It's a new day for the USA!

November 7, 2020: to commemorate yesterday's presidential election news, I abandoned piecing the hexagon blocks I'd previously prepared... to make these. 

Election 2020 patriotic hexagons.

Whatever red, white or blue fabrics near the top of the stash pile were pulled for cutting and assembly.

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris hexagon block.

President-Elect Joe Biden hexagon block.

Some units were thead basted... then I turned to the glue stick to expedite the basting process as we awaited the President-elect and Vice President-Elect televised speeches.

Hexagon block backs show thread and glue basting.

It's a new day for the USA.

Kantha stitched and hand embroidered Flag Girl.
Shall we name her Kamala?

Fabrics:
birds on navy—Small Things Pets from Lewis and Irene

girl faces—Friends and Faces from Paintbrush Studio

tonal red blender—Suede from P&B Textiles

flowers on red—Alexander Henry Fabrics

small flags—unknown, from my stash

A Ghastlie heart for Valentine's Day

I was at The Quilting Squares of Franklin quilt shop on Friday. The Ghastlies were there!! Valentine's Day is this coming Friday. And one of my Make Nine projects is pillowcases. Kismet!

"Ghastlie Love." Alexander Henry Fabrics.

Ghastlie Heart Valentine pillow cases

The fabrics I chose for my Valentine pillow cases are Alexander Henry's "A Ghastlie Heart" (of course!) and "A Ghastlie Screen," with a bold, graphic, Art Deco flavor. Both of these fabrics come in other colorways and there are several more prints/patterns in the collection. Call The Quilting Squares of Franklin or visit you local quilt shop and snatch some Ghastlies for Valentine's Day.

The makings of pillowcases: A Ghastlie Heart and A Ghastlie Screen from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

I use the burrito construction method with French seams to make my pillowcases and omit the accent band at the cuff. I'm checking off another Make Nine finish for 2020.

A Ghastlie Heart pillow cases.

Wishing everyone a Delicious Valentine's Day (and night) with Ghastlie pillow cases.

A Ghastlie Love fabric from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

💗 💗 💗

Alexander Henry fabric drawstring bag

I used to carry a small plastic bag in my suitcase for laundry. No more! This cloth drawstring bag is much better and the Alexander Henry Fabrics are cheerful, happy designs that make me smile.

Drawstring laundry bag.
Made with Birdland from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

The fabric pieces for the bag are about fat quarter size. The fold-over casing at the top for the drawstring is about 1.25" deep. Remember to leave openings at the side seams to feed the drawstrings through. 

Two long, narrow strips of cotton knit fabric (scraps from a garment sewing project) worked great for the drawstrings! I actually like the knit fabric "string" better than a cotton cord or ribbon. The knit stretches and springs back, but the bag is still easily closed. 

The other side of the drawstring bag.
My Planet print from Alexander Henry fabrics.

The bag bottom was boxed to make the bag more spacious inside. I sewed a seam about 3" in from the bottom corner. I like how the scene from My Planet travels up the outside of the bag.

Did you know that the fabric designs from Alexander Henry are original and drawn/painted by hand with traditional art materials—ink, acrylics, gouache, etc.? The original art is not created on a computer. You can really see the "hand of the artist" in these prints. Aren't they wonderful??

Boxed bottom of my drawstring bag.

I love using my fabric drawstring bag! Fabric is breathable, earth-friendly, soft, not noisy, and washable. So much better than plastic! And when the fabric is from Alexander Henry... well, that makes it even more special.

Visit your local quilt shop and pick up a few Alexander Henry fabrics to make something special. It will make you smile!

Return to sewing with a Ghastlie vengeance

In my travels, I'm thrilled to hear more and more interest in apparel sewing is popping up in quilt shops and independent sewing centers. Have you caught the bug?

"A Ghastlie Craft" by Alexander Henry Fabrics
previewed at Spring Quilt Market 2018.

If you're a quilter, you already have many of the skills needed to sew garments for yourself or family members. See this post where I used a form of "crazy patch"—a common quilting technique—for a knit pull-over. Here is another jacket I'm working on that incorporates quilting patchwork.

Patchwork on a jacket back. Fabrics are cotton yarn-dyed from Diamond Textiles.

Garment sewing featured at recent Quilt Market
Amy Barickman, from Indygo Junction, was at the Diamond Textiles booth at the recent Spring Quilt Market. Here is Amy, talking about garments made with Diamond Textiles' fabrics using her patterns. Simple silhouettes... casual wear and stylish... and easy to make.

You're not alone!
So, who's ready to make garments? When I was a guest speaker at the Madison Station Quilt Guild in April, I asked, "are there any garment sewers in the audience?" There were 5-7 members that raised their hands

Ask the members of your quilt guild. There are likely friends you already know that are making garments... as well as quilts.

"A Ghastlie Casting" from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

Take your quilt-making skills to another level. Expand upon them to add beautiful "patchwork" to your wardrobe, too.

