When I first started doing appliqué, I had very young children, an infant and toddler to be exact. I allowed myself one straw needle and six sequin pins, which were stuck in the edge of the board when not in use in the block. If one of those pins were missing I was down on the floor searching so that one of my kids would not find it first. Now that my children are older – and not likely to swallow a pin - I still find it convenient to have my pins and needles handy at the edge of the board.
The June Taylor Quilter’s Cut ‘n Press is one of the handiest, most practical tools that I have in my sewing room, and I’m sure that you will find that it makes your hand appliqué sewing time more enjoyable.
May you find joy in all you do.
Mary Warner-Stone
www.marywarner-stone.com
Thank you Mary for an excellent article! I agree completely with the use of a lap board, down to the exact kind! I only have the smaller one, though, and I’m so glad you showed yours because mine is so old and well loved that it’s too disgusting to be seen in public.
Two notes I’d like to add… one, if you’re creaky in the knees like me and can’t sit cross-legged like Mary, use a footstool to bring your lap up closer to your eyes.
And, a word about the pincushion aspect… don’t flip your board over while it has needles in it… ask my kneecap how it knows :).
More from Mary in the future.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Designers, Hand appliqué, Patterns | 4 Comments
Apr
14
I’ve been posting examples from Teapots 2 to Appliqué over on the Quilt Puppy Show and Tell Center. Take a click on over to see the fabulous projects made by my appliqué friends!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Books | Leave a Comment
Apr
9
To clip or not to clip, that is today’s question.
Quilting professionals have differing opinions on how to handle clipping. Here’s my personal best advice on the subject.
NOTCHES
V’s, valleys, inside points, crannies… they go by a lot of names. Whatever you call ‘em, some teachers advocate clipping all the way to the bottom. I clip almost to the bottom. The way I stitch notches, by taking a slightly bigger bite with the needle, then snugging the stitch down, it works out better to have a couple threads to grab.
CURVES
Inside curves: Again the divide… to the line, or almost to the line. I’m a fan of a series of shallow clips on inside curves. If you’re using a small 3/16″ turn-under margin, you shouldn’t have to clip deeply to get the fabric to turn under nicely.
Outside curves: No, I say, no clip! Again, the scant margin allows the fabric to go under without wrinkling up on itself, causing “the pokies.” If you clip this outer curve, the fabric has a tendency to go loosey-goosey.
In either case, notches or curves, a full 1/4″ turn-under margin may cause you to have to clip where you don’t really need to. Go for the scanter margin. This small margin makes some quilter nervous, but fine work is achieved through this closer trim.
This information applies to hand appliqué. The machine appliqué method that uses freezer paper and glue is not among my skill set, so I’m not sure about best clipping protocols there. And of course, for raw-edge machine appliqué, there’s no clipping ever!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Freezer paper on the back, Freezer paper on top, Hand appliqué, Needleturn, Turned edge | Leave a Comment
Apr
5
Designer Darcy Ashton has devised a darling way to use raw-edge hand appliqué to make raggedy bunnies. I would never have thought of it!
Here’s a picture of one of Darcy’s bunnies, after appliquéing and before quilting and fluffifying.
Photo courtesy of Darcy Ashton.
Now go to Darcy’s blog to see the finished quilt with the bunnies fluffed up. Adorable!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Designers, Hand appliqué, Patterns, Raw edge | Leave a Comment
Apr
1
Look at this cute thing I just stitched up to hang in my booth at quilt shows!
I made this version of “A Little More Tea” smaller than the sampler pattern in Teapots 2 to Appliqué…it has 9 of the 16 designs. I call this one “A Spot of Tea.”
The appliqué notes in Teapots 2 are all about the back-basting, or no-template prep method for hand appliqué. For this cheery sample I used fusible appliqué with a small machine blanket stitch.
Sometimes I pull fabrics and make blocks, then go hunting for a border that will work with them. In this case I started with the border fabric and pulled the teapot fabrics from there.
Cheerio,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Blanket stitch, Books, Borders, Fusible web, Machine appliqué, Raw edge | 2 Comments
Mar
26
When I started a blog about appliqué, I said to myself, “You outghta be a member of The Appliqué Society.” So I joined up. I’ve received three newsletters so far, which have given me some sense of what the organization is all about. This from the TAS website:
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“The Appliqué Society’s mission is To Promote, to Teach, and to Encourage the Love of All Types of Appliqué in Quilting. We work to educate and promote public interest in the world of appliqué, as well as encourage and inspire creativity. The Appliqué Society (TAS) and its members want to ensure that the art of appliqué will continue through the generations.”
Membership benefits include a newsletter every other month. This publication is not a slick, overly produced piece. Printed in black and white, with hand-drawn patterns, it's reminiscent of real hometown quilters and appliqué fans. The content is wonderful. So far, the cover stories have been interviews with designers Elizabeth Scott, author of The ABCs of Words on Quilts, Pamela Humphries, author of Award-Winning Appliqué Birds, and Ricky Tims, author of Rhapsody Quilts. Within each interview there’s always a question or two about the designers’ techniques, which I’ve found truly illuminating in each case.
There are free patterns, as I said in many cases lovingly hand-drawn, features on specific topics in appliqué, product reviews, etc. In three issues I’ve picked up at least six tips! I’ll share just one of them, to give you an example. Member Jan Walter from central Illinois contributed a darling Santa pattern, and gives advice about the white beard and mustache: “For iron-on appliqué, back your whites by ironing a medium-weight interfacing on the back before ironing on the fusible web.” Thank you, Jan! We’ve all struggled with what do do about shadow-through with white appliqué pieces.
TAS has many noted professional members among its midst, who do a lot to support the organization by contributing patterns and articles. TAS membership also gives you the opportunity to join or start a local chapter, and stitch with like-minded quilters.
You might enjoy belonging to the Society as well. Visit the TAS website.
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Articles, Designers, Patterns, Spotlights, Words | Leave a Comment
Mar
22
My little dog Willie loves to go places, and loves to come back. He’s a good traveler, but I think he’s the very happiest when all of his pack are at home.
As you know, he helps me in the studio and is my boon companion while I’m working on all of my “stuff.” Here he is checking out my latest project, Home.
Yes, that’s right, the ink was hardly dry on Teapots 2 to Appliqué when I was already hard at work on another quilt design. I’ve been in a phase of doing things I haven’t done before, and it’s great! Home is more primitive and folksy than what I’ve done before, and I love it.
I knew the word “Home” would be front and center, and didn’t worry about how I was going to get it on there until I was ready to do it. After all, I co-wrote an article about words in quilts, which appeared in American Quilter. I knew I had some tricks up my sleeve! But when it came to it, I ended up doing… guess what… something I hadn’t done before.
Okay, so I’ve made plenty of bias tape in my life with my trusty green gadget (see the post on stems and skinny stems) but I’ve usually stitched both sides, either by hand or machine. This time I just zig-zagged down the center of each strip with black thread. Then I made a trip to the store to get some fresh Fray Chek (the bottle in my drawer was ancient, probably came with me from Ohio 11 years ago). I used a tiny bit of this seam sealant on the raw ends of the letters to prevent fraying. I ended up with the folksy look I was after for this project.
Home’s going to be a booklet with full-size patterns printed in it. Stay tuned!
Until next time,
Kay
Quilt Puppy Publications & Designs
Filed Under Machine appliqué, Stems/vines, Words, Zigzag | Leave a Comment