Lessons/Teaching – Page 4 – Artquiltmaker Blog

Sampler Class: Foundation Piecing Part 4

We are nearing the last part of the foundation piecing class. I know this is a long tutorial, but there are a lot of steps and it is difficult to explain when I am not in the same room with you. I also don’t have a crew, so photographing every single step with only two hands can be a challenge.

Mostly this segment discusses getting ready to sew the major parts of your block together. Yes, there is more prep before you can sew your blocks together. I will give some template tips as well. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1, 2 and part 3. All of the supplies are listed in part 1.

Like all other parts of piecing, your goal is to sew smaller pieces together to make larger pieces. First, inventory your templates and make sure you have a fabric patch for each template.

For any templates that do not have matching fabric patches, cut your fabric.

Based on the photo above, I need to cut 3 pieces. In some New York Beauty related patterns, these are pieced, but in ours we are using one fabric. You can certainly modify any of these pieces to do more foundation piecing.

To cut out these templates, I place my fabric right side down and the template right side down and draw on the back of the fabric. This is the same for all three of the templates.

Your patches should look similar to your template once cut out. All of these templates have an element of bias, so handle them carefully.

Once you have drawn your template shape on the fabric, you can cut it out. Where possible, I use a rotary cutter and ruler. If I cannot use those tools, e.g. for the curves in the pieces of this block, I use very sharp scissors and cut slowly and carefully. Above you can see that I have cut as many parts of the patch as possible with my rotary kit and am ready to cut the curve with scissors.

Lay your fabric right side down and place the corner template on top, also face down. Draw around it with a Pigma Micron, or similar, pen.

Once you have drawn carefully around the template, remove it and make sure your line is continuous. If it is not continuous, carefully replace the template and fix the missing segments.

Line up your ruler with the corner of the fabric patch. You may need to rough cut your fabric first, if there is too much yardage skewing the fabric as you try and cut.

The corner quarter circle template has a quarter inch seam allowance, so you don’t have to do anything, but cut the line you drew (and all the fabric on the other side) off. You will want to cut so that the line is cut off, but you need to cut ONLY the line off.

Also, these pieces are large, so make sure you can hold your ruler down tight as you are cutting. You want to avoid ruining a whole large piece of fabric because your ruler shifted.

Once you have cut out your fabric patches, you will have pieces that look like those in the above photo.

After seeing the above patches laid out, I decided to sew the two outer pieces together first. Again I want to join smaller pieces into larger sections. Also, the very outer piece has very skinny ends. I want to stabilize them a bit by sewing them to another piece before sewing them to the foundation pieced Section C.

The first order of business is to pin them together. I apply horizontal pins on the ends and a lot of pins in the middle. My goal is to make the seam smooth. You are working on the bias, so don’t yank too much.

For my advanced students: if you put the horizontal pin in the two fabrics as shown above, the horizontal pins on each side should be out of the way of your 1/4″ foot.

It is not quite as smooth on the other side, but that is ok. Set this piece aside for now, but remember that when you are ready to sew, sew slowly and carefully. Next, we will sew the corner section (quarter circle, Section D) to the small pieced strip.

If you don’t know how to sew curves together, check out the curves tutorial.

Nota bene: if you did not foundation piece the small strip, follow the directions in part 3 or above to do so. If you haven’t done any foundation piecing before you might want to start with this piece as it is smaller and less complex than the pointy triangles section (Section C).

I use a lot of pins and I know there are other tutorials that are pinless or use minimal pins. Put these two pieces together the way it works for you.

Now you are ready for part 5, which is the last part, I promise. 😉

Tips:

If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
Pay attention to putting the next fabric piece on the foundation.
Avoid the bump by pressing!

Resources:

Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
Foundation Piecing video
Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

Fabric & Color Choices

While this certainly won’t be a comprehensive post on everything there is to know about color and fabric choices, I thought I could pass along a little information while it was fresh in my mind.

Above is my completed foundation pieced New York Compass. If I were doing this block over again, I would not choose that specific aqua or that red for the small second foundation pieced strip (next to the corner quarter circle). In the grand scheme of the quilt, it will be fine, but this close up it really takes away from the fine piecing of those spiky triangles. The reds, especially run into each other.

That second foundation pieced part is tricky for my particular version, because my quilt is a two color quilt. I can’t introduce additional colors into the blocks at this late stage and maintain the integrity of my plan. I could have paid more attention to the particular reds and aquas I was choosing and chose fabrics for that small foundation pieced strip that stood out more against the red dot of the spiky triangles.

My mistake?

I grabbed fabrics and started cutting. I did not look at all the fabrics together before cutting. I didn’t try different fabrics to see what the change in look would be. I didn’t make my visual decisions visually. This lesson is a good reminder.

Sampler Class: Foundation Piecing Part 3

We are midway through the foundation piecing class. This is a long tutorial, but there are a lot of steps and I want all of the parts to be clear. This would be a great tutorial for a video, but A) I don’t have a crew and B) I don’t do video.

This segment discusses more foundation piecing. In order to get to this point, you should have completed parts 1 and 2. All of the supplies are listed in Part 1

Remember our goal:

Next, we need to foundation piece the small strip called Section D.

Cut 4 pieces of fabric that coordinate with the fabrics of your block. The pieces should be about 2.5″x 1.75″, which is generous. You may be able to use scraps for these pieces. (Please ignore the messy cutting table)

As you did in Part 2, you will work on placing 2 fabrics on the line between D1 & D2 with about a quarter inch hanging over into D2 as a seam allowance. Note the printed part of the pattern (the lines on which you sew) are face down for this step.

I like to pin the first piece of fabric to my pattern. It helps keep the fabric from shifting as I work on the second piece of fabric. Note the printed part of the pattern (the lines on which you sew) are face up for this step.

Flip Section D back over and position the second piece of fabric over the first.

When you have both of your pieces placed like you like them, pin in place. I like to use thin pins. Your piece should now look like the above photo.

With the applique’ foot on your machine. Sew on the line between D1 & D2. Do not cross the perpendicular line at the top or bottom. Back stitch one stitch at the beginning and the end.

Once you have sewn on the line, your piece should look like the above photo.

Open up both pieces and make sure they cover D1 & D2. Once you are convinced that you have covered both D1 & D2 with your fabric and there is a 1/4″ seam allowance, press your piece. Press with the pattern on top. Note the pattern is face up and you can see the sewing lines. (Nota bene: if you have taped your pattern, use a press cloth so that you do not get melted tape on your iron)

Flip your Section D over again, so you are ready to trim.

Lay your pattern, with sewn fabric, pattern side up (fabric down) on your cutting mat. The inside part of the curve will be facing your body. You may want to flip Section D around if you are left handed.

Fold the longer piece of the pattern over to the left using the seam line as the fold line. This will expose the fabric that will be your seam allowance.

Line up your ruler’s 1/4″ mark on the seam/fold line and trim your seam allowance to 1/4″.

Trim seam allowance to 1/4″.

Go back to the ironing board and position your piece so the fabric is up, pattern side down and smooth the fabric towards D2, lightly finger pressing.

Take the piece to the iron and press carefully towards D2.

Place your next fabric with the longer part towards D2 and the future seam allowance closer to D3. Hold the whole piece up to the light to make sure your placement is correct.

Pin in place.

Get ready to sew on the line between D2 & D3.

Once sewn, your piece should look like the photo above.

