Bits and Pieces

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Remember the blocks I showed in March? I added a few more... My sampler quilt is one step closer to being completed!

These are the four blocks I added recently to the sampler family.

These are 8" blocks! Accuracy? Checked!

I push myself hard for accuracy, indeed. 

Yup I made another "Keep Calm and Sew On" panel. This time with retro fabrics. Also, the "cushion" is in invisible machine applique instead of raw-edged. The "needles" and "thread" were hand-embroidered. 

I used glue stick and cuticle pushy and nail cleaner sticks to prepare the applique pieces.

Oh yes. I will challenge myself with a floral border for my sample quilt. Stay tuned to see the finished quilt!

Keep Calm and Sew On - Machine Applique from Start to Finish

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Here is a lengthy post about how I did my mini quilt, Keep Calm and Sew On. 

Prepare a final quilt layout, and trace it to the background fabric. I typically draw the final layout on tracing paper or freezer paper, because for fusible applique, your need the mirror image to prepare the fusible pieces. The mirror image can be traced quickly over semi-transparent tracing paper or freezer paper by flipping the final quilt layout to the wrong side, and putting the fusible web on top of it. 

Mirror-imaged letters can be printed directly from Word.

Trace applique elements onto the paper side of fusible webs with a pencil.

For the letters, a quicker way is to print the letters, mirror imaged, directly from Microsoft Word. It has mirror image function under “Word Art” – Format Shape – Shape Options - 3-D Rotation. By simply rotating the x-axis by 180 degrees, you wold get the letter mirrored. Print the letters out, and trace them to the paper side of the fusible web with a pencil. 

Cut and iron fuse the fusible webs onto the wrong side of the applique fabrics. For applique pieces abutting each other, leave about 1/8” of overlapping allowance on one of the pieces, so there won’t be a gap between the pieces. 

Note the 1/8" overlapping allowance I put on the  pin cushion top and side-face fusible pieces. The cushion bottom piece does not require any overlapping allowance because in my plan it would be the last piece to be ironed onto the background fabric and nothing else would be put on top of it. 

Always cut with a pair of sharp scissors!

Trace the flower outline onto the cushion top piece, so the flower can be placed accurately.

For appliques involve more than one layers, don’t forget to trace the upper layer patterns onto the background layer. 

The background applique piece always gets fused first.

Embellish... I used a triple straight stitch for a more defined look. Note I place a piece of paper behind the background fabric to avoid puckering. 

Fuse the foreground pieces.

The finished look before machine applique. 

For machine applique, personally I like to use the blanket stitch and fine zig ziag/satin stitches. There is no set rules about setting of the stitches, just experiment and choose a setting that looks good. For this particular project, my blanket stitch is 1.5mm wide x 1.5mm long, and my zig zag stitch is 1.5mm wide x 0.3mm long. I always applique with Bernina Open Toe Foot #20.

The quilting part can be tricky. To make the applique pieces more prominent, I have to make the background as flat as possible. I also wanted to practice my machine quilting, so I opted for a densely quilted background, filling the negative space with circles, swirls and feathers. 

Tiny stitches...

Playful feathers...

Trim the raw edges for binding...

Done!

My magic weapon to stick the mini quilt onto the wall...

It's a perfect piece for my sewing room!

Keep Calm and Sew on

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It's so exciting that I finally have a quilting project done!

Believe or not! I haven’t done any free motion quilting for almost a year, and I was surprised by how well my quilting could still be, or even better… after such a long period without any practice! I had no trouble at all filling the void with pebbles, swirls, feathers and swirl-feathers! I love the subtle but definitely visible and rich background texture, and I love the applique! I think this is the best piece of free motion quilting I have done so far. It took me a few evenings to assemble the applique and an entire weekend to quilt.

Finished Size: 13.5" x 22.25"
Needle: Schmetz 75/11 quilting
Top Thread: WonderFil Invisafil for quilting (this thread works great with quilting with a 75 needle but breaks constantly when paired with a 70 microtex… my experience); WonderFil Konfetti 50/3 cotton for machine applique
Bobbin Thread: Aurifil 50/2 cotton
Background and backing fabric: White cotton sateen from Fabricland
Batting: 2 layers of 80/20 cotton-polyester blend - leftovers from other quilting projects
Applique technique: raw edge fusible machine applique in blanket stich and tiny zigzag
Fuse: SoftFusePremium Paperbacked Fusible We

Here is the more detailed post that shows how I made the quilt from start to finish. 

Apron

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This is my favorite way of apron construction, so far. 

