Bernina Club

I'm excited to announce that the Bernina Club

 project of the month for June

 features a project out of my book 

Serge and Merge Quilts.

Stop by your nearest Bernina dealer and be part of the fun. 

See how to use your serger as a quilting tool.

I will be at Sew Smart in Wausau, WI 

on Saturday, June 14, 11:30 am

(following the 10:00 Bernina Club meeting)

 to greet you,

 answer your questions, 

and sign your copy of Serge and Merge Quilts.

I hope to see you!

Linked to Off the Wall Friday

Tulips "Springing" Up

In the year of the un-ending winter in central Wisconsin, I feel that my only option for seeing spring flowers is to fall back to those created from fabric.

These three-dimensional tulips are made on my serger using the rolled edge stitch. The background detail is created using a flat lock serger stitch. 

This pattern "Down the Pathway" can be found in my book, Serge and Merge Quilts.

On this dark day with the prediction of yet another snowfall, I have a bright and cheery garden inside my home.

Linked to Off the Wall Friday

Merge Your Serging and Quilting Skills

Thirteen's a Charm

©Sharon V. Rotz

from "Serge and Merge Quilts"

Have your serging skills and quilting skills joined forces? 

If you are looking for options to marry your skills and create wonderfully detailed quilts, 

please join me at the 

Quilt Expo

in Madison, WI

 on September 6, 2012.

I will be sharing ideas for using your serger as a quilting tool on 

Stage A

at 2:15 p.m.

Please stop by to say "hi" and get inspired to dust off your serger 

and use it for your next quilting project.

Tuesday's Tile - Is your Serger a Quilting Tool?

Quilter's Tile - Playtime

8" x 8"

©2012 - Sharon V. Rotz

Are you a serger owner? If you are, do you see your serger as one of your quilting tools? 

With the rapid speed of your serger, you can quickly piece your quilts. I've had fun zipping through my piecing. I've also found that I like the added detail I get when the serging is done on the front of the quilt.

Normally we stitch our seams with right sides together, but if you like the look of the serging showing on the front of your project you will start with fabrics wrong sides together.

You will be creating a seam allowance on the front side of the fabrics rather than on the back side.

When the seam is pressed open, the serged seam is showing.

With a detailed photo, you can see the color and thread accenting the pieced squares of this simple block.

Looking for more ideas for combining serging and quilting? I invite you to explore the ideas found in my book "Serge and Merge Quilts".

Dust off your serger and use it as your newest quilting tool. What will you make? 

What Charms You?

Thirteen's a Charm

56" x 80"

©2008 Sharon V. Rotz

Do your quilts make you happy? Do you have a favorite quilt that puts a smile on your face every time you looks at it?

I have to admit that "Thirteen's a Charm" is one of my favorites. This quilt has woven itself around my heart and continues to brighten each day. I love the intermixing of bright colors and lively patterns.

It is made by serging fabric strips together in sets.  By stitching with the fabrics wrong sides together instead of the normal method of right sides together, the serged seams will be on the outside of the quilt top adding extra detail to the quilt.

The pieced strips are cut into triangles and then pieced with triangles cut from the various fabrics.

This project and other serged quilts can be found in my book Serge and Merge Quilts.

Join Me in Madison, WI

Puffs, Tucks and Pleats class

Sharon V. Rotz

Join me in Madison, WI for the Quilt Expo on September 8-10, 2011. This is a marvelous opportunity to meet quilters, take classes, view outstanding quilts, and learn fresh ideas during lectures with top quilting teachers.

I have the privilege of sharing with you through a class "Puffs, Tucks, and Pleats", full of ideas for adding three-dimensional details to your quilts. 

Looking for new ways to use your serger? Join me at a Stage Presentation as I demonstrate ideas for using your serger as a quilting tool. See quilts from my book "Serge and Merge Quilts" and new ideas that have popped up since publication.

We are not always ready to jump into making a large quilt. I have had so much fun making smaller projects and I would love to have the chance to share these with you. We will have fun digging into my trunk show of small quilts in my lecture "Not Bed Size".

