Tuesday 27 February 2018

BOM 2018: Morning Glory, the Flower Head

I wanted this top blooming flower head to be beautiful.. and I'm not disappointed. 
A sketch is one thing, creating the applique shapes and ending up with a beautiful bloom is another. 
I love bringing my designs to life..
 and now it's time to repeat the process and get the rest done..




Morning Glory is my current paid BOM. It's an applique and pieced quilt. 

You can start this BOM today! 

Simply click the quilt image to learn more.

Monday 26 February 2018

BOM 2018: Morning Glory, My Vase

My gorgeous centre is really starting to come together. 
I have the zig zag frame down, the bias stems created and now the vase has taken shape.
Next, the flower heads..
I'm loving each step in this beautiful detailed top.




Morning Glory is my current paid BOM. It's an applique and pieced quilt. 

You can start this BOM today! 

Simply click the quilt image to learn more.

Sunday 25 February 2018

BOM 2018: Morning Glory, the Leaves

When you're making as many leaves as Morning Glory calls for, then you want to really love them!
Here are my leaf shapes, traced straight off the constructed pattern sheet and onto fusible webbing. I managed to source my favourite fusible, which is currently Floriani Stitch n Wash Fusible. I got it from Red Rock Threads which was a huge relief. I'm very grateful to the reader who suggested this shop to me, thank you so much.
This is the thread I used to create embroidery veins. I don't actually have time to embroider these lines, so I'm doing a cheat with my machine.
 Here I am with my nifty sewing machine light, I love this cheap little gadget.
 I set the fabric in an embroidery hoop and stitch the pattern lines from the back
 Like this
You could actually do it from the front, but I'd rather not draw on the front of the fabric when it's already drawn for me on the fusible.
 This is what the front side looks like. I think it works really well and it's nice and quick to create. 
It simply adds an extra textural detail that I love. 
And once I cut the shape out and turn the fabric seam allowance, this is what the back looks like.
 It's a production line..
How are your leaves getting on?





Morning Glory is my current paid BOM. It's an applique and pieced quilt. 

Yes, you can start this BOM today! 

Simply click the quilt image to learn more.


Saturday 24 February 2018

BOM 2018: Morning Glory Part 2, Making Bias Stems

These are my bias stems in position.  Up until now, I have always traced any stems by hand onto fusible and then created them all individually according to the pattern design, just like any other applique piece. That's my ongoing method and although it certainly uses more fabric, I prefer it. And you need to know that you have enough fabric in your pattern requirements to make the stems any way you like. I am not showing you this in an effort to save you fabric, I'm simply showing you what I have done to experiment with a new technique. Create your own stems as suits you. 

However, I have been intrigued by this bias stem method shown below and decided to use it for my Morning Glory quilt because it was a 'risk free' experiment. There are so many leaves that overlap and draw attention away from the stems in this pattern design, that it really didn't matter if the stems didn't work as well as I expected . However, I can tell you happily that this method certainly does work and is worth learning and knowing about.

Only one thing: this method is very difficult to explain. At least, I have difficulty explaining it and I think it's hard to follow. So I've included in this post, the images of how I made mine in case it helps anyone. But frankly, I think you have to make it to get it.

You don't have to use this method, it's just a useful method to get lots of bias stems from a limited amount of fabric. The return is appox. 7 yards of bias stems from a fat quarter. You could also do this with a 16 inch square. I made mine bigger at 18 inches, but it wasn't necessary.

So here's how you make bias stems:
This is an 18 inch square for the bias stems
I creased the line on the diagonal with an iron to make cutting easier 
Now I've cut my square in half diagonally
And then rejoined them on the side, with both straight edges together
Then I sewed the straight edges together with a shorter stitch and pressed the seam open 
and drew lines, 1 inch wide along the long edges
Then I re-aligned the two open sides
and I offset 1 inch and cut approximately 5 inches into it
As shown here
And then I aligned my two edges so I could sew them accurately
and created a 'tube'
And then I started the continuous cutting of the 1 inch bind. 
This methods creates 7 - 7.5 yards of bias
I used 2 bias binding gadgets: half an inch and 3/8 of an inch, but before you start pulling them through the gadget, make sure your seams are cleaned up.

