Merry Merry Snowmen Continues...

Thought I'd share my "design" trick for creating quilts with fabric stash...instead of purchasing what the pattern calls for. This is my thought process for scrappy style quilts like the Merry Merry Snowmen one. First task is to photocopy the color photo of the quilt provided in the pattern. Then, I use different colored markers to start "coding" the different areas while considering fabrics I pull from my stash. It is often necessary to use 2-3 fabrics where the pattern calls for just one...because there might not be enough yardage. The basic color family...brown, red, etc...must stay the same...and the value of the color (medium, dark, etc) should also stay the same. Balance the fabrics by placing them in a triangle (see blue markings) or equally balanced throughout the quilt (see yellow markings). Just as in crazy quilt embellishing...your goal is to get the eye of the viewer to travel around the quilt...and not stay in just one place.

Progress has been made...and the backgrounds for all of the remaining pattern blocks are complete.  Now, to prepare all of those applique pieces for sewing on to these blocks! First, the snowmen! I have traced all of the snowmen shapes on to a fusible interfacing (not fusible web). The interfacing is thin enough so that I can trace on the reverse side...with a soft lead pencil (a colored pencil). 

  Here, you see that they have then been ironed down to the reverse side of my white fabric. Next, they will be trimmed around, leaving about 1/4 inch of fabric for turning under. Because these pieces are white, and will allow the darker background colors to "bleed through"...I'm going to use a piece of white fleece in the center of each one as I applique. That will also give each snowman a little "fluff", and you now that snowmen are fluffy!  

Pin Cushion Design (PCD) - Three

  Hope you are not getting bored with these yet...cause, here's another one!

  There are two additional symbols in this chart...for different size pearl beads. This is the easiest one yet to stitch...only Stab Stitch ribbon leaves...Wrapped Stitch ribbon roses. And some free-handed featherstitch (or you could do fly stitches) for accents...done in a thin metallic thread (I used #4 Krenik braid).

  As usual, here is the reverse pattern marked for punching out the little red dots...to show the placement of the leaves and flowers.

  Here is the layout for stitching. All of the PCD designs use the instructions and placement guides shown on the first tutorial for these pin cushions. And the How-To construction directions are in part 2...of that first tutorial...so page back to that as well.

Pin Cushion Design (PCD) - Two

I can't seem to stop working on these pin cushions...and my muse is so happy about that!  Here is the second design for you to stitch up. 

 It has simple Fly-Stitch roses...with French Knot centers. Here, the French Knot and two fly-stitches just below that...are stitched in 7mm silk ribbon...in the same color (purple). End with a third fly stitch in green for the stem....done in 4mm silk ribbon.

   Some ribbon Stab Stitch leaves with 7mm silk ribbon are used to fill in some of the space around the flowers. A second flower is the embroidered Bullion Flower with French Knot centers. Create this with 8-wrap bullions, using 2 strands of floss. Stitch 4 bullions to create a cross type design...then fill in between these with two additional bullion in each of the four open spaces. The finished flower will have 12 bullions...and a little space left in the center for those French knots (1-3). This design has dragonfly charms (show as [] in the design), and purple montees. The montees could be substituted by other beads if you don't have them on hand.  

   As with the first design...here is a reverse chart...with red dots added to mark the top/bottom of the leaves and the center of the flowers to help in placement. For the pin cushion tutorial...print these so that the outside circle is about 4 inches. Of course, you can use larger ribbon and print the pattern larger...for pillow tops, framing, etc.

Pin Cushion Design (PCD) - One

This design uses silk ribbon for all of the flowers and leaves. The wrapped roses are 7mm black edged rayon ribbon and the French Knot gathered roses are 13mm wine silk ribbon. The stab stitch leaves are 13mm green silk ribbon and the detached chain (lazy daisy) leaves are done in 7mm bias cut varigated green/brown color silk ribbon. Then 3mm dark blue crystal bicone beads and green crystal montees have been scattered around the flowers to add some sparkle. As with all flower designs, you could also change these roses out to a different style and/or type of flower head that you might enjoy stitching; add some feather stitching or some springs of French Knot babies breath; change it up and make it truly your own design.  

  Here is the design and the reverse for marking dots on your foundation fabric (optional). If you right click the image above and save it...it should print the correct size at 100% and fit on a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. The outer "dashed" ring should measure 4 inches across. Also, I strongly recommend that you always use a hoop when stitching these Pin Cushion Designs to keep your work flat and help keep it neat. A hoop that has the bottom ring wrapped in some scrap strips of cotton or seam binding will help you get a nice secure piece...and greatly reduce slipping of your background fabric while working. Here's some extra information for you, that might be helpful.   Spider-web or Woven or Wrapped Roses: See instructions in the SRE Basic Stitch Guide for working these.   French Knot Gathered Rose: Anchor your ribbon to the back of your work and needle up in the center of your rose location. Hold the ribbon in your left hand and your chenille needle in your right hand (reverse if you are left handed). Wrap the ribbon around the needle a couple of times (clockwise) to start a French Knot...then, point your needle downwards aligning it with the center of the ribbon as you hold the ribbon straight. Pierce the ribbon about a half inch below the twists...and continue to pierce the ribbon ever half inch or so...in an up and down motion until you have gathered the ribbon on the needle.   

