Antique Wedding Sampler - block 1 construction tips

Yesterday I wrote about blocks 1 and 2 that Paula and I made for our Antique Wedding Sampler quilts. There were a couple of questions/comments about block 1 that I thought I would address today.

Leslie (sorry but you are a no reply blogger so I couldn't send you a personal message) asked about the broderie perse (the floral applique in the corners). She wanted to know if there are tutorials or books available. I did publish a tutorial on broderie perse and you can find it here. There are several on YouTube however many seem to use fusible web and that is not something I wanted to do. I have searched for books specifically about broderie perse but there are very few available. One that I do have in my library is Broderie Perse by Barbara W. Barber. It is an older book and can be difficult to find. It is an interesting and informative book but honestly the information that you really need can be boiled down to a few points.

When I do broderie perse there are a few things that are important for me and I thought I would share them today.

1. When I cut my shapes I leave roughly a 1/4" seam allowance. I position the shape on my background fabric and then trim seam allowance down to a scant 1/8". I generally trim down my seam allowances as I sew. I might trim an 1" or 1 1/2" and stitch most of that down before I trim more excess seam allowance. I do this because I find that if there is a lot of handling of the applique it can fray and you may not have enough seam allowance to turn under.
2. I use a slim, sharp needle. My preferred needles are #10 milliners needles.
3. I use a fine thread that either matches my applique or the background. My preferred thread these days (introduced to me by Paula) is DMC machine embroidery thread. It is cotton and very lightweight. I find that a taupe colour works well for many of my appliques but I also have other colours in my thread box.
4. I used a tiny dab of inexpensive glue to temporarily tack my shapes in position. I look for a glue that is washable, fabric safe and acid free. For those who live in Canada you can buy Studio Glue from Dollarama. It costs $1.25 for four sticks. Bargain!

To stitch down the shapes there are a few stitches that can be used. A blind stitch (the traditional applique method where the seam allowance is turned under with the tip of the needle) is my preferred method however the applique can also be done with a buttonhole/blanket stitch in which case the raw edge of the applique is not turned under but is instead covered with the stitches.

The compass in block 1 is English paper pieced and I have a couple of tips for piecing the compass. You will notice that the large brown diamonds have tiny cream diamonds (with a red print) at the inner point. I appliqued the cream fabric to the brown fabric before I basted the paper to the brown fabric (inside the green circle).

I stitched a red triangle to either side of the diamond. When I got to the point inside the circle I made sure that the cream diamond was a couple of threads shy of the point of the red triangle. I added the red triangle at the left and took an extra stitch to keep the points of the red triangles together (inside the red circle). I then continued sewing the red triangle to the other side of the diamond.

I stitched the curved shapes to either side of four of the brown diamonds.  Those curved edges must line up or you won't have what appears to be a circle behind the compass points.

In order to make sure that the curved edges did match up I made a registration mark on my paper so that I knew where the curved edge should be positioned.

To sew the units together I made sure to line up the curve with the registration mark on the paper template and when I got to the inside edge I made sure that the cream diamond was a couple of threads shy of the point on the red triangle (at the red circle) so that when I added the next unit with the red triangle I could take an extra stitch to pull those points together. As you add pieces to make the compass be sure to open it up and ensure that the curved edge is even on either side of each large diamond.

I hope that these little tips will be helpful! Until the next time, happy sewing!

Karen H

The final three blocks for The Empire Quilt

Today I'm sharing the final three blocks that will make up my hexagon quilt that I call The Empire Quilt. There will of course be some filler bits to fill the gabs but they don't involve much in the way of sewing. Without further ado here is the first block.

The star in the centre is English paper pieced and then simply appliqued to a background. I like to repeat some fabrics in blocks to give a quilt a more unified look. The fabric in the centre of the star was used for the broderie perse in some of the bird blocks.

The leafy fabric was used in the kingfisher block below. I added the leaf at the top, the leaf below the branch and the blue flowers at the left end of the branch. They all come from the same piece of fabric.

They were also used in this bird block. I tried to select background fabrics that were similar to the background in the floral print so that the broderie perse applique would blend in.

Here's a close-up of the broderie perse. For a more detailed explanation of what I did you can read this post.

Right, back to the blocks I am sharing today. I also made this eight point star block. I English paper pieced the eight point star made of diamonds and then appliqued it to the background. The print I used is quite large and I've struggled with what to do with it. It has been in my stash for many years. I finally decided to turn it into what I call a sacrificial yard of fabric. I cut into it to make this star and have decided that the entire yard will be used for fussy cutting. It will eventually look like a slice of Swiss cheese but that's okay because it will be used to make beautiful things. The first cut is always the hardest but now that it has been done it will be much easier to cut it up! I really love the look and feel of this block.

The last block is an applique block that features an owl and again I used my floral print to do some broderie perse applique. I chose a background that worked relatively well with the background on the floral print so that the broderie perse just blends in nicely. The pieces for the owl and branch are relatively large and very easy to applique. The talons were embroidered with a chain stitch. I figure if something is too small for my fingers to applique I'll just embroider it!

