TUTORIALS

Sharing

by Karen on July 9, 2011

To me one of the things about quilting is sharing information! As we all know prices are going up on everything – just plain everything from pins and needles and other notions to fabric and beyond. I would not think that paper could be so much different in price though. But it is!!

The other day on my yahoo group for the Farmer’s Wife some were talking of how they are paper piecing some or most of their blocks and that got me to thinking about paper Smile yes paper. For paper piecing if you are printing your patterns out from a printer you need a clear sheet of paper. Some people use regular copy paper for this. To me – my opinion – I want something a little lighter than copy paper.

Some years back I came across some paper that Carol Doak sells – she is a queen of paper piecing so I thought I had to have it – it must be good. Now if you only buy from quilt shops and on line quilt shops and do not shop for bargains don’t bother to read the rest of what I say – and this is nothing against Carol or any other well known quilter who is making some money off of the rest of us quilters who buy their stuff!! We buy it and pay the prices because we just have to have it, right?

But if you want to save some money on paper piecing – read this! Smile

Paper piecing paper is Newsprint paper – the light slightly recycled look of paper – not white. Did you know that newsprint is what some children’s scribble tablets are made from? I did some comparison shopping – I was out shopping anyway so this did no hardship in time or gas money for me.

————————————————————-

Carol Doak – 100 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper – a big whopping $9.95 plus shipping and handling if you order on line. I am using Carol as an example – I don’t have a clue who else sells under their name.

Wal-Mart – a 60 sheet tablet of 9 x 12 inch paper – $1.88

Hobby Lobby – a 100 sheet table 9 x 12 inch paper – after using my 40% off coupon $1.79

The tablets – the doodle pad on the left is Wal-Mart (in the school supply area) the one on the right is Hobby Lobby (comes in various sizes in the drawing section area)

What I did – my start time:

gently tear all of the sheets out of the tablets – you can do this using about 20 sheets at a time if you want. Using you rotary blade – my blade needs changing so I used it – you might want to not use your sharp blade but use one of your old ones. I cut the paper to 8 1/2 x 11 inches to fit the printer. I was able to cut through 20 to 30 sheets at a time easily.

My stacks of cut down to size paper – Wal-Mart, Carol’s (didn’t need cutting) and Hobby Lobby.

Finished time – took me 9 minutes – included pulling the paper out of the tablets, cutting and photos.

I got 160 sheets of the same kind of paper, minus the brand name and saved money – my total –$3.76 the same amount with brand name would cost me $15.92 (the only plus is that I wouldn’t need to take several minutes to cut it down to size). That might not be a big deal – but hey that could buy a yard of fabric – and it gave me a blog post Smile I’m sure some of you can find even better prices and offers. I do not do a whole lot of paper piecing but I like to have some on hand for when I do – well I now have enough to last me a very long time LOL

Have a good weekend everyone!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Tutorial – Printing On Fabric

by Karen on June 12, 2011

in Printing on Fabric, quilts, TUTORIALS

Back to the Signature Wedding Quilt. My next step was to get some photos printed out on fabric. I don’t always have luck with this but I got some done last night and today.

So here is my tutorial on how to print photos on fabric – I’m sure there are other ways and some of them might be better than mine so if you want to try it out search around and and read up on it. This is my way to do it. This way involves treating your own fabric not purchasing the pretreated fabric that is ready to run through your printer – that kind is fine too but I find most brands are meant for machine sewing only and as we know I do more hand work than machine.

Step 1: Buy some Bubble Jet Set 2000. You can find it at a variety of places and you can find it at some quilt shops and maybe even Hobby Lobby. Everything you need to get started you can find at the link above – this is where I get my Bubble Jet from, the fabric and the freezer paper.

Step 2: Cut your fabric to fit the freezer paper – 8 1/2 x 11 inches if you have not purchased the freezer paper from the above link. This is a little more expensive than the big butcher rolls of freezer paper but it is already cut and it is a little thicker I find then the rolls of paper you can buy at the grocery store. It is so handy and always ready to feed through your printer or to use to trace something out of a book – it is flat!!

