Making Circles and Berries

I'm working on a new quilt design, and today I began the "making circles" phase of the appliqué preparation for the quilt.

I'm making two different sizes of cream circles, some which will be berries, others circles. The blue will be an eye for a bird. Using a stencil makes quick work of the marking. The running stitch around each circle takes some time, but I don't mind. I can turn on a good movie, and relax. Tonight I have in mind watching more episodes of Season 4 of Turn, which was just added to Netflix. I was so excited to hear George Washington speak the name Colonel Sheldon in the first episode - the very colonel my great great great great grandfather Paul McKinstry served under in the Revolutionary War (if you have my book, Betsy's Scrapbag, you've read all about it!)!

If you'd like to know more about how I make these circles, I have a short how-to video on the Henry Glass You Tube channel - the link is on the side bar, or click Here. In addition to the video, I included a handy dandy chart in my book, Be Merry, with all of the sizes for everything needed! 

The first time I used this method, was to make berries for my quilt, Summer Rentals:

Detail - Summer Rentals

For that quilt, I made 300. Since then, as I mention in the video, I've made dozens more (I haven't counted). Here are a few more on my quilt, "Sweet Bouquet", from Vintage Christmas:

Detail - Sweet Bouquet

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my new quilt, I have 134 of one size to make, and dozen of another size. I'll be taking a trip soon, so I'll have a little airplane time, and hotel time to make a few. At least, that's the plan!

Until next time!

Martha

 

Holiday Hearts Quilt and Primitive Appliqué

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought on this day of hearts I would re-post a Primitive Appliqué technique tutorial I first posted on the C & T Publishing blog as a guest blogger, just in case you missed it there.

In my book, Be Merry: Quilts and Projects for Your Holiday Home, there are many projects that are not just for Christmas, and the "Holiday Hearts" quilt is one of them. If you use the technique that I did, you'll have this quilt finished in no time!

"Holiday Hearts" quilt from Be Merry: Quilts and Projects for Your Holiday Home

My quilt is based on a block that I found amongst a box of scraps that I inherited from my grandmother.

I loved the folk art design, especially the way the leaves are oriented in opposite directions, and so I decided to create a quilt based on this unusual block design. I also decided to try the same "primitive" appliqué technique that was used in the block. It turned out to be an incredibly fast way to do appliqué. My quilt has been washed, and the appliqué still looks great. The stitching is sturdy, and because it doesn't employ fusibles, my quilt is soft and heirloom quality, looking beautiful for years to come.

To begin, cut your appliqué shape without adding a seam allowance.

Pin baste your shape onto the background fabric. For appliqué, I like to use appliqué pins, either 1/2" long or 3/4" long, depending on the size of the appliqué piece. For the following tutorial, I used 1/2" long pins on one side of the heart, and 3/4" long pins on the other half, so you can see the difference.

Use a #24 chenille needle, embroidery floss or perlé cotton and a blanket stitch to appliqué your shape to the background. Three ply embroidery floss, #12, #8, #5 perlé cotton all work well. For a really chunky look you could even use #3 perlé cotton.

To blanket stitch appliqué, bring your needle and thread from the bottom to the top at the edge of your shape.

Take your next stitch into the appliqué as shown, and up again near the edge, right next to your initial stitch. Keep the thread length (tail) under your needle.

Pull the needle and thread in the direction of your stitch. Don't pull too tightly, or your work will begin to curl. Keep a nice even tension as you stitch.

Take your second stitch. For a pretty stitch, the space between stitches (the length) should be approximately the same as the width of your stitches i.e. if the width of the stitch is 1/4", space your stitches 1/4" away from each other. The size of your stitch is proportional to the size of your shapes. Small appliqué shapes - smaller stitches.

For sharp points, take an extra stitch at the point to secure the stitch and keep it from becoming distorted.

Bring your needle up in back of the stitch to continue blanket stitching the next side of the shape.

Primitive appliqué is a stress free way to do appliqué, resulting in a charming, folk art look to your quilt!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Until next time,

Martha

A Prairie Journal fabric arrival!

This summer I did something I've never done before - drive across the country - and by myself, no less! I had a very exciting destination. I was going to see my new (and first) grandson who was born in June! He was just about to turn 3 weeks old when I finally arrived. Of course, I could have flown to Virginia, but I wanted to see my sister in Oklahoma and my mother in the Kansas City area, so I thought driving would be in some ways easier. It was a great trip (except for the torrential rain on 3 of my driving days).

