Starshine Stitches

Madison Rose

What a wonderful kid!

Madison was just spectacular to work with.  The perfect 6X with the most willing attitude.  Here she is wearing the Madison Rose Dress.   It has a high yoke - my favorite for girls who want to look like girls.  Full twirly skirt for spinning on the lawn.  It can also be worn with a shirt as a jumper.  Remember jumpers? 

Kids clothes are just too much fun to work on.  I enjoyed it when mine were little and still don't have it out of my system. 

email me for pattern #MD-02 information [email protected]

 The butterflies went to market.  The pockets missed the crates.......

Broidery purse a teacake.....or add a rosette.....

It's a back to work day for me, more about the embellishments another day.

Back to the workroom, Cheryl
 

Target Fixation and it's relation to quilting...

Do you use what you learn? 

I found this little article extremely useful when it was necessary to explain how quilting fillers are stitched with speed.  So what if it's a motorcycle concept?  It's very true, it's how brains process, and down right interesting.  Check it out........ think about it........try it for yourself when you quilt.

http://www.msgroup.org/Tip.aspx?Num=069&Set=&SearchTerms=069

Back to the workroom, Cheryl

Split Sleeve

North American Smocking

I know that those of us over 40 have seen this type of smocking before.  Think back to your old Aunt's pillows.  It's been around a long time.  It's not like traditional smocking, no elasticity, the stitches are worked on the back (don't show).  It's most often seen on checkered homespun - avoiding the tedious job of marking out a grid of dots.   

The samples have three rows marked in colored pencil.  The only stitch required is a knot.  Start that knot in the bottom corner of a solid color square.  In this case it's the white square.  Leave slack in the thread .   

Next pick up a few threads just under this knot and a few threads in the opposite corner.  Pull the corners together and work a knot.

On to the blue.  Pick up a few threads and tie a knot in the next solid colored square.  Remember to leave slack in the thread, you don't want this to gather.

 

Pick up the corner under the knot and a few threads in the opposite corner.

Pull together and knot.

That's all there is to it.  If you are planning to give it a try you might want to mark out some rows.  The washable colored pencils grocery store are great for marking rows until you get the hang of it.  Use different colors for each row so you don't get lost.  Try starting out with a large check, and a much bigger section of fabric than you will need for your finished project.

Thank you for your interest!  If you have any further questions I would be happy to answer them. 

Bren, Yes I do distance quilting.  I even have a little map with with some interesting dots.  It's fun to know where some of the quilts end up. 

Now I really gotta get back to the workroom..... that dolly dress quilt won't quilt itself....Cheryl

Holly Dolly Dress Day

 

Second from last for a reason - I get to put it all together. 

Those of you who know me will most likely understand the yoke on this dress.  I may be big on machines, but there is a love of the hand-made-itsy-bitsy in me.  The technique is North American Smocking.  It's unlike traditional English smocking.  The finished product has no elasticity, and is usually worked on a straight checked fabric.  The fabric here is printed on the diagonal and produces a straight basket weave.  Honestly I don't know what comes over me sometime, just thought it would be cool.  All you need to know to do this is tie a knot with a needle. 

The dress pattern had a smocked dress look to me (the whole fabric collection too), so I fiddled a bit with a few ideas.  This type of smocking seemed better suited to applique.  Now since Tim Holly lives a hop skip and jump from me you know I had to "work it".  She was even kind enough to make me the pretty poet's bow. 

Now if anyone is actually interested in the technique I would be happy to post further -  just leave me a comment. 

Back to the workroom.....Cheryl

String Quilt Class

String quilts are back in vogue.  The editor of McCall's Quilting has her own wonderful Silk String quilt in the October issue.  Now I need to get my hands on some silk scraps I think.  All those solid colors - just think of the quilting possibilities!

The ladies from last fall at the Local community school did a wonderful job with their own string quilts. 

I love quilts that reflect the students own color preferences.  There were two goals here.  Learn about grain, and how to straight set blocks with speed.  This is one of the two quilt patterns I use when I need a gift in a hurry, or just want to get the scrap box under control.   I miss the days when I kept up with my fabric purchases.   

Back to the Workroom.......Cheryl

Wide binding corners

I used to really hate binding quilts.   Corners came out cupped or dog eared.    When I jumped into quilting for hire I had to get it right.  Most directions allow for 1/2" finished without problems.  Wider than 1/2" and I was in trouble.  So I had to sit down and figure out how to consistently turn a corner with any finished width binding.

I am going to assume that readers know how to fold a corner.  The point I want to make is - do you know where to put the fold.  Most directions tell you to line it up with the edge of the quilt.

I do mark the finished perimeter+1/4" and make 1/4" corner marks so I know where the finished corner is.  We all sew to within 1/4" of the corner and back-tack.  My little 1/4" line is my guide to stop and back-tack.

To put the right amount of fabric in the corner I measure from the seam to the fold of the binding.  That measurement is transferred along the seam line of the binding and I mark a dot.  The binding is folded as usual and the dot goes right at the corner, using the corner mark.  The images are of a 1" finished binding, cut width is 4 1/2".   I begin sewing the next side at the fold.   Cut the quilt layers after the binding is attached. 

