Qullting with Machine Embroidery: An Experiment

Posted on November 15, 2022 by edges

Even good ideas can start with a real mess. That’s what’s shown above.

I had the inspiration to do a small quilt/wall-hanging featuring a panel of some holiday-decorated sheds. Charming right? They really are.

And I wanted the quilting to be featured, because I really liked the idea of falling snowflakes as a quilting design.

I got this design at Embroidery Library who just never fails me. Then the idea snowballed (no pun intended) and I found a charming village embroidery that I wanted to incorporate.

So far so good.

But I really got hung up on the border. I wanted so badly to incorporate red and white buffalo checks. I tried it in so many ways. I wanted it to fit with my soon-to-be Christmas theme of red and white gingham. (Never mind that my whole house is going to look like a CrackerBarrel.) Anyway, you can see from the top pic that the red was jarring and annoying.

The village border embroidery, however, was adorable and I had to use a mid-tone fabric, so that the snow trim on the village would show up.

I finally landed on a layout that seemed calm, and simple and peaceful, like the images on the quilt.

Now for the snowflake quilting. The first thing I did was stitch out the design on pieces of cutaway stabilizer. I stitch out the first right side up, and the second upside down. Yes, I could have just turned it around in the machine each time, but I also saved the design in software both ways. So with each hooping, I could choose A or B, and didn’t have to fuss with turning the design upside down and back on the screen every time. I cut them to precisely fit the inside of the hoop and used it as a guide to hoop each design.

With the first stitch out, I knew I was going to love the quilting.

Giant snowlflakes falling on a sleepy Christmas village. Yum!

But then I started to really worry about the darker color. Would the snowflakes be too busy? Would the embroidery design underneath hold its integrity against the quilting?

It worked just fine, I’m happy to say. The quilting adds texture, and if you look closely you can see the snowflakes. But they do not overwhelm the village, which was my fear. The quilting thread throughout is Isacord white. Top and bobbin. And it worked like a dream.

Do not try to do machine embroidery quilting with Aurifil. Look. I love Aurifil as much as anyone else, but it really is not designed for the high speed of machine embroidery. It breaks and you will want to scream. (Ask me how I know. Luckily, I learned that lesson on a prior project. Now I only use machine embroidery thread when using machine embroidery for quilting. Just imagine doing 40-some-odd hoopings, and you have to keep stopping for thread breaks. Trust, me on this one…use embroidery thread.)

And one more word of advice: Be sure to leave plenty of batting and backing around the outside of your quilt when you are embroidering. I had to do several hoopings that reached the edge of the quilt and stitched off. You need the room to let the design stitch on something as it runs off the end of your quilt.

In the end, the quilting turned out lovely, and I’m really enjoying the tiny details. It’s a “look closer” kind of quilt.

I want to encourage you to try machine embroidery for quilting. I know it’s intimidating, and 40+ hoopings sounds daunting. But each hooping took about 7 minutes to stitch out. So maybe 8 hours of work spread out over 2-3 days. I was able to precisely place each sequential hooping by using the 2 different cutaway stabilizer templates.

The look is exactly what I wanted. But let me tell you, along the way, I was never sure it would work. I guess that’s what makes it fun.

Happy Stitching to all of you, and Happy Holiday Season!

P.S. Don’t forget your quilt labels!

Scrappy vs. Stash-y

Posted on March 15, 2021 by edges

We have all seen the books about making “scrappy” quilts. You may even own a few of them. I know I do. And most of them recommend separating all your fabrics into neat, color-coordinated bins.

Sounds great.

Have you ever tried to do it? I find myself asking questions. What about this colorful print which really does not seem to fit into just one category of color? What about this collection I purchased all at once which coordinates perfectly with the other fabrics from its own collection? Do I really want to wrench those apart? (Hello Downton Abbey fabric line from 6 years ago.) And then there are the pre-cuts. Am I supposed to take apart these charm packs and layer cakes and re-sort each and every fabric into different categories even though they are all from the same collection and look great together?

As you can imagine, my answer was no. In fact, I was feeling a little defiant. Guess what? There are no rules.

