Name...What Name?

I have this miniature basket quilt bound and ready for a label but just can't come up with a name for it so I need your help.  I don't want to use the words "Miniature or Basket" in the name.  Will show the completed quilt after I get a name decided.

Send me any ideas as sometimes that triggers another idea or combination so I can get this baby named.

Lynn

Lite Steam-A-Seam 2

Thought I would clear up a few comments made here and on the list where I posed the same question about my Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 problems.

The directions on this fusible says to; 1) Trace applique design in reverse on paper liner and then remove second liner, 2)Stick Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 to wrong side of applique material, 3) Cut Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 and material together along traced lines, 4) Peel of remaining paper liner leaving the web on the fabric and stick applique to second material, 5) Press for 10-15 seconds for cotton fabric.

As you can see you are not supposed to use an iron for the first part as it is supposed to be tacky and stick. The fusible does stick to the fabric but the top paper liner with the drawn applique shape wants to slip off right away just leaving my applique fabric with the sticky fusible on it but no lines to use for cutting after the paper has come off. I am still mystified as to what to do.

I did go to the Warm & Company website and they had the same instructions. I did notice they have some fusible called Lite Steam-A-Seam and wonder how it is different than the one with the #2 behind it. Reading the web page didn't help as it pretty much said the same thing about both.

Still stumped,
Lynn

Fusible Web Problems

Help....Does anyone know what is happening to the "Lite Steam-A-Seam2" I have been using? This is the first time I have used it and am wondering if it is me or if something is wrong with this fusible.

My problem is this - I traced my shapes on the side of the paper that seemed to be stuck to the fusible, took off the back paper, placed the sticky side on my fabric and pressed it down with my fingers to make it stick. The problem comes when I try to cut out the applique shapes. The paper tries to slip off and I can't get an entire shape cut out without holding the paper on with my fingers. As you can imagine the paper slips so my cutting is not good, to be honest the appliques don't even look like they should and have sharp corners on supposedly smooth curves.

I am about ready to pull my hair out with this cutting. Am I using this product correctly, does it always act this way? (paper slipping off before cutting)

I have to go shopping one day this week and will look for something else if I can get some suggestions. It needs to be light weight and sewable.

In case you are wondering, I have been using and have used up some old, no longer available fusible I had or I would go back to it. I had bought a bolt of Aileens fusible before it was discontinued and it has lasted a long time.

Here's hoping someone can help. Am going to post the same question on an applique list I belong to as well. Will let you know what I find out from them too.

Lynn

From Ideas to Fabric

After finally deciding what fabrics to use, I got started framing this basket block today. The first two borders are appliqued with the invisible stitch and the swags are fused and then buttonhole stitched with dark purple thread. I do like the look of the swags and plan to use them in one more border on this quilt yet but don't know where. The quilt just evolves as I finish one section at a time.

The tiny red border is about 1/8" wide and the print is about 3/8" wide. Scale is so hard to tell without any reference. Will have to use a ruler in some photos as I continue.

I do want to put flowers in the corners like I did the other two quilts so will probably be working on them next. It takes quite a while to fuse and cut all the pieces needed so it may be a few days before I have any more progress to show you.

John and I took a drive down to two of our pastures this evening to check the cows and to enjoy the fresh air. We each drove a 4-wheeler (some people call them quads)and listening to the birds as we drove along was so nice. Didn't see any deer or wild turkeys this evening which is unusual - we usually see quite a few down by the river where the one pasture is located.

The cattle in one pasture didn't like the 4-wheelers tonight and ran away from us but the cows in the other pasture just watched us for a little while then went back to munching grass. It was getting almost dark by the time we got home but we had a great time.

Until Later,
Lynn

Peices and Parts

Have the pre-fusing done on the flowers and buds and now am ready to get the corners put together on this next quilt. I did get the double oval ring stitched down over the flower basket last night but need to release a few of my seams now so the paper will come out easily later.

I probably won't get any done on it today as my daughter S is coming down to help me plant my garden and to run the vacuum cleaner on the floors in the house. Those two things I just can't manage. The garden is needing to be planted and I didn't get it done before the surgery as John had not gotten it tilled by then.