This is one of my favourite blocks in the quilt. I like it so much that it is inspiration for another quilt that I plan to make. It will be a variation on The Empire Quilt. I've sketched it up and will eventually start working on it. For now it is just on the drawing board but when I get started you know I will share it with you!

That's it for today. Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

Let there be hexagons

I've mentioned that there will be hexagons in my 2016 Quilt Along quilt which I call The Empire Quilt. Today I thought I would share a picture of one of the eight hexagon blocks that are to come. This design reminds me of a wagon wheel. I chose to use variegated shades of teal for the six spokes but they would be equally nice were they made from a single fabric (maybe fussy cut for extra zip)!

The bird blocks that I've shared seem to be very popular so here is yet another. These three little birds are kookaburras, need eyes and feet. Kookaburras are a type of kingfisher native to Australia; I know that the colours are wrong but I used the scraps of fabric that I had on hand so my kookaburras are pink! The little crests on their heads are made from leftover scraps from my Easier Than Pie & Beyond quilt border print fabric. Their wings are made from an earthy tone leafy fabric; I used it because the print looks like feathers. The background fabric is washed-out in this picture.

In this picture the background fabric colour is more accurate. Now my little birds have eyes and feet. I stitched their feet using a simple chain stitch but they looked rather small and flat so I stitched over the chain stitch with a satin stitch and the feel loot much more dimensional. I used a variegated thread so each bird's feet are a little different! The eyes were cut from a fabric with a circle print. I needle-turn appliqued them in place. They are small but they were appliqued in no tine flat. An alternative would have been to embroider little eyes or use my ink pens to draw then on. There's always more than one way to do things.

The next step was to reverse applique the birds to a square of white fabric. As cute as the birds are I think the block looks bland.

There was too much blank space so I once again did some broderie perse applique. A leaf was appliqued to the top of the circle, and to the midpoint on the branch. At the far left a cluster of blue flowers was appliqued. I'm much happier with this block with the extra bit of applique. Sometimes you just need to add a little more to make it right.

My blogging tine will be limited this week because I've got a trunk show scheduled and a workshop so I'll be away from home for four days. I'll try to squeeze in another post before I go. Until then, happy sewing!

Karen H

Broderie perse

I love broderie perse because it is a wonderfully easy way to add details such as flowers and leafs without the work of cutting out and appliqueing individual petals. So what is broderie perse? It is the art of appliqueing motifs from a print onto a background. One trick is to use a background that matches the background in the print. Let me give you an example. The flowers are cut from one fabric and the brown branch from another. For the branch I simply tacked it in place with applique pins and needle-turn appliqued it in position. The branch was straight enough that I could turn under most of the background fabric so that all I was left with was the branch. I could have done the same thing with a strip of brown print fabric but I already had a scrap of the branch fabric so why not use it? The flowers are more detailed so I cut them out leaving more background in places where I wanted to avoid deep curves or sharp points. The flowers were cut out and pinned to the background so that I could needle-turn applique them in place. My background fabric is fairly busy so the background beige in the flowers almost disappears.

Having difficulty seeing where the flowers stop and the background fabric begins? That's the beauty of broderie perse! In the following picture I've outlined the flowers so you can see  the separation.

Here is an example of a set of leafs that were appliqued to the branch. I love the colour, shading and detail in the leafs.

In the next picture I've outlined the section that was done in the broderie perse method. I was quick and easy to do because there were no sharp points or deep concave curves.

The flowers and leafs are part of one of the blocks for my 2016 Quilt Along. I am guessing that you are curious to see the block so here it is! I will be doing more with this block before it is finished and ready to join the "flock"! If I were to make this block again I would like have used a busier print for the bird's body but it is done. If it really bothered me I would either change the body with pens and paints or replace the body with a different fabric or just make a new block. But I can live with it so live with it I shall. Once it is stitched into the quilt it won't be a problem because there will be plenty of other loveliness to see!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

Applique tools I like to use

This is a sneak peak of an appliqued quilt border I am working on. I just love the striped fabric from French General's La Petitie Ecole for Moda! I like doing applique because it is very portable and I can use lots of different techniques. Also I can fussy bits of fabric to make the applique look more detailed and complex. There are loads of butterflies on this one and they are all done using a broderie perse technique.

There are some tools that I would not be without because they make the job so much easier. My three favourites are Roxanne Glue-Baste It, Roxanne applique needles and applique pins.

I believe the packaing has changed for the Roxanne Glue-Baste It. It is about $9 for a 2 oz. bottle but it lasts a really long time! Use the little needle top to apply tiny dots of glue 1/4 to 1/2" apart. It holds the applique pieces in place indefinitely. This means you can prepare all of your pieces, glue them in position and then applique at your leisure - the project is portable and there are no pins or basting thread to deal with. The little applique pins are 1/2" from end to tip (you can see a large pin in the picture to give you an idea of size). They are great for stems because I can reposition them as I work. The Roxanne applique needles come in a 50 pack for about $8. They have a gentle taper and a long, large eye making threading easier. I even like to use them for embroidery!

There are a lot of tools on the market that don't really make much of a difference but in my opinion these tools really deliver and are well worth the investment!

Thanks for dropping by for a visit. Until I post again, happy sewing!