Normally when we talk about making a scrappy quilt, we just mean that we are going to make an ordinary quilt from some pattern we’ve purchased, by shopping our stash. I’ve done that many times. Here’s a nice pattern. What do I own that will look good? Most of the time, I can fill out the pattern requirements part of the way. But in the end, I’m missing the exact perfect shade of grunge that I need to finish. Or I just need 5 more fatquarters in this color family. Or I need a better binding or 4 yards of backing. No matter how hard I try using that method, I always end up purchasing more fabric. Which, frankly, is not my goal.

That old saying? She who dies with the most fabric wins? No she doesn’t. She just becomes a pain in the rear end to her family AFTER SHE’S DEAD.

That’s not the legacy I want to leave. Too many quilts? Yes, my family will grapple with that, but at least those are useful.

Anyway, I might be in a dark place because a friend of my sister’s, and a family acquaintance, just suffered a severe health emergency. (not COVID.) But she is middle-aged, and was healthy and vibrant until this struck. And now she’s got a long recovery ahead of her. I’ve had her on my mind so much recently, that I decided to make her a quilt. One that was scrappy but strong…a message I want to convey to her. Lots of pieces put back together in odd ways can make something interesting and strong and vibrant.

So instead, I started with whatever fabric I had been hanging onto for years, moved from bin to bin, never having a purpose. I put them all together in a pile and challenged myself to make a quilt.

And this is the result.

It’s made from a mini charm pack bundle I was given as a sampler at Quilt Market years ago, along with a couple of charm packs, and scraps of red and coral fatquarters. The backing is 4 yards of vibrantly red fabric. I feel like this quilt is saying:

I’m strong.

I’m tough.

I’m fierce.

I break the rules.

Don’t f$%^ with me.

And that’s the message I hope is conveyed to our friend who will receive it. Ride it out. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are weak. Show them you are a survivor. Be bold.

So my challenge to you today is this: If you’re feeling like you’re in a rut, break out. Do the thing you are told you should not do. Put two colors together that don’t belong. Simplify. Complicate. Whatever it takes to shake it up for you. And then pass it on to someone else who really needs the courage.

It’s Time to Get Real About Organic Cotton

Posted on June 21, 2019 by edges

When is the last time you thought about where your quilting stash comes from? Have you ever thought about the process, the transport, the distribution? How many of us have ever even recognized on a conscious level that quilt cotton is a plant?

If these questions seem abstruse or even mildly annoying, you’re not alone. So few people care about this issue. At least that’s the information I was given when I contacted some of the largest distributors of quilting fabric around.

Moda told me there’s no market (that’s us) for organic fabric. Oh yes, they had one line of it a while ago and it didn’t sell terribly well, so…they don’t even carry any organic fabric right now. Fatquartershop.com who sells fabric online said they have nothing to do with the content of their products. In their copy on their website, they describe whatever a manufacturer tells them to say, and distribute on demand. Period.

Fabric designers tell me they do not get involved with the fabric manufacturing process. They license their designs and have no say in whether their designs are used sustainably/responsibly or not. This may not be true for all of them, but it’s common practice.

So who makes the determination about whether fabric should be organic or not?

Surprise! It’s you. And me. We are the ones who define this market, and we will have to be the ones to require change.

The question is:
Do you think we need change?

Let’s talk about it a bit. Because I’m going to make the case that we have no choice but to put pressure on manufacturers to change their cotton growing processes. And we might have to start with our local quilt shops.

Here’s why:

–70% of the world’s topsoil is degraded.

–It takes 1,000 years to replace 3 cm of degraded topsoil.

–With current farming practices, all the world’s topsoil will be gone in 60 years.

This is not my opinion.

This information is provided by lengthy studies done by the Textile Exchange and reported in life cycle analyses done over spans of years.

Go ahead and google “How much topsoil is left?”

Without topsoil, the world doesn’t eat, let alone quilt with natural fabrics.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be responsible for my kids and grandkids being unable to have food and clothing because of my simplistic, uneducated (and, frankly, selfish) choices.

I’ve seen some people make the case that organic fabric requires more resources.

That is simply not true. Not when using any scientific methodology of measurement. Not when attempting to understand the life cycle of the product. And certainly not when we entertain the implications of the alternative. On the contrary, we now have clear indications that water use on organic farms is far less than traditional practices.

