Oh Darn

Just when I thought that borders were ready to be sewn onto my triangle quilt, I realized that it was not the right size on the length.  Oh darn .....

So, on that note, more triangles are being cut out for one more row.  Some striped fabric was auditioned for the border, but I'm not sold on it yet.

Now, I have been asked about my triangle pattern.  Where can you get one?  My pattern came from my EQ7 program under One Patch.  It is really a hexagon that has been sectioned off.  I simply turned my hexagons into triangles for ease of sewing.  

 

 If you can't get a hexagon big enough, below is another way that you can make the templates.

Once my paper template is ready and cut out, a plastic template will be made that has a good 3/8" seam allowance.  I allow extra fabric at the seams which is trimmed later.

My plastic template is used for drawing the design onto a piece of fabric.

The design is drawn and will be cut out with scissors.  A good project for catching up on TV programs.

 Here are my fabric pieces ready for the paper templates.

Paper template pinned in place.  See the seams at the top two sides?  Just make sure they measure 1/4".

The two short edges are folded over and basted in place.  This is what it looks like from the front.

This is the back.

Take your ruler and line up 1/4" on one long side.  Trim.

Then do the other side.

Sides are trimmed and ready for sewing.

Place the templates in this order.  You need a dark, medium and light to make a triangle.  You have to be aware of placing each piece so that you don't have a light against a light, etc.  At the sides (see the two arrows), you will need to open up some of the shorter seams that were basted (and this is why it was important to allow the 1/4" seam allowance)

Once you are happy with your placement, it is time to start hand sewing triangles together.  This is what the front looks like.

This is what the back looks light.  If you follow the directions for making your own triangle template, your side should measure 6".  The smaller arrows show the seams sewn together.  At this point, all the basting and paper templates are removed.

You will need some half triangles to finish the sides as shown below.

 Just take your paper templates and cut in half.

 You will need to reverse half of your side templates to get an even edge.

 Once your triangles are hand sewn together, then it is time to start sewing those triangles together.

 This is my system of marking my triangles for sewing so that none of the triangles get messed up.  Trust me, it really is easy to twist those triangles around, even when you mark them.

This is what one row looks like all sewn together.  Happy days!

So, back to cutting and basting to get that last row done.

Have a great day!

Apple Core Edges

Since I have been asked how my apple core edges were done, here is my step-by-step 'how to'.  Enjoy!

My edges are made from strips of red fabric (2-1/4" wide) and they are appliquéd to the edges of my apple cores.  Some of you thought that I cut out a whole bunch of red apple cores, sewed them on and then squared up the edges to get a straight edge.  Nope, that was way too much work!  :o)

This is the one edge of my apple cores.  Where you see the white arrows, these edges have to be clipped and basted or turned under.  Since I don't do needle turn, they were basted instead.

When clipping, I always like to clip from the back so that my cut doesn't go too far.

Then I baste under those clipped edges.  The drawn curved line is my guide for turning under.

There, my edges are all turned under and I'm ready to start pinning and sewing them down.

To determine the amount of fabric needed to place my apple cores onto the strip of fabric, a bit of measuring is needed.  I place my ruler on the valley part of the apple core (see black arrows) and move it so that there is 1/4" for seam allowance.  Then I see on the top of the hill part of the apple core my measurement looks to be 1-1/8" in height.  To round off, I will chose to go with 1-1/4" and that will give me extra fabric to pin the valley edges to the red fabric..

On my strip of red fabric, I will mark off 1-1/4" from the bottom edge.  You can barely see the line, but just look at the arrow for guidance.

Then, I place my apple core (the hill will be right on the 1-1/4" marked line.  A lot of pins are used to secure the cores in place.  My pins will only go to where you see the vertical pin (see black arrow) and that is my stopping point for sewing.  There is a reason for this.

Below, I'm just appliquéing the edges to the red fabric.

Many of you have asked what thread I prefer to use for appliqué and for EPP.  Over the years, many different types of thread have been tried and discarded.  This brand of thread is my favourite.  It doesn't tend to tangle, it doesn't slide out of the needle, it doesn't get caught on the rough skin on my fingers and it doesn't fray.  This is my go-to thread all the time.  For my apple cores, this colour of thread was used throughout.  I did not switch to matching colour for every core.  It worked quite well.

The reason for stopping at the intersection between the blue and neutral print fabric is so that I have room to attach the next piece of red fabric (see the black arrow).  I can move the sewn apple core section out of the way.

My next red strip of fabric has been sewn on.  Yes, this is an odd area to have a seam; but this is the only way it will work because of the 1-1/4" marked line.  The corner apple core looks odd, but it is perfectly aligned.

My next section of apple core edges have been pinned in place and is ready for appliquéing.

This is what it looks like from the back once the edges have been appliquéd on.  Don't remove those papers just yet.  They are left there to act as a safety zone so that when trimming, you don't accidently cut into the apple core fabrics on the front.  Hmmm .... how do I know that could happen?  :o)

Following my appliquéd line, the excess red fabric is trimmed away leaving a good 1/4" seam allowance.

