adventures of a quilting diva

I’ve learned a thing or two during the first 12 days of Dear Diary 2010. For example, there are some blocks that I would really rather not make multiples of. A four-inch 16-patch (shown above) is one of them. I don’t mind making one every now and then, and this quilt is the perfect place for it.

The purple and black Square-in-a-Square at right is another one of those blocks I don’t see myself making more of. (The dime is for scale.) It is pieced for real, not painted, stamped or fussy cut. I can’t imagine why I ever made it in the first place, but I can see why there is only one.

I was digging in my scrap box for more of the sheep fabric, but couldn’t find any. What I did find was this little gem, already inset into the muslin and just waiting for me. I think it fits in rather nicely.

happy quilting! =(^_^)=

Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts are mini art quilts 9″ x 12″ or less (fits inside a USPS Priority Mailer) created and sold to help make finding a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease a priority. This year 39 of my Quilt Art internet friends and I participated in a Stay-At-Home Challenge for quilters who weren’t going to Houston but didn’t want to simply sit at home and feel sorry for ourselves, so we took this opportunity to create Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts.

Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts are part of The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative, founded by quilter Ami Simms to make a difference one quilt at a time. Here is my first Priority Quilt, On a good day. Artist Statement: I imagine snippets of memories floating by on a breeze. On a good day you can almost reach out and touch them.
This quilt is made from cotton and lamé fabric, with fusible machine appliqué, machine quilting and hot-fix Swarovski crystals. Fusing tissue lamé for machine appliqué is not as hard as one might expect. Just follow these simple steps:

1). Iron WonderUnder to reverse side of tissue lamé (the right side is whichever side you like best, if you can tell a difference between the two) using a medium-hot iron and a dry press cloth (I like to use a piece of cotton jersey cut out from an old T-shirt or a scrap of muslin as a press cloth for this).

2). Cut out your appliqué shapes, remove the paper backing, and iron shapes to the background fabric with your medium-hot iron and dry press cloth. Don’t hold the iron in place for longer than the recommended fusing time, instead check to see how well it is fused and then give it another 10 seconds or so if necessary, repeat ironing and checking until all the edges are securely fused. It is better to check and repeat a few times than to iron too long in one go and melt the lamé.

3). Machine appliqué around the edges with a zig zag stitch. Use a sharp new needle and sew carefully because it’s better not to rip stitches out of the fused tissue lamé if at all possible.

This is a terrific technique for art quilts and wall hangings that will not see a lot of rough handling or excessive washing. I have never tested it on a bed quilt or wearable art garment.

Here are the Swarovski crystals I used on my Priority Quilt. These are different than the usual bling bling hot fix crystals that we all know and love. It is an opaque turquoise and is perfect for those times when your quilt calls for a little embellishment, but not the sparkle. You can find them at Kandi Corp.
Stay tuned for part 2 for directions on how to make an Alzheimer’s Fidget Quilt.

My post from June 2007 Top Ten Tips for Miniature Quilts is still one of the most visited posts on my blog. Just as piecing a miniature quilt has different problems than piecing a full-size quilt top, quilting your miniature top can be challenging too. So for all of you who were inspired to make a miniature quilt top, here are some suggestions on how to get it quilted.

1. For pieced quilts, trim all seam allowances after sewing and steam press your blocks to flatten the seams as much as possible. Do not slide the iron back and forth across damp blocks, press and lift the iron instead.

2. Split your batting apart to make it thinner or use one layer of cotton flannel as the batting.

3. Simplify and reduce full-size commercial quilting templates or patterns. Trace the design onto a piece of paper, leaving out some of the lines, then reduce the modified design using a photocopy machine or scanner.

4. Use a fine #50 cotton thread such as Mettler Silk-Finish for hand or machine quilting and the smallest needle you’re comfortable with. Regular-weight thread tends to look too bulky and distracts from the miniature effect.

5. Try hand quilting one stitch at a time, rather than loading several stitches on the needle.

6. When machine quilting use a smaller than normal stitch length.

7. Don’t be afraid to take your time and quilt slower than usual. With miniatures you have only a fraction of the ground to cover than with full-size quilts and it is no fun removing extra-tiny stitches.