Now, pierce the fabric about where you first came out with the ribbon.

   Pull the ribbon through...and the french knot will be formed on top of the stacked folds of the ribbon created by your gathering. Pinch this little flower and "spin it" with your finger tips...and a nice little ribbon rose will appear.   

Anchor your ribbon to the back of your work. Anchoring Ribbon. Take a tiny stitch to the back of your foundation fabric...but, not through the top fabric.   

Now, before pulling the ribbon completely out...pierce the last one inch of ribbon and pull. This creates a little stitch on the back of your work...without a knot or excess bulk. Ending Ribbon. Simply lace the ribbon under some prior embroidery stitches, ribbon stitches, or between the foundation and top fabrics and cut.  

Pin Cushion Design Tutorial - Part 2

If you have ever made a pincushion using a Compact Disk as the bottom...then you'll have no trouble with this tutorial. It is essentially the same kind of process...only I like to use canning jar lids instead. This tutorial is sized for the "wide mouth lids"; but could be reduced with very little effort to work with the regular size lids too. Canning jar lids are available in most standard grocery stores...you might have to ask "where". You don't need the "rings"...just the lids. Here where I am, they are about $3.50 for a dozen. If you can't find the lids...then any pair of sturdy circles measuring about 3.25 inches across the center will work. Cut them out of quarter inch wood, for example...but remember to sand the edges! Hugs.   Supplies Needed: Fabric for top of pin cushion (nothing too stretchy or too dense) Fabric for foundation of top (muslin, thin cotton) Fabric for inside lining (muslin, thin cotton) Cotton or Cotton/Polyester or stuffing Silk Ribbon, Embroidery Threads, Beads, Etc depending on the specific Pin Cushion Design chosen Two wide-mouth canning jar lids Strong thread/cording to gather and tack tightly Optional: E-6000 Glue

Step One: Trace the Circle on the Design sheet at Part 1 of this Tutorial on to your Foundation Fabric. This tracing is on the back of the fabric.

Step Two (Optional): Each design will include a reverse design that includes "dots" to mark the position of major elements in the design...such as the top/bottom of leaves, center of large flowers, spokes of the wrapped rose, etc. Transfer the dot markings from your chosen Pin Cushion Design to your Foundation Fabric Circles to mark placement of flowers, leaves, etc...as you wish. You can also freehand all of the design if you don't want to create it so literally.

To transfer the dots...first, punch a hole with a needle over every red dot in the design. (This photo has no dots, I just used the top/bottom of leaves and the center of flowers, etc and eyeballed where to punch. Then, I went back to the design sheets and added little red dots ...which will make it easier for you to see where the needle should put a hole.)

Here is how the design looks with just the holes on the back. 

Now, use these holes as placement for a sharp lead pencil...and transfer the "dots" to the muslin foundation fabric.

Step Three (Optional): Annotate your design so that you can clearly understand "what the dots mean". Here, for example, I have used different colored pins to go over the dots again for different design elements (red dots for the spokes and center of the Wrapped Roses, larger pink dots for the French Knot Gathered Roses, green dots for the leaves); have draw a line between the top/bottom dots for each leaf; and (later on) have added a squiggly line to remind me of which leaves were detached chain stitch ribbon leaves instead of the stab stitch ribbon leaves.

Step Four: Place the Top Fabric over the foundation fabric. Be sure to keep the annotations side of the foundation fabric down, so you can see it. Stitch these two pieces of fabric together by running a machine zig-zig along the outside drawn line. (Forgot to take a photo before the stitching was done...but, hopefully you get the idea from this "after" shot.)

 

Step Five: Complete the embroidery, silk ribbon, and beading as the design reflects. (Shown in Part 3 of this tutorial). Set this completed top section aside for now.

Step Six: Take the fabric for the lining and trace a circle using the outer-most circle on the Pattern in Part 1 of this tutorial. Using a strong thread/cord gather this circle until you have an opening about 2 inches across. Tie off the cord/thread. (I used a ball of perle thread to show you that there is an opening when this circle has been gathered up.)

Step Seven: Fill this "lining bag" with poly fill. Use small amounts...over and over...stuffing and packing until the lining resembles a tight little round pillow. Take a piece of cord and criss-cross over the opening to keep the stuffing in place and to draw up the sides to create a nice shape. Poke more stuffing inside if you need to to get this nice and firm. This will be the inside of the pin cushion.