Once the excess fabric has been trimmed away, this is the time now to remove all the papers.

So, here are a number of my edges all sewn together.  I love it!

Did you see that missing chunk of section in the photo above?  Well, here it is ready to be worked on.

I still have another step that you need to know about, but I can't describe it to you at this time.  I need to make a whole bunch of apple cores and sew together the remaining 1/4 section and take photos for you to see.  This post will be edited when that time comes.

Have a great day!

Leafing away

This post is for my friend, no-blog Mary who has asked for help from afar.  Thanks heavens for the internet and blogs.

No-blog Mary has started doing applique and wanted some instructions on how to get nice pointy leaves.

So ... here goes ...

If you do your applique using freezer paper, needle turn or paper piecing, you will have a tail at the pointy end of your leaf.  The tail could be on the left or right side. 

With a pair of scissors, stylus or needle, push (flip) that tail inside

so that you don't see it anymore.  See the tip now with no tail sticking out.  It looks nice and pointy.

If there is too much bulk at the point, then you can trim the tail .... but not TOO much.  Leave at least 1/8" of fabric, otherwise the fabric will start to shred and you won't have anything solid to anchor your stitches at the point.

After trimming, flip the tail back inside and using small stitches, sew to the point and then continue sewing around until you have your entire leaf sewn.

This is what it the leaf will look like once all the basting stitches and backing has been cut away

To trim or not trim?  I get that question a lot.  In the beginning of my applique journey, I didn't trim away any fabric on the back of my applique.  Nowadays, I trim or cut away the backing fabric.  Why?  Since I hand quilt a lot of my quilts, there were just too many layers to quilt through and that is why my applique gets trimmed afterwards.  Below, you can see the difference with one side trimmed and not the other.  

Mind you, there will always be an exception to the rule.  In particular, a lady that I know is doing an applique project that has a dress form on each block.  The dress will be stuffed and embellished.  The extra fabric on the back will be left to add extra stability to the dress, otherwise it might have a tendency to sag or become wavy once the quilt is finished.

Are you curious to see what project that leaf will be used for?  A wall hanging of leaves, vines and circles.  I've been seeing this on Pinterest a lot lately and made up my own pattern using EQ7. Yep, another new project!  :o)

Well, no-blog Mary, I hope this helps you!

Have a great day!

Apple cores - how to?

How do I go about sewing together my apple cores?  It is easy.

The apple cores in this section below were removed and pinned onto a piece of cotton batting.  Smaller sections are just easier to handle.

For me, I like to start in the bottom left hand side.

Below is the start of sewing the pieces together.  The paperclip you see attached to one of the apple cores helps to keep my sewing orientated.  When I see the paperclip, I know that is the very bottom of the section and it is easier to put back in the right order. 

 

Below is the sewn three-piece section put back in it's original place.  So, which ones will get worked on next?  The ones with the big X on them.

Here are those three cores pinned onto the bottom piece.  See the arrows?  That is the route that my sewing will take me.  I just find that it is easier to work on diagonal rows.  The sewing is more continuous and organized.

How are the pieces assembled?  Looking at the photo below, you can see how my core on the right is slid into place by using all the drawn lines.  Each core (for this diagonal row) will be pinned into place and then I can start sewing.

A simple applique stitch is all that I use.

The meeting of this corner is perfect.  Sometimes my core has to be repinned as I sew along.

As soon as possible, some of the paper templates are removed.  Only remove the ones that are surrounded by another core that still has it's paper template attached.

This post really should have been started at the beginning.  How did I start my apple core project?  Find a pattern and adjust the size of the apple core to the size that you want to make.  My pattern came from EQ7 and Block Base.  That was the start.

I made my own paper templates.  They are easy to make and only scrap paper is used.

Here are four paper templates ready to be used.  Don't use more than four sheets of scrap paper at a time.

Pin the paper template to the back of your fabric.  Use three pins as shown below.  

Trim the fabric all around the template leaving a good 1/4" seam allowance. 

Start folding the fabric over the paper template and baste in place.  You don't have to snip your fabric to fold over nicely.  The curve is gentle and the fabric will fold without much fuss.

Once your get half way on the curve, remove your pin that is on the back and repin the last half of the curve and continue basting.

This is what the back looks like of one of my apple cores:

The drawn lines that you see on all my apple cores just helps me keep everything in its' proper place and lined up correctly.   Using a light box, my template is placed on top of the fabric and after lining up the template to the paper piece on the back of the apple core, I draw a line using Crayola Washable Fine Markers. 

My paper templates are reused and are pressed with an iron to make them crisp again; but as soon as they lose the crisp feel to them, they are tossed and new ones are made.

My method is not fast .... but it works for me.  So, now you know how to put together an apple core quilt.  Sue Daley has a different method of doing apple cores.  Check out her video.  Whatever method, do try making a few apple cores.  You will be glad you did.  For years, I had put off doing an apple core quilt because I thought it was hard.  Oh well, I'm doing it now.

Have a great day!