My Obsession Continues

My Softer Side

©2014 Sharon V. Rotz

Yes, my rickrack box is not empty 

and I am dreaming up more projects to incorporate my bountiful supply.

Feeling my softer side, 

(usually I pick the brightest fabrics)

I've selected a collection of delicate pinks and greens for this quilt.

The blocks are very traditional quarter square triangle blocks made up on a variety of pink prints. These blocks are set off by a sashing of a soft green stripe. 

On the two-part sashing, the rickrack shines as it outlines the melon shapes.

To make the rickrack trimmed shapes, 

I cut the half melon and stitched the rickrack on the outer edge of the right side of the fabric.

The seam allowance was pressed to the back along with the outer half of the rickrack. This left a finished edge that was easy to appliqué to the sashing by stitching in the ditch 

(the line formed by the folded fabric edge and the rickrack).

A melon shape was appliquéd to each sashing half-strip.

 The two sashing strips were then stitched together and added between the blocks. 

Now that my softer side was had a go, 

my bright side wants to give it a try. 

Will I hold back

 or will the next project be knock your socks off bright? 

Happy **Starry** 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

May you proudly wave your stars and stripes!

These festive stars are inset into the red and blue background.

Insetting a block is not difficult.

Trace the block unto the wrong side of the background.

Draw a second line 1/2" inside the first line and cut the background. 

Clip the corners of the background to the 1/4" seam allowance line.

 Match the sides of the block with the background. 

Stitch 1/4" seams.

Raising It Up to a New Level

detail from Broken Star in the Garden

You can add eye-catching appeal to your quilting project with ruching. This is one of my favorite techniques for three-dimensional accents. 

It is easy to do with just a folded strip of fabric and a needle and thread.

Fold and press a straight grain strip of fabric (as you would fold bias tape). The width of the fabric determines the size of your ruching. The size of your ruched strip is approximately 2/3 the size of  the strip that you start with. (For example: 1-1/2" starting strip = 3/4" folded strip = 1" ruched strip)

Mark one edge of the strip for your stitching. Because you are making 90 degree corners, your marks should be equal to twice the width of your folded strip. (For example: 3/4" folded strip = marks 1-1/2" apart.)

Mark the second side of the strip with marks midway between your first marks.

Starting on one end, stitch from mark to mark making sure the thread goes around the edge of the strip.

Draw the thread to gather the fabric.

The ruched strip

To make a flower, stitch the ends of the ruched strip to form a circle.

The ruched flowers are ready to be appliqued unto your quilt. In this quilt, leaves are added and french knots enhance the center of the flower.

Have you incorporated ruching or other three-dimensional accents to your quilts? Please share your results.

Do You Have a Puzzling Personality?

Do you love the challenge of a puzzle? There are many types of puzzles, word puzzles, number puzzles and visual puzzles, but the puzzles that interest me the most are quilt puzzles.

Each time I look at a group of blocks, my mind starts swirling around as I get more and more ideas for ways to arrange them.

Digging in some boxes, I came up with these churn dash blocks all ready to use but not enough to make a quilt. How could I use them?

Going traditional, I thought of separating them with sashing between the blocks. As I searched for coordinating fabrics,

I found four more blocks, but still not enough to fill a bed-size quilt top.

Then there was one orphan block. The colors blended with my other blocks. Wouldn't he just love to worm his way into my churn dash quilt?

Searching further, these stitched, but never even pressed, half-square triangle blocks popped up. After a moment's thought of using them as they were, I realized that they could become additional churn dash blocks. 

There were 8 half-square triangles, just right for two blocks, and fabric that blended with them.

Now that I have the puzzle pieces, it's time to start arranging them into a quilt top.

Just like working on a jigsaw puzzle, small pieces go together to form larger sections.

And finally, the sections come together to form a whole. 

The puzzle is complete. A quilt top is born and I have just the piece large enough for a backing. Roll out the batting and I'm set to go.  (Can you find the orphan 9-patch? You can see, he did manage to wiggle his way in.)

The Inspection Detectives and the Perfection Police would be sure to point out all of the flaws. But, need it be perfect? Indeed, I'm not. But, it is stitched with love and made to offer warmth and comfort.

If your home is secure and your beds are covered, consider donating that extra quilt to warm someone else. I've found it works both ways, because your heart will be warmed as well.

Winter's Garden

O - Water Lilies

22" x 32"

©2012 Sharon V. Rotz

You are invited to an exhibition of floral inspired art with live orchids in bloom. 

Winter's Garden

at the Riverfront Arts Center

1200 Crosby Ave.

Stevens Point, WI

I am pleased that my art quilt "O- Water Lilies" will be part of the juried exhibit. You have been watching the progress of this piece on my blog and now you will be able to see it in person.

To make the three-dimensional petals, I fused two layers of fabric together and then stitched the petals on my machine using Superior Threads Glitter metallic thread in the needle.

  

I used matching pink cotton thread in the bobbin. I then cut close to the stitching to separate the petals.

