WIP Wednesday

I thought it was time for an update on my Midnight at the Oasis quilt.  I haven't really been keeping up with the QAL but I have made a start on the fourth border.

 

There aren't too many green sprouts in autumn - you're more likely to see bare branches and maybe the last of the blossoms.  You might also spot some mushrooms sprouting up in the undergrowth.

I'm blanket stitching all the shapes in place - the orange peel border started an addiction to this kind of handwork - and it's very relaxing.  The bias strip is currently held in place by my new favourite notion - appliqué glue.  I was intending to machine stitch the bias strip in place, but actually now I think I'll blanket stitch them too.

It's so wonderful seeing all the different versions of this quilt as people work on it - make sure you check out the flickr group for all the gorgeousness.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

WIP Wednesday

I thought it was time for an update on my Midnight at the Oasis quilt, which I started at the beginning of October (my first post and fabric pull are here).  As you can see, I've now finished the centre and the first border which is made up of orange peel blocks.  

I paper pieced the triangles in the centre and would really really recommend that method - I'm sure it was about a million times more accurate for me than trying to piece them any other way.  Sharon of Fabric and Flowers has a tutorial on how to do this.  If you go down this road, I would recommend leaving the paper attached to those triangles until you've added the inset triangle pieces - I think it makes that step easier.

 

The inset triangles were a little tricky, but I was having a Tim Gunn moment and managed to make it work.  I did a couple of things that I think helped me along though.  First, I traced the shape of the inset triangle piece onto a piece of freezer paper, and ironed it to my fabric.  Then I used my ruler and rotary cutter to cut out the shape, adding a 1/4" seam allowance to the two shorter sides (as per the pattern) and a 1/2" seam allowance to the longest side.  This extra wiggle room meant that the centre finished slightly larger than required and I was able to trim it down to the perfect size.  I also think using freezer paper to guide my cutting made it more accurate.  Finally, I made sure the longest side of the inset pieces was aligned with the grain of the fabric, so I didn't have any bias edges on the outside of the centre block.  Of course, my centre block still didn't finish perfectly flat, but my friends starch and steam helped a lot with that.

I used a hand blanket stitch to secure the appliqué on the orange peel blocks and also the centre circles (if you are interested, you can read/watch my tutorial about how to do blanket stitch).

Despite this quilt being outside my comfort zone (hello appliqué, tiny pieces and inset seams!), I'm really loving it.  It's completely addictive and I think I may have discovered a new love for handwork (although I'm generally in favour of anything which involves sitting on the couch, so I guess that shouldn't be a surprise!).  I'm also really happy with this autumnal colour scheme - it's really warm and rich but still bright and interesting.  I've started cutting out the little appliqué pieces for the next border - I might have to slow down for a bit while I work on other things though.

I'm linking up this post to Jess' linky - it's open for a while yet so if you are also working on a Midnight at the Oasis quilt you should link up too!  Is anyone else working on this quilt?  If you're further ahead than me I'd love any advice you have for the upcoming borders!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

How to do hand blanket stitched appliqué

Today I’m sharing my method of hand blanket stitched appliqué.  I started using this method after my sewing machine refused to co-operate with my attempt at machine appliqué – it can do a blanket stitch but apparently it would rather not! I've now used it on several projects and really enjoy it.

I'm using this method to create the orange peel border of my Midnight at the Oasis quilt, and I'll also use it for the other appliqué border with baskets and flowers (although I'll probably just topstitch the long bias strips in place using my sewing machine).  My friend Jess at The Elven Garden is co-hosting the Midnight at the Oasis QAL and she is sharing several different appliqué techniques today - definitely head over and check them out.

In this method, the stitching is a feature, which means you get quite a different effect compared to other methods. I personally find it easier than needle turned appliqué and more relaxing than machine appliqué – although of course, because it’s done by hand, it’s not the speediest method of doing appliqué. I do most of mine on the sofa but once you've got the appliqué fused in place it's very portable so it would also be perfect for those moments when you're out and about and have time to kill.