I have found also that running the vacuum is just too much for my foot. Not sure if it is the weight of the machine or just being up on my foot more. The floors need a good cleaning and since we are having overnight company on Tuesday I am very thankful S is helping me out today.

She called and is on her way and will be here in about 30 minutes so I had better post this now. Will show you a photo I took yesterday before I close though. We loaded up a trailer load of yearling heifers to take to one of our pastures. They sure didn't know what to think of the pasture and took off running after being unloaded. Here they are running along the ridge of a hill. They pretty much ran until they got to a fence then followed the fence around. By today they will be settled down and enjoying all the green grass.

Until later,

Lynn

Fabric Flowers & Real Flowers

Today I have gotten the two rings cut out and seam allowances glued down for this next flower basket quilt - not much progress but every little bit counts. This photo is of them laying on top of each other but not stitched down yet. Think I will do flowers in the corners like the other quilt but have not traced them on the fusible - maybe this evening or tomorrow I will get that done.

I slipped outside this morning and took this photo of the flowers on the south side of our house. The irises are starting to bloom so pretty now.

That's all for now as I must get outside to mow my yard. Works OK with my "wonky" foot as we have a riding lawn mower and all I have to do is sit. When I finish the lawn I need to mow the rest of the yard but will have to have help getting the grass catcher off the mower. Will look good when I get finished but always an itchy job. Will tie a plastic shopping bag over my ugly shoe to keep the dirt and grass off if it. I will really look strange - I wear a large hat to keep the sun off, long sleeves, sun glasses, long pants and gloves so the plastic bagged foot will just add to my ensemble!

Later,
Lynn

Ready, Set, Go

This afternoon I am working on quilting the first miniature flower basket quilt. So far I have the flowers, leaves and basket in the center outlined and the background in the center finished. I just did a small stipple in the background. I am using YLI silk thread - burgundy for the flowers, green for the leaves, brown for the basket and pale yellow for the background.

Notice the red ring - that is the Quilt Halo sold by Sharon Schamber. It really holds the quilt down and is easy to grip to move the quilt around while stitching.

This is what it looks like from the back.

Yesterday I got rid of the crutches and am hobbling around with out them now. So far my foot is doing pretty good but my other leg gets really tired taking most of the weight. I do have to take breaks to put it up and put an ice bag on it periodically and that helps.

Back to quilting,
Lynn

Updated Quilt Plan

This is the plan for the corners - disregard the pieced oval as that part got changed. I have been doing the drawing for this quilt on EQ6 and printed out the oval and rectangle the size it will be but didn't want to take the time to remove all the lines of the block to make it just the appliqued ovals. I am better at drawing the flower and leaf shapes by hand so printed out the quilt plan then did corner drawings.

I will be appliqueing the corners like I did on the basket block and am starting on it today. Don't know if I can get all four corners done today or not since it is noon already.

No cooking this noon as we are still eating Easter left overs - Yay!

Back to work....
Lynn

Flower Centers

I didn't get much done yesterday but look at this new block and ponder leaf fabric selection and flower center selection. I did choose to use the brighter flowers, chose a different fabric for the large leaves, then looked at my choice for centers.

The gold fabric I thought I wanted just was too dull, needed something with a little more spark to it so cut out a brighter orange/yellow center and laid it on one of the flowers - much better. Look at the photo above - the flower on the left has the first choice and the one on the right has my final selection. Also changed the fabric for the larger leaves as I found a bit brighter fabric that also gives the basket block a little more life.

I really enjoy the fabric selection process so didn't mind cutting out all the leaves over again and removing the fused centers and replacing them with the better choice.

In case you might be curious this is how I place these small applique pieces for fusing.

I use the long tweezers that came with my serger and a stiletto to place the pieces and move them into the correct position. I do however cut them out holding onto the fabric. I like to use a micro serrated pair of scissors by Elan to cut the small shapes out. I can clip off areas that need smoothing with these scissors too as they grab the fabric as I am cutting so can cut just tiny bits if I need to.

Have the basket of flowers fused to the background now and have started doing the buttonhole stitch around the different parts this morning using the silk YLI thread. So far so good but have to run an errand this afternoon so won't get it all done until later.

