The Steps in Making a Quilt

 

There are 16 processes in making my quilts.

Here they are listed :

1. Have an idea

2. Select fabric 

3. Do the math to calculate sizes of fabric pieces

4. Cut fabric 

5. Sew geometric design (by hand or by machine)

6. Make the back

7. Layer using batting 

8. Baste three layers

9. Stitch (or quilt) three layers together (by hand or by machine)

10. Trim edges

11. Sew binding strip

12. Attach binding strip by machine

13. Turn edge and sew to the back by hand

14. Sign quilt using machine

15. Make label

16. Sew label on by hand

So much attention goes into selecting the right fabric.

So much care goes into making my quilts.

I write the number of hours it takes to make a quilt on the gift card.

How much would you pay for an original hand-made quilt?

Been Busy

 What's in the bags you ask?

TEN finished quilt tops! Ready to be sent to the long arm quilter's.

I'm not big on purchasing fabric on-line but I bit the bullet and went for it. I was so pleased with Sew Sister's website. The colours they show on the website are exactly what you get! I put in another order yesterday for the back fabric of two more finished tops! I'm on FIRE!!

Tip #12

#12

Sometimes when trimming half square triangles the ruler slips because of the seam bulk.

Leave your baby finger off the ruler as a stabilizer. I learned this trick in Italy from Annie!!

Make sure your other fingers are "up" on their tips instead of having your palm flat over the ruler. That helps make sure your fingers are inside the cutting line.

You only have to cut yourself once with that super sharp rotary blade... am I right?! OUCH!

Cut while in a standing position. Your weight can lean in over the ruler holding it in place and you get a better sight line to make sure you are cutting accurately.

Tip #10

#10

When you quilt by machine it is recommended you lengthen your stitch length. It will make the stitching smooth and will not pull on the layers of fabric and batting.

If your machine is computerized, every time you shut it off it will reset to the standard stitch length (mine is 2.2 mm). When you turn it on again you'll need to reset your stitch length.

I place a post-it note on the machine to remind me to switch the stitch length and remind me of what length I was using.

Scrap quilt. I found a bunch of unexciting triple rail blocks in a box
so I put them together and found  a way to
make them look good! I'm happy I turned  some nothing into something.

Tip #8

It is always nice to add a label when you make a quilt.

The label can have any information you like on it.

I usually write the date I finished the quilt. Other options are:

Made by
Made for
City, Country it was made in
Reason it was made
A special message for the recipient
If you name your quilts, you may want to include its title.

You can embroider the information on by hand or my machine.

You can write it out using a fabric marker that will not wash away in the laundry. Available at art supply stores. They come in different point thicknesses.

When writing on fabric, it is a good idea to lay the fabric on a piece of sand paper so it doesn't move and stretch as you write.

More great tips to come.

Tip #4

#4

If you plan to use up scraps to arrive at the length of your binding strip, you should use pieces that are the same value. Mixing light bits and dark bits can be very distracting when viewing the quilt. It's like a frame for art work. You want your viewers to be looking at the work not the frame.

I used 9 fabrics for this quilt binding.
You can see 5 of them here.

Tip #3

#3

Use a diagonal seam when joining strips to create the length you need for a binding strip. That makes your connection flatter and less bulky. It also makes the join 'disappear'.

Place strips good sides facing. Sew a diagonal line.

Cut off the triangle leaving 1/4 seems allowance.

This is what it look like on the back after ironing.

This is what it looks like on the front after ironing.

Fold the bindings strip in half and iron.
You can barely see the join.
The bulk of the fabric is 'spread out' so the strip lies flat.

Tip #2

#2

A binding strip should be cut at 2 1/2 inches wide. Fold and iron in half, lengthwise, before attaching it to the quilt. Two reasons; 1) the binding is a section of a quilt that over time gets used up so having a double layer of fabric there is a good idea and 2) the folded edge helps you achieve a clean look when you roll it over to the back and blind stitch it to the backing.

  

Preparing for a Talk

I am super excited to be the guest speaker at the Peaceful Nights Quilters Guild on Wednesday.

I've been preparing during the last few days, digging out art work and quilts from the cupboards.

It is nice to go through some of the things I haven't seen in a while. Many of my quilts are packed away. All of my art work is rolled up and sits on top of a cabinet.  I never see it.

So it's been a treat to enjoy those pieces.

I am glad to be sharing some of them with the members of the guild.

The theme of my presentation is Inspiration- where to find it and how to translate it.

My presentation is more like a lesson that a talk about me and my work, although the audience will learn about me and the way I work while I speak about the pieces. I want people to go back to their studios inspired and ready to create THEIR work, to have THEIR ideas brought out in textile, be it traditional or contemporary.

This is open to anyone. If you are interested, come along!

Verona Trip ...One Spot Left!

I am happy to report that after only a few weeks the Verona trip enrolment is almost FULL- there is one more spot for someone who wants double occupancy.

Dear readers, please check this blog around April 24, 2019 and see the daily diaries I will be posting.

I'll put pictures of the group and the activities we'll be doing.

And maybe that will inspire you to join me on the next trip to Verona in the Spring 2021.

Keep in mind, the trips usually fill up before the December holiday season.

(My photographs of Verona)

Hot Days of Summer

Being inspired means keeping your senses in good working order! All 5 senses!

How about this amazing tea as an inspiration for a quilt? Why not?

