Free Pattern- Free motion beginner

I can't believe that a month has gone by already.My  New Year's Resolution is to post once a week.

I have done well haven't I?

Now back to some free motion work. Since some of you have already tried some of the free motion exercises, here is a pattern for you to make. A single daisy with a dragonfly or two.

You basically piece the background and then use a paper backed fusible web like Wonder Under ( still my favourite) to fuse on all the parts. You then layer the top,backing, and batting and quilt and embroider all in one go.

To get the complete pattern file please email me and I will send it to you. 

catelaw@ripnet.com

Merry Christmas Project

Christmas Ornaments- Little Tree

Skills Discovered
We will learn a quick way to make stuffed Christmas ornaments.

Equipment
Sewing machine in good working order .
Machine quilting or embroidery needles size 11 or 14.
Your favourite sewing supplies and a pencil.
Some hand sewing needles (did I just type that?)

You Will Need:
1. Strips already sewn together

2. A small amount of stuffing
3. Cotton batting, and backing

4. Threads.
5. Scraps of trim and ribbon.
6. Beads and sequins.

7. Fun yarn for couching.

Instructions
Layer pre-sewn strips with batting and backing (blue fabric).
Pin or spray-baste all three layers together.
With a fun thread quilt some meandering lines.
Using a small zigzag stitch, couch down the hairy yarn.

Using the tree template, draw three trees on the blue fabric.
Sew on each line leaving a 2 inch opening for turning.
Cut out each tree with a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Turn each tree right side out.
Sew on beads by hand.
Stuff through opening.
Stitch opening closed.
Stitch on cording loop by hand.

Voila! a finished fun ornament. If you want to make more ,start by making a much larger quilted top.

If you would like a tree pattern, email me and I will send you one. catelaw@ripnet.com

HO! HO! HO! Happy Holiday

PIECE ON A WOODEN FRAME

TUTORIAL: How to mount a piece on a wooden frame. After taking a class with Marilyn Stewart-Stothers at a CQA Conference I fell in love with this method of presenting my work. It really does look like a piece of art when you are finished and it is really fun to wrap the design around to the sides.
Now that the summer festivities are winding down and I have learned to take closeups with my new camera ,I am ready to share with you how I mount my work. If you need more info, just contact me at catelaw@sympatico.ca



1. Press and trim piece (quilt) including the extra inches needed to wrap around the sides of the wood (the depth of the wood plus ½ inch).
2. Lay frame on top of right side of the piece and mark the four corners with pins.
3. Flip piece to wrong side, mark where the pins came through on the wrong side of the piece with a fabric marker or a pencil.
4. Draw a line from left to right going through the dots at the top.
5. Repeat this step for the other dots.
6. Stitch the corner line with a very small stitch for strength.

7. Mark a ¼ inch seam inside each corner and cut it away. Also cut away the batting and the backing fabric to the stitching line to eliminate the bulk.

8. Mark the depth of the wood from each dot at the corners

9. Match the marks from the seam line with the point being the end of the seam. Stitch 3 times for strength.

10. Turn the corners right side out and slip onto frame. It should be a snug fit. If not, sew small seam again just inside the stitching line.
Put onto frame making sure that the corners are aligned.

11. Starting in the center of opposite sides, staple it down, pulling it tight each time. Follow diagrams for stapling order. Staple down to the very end. Trim away any extra fabric.

12. On the opposite side start in the center and staple the same way until you get within an inch of the corner. Fold like a miter and staple down.

13. Fold the corners neatly and staple.
14. You can customize your piece by adding a label to the back.

STRETCHING WORK ON WOODEN FRAMES

A few years ago I took a workshop with Marilyn Stewart-Stothers at A C.Q.A Conference in which we stretched our work over a wooden frame. I loved the finished effect as it presented the work like a piece of art. My husband adjusted this technique to make it sturdier as I was wanting to do bigger pieces. Below is one of the results. "# 56 With Attitude" which is now in a private collection.
Making a Frame Tutorial

1.My husband uses 1 in.x 2 in solid pine to make the frames.
2. He cuts them so that the outside measurement is the one that I want. Do not mitre the corners as this weakens it.
4. He then glues and clamps the pieces and has them dry overnight.
5.Then ends are then nailed with a nail gun.
6. If the piece is large like one of my Madonnas he will put an extra brace in the center.


The nails are quite long and go through. Two or three will do.

FREE MOTION TUTORIAL -5

Hi everyone, here are a few more fun things to try.