Back to the workroom........ Cheryl

 

Hydrangea Wholecloth Quilt Pattern

Truly, some fabrics are just to pretty to cut up.  Holly's Hydrangea fabric is one of them.  The clusters of blooms are wonderful.   Using the fabric as it comes off the bolt is a bit tricky.  In simple words, it has no central focal point.  The focal point needs to found and centered.  The small picture is the fabric as it comes off the bolt.  There are 3 1/2 large blooms across the width.  The quilt above centers one of the large blooms to create a pleasant grouping.  The pattern includes twin and queen quilt sizes.  Email me for pattern information and pricing (WC-01).  Wouldn't this look great in a guest room, or an entry way? 

I took the quilt to guild show and tell after market and was asked how long it took to make.  Let me answer it here, 10 hours minus the hand finishing.     Let's break that down.  About an hour was devoted to finding the "sweet spot" on the yardage.  45 minutes to cut the panel (first time to do this takes time) and the booth requirements must be met!  Borders usually take me 1/2 hour ( add 10 minutes for the stripe- gotta keep it straight).  When the tops are finished I usually assemble the binding, 20 minutes.  Marking the scallops was quick, less than 10 minutes.  The remainder of the time was quilting.   

Quilting was the bulk of time with this one.  I wanted the quilt to have a trapunto effect but didn't have the time to do the real thing.  So I layered a polyester batting on top of a cotton.  The cotton will shrink just a bit after washing and the poly will not. 

The flower blooms are "lightly" quilted and outlined.  The filler around them had to be tight, to give the blooms lift.  Holly hated my choice - oh well.  I used it for 2 reasons.  1. it's quick.  2. it's easy to get around the stems.  It's not the best choice but the market clock was ticking and it had to get finished. 

I want to go back and try an idea on the inner border........ more on that later.

The outer border was quilted to look like a large scale stripe/floral print.  Crosshatching is one of the hardest things to do on a longarm.  Picture trying to fill an "Etch-a-Sketch" screen with crosshatching.  The longarm works kind of the same way, horizontal and vertical movements that combine to make diagonals.  There are no feed dogs to guide the stitches, you must use a ruler along the hopping foot to stitch a straight line.   

I hope you enjoyed a peek at this project.

Back to the workroom, Cheryl   

Ruffler/ Pleater

A post for Sam, who has a pleater and doesn't use it.

Those who know me understand that I have a love of gadgets.  The ruffle attachment is an old friend of mine.  $1.00 at a garage sale and a few hours and I was on my way.  I had no idea what the thing did or how to use it.  The price was right- cheap entertainment.

The darn thing may look intimidating but it's not.  There are 3 things that control the finished product.  Another hint is to make the ruffle longer than needed.  The fist few inches are usually flat, just needed to feed the fabric into the machine. 

The first control is the screw.  It is on the right center of the picture.  It controls the depth of the pleat.  The deeper the screw the deeper the pleat.

The second control is the little tab and slot thingie.  It is in the right above the screw, and faces you when the pleater is on the machine.  It is numbered 1, 6, and 12.  That is the number of stitches the machine takes before it takes a pleat.  The 1 will take a pleat every stitch.  The 6 (personal favorite) takes 6 stitches and on the 6th stitch takes a pleat.  Now the 12 is rather difficult to use, no matter how much I play with it.

The third control is the stitch length on the machine.  The shorter the stitch the closer the pleat, the longer the stitch the more distance between pleats. Simple-

To use the gadget you just feed the end of the fabric between the front guides on the foot to keep the line of stitching even.  Run the fabric under the "grabber", and go.  Hold the fabric in front gently so the grabber can do it's work.   

Some combinations work better than others.  A tab setting of 1 (one pleat per stitch) works well with a shallow pleat  and a bit longer stitch length.  If you really must use the darn 12 setting, tiny stitch length combined with a deep pleat is about the only useful setting.  If anyone out there has a useful combination/application for the 12 setting I would love to hear about it!

My absolute favorite setting...... slot of 6, 2.0 to 2.5 mm stitch length, and the screw all the way in.  It makes a wonderful full ruffle.

It's Monday and the holiday is over.

Back to the workroom.........Cheryl

Charity Quilt

So what sort of quilt do I as a quilter put together for my guild boutique?

I was given a bit of pink fabric, so why not a whole-cloth?  I have a wonderful new stencil, and no time to decide what to piece!  I can give those interested in my stencil table a demonstration too.

Fabric is loaded, Stencil and pounce pad in hand.  I marked the whole 40" length. 

Click on the picture to get a better look.  The half image near the leader is sewn, and the marks are still visible! 

I rolled the table under the area for the photo.  Of course you would move it off to the side to stitch.  It is also helpful to load quilts 10"-12" to the left of center to increase the working area without removing the table.

Now for a peek after the chalk has been removed.   Some little one will hopefully love this quilt. 

I really do love to make quilts for little ones!  If my kids decide to read this- please don't give me the opportunity to make them for a good Long time!  I am OK with the random quilt for a kid I happen upon.