Baby Brit Quilt Along, week #11

 I showed you last week how I quilted in the ditch, and I think it makes the Union Jack blocks "pop".  I was afraid that if I did an "allover" design, that I might ruin the look....just because I'm not that experienced in machine quilting :)

I went to town on the sashing, doing a jigsaw design.  I tried to keep it as little and close together as possible.  I love the results!

I started seeing double after a while....that's a lot of stitching!

I wanted something different for the border.  I thought of flowers, but I did that once before.  I practiced a pretty swirl design on paper so I could get the hang of the curve of the swirls.

It's hard to see on the white, but here are the swirls!  

I'm pretty excited about the results.  I guess it just takes practice :)

This is the quilt, completely machine quilted.  I think it took me about 11 hours to quilt.  An hour for each of the Union Jack blocks, 3 hours for the jigsaw quilting, and 2 hours for the border.

I always love to look at the back of the quilt, but don't look too closely!  I really think that if my quilter didn't live in another state, I would have commissioned her to quilt my Baby Brit.  Then again, she just quilted two quilts for me and the expenses do add up.

Next week I will show you how I bound this quilt and that will be the end of our Baby Brit quilt along :)

Paperdoll Block - Applique Tutorial, part 2

This is part 2 of the tutorial, you can find part 1 here.

Now that the baby doll pyjamas, the bunny slippers and the tabs are appliqued, it is time to transfer the squiggly line for the rick rack onto the fabric.  I tape the paper pattern onto my light box and position my foundation fabric on top of the pattern so that it is perfectly lined up.

Here is the squiggly line that I traced.  It is really important to transfer all the markings perfectly, or almost perfectly :)

I glue the rick rack down with Roxanne's baste it glue.

I thread my needle with 2 strands of matching embroidery thread and stitch along every rick and every rack.  It is amazing how this simple technique makes the rick rack look just like a telephone cord.

Here is a close up of the stitch.

This is what the stitches look like on the back.

After the rick rack is glued and stitched, it is time to position the phone under the tracing paper.  When I know it is in the right spot, I glue it down with a couple of dots of glue.

Then I applique the phone using the needle turn method.

Now I position the phone receiver and glue it in place.

The phone has been appliqued!  Step by step, the block will soon be completed.

I have been showing you all of my paperdoll blocks and as I mentioned before, this is the last one.  I wanted to show you the method that they are appliqued and embroidered so that you would see how labor intensive they really are.

Bee in my Bonnet Row Along

I've been working on Lori's Row Along, and having a great time doing it!  I showcased the fabrics I chose for the quilt and Row 1 here.  The butterflies are Row 2.  For me, the best part of making a quilt is choosing the fabric :)

I know this photo is sideways, but that is how the butterfly row will be sewn into the quilt.  The fabric for each butterfly was chosen with great care!

This is rows 1 and 2 together.  Lori is designing the quilt as she goes although I know she has the large picture in her head.  Even though the rows are numbered, we don't really know what order they will be in the quilt.

This is row 3, zig zags.

This is Rows 1, 2 and 3 together.

Peekaboo to my fabric hording.....er, stash! LOL

This is Row 4, don't you just love the apples?  I made 2 large design boards and really love them!  They are from Lori's tutorial.

McIntosh, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith and Pink Lady apples.  Isn't the apple core cute?  I also took great care in choosing the greens for the leaves.  Each of the leaves is a different fabric.

Golden Delicious and more varieties of red apples.

Rows 1, 2, 3, and 4.  This is going to be the cutest quilt!  My husband is going to say, "What are you going to do with this quilt?"
My reply, "I don't know, enjoy it, admire it, perhaps give it away?"
What would you say to your husband as I'm sure he wonders what you are going to do with all of your quilts too!!!

Baby Brit Quilt Along, week #10

 I wasn't able to finish machine quilting my Baby Brit quilt, but I took a big bite out of it!  I quilted all six blocks in the ditch, along every single seam.  

It was difficult to decide how to quilt it.  I love the blocks and the fabrics in each of them and didn't want to deter from the design.  I thought quilting in the ditch would preserve the beauty of the blocks.  I am going to do some fancy quilting on the white sashing and the polka dot binding.  

Here is the photo of my pinned quilt.

I put the photo sideways because you can see it closer.

See how quilting in the ditch makes the crosses in the block pop?

I have been dying to show you the fabric I bought for the back, Riley Blake's Chevron in red!  The stripes will be vertical on the quilt.  It is hard to see in this photo, but you can tell the shape of the Union Jack block by the quilting lines.  Notice the smaller line of Chevron?  That is where I joined the two pieces of fabric together.

Another tidbit of information, it took a whole hour to quilt each block!  That is way more time than I would have expected.

Next week I will try and have the quilting finished.

How are you doing on your quilt?

Paperdoll Block-Applique Tutorial, part 1

This is my last paperdoll block!  I am so excited to be close to finishing this quilt.  I shouldn't fool myself though because even though this is the last block, there is still lots of detail in the sashing.

The pattern comes with this drawing.

Next, I cut a piece of tracing paper to the specified size and trace the drawn images.

Freezer paper is paper on one side and a waxy finish on the other.

I trace all the pieces that are going to be appliqued, onto freezer paper, transfer the corresponding number, and cut them out.

I iron the freezer paper (the waxy side down) to the fabric, trace with a pencil, and cut out leaving a l/4" seam allowance.

Some of the applique pieces will be embroidered.  I take those pieces, remove the freezer paper, and lay them on the drawn image on my light box.  I trace the design onto the fabric and return the freezer paper to the fabric and iron back into place.  (The freezer paper can be ironed back onto fabric about 3 times)

The applique pieces are numbered in the order they need to be sewn onto the base fabric.  Piece 1 is the left tab on the baby doll pj's.  The base fabric doesn't have any markings on it.  That is why I need the tracing paper drawing.  I place the tab under the tracing paper and make sure it is centered correctly.  Then I add a drop of glue and return the tracing paper to make sure the tab is still in the correct position.  That is when I remove the freezer paper.

These are some of the tools I use when I applique.

Cotton thread, a needle threader, straw needles, Roxanne's glue, and a thin leaded pencil.

Using the same color thread as the tab, I stitch the tab in place.

I think the reason this method of applique is called needle turn, is because when you turn the corner while stitching, you tuck the seam allowance under with the needle as you sew.

On to piece number 2.

Piece number 2 still has the freezer paper ironed on to it.

Now I'm positioning piece number 5.

I stitched piece number 5, and have positioned piece number 6.

Stitching piece number 6.

Cute little baby doll pj's. That's what they used to be called when I was a little girl in the 60's.

Piece number 7.

Piece number 8.

Piece number 9.

PJ's and bunny slippers including their tabs are all appliqued.

T

I hope you enjoy watching this block come alive!

This paperdoll quilt was designed by Lori Holt, Bee in my Bonnet,

and sewn by me :)