I don’t pretend to understand all of the information on these two charts, but the explanation for them was very clear: Organic farming of cotton greatly reduces water and other energy consumption, and continuing on our current trajectory is simply not sustainable.

Here is where we encounter the power of market forces.

You and I can demand that things change. Manufacturers, distributors and farmers, all have little reason to improve their processes. Inertia and monetary fears will keep them all from advancing to more sustainable processes.

But the science tells us that we will pay a price one way or another. As consumers, we either start demanding organic cotton now, or we will not likely have access to any at all in the future. The choice is that simple and that stark.

But I’m just one person.
What can I do?

-Ask your local quilt shop to carry organic cotton. Be assertive. Those designers that you love? Their designs can be made on organic cotton. But folks like Moda (who is a HUGE distributor of fabric) think you don’t care. I’m telling you it’s time to care and care deeply.

—Contact folks like Moda directly: marketing@modafabrics.com and let them know about your concerns.

–Do your own research. Here are a few links to explore:

–aboutorganiccotton.org

–textileexchange.org

—Quick Guide to Organic Cotton

–Get the Facts About Organic Textiles

Hope is on the horizon.

But we must all start to act.

Folks like Wrangler, H & M and Nike are starting to recognize that their own businesses will not be around if they don’t educate consumers on organic products, and make the industry more sustainable.

The organic cotton industry has increased by 11% in the US from 2016 to 2018. But that’s not enough. Where does our quilt cotton come from? India? China? the US?

I don’t have all the answers. But I will continue to follow up. In the meantime, I will continue to work down my stash of fabric, and I plan on only purchasing organic fabric in the future. This is a statement I can only make because I’ve done a bit of homework on this and believe it is the best path for me.

I’ll be exploring more of the current manufacturers soon. The good news is that there ARE organic quilt fabrics out there. We just aren’t aware of them.

I leave you today with a current picture of my own garden out back. Our Midwestern loam is the finest on the planet. Everything grows here. But we need to be responsible stewards of the land, of our money and of our resources.

I’m ready to take the organic leap. Are you?

Mini Quilt Accents

Posted on September 28, 2018 by edges

From time to time, I find myself just needing to focus on a small project with comforting and cozy colors. In this particular case, I had some parameters…it cannot be more than 16 in. wide.

Where do you find a quilt that size?

If you are familiar with Jo Morton, you can find them in her books. She now has 3 books out with her “Little Favorites.” These little quilts are wonderful as decorating tools.

The pieces go together pretty quick as I assembled this one in less than a week, working sporadically…one day for an hour, one day for two hours, etc.

The satisfaction comes from finishing something that looks nicely put together in no time.

I’ve been on the hunt for hangers and ways to display these little quilts. I found a gentleman at Quilt Fest in Madison who sells every imaginable type of quilt hanger.

I found a couple of things I liked but I’m sure I’ll go back to him as a resource. Just be sure to pay attention to measurements otherwise you’ll be fudging the sleeve and squishing your quilt.

Enjoy the process, because nothing warms up a house in the fall like a quilted accent. That and some apple pie.

Old World Re-Discovery

Posted on April 3, 2018 by edges

I re-discovered a layer cake (10 x 10 in.) of this fabric from Moda that had been hiding in my fabric stash for a decade. Not exaggerating. I no longer know the name of the collection. I tried to find more of it online, and it’s basically unavailable.

Now, like many of you, I have stashes of fabric that just don’t interest me any more. Sometimes I look at something I own, and wonder what in the world I was thinking. It’s dated or seasonal, or, heaven forbid, it was trendy and had a shelf-life of about 15 minutes.

But that’s the stuff I give away. And, frankly, over the last few years, I’ve done quite a bit of giving away.

But this Old World fabric (that’s the name I’ve given it), is still fabulous. Every time I look at it I think of Europe, of Jane Austen, of carriage rides and chats by a fireside, and afternoon tea..and maybe a croissant.

I still love it.

And so I recently found a pattern that’s perfect.

