Category Archives: Inklingo

A Butterfly Block or a Dragonfly or?

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When I saw Karen Dianne’s Alabama Beauty blocks, I saw butterflies.  I had to try playing with a bright print for the wings and a black for the body.  Mr. Q.O. thinks this looks more like a dragonfly while I’m thinking it’s a butterfly.  It was one of those blocks I had to make just to see how it would turn out.

The back:

I’m not sure how many more butterflies/dragonflies I’ll make, but I think probably at least enough to make a table topper.  It makes me laugh as I had decided earlier on the long weekend that I was going to limit myself to working on 4 or 5 projects for a few weeks and not start anything else.  Clearly I have limited no self-control when it comes to trying out ideas.

Our Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful with great weather, good food and lots of time to just relax.  We didn’t go for the standard Thanksgiving weekend drive to look at the foliage and, as very little has turned yet around here, have only a picture of one of the roses from the front garden to show.  Much as I do admire the fall colours, I rather like the idea that we still have roses blooming at this time of the year.

Smudge spent most of the time the turkey was cooking on Monday in the kitchen. The meowing wasn’t constant, thankfully.   But any time either of us walked into the kitchen he was right there, looking up ever so hopefully that there might be something forthcoming.  Once the turkey was finished, both he and Lester were in the kitchen waiting for their portions.  This was Smudge after his turkey treat.

Earlier in the weekend I was rummaging about in the stationery cupboard looking for something.  I left the door open for a moment, turned my back and the next thing I knew Lester was in there.  We captured this shot as he started to come out after causing a small avalanche of equipment and paper.

Circle of Fractured Hearts

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On Monday’s post, I showed a photo of one of the quarters of the applique I had done over the weekend.  Last night, I finally got up my courage and sat down at the sewing machine to stitch the four quarters together.  I was, as usual, practically breaking into a cold sweat at the thought of having to make sure my sewing was this precise, as my sewing machine skills are less than wonderful.  But, thanks to the fabulous lines that one can use as matching points, with a little careful pinning I was able to stitch the four quarters together and now have a circle of fractured hearts.   I didn’t have to frog stitch any of the seams!

The back shows just how perfectly the lines matched up.  I don’t know that I’d want to try this with anything other than the shapes printed with Inklingo, though — as I doubt I could trace anything with this kind of precision.  In fact, I wouldn’t even want to try.  But now that I’ve got this block under my belt, I think I’m going to try one of the Celtic applique designs that are available in this collection.

One of the things I really loved about this applique block was that I set the size. I could have printed a 4″ block, a 6″ block, a 8″ block but I chose to print the design in quarters and then have a larger block that finishes at 14.5″ but I didn’t have all that fabric bunched up in my hand while I appliqued.  That’s an added value for me, as my hand will begin to hurt very quickly if I’m having to hold a large piece of fabric.

I have an idea for the fall fabrics I showed a while back using Winding Ways blocks that’s begging to be made.  I’m trying to resist but it’s getting more and more difficult.  I have so many projects on the go and so many others in the ideas book that I’d like to finish at least one before starting this.  Whether I can continue to resist the siren call of those Winding Ways blocks remains to be seen!

Lester was curled up asleep on the couch, showing us the paw pads on one of his feet.

While Smudge had taken over my desk chair.

Pickled Ladies and the Cabin Quilt

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Two more Pickled Ladies blocks are done.  I have about 10 arcs ready now to add to clamshells, so should have a fair number of the blocks finished by week’s end. One of the things I want to do over the next week or so is figure out just how big I really do want to make this and then sort out the exact number of blocks I’ll need. Perhaps it will end up as a lap quilt, but I’m having so much fun making them that I don’t think I’ll want to stop there but may just end up turning this into a bed-sized quilt.

Over the past few days some stitches were taken on the Cabin Quilt as well and two more of the stitchery blocks are done.

Tuesday was a grey rainy fall day.  The kitties took full advantage of the snoozing opportunities.  Smudge got himself really tucked into the kitty bed into an almost headless cat pose.

While Lester curled up with a teddy bear for a nap.