Check to make sure your fabric covers pattern section D3. You do this by folding the fabric over and looking to see that you have about 1/4″ on all sides.

Now, get ready to trim. Put your piece on the cutting mat pattern side up.

Fold your pattern to the left again, like you did before.

Line up your ruler’s 1/4″ mark on the seam/fold line and trim your seam allowance to 1/4″.

See that bump in the photo above? You do not want that bump to show once you have pieced D4 on to the parts of Section D you have already pieced. Press again, this time towards D4. Avoid the bump by pressing!

Press towards D4. No ironing!

We are heading to the home stretch!

Position your last piece as you have done before. It is going to look at little weird and out of alignment, because you are working with a curve. Remember to position the fabric so it covers D5 plus 1/4″ seam allowance. Pay no attention to the edges of the other pieces, such as D4, that you have already sewn.

It is easier for me to see whether or not piece D5 was in the right position by pinning it. Note, I would pin it on the pattern side to sew, because then I can see where the pin is in relation to where my sewing machine foot and needle are. the pin in the photo is temporary.

Once you have the placement finalized, go ahead and sew.

Fold back pattern and prepare to trim seam allowance

Align ruler for 1/4" seam allowance — Align ruler for 1/4″ seam allowance

Now you have to fold back the pattern one last time and prepare to trim the seam allowance.

Trim!

Now your piece is done. Fold back the D5 fabric and press. Place your ruler on the lines at the end of the pattern and trim a 1/4″ seam allowance. I know you can do this without photos.

Now you have to trim the curved parts of Section D

It is too difficult to sew the untrimmed Section D, so you will have to trim.

To trim, mark 1/4″ away from the dark line. The dots in the photo above mark 1/4″. I have trimmed the straight ends with a rotary cutter and I am ready to play “dot to dot” with my scissors. I am going to cut from dot to dot to create a 1/4″ seam allowance.

On to part 4!

Tips:

If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
Pay attention to putting the next piece on the foundation.
Avoid the bump by pressing!

Resources:

Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
Foundation Piecing video
Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

Sampler Class: Foundation Piecing Part 2

We are working on learning foundation piecing (also called paper piecing) using a pattern called New York Compass. If you are just finding this tutorial, go to part 1 to see the supply list and learn how to prepare your pieces.

I am using an aqua with white dots for my background and a red with white dots for my foreground. You should have already cut your rectangles for both foreground and background at 2.5″x6″. If not, do it now, as you will need them almost immediately.

The sections of Section C are marked in the order in which you should piece them. Start with C1. Odd numbers are the background and even numbers indicate you should use the foreground fabric.

You will be piecing from one side (C1) towards the middle to the other side (C17).

Set up your sewing machine with an applique’ foot or similar. You will not need your quarter inch foot for the foundation piecing part of the process.
Shorten the stitch length. If you can’t shorten the stitch length, remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of each line of stitching.
If you are a speed demon, and the option is available on your machine, slow down your machine a little bit. You will need to control the speed at the beginning and the end of the stitching lines.
Place your Section C pattern face down on a flat surface.
Lay Section C Face Down

Cover piece C1 with one of the background rectangles you cut in Part 1. Place the fabric so there is at least 1/4″ of fabric around each piece. You get extra bonus points if you line one long straight edge with the straight line at the end of the pattern.
Now, hold these two pieces in one hand (optionally you can clip them together with a WonderClip) and hold the whole piece up to the light (facing a window or a lamp or on a light box). Take note of where the line is between C1 and C2.
Add second fabric

Still holding your pieces up to the light, take one of your foreground rectangles and place one of its edges 1/4″ from the line between C1 and C2. This will be the seam allowance and that quarter inch should hang over the line into C2.
Put all the pieces carefully back down on your table.
Pin the two fabrics to the paper, keeping the pin away from the line between C1 and C2. You want enough space so the pin doesn’t interfere with the foot on your sewing machine. I like to pin on my cutting mat so I don’t damage the furniture.
Fold the foreground piece back to make sure that it covers C2. You will fold it on the line between C1 and C2. That will be your sewing line. You can move the pins to the front if you want to make for easier sewing.
Flip the whole thing over

Flip the whole thing over and take a look.
Once pinned, check again to make sure that you have at least 1/4″ all around C1 (background) and C2 (foreground).
Take your piece to the sewing machine and sew on the line between C1 and C2. Do not go over. Only sew on that line.
Stitched on line

Back stitch at the beginning and the end. One backstitch is fine.
Fold over to check coverage

Remove the piece from under the presser foot and fold your foreground over to check and make sure it covered C2.

Why you need to trim

You can see the foreground fabric through the background, which is why you need to trim. Depending on the colors you use, this may not be the case, but you don’t want to build up so many layers that you cannot quilt through the piece.
Take Section C back to your cutting mat and place it so the paper part of the pattern is on top.
Fold the paper back

Fold the paper back on the seam line so the excess seam allowance is exposed. You are going to cut this off, so it is worthwhile to take a minute and make sure you are not cutting off the wrong part (the part you need to cover your background and spikes).
Trim Excess Seam Allowance

Line up your ruler with the 1/4″ line on the seam line and trim the excess seam allowance.
Press

Take your piece to your ironing surface and place it with the paper down. Press towards the foreground, so you get rid of as much of the “bump'” from the seam as you can. Press towards the middle of your pattern. You want the foreground fabric to be as flat as you can get it. Pressing is very important. It is possible that there will be a bump when you put the next piece over the previous one, if you don’t press well.
Your foreground piece should cover the line between C2 and C3 and give you a 1/4″ seam allowance.
Once you have pressed the foreground flat, you are ready to put on the next background piece.
Take one of your background rectangles and place one of its edges 1/4″ from the line between C2 and C3, smoothing (without stretching) the foreground piece you sewed, so it is as flat as possible. Again, this will be the seam allowance and that quarter inch should hang over the line into section C3. You may need to hold it up to the light again to position the piece correctly.
Once you have the correct placement, pin in place.
Once pinned, check again to make sure that you have at least 1/4″ all around C2 (background) .
Sew on black line

Take your piece to the sewing machine and sew on the line between C2 and C3. Do not sew beyond the end of that line. Only sew on that line.
Repeat

Repeat this process, alternating between foreground and background until you reach the other end of Section C. As you move down the pattern, your Section C will start to look like something you could put into a block.
Trim Straight Edges

Use your rotary cutting kit to trim the straight edges of Section C.
Trim with Sharp Scissors

From the paper pattern side of Section C, I eyeball a 1/4″ and trim the curves with very sharp scissors. There are some serious layers here, so I am not fooling when I say sharp.

The finished Section C is a sight to behold. Even after making several of these sections, I amazed each time it comes out relatively normal.

Tips:

If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.
Pay attention to putting the next piece on the foundation.

Resources:

Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
Foundation Piecing video
Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

Part 3 is next.

Sampler Class: Foundation Piecing Part 1

Frances talked about foundation piecing in one of her recent podcasts. I am nothing if not an accommodating 😉 teacher, so I thought we would tackle a foundation piecing pattern next. This is called New York Compass, a variation of the New York Beauty pattern. It is a little more complex than the patterns we have been working on, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and nudge Frances to step up. She has done curves, so I am confident she can do this one.

In part 1, we will prep everything.

