A Tutorial - Spike Border

A little tutorial....I have been so inspired by Gwen Marston of Liberated Quiltmaking.  She has taken traditional quilt making and relaxed the rules so quilting becomes a very creative process.  When I began quilting - some 20 yrs. ago - making a sawtooth border required careful measurements and seaming so all the points were pointy and everything fit together perfectly.  Now I can create a Spikey Border and not fuss over measurements.

Begin with a square or rectangle of your border background fabric (foundation fabric)...you choose the size, but remember one side (measurement) will need to be consistent, so that when you sew the border pieces together you have a consistent border width....with little trimming after.  For example you could cut the foundation pieces 2.5inches X 4.5 inches,  3.5 X 4.5 inches, etc.

 

Take a piece of scrap fabric for the spike...it just needs to be large enough that you can sew it on to the corner of the foundation and fold it back to completely cover the corner of the foundation piece.

 

Place the scrap diagonally across the foundation fabric (right sides facing).  I usually try to cover the base of the foundation piece with the scrap and the length or spikeyness (new word) of the spike depends on how far up the adjacent side you take the scrap fabric.  Some of my spikes are tall and thin and some are short and fat!

   

As you can see the spike will lay on the background fabric from the base to the right side about 2/3rds of the way up the side.

Now sew a 1/4 inch seam using the scrap as your raw edge.

Fold the scrap back over so the right side is facing you.  Finger press and then press with an iron.  Flip the whole block over so you are looking at the back of the foundation and the scrap piece.  Use the foundation fabric as a guide to cut away the excess scrap fabric. You can trim the foundation fabric away at the 1/4 inch seam.  

      

Continue making spikey blocks until you have enough to piece together and cover the sides of your quilt top.

In this picture I have made the long pieced border a little heavy at the base.  I would probably just trim the base before adding to the quilt.  

Hopefully, this makes sense....just leave a comment if you need clarification!  I love to hear from you!

**shout out Chris**

Mary  

This and That.....

It is so bloomin' hot in Ohio....way too hot to spend time outside, unless you are out early in the morning.  My poor much neglected garden needs some attention, but it is just going to have to wait.  I will stay in the AC and work on projects while Flanders keeps me company.....

Flanders appreciates the AC, too - can you tell?

I am pretty much committed to doing Zig-Zag quilts with the Far, Far Away fabric....quilts intended for the yet-to-be-born twins.  As I mentioned in the previous post...I am using half square triangles.  To include Rapunzel or the Owl and the Pussycat in the zig and zag right side up....I have been flipping my diagonal line for half of the squares.  That way I can choose squares that feature the characters right side up.

  

That probably seems fairly clear to most, but sometimes the simplest things are the most perplexing!

I have also spent some time straight line machine quilting.  My shoulder feels every stitch!

 

That's about it for today....time to figure out dinner and act like I am earning my keep around here!

Mary 

Eye Candy

Less than a week ago we had our final Coin Quilt class of this session.  I had such a great time (as always) with these women and I am so happy to be able to share their quilts!  I think you will find them amazing!
Enjoy......

Sam's quilt....she was working on the pick-stitching so her pic includes a quilt hoop :)

Next we have Michelle.....love the black and the guitar fabric!

Here is Gretchen's (Michelle's mom).....fresh white background...so pretty!

 

And last, but not least, Sara's quilt is in the stack....the bottom quilt and it is fabulous...with the fun bicycle print!

   

I just love these quilts and they are a terrific group of women!  ***Pat on the back for each***

Mary

PS - check out Sew To Speak for wonderful classes! 

Half Square Triangles

The back is finished for the Coin Quilt and now ready for basting.  That has to be my very least favorite part of quilting.  I have to take everything down to the basement - with all the spiders - or potential spiders.  I really do not like crawly things....silly I know...I am so much bigger than they are, what could they possibly do to me?  Luckily, I have a dance floor which is large enough to accommodate almost any quilt.  So I don't have to lay my quilt out on the concrete - but still basting is just a chore.  I will probably put it off till tomorrow as we have G-MA coming for her 81st. birthday dinner celebration!  YAY!!!

Today I started working on the quilts for the twins using the new line of Far, Far Away fabrics - from my very favorite little fabric shoppe - Sew To Speak.  I am adding some of the roses and linens in natural and yellow.  Usually, when sewing half square triangles (which I am using for these quilts) I cut strips 7/8 inch larger than my finished size and lay the strips - right sides together - sew a 1/4 inch on both sides of the diagonal line which cuts the subsectioned squares.  But for these fabrics I wanted to be sure I had the Owl and Pussycat in the triangle so I cut 6 inch squares and stitched on both sides of the diagonal.

Here is a little sneak peek.......

I love the texture of the linen and the subtle muted tones of this fabric - very different from my usual brights!

Molly has been stitching....she is working on a dresser scarf for G-MA!  She made a terrific dish towel for me :)

  

Can't you just picture this in Anthropologie?  Thanks Again, Molly!

Mary

      

Busy, busy

It has been a week of projects here!  It seems to be a very busy time....teaching classes, making quilts for gifts and shopppe samples, college orientation....whew! 