Back-Basting Tutorial — Lots of Photos

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Lester is intently watching as we go through the steps I take when doing applique using the back basting process.

For back basting I use both a larger needle and larger thread.

When I do any applique, my method of choice is back basting.  I’ve found a few tricks that really help me.  First of all, I use a larger needle.  In the above picture, the top needle is a #8 straw and the bottom one is a #12 sharp.  I use the #8 straw for back basting with a thicker thread, as shown below.  And I always wear a thimble when doing this as getting that needle through some fabrics, particularly a batik, requires some protection for the finger!

The thread on the left is the normal heirloom 80 weight thread I use for piecing and applique.  The thread on the right is 30 weight DMC thread I use for backbasting.

With the applique design printed on the back of my background fabric, I pin a piece of fabric that’s large enough to cover the shape to be appliqued on to the right side of the background, with the right side of the fabric to be appliqued facing up.  Then, from the wrong side of the background and following the lines, I baste the pieces on to the background fabric using the large needle and large thread and taking relatively small stitches.  Here you can see all the pieces on the quarter block basted down.  If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you’ll see the basting stitches quite clearly on the pieces to be appliqued.

This is the back and it shows the basting following along the lines of the shapes that are printed on the wrong side of the background.

What this picture doesn’t show, and I wish I had taken one after this next step, is how flat it sits after I run my nail along the lines of basting to relax any gathers that have occurred as a result of pulling the basting thread a bit too tight.  Running a nail along the stitching line is all that’s needed to ease out those little gathers.

I’ve found that leaving a piece that’s basted overnight before starting to applique it makes the next step a lot easier.  The next day I pick up the piece and clip the basting  thread at about every 5th or 6th stitch as seen in this picture.

This next step is where the magic of this technique appears. After clipping the threads, I pull out the first one or two sections. Take a look at this picture and you’ll see the perforations in the fabric to be appliqued where the basting line was.

The fabric folds along that perforation line so easily it’s always amazing to me. With my needle, I fold it under and start to applique. I don’t look at the back again where the lines are until I finish all the applique. And every time my applique stitches are close to being perfectly on the line. The reason I leave the basting stitches in overnight is that I’ve found that it makes that little perforated line really do its job. Think of it like a piece of paper that has some perforations to make it easier to remove. I think the basting line does the same thing but, in the case of fabric, makes the fabric easier to turn under.

I begin to applique, pulling out a section or two of the basting thread as I go along.  The basting thread also serves to hold the fabric being appliqued in place.  So no fighting with pins, no freezer paper to remove, no overlay to try to keep out-of-the-way and no lines that might show on the front if the applique isn’t right on the lines of the design.  Just needle, thread and fabric.

In this picture you can see how closely my applique stitches are right on the line of the design.  It also shows the lines of another shape, which I chose not to add to this part of my applique block.

Again, another picture showing how closely the applique stitches follow the line of the design.

Everyone has their favourite method, but I hope this little tutorial gives you the information you need if you’d like to try the back-basting method.

Smudge is hoping you found this relaxing and informative.

A Little Applique

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This is clearly a work in progress, but it’s one I’m thrilled about.  I haven’t really done much applique at all in the past few years, partially because tracing lines with any sort of precision is … well, difficult.  My hand cramps up after a minute or two and it becomes such a chore that I give up.  But now?  Now I’ll be doing a little applique again because there are a couple of Inklingo applique collections with the promise of more to come.  At the moment, there’s a free collection found here and a Celtic applique found here.  The Celtic applique is by designer Scarlett Rose and is called San Kamon.  I’ve always been fascinated by Celtic applique and, as soon as I can settle on a fabric for the applique, intend to make one of the San Kamon designs.

My favourite method of applique is backbasting as it makes it so easy to get perfect placement with no overlay or pins or freezer paper.  Just needle, thread and fabric.  With Inklingo printing the lines on the back of the fabric, it makes backbasting a breeze.  You could also print your lines on the front of the background fabric, and use that for placement if desired.  Or print the shapes only on the applique fabric with or without turn-under allowance.  All the options are there.  I chose what size my block would be.  The picture I showed is one-quarter of a block that will finish at 16″.   My plan is to add a small border, and have a small table topper.  With a wide-format printer, one could print larger backgrounds.   I love the idea of having the choice regarding what size my finished blocks will be.