Supplies:

Notebook for notes
Pen to take notes 😉
Sewing Machine
applique’ foot (preferably one with a mark showing where the needle will stitch)
1/4″ foot
thread
fabric
fabric scissors
paper scissors
foundation piecing paper like Toni’s Disappearing Paper or Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper
pins
Rotary cutter
rulers
template plastic
template plastic friendly pen (Bic works)
glue stick
iron and ironing surface
thin pressing cloth
New York Compass pattern
Optional: Wonderclips
Optional: Lightbox

Pattern in 4 Pieces

Print the pattern sheets (all 4). I only have 8.5″x11″ paper so the pattern comes out on 4 sheets. Use some kind of foundation piecing paper to print the pattern. Nota Bene: I keep a folder for all of my projects, so I like to print at least 2, if not 3 copies of the pattern. One I use to make the templates, one I will tape together and keep whole (you can use regular copy paper for this one) and one I will use for the foundations.
Tape pattern together

Trim off the margins and tape the parts together. Note, the tape will not play nicely with your iron when you press the foundation pieced parts so USE A PRESSING CLOTH. A scrap of fabric or ugly fabric work great. Guess how I found out?
NY Compass Templates

Above is how the templates shake out: 3 regular plastic backed templates and two foundation templates.
Cut Paper Pattern Apart

Rough cut the parts of the pattern apart. You will have 5 parts. Two of them will be foundation piecing patterns and 3 of will need to be made into regular templates with template plastic.
NY Compass Sections

NY Compass Outline

I am going to refer to the skinny spikes piece as Section C. Section C is in the middle.
Make your templates. You must add a quarter of inch to your paper templates (not the ones that will be foundation pieced. If you don’t know how to make templates with template plastic, refer to my tutorial on Machine Applique’ Part 1. Make sure you put the plastic on the correct side (wrong side of fabric).
Cut rectangles for foundation piecing 2.5″

Cut rectangles for foundation piecing 2.5″x 6.5″. This is a generous rectangle. You aren’t going to save any fabric with this technique and you should worry more about coming up short, because ripping out stitches is a real pain.
There is one tricky part about these templates. You will need to add a 1/4″ to the curve. The way you do that is to: A) glue the paper template to the largest piece of template plastic you have (you may have to piece the template plastic). B) Take your ruler and start at the left end of the paper template. Line the ruler’s 1/4″ mark up with the dark outline on the paper template (you should still have a rough cut paper template before you glue the paper to template plastic). C) Make a mark with a template plastic friendly pen at the 1/4″. D) Move your ruler slightly to the right and make another mark at the 1/4″ point. E) Follow the curved line of the paper part of the template with your ruler until you reach the far right side of the ruler. F) Cut along the dots you have made in as smooth a motion as you can using your paper scissors. You should now have a quarter inch seam allowance along your template. Repeat for all curved templates.
Cut your fabrics. Nota Bene: When you cut the fabrics for Section C, cut rectangles for these spikes at 2.5″.
Check fabric strips

Check to make sure you have cut your rectangles large enough. Take your Section C and lay it face up. Cover the first section (labeled C1 on my pattern) to make sure your rectangle covers the entire section C1 plus 1/4″ seam allowance around all sides.

Now go to Part 2 to learn the actual foundation piecing.

Tips:

If you have to rip out stitches, rip them out from the fabric side, not the paper side.

Resources:

Christine Thresh’s Paper Piecing Primer
Cindi Edgerton’s How to Foundation Piece instructions
Foundation Piecing video
Paper Panache’s Foundation Piecing Instructions
Paper Piecing the Carol Doak way
Johanna Masko’s Flickr-based Machine paper piecing tutorial

Quilt Class: Curves Part 2

Tutorial on sewing curves

I started a series of tutorials on sewing curves during my last Sampler Class, but I never finished the last two parts. The first part is about fabric and arrangement of pieces.

Supplies:

The Dove pattern
paper scissors
template plastic
glue stick
fabric (at least 2 different)
pen ( I like the Pigma Micron & the Pilot Ultra Fine Point)
Fabric scissors
pins
Sewing machine
quarter inch foot or other marking system
thread
Iron and ironing board

We will be using a quarter inch seam allowance. You will need to adjust the pattern if you are using a different seam allowance.

The Dove pattern is a baby version of the Drunkard’s Path. If you make this piece, the next logical curved piece would be a Drunkard’s path block.

This block, as well as the Drunkard’s Path block is made from two types of pieces: a concave ‘L’ and a pie shape. The pie shape forms the circle in the center and the concave ‘L’ can be considered the background. In this block, the pieces are somewhat larger than in the 12″ Drunkard’s Path I used in my previous class. This design also has a very strong focal point.

Take the The Dove pattern and rough cut the templates.
Use the glue stick to stick the paper templates to the template plastic. You won’t need heat resistant template plastic as we won’t be ironing over the templates. It is fine to use, though, if that is the only kind you have.
Rough cut out the templates you have glued to the plastic.
Carefully cut out the template on the seam allowance line, cutting off the rough cut paper and plastic.
Place your fabric wrong side up on a hard surface.
Draw Around Templates

Place the templates wrong side up on your chosen fabric. Nota bene: If you are using symmetrical templates, then it doesn’t matter whether they are right side or wrong side up, but it is good to get in the habit of doing it the right way in case you use non-symmetrical templates in a future project.
Draw around the template with your marking implement of choice. You will need to hold your template firmly so it doesn’t shift. You can also rough cut out the fabric pieces if trying to cut precisely or carefully with a long length of fabric draped over the cutting table is too difficult.
Rotary Cut 90 degree angles

Cut the fabric out carefully using your fabric scissors, especially the curves. Cut the drawn line off the fabric. I used a rotary cutter for the 90 degree angles.
Check to make sure that the fabric you just cut out is the same size and shape as your templates. You can lay the template over your fabric to check.
Fold Pieces in Half

Take a pie shape and a concave shape and fold them in half. Line up the edges carefully. The halfway point that you create will be used to make sure the pieces are sewn together evenly. You will want to make the marks so the patches nest. That means you fold the concave piece in half with right sides together and the pie shaped piece in half with the wrong sides together. Mark the halfway point with a pin or through finger pressing.
Nestle the pieces right sides together.
Pin in Middle

To do this, line up the middle mark where you have finger pressed to align the blocks accurately.
Pinned 3 times

Line up the outside edges and place a pin close to the two outside edges.
Fill in the area between the middle pin and each outside pin with pins. Ease the area between the outside and middle pins into smoothness with your fingers, lining up the edges of the fabric as you do so. Place as many pins as you need between the middle pin and the outside pin. Make sure the fabric is flat and there are no pooches. You may have to ease a bit, but do it very gently so as not to stretch the pieces. If you have to stretch and tug and pull, there is something wrong and you should check to see if your templates match your fabric pieces.
Completed Pinning

Do the same with the second section between the middle and the other outside edge until you have used a lot of pins.
Sew Pie to Concave Piece

Sew Pie to Concave piece, removing pins before you sew over them. You may want to use the point of a pin to keep the edges of the fabric lined up until you sew over the area where the pin was. I also use a seam ripper as a stiletto to keep the two pieces in place after I remove the pins.
Dove Block in Process

Press carefully.
Repeat for all of the quarter blocks.
Dove Block in Process

Sew 2 quarter blocks together to make a half, then sew the other 2 quarter blocks together so you have two halves.
Press so that the center seams nest
Pin the two halves together, paying careful attention to the center.
Sew the two halves together.
Press carefully.