Hope this helps! If you have any other suggestions for quilting miniatures, please add them to the comments section. I’d love to hear what works for you and I’m sure the other readers would appreciate it as well.

^_^ happy quilting!

Miniature quilts are fun to look at and fun to make too! However, there’s more to it than simply making smaller blocks. Minis need more accuracy than full-size quilts. You can ease in a difference of 1/16″ with two twelve-inch blocks. One-inch blocks, not so much. Here are some tips to make things easier for you the next time you tackle a miniature quilt project:

1. Let the sunshine in. Get lots of light—natural sunlight and/or a lamp with daylight bulb.

2. Use tiny tools. They are usually more accurate and less clumsy when working small. Some of my favorites are: 2-1/2″ clear rotary ruler with 1/8″ increments, extra fine tip mechanical pencil, small sharp scissors, Clover Mini Iron, and size 70/10 sharp machine needles.

3. Tightly-woven quilting cottons are the best for miniatures. A thread or two unraveling doesn’t usually make much difference on a full-size block. For a miniature, the width of just two threads could mean the difference between a pointed appliqué star tip and a rounded one, or whether a closely trimmed seam allowance stays together or falls apart in your hands.

4. Choose fabrics with a little extra contrast when working small. Fabrics blend together more when cut into tiny bits of color.

5. Let your fabric do the work for you. Use a checkerboard print to suggest a 16- or 25-patch block, or a striped fabric for multiple borders.

6. Explore your stash. Cut a window template from card stock to preview the many options your fabrics have to offer. Tiny prints are great, but don’t overlook large-scale prints either. You can find many different pieces from just one great large-scale print.

7. Don’t forget the starch. It helps you cut and sew accurately.

8. Piece larger, trim smaller. Many units, such as half-square triangle blocks and four-patch configurations can be sewn at a slightly larger, more manageable size, then trimmed to perfection with a rotary cutter and mini ruler. (The four-patch on the far right is 1-1/2″. Trimmed exactly to 1″ it make an easy and perfect 1/2″ finished block with four 1/4″ squares, near right.)

9. Try paper piecing. It’s an extremely accurate way to stitch complicated mini blocks with lots of tiny pieces, such as a pineapple block. It’s easy to reduce the scale too: just let the photocopy machine do the math.

10. Relax and take frequent breaks. Stretch, focus your eyes on something far away, take a walk. Your body and your miniature quilt will thank you.

This month’s FFFC (Fast Friday Fabric Challenge) included creating a quilt based on a song with a color in the title. I chose It’s Not Easy Being Green by Kermit the Frog.

I’m really having fun with my black and white prints. I hadn’t realized how much I miss them.

Visit the FFFC blog for more about this quilt and to view others from the song challenge.

Wave of manic creativity continues…

1). February 12×12x12 challenge quilt: Hand quilting with Jean Stitch did not work very well so I tried locally to find hot pink hand quilting thread. Found none in Gütermann, Coats & Clark, or DMC, at least that was in stock. Briefly considered using rayon, then came to my senses and bought a spool of hot pink cotton Gütermann machine thread. It works fairly well with three passes through Thread Heaven and 12 inch lengths. I’m quilting without a hoop or frame, which is not as precise, but I don’t have to worry about the beads getting in the way of the hoop, and it gives a nice folksy look.

Out of curiosity, any hand quilters out there: do you always stick to the nice glazed quilting threads or do you choose whatever strikes your fancy? Also, do you use the traditional colors (I found baby pink and dusty rose shades in the pink family) or do you prefer more vibrant hues?

2). March 12×12x12 sketch: I’ve been doodling quite a lot and here’s my favorite. I think I’ll use it for next month’s challenge.

3). New mini appliqué block: This is going to be part of a miniature folk art wool appliqué quilt. The finished blocks are 1 inch. I’m not sure what size the quilt will be yet. I hand appliquéd it with rayon thread, but am wondering if it would be more sturdy if I also needle felted it for good measure.