With the strap passes through the facings, the apron can be used for people of different heights! This is so important for me, because Ben is about 10 inches higher (although this apron is not for him lol). 

Sewing Update

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I have been slowly making roman shades for my house: 3 finished, 3 more on the way. The theme for our bedroom window shades is birds. There are all kinds of birds in our neighborhood and I love them! All roman shades feature prints in birds. For our master bedroom and the closet room, I chose a linen-cotton bird toil in ivory tone that matches our bedroom’s Benjamin Moor Swiss Coffee wall paint. 

I learned how to make the roman shades from a Craftsy class called Sewing Custom Roman Shades by Susan Woodcock. It’s a fantastic class! Following Susan’s instructions, I achieved great results. Recently, I also found a book called “The Shade Book” by July Lindahl. Ah! I wish I could find this book earlier! It has great contents and shows endless possibilities and variations in shade making that Susan’s class doesn’t show in her class. I highly recommend both the Craftsy Class and the shade book (out of print, check out your local library first). 

The "mistake" I made for the shades is that I didn't purchase enough fabric for two, symmetrical splices on the face fabric. So, I had only one splice, unsymmetrical and on the left side. I did match carefully at the splice to align the patterns, though. To avoid the seam to be seen, you need blackout lining, which I didn't want because I love lots of lights.

Ben did a great job in shade installation, except for one bracket he measured the screw holes 1 inch away from the correct locations and had to unscrew and relocate the bracket to the stud next to the originally proposed one (we got a stud finder for our shade installation). 

I just realized that the basting stitches are still on the shades!

All plastic rings on the back were hand-sewn. Instead of using glass head pins, I used safety pins just like how we baste a quilt before machine quilting. I placed the plastic rings rather closely at 8” apart, and at each ring location I put on a safety pin. I could then rolled and unrolled the unfinished shade without shifting the face fabric and baking. 

I have to admit that I didn’t insert a rod at the base of the shades for the 2nd and 3rd shades. I found that as I placed the rings so close together and if I pull up the shade slowly, there won’t be any puckering.

I would also like to share with you the trick of placing the shade a few inches higher, so the shade can be pull up high and clear the window to allow more lights coming in. 

The shade pleats are so nice =)

Tokyo Trip 2016 Part 2 - The Nippori Fabric Town

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From time to time I order the Japanese sewing magazine “Style Book” from the Japanese Amazon site, which regularly features a section about the Nippori Fabric Town, with a map attached. It always looked like a tempting place for me so when I planned my trip, I dropped a pin at the Nippori Fabric Town on my Google Maps as one of the several MUST VISIT fabric shopping destinations. Indeed the “fabric town” seems to be quite well-known for tourists who love to sew. I saw people with different ethnic backgrounds rummaging around for fabrics and notions, and even met two women from the US grabbing a full basket of Japanese floral print fatquarters for their friends. 

The Nipori Fabric Town is conveniently located just steps outside the Nippori Station of the JR East Yamanote Line, with banners hanging on the main street like this to remind you that it is dedicated for fabrics: 

This place is the fashion district of Tokyo. When you are here be sure to take a free copy of the directory map (English version available, check out the cashier counter area of any of the bigger stores) to guide your shopping. The most famous shop here is called Tomato – The shop has four branches spread randomly on each side of the street, for selling different types of fabrics (fashion, craft, quilting, home décor, etc) and so targeting different groups of sewers. Look around for the big tomato sign and you will not miss any of them. They sell all sorts of fabrics and notions from Harris Tweed to basting thread.

Out of the 90 fabric and notion shops listed on the official map, there are two other places that I also like: Elegance for their high quality fashion fabrics (they have one branch, the Store #21 on the Map Index, that sells only knits and jerseys, absolutely stunning stuffs!) and Momo, Store #8 on the Map Index, for their linens and cottons. Check them out when you are there!

The Elegance shop Knits branch

Note I think the easiest way to go to anywhere in Tokyo is through the rapid transit. The Tokyo rapid transit network is perhaps the most convoluted but fabulous one I’ve ever seen in my life! There are two primary subway operators: Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway, making up a total of 13 subway lines and 285 subway stations. On top of that there are several subway lines run by private companies and tens of train lines operated by JR East. The railway and subway lines are interconnected and many times their stations share the same building complex. With a Passmo or Suica Card, you can transfer between lines “barrier free”. Once you understand how it works and with the help from Google Maps, you can basically go anywhere hassle free. My only advice is follow the Google Maps. It gives accurate route info (including bus routes) and time schedule 99% of the time. 

On my next post, I will steer my wheel to Jiyugaoka.