Sampler Class: Fusible Machine Applique’ Tutorial Ending

Fusible Machine Applique' Block — Fusible Machine Applique’ Block

I have finished my machine applique’ block for the class with Frances. I had fun doing it.

If you want to make this block, take a look at part 1, part 2 and part 3.

The best part of this was that Frances really had fun doing the block. That made me feel great.

As I mentioned, I used scraps for the leaves and centers.

Next up: curves.

Sampler Class: Fusible Machine Applique’ Tutorial Part 3

We are making the Flower Wreath block. To find out how to make templates, including the ring, see Part 1 for making templates and Part 2 for making the ring and positioning the ring on the background.

Now we are going to stitch the ring. If you haven’t started, check the Supply List in part 1 and grab your 3″x5″ tearaway backed fabric. Your ring should be applied to the background and ready to stitch. If your ring is not fused and ready to stitch, go back to part 2.

I stitch in layers, so that the stitching is easier, there are fewer starts and stops and the piece looks more finished. Now that you are ready to stitch, it is time to choose your thread.

: Choose thread

Whenever you choose thread, you must consider the stitch. If the stitch will be dense like a satin stitch, you should choose the color by looking at the thread wrapped around the whole spool. That will give you a better sense of the color the satin stitch will end up.

It you will be using a straight stitch, you should unreel a bit of the thread and look at one strand on your fabric. You may need to pool a little of the thread together – less dense than the whole spool and more dense than one strand.

Now set up your machine for zig zag stitching. You will need to choose a stitch density. I like a semi-open zig zag that is not too wide, because it uses less thread and looks more interesting. Dense satin stitching, however, can really highlight and outline each piece. I use the following settings on my machine:

Ring: width: 3.0, density: 0.45
Flowers: width: 3.0, density: 0.45
Leaves: width: 2.0, density: 0.5
Flower centers: width: 2.0, density: 0.5

Even if you haven’t chosen all the fabric, I like to get the ring stitched down first, so I can audition the other fabric without worrying about the ring. Yes, it is fused and shouldn’t go anywhere, but I still like it to be stitched down.

In order to choose the stitch density, you will need to test. Get the tearaway backed sample piece you have prepared and start testing with the width and densities I have provided above. Stitch lines of zig zag stitching 2-3″ long using a contrasting thread similar to the thread you will be using to stitch the ring. Adjust the width and density on your machine until you are pleased with the look.

Put the ring on the machine and start stitching. I always leave a long tail that I can pull to the back and tie shut later. My zig zag does not automatically tie the ends. If your machine is more advanced you may not have to tie a knot on the back. I don’t want my zig zag to come out if it gets snagged while being used, which is why I tie the ends.

I use my applique’ foot, which has a red arrow in the center to stitch out the zig zag. I place the tip of the red arrow on the raw edge of the ring and follow it around. You should stitch with needle down or use the hand wheel to put the needle down when you stop. If the center point on your foot gets off the raw edge of your ring, stop and readjust. Stop with the needle down on the outside of the ring’s curve whenever you need to readjust the needle to accommodate the curve. Turn the fabric to the left to get the center point of the foot back on the raw edge of your ring. The stitching will be slightly closer together on the inside of the shape, when the needle punches the fabric to the left, and more open on the outside of the shape or when the needle hits the background.

When you have done about half – 3/4s of the stitching on the ring, stop and pull the beginning thread to the back and tie it off, if you need to.

I tie the beginning off before I get to the end, because the beginning and ending threads can get tangled up and make it impossible to make small, neat knots. I have tied all four ends together in a pinch, but prefer to make the knots as small as possible.

I also use this technique also if I have to stop and pull the work out of the machine because of thread breakage or necessary bobbin refill.

I fold the work back (I only used my pincushion so I could photograph what I was doing. Normally, I just hold it with my wrist as pull the front through to the back and tie the ends together. I don’t take the work out of the machine unless there is a good reason – like a big knot, or thread breakage, etc.

Once your knot is tied, continue stitching to where you started. I don’t overlap much once I get to the beginning, perhaps only a stitch or two, because I don’t want the look to be too different.

I pull the work out of the machine and tie off the ending threads. You may not need to do this if your machine does it for you.

Now do the same thing, but on the inside to finish stitching down the ring. Once you have stitched both the inside and outside of the rings, your ring will be complete and you will be ready to place the leaves and flowers on the ring.

If you have not already done so, choose the rest of your fabrics. You will need fabric for the flowers (1-4 fabrics) and leaves (1-20 fabrics). If you have not cut out and fused the wreath to the background, please go back to part 2. The leaves can be the traditional green or you can use something else. If you use one color, you might want to mix up the prints to increase interest. You can also use different colors. Make the block your own.

I thought about making the leaves green to make them more realistic, but decided I was still of a mind to use a variety of turquoises and aquas and keep my quilt’s color scheme of aqua/turquoise with red consistent. I found more leaf fabrics in my scrap basket. It is important, with my limited color scheme, to make sure the viewer can see the individual leaves. For that, I will need to have enough contrast between the various aquas and turquoises. Remember, when choosing your fabrics, to make visual decisions visually. Put your potential fabrics on the background and step back to look at them. From my test piece (right) you can see that there are a variety of tones of aqua and turquoise. Some of them blend a bit into the background. I want movement and interest.

Once you have chosen all of your fabrics press the wrong sides, cheek to jowl, to one side of the fusible.

You are not going to be able to cover every inch of the fusible, which is why you have a pressing cloth or applique’ pressing sheet. If you press directly, the fusible that is not covered by fabric will end up on the bottom of your iron.

Cover this piece with a press cloth and press the fusible to the fabric following the directions on your fusible’s packaging.

Make all of your leaves and flowers. Flip the fusible so that paper side is up. You will be able to see your different fabrics through the paper. Place a template face DOWN on the appropriate fabric and trace with a writing implement. I use a Sewline pencil, but you can also use a pen, regular pencil or anything. I wouldn’t use a Sharpie even though I don’t think the paper will allow the marking to bleed through to the fabric.

Once you have traced all pieces**, cut them out right inside the drawn line. You should have 20 leaves, 4 flowers and 4 center flowers.

Take all of your pieces and arrange them the pleasing way. Arrange them into the position you want them to end up once they are fused. You are doing this to look at the effect. Once you are pleased with the arrangement, take a photo or sketch out placement.
Fuse & Stitch Flowers

You will need to stitch the flowers first, then the leaves and finally the flower centers. The flowers and leaves are on the same layer, so you can stitch them in any order. Anything that will be covered by another piece will need to be stitched before you fuse the covering piece.
Place the flowers on the ring using the press marks you used to place the ring on the background (or fold the background in quarters and finger press again). Place them symmetrically along the ring, or in a pleasing way to your eye.
Fuse them into place and get ready to stitch. You can also reference the machine applique’ tutorial for more information. Again, pay attention to where the layers of the design are placed. If there are leaves that you want to place under the wreath, you will need to satin stitch them before you fuse the wreath down entirely. For the flowers, you will need to satin stitch down any parts of the design that will be covered by another piece of fused fabric, such as the centers. The design will look better if you satin stitch a layer and then fuse the next piece down.
Place the interfacing under the background. You could use a machine basting stitch to stitch the interfacing temporarily to the background, but pinning works fine, too. You will need to zig zag with the interfacing under the background.
Stitching flowers

Satin stitch all the other pieces down using the thread you chose. When you stitch, the middle of the stitch will cover the outside raw edge of each piece. I line up the red arrow on my foot (see photo) with the sharp edge of that raw edge. The pieces you will satin stitch have curves, thus you will need to manipulate the stitch so it is smooth. This means that you will need to stitch with needle down.