Step 3: Put on your rubber gloves – I don’t know what happens if you don’t do this but maybe your skin will burn? I don’t think so though – it also says to use in a well ventilated area but I have never smelled anything from it.

Step 4: following the directions on the bottle place your fabric in a shallow pan and pour the chemical over it and let it soak for 5 minutes. Make sure your fabric is completely covered with the liquid.

I always set my timer to make sure I do it right!

Step 5: When the timer goes off take your fabric out of the pan, I squeeze gently to remove a lot of the excess liquid. Lay the fabric on a towel and let it dry. I always place the pan that I use the funnel in the dishwasher so I don’t forget they need cleaning before being used for anything else.

Step 6: Pour the used liquid back in the bottle – it is still good and can be used some more – it has always worked for me Smile also a money saver – sorry I forgot to clean my sink before I took the photo – I wasn’t thinking far enough ahead.

Step 7: I let my fabric dry over night and then this morning I got my iron out and found out it was no longer working – what is with irons – they never seem to last more than a year or two before they give out on you no matter the price – I always keep a small iron in the sewing room for pressing seams and it is also the iron I keep in the motorhome now I will have to find another for that purpose – I got out the iron I keep for pressing big pieces of fabric and clothes when they are too wrinkled to wear out in public.

Anyhow – I digress – iron your treated fabric to get all the wrinkles out of it.

Step 8 : Iron your fabric with a hot iron to the shiny side of the freezer paper.

Step 9: Trim the edges so that there are no unraveled edges to get trapped in your printer. If you are printing out something that is 8 1/2 x 11 inches make sure to only cut off a tiny bit on each side if there are raveled edges.

Step 10: Have your photos selected the size that you want and insert the freezer paper/treated fabric in your printer – in my printer that is the fabric side down but depending on the printer this might not work for you. I have also found that not all printer ink stays in fabric – you need to check and see if your printer does that before you print out a bunch. I have two HP printers – one is a wireless scanner/copier/printer and doesn’t work on fabric – it is the more expensive of the two also so one would think it would work but I have found that the color washes right out – the one I use for fabric is my HP Deskjet D2545 that if I recall right I got for under $100 and it seems to always work.

Step 11: Now that you have your photo printed on your fabric let it set for 30 minutes.

Step 12: Peel off the freezer paper and take your fabric photo to a bowl of soapy water – use as gentle of a soap as you have – I found some Orvis Soap for quilts that Wanda from Exuberant Color recommended to me and it worked great. A tiny bit goes a long way – I put in less than a quarter teaspoon of the soap in the bowl of cold water that I used and it was plenty.

Swish the fabric photo around in the soapy water and then rinse thoroughly in cold water. Put on a towel to dry or dry with a hair dryer.

This one of the photos that I printed. I printed some that the bride had in black and white and some in color. I found my black and white prints turned out much better than the color – you might have different luck so try what you want. Yes the edges on the right side are not very large but I am going to be taking care of that with some appliqued “pictured frames” around the photos – it will be ok.

Step 13: turn your photo over and press with a hot iron – this is supposed to help set the ink.

Step 14: Work on your quilt!! I will show more when I know what I am doing with the photos Smile I have to now figure out how I am designing the next step of the quilt to include the photos, some appliqued vines and leaves – I changed my mind on the pieced leave border – too much work!!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Half Square Triangles = Mug Rug

by Karen on April 27, 2011

in quilts, triangulations

Just last week I posted a tutorial on how to use the triangulations that I was practicing. I had 24 half square triangles to make use of so I made a mug rug from them and practiced straight line machine quilting with it. I forgot to post it

Just the right size to add a small snack to it or to place a cup of tea on a saucer to catch spills – you don’t want to get it stained up too fast Smile the great things about these mug rugs though is the size – so fast to put these little babies together. The lines aren’t perfectly straight but not too bad.