The other benefit for me is that by being able to make a larger block by using smaller quarters of that block, my left hand won’t cramp up when holding it to do the applique.  I know that’s not an issue for everyone, but it has been a real stumbling block for me.  Holding a 16″ block while doing the applique is not something I can handle.  But a quarter of that?  No problem!  This week is looking rather overwhelming again with work, but I’m hoping to stitch the four quarters together — by machine, no less — and have it ready to show sometime this week.

It got very cold here on the weekend.  They’re saying there may be frost all around us overnight tonight.  I suppose the only good thing about that is that we may well have a real colour show on Thanksgiving weekend, which is the traditional weekend for people to go for drives north of the city to see the leaves.  I still can’t quite believe that Thanksgiving weekend is this coming weekend for us.  It seems like yesterday it was still warm and  felt like summer.  It always surprises me just how quickly the temperatures go from hot to cold in the fall.

Lester was relaxing on the pink loveseat.

Smudge spent some time on the windowsill.  The fall seems to be his time for the window as he loves to watch the leaves swirling around on a windy day.   There are still lots of green leaves on the trees, but a fair number have turned colour and fallen.

Fabric Choices for More Pickled Lady Blocks

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Although I already have close to 30 of the clamshells printed for more of the Pickled Ladies, I decided to go through and pick out some other fabrics that are candidates for fussy cutting/printing.  Some of the ones I’ve picked out are shown above.  With any luck, I may be able to get 2 different clamshells from most of these fabrics which should take me up to 80 or so blocks.  My goal is to make approximately 120 of them and then either decide to continue and make it a bed quilt or stop there.

Work has suddenly become extremely busy, which meant that on Thursday I didn’t get a chance to visit many, if any, blogs and very few of the other clamshell club participants.  Hopefully I’ll get caught up on the weekend.

The cats are beginning to settle in for the fall.  Smudge was curled up on the sofa.

Lester was having a snooze in one of the cat beds, with one of his favourite toys nearby.

September Clamshell Report

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Over the past month I have been working on these 6″ pickled clamshell blocks almost exclusively.  So far, there are 25 of  them done.  I first saw the block on Barbara Brackman’s blog back in June and fell in love with it.  When the Inklingo collections for the clamshell pickles came out, I got an idea almost immediately about the florals for the clamshells and black and white for the arcs surrounding each.  I’m calling this the Pickled Ladies quilt as I have visions of some very elegant, almost Audrey Hepburn-like, ladies in an upscale Art Deco bar.  Once I got the idea, I immediately started going through my stash for florals that I could fussy cut/print for the clamshells.  With the aid of a window template, which was easy to prepare by just printing one shape on a piece of paper that was 5.25″ x 6.5″, I was able to quickly cut my fabrics and print the clamshell templates on the back of each.

Stitching the blocks is much simpler than they may appear.  Putting each arc together is just lots of quick continuous stitching.  Adding an arc to each clamshell is a very quick stitch.  Stitching the pickled ladies together hasn’t begun yet as this will be at least a lap-sized quilt, if not larger, and I know I’ll want to play with the placement of them once the piecing is finished.

With the 11″ clamshell pickle collection, I have started this sunshiny quilt but I’m using an alternate setting and various colours for the end pieces of the arcs so that a little star-type shape appears at the intersection.  While I haven’t added to this in a week or so, it won’t take long to get this to a good size for a lap quilt.  Maybe in October I can tear myself away from the Pickled Ladies to add a few more blocks to this so there’s some progress.

That said, I have lots of clamshells printed and ready to stitch more Pickled Ladies.

As well as the pieces needed for a number of the arcs.

To see more clamshell quilts, go to Cybele’s Patch here and you’ll see the list of those participants in the clamshell club who have posted their progress this month.

Wednesday evening we were cooking some chicken for dinner.  Almost the entire time it was cooking, Smudge was sitting in the kitchen staring at the oven and meowing.  He seemed a bit impatient to get the bit of chicken we always give them when we cook it.