Stop stitching to create smooth curves

Stop with the needle down on the outside of the curve for the leaves and flower petals. For the inside point between the flower petals stop above that point on the inside. If you do not have a machine that automatically stops with the needle down, then you can use the hand wheel to move the needle into the downward position when you stop. Do this carefully without moving the fabric. Once the needle is down you will need to assess the way to turn the fabric. Always turn the fabric very slightly to ensure a smooth curve. You may only need to take one stitch before adjusting the fabric again in order to get around the curve smoothly. For the outside curves, generally, you need to turn the fabric to the left to make a smooth curve. (Updated 10/30/2012: My engineer SIL says: You turn it clockwise for outside curves and counter clockwise for inside curves.) The stitching will be closer together on the inside of the shape and more open on the outside of the shape when you move in this direction. For the inside point of the flower, between the petals, you will need to take a slight adjustment of the background to the right. For the pointy ends of the leaves, stop the needle on the outside of the leaf near the point and adjust the fabric to the right very, very slightly. Take one stitch, stop on the outside of the point again. Adjust very slightly to the right. Your goal should be to get the needle into the same hole on the inside of the leaf until the arrow or line on your machine’s foot is in line with the raw edge of the other side of the leaf. When you move the fabric always keep the needle down. Before starting, take a few of the shapes, e.g. a leaf and a flower, make some test pieces and do a test on junk fabric so you get the feel of the procedure. This is not something you should work on when you are pressed for time.
Arrange leaves
Once you are finished with the flowers, change your thread and adjust the width and density of your stitch, if desired.
Arrange the leaves in a pleasing manner. I placed 5 at a time on the background and stitched them down.
Stitch leaves

Arrange and stitch all of the leaves. My photo shows only 10 sewn leaves.
Place the centers on the flowers and stitch them down. Follow all the directions above for tying off and moving the needle to create a smooth curve.
Back of block

Once you have stitched all the pieces, rip off the tearaway. I use a seam ripper to get the ripping started on pieces that are surrounded by stitching.
Once you are finished with the entire stitching and tearaway ripping, trim the background down to 12.5″

**Nota bene: These pieces have no right direction. You can trace them any way and apply them anyway and they will look fine. Pay attention if you are cutting out letters or another motif that has a special direction. Put the right side down on the paper backed fusible and trace the motif backwards.

Sampler Class: Fusible Machine Applique’ Tutorial Part 1

Frances and I are back in action with the Sampler class. I am excited, but nervous because I haven’t done this in awhile. The next class is about fusible machine applique’.

Supply List:

Notebook for notes
Pen to take notes 😉
Mechanical Pencil
Fabric (at least 4 different, preferably more greens to create variety in the leaves; scraps work well)
Fabric Scissors
Paper scissors
Small ruler
Glue stick
Template plastic
Dinner plate or compass
Fusible web, such as Misty Fuse or Steam-a-Seam 2 or Steam-a-Seam Lite
Applique’ pressing sheet
Tear away stabilizer (the size of your background)
Iron
Ironing surface
3″x5″ piece of fabric backed with 2 layers of tearaway stabilizer
Flower Wreath pattern sheets

Aqua-Red Sampler Blocks

Cut a piece of fabric for the background .5″ to 1″ bigger than the finished size of the block. If you have a regular background fabric, use that, if not use a coordinating fabric. I took a look at my current blocks to help me decide what background I wanted to choose. This is a coordinated scrappy quilt, but I also wanted to find a background that would work well with the applique pieces that I was planning to put on top of it.
After cutting out a background, you need to put it aside for the time being. You will need it after you make the templates and the ring.
Rough cut pattern out for templates

Cut out all the templates from the paper. Leave a little of the paper around the edges. Feel free to adjust the design of the flowers or leaves, if you want the shapes to be a little different.

All patterns rough cut

In the photo above, you can see all of them templates rough cut out, except the circles. The circles print from EQ7 on two sheets of paper. You will need to rough cut the two pieces for each circle and then tape them together. In order to tape the pieces together, hold each piece for one circle in a hand up to the light and match them up you. Before you hold them up, have the tape ready just to tack the pieces together. You can use a light box for this procedure also.

Fold circles in quarters to make a line down the centers. This will help you line them up to make the ring for the wreath.

I never did this before and had to figure it out, but it works pretty well.

Using the folds, layer the circles together so you can see the black line of the upper circle. Draw a line around the smaller circle using the smaller circle as a template. You will be drawing on the larger circle. Use a soft implement (pencil or roller ball pen) that doesn’t skip to draw the circle. Once you have drawn the circle, you can put the smaller circle away with your other templates. I use a zipper bag for all of the pieces and parts.

Fold up the larger circle. Check the width of the ring of the wreath using a small ruler to make sure it is even. Once you are happy with the line. Cut along the line without opening the circle.

Once you have cut out the ring, open up the ring.

Now you are ready to make the templates. Grab all of your patterns, your template plastic and your glue stick.

Glue the paper templates to the template plastic.
No template plastic on folds

The only tricky part is for the ring. I avoid the folds in the pattern and only put the template plastic on the parts of the ring where the fold isn’t. Why? Because I want to be able to fold this piece and put it in a zipper bag. Also, by adding the template plastic in quarters you save template plastic and you can use smaller pieces. Finally, you don’t end up with a circle of leftover template plastic.
Trim the templates to the line on the pattern.

Depending on the kind of template plastic you have, your templates will look something like the photo above.

Part 2 will talk about choosing fabrics etc.

You can find more detail about machine appliqueing directional motifs, such as letters in a separate tutorial.

Pillow Top Tutorial

Since the NSGW pillows for 2012 went so well, I thought I would do a little tutorial. Remember, my SIL suggested I do it this way, so I am just passing on her information.

Supplies:

basic quilting/sewing kit
batting the size of the finished pillow top (leftovers, Frankenbatting are fine)
pillow form
fabric
fabric panel or embroidered panel or fussy cut element from fabric
square ruler the size or larger than your pillow

Tips, Tricks, Notes:

Please note that I am really only showing you how to make the pillow top. You can finish it anyway you want. I finish it with the envelope style of closure. I will briefly describe how to do that and, if I can find them, give a few links.

If you know how to foundation piece, you can do this. It is the same principle.

If you are not making a block that lends itself to foundation type piecing, you can make your block the normal way and then quilt it to get the same effect.

Instructions:

Cut strips of fabric the color(s) of your choice. Right now just worry about the width of the strips. You won’t need them any longer than 14″, but keep them as long as possible until a bit later.

Cut the batting to the size of your pillow form. I usually use a 14×14″ pillow form. I cut the batting/foundation half to a quarter inch smaller so that the form fills out the pillow cover well.

Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than the batting. It will be used as a backing. It can be ugly fabric, if you want. Nobody will see it.

Lay your fabric back (ugly fabric)face down on your work surface.

Lay the batting on top.

Lay your panel or fussy cut fabric or embroidery panel over the batting. Center it, if you would like a symmetrical piece. Put it at an angle if you want more movement and don’t mind some bias edges.

Pin panel to batting to hold it steady.

Now you are ready to sew.

Lay a strips of fabric face down on the center panel even with the edge.