It's not too late to be a part of the action. See you in Madison.

Look for me and stop and say "hi". I would love to have the opportunity to talk to you.

Distracted and Pulled in by the Brights

While I am pondering and plotting what to do with my star quilt, I'm distracted by another collection of scraps that popped up.

In a previous post, I showed the pillows that I made from the remnants of my serged 13's a Charm quilt.

I've been sucked in by the bright colors and now I've found more of the fabric. What can I make now? Can I keep thinking up more projects until I have no fabric left?  What a fun challenge!

There is a pile of serged strip ends. These were left when the triangles were cut for 13's a Charm.

Obviously, they are not big enough to cut more triangles. Or are they? What about a smaller triangle that could be used for half square triangles combined with muslin?

Now there are so many optionals, where do we go from here? What is your favorite block or quilt made from half square triangle blocks?

Pillows, Pillows, Over the Top

How could I NOT include a serged pillow in my pillow collection?  Although I have more, these favorites lead the way.  Could it be that I just can't resist the bright colors and exciting fabric designs? You can be the judge.

After finishing my quilt "Thirteen's a Charm", included in Serge and Merge Quilts, I fortunately had a few pieces left over. Since this quilt is one of my very favorites, I wanted to add to its splendor by accenting it with pillows. Four blocks became a pillow top and a few of the fun prairie points poke out of the pillow edge.

And still I had fabric left, how lucky was I? Not enough to make more of the same design, another break.  I had the opportunity to once again think in a new direction.  What new design would work with my serged strips?

I decided to crosscut the strips into bars, various widths to add variety. What fabric could be added between?  Perhaps a crisp white for a sharp, fresh look. This seemed to be working.

Yes, indeed, I was more than pleased with my Serged Bar Pillows. They are, without a doubt, my new favorite especially when I add my "Thirteen's a Charm" pillow.

And, with that addition, the pile got just too high and my pillow world came tumbling down.

Serging and Flouncing About a Bit More

Climbing Roses
23" x 10"
Sharon V. Rotz








As you can see, for this project I decided to use my serged flounce on the binding edge of the wallhanging. It would make a wonderful pillow edge as well. (We could consider this a flat pillow.)

This wallhanging combines units of string piecing, a fun and creative use for small scraps of fabric, with three dimensional applique. The leaves were folded wrong sides together and overlock-serged on the curved open edge. The top edge of a red batik fabric strip was serged with a rolled edge. The strip of fabric was then formed into the roses and hand stitched onto the background.

This project gave me a chance to explore more options for using my serger as a quilting tool. Now, new images of serged flounces are creeping into my brain. How could I incorporate a flounce into the center of a project? maybe between rows of blocks, hmmm.

For more quilting ideas using your serger, please refer to my latest book, Serge and Merge Quilts.

More Creative Options

For those who love the soft, muted colors more than my typical "knock your socks off" brights, here is "Lavender Cream". Again, I had fun with the serged cord I made. I used Halo metallic thread by Superior Threads in the upper looper and variegated Pixelles Trilobal Polyester thread by Signature Threads in the lower looper to make this lovely cord.

By letting the cord curl from one side to the other, both threads show adding most interest to the design. Extra bits were looped and added between the borders. The subtle contrast invites a closer look to really notice the sparkling details.

Looking for more ideas? Check out Nancy Zieman's blog which features "Thirteen's a Charm" from my book Serge and Merge Quilts.

Adding Serging to your Quilting

Like many of you, I have a serger. I have used it for many years for a multitude of sewing tasks but not until recently have I thought of it as a quilting tool. I have since found a variety of ways to use my serger for quilting.

Using your serger to make serged cord, you can incorporate some of the lovely decorative threads you own. We are all attracted to and purchase metallic and other decorative threads only to find they are, at times, difficult to work with on our regular sewing machines.