That’s a picture of the pattern on the cover of Miss Rosie’s Farmhouse Favorites. While it’s not a complicated quilt, it’s not terribly simple either. Especially since the pattern calls for fatquarters and all the cutting instructions are tailored for that. As usual, I am switching out colors and modifying the instructions to accommodate the fabric I have and not what is called for in the pattern.

I have been cutting for days.

And I’m still not done as many of the squares will end up cut into quarter and half square triangles.

Still, because I fall in love with these fabrics anew each time I look at them, I am willing to start a project without thinking about how many hours it will take me to complete.

It’s like having a baby. Whatever you do, don’t think about how much it will cost or the hours of your life you will spend devoted to that project. Don’t think about diapers or doctors’ visits, or bumps on the head, or homework, or cub scouts (or girl scouts) or spills on the sofa or orthodontic appointments or puberty or girlfriends or boyfriends or college exams. Don’t think about the worry, the tears, the laughter, the arguments, the sleepless nights, the unexpected hugs.

It’s all just process.

And when we think too hard about it, we end up doing nothing at all.

So for today, I will enjoy. And after all that cutting, I can finally start to sew.

Dueling Woolies, and a Couple of Tips

Posted on June 6, 2017 by edges

I’ve been working on these two wool hand embroidery pieces. One is for the shop, the other for home. By the time I finish them, I will either have gotten wool completely out of my system, or I will have started a dangerously addictive habit. I really like working with wool and have learned a couple of things.

(An acknowledgement of the patterns: The first comes from a Moda book called Moda Mini Marvels. The second is a Wooly Lady pattern called Kaleidescope. Sadly, it no longer seems to be available. But check out their site as they have many more patterns and kits that are similar.)

Tip Number One:

Use a long-arm stapler to attach the pieces of wool and hold them in place while you stitch. Seriously. Skip the fusible. Skip the pins. They add bulk and distortion and take all the fun out of the smoothness of attaching wool to wool. I was struggling with it and our tech came over and said, “Do you want to know what the Australians do?” Now, honestly, who doesn’t want to know what the Australians do. She suggested the stapler and I was struck by the simplicity and brilliance of the idea. Why didn’t I think of this? Try it.

Tip Number Two:

You need this tool. Clover Press Perfect Roll & Press. Your local quilt shop will have it and if they don’t, ask them to order it! If you ever do piecing, this is one of the best investments you can make. I work in a quilt shop and try a lot of tools. I like them for different things, and we all get addicted to different gadgets…it’s part of the process.

But the project I’m working on requires 1 in. half square triangles, finished size 1/2 in. I need 84 of them. That’s a lot of sewing, cutting and pressing of tiny pieces. But this little roller works SO WELL! I did not need to use the iron once…it lays the seams so flat. Get it, try it, find out for yourself.

I continue to carry on, with more fun projects on the horizon. But I find that at this time in my life, a little handwork is cathartic and soothing. I like my wool to be bright and cheerful, but who knows? That can change at any time. When all is said and done, we’re all evolving, aren’t we?

So You Think Improv is Easy?

Posted on January 4, 2017 by edges

When I was in college, I found myself in an Improv class. I’m sure I wanted to take some sort of communications credit and the class was full, so in order to fill the elective, I took the only other alternative: Improvisation.

I was terrified.

I prayed that the class would be an intellectual discourse on the history of theatre, comedy, acting etc. Nope.

The teacher asked us to introduce ourselves in this way: The first person just had to say his name. The second person had to say her name and the name of the guy before her. The third person had to say her name and the name of the two people prior. You can see where this was heading. Twenty-six people in (of COURSE I sat in the back), we were all giggling awkwardly, and, I’ll be darned, even the last person remembered everyone’s name. (Now, if we got up and moved around, or…heaven forbid…changed clothes, all bets were off.)

Our next task in the class, was to gather in a large circle. One at a time we each had to pretend to open an umbrella, hold it over our heads, and close it again. Simple, right? The first few people did the obvious. Then one person added a shake before they closed their “umbrella” and it suddenly seemed more real. The next person added a twirl over her head, and before you know it, we were all really seeing each others’ umbrellas. Adding little tiny details mattered when it came to believability.

For our final grade, each person had to produce a skit. It was the student’s responsibility to:

Describe a scenario.
Cast characters from within the class.