Trim the length of the strip to the length of the fabric panel. If you leave them too long, you will be tempted to sew to the end and it will eventually make the edges bulky.

Sew using a quarter inch seam. Really you can use any seam allowance that will stand the pressure of the pillow form trying to explode out.

Sew strips until the batting is covered. If you want a scrappier look, use thinner strips. If you want the project finished fast, use a few thick strips.

Once you have covered the batting with fabric, take your large square ruler and square up the pillow top to the desired size. I trim my pillow top about a quarter to half an inch smaller than the pillow form, so that the form fits snugly.

Now you are ready to make the back. Make the back anyway you like. I use the envelope method, which I will describe below. There are a multitude of books describing different ways of putting together pillows. Pick your favorite and do that.

Cut 2 pieces of fabric per pillow. The fabric should be the same size as the pillow form in one direction and about 3/4s of the size of the pillow form in the other direction.

For my 14″ pillow form, I cut pieces that are: 10″x14.”

If you have a 16″ pillow form, you may want to cut them 12″x16″, etc

Where possible I use a selvedge as the edge so I don’t have to hem. This works well with batiks as the selvedge is usually the same color as the fabric.

Hem raw edges. I use a decorative stitch.

Lay pillow top face up on your cutting table or workspace.

Lay both pieces of back face down on top of the pillow top. If you care which piece will end up on the top of the back, put that piece on the bottom.

Align edges of back and pillow top so they match.

Pin backs to pillow top.

Sew around the entire edge of the pillow top. Sew back and forth over the spot where the hem of the pieces of the back meet the pillow top. There are four of these sections, which you will have seen when you laid out your pillow top and back. This step is to reinforce the most vulnerable stress points.

Trim threads

Turn your pillow cover right side out.

Carefully poke out the corners with a wooden knitting needle or your favorite tool.

Stuff your pillow form into the pillow cover.

Adjust form so it is evenly distributed.

Congratulations on your completed pillow form!

Tutorial: Nine Patch

Today we are making a Nine Patch. This is usually the first block I teach when I teach beginning quiltmakers in a Sampler Class context. You will need:

Supply list:

rotary cutter
rotary cutting ruler large enough to cut 4.5″ squares
rotary cutting ruler
fabric (2-3 different)
Optional: Mary Ellen’s Best Press (or similar)
Optional: pins
sharp trimmers or scissors
thread for piecing
sewing machine
Iron
ironing surface

I have marked the rows and patch with letters and numbers so I can more easily refer to them for you.

Step 1: Cut fabric. You need 9 squares 4.5″x4.5″ each. I like to use a different fabric in the center of the nine patch block. It adds interest, especially to a 12″ finished size.

This block is actually the first block I teach in the sampler series. This particular Nine patch will be in the quilt I am making with Frances. You have seen it in different photos on the blog.

Step 2 (above): After you cut the squares, move them around to make sure you have the placement of the fabrics in the right place.

Step 3: Prepare to start sewing.

start, usually in the upper left hand corner 9row 1 patch A and row 2 patch D), everything else being equal. In general, if I don’t start in the upper left hand corner for other blocks, I start by sewing smaller units/patches into larger patches.

Step 4: Place fabrics right sides together and place into machine. I have my quarter inch foot on my machine and I sew 2 patches together to make a unit that will fit into the upper left hand corner of the block.

Sew patches together in groups of 2 (front view)

The edges of the patches are lines up so that the bottom fabric is not showing when I sew. Fabrics are right sides together.

You can certainly take the sewn patches out of the machine, but this is a good time to talk about chain piecing. I have other bits and pieces handy so that I can keep sewing, so I will put them through the machine after the patches for the block on which I am working. In the above photo, you can see scrap pieces for a journal cover. I find it is much easier to work on sewing scraps together rather than another block. For my journal covers, I sew pieces together any which way. I don’t have to worry about putting the right patch in the right place or not cutting off triangle corners. This method gives my brain space to concentrate on the block at hand.

Once you have done some blocks and know how you work, you can certainly put the next group of pieces for your current block through the machine after the first set. Also, if you feel confident, then go ahead and put the next set through the machine.

Step 5: After you have put your second group of patches, or your scraps, through the machine, cut off the sewn patches apart from your second group of sewn pieces. I usually just put one set of chain piecing through my machine after my set of patches for my current block, especially if I have a lot of fiddly placement. I would rather unsew one set of patchwork if I make a mistake than many.

Step 6: Trim threads.

I dislike a bunch of long threads hanging off the back of my finished blocks. The best way I have found to deal with that is to trim as I go along. Trimming threads is a personal preference. I find it makes my blocks look a bit better and there is less of a chance of anything getting caught in my machine as I sew further along in the project.

Step 7: Bring your 2 sewn squares over to your ironing board and press the threads on the seam allowance from the back with the patchwork closed. You have not yet opened your piecing to look at it from the front.

I have no idea if this step really sets the seams. Fons & Porter do this and since there doesn’t seem to be any harm in it, I started to do it as well. If you skip this step, your patchwork will not fall apart.

Step 8: Open your patchwork so that the seam allowance is pointing towards the patch that will be in the very upper left hand corner.

Step 9: Point the seam allowance, referenced above, away from you.

You could also point it to the side (either right or left depending on which is comfortable based on the hand with which you press). Above is the way I do it, which probably depends on the size of my ironing board and habit.

Step 10: Swoop your iron carefully from the patch without the seam allowance to the patch which is laying on top of the seam allowance. In my case I am swooping carefully from the red towards the aqua dot.

Step 11: Place sewn patches on in their spot on the design wall (or design floor or design table).

Place Sewn Patches on Design Wall (detail)

You will notice that they are quite a bit smaller (1/2″ to be exact) than your other cut pieces. No panicking is necessary. The patches are smaller because you have used 1/2″ of fabric for the seam allowance. You are on track, if your block looks like the two pictures above.

Step 12: Take the center patches (from row 1 patch B and row 2 patch E) and sew them together. Again, you will place your right sides together before you sew.

Step 13: Follow steps 3-11 for these patches and the right hand patches (row 1 patch C and row 2 patch F).

Step 14: Above we pressed towards row 1. After sewing row 1&2, patches B&E, you will press the seam allowance towards row 2. Patch E will be on top of your seam allowance.

Step 15: Place your pressed patch on the Design Wall. You have used up another 1/2″ of fabric.

After you have sewed all the patches for rows 1&2 together, you will need to sew the patches for row 3.

Step 16: Sew row 3 patch G to patch D. Yes, patch D is already sewn to patch A. Don’t press yet.

Step 17: Follow the directions in Step 16 for patch H and patch I. Wait to press.

Step 18: Press patch G towards patch G.

Step 19: Press H towards patch E

Step 20: Press patch I towards patch I

Step 21: Lay the column with patches B, E and H on top of the column with A, D, and G. Make sure that your seams look like the photo above – nested into each other, not resting on top of each other.

The reason to pay attention to pressing is that you can ‘nest’ the seams when you go to start sewing the rows. Nesting seams is when the seam allowances are pressed in opposite directions so that they rest against each other.

Step 22: With the column with patches B, E and H on the bottom, sew the column with A, D, and G to the column with patches B, E and H on the right side.

I did use some pins at the seam allowances.

Step 23: Set seam between the left and middle columns.

Step 24: Press seam allowance between the left and middle columns in whatever direction suits you.

Step 25: Lay left column (with patches C, F and I) on top of the middle column.