Molly has been working on a very cute new project.

I love her process.  She sketches out her design before transferring it to fabric and then makes choices regarding fillers, colors, etc. while stitching.  

I feel so fortunate that she still has time to sit at the kitchen table with me.  We spend a lot of time talking and stitching.  Times I will always cherish.  Here is a sneak peek of her project. 

I have finished the top for this quilt - a gift for my niece and her husband-to-be.  Hopefully, this week I will be basting (ugh), quilting and pick-stitching.

 

And then I have two quilts for twin newborn girls.  I plan on using the new Far, Far Away 2 fabric by Heather Ross...I love the texture and muted tones in this line.  Very calming for new baby girls!

 

I need to decide how I will cut this up to use in a quilt.  I want to choose a design that will show off the adorable illustrations.  Something to think about.....

Mary   

Coin Quilt

My sister's daughter is getting married this September and she has requested a quilt.  YAY!  She likes the Coin Quilt soooo.....I have a new project!

This quilt will be similar to this one, although I will use chambray in mocha rather than a Kona Cotton solid.  

She has asked for pick stitching as well as machine quilting.  Luckily, this is a pattern that goes together quickly.  August is always a busy time getting things done that we put off all summer, like doctor's appointments....our big Irish Family Reunion....getting ready for school to begin (groan)....but this will be a fun project for a lovely girl!  I love weddings and wedding things...this weekend is the shower here.  I can't wait!

Mary    

Love

It must be love.....Molly embroidered a sweet pillow case to add to my bed.

She took a packaged dish towel - very large - about 35" X 38".  Stitched her magic and we added Moda trim to the open end....  

And stitched up the bottom and long side!  Couldn't be easier!  For me at least :)

  

Thank you Molly!  I love it.

Mary

Heaven

I so enjoy waking up in the morning and sitting at the table to quilt.  The house is cool and quiet.  It is a great time to just sit with my quilt, a cup of coffee, and stitch....stillness.

I basted my quilt last night and I did decide to use perle cotton and hand quilt. 

I chose to use a single piece of fabric for the backing - rather than piecing the backing.  Hand quilting with Anna Maria Horner voile is just incredible.  The needle glides through the fabric like a knife through warm butter.  And the feel of the fabric is beyond compare.  Although, basting is a bit tricky.  I have found masking tape will not adhere to the voile so I use temporary adhesive (KK 2000 - Sulky) to hold everything in place while I add the basting pins.  It is worth the time and effort.     

A special thank you to April from Sew To Speak!  She acted as my tutor yesterday and gave me some terrific technical advice regarding my blog.  I have yet to put her suggestions to practice....hopefully I will be able to remember everything we covered :)  Thanks April!

Back to stitching!

Mary   

      

To Do List

It is a beautiful day here!  The humidity and the heat this summer have been oppressive, but today we have been blessed with a cool(er), sunny, lovely day.  But I need to get some things accomplished - ugh.

On the TO DO LIST for today:

• ADD some stitches to this project

• 
  
  Work on this project - I can't get enough of these cute little pigs.  For these wedges I am using a 45 degree ruler.  Piecing several strips of fabric (salvage to salvage) and making several cuts with the wedge ruler.  Then chain piece two wedges at a time - 8 wedges in all for one block.  Piece two of those together to make one-half of the circle, then sew the two halves together - matching center points.  The ruler I used is Petal Shapes by Darlene Zimmerman.  I simply squared off the top of the wedge to create an octagon rather than a petal.  To make the octagon into a square block, simply add a 3 1/2 inch triangle to every other wedge....4 triangles in all.

• 
  
  Clean - yuck!
• 
  
  Make - dinner - hmmm -what to do with chicken?

As for the blogging....it is getting somewhat easier.  This is the third day in a row!  Yay! 

Two Days In A Row - YAY!

The last of the borders has been added and now to quilt. I have been reading and studying the process of Liberated Quiltmaking by Gwen Marston . The process is indeed liberating! So much in fact mistakes become design options and pre-planning or drafting is tossed out the window.

I could live with this method of quilt making. It fits my love of somewhat rough-around-the- edges, scrappy quilts. No need for templates or patterns - just do what you love. Use the fabrics and the colors you love. Brilliant!

I think I will pull out the perle cotton again for this one. It keeps hand quilting interesting and fun , working with all the lovely colors. Although, I am a sucker for hand quilting...I find it very relaxing. And using perle cotton has become one of my favorite choices in hand quilting. This one was quilted with perle cotton and this one too!
So back to work - I have the house to myself today - YAY!

Mary

Slow Start

Okay- so I am not very productive in the blogging sense....although I have been somewhat productive this week in the quilting sense.

I have been working on the third in a series of quilts. I am using stars and spots of color between the sashings. For the border I will do another spikey sawtooth border. Not all the spikes will be the same height or the same width. Very fun!









Miss Molly has been working on some new ideas combining embroidery and fabric. Clever girl!




Hopefully, I can do better with this blogging thing. If I could at least be somewhat proficient with the whole process - it would be so much easier. I haven't quite figured out how it all works. And then I have to hope someone cares to read it, right? That is the point of sharing ideas afterall!
Mary