We had more rain today but not bad rain – only heavy a couple times and not as heavy as it had been. It is actually supposed to clear out in another hour and the sun come out for the next couple of days – I hope!!

The winners of the AQS quilt show in Paducah are posted. Go HERE to see the winning quilts. There are some really neat ones like usual. I really like the applique on this ONE by Deborah Kemball – I liked it enough that I search for a book by her and ordered one this morning Smile more inspiration you know.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Triangulations–Part Two–Tutorial

by Karen on April 22, 2011

in quilts, triangulations, TUTORIALS

I was asked yesterday how does this CD work to get half square triangles as from looking at the sheet of paper it wasn’t clear – so here is a little tutorial. Insert the CD in your computer and read the instructions – she has clear instructions. Print out the size pattern you want on the kind of paper you want to use – I used Carol Doak’s paper piecing foundation paper as I had some on hand – you might want to print out several sizes and see exactly what they are – it displays on the computer screen really well so you can see what you have.

The one I printed says 1 & 7/16th inches. I really do admit though that I do not understand the measurements. If anyone can explain this please do! When I pressed my half squares out they measure 1 & 15/16ths square. That is why I say you might want to make one and measure and see if it is the size you want. Trim your paper down – I leave about a quarter inch all the way around. If anyone can tell me about the measurements I will let you all know what I learn. EDITED: well don’t I feel stupid – there are 4 files on this program and I only looked at the first one. The second file you can find the triangulations for finished sizes of 2 inches, 2 1/2 inches ect.

Cut two pieces of cloth the same size (or a little larger is ok) and place right sides together and place the paper on top of it. Put a couple pins in to hold the whole sandwich together. Smooth out best you can.

Sew on or right next to the dotted lines removing pins as you come to them – once you have some stitches in place it holds together well without pins – follow the arrows and use your up/down needle positions to turn the corners. Use a small stitch and your needle that you use for paper piecing or heavier than normal cloth – I use a #14 or #16

Put the needle down, lift your presser foot, turn the paper and continue to follow the arrows.

Yes I forgot to start with a full bobbin and ran out and had to take time to fill. Even with following lines I can not stitch straight it seems Smile but that is ok with this as it is in the seam line – make sure you stay on the right side of the dotted lines! You will need to make sure you are squared up and if you are off of the lines too much that means more squaring up is needed though.

Using your ruler and rotary cutter cut on the solid lines, rows first, then do the individual blocks.

cut the square in half on the solid line.

trim your points on those solid lines

Press to the print color fabric – or whichever way works for the color fabrics you are making. Peel the paper off. Pressing before you take the paper off helps to keep from stretching if you have a heavy hand – press straight down helps also.

Then make into whatever design you want to make –

This size makes 24 half square triangles with one sheet of paper. I think I will turn this little experiment into a mug rug – maybe later today or Sunday. There are so many sizes available on this CD that there is probably one in here someplace that finishes at 2 inches – I’m sure I just missed it.

You could print this onto fabric by putting your fabric on freezer paper and then put through your printer. I would check though on a sample piece to see if any of the ink bleeds out onto the fabric. You can also use this for hand piecing either by printing out directly onto the fabric or by printing out one on paper and using a light box trace your lines on to your fabric.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Clover Bias Stem Maker–Tutorial

by Karen on March 21, 2011

in Clover Bias Stem Maker, quilts, TUTORIALS

I was asked if I could show how to use the clover bias stem maker for applique by one of my readers. Use the link above to see where you can buy it and what it looks like. The bias stem makers come in a variety of sizes. For all of them, cut the width of the opening plus a 1/8 to 1/4 inch on each side for the fold. For the 1/4” that I am using I cut 3/4” inch strips of fabric. If you have a 1/2” maker you cut your strips at least 1 inch ect.

1 – First you cut your fabric into bias strips. I am using a stem maker that produces 1/4” stems, cut as many strips as you need.