It looks like the top row, but really is the right column. I just have it turned so the right column is on top.

Step 26: Pin at seam allowances, if desired.

Step 27: Sew left column (with patches C, F and I) to the middle column.

Step 28: Set seam between right and middle column.

Step 29: Press seam between right and middle column.

Step 30: Congratulate yourself! You have successfully completed your Nine Patch!!!

Nota bene: I may update this tutorial or make clarifications, changes as necessary

Mean Teacher

I had to be mean teacher to Frances. Do you know how hard it is to be mean to Frances? She is such a nice person and has such a lovely podcast that I found it difficult. I had to do it, though, because our class wasn’t progressing and we need to move on.

The irony is that when I spoke to her I hadn’t sewn (sewed?) down the middle circle for my DP either! I confessed and she was gracious about it. My problem is 1) I can’t decide the size of the circle I want to applique’ and 2) I can’t decide on the fabric. The 2 go hand-in-hand, I think. I thought I had figured out what I want with the lovely Little Plain Jane flowers from Michael Miller. As Lorraine Torrence says “make visual decisions visually,” so I cut one out, pinned it on (see above) and looked it. No go. I think the size of the Little Plain Jane flowers from Michael Miller is a little too big, but it might look ok in a different fabric. The fabric just wasn’t working for me in this context. I love it, don’t get me wrong, but not for the center of my Dresden Plate.

My next thought was to find another red that has a bit more white in the design and see if that works.

In different ways, I liked all of the choices, but I finally decided on the Mingle circle and appliqued that on.

Dresden Plate with Mingle Circle - Final

Just a note about the applique’. Hand applique’ is not my strong suit. Still, I firmly believe that a quiltmaker should learn all different techniques so s/he can select the appropriate technique when making quilts. I know that Frances struggled with the hand applique’, but at least she knows how to do it. This was the hardest lesson yet, because it really requires looking at someone actually doing the applique’. Frances is a trooper for trying.

Sampler Class: Making a Dresden Plate

The next block is the Dresden Plate, which we are making using templates. If you would like to see a wide variety of Dresden Plates, you can do a Flickr search to see what others are doing.

Supply list:

pen
heat resistant template plastic
Glue stick
paper scissors
Pilot SCUF black thin point pen or Pigma Micron or Sewline pencil
magazine subscription postcard or small piece of scrap card stock
pins
12.5″x12.5″ or larger square rotary cutting ruler
fabric
Mary Ellen’s Best Press (or similar)
stiletto or similar (popsicle stick might work)
sharp fabric scissors
thread for piecing
sewing machine
basic sewing kit

1. Select your petal fabrics. You can use 2 or many. You want to be able to see the work you have put into this block. Above are all of my options. I didn’t end up using all of them.

2. Print 3 copies of Dresden Plate Templates pattern. Two you will cut out and one you will keep for future reference.

Rough cut templates out of pattern sheet

3. From one pattern sheet rough cut around the petal and the circle including the seam allowance.

4. From one pattern sheet rough cut around the circle template and the petal template excluding the seam allowance. On the petal, cut off the thick black line. For the circle, leave the thick black line on the template.

Optional: Write ‘Dresden Plate” on each piece (or some way of identifying why you made these templates for later). Make a notation on the circle with no seam allowance so you don’t it mixed up with the other circle.

5. Glue circle and petal templates to template plastic

6. Carefully cut templates out of template plastic just outside of thin outside line.

7. Extend the straight line into the seam allowance with a ruler and a very sharp pencil or pen.

8. Right where the curve starts to move away from the straight line of the template, draw a line between those two points.

9. At the intersection, poke the corner of the petals to mark sewing start and stop points. I used a pin and then enlarged the holes with a seam ripper.

Optional: Spray rectangles of petal fabric with Mary Ellen’s Best Press to control the bias.

10. Trace around the petal template face down on the wrong side of the fabric. Hold the template tight down on the fabric with your fingers near where your pencil or pen is moving around the template.

Note: test to make sure that your quarter inch seam line covers the mark you made. If it doesn’t use a pencil.

11. Use at least 2 different fabrics to trace 16 petals. You can use many more. You want to be able to see the work you have put into this block. If you use two, alternate them.

12. Trace a circle using the template with the seam allowance. Cut out the fabric circle with a generous seam allowance (more than 1/4″).

13. Cut fabrics using very sharp fabric scissors OR cut straight lines with rotary cutter and curved seams with fabric scissors.

14. Choose your background fabric by laying the petals on the possible background fabrics, approximating the shape of the Dresden plate.

15. Cut a 13.5″x13.5″ background piece. Your Dresden Plate will be appliqued to this piece. Make sure it is square by using a 15″x15″or larger square ruler. You want to cut a larger block, because the sewing of the block may make it shrink up. You will trim the background piece once your block has been completed. Set this aside for now.

16. Line up two petals, right sides together.

17. Pin pieces together by lining up the holes you made when you traced around the template.

18. Sew from point to point, back stitching at each end. DO NOT sew into the seam allowance.

19. Press seams open.

20. Sew petals together in groups of 2, then sew the groups of twos to each other to make groups of 4, etc.

21. Sew between points, back stitching at each end. DO NOT sew into the seam allowance.

22. Sew all petals to each other, back stitching at each end, making a ring.

23. Press all seams open.

24. Trim threads.

25. Lay petal ring face down on your ironing board.

26. Lay the petal template without the seam allowance (which must be made from heat resistant template plastic or cardboard. Don’t use something that will melt) on the back face up.

You probably won’t be able to get the seam allowances flat, but press enough so the fabric knows where the curve is. It will help you when you go to stitch it down.

27. Press the curve into the outer edge of each petal. Use the stiletto to hold down the edge and iron right over the stiletto tip and the template. This is the miserable step, so intersperse some chocolate or some other sewing. Lay aside.

28. Take your cut piece of background fabric. Fold it in half and press lightly.

29. Fold your background fabric in half again (in quarters) and press lightly.

30. Open and you should be able to see the cross you have pressed into your background piece.

31. Take your plate of petals and line up 4 of the seam allowances with the pressed cross on your background fabric. This will center the plate on the background. Make sure you pay attention to the vertical as well as the horizontal.

32. Pin in place

33. Use thread that matches the plate or is neutral for hand applique’ or a blanket stitch to sew plate to background. You can also machine applique’ the plate to the background. We will cover that technique in another lesson, but there are many other tutorials available.

34. Pin curved edges of plate as you move around the plate to applique’.

35.Know the thread so the knot does not pop through the background.

36. Bring the thread up from the back through the fold of the plate (where you pressed the seam allowance).

37. Tug gently and put the needle into the background, just catching it, and pull the needle tight through the fold of the plate again.

38. Go around the entire plate in this manner, using the needle to tuck in the seam allowance so it has a smooth round shape.

39. Trace the circle template without the seam allowance onto the magazine subscription card.

40. Cut out the magazine subscription card circle, being sure to cut off the pencil/pen line.

41. Take the circle fabric you have cut and wrap it around the magazine subscription card circle.

Use a Running Stitch to Draw up the Circle

42. Using any thread, take a running stitch in the seam allowance of the circle fabric and tighten it, keeping the magazine subscription card circle flat. If the magazine subscription card does not have enough body, you can also use the circle template without the seam allowance.

43. Press the drawn up circle well, so it is flat and a perfect circle. You will need to tug on the thread to draw the circle up as you press the first time. Once the fabric knows it needs be pressed you can pull the thread tight and make a knot.