Queen West Tea from Tealish

It has a great smell. It tastes amazing as an iced tea, which is what I have been drinking. It is so hot here in the south of Italy. It hit 39 degrees Celsius today!

Check out the amazing colour combination!

Blue, yellow, different shades of orange, dark brown (don't forget the tea leaves!)

You decide what shape to create, which block best tells your story.

When you use that quilt, you'll be remembering the time you made that tea, the hot days of the summer you spent in Italy.... or wherever you are.

Going back to the beach. Can't wait to get in the water and cool off!

Working on another quilt now that my sewing machine has returned from its check-up.

I missed it! It is running so smoothly now.

More simple shapes.

The half-square triangles were in a box, most of them left overs or by- products from the Valentine's quilt.

I have a good start with the 128 HST already done.

Winter Quilt Finished...or not

I did finish my Winter Quilt last week but...

I hadn't finished assembling it and decided to add the binding strip on the part that was already quilted (bad idea!) (In my defence, I was going to visit a friend and wanted to bring some hand sewing for our visit!)

Later, I wanted to show it to a friend and so I rushed the rest of the assembly.

The entire thing started to go wonky and I hadn't noticed!

When I finished the quilt I couldn't believe how UN-square it was!! (how embarrassing ...with my experience!!)

I am going to remove the binding and square up the quilt and then reattach the binding and resew it by hand. I will never be able to use it knowing it isn't square!!!

Rushing is never a good thing.


NOTE: I undid the binding and marked the quilt edges to be equidistance from the horizontal centre seam line and just before I got the rotary cutter out I realized that if I trim the edges, the vertical seams of the panels will not be 90 Degrees with the edge. Oh brother!! I know that will bother me even more and will be more visible to my eye so I have decided to leave the quilt as is (I need to resew the binding on!!).

The good thing is I learned a trick for when I teach this class. I should start assembling it from the centre outward. Then turn the thing upside down and work the second side upside down from the centre outward.

Baby Steps

That is my secret. Baby steps.

My friend Piera's patchwork. She lives in Verona.
Notice there are two quilts; the one on the right has the stars in a white fabric,
the one on the left has coloured stars.
The pattern is the same though. Also to note: the pieces cut out
for the stars and tumbling blocks are
all the same shape and size.

I do everything one step at a time.

Piera started this in May...maybe June. Yap 3-4 months ago.

I don't think of how overwhelming the job or project is.

Piera is the accountant for a store
 that she and her husband own.
She has many responsibilities there and
with her family yet finds
a few minutes each day to sit outside her shop
and sew two pieces together
while she admires the view of
the Basilica San Zeno from her chair.

I just start it and put one foot in front of the other and keep going (never looking ahead to discourage myself) and all of a sudden I can say, I did it!

I sometimes join her in the late afternoon.

I just don't understand people who say to me, "I don't have time to make a quilt". Neither do I really.
But if you sew 2 pieces of fabric together and the next time you have a second you sew two more, and two more...It might take you a while but eventually you'll have accomplished it.
(Where to find those minutes? That is for another post!)

When I am in Canada she sends me pictures of that view!

Maybe what they mean to say is "I have no interest in making a quilt."

Journalling in Umbria

The Umbria trip is officially ON!!

I confirmed the villa, driver, dying class, lecture, studio tour, cooking class and some lunches yesterday. SO EXCITING!!

The rest of the schedule can be confirmed closer to the arrival date.

Lunch with Sofia Verna. (left)
She will be teaching the dying class.

I have posted about the Umbria trip before. (click here for details)

Our villa is the one with a rectangle roof
in the centre of all that green.
I took the photo from the town.

If you have been thinking about it, now is the time to let me know. There are only

2 spots available.

Entrance to the villa.

I am super excited about the direction of this trip. The plan I have for our daily journalling will help the travellers see things in a different way. It will help them be more sensitive to their environment. I think the exercise will help them with their own art work.

Right now I am working on extending some ideas from my own journal which I made two summers ago while in the south of Italy.

These new works will help attendees understand the process of taking one journal idea and growing it into a textile work.

Look at these wonderful pictures of Umbria. Who wouldn't want to experience that!

Patchwork in a Patchwork

Talk about patchwork! There is an entire quilt top in this patchwork! Maybe more than one!

Dover Street Market Ginza, Tokyo
photo credit :Sophia Reford

Verona Tessile (May 19-24) will have quilts made by Japanese artists and quilters. Keiko Goke will be giving a workshop. Mid-week the Italian, the Japanese and the Canadian quilters will have a special dinner together and a fabric exchange!

Missing You

I can't really say I "miss" stuff when I am here in the south of Italy.

August 25 photo diary project

But I have noticed I miss making quilts. I miss my fabric.

My friend sent me an email with a picture of her workspace. Nothing set up -just a picture of what the space looked like. She and I sew together sometimes. I really loved that she sent me that.

Gail's quilt

Author Margaret Atwood described quilts as flags (taken from Judy's Journal)

Reading Amy Friend's blog this morning, I see that comparison again. I love that thought! Thinking of the motion of a flag when one is under a quilt. Moving, alive, being blown by the wind. It's beautiful. I miss my quilts.

I leave the beach on Monday..

... and head north to Verona where I will be confirming the itinerary for next year's group trip (May 15 to 24). I will be sewing at the Ad Maiora studio for sure.

Happy sewing!