I left in June, and a month later was back home in July. While I was away, my Henry Glass Fabric collection, A Prairie Journal fabric arrived, so it was here when I got back. It's just beautiful to see on the bolts!

A Prairie Journal

Last week, I was finally unpacked, and ready to cut into the fabric and make my first quilt from the collection. I chose to make the panel quilt first, which is a free project to download you can find on both the Henry Glass Fabrics website and my website. This quilt is made using the panel from the collection, cutting out the large center portion, and the four small floral blocks for the corner sections. It's surrounded by plain borders and broken dishes blocks made from the red and blue coordinates. I'm just in love with the dark teal blue fabric!

Here are the pieces ready to put together:

And the top finished!

A Prairie Journal quilt

I have more quilts to make with the collection, so I'll post more pictures as I get them done.

Back to my trip - while I was in Kansas City, I did a trunk show at Quilter's Station in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Here are a few pictures that I borrowed from the many that their wonderful photographer took, and posted on the Quilter's Station Facebook page.

"Basket Quartet" quilt made from my Studio e Fabric line Elementary

"1776" from Betsy's Scrapbag

"Autumn Stars" from Betsy's Scrapbag

 

"Bricks and Boughs" table runner from my book Be Merry

 

And a few pictures from my drive cross country:

One of my overnight stays both ways was Paducah, Kentucky.

Downtown Clinton, Tennessee

I had heard that Clinton, Tennessee had some good antique shops, so I made a short side trip to do some shopping. I came home with some fantastic goodies from Corner Antiques.

And visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Oklahoma always takes me through the beautiful Cimarron country of Oklahoma:

Gloss (Glass) Mountains

We live in a beautiful country, and I loved seeing familiar places again, and places I've never been to before. It was a great trip, and I miss my new grandson already! But East or West, home is best, and I'm happy to be home and making quilts again!

Until next time,

Martha

Quilter's Station Trunk Show

Flag Day was just a few days ago, and in addition to hanging the stars and stripes on our flagpole outside, I have a year round Flag Day reminder hanging inside - my Flag Day wool applique hanging.

FLAG DAY

Flag Day is one of the wool applique projects found in my new book Betsy's Scrapbag. I used Aurifil Lana wool threads for the simple whipstitched applique and the embroidered tassels strings. I decided to bind this hanging as I would a quilt, with single fold cotton binding.

If you will happen to be in the Kansas City area on Saturday, June 25th, I will be doing a trunk show at Quilter's Station quilt shop in Lee's Summit, Missouri. I'll be showing all of the projects from Betsy's Scrapbag, as well as all of the projects from Annie's Scrapbag, and a selection of projects from my two Christmas themed books, Vintage Christmas and Be Merry: Quilts and Projects for Your Holiday Home.

Here are a few of the details:

You can also go to their website http://www.quiltersstation.com/ to find a map and other details on the Shop News page. I hope to see you there! 

After my Kansas City trip I'll be heading to Virginia to see my first grandson, who was born just yesterday! It will be a great trip, and hopefully I will have pictures to share!

Until next time,

Martha

Merry Christmas 2015

The past few months have found me doing more writing than sewing. I've been diligently working on writing instructions and making diagrams for my upcoming book, and writing class plans and supply lists for classes. 

Of course, there's Christmas, and I love to decorate, especially with trees! Enjoy the photos!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and see you back here in 2016!

Until next time,

Martha

Pinterest

My friend Ingrid was over yesterday, giving me some feedback on a new fabric line I'm working on. She asked me if I was on Pinterest, and I told her I had opened an account, but had never done anything more. I didn't really know how it all worked, or how to get started. 

Well, she spent the next 2 hours helping me get set up, and showed me a lot about how it all worked. And I'm pretty sure I spent another 2 hours adding even more stuff. I'm still a little unsure of myself, but I was able to get a few boards started. All thanks to my Pinterest guru, Ingrid. She also said that now I have to get followers. Oh no, how do I do that? So, if you're reading this, Please help! I would love to have you follow my Pinterest boards!  https://www.pinterest.com/w9639/

I also figured out I need a few more things to pin, so I thought I would post a few photos of quilts I haven't posted here on my blog before.

So... here we go. This is one of my favorite quilts, "Celebrate Christmas", from Be Merry:

Celebrate Christmas

And here is a close up of Candy Cane Nine Patch, from Vintage Christmas:

detail, Candy Cane Nine Patch