2- turning to the metal side of the gadget use a pointing object such as a stiletto to slide the fabric into the slot. The fabric will fold automatically as you pull it out and press, you do not need to fold anything to get started.

3- pull it out just a little bit to make sure the folds are even and you are ready to start.

4- with your heated iron press down the edge that you pulled out, then gradually slide the gadget to your left while you press down on the folds on the right (if you are right handed – otherwise reverse order if you are a lefty)– you will get the hang of this and it goes quickly – just keep the iron down and keep pulling the gadget in the opposite direction.

5- by keeping your iron down the whole time you will find you come to the end quickly and it all stays folded in place because you are pressing at the same time you are pulling the Clover product.

6- When I am done I press the folded side one more time to make sure it is all in place, then I turn it over and press from the top. Word of warning – if you decide to use spray starch after you have flipped it over it is possible from the moisture that your folds will come unfolded.

Now I am ready to cut and glue baste in place. Using my glue I dot on both sides of the fold to keep it in place.

Press with your finger lightly and it will stay in place – you could pin if you prefer or pin and basting stitches.

Part way done. I will finish glue basting the stems in place then applique these flowers and stems in place then add a round of green at the base of each flower where the petals join the stems. All of this will be needle turned applique in place then I will go on to the next round of applique which includes a different type of flower and the pineapples – with 27 tiny red circles in each 4 pineapples – won’t that be fun Sad smile

I hope this helps. These are inexpensive gadgets and I have at least 2 or 3 different sizes. There is some fusible tape that you can also purchase that goes with these. I have tried it and use it sometimes but I have found at times it shows through to the front and also when you iron it down it doesn’t always hold – or maybe my iron isn’t hot enough? I just know I have not always had luck with it. If you use the fusible tape you put that in the gadget also. The tape would go on the opposite side of the gadget – on the top – and you just move it along at the same time and your iron would be on top of the fusible tape.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Reverse Applique–A Tutorial

by Karen on December 11, 2010

in quilts, reverse applique, TUTORIALS

Yesterday and previous days I have mentioned doing reverse applique on some of my Dear Jane triangles and I was asked “how do you do that” “and what is reverse applique”. I am not really great at explaining with just words but I can explain better with pictures. So here goes:

For this sample I am using two squares of fabric. In most applique you cut a shape – like a leaf, or a flower petal or whatever out of the fabric you want on the top of your quilt. In reverse you cut your shape out of the top fabric.

Here I draw a circle on the top fabric, I hope you can see it well enough I should have drawn a little darker:

Now cut your shape out leaving a seam allowance to turn under. Position your two fabrics so one is on top of the other. You can use fabric glue, basting thread, or pins to secure the two pieces together – that is up to you. In this example I have both pieces being the same size but when you are actually doing it they do not need to be. If you are doing a leaf for example you can have the fabric behind being just a little bigger than the leaf is going to be. The fabric behind is trimmed to the correct size later. Now this next step can be done by hand or by machine – that all depends on how you do your applique. I do needle turn. Using that method (I am using a different color thread than I normally would for example purpose – normally I would use matching thread). By needle turn method I sweep my fabric ahead of the needle under and do applique stitch – either use the blind stitch or tiny whip stitch. Your thread should match your top fabric.

Here is the circle completed – is it easier? the same? does it give the same look? I guess that all depends on your own personal choice. A lot of time I find reverse easier especially with the Dear Jane quilt involving tiny pieces – I don’t know why that is just me I guess and my personal preference. (don’t forget if you use matching thread your stitches will barely be visible)

This is what it looks like on back:

Following your stitches on the back carefully cut away the excess fabric leaving the same size seam as you normally would 1/8 to 1/4” inch. If you are using a piece of fabric only slightly larger than what your applique piece is you will have little waste – but remember to check it before you start stitching to make sure you have enough of a piece to cover the needed space and leave a seam allowance to prevent fraying when washed and used so it won’t pull out.