To start off, you trace the shape you want to appliqué onto the paper side of your preferred type of fusible web. I really like Shades SoftFuse, but use whatever you prefer (or can get your hands on!). Bear in mind that the shape will be reversed when you cut out your fabric – sometimes this matters (if you are appliquéing writing, for example), and sometimes it does not. I like to trim the fusible web down so that there is just a small margin around the edge of the appliqué shape – this means that you will waste less fabric.

Fuse the webbing to the wrong side of your feature fabric, following the manufacturer’s directions. Use sharp scissors to carefully cut along the line on the back of your fusible webbing so that you have a fabric appliqué shape.

Now prepare your background fabric. I really like to cut my background fabric a bit larger than is required for the block I’m working on. This method of appliqué involves quite a lot of handling of your fabric and there is always the risk of fraying. Plus, whenever you blanket stitch (by machine or by hand), there is a chance that the stitches will pull the fabric into the centre slightly and shrink the background a little bit. This way you will be able to trim the block to the perfect size when you’re finished.

For the orange peel blocks for the Midnight at the Oasis quilt, I pressed along each diagonal of my background block so it would be easy to centre my orange peels and get them all at exactly the same angle. I worked one block at a time, arranging the petals in a pleasing way and then fusing them in place.

Once that's done, it’s time to blanket stitch. I use DMC embroidery threads, largely because you can buy them just about everywhere. I match the thread colour to the colour of the appliqué shape, but you are always going to see your stitches so it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match perfectly (and sometimes it’s fun to create an outline with a completely different coloured thread like I did with this label).

When the appliqué shape is quilting cotton, I find two strands of thread just right. If it’s a thicker fabric, I think a thicker thread would be better, and of course you could definitely experiment with different weights and types of thread to see what you prefer.

This label is made from home dec fabric and I wish I used three strands of embroidery thread rather than two.

I use an embroidery/crewel needle for this work – I usually buy an assorted pack and use whichever ones I can get the thread through!

I made a video to demonstrate the blanket stitch technique, because it’s one of those things that I had to learn by watching someone do.  Of course, when I say I made a video, I mean I appeared in a video which my sister filmed and edited and did all the hard work on.

A couple of tips I didn’t cover in the video – first, to finish off, I simply take the thread to the back of the work, and then carefully pick up a couple of threads of the background fabric under the appliqué shape. You should be able to do this without it being visible on the front. Then I just bring the embroidery thread through the background fabric and tie off in the same way that you would tie off your thread when sewing binding.

Picking up a couple of threads on the back of the work

When you get to a corner, rather than making a stitch perpendicular to the edge of your appliqué shape, make a stitch that runs right through the middle of the angle of the corner.

Then make your next stitch perpendicular to the edge again.  This is what a finished corner looks like.

I hope you've enjoyed my blanket stitch tutorial!  Is this a technique you've ever tried? Feel free to leave me any questions and I'll try my best to answer them.
 

WIP Wednesday

The lovely Jess from The Elven Garden is co-hosting a Midnight at the Oasis Quilt Along, to make this stunning quilt designed by Jen Kingwell.  I don't usually participate in Quilt Alongs, but this quilt was really tempting me and when my local friends said they were thinking about making it too I knew I had to play along!

Photo from Amitie Textiles website

I think this quilt will be great for working on the accuracy of my piecing.  The whole quilt is only 61" square so you can probably work out that there are a lot of tiny pieces in there!

 

While I love the fabrics used in the original quilt, I decided to take things in a different direction (I can never resist putting my own spin on a quilt even when I'm using someone else's pattern).  I pulled a large number of autumn coloured prints from my stash for this quilt, and where Jen has used black and grey fabrics I intend to use a variety of cream and beige fabrics.

This colour scheme could end up looking kind of traditional, but I'm hoping that the fact that my fabrics are sort of bright autumn colours, and the pops of aqua/teal I'm including, will keep my quilt fresh.

This is where I'm up to right now.  Instead of needle turned appliqué as the pattern calls for, I'm intending to secure most of my appliquéd pieces with handworked blanket stitch.  I've never done this much handwork on a quilt before but I think it should be something nice to do on the couch and to take along to stitch group and guild meetings.  In this picture the circles and orange peels are just stuck down with fusible webbing - I'm still to sew a single stitch!

So, have you been tempted by any of the quilt alongs happening out there at the moment?

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced: