Christmas all over the house

I have been busy getting ready for Christmas, and thought you might like to see some of my decorations. The storm that is raging up the east coast brought us some wonderful winter white today. I took this photo at about 3:30 p.m.; we got a little more later in the afternoon, for a total of about two inches, I think. This is rare for the Charlotte area.


I have been collecting these glass balls for years. The nativity set is by Eldreth Pottery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.


I purchased these darling primitive angels (”Hope” and “Peace”) from a woman at Barnful of Quilts last fall.


I got this standing angel on sale after Christmas several years ago... she was left behind because one arm is attached backwards... and I love that!


My mom gave me her carollers last year. They look marvelous on the piano.


My parents and my best friend, Dawna, gave me these elegant Russian Santas.


Snowmen and Eldreth Pottery Santas by the window in the family room.


My stitchery (a pattern by Buttermilk Basin) and little quilt, with my mom’s old wool skating socks, beloved Norwegian and Swedish mittens and booties purchased for my children when they were tiny, and a simple hand-carved wood star.


My wool advent calendar, “Gingerbread Countdown.”


A pile of quilts with the angels, and a sampling of folk art Santas by my neighbor.


A tin sign graces the old china hutch…


and these Eldreth Pottery Santas sit atop, in their wintery wonderland.


I put the Santas away after Christmas, but leave out the snow and the winter tree through February, wishing for snow.


Fresh mistletoe in a sweet vintage vase.




A wintery view out our window.

Working away

I’ve been working away on my yellow orchid piece, trying to add more depth, get the proper color balance, and fix the water droplets. I got some assistance from my Facebook friend Karen Dennison, who referred me to this great YouTube video and from Sandee Krueger, who left a comment on my last post. Isn’t cool that there is this wonderful community of people out there in the blogosphere who are willing to help? Thanks! My water droplets are looking much better, I think!

Yellow Orchid in progress

I have started painting the next in my series of wholecloth painted orchid pieces. This one is even closer up than the purple one that I just finished. Part of the challenge here is those water droplets. Like the others, it will be about 24" x 36". The first photo shows my painted version on fabric; the second is the photo from which I worked.

I still have a lot of shading to do, but it is shaping up. I am learning a lot about painting with acrylics, and cursing myself for not taking any painting classes before I attempted this. It is really valuable to take a photo of it at this stage and compare it to the photo with both at about the same size. I can see now more clearly what I need to work on.

How to face a quilt

Stitch Sampler showing facing (back of quilt)

Note: There are many methods for facing a quilt. This one is a combination of methods I learned from others, plus some tricks I learned while trying different techniques, and is the one that works best for me. This tutorial is available as a free four-page PDF – simply click here, or go to the sidebar on the right side of this blog, scroll down to “Free Stuff” and click on the “How to face a quilt” link to download and print the PDF.

For this tutorial, I faced a small stitch sampler I created when preparing to film my DVD, “Master Machine Quilting: Free-motion Stitching and Thread Sketching.” The back is black and the front is maroon. Normally I’d make the facing a color similar to the back of my quilt, or even the same fabric. In this case, I used white so you could see more clearly what I was doing.

I like to use this method on my art quilts; I think it makes them look more like art if they don’t have a traditional quilt binding. I have started using facings or a pillowcase turn on most of my art quilts, saving binding for my more traditional quilts.

DIRECTIONS:
Trim your quilt, squaring up the corners, so that the backing and batting are even with the edge of the quilt.

Measure the width and length of your quilt and cut four 2" wide facing strips that are 2" longer than each side. (For example, if your quilt is 15" wide by 18" long, cut two facing strips 2" x 17" and two facing strips 2” x 20”.)

On one long edge of each strip, turn under and press under ¼".


Mark the width of the quilt side on the unfolded long edge of the first strip. Then measure in ¼" and make a second mark. Do the same at the other end. Pin the unfolded edge of the strip to the edge of the quilt, aligning the outer marks.




Using a standard presser foot or your walking foot, stitch along the edge between the two inner marks, back stitching at each end, with a ¼" seam allowance. Make sure to leave exactly ¼" at each end unstitched.


Fold back the facing strip.


Pin the next facing strip in place.


Stitch it down in the same way, with a ¼" seam allowance, back stitching at the two inner marks.


Apply all four sides in the same manner. Finger press the facings away from the quilt.


Fold each corner of the quilt at a 45° angle, with the front of the quilt inside, and align and pin the facing strips. Then use a ruler marked with a 45° angle and mark this angle on the facing strips.


The line should go from the end of the stitching at the inner mark at the corner of the quilt to the folded edge of the facing.


Stitch on this line, back stitching at each end, and stopping exactly at the place where this seam meets the seam where you sewed the facing to the quilt. Trim to a ¼" seam allowance.


Press the seam allowance open.


Clip corner and then grade seams near the corner. Do the other corners in the same manner.


Turn facing around to the back side of the quilt and finger press seams again. Use a blunt-tip tool to turn out corners.

From the front side, stitch along the edges about 1/8" from the seam, through the facing and the seam allowance. It is impossible to stitch around the corners; simply stitch up as far into the corners as you can. This seam, often used in garment construction, will help the facing turn more easily to the back.


Turn the facing to the back side of the quilt, and press it so that the facing does not show on the front. On the back, pin the facing to the backing.


Note: If the mitred seam (45° angle at the corners) does not fit snugly, you can tuck it under, pin it in place and stitch a tighter seam when you hand stitch the facing to the back in the next step.
Stitch the folded edge of the facing to the back of the quilt, tightening mitered seam if necessary.


Here is the back of the quilt with the white facing.




Here is a corner of the faced quilt from the front.


If you are curious about other facing methods, here are some great instructions:

Grace Howes
http://barnyardchatter.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/facings-an-alternative-to-traditional-bindings/

Brenda Gael Smith
http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/2008/05/27/mitred-facing-tutorial/
and
http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/2009/01/13/my-favourite-quilt-facing-finish/

Jeri Riggs
http://jeririggs.blogspot.com/2008/02/facings-for-quilts.html

December Pandoras meeting

Today we explored several new materials at the Pandoras meeting, and had lots of fun! We made these cute little pincushions (the purple one on the right is mine) using recycled tins that used to hold Target gift cards and lip gloss. Alisan designed this project. Isn’t she smart?

Here’s what we played with:

Adirondack Alcohol Inks are dye-based, multi-surface transparent inks you can use on glossy paper, metal, dominos, shrink plastic, glass, and other non-porous surfaces.
Metallic Mixatives create luminous highlights when used with the Inks.
You can use rubbing alcohol in a little spritzer to get a neat speckled effect.
Adirondack Alcohol Blending Solution can be used to lighten colors and clean the inks off of things.
All these are made by Ranger Industries.

We applied the inks with felt pads; you can also use paintbrushes.



These are tins (below) purchased in the candle-making section of my local Michaels craft store that were painted with the Adirondacks and spritzed with rubbing alcohol and/or stamped:


This is a piece of tin sheet metal I got from Grace, and embossed using a wooden tool, then inked with the Adirondacks:


These little beauties (below) started out as ordinary metal washers from the hardware store. We inked them with the Adirondacks (the one on the far left shows a washer with just the ink), and then sprinkled on clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel), a “dimensional medium for decorative arts,” on top and heated it with a crafting heat gun.

Mine are the green and bright blue ones on the right. I applied several coats of UTEE. The UTEE powder kept blowing off until Alisan suggested using a base of VersaMark watermark ink first. This product is used for embossing using powders on paper. The VersaMark held the powder in place long enough for it to melt, and then the next two layers stuck to the melted UTEE fine.

Want to give it a try? Here are sources for the materials we used today:
Interweave/Quilting Arts
Judy Coates Perez’s “Painted Threads Inspiration and Creativity Store” on Amazon
Joggles

Two down, three to go!

I just finished quilting and facing Purple Phalaenopsis last night, and I really like it. I’m still trying to decide if I need to darken a few places to make it clearer which petals are in front. I think I do, but I’m going to take it to the meetings of my two fiber art groups next week and ask their opinions first.

It is interesting to me how valuable it is to take photos of my work and look at them; I see different things, and tend to look at the whole composition in a different way than when the piece is right in front of me.

The metallic paints I used on part of this piece make these spots glisten; they look like satin, and really give the feel of the orchid’s petals. They always look so moist and shimmery to me in real life.

Here are some detail shots to show the quilting:















I have three more orchids to complete by February 1 so that they can hang in an exhibit by Fiber Art Options (details to come soon!). All must be approximately 24 x 36" like this piece. I’m excited to move on to the next one. They are going to look great all hanging together!

I’m a Quilting Arts columnist!

I am pleased as punch to announce that I’ve been asked to write a regular column for one of my very favorite magazines, Quilting Arts, throughout 2010! The subject is thread sketching, using thread to add color, dimension, texture, line, pattern and movement to the surface of an art quilt.

This is something I discuss in my Quilting Arts Workshop DVD, “Master Machine Quilting: Free-motion Stitching and Thread Sketching,” but in the column, I’ll go into a lot more detail and show you how to get great results through exercises, practice and lots of tips. I’m totally jazzed about this opportunity. Look for my first column in the February/March 2010 issue.

Editor Pokey Bolton announced this in the QA daily e-mail, Quilting Daily, which also includes my top 10 tips for resolving tension issues.

I’ve been a fan of Quilting Arts for years. If you want to learn more about art quilting, and you don’t subscribe to Quilting Arts, you are really missing out. With each issue, I learn something new and find exciting techniques to try. And there are also wonderful profiles on fiber artists, and fantastic eye candy. The Quilting Arts online community is also a great place to meet other art quilters, share ideas and make friends.

Quilting “Purple Phalaenopsis”

I started quilting Purple Phalaenopsis this afternoon. Here are a few shots. I am using drapery-weight cotton fabric for the backing, and Matilda batting (40 percent wool/60 percent polyester) inside, and it is staying nice and flat, despite the heavy quilting in some areas. I used this combination on Lepidoptera earlier this year and was very pleased with the results. My friend Nancy G. Cook suggested it.



The challenge here is to add interest, color and texture with the quilting, but still make some petals and flower parts appear to come forward. I may go back in with a bit more paint, or even some permanent markers, and add some additional shading, as I am not entirely pleased with this aspect of the piece right now.

Win this book: Threadwork Unraveled by Sarah Ann Smith

I’ve been online friends with Sarah Ann Smith for several years, but just met her at Quilt Market and Festival this fall, and guess what? She has a great new book just out, too! To celebrate, we are both giving away copies of our books. Leave a comment here on my blog after this post, and you can enter to win her book or her Nourish pattern (see photo below). Go to Sarah’s blog, where she is reviewing my book, Appliqué Petal Party, leave a comment after her post, and you can enter to win my book or my Pinata Purse pattern. Double the fun!

I’ll draw a winner at random from those who post by noon on Monday, Dec. 16.

Here is a photo of Sarah’s beautiful quilt, Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul :


Threadwork Unraveled (AQS, 2009, 111 pages, $28.95) is both an excellent reference book on how to use thread to enhance pieced and appliqued quilts, and an inspiring look at how some of today’s best quilt artists are using thread in their work. Best of all, Sarah’s sparkling personality and sense of humor shine through on every page. (Kudos to the AQS editor who was smart enough not to edit out Sarah’s unique voice.)

Threadwork Unraveled provides an amazing amount of information about:

• thread – weights and plies, strength, how it is made, different types of thread and their advantages and disadvantages, and how to select the right type of thread for your project.
• needles – sizes, structure, types, when to change needles, selecting needles for different kinds of threads, and troubleshooting tips.
• sewing machine basics – throat plate, feet, harp, lighting, speed control, tension, thread path, using a thread stand. Note: This section would be particularly informative for those trying to determine which features they want when purchasing a new machine.
• workspace and ergonomics issues – the sewing surface, chairs, and proper body positioning.
  
• foundations – stabilizers (tear-away, heat-away, wash-away, cut-away/leave in; freezer paper; coffee filters and dryer sheets; machine tape; copy paper/tracing paper), hoops and batting.
• marking tools – pencils, chalk, pens, scoring tools, transfer paper, how to mark a quilt and how to remove markings.
  
• applique – using thread to outline machine applique, and as a design element on its own; using thread to tone down, shade and highlight; stitching options (straight stitch, blind hem, blanket stitch, zigzag stitch, satin stitch, decorative stitches); and using thread to add visual texture, contrast and value.
  
• machine quilting – quilt top, backing, batting, basting, alternatives to pin basting, starting and stopping, stitch length, speed, getting sharp points, practice tips, stitching density, blocking, quilting designs.

But this is not just an excellent reference book. There’s also lots of eye candy, beautiful examples by both Sarah and other accomplished fiber artists (Hollis Chatelain, Gloria Hansen, Joan Hawley, Jane Sassaman, Pamela Allen and more).

In my mind, Sarah’s information on tension (both in the top thread path and in the bobbin) and how to solve tension issues is well worth the entire price of the book. When I teach machine free-motion quilting, at least half of my students’ problems are tension related. Sarah explains these issues in a straight-forward, step-by-step way that will be useful to quilters of all experience levels.

The section of the book that inspired me most was the machine quilting section. Using lots of examples from her own work and that of other exceptional art quilters, Sarah ponders many issues quilters face when trying to decide on how to quilt a particular piece. I learned a lot from this part of the book.

One of my favorite projects in Sarah’s book is the Thread Tension Quilt Reference Sampler. Sarah gives instructions for marking a grid with thread and needle information and tension settings, and then sewing straight, zig zag, and free motion stitches while gradually changing the tension settings. This would be both an educational exercise, and (when completed), a practical tool and reference guide for any sewer. Check it out:



There are also several beautiful projects (a table runner and three small art quilts) quilters can create to learn new techniques and then stitch them with thread.



Sarah is an art quilter and quilt pattern designer who lives in Camden Maine. You can purchase a copy of the book from Sarah on her website. To be entered in the drawing to win her book, take a look at the Gallery section on her website, and leave me a comment after this post, telling me which of her quilts you like best and why.

NOTE: We have two winners! Kate from Hamden, CT, was selected using a random number generator. She wins the book. And Sherri from North Little Rock, AR, won Sarah’s pattern, "Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul." Congratulations!