That’s it. The skits only lasted 5 minutes or so, but I never laughed so hard during finals as I did during that class. Something about Improv brings out the silly in people. It’s like playing, but it’s a lot more about interaction with others. One of the main tenets of improv is you must always accept another’s reality. So if someone says “What about the kids?” you can never say “We don’t have any.” (This example is taken from the book “Something Wonderful Right Away” by Jeffrey Sweet.)

All of this brings me to improvisational quilting…or improvisational piecing, which comes first. I wanted to do something freeing, use up some fabric and make something that has not been done by anyone else…at least not in the exact same way.

In order to do this, I had to set up a couple of rules for myself, much like the final in my Improv class:

I had to use the colorful jelly rolls of ombre fabric.
I am not allowed to square everything up into even-sized blocks. It has to be more free-flowing than that.

That’s it. Those are my two rules.

As you can see, the fabrics themselves have movement. The colors are cheerful and I had plenty to work with…at least to start.

I can safely say that I have no idea where I’m going with this.

But I love it.

The challenging part comes in the curves and Y-seams.

If you’re not used to sewing curves, it can be daunting as there are just so many variables to keep nice and neat. It takes a little bit of thoughtfulness. Just like improv acting. Go with it. Try it. Don’t say no to the crazy seam.

It might just create “something wonderful right away.”

Crazy is Good

Posted on September 12, 2016 by edges

I was sitting at the kitchen counter one day, staring at the valance over my window. I’m ready for something new. I get this from my mother who changed curtains in the kitchen to match every holiday and season. In the fall, we had leaves, after Thanksgiving, holly and berries, in the spring, the lovely florals went up…you get the picture.

I don’t have cafe curtains, though I have thought about them. But sitting there, staring away, I had an idea. What about a quilted valance? Better yet, what if I made matching seat covers for the chairs?

Suddenly I was excited about a project. All I wanted was colorful and different. So that’s what I made.

The valance is made of crazy quilt blocks, 8 1/2 inches unfinished. I grabbed all sorts of scraps I had lying around…some were from fatquarter bundles, some random, some leftovers from other projects and just began sewing.

The beauty of this project is that it doesn’t take any real focus or concentration. The 1/4 inch seam doesn’t have to be perfect.The colors can be anything you want…no matchy-matchy stuff. Just square it up to 8 1/2 inches, then sew them together.

If you have never sewn this way (improvisational is what some call it) you will love it. Well, some people like me love it, and others find that they need more guidelines. But, the freer you are with the blocks, the more fun it gets (if you can let go of the need for perfection.)

And the result is happy crazy.

For this valance, I assembled 3 rows of blocks, measured the window and the rod, and created a quilt sandwich and quilted the whole thing. Then I came back and added the scallops and bias binding. From the top, I just folded it down enough to form a rod pocket and sewed it in place with a couple of straight seams. The binding goes all the way around, it’s just turned down at the top so you don”t see it.

And because the quilt is heavier than plain fabric, even with a lining, it hangs nice and flat.

I love it. It’s exactly what I wanted.

Then I turned to the chairs.

Each chair requires an additional 9 blocks. I only finished one chair so far, but it goes fast. The blocks on the chairs are not quilted…just nine blocks sewn together. I studied the chair to see how the cover was attached, and I could see that they started in the back. ( I am NOT an upholsterer, but would love to be…I don’t think it’s as easy as it looks when you get to armchairs and things like that!)

Anyway, I started in the back and pulled the fabric to the front, using a staple gun. I did allow myself enough fabric to double the seam where it’s stapled…I didn’t want the fabric to fray and unravel.

Just pull taut from the back to the front and staple it down. It doesn’t look very taut in this picture, because my hands were on the camera, but when you are working, you really need to pull tight, with one hand and staple with the other.

You can do this.

I am loving how this turned out. I know it won’t last forever, but now that I’ve changed the covers once, I can do it any time.

Finally, I made another little valance to go over the sink, which is a smaller window. Same process, fewer blocks.

This was fun stuff. If you can make a quilt, you can make these valances and chair covers. It’s just taking the same principles and adjusting to different shapes.

