oh fransson

Octopus Baby Quilt & Applique Tutorials

These applique patterns are now available for free download at Sew, Mama, Sew.  Enjoy!  If you're interested in a lengthy explanation of how I make machine appliques, you can also check out my earlier article here. 

These bags are just simple linen with linen handles threaded through large eyelets.  The patchwork strip is Cake Rock Beach.  The appliques are made with Kona cotton.

And here's a baby quilt made with the Cake Rock Beach fabric, white Essex linen/cotton blend (the best stuff ever) and more Kona cotton appliques.  The Cake Rock Beach fabric is lovely, but it was challenging to quilt with.  I really wanted to use the large dot print, but it just took over the top, so I unpieced all the blocks and used the one with the botanical drawings instead.  It may not look like it, but that print had to be paintstakingly fussy cut (also for the binding) since the images are pretty far apart.  The fabric is gorgeous though and that solid teal from the Net of Jewels line really sets it off.  For some reason, I'd gotten the impression from what I'd read online that Net of Jewels was shiny.  It isn't.  It's really beautiful stuff.  It's one of those fabrics that has a different color weave going in one direction  (I know there's a proper way to describe this, but it's escaping me now.)  Purlsoho has a fat quarter pack of the full series that I'm seriously considering. 

The freemotion quilting worked really well with the watery prints!

I usually use Minky on the back of baby quilts, but I just didn't want to introduce a synthetic fabric here.  With the Cake Rock Beach prints and the linen blend and all, I decided a white cotton chenille would look better.  I put it on the same way I would a Minky back.

Pink Leopard Print

Here's the baby quilt I made for Poppy, twin sister of Gus, whose giraffe quilt I finished last month.  

Last week, I came across these blocks and, since they were the same configuration as the blocks on Gus' quilt, I decided to use them to make Poppy's.  I thought it might be kind of fun to back hers in an animal print too, so I pulled out a piece of pink leopard print Minky and was surprised to find that it didn't look all that bad with the blocks I'd made.

The pink leopard Minky actually came from my mother, who had ordered it accidentally a couple of months ago.  (She ordered it for this quilt thinking it was leopard-color.)  I was concerned that it might be "a bit much" with all the other prints . . .and it kind of is, but I still like the way it looks.  The kitty on the front is made with a wool blend felt.  I went back and forth on the binding color, but eventually decided on soft pink because I thought the leopard print was bold enough without a high-contrast binding.

I quilted Poppy's quilt in the same pattern as Gus', but the quilting doesn't look as nice.  It's just much, much easier to see the wonkiness of my quilting lines on the white Kona cotton than on all the busy prints on Gus' quilt!

So, here they are together.  I'm pretty happy with how they came out and, if nothing else, I feel like I can safely say that I'm one of the only people to pair some of these quilting fabrics (particularly Denyse Schmidt's prints) with fuzzy pink leopard print.  At least I can say that's an accomplishment!

Sneak Peek

The original version of this post was mysteriously "eaten" by Typepad.  The post below is my attempt to recreate it.  (At least this time I used the correct version of the word peek.)

Here's a sneak peek at the two projects I sent off today for the Pillowcase Challenge book.

I had originally intended to do a different style of quilting on this one, but changed my mind about halfway through.  Although I adore the finished product, picking all the original quilting out and then steaming the fabric to get rid of holes was not a fun way to spend 12 hours!

You may recognize this bottom project.  I was excited to find the yellow gingham pillowcase for it and I love the way it looks with the chocolate rick rack.

Anyway, here they are -- my first book projects.  Finished just in time to be driven out to the airport mail depot to meet the deadline for overnight delivery!

Birthday Quilt for Sarah Jane

I finished this quilt yesterday for my youngest sister's birthday.

Here's a full view.  I used bamboo batting which is, pretty much, the best thing ever. It was super-soft when I brought it home and even softer after I washed it. 

I made three little felt bird appliques to match the bird in the Botanical Pop fabric and scattered them around the quilt.

This is not a very big quilt, but it's the largest I've ever quilted allover in a free-motion pattern.  (My shoulders are sore!)  If I had it to do again, I would probably have used light gray instead of white thread.  I'm not crazy about the way the white looks on the dark gray binding.

The back is made from some yardage in another Botanical Pop print with a pieced strip down the middle made from some of the leftover scraps from making the front.  (You can see a puffy, unquilted space in the foreground left from one of the bird appliques.)

As you can see from the photos, my cats were big fans.  Thankfully, Sarah has three cats of her own, so the cat exposure shouldn't be an issue. 