Step Eight: Take strong cord/thread and gather the finished top of the pin cushion.Place the stuffed lining and then one of the large mouth jar lids into the top. Draw up the cord and gather the top around the lining ball of stuffing...and around the jar lid. Draw this up tightly (that's why you need really strong cording). Take a few stitches to anchor...and then criss-cross the excess thread until you have secured the gathering pleats as nicely as possible. You might need additional pieces of cording to get this neat.

Step Nine:

Using the canning jar lid as a guide, cut a circle of felt about one-inch larger than the lid on all sides. Gather this around the lid. Secure the gathering thread.

Step Ten: Use E-6000 glue or tiny stitches (or both) to secure the bottom felt piece to the top of the pincushion. You can also cover any space between the two with trim if you desire.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about the first of the Pin Cushion Designs (PCD) in this series.

Pin Cushion Design Tutorial - Part 1

I've been working on some designs for pin cushions...or they could be used flat on book covers, pillows, etc.

However, I need to also tell you "how" to create the pin cushion once the design has been stitched. So, there needs to be a general tutorial really...on custruction...before the real design is shared.

So, I'll be taking a couple of days to post a tutorial on how to use the designs and how to create a really firmly stuffed pincushion once you've stitched the designs.

Today, here is the basic layout of the pincushion top section and the Legend that I'll be using for the different elements of each design. This will change as time goes on...and I add new elements to the list. But, I'll update that for you when it needs to be adjusted.

You'll need this to understand the positioning of the embroidery, beading, and silk ribbon work...and how big to cut your fabric, foundation, and lining.

Tomorrow...I'll walk you through the creation of the first design (lot's of photos)...Then, on Tuesday I'll post the first pin cushion design...PCD-1

There is a second design completed also...and it will be posted when I get the example stitched. There will be others to follow, so it might be a good idea to set you up a file folder for downloading these photos as each design is posted this year.

Hope you are going to find this new design adventure beneficial. Feel free to use the symbols to and blank charts to create your own designs as well.

Transfering a Design to Dark Fabrics - Tutorial

I'm working on some black blocks with white embroidery. There are several blocks, with different designs. Here is how I've done the transfer of the design on to the black fabric.

  Supplies used: My bath powder puff (It was Elizabeth Taylor Passion...but that was used up long ago, so now it is just plain ole baby powder), squares of Kona black cotton fabric, white chalk marking pencil, large needle, and design printed on standard printer paper (see first photo too).

  Step One. Pierce the design about every 1/8th of an inch along the printed line...with the large needle.

  This creates a type of "punch design" on the back.

  Step Two. Center the design on the fabric square, and rub the powder puff all around on the paper. You can tape the paper to the fabric if you think it might slip (do this if the design is large, for sure). There doesn't have to be a lot of powder on the puff...if it is one you normally use, there will already be plenty of residual powder left in it. If it is new, then apply powder to the puff before you start to rub over the paper design.

  Step Three. Gently lift off the paper design, and working along one side...begin to "connect the dots" by tracing the line. Don't try to go from dot to dot to dot...just draw as you would normally. Pay close attention to the design...because if you "mis-draw"...you have to camouflage your mistake in the stitching phase...because the caulk pencil is not easy to remove. It is possible to remove...just not easy. So, take your time. Don't rest your hand over the chalk...or it will smudge. I'm right handed...so I start at the lower right corner of a design and work upwards...rotating the fabric as I draw. That way, my hand is always to the outside of the chalk design or over an area that I've already worked.

  Step Four. Shake off the excess powder. Your fabric is now ready for your embroidery. There, that wasn't so difficult! Here are some more designs finished up and ready to stitch.

When stitched, I'll show you how these turn out.

Peacock - Beginning

Okay...first...I'm really loosing it! I just realized that I posted this to the CQJP Blog last night, instead of to my own blog. Geez! Can you tell I have way too many things going on right now!! Anyway, here is the post...sorry if you got it from the 2012CQJP blog as well (until I just deleted it that is).  

  I'm starting a new project. Yeah, no surprise there...my muse is always working on something! I'm the one that is too tired to keep up! She wants to do a project with loads of bling again...some embroidery, probably in rayon for the shine...and loads of beads, crystals, and sequins...and a peacock is what she has in mind. So, I spend a few hours yesterday working on the body...just to keep her quiet. Next...the tail...which will really require me to concentrate...and that will just have to wait....as I'm working to get silk ribbon kits packaged for a class the first part of October. Measuring, cutting, wrapping, stuffing tiny baggies and labeling...is not really much fun...but has to be done. However, my muse doesn't seem to understand that these things HAVE to occur...and only wants to play. So, she side-tracked me....again!

But, as always...I love to hear your feedback...how would you consider creating from this style of pattern?

Not sure when I'll be back to finishing this design...to work on the actual tail feathers...and might change the body when I do...but, right now...I'm thinking that fully beaded is the way to go for the body...but, my muse has been know to totally change her mind...so, we will just have to wait and see. You know, redwork would also be good...and a lot faster. But, I sure do love all the shine of beads and sequins...decisions, decisions.