I iron them open and then, using Elmer's glue stick, glued down the seams and then cut away any excess on the edges of the pressed open seam.
I left 3 rows on my tube. They were marked at a 1 inch width but because I intended to use a smaller 3/8 bias binding gadget on those strips. So when I cut them out, instead of cutting the 1 inch width and drawn on the fabric, I actually cut them at 3/4 of an inch width. As shown below.
Once you can get your head around this method, it is simply the fastest way to create stems. 
Overall it's good to know as a technique and it certainly gets lots of value out of your fabric. 





Morning Glory is my current paid BOM. It's an applique and pieced quilt. 

You can start this BOM today! 

Simply click the quilt image to learn more.

Friday 23 February 2018

BOM 2018: Morning Glory Zig Zag Border on Background

That's better.
This quilt is already looking so good, I can't wait to get it finished and up on my wall. Each step just makes it comes alive. I love every little things about it.





Morning Glory is my current paid BOM. It's an applique and pieced quilt. 

You can start this BOM today! 

Simply click the quilt image to learn more.

Wednesday 21 February 2018

WOW: A New Morning Glory Zig Zag Border

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays
I'm already up bright and early this morning, sewing my new zig zag border. That's today's goal. As you can see, I have wisely NOTCHED my template stack so that I don't make the same mistake. 
Phew! I hate making mistakes and when it happens because I didn't bother to actually read and check my work against my own pattern.. well that's just ridiculous. Can't wait to put this zig zag border drama behind me.

What's Your WOW?


Tuesday 20 February 2018

BOM 2018: Morning Glory, Ziggity Zaggity URGH!

 Look at this! My Zig Zags don't match my pattern.. 
and they're over sized when I put down on my background fabric by a whole unit
 What happened?!
 I prepped all the pieces accurately and they look completely gorgeous
But in my 'zen sewing' frenzy, I didn't realize that I was sewing the WRONG EDGES together.
When I get into a 'sewing zone' all sorts of things can happen, but I never thought I'd sew the wrong edges together. URGH!
Look at this perfect point..
 what a shame that it's all wrong!
 I can't believe I just wasted a whole day's sewing.
The pattern is fine, this error is all mine. 
I should have paid attention to which edges I was sewing together.
I simply picked them up by my eye.. and started sewing..
 And this is the moment I realized my edges weren't working. I picked up a prepped piece from the stack and realized I had sewn the wrong edges together.
This is what trouble looks like..
And of course, I have gone and sewn them ALL wrong. 

Ok, now I need a little lie down.

Option wise, I could just use the rows I have now. It's bigger than it's supposed to be, but it still looks great and no one will probably ever know, except that I know .. and can't stand it.
I can unpick all these rows and resew them. Or I can make them again.

I'll look at my fabrics and see if I have enough to start again. Otherwise, I'll unpick.




Morning Glory is my current paid BOM. It's an applique and pieced quilt. 

You can start this BOM today! 

Simply click the quilt image to learn more.

Monday 19 February 2018

BOM 2018: Morning Glory Part 1 Border Frame

All my TEMPLATES for the zig zag border are prepped and stacked, ready for sewing. I always love this stage of applique - the putting it all together.
I managed to get my 4 x corners created this morning and I'm delighted with how they look. I am in love with this fabric. I'm using Crystal Farm by Andover and it's totally gorgeous. This year I decided to select a range and try to stick with it. I made this decision because I am chronically indecisive when it comes to fabrics. I hoard lots of little bits from lots of ranges and then feel stuck when an actual project looms. As I'm making 3 BOMs, I really don't have the time to irritate myself and waste time dithering over lots of different fabric ideas. Last year I picked a range that was too soft for my eye and I regretted it almost straight away.

So this year I was a bit nervous, but I think I've finally broken my bad habit. I love the look of Morning Glory and my Kaffee Fassett Love Always is simply impossible to do wrong.
 Here's my front and back view of the corners
OK, time for some serious sewing!





Morning Glory is my current paid BOM. It's an applique and pieced quilt. 

You can start this BOM today! 

Simply click the quilt image to learn more.

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