Patchworks in Progress

I finally used my Botanical Pop fabric to make a quilt top.  I used the new pattern I've been fine-tuning, and I'm really pleased with the results.  The sashing is made from a dark gray chambray-like shirting fabric.  (I actually bought the fabric a long time ago to make a shirt from one of Simplicity's Built by Wendy patterns, but it was too perfect for this quilt, so I guess I now need to find something else to use with that pattern!)

Here's a full shot.  When I have a chance, I'm going to make this up again with lighter colors and linen sashing.

In other exciting news, I received my Summer Skirt Sheet Swap package last week.  Aren't they great?  I especially love the one on the far left.  (Thanks, Regina!)  I'm hoping nobody is going to be too mad at me if I use these to make something other than skirts!

I also spent a lot of time this weekend cutting.  Here are the pieces of what will be a pillowcase quilt with white linen sashing.  (You'll have to wait for the Pillowcase Challenge book to see the final product!)

And here's another one I'm making with the same pattern -- this time with madras and natural linen.  I'm going to be busy, busy, busy working on quilts this week and probably won't have a chance to post again until next Monday.  Happy sewing/crafting to everyone in the meantime!

Did you see me? This is where I was hiding!

Here's another project pulled from the closet of doom and finished.  I made the top back in February.  Yesterday evening I did the quilting and applique and tonight I finished the binding.

Here's a detail of the quilting.

Here's a shot of the giraffe-print Minky on the back.  (It's soooo soft!)  When I'm making these baby quilts with Minky backs, I only quilt through the top and batting layers.  Then, I lay the quilted layer on top of the Minky and hand baste two rows of stitching around the edges of the quilt, so the Minky doesn't shift or stretch while the binding is being sewn on. 

The giraffe applique is chocolate brown Minky.  I thought that, with all the busy patterns on this quilt, it would be best to keep the applique simple.  The only real embellishment is a wool felt eye. 

The finished quilt is pretty small -- about 32" square, but a good size for stroller or carseat.  Now that Gus' quilt is done, I just have to finish the one for his twin sister, Poppy!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm doing two giveaways this week.  The second is for a little kit to make a quilt top like this one.  It includes nine squares to make the crazy nine patch blocks, one half yard giraffe print fabric for sashing, and a Minky piece and wool felt scrap to make the applique.  If you'd like to enter to win, just comment on this post before midnight (Pacific) Friday, May 2.

How To Make the Quilt:

Here is a template for the giraffe: Download giraffe_template.pdf.  Directions for making Minky appliques can be found in the Bunny Applique Tutorial in the sidebar.

To make the crazy nine-patch blocks, start with nine different 10" squares.

Stack the squares and make a diagonal cut through all layers.  Once you've made the cut, take the top piece on the right stack and move it to the bottom.  Stitch each square back together, making sure to put the finished squares back in the same order.

Repeat the same process on the left side.  However, this time you'll move the top two pieces to the bottom of the stack.  Once again, stitch the squares back together, keeping them in the same order.

Next, make a cut across all of the blocks.  Because of the thickness, you may need to cut a few at a time, using an already cut piece as a guideline.  This time you'll move the top three pieces to the bottom of the stack.  Again stitch the squares back together, keeping the squares in order. 

Note:  Because of the angles involved, you will not be able to match all seams.  Don't try.  It's a crazy nine-patch after all.  Just keep the overall block as square as possible.

Last cut!  This time across the bottom.  This time you'll move the top six pieces to the bottom of the stack.  Sew the squares back together.  At this point, once that last seam is sewn, there is no need to put the blocks back in the same order.

Trim all finished blocks to 8.5" square.

Et, voila!  The finished crazy nine-patch squares.  To finish the quilt top, add sashing cut from 2" strips of fabric (for 1.5" finished sashing).  If you're using my method of adding a Minky back and quilting only through the top and batting, I suggest doing the quilting before you add the applique.

Happy Sewing! 

Baby Shower Quilt

I finished the collaborative baby shower quilt today!

I didn't want the whole thing to get too big so, instead of sashing, I made these little diamonds at the intersections of each block.  Because of all the chunky appliques, I couldn't really do much quilting, but I did tack down each row, as shown above.  (You can see in this photo that there are still some pen marks on the appliques.  Those will go away when I wash the quilt.)

I ended up making a border from the coral dot fabric and then pieced the binding from the kiwi, teal and chocolate dot fabrics.  The overall effect -- with the diamonds and the border and the pieced binding -- is kind of busy, but I guess that will just give the baby a lot to look at!   

Free Motion Quiting: This Time It Worked!