"A Ghastlie Notion"  from Alexander Henry Fabrics.

Wield your shears! Brandish your threads and sewing notions! Extol your creative passion with fabric and stitch and do it all: quilting, sewing and garment making. Contact YLQS [your local quilt shop] and ask about classes and garment sewing supplies.

And wouldn't it be fun to incorporate a Ghasltie character on the back/front/sleeve of a garment??? 

Happy Thanksgiving in Ghastlie style

When I was growing up, we had those big, all-day-with-the-extended-family meals (grandparents, parents, siblings, two generations of aunts, uncles, and cousins) for the big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I remember it was best for us kids to steer clear of the kitchen because that's where all the brouhaha of food prep, cooking, and last-minute serving details were happening.

Hand embroidery on A Ghastlie Project by Alexander Henry Fabrics.

If this kind of kitchen lunacy happens at your house, you might be having one of "those" hair days as well. Take a page from the Ghastlie's journal—flip your hair up, and stick a flower or colorful hair-bob in your coiffure and don't stress the small stuff.

Early stage of my Ghastlie hand embroidery project.

Or bring along your hand stitching, find a comfy chair in the front room, and stay away from the kitchen—until someone yells it's time to eat.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Hand stitching: it's not as Ghastly as some may think

Hand stitched and hand embroidered "Patriotic Girl."
From ArtPlay Stitchery from Adornit.

It's taken me just about a year to get this piece to this stage.
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The running kantha stitch is by hand.

The embroidery is by hand (except her hair).

I work on it in small increments of time—between 10 minutes to an hour (if watching a TV program).

It's a portable project and it has no due date.

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Yesterday, my quilt guild had its annual brainstorming session to generate ideas for next year's programs. Among the quilting techniques that people were interested in exploring next year were: big stitch, hand embroidery, and sashiko. Traditionally, these are HAND stitching techniques. Although some may feel that "HAND" is a 4-letter word, quilting or stitching by hand can be relaxing, rhythmic and enjoyable... and, yes, it will take a bit more time.

Hand stitching, embroidery and embellishing with heavier weight, decorative threads have made a resurgence in the quilting world the past few years. Its popularity continues to grow. This is thanks to the stitchery artists, pattern designers, authors and instructors [Pepper Cory and Sue Spargo, to name just two] that expose, dazzle and teach us about the artistic potential of these techniques, and the thread and needle manufacturers that bring high-quality products to the marketplace to help us achieve our creative visions.

Here are detail photos of the kantha stitching on my patriotic girl.

Kantha stitching detail.

The top layer is a yarn-dyed fabric from Diamond Textiles, [Primitive collection, PRF-569]. The back layer is a piece of white muslin.

Using up bits of leftover embroidery floss.

There is no pattern marked in the background for the kantha stitching. The needle creates its own path. A new thread is fed into the needle when the previous piece is used up.

Kantha running stitch. No plan, just stitching.

A view of the back. The embroidery [the girl and flag] is embroidered just on the top layer. The kantha stitching is through both layers. 

Back view.

I'm not sure if this will turn into a pillow or a wall hanging. Suggestions? I do like the texture of the background stitching in contrast with the non-quilted, embroidered girl. 

From "Calendar Girls" collection of ArtPlay Stitcheries from Adornit.

Another hand stitching WIP [work in progress] I have going is one of the characters from Alexander Henry's ever popular fabric line called, "The Ghastlies." I picked up "A Ghastlie Project" panel at Bless My Stitches in Murphy, NC.

"A Ghastlie Project"
She might show up on a future artwear jacket.

When choosing a fabric for hand stitching—big stitch quilting, kantha or boro stitching, hand embroidery—I recommend a yarn-dyed woven fabric [see Diamond Textiles] as the needle will glide through with ease.

I hope you consider giving hand stitching a try. It's not as "ghastly" as some may think! 

Prepping Projects for Spring Quilt Market

Free-motion quilting on Betula from Westrade Textiles.

If you follow me on Instagram [veronica.fiberantics], you may have seen progress of these pieces as I was preparing for Spring Quilt Market in St. Louis. So not to neglect my blog and its readers, I'll post photos of the projects I've been working on for the last month or two.

Westrade Textiles sent me a few lengths of their wide backings and asked if I would make a sample for their booth at Market. Westrade offers 110" wide quilt backings in a variety of designs and colors in cotton and brushed cottons.

This sample is from the Betula collection. I used a quilting stencil as a springboard for the free-motion quilting feathers and fillers. WonderFil Threads were used and it was free-motion quilted on a Janome 6500 domestic sewing machine.

Using a quilting stencil as a guide for free-motion quilting.

A second sample was with a brushed cotton from the Betula line. It was wonderfully lush to quilt with a brushed cotton... the stitches sink into the fabric... revealing a lovely, soft quilted texture. I practiced my rulerwork on this sample as well.

Westrade Textiles 110" wide quilt backings.

A contrasting color thread defines the rectangles.