Easy – I did this in about 5 minutes. The finished square:

Now of course when points are involved it is a little harder – I do not like points and usually do regular applique for that – but sometimes if it really doesn’t matter to me how pointed the point is I sometimes just have the points be a little more curved than they should be Smile but that is me and it depends on how precise you want to be.

I did finish one more triangle last night making 4 yesterday!!

This is triangle #10 on “Insanity Revisited” my second Dear Jane. All done with regular piecing on this one – except I forgot! on the very bottom the two triangle pieces are regular appliqued.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Paper Piecing (Flip & Sew or whatever you call it)

by Karen on May 1, 2010

in paper piecing, Pineapple Scrap Blocks

After I starting making another pineapple block I thought I would take photo’s along the way so you can see how you do it. Or should I say how I do it? I have never taken a class but I was shown how to do it by another quilter.

this is the point I was at when I started to take photos

this is with the pieces building as a building block- going round and round

select a piece of fabric, make sure it is the correct size, you can hold it up to a light and see if it is long enough and wide enough to cover the area needed.

from the front put in a pin to hold it in place if you wish - you do not need a pin if you feel comfortable without one

sew directly on the line, using a very small stitch - smaller the stitch the better for when you need to tear all of this paper off

flip it back over and see where you stitched. Now flip it back to the sewing side, fold your paper back and trim your seam. This can be 1/8th of an inch or a 1/4 - your choice, when using such small pieces I eyeball it at about 1/8th

then I press it down

then fold back each side one at a time and trim - again I do this to 1/8" when using tiny pieces but a 1/4" works well on larger blocks to do this you just fold your paper back to the size of seam you want and cut next to the paper - use a ruler to cover the paper if you think you might cut into the paper by accident. If the cut off access is still big enough to use in another block I save it - it gets tossed back to the scraps as this one did. The yellow ruler on my table is a add a quarter inch ruler that is used for paper piecing.

keep building around the block - follow the numbers. On this piece I want to show you what happens if you haven't looked at a piece close enough. On this blue piece in the little corner there is a piece of salvage showing - in this case it will be alright it will be covered by the next seam. But that is what you need to look for when you are selecting your next piece and to make sure it is big enough.

The next piece - white corner - covers that little bit of salvage and no need to pick out a piece to replace. But if the salvage edge had been a little larger I would have had to pick that piece out.

Final step is to trim all the way around the block leaving a quarter inch seam. Leave the paper on the block and you will eventually join all blocks together and tear the paper off when the top is finished. A pain in the you know what and it might take you a couple days to do it depending on the size of your quilt. This is a good way though to use up tiny scraps and the fabric will hold it's shape and not stretch out. This block measures 6 1/2 inches.

my workspace when paper piecing. I have my small portable table set up with little iron mat/cutting mat, travel size iron, rotary cutter ect. The taller cutting table has my scraps dumped on to it, and then the sew ezi table. Small area but all I have to do is rotate the chair and everything is right there. Everything is within reach. Normally for more exercise I iron in the living room, but when using these little pieces I would be popping up and down so often that I took the easier way out and have it set next to me.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

“Lump-less” Binding tutorial

by Karen on April 2, 2010

in lumpless binding, TUTORIALS

Last night at the sewing group one of the ladies - Natalie – shared with us a method that she recently was shown for making “lump-less” binding. There are different tutorials out in the land of internet I’m sure that show this but I haven’t come across this particular way before. I had seen a different way to do it several years ago but this is a much easier way to accomplish the same thing. I did a sample piece and took photos as I made it to practice and make sure I remembered how to do it myself. It will come in handy next quilt that needs binding. Just pretend that my beige piece of fabric is a quilt

this binding is 2 1/2 inches wide, fold it in half, press like you normally do and sew it down with a 3/8 inch seam. Make sure to leave plenty of un-sewn room to work with. For large quilts about a foot on both sides will give you maneuverability room.

from some of the extra binding that you have on your longest end cut a piece off and flatten it out. It doesn't have to be large. You will use the 2 1/2 inch width. Lay that piece on your quilt in the area that your finished binding will meet. (if you make your binding a different size this still works - just use the width of your binding )

straighten out one side of the binding and lay it over that piece of cloth and cut to match up to the end like shown.