These petals were added on to the center of the flowers.

detail of water lilies

All "Puffed" Up

One of the techniques that we explore in my "Puffs, Tucks and Pleats" class is making puffs. This simple technique can be used to add excitement to your next quilting project.

To make a puff, cut a circle that is twice the desired size. The outer edge of the circle can be left raw-edged or can be finished off by any number of sewing (or serging) stitches.

Make a secure knot at one end of your thread and hand stitch an inner circle. I like to use a quilting weight thread so it is less likely to break as I draw up the stitches.

Next step: Draw up those stitches, gathering the fabric into a puff. Pull the gathering thread to the wrong side and knot.

Yes, it's as easy as that.

Here I've used free-form circles to make flower shaped puffs. Three puffs grouped together created a fast and easy corsage.

Please, Do Not Touch

Please Do Not Touch.

How often have we been to quilt shows or exhibits and seen these words? Of course, it is meant to keep dirty little finger prints off precious handcrafted treasures.

But it is because of the very tactile nature of quilts that we are attracted to them. We love the feel of fabric and adore the relief of the quilting as it adds highlights and shadows to our work. Painters work hard to re-create that very look in their artwork.

As I was adding french knots (or more specifically, candlewicking knots) to my quilt, I found myself unconsciously rubbing my hand across the knots. I was so enjoying the texture I was creating.

I love color and fabric design so I usually feel connected to my quilting through sight. Today, I am connected to my work through the sense of touch.

Developing Personality

Now that I'm starting to add the quilting stitches, my project is developing it's personality. It is coming to life. I love to see the spirit of the quilt start to emerge as I work.

I've chosen to ignore the blocks entirely and quilt curving lines trailing across the entire top. I could have made many different thread choices for the quilting but found a perfect thread in my thread collection. How often does that happen?

This variegated thread picks up the colors of the fabrics, two of my favorite colors, chartreuse green and bright orange. (Probably why I couldn't resist purchasing the thread in the first place.) 

There are quilts where I have blended the thread so only the relief of the quilting shows. Today, both the thread color and the hills and valleys of the quilted areas will shine.

I hope you will come back again and see the progress as I continue my quilt journey.

Putting blocks together

I've decided to drop the block and add a spacer block at the top of the second row. Instead of making a large quilt with this block (that will come later) I'm going to only use the three blocks I have already completed. 

What can I do now? To balance the larger section on the left, I need to add to the right side. Also, to repeat the three squares in the spacer block, I think I'll add more squares to the bottom right.

What would happen if I just added free floating squares? Obviously, my three blocks are not going to make a bed quilt. This quilt will never be used to keep me warm so I can have fun with the shape.

More of the spacer squares in different border colors will add unity in a free-spirited way. These I will not bind but finish by stitching with the right sides together (batting included) and turning.

When stitching on top of the batting, it seems to work the best to stitch in the same direction. Rather than stitching around the piece, I stitched down both sides and then across the bottom. If there is any stretching in the batting, I am pushing it all in the same direction and there will be less twisting in my final piece.

It's important to trim as much of the batting  as possible away from the stitched edge to avoid a bulky edge.

The  best scissors I have for doing this are not my best scissors but a pair with a rounded tip that doesn't catch in the batting.

When the trimming is done, turn the piece to the right side and press. Obviously, in this case, the quilting will be done after the edge is finished.

Arranging blocks

I'm now playing with the arrangement of my blocks. I like how they look when I place them vertically.

But I'm not a fan of the horizontal block-to-block setting. To me, the slashed unit on the top becomes too strong and I lose the look of the block.  What do you think?

How about if I drop the block?  Is this more interesting?

Where do I go from here?

Today, I'm back in my studio playing with my stripped and slashed units. I've put them together into this block. What do you think?  Do you see possibilities to use this asymmetrical block? Can you see this block put together with different fabrics?

I would like to hear your ideas. Please share your comments.

Come back soon to see the next step I take.

Pillows Reaching the Sky

Yes, we are reaching the sky. The pillows are precariously perched and we are still moving on.

We have looked are various pillow edges but one we have not encountered is the flanged pillow. This flange can be compared to a "flat ruffle", (if that even makes sense) and gives a more contemporary look.

The"Joy Patchwork Pillow" from Quilting Through the Seasons is finished with a flange.  It certainly adds to the pillow, both in size and in design. This looks like a complicated finish for a pillow and the first time I tried this, I did make it, oh, so hard.  I made four sides and stitched them into a frame and then tried to figure out how to add them to the sides of my pillow. EEK, what problems, I had.

Today, I can tell you a simple way to achieve this look. Think of the pillow top as the center of a quilt and add four (pieced) borders onto the "quilt top".  

Measure the "quilt top" (3" border, 12" center, 3" border plus seam allowance, 1/2" equals 18-1/2") and construct your back this size. Make your pillow back with an center overlap (envelope style) and pin right sides together to the pillow front. Stitch around the pillow. 

Turn the pillow to the right side through the overlapped back closure. Press. Stitch in the ditch between the patchwork borders and the pillow center to form the flange pillow edge.