You Are My Sunshine Part 2

 

Auditioning the lattice fabric between the blocks then auditioning the border fabrics is how I made my decision.  I just kept trying the different combinations of fabrics until I found the ones I liked together with the blocks.

Auditioning Borders VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

All pieced and ready to quilt.  I do want you to try and find a piecing mistake I didn’t notice until I had the wall hanging all quilted, bound and hung.  Just look at the photo below and see if you can spot it.  It is very obvious once you see it but I really must have not looked too closely before I layered it to quilt.Next is the quilting and I will reveal the piecing mistake so come back to find out where it is if you didn't spot it.

Until later,
Lynn

You Are My Sunshine

This is a block I made in a class I took from Mickey Depre a few years ago at QuiltNebraska, the Nebraska State Quilt Guild's annual convention.  It is such a cheery block but I never quite knew what to do with it until now.

This year our quilt guild challenge gave me an idea to use this block as part of my challenge.  The challenge was to make a quilt that depicted a song title.  The song I chose was “You Are My Sunshine”.  It is a favorite song of mine as my father in law used to sing it to our daughters all the time so they also feel a connection to the song.I pulled some fabrics that blended with the block I'd but came up with another idea by this time so just started drawing blocks in my Electric Quilt computer program and proceeded to start foundation piecing the different sized sun blocks.  This is just the pieced part of the block as there will be 1/4 circles appliqued to the corners to make them look more like suns.

     

Next step was to add the quarter circle suns to the corners.  I used the Bernina circle attachment and it made it a breeze.  I backed the bright fabrics with a lightweight interfacing then after stitching the circle wrong sides together I turned and pressed them.  Perfectly smooth curves!  This way the edges were turned under and they could be appliqued down on the blocks.

The whole idea of the circle attachment is that the fabric is anchored in the center with a pin which guides the fabric in a circle as it is stitched.  Pretty simple idea but the circles can be adjusted to different sizes and more stitching can be added in the circles easily with this tool.
As you can see I pulled a bunch of red, orange and red threads from my thread stash and did a pretty stitch on each of the circles to add more interest.  I also used the threads to stitch down the blue blades of the foundation pieced sun rays with the built in stitches on my machine.  This is something I have wanted to do for a while and it really added texture and another layer of color to the blocks.

Appliqueing the Circles VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I used a glue stick to position the circles to the blocks and used more of the built in stitches on my machine to applique them.  What fun!  The circles were trimmed to their 1/4 circle after the applique was done.The blocks are done, now to figure out how to put them into a quilt.  Come back for the next installment to see.

Until Later,
Lynn 

Christmas Stocking Fun Part 2

Only read this on the original blog post as it has been pirated.  You will find a link on the right sidebar of my blog  http://nebraskaviews.blogspot.com 

The back of the stocking is cut the same way as the front of the stocking except you use the hem of the pair of jeans as the top of the back. Does that make sense?

I do cut the back larger than my pattern by about 1/4" on all sides except the top. I trim the excess off after the front and back are stitched together. It just makes it much easier to put the stocking together and you don't have to be so exact when cutting the pieces to match them up.

One thing I did not tell you yesterday was about the pattern. I drew the pattern I used by enlarging a pattern I already had. I am sure you can find a silhouette of a stocking you like on the internet or a color book, etc.UPDATE: Look on Tips and Tricks page for a PDF of stocking pattern.

I decorated the stockings by using the embroidery stitches on my machine and using a variety of thread colors, weights, and finishes. It was fun to use the stitches as I have not used that feature on my Bernina 730 very much. I did have a piece of scrap denim that I would do a little stitching to see how it would look before I did the stitching on the stockings. Some stitches didn't show as much as I wanted because the thread color value is too close to the value of the denim. I used what I had on hand after all I have lots of spools of thread that need to be used. Of course there are a few lines of embroidery stitches that are not the best but on the whole they look good. Click on the photos to make any of them larger.

After I got the embroidery stitching finished I laid the front and back and figured out where the hanger should be stitched. I cut the hanging strip from the flat feld seam on the sides of the jeans. I cut close to the seam on both the front and the back. This is a very thick seam with lots of denim layers and works well as the hanger. I cut my strips 10" long as I wanted to have enough to hang straight. The strips were laid on the the top edge of the inside of back section....whew, what a string of words. I did stitch two rows of stitching on the ends to attach them. Since everything is raw edged I didn't finish the ends.

I dropped the feed dogs on my machine and using a free hand embroidery foot I zig zagged the names on each of the stockings. I chalked some guidelines and chalked the name to give me a guide. I did John's name without guides and found out I could not write with the machine and keep track of where I was and the size of the letters without the guides. I also found out it is easier to stitch cursive writing over printing. I only did two with printing and that was enough. The photos of the stockings I post here have the names blurred out to keep my children and grandchildren anonymous. John and my name are readable though.

Lay the front over the back of the stocking, wrong sides together and stitch 1/4" around the stocking, backstitching at the beginning and ending to secure. Trim the excess backing even with the front of the stocking .....TA DAH it is done.

See I told you it was easy. The stocking doesn't have lining, you don't have to stitch a cuff or top edge, raw edges for the seams and fused toe and heel sections. Best of all they are so darned cute.

Will show a few today and a few more in the next posts. Will do at least one post on hints for a more successful project.

Boy have I had a problem getting the photos positioned. On the screen where I am typing in the information there is no gap between the photos but on Preview there is a I don't know why it is so hard to move and position them. Any hints would be appreciated!

Until Later,
Lynn
Update: Here are the links to all the stocking blog posts.
Part 1 Christmas Stocking Fun
Part 2 Christmas Stocking Fun Part 2
Part 3 Christmas Stocking Tips
Part 4 Denim Jeans Christmas Stockings
Part 5 More Stocking Hints And Observations
Part 6 Two More Christmas Stockings
Part 7 Hanging The Stockings
Part 8 More Stockings To Show
Part 9 Another Jeans Stocking For The Fireplace
Part 10 Pattern