A Different New York Beauty

This is the first of seven New York Beauty blocks that will be made using these fabrics. I have a plan for a small doll/teddy bear quilt. Oh, who am I kidding? I just really wanted to see how the block would look in a more muted colourway. Now I know. I don’t think there’s a set of fabrics that wouldn’t be fabulous for NYB. I still have plans to play with batiks and Fassett prints and shabby chic and who knows what else. I can’t get over how quick a block this is to hand piece. It’s easy to piece one an hour.

Seams graded and pressed. One thing is noticeable. This is an ordinary quilters’ cotton while the Tiffany lamp fabrics have a metallic element to them. The ordinary cotton presses flatter with less effort. This block got the Baxter seal of approval – he licked it!

A question was asked yesterday about how I use Inklingo, whether it is to print the shapes on fabric or to print templates to trace. So I thought I’d show on a couple of fabrics just how perfectly the shapes print right on the back of the fabric. First on a light fabric. Oops — thought we had taken the picture before I started cutting but quickly realized we hadn’t. The smaller arc is the only thing missing from this sheet. If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you can see the stitching and cutting lines and matching points and crosshairs.

And then on a dark one. There are lots of ink colours from which to choose for each fabric. That said, I’ve been using Inklingo long enough that I can pretty much group the fabrics I’m printing and use certain ink colours for each group. I do tend to use the reds more than anything else as the red ink always seems to rinse out in seconds, although I always do a test sheet when I change ink cartridges just in case the manufacturers have improved their inks.

For the NYB blocks, I’m using one of the combo sheets. In this case, it’s the combo sheet which has all the shapes for a block. Each of the blocks will be slightly different as a result. For identical blocks, I would print each shape separately on the fabrics. In the case of the New York Beauty blocks, I print every shape on my fabrics as I’m hand piecing.

For some other blocks, particularly those using HSTs or QSTs, I might only print on one of the fabrics, in this photo on a muslin, and then use those lines to stitch by machine as shown for the sailboat blocks here.

When we were setting up to take the missing picture of the light fabric, Baxter decided he had to lie down on the fabric first. There’s nothing he loves more than a piece of fabric to paw at and possibly lick. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “Well, I’m helping, aren’t I?”

14 thoughts on “A Different New York Beauty

  1. Baxter’s mane really shows in this photo! I have made NYB in black and white prints with lime green points, but my blocks are larger than yours…..about 8in square, I think.

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  2. Nice! I love that colorway too!
    Now, Baxter has found his calling, he licks the blocks before you press them so instead of using Bestpress or starch or water for crisp pressing, it’s your Baxter licking to keep things sticking!

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  3. OK, this is more MY style of NYBeauty! LOL
    I love all of the blocks you have done so far but my traditional heart can’t help but gravitate to the newest.
    I can’t wait to be able to make my first block but that will have to wait until other things get their turn! LOL

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  4. I love this colorway. Such pretty fabircs!
    About Inklingo…I see that you print directly onto the fabric. Do you use freezer paper to get he fabric through the printer? I’m really inpressed with these NYB blocks and may have to try them!

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    • Thanks, Candy!

      Yes, the fabric is pressed on to freezer paper and fed through the printer. It is incredibly simple and very quick. I’ve been known to get the pieces for an entire quilt printed in an afternoon.

      Cathi

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    • Liz,

      The ink will wash out of the fabric when I wash the quilt after it’s finished. I haven’t had any issues with the ink bleeding onto the fabric at all. That is one of the reasons to do a test sheet though when you change cartridges – to see how well the ink washes out and to ensure there is no bleeding. I’ve been using Inklingo since it first came out over six years ago and have used various printers and have never had a problem.

      When I’ve rinsed the test pieces I have almost always found that the ink rinses away almost as soon as it touches the water. In a few instances, one or two of the darker colours don’t but they also don’t bleed through and don’t shadow through to the front.

      Cathi

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  5. Baxter looks so very regal today! What a cutie he is. Maybe he’s helping to remove the lines with his licking. Tell him to just be sure to wait until AFTER the block is stitched! Love the new colorway…. Hugs from Texas!

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  6. I love this block!! Thank you Cathi for making one in a different fabric style. It’s good to see how different fabrics work with this block. Lovely picture of Baxter :)) Bunny hugs Ellyx

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