So here's this:
I know you've seen this, but I thought I would put together a summary of how it went together, as I've been pretty much a drudge all week in preparation for the move with nothing much to show, other than another little story. But I digress....
It all began when I went to the Utah Quilt Guild's annual Quilt Fest, which took place in Ogden in 2004. Mary Sorensen was teaching a class in needleturn appliqué, and I signed up for it. She had some patterns available, and one of them was her Delectable Pathways. I bought the pattern and started looking for fabric for it. Here's the photo of the pattern, stolen with attribution from her website:
My friend Julie was closing down her quilt shop at the time, and she was having a big sale. I bought yards of cheddar in three shades for the background. Then I started collecting fabrics in colors I like and that would show enough contrast. I also had plans at the time to make the Pine Burr Made Modern quilt from McCall's Quilting, but that really called for paper piecing, a technique I found intimidating (but no longer). The Delectable Pathways pattern had paper piecing as an option, with very good directions, so I picked that method to piece the Delectable Mountain blocks. It was good practice, and I later finished the Pine Burr quilt long before I finished the appliqué for my Delectable Pathways quilt, leaving the Delectable Mountain blocks in stacks as I worked on the appliqué.
The appliqué was fun, but it did take some time. I stay-stitched the strips of background fabric, traced the pattern using a chalk pencil and started with the stems, layering the pieces as I was taught in Mary's class.
I had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics and working on the appliqué.
It did take time, and I continually moved on to other projects, coming back to this one when I felt like it.
Eventually I had the appliqué done on two of the background strips, with only one to go.
It seemed to go faster when I could see how little there was left to do. I remember the day I put the appliqué strips up on my design wall with the Delectable Mountain blocks.
I still had to sew the triangles of background fabric to the blocks, but that went pretty fast.
Then there was the hand-quilting to do. My friend Julie basted the layers together using her long-arm. I'm sure she enjoyed seeing her cheddar fabric again.
I made use of my trusty hemostat to stitch in the ditch around the half-square triangles. (The trick is to pull straight out, not in an arc, which you can get away with if you're pulling the needle out by hand. I broke several needles before I learned, but it's a great tool if you have loaded too many stitches on the needle.)
Then I used masking tape to keep straight lines across the background, skipping the appliqué pieces. I used a technique called "traveling" to move through the batting to the next place to start stitching.
When I wanted to finish a row of stitching, I made a knot on top of the fabric and then pulled it through, if it was convenient. (The quilting thread is white. It looks pale blue in the photos.)
As an alternative, I would run the needle through the layers to one side and then the other of adjacent stitches.
If I needed to, I would back the eye of the needle a little bit out through the quilt top to get the angle I needed, then continued threading through the stitches. The result is a finish that will be flexible but won't come out ever, as knots can.
I sort of worked out the pattern as I went along.
Finally it was ready for the binding. It wouldn't fit on my table, so you just see two panels.
Then ta-da! (Thanks to DH for holding it up when I was done. That's his thinning hairline showing up just above the top of the quilt.)
It went up on the wall in the hall, not the wall I had planned for it, as DH would have needed the extension ladder, and we knew by then that we would be selling the house soon. It was nice and cozy in the hallway, though, and we know will have to find a nice place for it in the new house when we have one.
Here's a list of what I got done this week instead of having fun (although some of it was fun):
I know you've seen this, but I thought I would put together a summary of how it went together, as I've been pretty much a drudge all week in preparation for the move with nothing much to show, other than another little story. But I digress....