Years and years ago, I worked at a letterman jacket shop and part of that job involved using an industrial chenille machine.  I think that, nowadays, most chenille for letterman jacket patches is done on electronic chenille machines, but this shop had the old-timey kind.  They looked sort of like industrial sewing machines, with a regular looking foot pedal, but they also had a (wooden!) hand crank under the table that you used to guide the chenille foot around.  I'm mentioning all this because, apart from the hand crank under the table, I thought free motion quilting felt a lot like using an old-timey industrial chenille machine.

As a side note, I sure wish I had one of the industrial sewing machines I used to use at that job.  They could sew through anything and had a presser foot control that you could operate with your knee!

Anyway, I've had my darning foot for 10 years -- as long as I've had my sewing machine -- but I never quite mastered how to use it.  I figured out a long time ago how to attach it, but my experiments in actually using it have been mediocre at best.  I finally did some research and learned some helpful things (chief among them that you're apparently supposed to start by setting your stitch length to zero).  Once I had the bare bones of "the right way" to quilt using a darning foot, I tried it out on this mini quilt.

I'm very pleased with my first "real" attempt at free-motion quilting and plan to use this method on the two other mini quilts too.

And here's a picture of George-Michael who, as you can see, was a huge help with the quilting process!  (Actually, he's on top of my desk right now.  He's a huge help with the blogging process too.)

Collaborative Baby Shower Project

Back when we had Jenny's baby shower, I set up a collaborative craft project for the shower guests.  The idea was that we were going to make a baby quilt.  (A pretty, useful baby quilt that didn't involve anyone writing their name in fabric marker!)  I chose a color scheme and brought flannel squares I'd precut and pieces of polar fleece in coordinating colors.  I asked the guests to cut shapes from the fleece and arrange them on a flannel square.  Since there weren't many crafters in this crowd, I brought along a bin of cookie cutters and some water soluble markers so people would have something to trace. 

Once people were done with their squares, I stacked them between layers of tissue paper and brought them home to sew.  Now, months later, I've finally gotten around to sewing all the fleece shapes down to the blocks.  I used a buttonhole stitch and sewed around the edge of each fleece shape, securing them to the blocks.  To save time, I did one color at a time, i.e. first all the green shapes, then all the white shapes, etc.  Because all of the pieces were fairly small, I didn't use any adhesives.  (If you want to try this out, I suggest preparing the fleece by ironing on sheets of fusible webbing before people cut their shapes.  This may even be easier for the block makers, since they would be able to draw on the paper backing.)

Anyway, here are the finished blocks:

I think the colors look nice together.  There are clearly a variety of skill levels in play here, but the fact that everything is sewn the same way, and made in the same fabric, lends some unity.  The way the fleece shapes are sewn down also creates a smooth, fuzzy surface on the top of each block.

My next step is to make pieced blocks for the two "holes" and add sashing around the applique blocks.  The fabric I've chosen is Pop Parade by Metro for P&B Textiles.  (I'm not really familiar with P&B, but it's a quality fabric and the colors were perfect!) 

I'll post pictures of the finished product, hopefully soon!

Spring Colors

I've been working with the random pile of blocks I found in my closet last week and I think I'm going to be able to make something out of them.  Actually, I think I was on to something with the pattern I was making up -- It's a series of paired fabrics made into a series of different, but similar, blocks.  Once I finish these, I think I'm going to develop it into a larger pattern for a full-size quilt.

In the meantime, I'm going to finish these and probably, because I just can't resist, put some kind of applique on each.  Here are some closer shots of the fabrics:

This one is all teals and aquas, and I used the blocks I found "as is."  There were exactly twenty of them.

My block stash had fifteen lime blocks, only ten of which I liked.  (Some of my earlier fabric choices were just questionable!)  I ended up making up ten new blocks, which are obvious because they're so much darker.  I like the combination though.  There are very light spring green, lime green, bright avocado and a nice light kelly.  They all have a lot of yellow in them though, so I think they look nice together. 

I'm not sure why this photo isn't as clear as the others.  The color scheme on the blue one changed quite a bit from the original blocks.  I did have twenty blocks in this colorway, but they leaned much more toward periwinkle.  I replaced ten of them, not because I objected to the periwinkle but because some of the prints just didn't look right.  The replacements took the color scheme in a more cerulean direction, which I actually like better.

I think I'm going to use these little quilts as an opportunity to practice some stipple quilting.  My past experiences with stipple quilting haven't gone that well, but they've also been over much larger areas.  Hopefully the smaller surfaces will give me a chance to perfect the technique.