We have 31 calves now - had 6 on Sunday and 5 yesterday and only one so far today. If they keep up this pace we will be done soon. Of course there are always some that are late every year.

The wind is really blowing hard again today only this time it is from the north west plus it is cold, cold cold! The corn shucks that blew out of my flower beds on Sunday are back again today. Will be glad when everything greens up and crops are planted to keep those pesky shucks out of my flower beds.

We are lucky though as some areas of Nebraska are getting a doosie of a snow storm. Just talked to my brother in central Nebraska and they had an inch plus lots of wind so it piled up in drifts. Think the north part of Nebraska was predicted to get 5 to 8" snow plus the high winds - YUCK!!! I want it to be spring.

Back to the sewing machine for a little more stitching before I have to leave.

Lynn

Not Glue

I want to clear up a misunderstanding a couple people have had about how I am attaching these tiny applique pieces to the background. I am not using the Elmer's School Glue on this project but using a fusible paper backed web. Since I am doing the buttonhole stitch by machine I don't worry about it being a little stiff.

Better get to town and get another gal. of milk and a few other groceries. Am making Chili Soup for supper tonight. Cold day today so it should taste pretty good.

Lynn

Bright or Dull?

I started working on another block yesterday - same basket of flowers but different fabrics. This one is going to be made into a quilt for me to keep. Figured while I was at it I should do it right away or I would never do one for myself. Cut all the pieces and arranged them then decided I needed to try a brighter fabric for the big flowers. The whole piece looked really dull with the first flowers so hope I sparked it up with a brighter pink.

Here are the two blocks, one with the dull flowers and one with the bright flowers. The colors are not exactly right on the computer but you get the idea. The basket is a dark purple batik. Even if I used the duller flowers I would re-make the upper flower as two of the petals are too dark - they don't even show up as part of the flower.

What do you think - bright or dull?

This piece of batik fabric was my inspiration for the fabric choices. May use a little of it in a border or just use it on the back. The print is small enough scale to use in the piecing so may do that...who knows will just have to see I guess.

Trying to get this block fused this morning as I want to do a little tidying up this afternoon. Daughter A is coming this evening with our two granddaughters - can't wait. They are so much fun and it has been a while since we have seen them.

It really got cold yesterday but we didn't get any of the predicted snow, however the wind blew all day and is still blowing so the cold temp. feel even colder. I almost laugh when I say the wind is blowing now after that horrible wind we had last Sunday and Monday. What we are having now seems a mere breeze!

Yesterday we had 5 calves born and there were two new ones this morning. That brings the total up to somewhere around 16 or 17. I was asked about our cows and for our area in the mid-west we have an average size cow herd with our near 100 cows. The cattle are beef cattle not milking cows so any milk the cows produce goes to feed her calf. We keep the calves with the cows until Dec. then wean them off the cows. Since the cows are pregnant again this gives the mother a time to build up some extra reserve before she has her new calf in March/April.

The weaned calves go into a lot by themselves and John feeds them until we sell them in January at the sale barn to a larger feedlot where they feed them to butchering size. The calves need to learn to eat out of a feed bunk. Most of them have been out in the cornstalks since we brought them home from the pasture and were eating grass as well as cow's milk all summer so they don't really know what a feed bunk is. Some catch on right away and some others it takes a while. We have hay for them in a feeder all the time too. The calves of course don't want to be away from their mothers and bawl and bawl for several days and nights, plus the cows are bawling too so it is quite noisy around here for about a week.

Guess that is enough about cows and calves for today.

Until later,
Lynn

Other Block Finished

I finished doing the machine buttonhole stitch on the second block this afternoon. Actually it was the first block I made and decided the value was not good so made another one. This block does look better with the stitching done but still like the other one better as it is not so "matchy, matchy". Think I will keep it and work it into one of the auction quilts I need to make though as it is still nice enough looking especially after the buttonhole stitching was done.

To remember what it looked like before the stitching I posted a photo of it below. I did add a few more leaves, flowers and buds after this photo was taken though.

Now I need to plan for sure how I will finish these blocks into quilts. I will probably be working with my EQ6 to get it all worked out before I sew. That is what I do for most quilts even if I make some changes as I am going since it helps me to start out with a general plan.