Trapping sequins under a sheer fabric.
1. Draw a shape onto a paper backed fusible web such as Wonder Under, say a butterfly wing.
2. Cut out the shape leaving a 1/4 inch border.
3. Cut a smaller hole inside the shape of the wing. This is where you will place your sequins so that they can move under the sheer.
4. Iron the cut out paper backed fusible web to a sheer, watching the temp of your iron and using a teflon sheet or parchment paper under the sheer and under the iron. Sometimes the glue from the fusible web will come through the sheer. You can imagine what kind of a mess this can make, so protect your iron and your ironing board. I still need to buy a new ironing board cover quite often as I forget this step now and then in my hurry to finish something.
5. Take the paper from the sheer, and lay it down on your backgroung.
6.Slip some sequins under the sheer where you have cut away the paperbacked fusible web.
7.Put your teflon sheet or parchment paper on top and iron it down.
8. Free motion around the edges and there you are, a fun and glittery applique.
9.This works really well on wearable art projects.

Cutaway applique.
1. Draw a shape on your background onto which you have placed some kind of stabilizer.
2.Stitch with a very small stitch .15 mm on the line.
3. Cut the inside away leaving the stitching intact.
4.Apply a see through washaway stabilizer to the back and the front of the hole. Pin or baste it in place.
5. Set up for free motion and so across the hole using any design that you may wish making sure to catch the edges. Finish the edges.
6. Stitch to your hearts contenct and when satisfied wash away the stabilizer.

Copying cartoons.
Take any simple line drawing and try to copy it. Don't worry about it being perfect as this is just for fun.The gentleman looks like my husband. He is quite cute.

Taking a fabric and using the shapes from the fabric.

Same as above, also all of these projects can be done on quilt sandwiches. Try them all, and keep your samples for future reference. I also write with a marker on the sample how I set up my machine to get this effect. If you are anything like me, I will forget what I did when I want to achieve the same effect again.

Have fun!!!

Any questions, email me - catelaw@sympatico.ca

FREE MOTION TUTORIAL- 4

Some more fun things to try.

1. Set your machine to a zig zag stitch, drop the feed dogs and get ready to play.
2. If you move your fabric in a vertical direction you will get a zig zag stitch. If you slow your fabric down enough you will eventually get a satin stitch.
3. If you move it from side to side or horizontally you will get a fat uneven line.
4. If you move the fabric diagonally you will cover a lot of the fabric and lay colour down quite thickly.
5. Try to make a leaf shape. The effects can be quite fab. Check below.

Now , find a design, back it with a fusible web like Wonder Under, cut it in half and iron it onto a quilt sandwich. Now the fun is to free motion the shape and then add the missing half. It doesn't need to be perfect as it will look quite artsy.

Cut out some flower and leaf shapes from fabric scraps that have a fusible web ironed to them. Finish the design with free motion.

If free form cutting is not your thing , cut the flowers from a floral fabric.

Have fun playing. If you have questions you can contact me at catelaw@sympatico.ca

FREE MOTION TUTORIAL-3

Try this really fun way to practise free motion. Find a print that has clear images, layer it with batting and a solid colour backing and pin or baste together. Put a pretty contrasting thread in the top of the machine and the same in the bobbin. Then free motion around all of the shapes. Don't even cut the thread when a shape is finished, go ahead and travel to the next space.

Turn it over and your design has been transferred to the back. make a jacket or placements but don't show anyone the back. Who will ever know????? You are a genious!!!!

FREE MOTION TUTORIAL -2

To get really great at free motion is really very simple.
Practice,practice and more practice.
Make yourself about 10 quilt sandwiches. That is layer 14 inch squares ( aproximate - I use my leftovers and scraps) of fabric, batting and backing and pin or sew them together on the edges. Then cover them completely with free motion. Number them from 1- 10 and by the time you do the 10th one you will see the improvement when you compare it to the first one.
This is what you can do after you have had some experience. Click on the pic to get more detail.

FREE MOTION TUTORIAL -1

Here are some things to try with free motion. The first two are the easiest to do. Cover a whole quilt sandwich with these two until you get a feel for it. HINT -make sure that you leave an inch all the way around the quilt sandwich as you need to have something to hang onto.

The spirals are interesting. If you go into the center without stopping you will get the smooth circle on the left. Try going into the center and then back out. To get square corners stop where you want the corners to be, take a few stitches in one place and then move to the next corner.