Lester was somewhat more restrained and just sat on the back of the pink loveseat staring into the kitchen.

Another Six Pickled Ladies

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Now that I’ve been stitching these for a couple of weeks, I’m getting into a routine of stitching a few of the arcs each evening until I have 8 or 10 of them and then add them to the clamshells.  I think that process is faster as, once the arcs are done, I can easily stitch 5 or 6 of them in an evening on to the clamshells.  I sort of timed it and I think putting each arc together takes about 40 minutes.  Adding an arc to its clamshell takes much less time, as I can stitch 3 or 4 of those in an hour.  Tomorrow I’ll be showing these as well as another five new ones together with all the others that I’ve finished to date for the month-end clamshell report.

Looking out at the roof garden on Tuesday afternoon, I was surprised at just how many leaves had fallen on to the grass.  There still are lots of green leaves on the trees, but it’s sure a sign that fall is definitely here no matter how much I may want to deny it.

Lester got in some windowsill time on Tuesday.

While Smudge was reclining on a chair.

Fabrics for Pickled Ladies

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On Saturday we went up to Sew Sisters as I wanted to look for more florals for the Pickled Ladies blocks.  I found these and then, on Sunday, went through the final container of shabby chic fabrics here and found another great grouping.  So now I think I’m getting close to the halfway mark with florals for the clamshells.  I’m thinking of adding some Oriental florals into the mix as there are some that play quite nicely with the shabby chic.

As well as the florals, I found some great blacks that will work perfectly for the spiky triangles in the arcs.  There are some super black fabrics around now and they’re light enough on the back that printing the shapes with Inklingo is no problem.  I find that now I look at the back of fabrics when choosing them and am surprised at just how many dark fabrics are quite light on the back.  This photo doesn’t really show the black fabrics that well — they’re much darker than they appear in this.  I think I had the flash on when I took the photo.

Sunday afternoon I got out my window template and fussy cut and printed enough of the clamshells to keep me stitching for a couple of weeks.  Using a window template makes it so easy and quick that I had close to 30 blocks ready in next to no time.

Friday we had temperatures in the 90s.  Saturday?  Saturday it was maybe in the low 60s but very breezy and it felt unbelievably chilly after that heat the day before. The sky on Saturday looked so stormy, although we had nothing but a few sprinkles of rain.  We got this shot just down the street from Sew Sisters.

This one of some of the trees in the area looks very much like fall to me.  I kept saying to Mr. Q.O. that the clouds looked like snow clouds.  Hopefully we don’t see any of that white stuff until January or February.

Last week I went to visit one of the blogs I read, Ann Champion‘s, and got a warning about malicious content.  On Sunday, Ann posted about what had happened — all as a result of links left in comments to pages that no longer exist.  It seems Google has a bot that crawls through links on blogs and if a link doesn’t work, the warning goes up about that blog.  Rather than repeat what Ann wrote, I’d suggest you go to Ann’s blog and read about her experience.  What it has made me realize is that links in comments are something I’m going to go through and delete.  It’s going to take a couple of weeks to do so but, after reading about Ann’s experience, I’m thinking I’d rather be pro-active on this issue.  I think I’ll also test any links I had in older posts and, if they no longer work, then I’ll delete them as well.  Ann wrote, “As you have time..go through your blog and check your links.  Active links of any kind are considered dangerous by the Google ‘bot’ when they reside in your comments,” so I think it’s worth the effort.

We had the heat on, on and off, during the weekend.  At one point, Lester was sitting on the windowsill and the warm air blowing up from the heating unit was making his ruff look rather  — well, interesting.

Smudge we caught in mid-yawn.

Pickled Ladies 13 & 14 and Progress to Date

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Two more pickled ladies were completed this week.

And here’s the group of pickled ladies so far.

They were laid out on the floor and, while I was picking them up after the photograph was taken, Lester was very interested!  I was racing to pick them up before he came to inspect as he has a tendency to want to lick and/or bite things like quilt blocks.

Smudge was curled up in a kitty bed with his favourite toy, Cappy, well and truly anchored beneath him and a couple of other toys within paw’s reach.  You can just see the tip of Cappy peeking up.