We did get some rain yesterday - pounding rain that came horizontal. It didn't last long though but settled the dust. This morning we had a few flakes of snow and it is windy again but nothing like yesterday. It is much colder today too with the high only in the low 40s.

Until Later,
Lynn

Stitching Finished

This block now has all the stitching done. I wanted you to see how much the stitching added to the different pieces so loaded a before and after photo to this blog.

Happy Quilting,

Lynn

Mini Fused Applique

After my experiment yesterday I decided to go ahead and make the small tulip blocks. I cut out the shapes with fusible on the back and laid my pattern under the Teflon applique sheet and pressed the parts together following the lines I can see through the sheet. Love using the applique sheet for fusible - easy to put the parts together before the final placing on the background fabric since they peel right off.

As you can see I need a little more practice cutting the tiny shapes. May have to make an extra block or two to get them all to look exactly alike.

After I fused the entire shape I peeled it off the applique sheet. I pulled the paper pattern from under the applique sheet and the background square is centered over one of the patterns. I can see the design through the fabric since it is light colored.

The applique is now pressed to the background fabric following the pattern.

I'm working on doing the blanket stitching on the blocks and will show you them when I get them finished.

The weather has been so beautiful here the last few days it almost feels like spring. The weatherman does say we are supposed to get cold weather move in again this weekend but I don't look forward to that - much prefer a jacket to a heavy coat any day.

Until later,

Lynn

Old and New Projects

Started quilting on this miniature auction wall hanging for our guild the other day and this is all the farther I have gotten. Need to come up with a design for the navy blue borders yet. Can't think of what design to use so it will just sit for a while until I get an inspiration.

I have been wondering for sometime how small I could go to do fusible applique with buttonholed edges. Yesterday I started experimenting with a pattern called Fragrant Memories from this book by Cynthia Tomaszewski.

The pretty tulip block in the book is 9" and I reduced it on the copy machine to 3". It wasn't as good a copy or the exact size I wanted so I decided to scan a 9" copy into my computer and traced it into EQ6 as an applique pattern. I now can print this pattern any size I want. I printed the block as a 2" block and it was really cute. Traced the pattern onto fusible, ironed it to my background square and started stitching.

You can get an idea of how small the tulip is by the bobbin sitting beside it. Chose to use silk thread on both the top and bottom of the buttonhole stitch. The next photo shows the front of my machine and shows that the buttonhole stitch is #1329 on my Bernina 730 and width is 1.2 and the stitch length is 1.2. This is the size I stitched around all the pieces.

It is such a small stitch I put the strongest magnifying lens on the machine to be able to see where I was working. Worked like a charm but I do have to make sure I keep the straight stitching right beside the edge of the applique so it doesn't show.

I didn't know for sure what to do with the tail starts and ends of each line of stitching. My solution was to pull both threads to the back and tie a couple square knots and clip the tails. Thought with silk thread the stitching might come undone more easily than cotton thread.

Here is the finished mini tulip block. I had some red silk thread but didn't have any of the blue green shade so used a med. grey. The grey thread looks better in person than on the photos.

The one part that I thought really didn't work was the very thin stem. The buttonhole stitches overlapped each other. Went back into my EQ6 file and changed the width of the stem and printed a pattern to try. Just did the stem and played with the buttonhole stitch on part of it and do like the wider width better. You can tell that there is a buttonhole stitch on either side on the second example but the first one just looks like I zig-zagged over the stem.

Am thinking of making at least 4 of the tiny blocks and make another small wall hanging for our guild's auction in April.

After Christmas I was looking at projects I had started or never finished and the Grandmother's Flower Garden miniature kept calling my name. I had started hand quilting it quite a while ago then it got put aside for other projects and never worked on since. I have been working on it for a little while each night now and don't have it half quilted yet but am making progress.

I am hand quilting it and it just takes a while as the hexagons are only about 1/2" across and I am doing quite a bit of quilting on it. Quilting through those seams is sure not fun! Most of the time I can only take one stitch at a time. I figure every stitch I put in is one less stitch to go - right?

My fingers are gradually getting the callouses back and are not getting so sore. I had not hand quilted for so long my fingers were pretty tender at first.

Happy Quilting,

Lynn