Woven Sunshine......Machine Quilting

At this point all of the applique stitching is complete

Click Images to Enlarge:

The contrasting applique thread colors help define the separate sunflower petals, black crow and dead leaves at the bottom of the quilt.

The invisible thread applique stitching is barely visible in the background

This is the backside of the quilt top.....yes.....you are looking at batting.

I followed the instructions in the Simply Stunning Woven Quilts book...."fuse the woven strips to the batting." If I had it to do over again.......I would not have done this. It has left the quilt top very stiff and very difficult to manage under the sewing machine during the applique work.

Next time I will fuse the woven strips to a very, very thin piece of interfacing. I think the quilt top would be softer and more drape-able and easier to scrunch under the throat of the sewing machine.

This tape roller worked great to keep the threads and batting fibers cleaned off the quilt top as I worked on it.

The quilt sandwich has been spray basted and is now ready for machine quilting. I have chosen a lightweight bobbin thread that will blend in with the backing fabric.

Bobbin Thread: Bottom Line 60 wt. Taupe by Superior Threads

This leaves NO build up of threads on the backside of the quilt, even when you are heavily quilting.

I tightened the tension a bit on the bobbin to accommodate the thinner thread

Righty Tighty.....Lefty Loosey

I warmed up on a practice sandwich before I started on the quilt.

This is my favorite free motion foot.

The cut out circle gives me more visibility.

Sunflower BEFORE quilting

Sunflower AFTER quilting

Sunflower 2 ........ quilted

Burgundy red thread on the petals

Teddy brown thread on the center of the flower

Sunflower 3 ........ quilted

Quilting on some of the dead leaves at the bottom of the quilt

The quilting gives these leaves the definition that they were lacking earlier.

The machine quilting is complete on the sunflowers and leaves.

Today's threadwork is bringing this little quilt to life...

As I lean over my sewing machine to turn out the lights and call it a day....I give thanks for my little Thread Shed......thanks for my favorite guy who built this room with his two hands.......and thanks for living a beautiful farm life here in Western Oregon.

With Gratitude,

LuAnn

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Woven Sunshine.......Applique Tips

Keeping the digital camera on the sewing table has become a good teaching tool for me as I work on a project. Here are a few images I captured while working in the applique process yesterday on the Woven Sunshine Quilt...

Click Images to Enlarge:

The very first applique stitching to be done was the woven background strips. They are all raw edge and need to be stitched down. I used invisible thread.

This is a MonoPoly invisible thread by Superior Threads.

I also like Sulky Invisible Thread.

Both products are a very soft polyester thread that will not burn when ironed.

Why use invisible thread?

This is a very busy background for a quilt. I plan to free motion quilt all over the background later. I did not want the applique stitching to draw any attention to itself and compete with the free motion stitching. This applique stitching is merely to hold down those raw edges of the woven background.

I have found size 60 needles to work the very best for invisible thread. They create the tiniest hole possible in the quilt top. The very thin invisible thread barely fills up the hole created by the needle. A larger needle creates a larger hole, that the invisible thread cannot fill. I tried my standard size 80 needle.......it made holes that looked like a shot gun blast.

At this point the background is stitched down and I am working on the applique stitching of the stems, leaves, flowers & birds. I am no longer using invisible thread. I am using a polyester thread. I have switched over to a different needle.

I tried a size 80 needle, but the hole it created was too big for the polyester thread. I found these size 75 needles to be the perfect size for the thread.

The green thread filled in the needle holes nicely during the applique stitching of the stems.

If you click to enlarge this image.....you can barely see the invisible thread stitching on the woven strips of the background.

I am using Grass green YLI Variations Trilobal Polyester.

The image of the crow needed some definition.

This lemon yellow thread worked perfectly to outline Mr. Crow

He will get lots of threadwork when the free motion quilting begins!

I chose a deep red variegated thread to applique the sunflower petals. It helps to distinguish the individual petals from each other, if not they all blend together into a yellow mob.