It all began when I went to the Utah Quilt Guild's annual Quilt Fest, which took place in Ogden in 2004. Mary Sorensen was teaching a class in needleturn appliqué, and I signed up for it. She had some patterns available, and one of them was her Delectable Pathways. I bought the pattern and started looking for fabric for it. Here's the photo of the pattern, stolen with attribution from her website:
My friend Julie was closing down her quilt shop at the time, and she was having a big sale. I bought yards of cheddar in three shades for the background. Then I started collecting fabrics in colors I like and that would show enough contrast. I also had plans at the time to make the Pine Burr Made Modern quilt from McCall's Quilting, but that really called for paper piecing, a technique I found intimidating (but no longer). The Delectable Pathways pattern had paper piecing as an option, with very good directions, so I picked that method to piece the Delectable Mountain blocks. It was good practice, and I later finished the Pine Burr quilt long before I finished the appliqué for my Delectable Pathways quilt, leaving the Delectable Mountain blocks in stacks as I worked on the appliqué.
The appliqué was fun, but it did take some time. I stay-stitched the strips of background fabric, traced the pattern using a chalk pencil and started with the stems, layering the pieces as I was taught in Mary's class.
I had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics and working on the appliqué.
It did take time, and I continually moved on to other projects, coming back to this one when I felt like it.
Eventually I had the appliqué done on two of the background strips, with only one to go.
It seemed to go faster when I could see how little there was left to do. I remember the day I put the appliqué strips up on my design wall with the Delectable Mountain blocks.
I still had to sew the triangles of background fabric to the blocks, but that went pretty fast.
Then there was the hand-quilting to do. My friend Julie basted the layers together using her long-arm. I'm sure she enjoyed seeing her cheddar fabric again.
I made use of my trusty hemostat to stitch in the ditch around the half-square triangles. (The trick is to pull straight out, not in an arc, which you can get away with if you're pulling the needle out by hand. I broke several needles before I learned, but it's a great tool if you have loaded too many stitches on the needle.)
Then I used masking tape to keep straight lines across the background, skipping the appliqué pieces. I used a technique called "traveling" to move through the batting to the next place to start stitching.
When I wanted to finish a row of stitching, I made a knot on top of the fabric and then pulled it through, if it was convenient. (The quilting thread is white. It looks pale blue in the photos.)
As an alternative, I would run the needle through the layers to one side and then the other of adjacent stitches.
If I needed to, I would back the eye of the needle a little bit out through the quilt top to get the angle I needed, then continued threading through the stitches. The result is a finish that will be flexible but won't come out ever, as knots can.
I sort of worked out the pattern as I went along.
Finally it was ready for the binding. It wouldn't fit on my table, so you just see two panels.
Then ta-da! (Thanks to DH for holding it up when I was done. That's his thinning hairline showing up just above the top of the quilt.)
It went up on the wall in the hall, not the wall I had planned for it, as DH would have needed the extension ladder, and we knew by then that we would be selling the house soon. It was nice and cozy in the hallway, though, and we know will have to find a nice place for it in the new house when we have one.
Here's a list of what I got done this week instead of having fun (although some of it was fun):
Got the car serviced, finishing about three rows of my shawl while I was waiting.
Found some houses I would love to look at when we get to Bend, if they are still available.
Learned the alto parts for four pieces to sing Sunday. (Then I sang them mostly correctly. I should point out that I'm a soprano, which meant some additional challenges.)
Took the dogs to Run-A-Muk.
Packed my Sparrow 15 sewing machine and my spinning wheel.
Packed more dishes.
Finished another story for The Doll's Storybook. Here's the one that came out on Friday.
Took another load of things to Saver's in Salt Lake City.
Sold some tires and tools online for DH.
Sold some tires and tools online for DH.
Did some cooking and laundry.
What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Cardigan for Jolena, and still at the BO for the neck. Also the Coastal Skies shawl for me, which I worked on a bit more this week.
What's on my Sparrow 15: Packed away for the move. Never got to the overcast foot. However, I'm looking at sewing tables that will suit after we get moved.
What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, nothing done this week.
What's on my wheel: Stanzi is packed away for the move.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. Just finished the first chapter.
What's in my wine glass: Lazy Bones Cabernet Franc 2016. (LOL!) I am totally into this wine after the week I've had.
What's my tip of the week: Whatever your plans are, always have a Plan B. (I learned that and many other things from Manuel, our choir director.)
Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.
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