Running these threads in the loopers of the serger, I have no difficulty using them. I've had fun making cord by serging over two stands of acrylic yarn. The yarn was passed through a hole in the center of the foot and fed nicely while the looper threads covered it with my decorative thread. In the top sample, I am using pearl cotton in the upper looper and cotton thread in the needle and lower looper. In the second sample, I've used metallic thread in the upper looper and variegated polyester thread in the lower looper.

Now that I have these wonderful cords, where can I use them? What was your suggestions?

Come back and see where they end up.

For other serged projects, check out my book Serge and Merge Quilts.

Ann's hand painted fabric

The wonderful part of the attending a class is that you learn new tips and techniques. Many times, the students are as inspiring as anything that the teacher could present. I am constantly amazed at the talent of my students and I am constantly being "taught" by them.

In our recent serger class "Simply Leafy 2", one of the students, Ann from Waukesha, came with a fabulous fabric that she hand-painted. When the supply list called from a leaf print and Ann couldn't find one that suited her taste, she made it. Quilters are so clever!

Thank you, Ann, for sharing with the class your technique for creating this special fabric.

If you have the opportunity to attend a class in your area, don't pass it by. You never know what you may learn.

FVTC Sewing and Quilting Expo Workshop

In the Friday workshop class "Simply Leafy 2", we explored our sergers and the challenges of using different serger stitches to create a serged quilt project.

We used both the flatlock stitch and the more common overlock stitch as the students created a decorative background and appliqued leaves and stems.

"Simply Leafy 2" is one of the projects from my newest book "Serge and Merge Quilts". In this book, I took up the challenge of using my serger as a quilting tool. It is filled with quilting projects that incorporate the three most common serging stitches; the overlock, the flatlock, and the rolled edge, into creative, traditional and contemporary art quilts.

Look for "Serge and Merge Quilts" at your favorite quilt shop or you can contact me for an autographed copy.

Merging Serging with Quilting

In addition to my Friday class at FVTC Sewing and Quilting Expo, I will be presenting a Saturday lecture on merging serging with quilting.

You will enjoy the fun ways of using your serger as a quilting tool. Check out the how-to. We will look at the common serger stitches and see how they can be employed to add creativity to your quilting projects.

Adding the sparkle of decorative threads to your projects will be easier with your serger. Pieces can be joined with maximum speed. Stretching and raveling threads can be controlled.

See you in Oshkosh on March 19-20.

FVTC Sewing and Quilting Expo

If you live in central or eastern Wisconsin, you have a wonderful opportunity to attend the 9th Annual Fox Valley Technical College Sewing and Quilting Expo coming up on Friday and Saturday, March 19-20, 2010. The event held in Oshkosh, WI brings together students and educators for two fun-filled days. There are 99 seminars, programs and workshops to choose from.

I will again be privileged to be a part of the faculty. On Friday, join my class and you will be able to merge serging into quiltmaking by creating a small wallhanging entitled "Simply Leafy 2". And, you thought sergers were only for stretchy clothing! See what else can be done.

Oil Up Your Serger

As you are reading this, are you searching through your memory trying to remember where it was that you last saw your serger?

Because I want to make more use of mine, I decided to see all the capabilities that it had for quilting. I found that my serger loved the decorative threads that my sewing machine would rather not know existed. In this small project "Spinning Pinwheels", two decorative threads are used to make the three dimensional pinwheels. Because the stitching is done with the most basic serger stitch, the overlock stitch, this couldn't be easier.

Unearth your serger, oil it up and give it a go to make a fabulous serged quilt.

Review of Serge and Merge Quilts

After writing a new book, it's always exciting and nerve-wracking to see how it is received by others. My newest book, Serge and Merge Quilts, came out this past summer. It was fun to read the review of my book in Mark Lipinski's magazine "Quilter's Home", January 2010 issue.

Yes, Mark, I agree that if you don't have a serger this book is not for you. So many of quilters have spent the money and own sergers, I wanted to show them a few of the exciting possibilities of using their serger to create quilts.

Are you a quilter who owns a serger? Have you tried using your serger as a complement to your sewing machine as you quilt on your merry way?