44. Pin the circle to the center of the block, covering the raw edges of the center petals.

45. Applique’ using the same directions you used to applique’ the plate.

46. Trim block to 12.5″x12.5″. You might want to wait until you start assembling the quilt.

The green, turquoise, black and pink sample Dresden Plate was made for the class I taught in 2006/2007. I did this one a little differently. I machine stitched the plate to the background and the circle to the center.

As you can see, I also fussy cut fabrics to take advantage of larger spaces in the quilt block.

In the solid Dresden Plate, I placed like fabrics into groups of two for a slightly different look. The center circle was a good showcase for a bit of hand quilting.

I may add some more photos to illustrate steps better and will link to this tutorial from the Artquiltmaker Info–>AQ Tutorials link under the header (see above).

I store my templates in a ziploc bag with a picture of the block or a label with the name and size of the block on it.

Sampler Quilt Update

As you may have heard on The Off Kilter Quilt podcast, Frances and I are working on a Sampler together. Frances posted her version of the Dutchman’s Puzzle and it looks great. She is doing a wonderful job!

We have been on a bit of an unintentional hiatus, because I was out of town for 10 days, she had some things to take care of and went to the beach, the Young Man graduated and, generally, life got in the way of quiltmaking. I needed to get in gear for as much sewing as humanly possible this weekend, so I started in on the Dutchman’s Puzzle on Thursday night.

Doing one block doesn’t take very long. I thought I would just getting the cutting done, but I was able to piece the whole block together. I had enough time even after I sewed the four major sections together wrong and had to rip them out! Being more of a morning person, I don’t sew well at night (make lots of mistakes) and usually just hand sew bindings or something. I am glad I didn’t do worse damage!

Now I have a nice round 6 blocks. This reminds of the goals of the first ever quilt class I took. The goal was to make a 6 block sampler. The blocks are different, but this group of blocks provides me with some fond memories.

I also was able to look at the piece from a color and fabric stand point. I am not liking the Card Trick. I need to decide if I will make a new one or include the light background fabric in a couple of other blocks.

I can also see that I need to include the Big Plain Jane fabric, and a few other fabrics, in at least one more block. I am pondering whether or not there is a block scheduled that will showcase it.

All in all, I really like the way this is coming out.

Making a Double Pinwheel

Here is how I make a Double Pinwheel block.

I found it interesting to break down the process step by step and try to explain it. Here is what I came up with.

This is the block we are making today. You are making 12″ finished block in the Double Pinwheel pattern. The unfinished block will be 12.5″.

It is ok if your finished products looks like the above photo.

1. Cut 4 squares 4″x4″ for pinwheel part of block (mine are red in the above photos) and 4 squares (also 4″x4″) from the background fabric (my background fabric is aqua in the above photo). This will allow you to have enough extra fabric to trim the half square triangles before you sew them into the pinwheel. I like trimming. Also cut two 6.5″ squares for the large background pieces. Use your background fabric for the 6.5″ squares.

2. Cut all of the squares in half on the diagonal.

3. Lay out all of your patches to you can see how the block will look. Start thinking about how you will piece it.

Notice how the patches don’t look like they are the right sizes? That is because of the seam allowances. It will all work out in the end. I promise.

4. Put one background patch and one pinwheel patch right sides together matching the hypotenuse (longest side) of the triangle.

Handle the triangles carefully by not yanking on them.

5. Sew one background patch and one pinwheel patch together along the hypotenuse of the triangle. I sew them with the background patch on top.

Sew all patches with the same color fabric on top. It will help you keep them organized.
My fingers are just keeping the hypotenuse up against my seam guide.

I use chain piecing to piece all of the triangles. I try and prevent them from falling off the back of my table so the falling triangles don’t yank on the ones still under the presser foot.

6. Sew all triangles needed to make pinwheels.

7. Press towards the pinwheel fabric.

I set the seam like Fons & Porter suggest and then open the seam and carefully press the seam open towards the pinwheel fabric (red dot in my case).

8. Line up diagonal line on your ruler (hopefully you are using a square ruler with a diagonal line) with the diagonal line you have sewed and trim your new half square triangle (HST) block to 3.5″.

You will need to make this cut twice for each patch as you cut two sides, turn the block 180 degrees and then trim the other two sides.

9. Arrange your sewn HSTs on your design wall to you can be sure that the HSTs are arranged in a pinwheel block.

10. Make a note to yourself (use a pin, eyeball it, pinch it) which sides you are going to sew together.

11. Take 2 half square triangles and place them right sides together underneath your machine’s presser foot.

The seam allowances on the diagonal should be nested together. This will work if you have pressed all of your HSTs towards the pinwheel fabric. In the above photo you can see how the diagonal seams are lined up when I lift the corner of the fabric to show you. (Professional stunt quiltmaker, please do not try this at home with your machine running!

12. Making sure you are sewing them in the right orientation, sew two half square triangles together.

13. Press these half pinwheels towards the background.

You should have 2 pieces of 2 half square triangles ready to sew into a pinwheel.

14. Nest the 2 half pieces together and sew along the middle of the pinwheel. In the above photo I have put the pin in just to show you about where you should sew.

When you sew try not to cut off the point of the pinwheel center. You will see a V made by the seams you have sewn previously. Make sure you err towards the seam allowance (on your right looking at the needle of the sewing machine) and don’t cut off that V. Ideally, you want to sew one thread towards the seam allowance on top of that V.

You can just sew over the middle (.5″ on either side of the middle) to make sure your points match, then you can go over the whole seam once you decide if you like the way the center looks. The ripping out is easier if you only have an inch to do.

When you open the block (with just the middle sewn) you can tell whether or not the points will match.

A NOTE ABOUT POINT MATCHING: It is really important that you know your tolerance level for points not matching. My points don’t always match and either I leave them or rip them out. If my points are 1/4″ apart, I usually rip them out. If they are 1/16th of inch from one another, I will probably leave them. It is important to know:

what you are trying to achieve (practice block or show quilt)
if you are going to think about that seam not matching late into the night and it is going to prevent you from sleeping.
deadlines
whether the quilt is a gift to a prize winning quiltmaker or a baby who will drool all over it.
How busy the fabrics are (can you actually see the seams matching?)

Be kind to yourself when you think about whether to agonize over a seam not matching. Have fun, there is always more fabric and don’t make yourself crazy.

15. Sew the halves together, along the whole side, for both pinwheels. If you have sewn along the middle for an inch, make sure you stay on that line when you sew the whole side together.

See that nice little square that the pinwheel makes in the center?

16. Press the pinwheels patches in the same direction as the other triangles. It will look like the seam allowances are spinning.

17. Sew the large 6.5″ background square to each of your pinwheels.

18. Press towards the 6.5″ square/background.

19. Nest the two pieces (which are made up of a pinwheel and a background patch).

20. Sew over the middle starting from about .5″ on either side of the middle to make sure you have not cut off points.

21. Sew the 2 pieces together starting on one side, sewing over the middle where you have already sewn and continuing to the end of the block.

22. Press whichever way the seam seems to want to go. I like to press each half of the seam towards the background. It makes for kind of an ugly pressing job, but I am not going to quilt over that center anyway, so, for me, it doesn’t matter.

You could trim the seam in the middle, but I don’t do that. Jo Morton talks about doing that and you might want to check out her website and YouTube videos.

Look how nice the 3 blocks look together!