Loops are lots of fun. Try e's, l's and upside down loops. Don't worry if you are wobbely, the more you practise the smoother your free motion will become.

BOBBIN WORK TUTORIAL- 3

BOBBIN WORK THREE- RIBBON

1.Silk ribbon is lovely to use and you can go up to 7mm in wdth. As long as it can be wound on the bobbin so that it lays flat. This is crucial.

2. The pics are a bit fuzzy but I have found the macro setting on my camera and the next batch should be clearer. So much to learn but it's also so much fun.

3.Pull the ribbon up through the throatplate and bypass the bobbin tension.

4. Take a tailor's awl or something with a point and punch a hole where you want the ribbon to come through on the right side of the work. This takes courage but go ahead, the end result will be worth it.

5. Pull the ribbon up through to the wrong side through the hole that you have just made. and now you are ready to sew. Start with a straight stitch of at least 3mm. Hold the threads with your finger and start to sew.

5. This is what the back of your work looks like. Check out the horizontal lines on the first pic because this is the effect that you achieve. The longer the stitch length the wider the end result.

The horizontal lines are Superior 7 mm. silk ribbon and the vertical lines are Sassa Lynne. I bought both these items at the retreat from Anita Zobens.

http://www.cottonmillthreadworks.com/

Take a deep breath and give it a go.

NEW PIECE - CITY CAT + BOBBIN WORK TUTORIAL - 2

This is a detail of my new piece City Cat. This was created for the "Tampered With Show" at Paper Images Gallery in Picton which will run in June.
After using a facing to make a round hole in my quilt, I strung some washers in the hole using Wonderfill Dazzle, the same thread That I used in the bobbin in the whole piece.
You may wonder how I kept things in place while stitching, and yes you do have to do this by hand.
I used painer's masking tape to hold the sections of the washer in place as I worked around the circle with my stitching. because it is a low tack tape it doesn't gum up the thread and it is easy to reposition.

There he is in all his glory.The horizontal lines are done with 7 mm. silk ribbon in the bobbin. It is lovely and soft and worth the time that it takes to wind by hand.I bought this from Anita who was at our Art in the Islands retreat . As you make the stitch length longer, the finished result becomes wider.
I have also used a hand dyed cotton which worked very well.

BOBBIN WORK 2
Ii you tried it , you may come into a few problems. Here are some hints.

1.If you have trouble getting the bobbin thread up to the top of your work, make a small hole with a tailor's awl and then use that hole to bring up the thread. Works every time.

2.If the top thread breaks, go to a polyester as it is stronger. Generally cotton will work with cotton, but rayon thread is more delicate and you may have to use a polyester to bring up the bobbin thread.

3. In lesson one we put the thread through the tension. Now try the same excersize with the thread out of the bobbin tension. In top loading machine you put the bobbin in and then leave the thread hanging then bring it up through the throat plate of your machine. In bottom loading machines, you will pass the bobbin thread thruogh the larger hole and then bring it up.
This will give you a looser look.

Have fun and remember if your machine makes a funny noise, stop, your machine may not like what you are doing . If everything checks out with your machine,forge ahead. Just experiment and you will learn what works foryou and your machine.

YOU CAN BE AT ONE WITH YOUR MACHINE!!!

BOBBIN WORK TUTORIAL -1

This is a sample of some of the bobbin work that I demonstrated at our retreat. The regular bobbin threads don't cause too much difficulty, but the fun begins when you use three ply yarn and ribbons up to 7 mm wide.
Once I got home I have continued to work with bobbin threads and have lots to share.

If you are a bobbin work virgin this is how to start.

LESSON ONE

1.Buy some thread such as Ricky Tims Razzle Dazzle from Superior Threads, or Razzle or Dazzle from Wonderfil Threads, or a heavy rayon from YLI, and you can also use Pearl Cotton. These threads are thicker and mostly will not go through through the top tension disc of your machine.
I say most because there always seems to be an exception. When you are at one with your machine sometimes wonderfull things can happen.

2.Hand wind a bobbin with the thread and put it through the tension as always. Thread the machine with a complimentary thread and you are ready to sew.

3.Pull the thread up through the fabric and then you are ready to start.

4.Straight stitching is the easies way to begin and I like to use a stitch length of at least 3mm. This makes the thread look wonderful.

5.Then you can try a zigzag stitch.

6. If you are brave then try a little free motion.

The effect you get is fab as you get a lot of colour from one row of stitching. If you are having some difficulty email me at catelaw@sympatico.ca and I will answer.

Have fun!