I am playing with a few new threads to work out the satin stitch along the edge of the leaves.  Cathy Racine at Charlton sewing Center is a sewing machine and thread expert.  She recommended this Hemminworth thread.  It is Polyselect 40 weight and I am using it in my top and bobbin thread.  I started with a very tight satin stitch, but soon realized that I was making all my edges fray as I ran the quilt back and forth through my Elna Excellence 740.   So, I switched to a narrow zig zag at 2.2width and 2.8 length.  I am working on sewing all the rows with a loose zig-zag to nail down the edges, then I will go back and do the slow, boring satin stitch over the zig-zag.  The sheen on this thread is wonderful!

The satin stitch requires a stabilizer, otherwise I get stretching and tunneling, even with a fairly narrow stitch.  The fusible is so soft, it does not act as a stabilizer along the edge of the fused pieces.  I tried using parchment paper to stabilize the stitching, but that didn’t work very well.  The parchment tore too easily, and bits of paper were coming to the surface and getting stuck in the satin stitch.  Also, my stitches were out of balance on the back.  Using OESD (professional quality tear away, lightweight) I got a much better result.

I will be at MQX this week, so stop in and say hello if you want to see me or Magic Carpet Ride in person!

fabrics straight out of the drier

Here is a collection from Moda Fabrics right out of the drier.  I wish I had a photo of the two beautiful fat quarter bundles that I started with, but I forgot to pull out my camera in my excitement! As you can see, the colors and prints are just yummy! This is “Dilly Dally”, and the other collection is called “Just Wing It!”

I loved the butterfly inspiration for “Just Wing It”, there are even trees made entirely of butterflies! I decided to use this collection first to make “Melissa’s Quilt” with a white background. The background is one of Moda basic white on white prints. Here is a photo of the quit in progress…

It was fun to use the templates to make the quilting design for the center of the rings.

I used a blue wash away pen to mark the basic quilting design, then added elements as I was quilting.

I used my pattern cutting board under the finished top to mark the diagonal cross hatching. I couldn’t use my Chalk Line in this case, because the background was white. I also used the pattern cutting board to line up the horizontal and vertical grid to place the 5″ petals. Simple, fun and SUPER FAST! Here is the finished quilt!  Hope you like it!

My first pattern

Melissa’s quilt shows you how to do the basic grid technique, and make leaves and vines with the the Leaves Galore Template.

My next pattern, Christmas Ribbons walks you through three new techniques:  Cutting ribbons, poinsettias and bi-color leaves.

The white quilt below will be pattern number three!  We were playing with mirrors to see what we could create with a repeating block.   This quilt gives the wedding ring effect with  thin bias curves.  The first photo is the playing part, the second photo is the end result after fusing, but before quilting.  Another quilt quilt option  in this pattern will be a table runner made with holly leaves cut with Leaves Galore.  Two  great new techniques to keep you using your templates in so many ways!

Christmas Ribbons will be available soon, it is at the printers for my first “trial” batch.  Pattern testers are working on getting samples done, to ensure the instructions are accurate.

The white quilt,  unnamed at this point, is just beginning to take shape.   At first, I used mirrors to see what the quilt would look  like from a repeated block.  I thought you might like to see the process, so here are a few pictures!   Come back soon and  I will give you an update on my progress…

Using mirrors helps you to see what your quilt could look like!

Intricate look, Easy fusible Applique!

What should I name this pretty little summer quilt?