Chicken block swap due June 15th

[Lacy Blues]

Most every Wallyworld in my area has no fabric and a very limited "hobby / craft " section. There is just the one that carries it at all and all they had was the heavy duty stuff. I am going to Muskogee today anyway, so I will go by the Hancock there, they should have it. If not there is a hobby lobby right next store, I will just pre-medicate and hope for the best, maybe since the Christmas season is over I can get away w/ going in if I am quick and know what I'm getting.

Makes the in and out even faster if you go in and tell the clerk you're in a hurry and "do you carry such and such?" Could you please show me where it is?

 

[Kassaundra]

Well I got my fusible webbing and couldn't wait to try a layout of one block just to see how the colors/patterns/prints were going to look together. The good news is I like all that. I think the fabrics work well together, are nice and bright and the preprinted tweety bird chick looks cute.


This applique'ing definitely has a learning curve. First of all the patterns you cut from the webbing needs to be backwards (reverse), secondly I am having trouble getting it to stick to the fabric. I pressed it according to the instructions and it wouldn't adhere, so I doubled the time and it as mostly sticking until I start to sew and move the fabric then it all comes apart. The stiffness is not anything what I am used to, does it get any less stiff????


The stitching is UGLY, I can't overstate how UGLY it truly is. I have tried several stitches, decorative and straight zigzag and man o' man all ugly, hard to control, freying the edges, uneven, the stitches morph into different shapes as you try and go around corners, this is one hot mess!!!!!

I am either going to have to abandon applique or try something drastically different for applique techniques!!!!!!


The moral of my woe is for those that are new to the applique technique, give it a quick try while there is plenty of time to putz.


For those that applique I had a thought, not sure if it will work, has anyone tried anything like this: what if I take each piece and cut an identical piece from a lining fabric and turn it, press the seams and sew that down w/ a straight stitch?


I tried turning the edges and pressing in place, several frustrated burned minutes later I gave up on that idea.


I am really thinking paper piecing is going to be the answer for me. Maybe I'll work on making my own pattern since I haven't found any that really move me yet.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Well I got my fusible webbing and couldn't wait to try a layout of one block just to see how the colors/patterns/prints were going to look together. The good news is I like all that. I think the fabrics work well together, are nice and bright and the preprinted tweety bird chick looks cute.


This applique'ing definitely has a learning curve. First of all the patterns you cut from the webbing needs to be backwards (reverse), secondly I am having trouble getting it to stick to the fabric. I pressed it according to the instructions and it wouldn't adhere, so I doubled the time and it as mostly sticking until I start to sew and move the fabric then it all comes apart. The stiffness is not anything what I am used to, does it get any less stiff????


The stitching is UGLY, I can't overstate how UGLY it truly is. I have tried several stitches, decorative and straight zigzag and man o' man all ugly, hard to control, freying the edges, uneven, the stitches morph into different shapes as you try and go around corners, this is one hot mess!!!!!

I am either going to have to abandon applique or try something drastically different for applique techniques!!!!!!


The moral of my woe is for those that are new to the applique technique, give it a quick try while there is plenty of time to putz.


For those that applique I had a thought, not sure if it will work, has anyone tried anything like this: what if I take each piece and cut an identical piece from a lining fabric and turn it, press the seams and sew that down w/ a straight stitch?


I tried turning the edges and pressing in place, several frustrated burned minutes later I gave up on that idea.


I am really thinking paper piecing is going to be the answer for me. Maybe I'll work on making my own pattern since I haven't found any that really move me yet.

You could try needle turning it... You trace your pattern onto the piece of fabric and cut it 1/4" larger all the way around. You also trace your pattern onto the back ground piece. Snip into your 1/4" allowance on curves. This will help make smoother curves when you're sewing it down. You pin or baste your pattern piece in place and as you go along, you turn the 1/4" under and do itty bitty stitches by hand around the whole piece. Tracing your pattern onto your background keeps your pattern piece in the right place.

This lady does hers a little differently than I do but you can get the general idea. Unless you're doing little tiny pieces of fabric that you need to applique down, this method isn't terribly slow. It can be done in the evening while you're watching tv or going somewhere in the car while your husband drives... its portable... but then I really like handwork. It's relaxing to me.

Here's another one. She does it like I do.

This last one is really good. She explains absolutely everything. She says at one point that she has other videos to cover curves as well as inner and outer points. Those videos probably wouldn't be too hard to find.

I hope you don't get discouraged but try it this way and see if you like it.

 

[Cknldy]

I haven't done much quilting in the past year- very busy chicken year for me! I had participated in three of the block swaps last year and just a couple of days ago sewed all of the squares together for a beautiful top. Since getting a lot of new breeds of chickens last Fall there aren't many laying eggs yet so I've been collecting the feathers that fall out naturally- I'm planning to use them in place of batting for a feather quilt. What better top to do this with than the BYC block swap top?! I'm interested in this swap but need to think on it for a bit to make sure I'll have time and fabric...great job already everyone!

 

[Kassaundra]

Well I found a you tube video about the idea of sewing a liner fabric and turning, this is what I was thinking may work

I watched the video's you posted Lacy, thanks, if I decide to do hand work it does look like a better outcome then what I was doing. I have not been much of a hand work kinda gal usually so I'll have to think about whether I actually would do it or not.

Last night I drafted my first ever foundation pattern. The applique patterns I picked were cute and almost cartoony (think childs coloring book probably). I didn't want to tackle curves on my first draft pattern so my foundation is more angular, a roo, and more folk artsy. If I do the foundation one, I won't be able to add the tweety bird chick. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Kassaundra]

One more quick question how long does it usually take to do a hand applique needle turn 12 inch square??? (I know diff patterns have diff complexity and number of pieces and amounts of linear edge sewing, but an average type block)

 

[Lacy Blues]

Personally, I've never timed it. It is certainly more time consuming that piecing with a sewing machine or appliqueing with some kind of permabond stuff. Have you done the binding on a quilt? You sew the front down, turn the rest over the edge of the quilt, turn that edge under and then hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt. It seems like it would take forever but in my experience goes surprisingly fast. Of course, a lot of people take pretty good sized stitches when stitching the binding. I really don't feel that it takes all that long, but like you said it depends on the complexity of the pattern.

 

[Kassaundra]

No I haven't hand stitched binding before, I do very non-traditional quilting.

I have the pattern for the foundation block and I know I can get that done, only 10 sections and about 35ish pieces per block, so I will probably cut out the applique pieces and try the hand sewing and see how it goes for time, if it takes me a ridiculous amount of time or I find I just won't pick it up to work on it, then I can always fall back to the foundation pattern.

 

[Kassaundra]

Oh and I meant to say, I actually like the concept of the portability of the hand applique.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Well, good luck with the hand work. Don't try it if you feel like you don't have the patience. Wait for a day when you DO feel like you have it. I know our patience levels go up and down on varying days. If you start out feeling that way, and you try something new that to you seems difficult, your patience level will only drop still lower.

I LOVE the portability of hand work. I've accomplished quite a lot on some road trips I've taken. Of course it helps that my husband loves to drive and I don't.