Fold the piece that you just cut back and then do the same with the other side.

unfold both of the sides of binding and match to sew together

pin the two pieces together

sew from end to end

cut off the excess

finger press the seam flat and straightened out your binding - see it is a perfect fit. This method takes the guess work out of the equation and makes it exactly the right size.

sew in place to finish your binding.

for the purpose of this tutorial and not wanting to take the time to hand stitch this sample on the back I used spray starch and pressed the binding over to the back so you can see how flat it lays when finished.

When you complete your hand stitching (or whatever method you use) you will be find it hard to find where you finished your binding because of how flat and free of lumps it is. The pin indicated the bias seam that had been sewn together.

I hope this tutorial can help some of you that have not seen this particular method done. The other way I had seen it done was just to try to judge where to sew the two pieces together by matching ends up – it didn’t always work and sometimes had to be done over again several times – maybe that was just me not always the brightest when it comes to new methods! I always think a picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to quilting.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Ready to stitch

by Karen on March 23, 2010

in applique, quilts, TUTORIALS

It is such a beautiful day outside – I have been in and out of the house admiring the sun! It is so pretty outside. But even though it is pretty outside I have gotten all of my flowers cut out and glue basted in place. Now it is ready to start needle turn applique in between quilting on other quilts.

I won a give away on Jackie’s blog Canton Village Quiltworks. “Quilts from the Salvage Edge” by Karen Griska. I have never made one of these quilts it will be interesting to see how it is made.

I thought I would share how I do my flowers for those that have asked.

First I pick out the general area that I want the flower to go - I am not following a strict pattern and none of these are exact in placement - I just look and kind of eyeball it.

Now that I know the general area I want the flower, I move the pieces out of my way and start with the first piece - I use Roxanne Glue Baste It (available at most on line quilt shops) using the needle nose applicator I put generally about 3 or 4 dots on these small pieces and press in place. I leave the freezer paper on the pieces until it has sat a couple minutes letting the glue dry. ( Around each piece depending on the color of the fabric I use either the Mark Be Gone pen (blue wash out) or white chalk. I draw around each piece of freezer paper before I cut the pieces out. This will be my stitch line. You do not have to do this step if you don't want to - it is just how I do it, I generally have about an 1/8th of an inch for turn under purposes although I do not measure so they are not all the same, I've done it for so long though that they are probably pretty close). I cut all my shapes out with scissors not a rotary cutter - someone asked that in an e mail. I suppose you could use a rotary cutter but I like using scissors for this step.

After the glue has dried for several minutes I lift off the freezer paper with the help of a siletto. You could just do it with your fingernails if you want but I find this little tool helpful and kind of just slide it under and lift off.

Then I glue the center of the flower in place just because I feel like it the center will be lifted off as I do the applique to get all the ends under right and then placed back on - I just think they look cute with the centers on so put them on the for the photos! For the applique I will start with the smallest piece on the top part of the flower the small rounded shape, then I will do the two light color petals then the larger ones. This will have everything tucked under where it needs to go. Not all the flowers are identical. Like I say I do not use a placement sheet. I try to have them all close to the same but I do not care if the petals are not in the exact same placement.

The overall look. I'm not sure what kind of border I will do - it might be just a three inch border or so or maybe nothing. If I do put a border it will be thin and I think wavy edge. I am still thinking of embroidering little tendrils out of each petal in a green color of some sort - I will try it around one flower and see how I like it and decide from there and show you what I decide later. Also with the border I will wait until I am done with the applique and decide then what I want.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Making circles to applique – tutorial

by Karen on December 26, 2009

in circles, quilting links, TUTORIALS

I was asked by several how I am making my circles to applique for the scrappy quilt that I am working on. Instead of explaining – pictures are much better! Of course I am using my new camera that Mike got me for Christmas. I didn’t realize I had the date/time stamp in the bottom corner – I have turned it off but it is there in these photos.

step one - take one of the sampler squares from the Moda Box - or if you don't have that use a 2 1/2 inch square, using a 2 inch round circle from my Mylar collection of circles draw around it in pencil.