The Back Story of One Quilt in Madison This Weekend

Posted on September 5, 2016 by edges

When you work in a quilt shop, you talk to people. You get to know them, you share stories, you find out their struggles and generally share tips, life hacks, experiences, and sometimes we even talk about quilting and fabric.

Yesterday, a young man walked into the shop. I’d seen him many times before, he does gorgeous and unusual piecing…technical stuff. He likes to bring them in to show us, and we love to see his work. Honestly, we love to see everyone’s work, it’s so inspiring. But his is always a bit different. One quilt he brought in was completely Harry Potter themed, with books and potions and characters all arranged on a series of shelves, with tiny pieced accents and Harry Potter memorabilia. Cool stuff.

I turned to greet him, “Hey, haven’t seen you in awhile!”

He shuffled his feet a bit, as uncomfortable early twenty-something young men do, and said, “Well my mom got sick and had a long illness and died.”

At that, all of us working stopped in our tracks and went over to him. We offered our condolences and then he said, “After she was diagnosed, for the next 9 months we worked on a quilt together, and it’s showing in Madison. She died the day before it came back from the quilter.”

At this point I needed a Kleenex.

I asked if he had a picture of the quilt. It was stunning…gorgeous…meticulous. It reminded me of a Judy Niemeyer. He said he did all the cutting, pinning and pressing, his mom did the machine sewing. He told us that they matched every single thread, and if something wasn’t absolutely perfect down to the thread, they corrected it. He said the medallion in the middle had 24 pieces of fabric coming together at the center and he managed to get it down to about 1/8 of an inch thick. He said Best Press is his friend. When they went to square it up it was 100 inches by 100 inches precisely. They worked on it in the nine months that she was still feeling OK.

I cannot include a picture because it’s in competition in Madison at Quilt Expo this coming weekend Sep 8-10.

As part of the show, he’ll be having his picture taken with the quilt. He said he’ll be bringing a picture of his mom to hold up so she’s in the shot.

If you will be at Madison Quilt Expo this weekend, you may want to send a little love and encouragement his way.

And, I don’t know, his quilt may or may not take Best of Show or any award at all.

But it sure is a winner.

Keepin’ It Together

Posted on August 31, 2016 by edges

So I finally got around to making one of these Sew Together bags. Have you seen them?

Here’s your convenient link to purchase the pattern. Or ask your local quilt store to get it in for you. It’s from a designer named Sew Demented. That should give you a hint.

One blogger noted that everyone wants to receive one as a gift….because no one wants to actually make one.

Here’s the thing. It’s not a difficult bag to make. It’s extremely functional. It just takes a little time and patience and the more varieties of fabric the better.

And all the cool kids are making it.

Take a peek at Pinterest.

I had never heard of this pattern until I made the sample for our Bernina Software Inspirations class. Turns out the “software” part was the easiest thing to do. (And the embroidery software is optional…you can quilt or just leave the front of your bag plain).

The idea behind this bag, is that you can carry all your sewing supplies in it and keep things organized. You will see in the pictures that the bag has 3 zipper pouches with pockets in between. If you have a fear of zippers, you will overcome it completely with this bag. In my humble opinion, the hardest part of any bag project is getting everything cut ahead of time. And with this bag, you’ll want to use as many different types of fabric as possible. The fun part is how scrappy and colorful and interesting each one can be.

Grab a fabric line you love and get a bunch of fatquarters from that line. The brighter the better, and a fun binding doesn’t hurt either.

At this point, I highly recommend using this tutorial to assist in your assembly. Read the directions in the pattern, then read this tutorial. They are very helpful.

The pattern calls for you to lay your fabrics in order and you install the zippers assembly-line style.

After the zippers, you attach the sides, then the exterior of the bag is attached and binding added all the way around, including the zipper which holds the bag closed. It’s pretty ingenious. Between the instructions and the tutorial, you should have no problems.

I started at 9:30 in the morning, and stopped to shop, get lunch, talk to my son after school, eat dinner….and I finished by 7 pm. The next one would go even faster because I now understand the construction, and wouldn’t have to spend as much time reading.

So go ahead! Step out of your quilting comfort zone and try one of these fun bags.

Edgestitch

Sewing is life. Life is art.

Category Archives: Piecing