As I mentioned in a few of my earlier posts I’m part of an
online Quilting Bee. Actually, I’m in two but this one, “Unscripted”, has been my
first online Bee. It is an improv bee and for April I am the Queen
Bee! For my quilt this month I’ve chosen polka dots for my design. The idea is that each person improvs with the coloured fabric I’ve sent them, then
using interfacing makes appliqué circles and lastly sews them onto white
blocks. Each person will end up making two full circles and two half circles
(for the border).
If you know anything about me, you know I’m kinda lousy at
following instructions! (It’s a gift, what can I say? Actually I’ve been slowing down and making quite an effort to rectify this
little quirk, especially since I’ve seen one of my kids having this same tendency.)
Pictures though, I love pictures, I
guess that would put me under the category of a visual learner. Because of this I
decided to give it a whirl and leave instructions (with pictures!) for my Quilt Bee here. Feel
free to quilt along! Promise you’ll send me pictures though... you know I love pictures
;)
Each member of the Bee will get a package in the mail
that includes:
- A stack of coloured fabric
- Two pieces of white fabric measuring 10” x 10”
- Two Pieces of lightweight woven interfacing approximately 7”x 7”
- One circle measuring 6” 1/4 printout
- One piece of white fabric measuring 10” x 11” (for the border)
- One piece of lightweight woven fusible interfacing approximately 8” x 7” (for the border)
- One circle measuring 6” 1/4 x 7” (it has lines in the center of it) printout (for the border)
- A long piece of white fabric with two blue lines on it
- Embroidery floss
- Instructions
- And last but not least a little Easter treat!
First step, easy peasy: cut fabric and arrange. No need to fussy cut anything; just keep all
seams on a horizontal or vertical plane (please no curves or diagonals-thanks
;)
When you’ve sewn all the coloured fabric together, cut out
two circle shapes. I have only one in the photo below (the one on the right) but you'll cut out two. (Please note you don't have to add a seam allowance just cut on the line; for both circle patterns)
Then with the second circle pattern (the one with the
lines on it, on the left) cut that one out, too.
Next, place the woven interfacing, bumpy side (fusible
side) toward the right side of the fabric. Sew together with a 1/4” seam.
Next, pierce the interfacing with your scissors and cut a hole (line) just enough to turn everything inside out.
(I made my cut way too big and if you cut yours too big, don't worry, it will still work). BUT WAIT!!
(I made my cut way too big and if you cut yours too big, don't worry, it will still work). BUT WAIT!!
 |
| It's is a good idea to make your cut the hole in your interfacing just large enough to turn the circle inside out. ( I made mine too large but it still all worked out okay!) |
... before all three circles are ready to be turned inside out, nip around the circles with scissors. This of course will allow your circles to curve better once they are turned inside out.
Once you’ve turned everything inside out run along the
circles edge with a bone folder or thingy used for poking out collars (what's
that thing called anyways?) I like to finger press after I’m done this step.
Now it is time to center the circles on the fabric. I did
this by finger pressing the white pieces of fabric in half twice. With the
circles I did the same but when I found the center I poked a pin in it. Then I opened everything up and poked
the pin (that was already in the circle) through the white fabric where the creases met in the center.
The next step is to iron the circle in place. What I’ve
found a little annoying with this method is that if you make your hole in the the interfacing to big it likes to squish
out the sides. If that happens, I found if I start in one spot and poke the interfacing under (usually
with a pin) and work around the circle doing it, usually did the trick!
 |
| Can you see the little bit underneath the circle trying to peak through? The little stinker! If you cut a small hole in the interfacing instead of a big one (like the one I did ;) you'll get less trying to peak out and less you'll have to fiddle with. |
Next, select a matching top-stitching thread and sew
around each circle. I used my handy dandy top-stitching foot (that I LOVE) for
this. It works out to 1/8” from the circles edge. I pulled my threads to the back
and voila!
Two of the circles are complete! Woo hoo! Thank you, thank
you!
For the circle that’s not so round and on the 10” x 11” piece
of white, we’re going to cut it in half. I folded mine in half then measured it
but I’m sure you would be fine just to measure yours, if you’d like. Just like that, one cut and you are done and
done! Yessss, I can’t wait to see it! Thank YOU!
This Unscripted Bee online Bee is my first and one of my
favourite features is the signature block. Most times it’s a 4” x 4” block that
includes the quilter's name and is pieced into the back of the quilt. For this
quilt (which I’m going to keep all to myself, hee-hee) I'll be sending along
embroidery floss and a long strip of white fabric with blue lines on it. I
would love for everyone to embroider the name of their blog or Flickr name followed by a dash and their first
name. My plan to use all of these embroidered names for the design on the
back of the quilt, sewing them horizontally and vertically. This has been a pretty
amazing adventure and I want to remember each and every one of you! Again,
thank you SOOO much!
 |
| Helpful hints for the embroidery: The strip of fabric is narrow but if you baste some fabric from your scrap pile on either side it will fit in a hoop. Don't have a hoop, no problem, just use some stabilizer behind your fabric and that will help the fabric from flopping around and make it easier to work on. |
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