I like to have plenty of room to work with so I cut about an 1/8 of on inch on the other side of the drawn line.

using strong thread on the right side of fabric sew a basting circle - size of stitch does not matter

next, use the size circle that you are supposed to for the circles - I think this one was 2 inches - place it in the middle of the circle

next, use the size circle that you are supposed to for the circles - I think this one was 1 3/4 inches - place it in the middle of the circle

put your finger in the middle of the circle to hold it still. Using your other hand pull the thread tightly to bring it up tight against the Mylar plastic

use a little spray starch - either spray it on the circle of fabric or brush with a stencil brush by putting some starch in a small container. This will help hold the circle stiff while you are working with it. Some people don't use the starch but just use plain water - it is up to you. I like the extra stiffness the starch gives.

holding on to the thread tail make sure you have it pulled tight while you are pressing the circle. When the starch is dry and it is pressed, flip it over and press down on the top side.

now loosen up your thread where you had finished the gather at. Loosen it up just enough to remove the plastic circle.

pull your gathering thread lightly to tighten the circle back up - this should be fairly easy as you do have it pressed and it normally pulls back into the circle easily. Press your circle again on both sides and trim your gathering thread tail off.

your finished circle with the template removed.

fold your white square (3 1/2 inches) in half and finger press or iron and then in half again and press. Center your circle in the middle and pin in place. Your circle is now ready for you to applique. Once you get the hang of this method it takes minutes only to prepare each circle. I have 4 pieces of Mylar template the same size so I work up 4 at a time and then start all over again. When I have about 12 circles ready to applique I sit down and get the stitching done. Take a break and work on something else and then try to do another set before boredom sets in

When you have your circle appliqued in place you can from the back trim off the back ground and also trim some of the gathered circle off from the back. I use a little extra fabric here because I want the circle to be a bit puffy – I did not trim off from the back. I have found that when I make circles like this the added puffiness makes it look like it has trapunto after it is quilted when I use the 100% cotton batting that I use and wash the quilt and dry it in the dryer. It gives that nice antique look to quilts and it this case the circles will look a little more 3 dimensional without having to add the extra batting in from the back. If you do not want the puffiness but do not want to trim from the back you can make your gathering line in closer to the size circle you want – I have excess in mine for the purpose of puffiness.

My white ironing mat has gotten stained up already – it was white not a short time ago – I think it is the spray starch that does it. You can find Perfect Circles by Karen Kay Buckley at this link. These circles are made from Mylar and are safe to iron. This set comes in many 15 sizes. I order a lot of my notions and little handy items for quilting from Connecting Threads and from Keepsake Quilting . I have had a lot of luck with these two quilting sites and I receive their catalog all the time. I have been ordering from both sites for years and have never had a problem with either. I just discovered Karen Kay Buckley’s web site and blog though and I see she has a store also and sells the perfect circles on her web site. I am going to check out her store and the next time I need something by her I will know I can order from her.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Next Entries →

TUTORIALS

Sharing

Tutorial – Printing On Fabric

Half Square Triangles = Mug Rug

Triangulations–Part Two–Tutorial

Clover Bias Stem Maker–Tutorial

Reverse Applique–A Tutorial

Paper Piecing (Flip & Sew or whatever you call it)

“Lump-less” Binding tutorial

Ready to stitch

Making circles to applique – tutorial

Grab My Button:

Categories

Meta

Blog Roll

Free On-Line Quilt Patterns

Online Quilting Stores and Supplies

Home Page

Privacy

Archive

Spam Blocked

May 2012
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
« Apr
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31