Betula brushed cotton wide backing with free-motion quilting.

Another free-motion quilting sample went into the ADORNit booth for display. This piece incorporates one of their ArtPlay Stitchery embroidery patterns. These are cute, happy stitching designs that temporarily adhere to any background fabric—a yarn-dyed woven from Diamond Textiles was used here—and then wash away with water after the hand or machine embroidery is complete. I used this stitchery for free-motion quilting. 

ArtPlay Stitchery pattern with free-motion quilting.

I made two knit tops using Art Gallery Fabrics [AGF] knit fabrics. These cotton pullovers are becoming a staple in my wardrobe—in short and long sleeves! The first top was color blocked and had a fabric accent on one sleeve.

Color blocked T-shirt made with Art Gallery cotton knits.

 This second top used one of the AGF florals.

Cotton knit top.

I'm glad I brought a jacket to wear over my short sleeve tops. As expected, the conference center had the air conditioning set to "cool." Details about the process for making this vintage-inspired jacket using Diamond Textiles yarn-dyed wovens and vintage orphan quilt pieces can be found at these two posts: Part 1 and Part 2.

Yarn-dyed wovens and vintage textiles combined.

To carry a notebook and my business cards, and to stash any handouts, marketing brochures, etc. that I picked up at Market, I made this totebag/briefcase. It combines Art Gallery's canvas and quilting cottons from Patrick Lose's Poppies in Bloom fabric line. This is yet another variation of the Cargo Duffle that I've made from this Noodlehead pattern. Here is the post about the first version I made using Alexander Henry's canvas fabric.

Canvas briefcase/totebag. Variation of the Cargo Duffle by Noodleheadd.

These projects are made from fabrics of the fabric companies I currently represent. If you are interested in any of these fabrics, please ask your local quilt shop to carry them. Support YLQS [your local quilt shop], keep your needles threaded and may your fabric stash be plentiful!

Using heavy weight cotton for the Cargo Duffle bag

My first finish for 2017—the Cargo Duffle, by Noodlehead. What do you think?

Cargo Duffle. Pattern by Noodlehead.
Heavy cotton oxford from Alexander Henry Fabrics. Multi-colored stripe by Diamond Textiles.

This is my first foray with a heavy weight cotton fabric. This beefy cotton oxford, used on the outside of the duffle, has a 2 x 2 basket weave structure and is ideal for a durable tote that can lug around 20+ pounds of fabric samples, which is what I need it for.

Heavy cotton oxford and quilting cotton from Alexander Henry Fabrics.
Multi-color stripe from Diamond Textiles.

This lovely bird and flower print is from Alexander Henry, called Larkspur. The accent fabric is a multi-colored stripe from the World Fabrics Collection by Diamond Textiles and the pink lining is also a heavy weight cotton from Alexander Henry.

This was a good project on which to try free-motion quilting on a heavier weight fabric. The front and back pieces of my bag measured 21" x 16", which were enlarged for my use from the original pattern. 

Free-motion quilting. Front panel of duffle.

A print like this—with large motifs and open background areas—is great for practicing hand-eye-coordination of free-motion. Just outline quilt the large motifs that are printed on the fabric. It also eliminates the need to come up with a clever quilting design on your own! You can see how the birds are highlighted with the outline quilting surrounded by a sampling of free-motion fillers.

Free-motion quilting. Back panel of duffle.

This Cargo Duffle pattern has a very interesting and streamlined way to make the bag's two-toned handles. A nice detail!

Handles using two fabrics.

The handles were straight-line quilted with the walking foot. For extra support, I did sandwich a strip of batting inside each handle. It was fun using a new 12 wt. variegated thread [Fruitti by WonderFil Threads] to topstitch rows across the striped fabric. The color scheme of this thread was a perfect coordinate for the stripe. 

Topstitch quilting the handles with 12 wt. variegated thread.

Inserting the zipper flat is easy and manageable (and pattern instructions are very good).

Zipper inserted in the top gusset.

Liking a tab to counterbalance the opening and closing of the zipper, I added a tab at each end of the zipper using the fabric's selvedge.

Using the fabric selvedge to create a zipper tab.

Tab at the zipper stop.

The accent fabric used on the handles (the stripe) is also used on the bottom of the duffle. In the original pattern, this accent fabric covers the raw edges and secures an outside pocket. For extra security, I lengthened the handles and sewed them down the front/back of the bag as I knew my bag would carry a lot of weight. By omitting the pocket, I used the accent fabric piece to secure and cover the raw edges of the extended handles. (The construction details of this duffle pattern are functional as well as decorative.)

Accent fabric is decorative and functional.

The pattern says to bind the raw edges if you choose. If you have a serger, I say to "fire it up" and finish the seam allowances lickety-split. Some raw edges were serged before duffle construction (the front and back pieces, for example), and some after.

Serged seam allowances to finish.

This bird is ready to fly!

My free-motion quilted Cargo Duffle is complete.