January 2013 – blue feather quilt studio

Fun Projects

Here are some fun things that others have been doing. Mary Jane used the frog applique for a onesie. I absolutely love this. Mary Jane asked, “Can’t you just hear him singing ‘Hello My Baby’?”

frog on onesie — Mary Jane’s Onesie Frog

And this is a quilt that my friend, Sherry, is working on. She made this as a Quilt As Your GO (QAYG), and I love everything about it. Can’t wait to see it finished.

Sherry's Quilt as you Go — Sherry’s Quilt as you Go

I have almost finished quilting Sherry’s Bargello (how many months has it been on my frame?? – four I think). Last night I rolled it to the last 18 inches. Normally I only quilt about 9-11 inches at a time as that is as much as my arms reach comfortably. Have been babysitting most of the week. My husband had a little complication with his appendectomy (peritoneal hematoma–i.e., internal bleeding after the surgery), so his work this week is to let his body get rid of all that extra blood that is sitting in his abdominal area.

Stitch Detail

I promised on Monday to show you the stitch detail for the houses. Things turned a little upside down just after I posted that. My husband developed appendicitis and immediately after I posted, he told me we had to go to the doctor right away. We got back home yesterday after a successful surgery and two and a half days in the hospital. Hopefully, things will get back to whatever ‘normal’ actually is.

Now, for the stitch detail. I am always on a quest for an applique stitch that will hold a raw edge fusible applique in place securely enough to be washed over and over (functional quilts are a necessity at our house), that is complementary to the particular applique design, and that is at least a little bit unique. You will see that the blanket applique stitch here has a short leg and a long leg. The purpose was to make it look more like a hand stitched applique edge. The second stitch is meant to look like a free motion machine applique. And these stitches are much lighter than a satin stitch.

I absolutely love satin stitch, but find that quilts with a satin stitch applique will sometimes have a “waffle” edge on the applique after washing. The reason for this is the density of the stitching and the difference in density between the satin stitch, the applique and the background fabric. After washing and drying, the waffle edge is easily smoothed with a steam pressing from the back (yes, I do steam my quilts when needed), but it’s nice to have lots of other stitches in the repertoire for applique.

New Year Update

It’s pretty obvious I haven’t been writing–and that likely means that there hasn’t been a lot of stitching happening either. What it also means is that Facebook and all the blogs I follow have also been neglected. But I will be catching up. Let me catch you up on projects for the last month.

I am still working on quilting Sherry’s bargello (how many months has this been on my frame?). It is so beautiful, but I had to take breaks to make those pillowcases for Christmas and the stockings. So, here are some pix of things that I have been doing. I’m sure you’d like to see the pictures more than read about them. I’ll tell you more about stitching them in the coming weeks. I learned new things about making pillow cases and tried several different ways to make them. Besides what is pictured below, there was a stocking for Elliot and pillowcases with wild animals and manatees and other fun things.

When I can’t be stitching, I can always work at the computer. So, a little digitizing was done. I worked on some new applique stitches. I really like a more lightweight stitch because it launders so much better than a satin stitch when used in a quilt. See if you can pick out the new stitches.

Rustling Leaves - Oak — Rustling Leaves – Oak

tree single small — Tree from 2″ Circle Die

Tree from 3" Circle Die — Tree from 3″ Circle Die

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