Machine Appliqué - Some Thoughts

I have decided that I want my machine appliqué stitches to show, instead of trying to achieve an invisible stitch by just taking a small bite of the cloth. I have used my elna point-de-Paris stitch cam and thread to enhance, not necessarily match, the pieces appliquéd down.

Denise Sheehan suggests tightening your bobbin tension to keep the color of the bottom thread from pulling through onto the top. I am lucky that my elna has a small dial to do just this adjustment. You can see the top thread has actually been pulled through to the back--this ensures that the top thread color will be neat and even. I also pull the threads through to the back at the beginning and ending of each stop and start and knot them, cutting them just past the knot. This keeps the back not only neat, but doesn't allow any tangles or extra bulk. I do not cut the excess backing behind the appliquéd pieces--I do not think it is necessary.

Mirror-image Blocks

No matter how many times I looked at the blocks, being oh-so-careful to glue-baste-it the pieces in just the right place, I ended up with two of the same blocks. But the miracle of the Roxanne's Glue-Baste-It! allowed me to pull and tug the offending poppy up and replace it in the correct position. Now I will repress the poppy down with the iron and begin machine quilting. I use an elna Carina and a point-de-Paris appliqué stitch cam with ecru thread in the bobbin and the color of each of the appliqué pieces as the top thread. This is the first set of mirror-image blocks I am assembling from Denise Sheehan's The Graceful Garden Jacobean Quilt.
The fabrics are from Aviary, by 3 Sisters and Collections for the Cause Legacy and Heritage, all Moda fabrics.
Denise stresses in her instructions to make sure the curves are cleanly cut, else the appliqués will have little pointy bits along the edges. You can see that the blue poppy has the pointy edges. My husband could spot the mistake clear across the room! I guess it's like sewing 4 bride's maids dresses all in a row, the fourth is by far the best! Practice makes perfect is a true axiom!

Shortbread Buttons Tutorial

Many thanks to Echevette for sharing her special find of these delightful «sewing» cookies/biscuits from Forty-sixth at Grace. I shall have to find someone to invite to tea.

Double Wedding Ring Quilts

Quite the loveliest combination pieced and appliquéd quilt I have ever seen is featured in the banner of Quiltsalott's blog. Here is a link to the whole quilt laid out flat. I think the intensity of the color is what draws me to this quilt; normally I've seen it done with 1930s colors, and this is the first wedding ring I've seen combined with appliqué. Here is the link for how she put the quilt together. Beautiful job, Janet and thank you for such lovely work!

Offset Square - Biscornu Pincushions

I have made two wrist pincushions to match my Ort Bags, one for the sewing nook and one for the office/living room. Here is a marvelous tutorial on how to make the biscornu - offset square wrist pincushions.

Ort Containers - The Ort Port or Ort Bag

Here is an Ort Port for all those little bits of thread that seem to multiply in a sewing room. I have used 1 1/2" strips for the outside of the bag to match the pinks and greens in my sewing nook under the eaves. A 5" cardboard square from the underside of a Charm Pack is the perfect size to interface the fabric sewing cabinet square under the sand-filled weight. Velcro patches attach the strips that drape over the cabinet edge linking the ort bag.

I've chosen 1 1/2" Honey Bun strips from the Rouenneries line from French General for another ort container for my office, which also goes well in the living room. In the background is a market bag using 2 1/2" Jelly Roll strips, also from the Rouenneries fabrics by Moda.

Triangular Scissors Fob - Humbug

Update: I have just learned that this fob is also known by the name of «humbug.» Here is a tutorial on how to construct a humbug cushion.

I'm always misplacing my small scissors--hopefully this fob filled with rice will help me corral it while I am sewing. The pattern is basically a half of a hexagon with an extra triangle for the bottom.

Caution! be careful to always check before you close the blades of your scissors; otherwise you might inadvertantly cut the ribbon which attaches your fob!

Vines In French Dreams

Years ago in my first house I wallpapered the dining room with this beautiful wallpaper, Nancy Vine. I had spent two days in the wallpaper store looking through every book available when at long last Nancy Vine jumped out at me and screamed, "I'm French, take me home!" I no longer have the little storybook house with the pink door, but I still have a few pieces of the wallpaper, which will now grace a paper-covered box edged with blue ribbon to use from which to sell furbelows at reenactments.

And at long last I have discovered a book on Jacobean quilting, The Graceful Garden, by Denise Sheehan, which can help me recreate the feeling of being in the sunlight in that long gone dining room,a quilt that will reach out and scream, "I'm French, take me home." Fabrics are taken from the Moda fabrics of Aviary [3 Sisters] and Collections for a Cause--Legacy and Heritage.

Kit Bag

Making this kit bag, p.96, Home Sewn by Kaari Meng at French General, was a piece of cake, IF you follow the directions exactly. Absolutely nothing wrong with following directions exactly. Hint: Kaari says to sew the vinyl backing to the fabric of each piece with an eigth-inch seam prior to assembling bag. This is the key to this bag's success. I like its generous proportions--it's big enough to hold all of my toiletry items--not just sample sizes. This is essential for me because this bag is my only storage in my bath. The «old» house I live in only has room in the wall for a straight razor and a shaving mug! Now my bag sits proudly on the top of the tank. Fabric is Block Print Multi, Rouenneries, by Moda, and some striped linen from my stash.

Here is a link a another little kit bag. Enjoy!

Summer - Topper in Progess …

Here is the center of the table topper, Summer, from On the Run, by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures. Now it's time for some appliqué … Fabrics are Rouenneries by French General.