The red thread plays nicely with the rust color in some of the yellow fabrics!

Yesterday......after 12 hours of applique stitching, I called it a day. I have one sunflower left to applique.....then I can move onto basting the quilt sandwich and get into the free motion quilting.

On my way back out to the Thread Shed today I stopped by our Summer Rental House. Yes, we have birds nesting in both levels of the new bird house.

The hollyhocks are nearly 5 feet tall growing along the right side of the Thread Shed. The new bed frame fence is working perfectly to support them.

I will not be alone as I stitch today.......Suzy is the very best sewing dog. She is in her 15th year of life........I treasure each day she shares with me.

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Woven Sunshine.......Design Work Done!

I dug through the fabric cupboards for all possibilities for crow fabrics. I like to have LOTS of choices when auditioning fabrics.......it took me awhile but I found 4 dozen black and gray fabrics.

Click Images To Enlarge:

Wouldn't you know it........the very first 3 fabrics I grabbed worked perfect for the crow! I put the other 45 fabrics away for another day...

The base crow fabric reads as a solid black, but it is a black on black print with leaves.

The next layer for the wing and tail feathers has some gray in it for contrast and texture.

Isn't this great eye fabric?

Here is Mr. Crow...........waiting for lots of thread work later.

Perfect fabric for dead leaves that have fallen to the bottom of the quilt.

A few dead leaves & petals at the bottom of the quilt with 2 yellow finches pecking around.

This yellow finch is sitting on a leaf, just eyeing up those scrumptious sunflower seeds!

Everything is fused down and all the applique design work is done.

Here is the completed Woven Sunshine Quilt Top.

It was only 2:00 so I grabbed some leftover fabrics from the sunflower quilt I just completed earlier in June, along with the leftover green batik challenge fabric and made a little "back art" for the quilt.

Time to think about thread choices for the applique stitching.

I chose mostly contrasting threads for the applique, took the quilt off the design wall and brought it over to the sewing machine...........I'm ready to go!

The first thing I will start with is invisible thread to stitch down all the woven background strips........a little boring, but once that is done.....the fun will begin!

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE

Woven Sunshine.......Design Work

I had the day to myself to get more design work done on this Woven Sunshine Quilt.

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On the far left is the green CHALLENGE fabric I am required to incorporate somewhere into the quilt top. On the far right side are a few green fabrics I am auditioning for leaf fabrics. I have chosen a very bright green striped batik for the stems of the sunflowers.

I prefer to use Light Steam-A-Seam 2 for most of my fusible applique work. It has release paper on BOTH sides of the fusible. It is extremely lightweight and doesn't add too much stiffness to the completed quilt. What appeals to me most is that this product sticks to the surface of your quilt (temporarily) without any fusing. I can place the applique shapes all over the quilt top and check for the very best placement possible. They stay where I put them. When I am satisfied with the placement, then I fuse them down permanently. I have many brands of fusible, but I always reach for the Light Steam-A-Seam 2.

At this point I have added 3 sunflowers..... odd numbers just work.

I tend to work with larger quilts....and I ALWAYS work with the quilt in a vertical position. A cordless iron is perfect for fusing down the applique pieces directly on the design wall. No moving the quilt to the ironing board, trying to keep all the pieces in place to fuse everything down. I bring the iron to the quilt hanging on the wall and fuse everything in place.....it's wonderful.

There was a knock on the door of the Thread Shed... I was in need of a break......and this was just the little guy to lure me away from my work. This is my Grandnephew, Brandn. He was so very excited to show me the fish he just caught! It made my day!

5pm.......I am ready to turn out the lights and head back to the house.

This is what I completed for the day: The flowers, stems and leaves have been fused in place. I used some of that green CHALLENGE fabric for a few of the smaller leaves. I have just begun to add a few dried out flower petals that have fallen to the bottom portion of the quilt. I think I would like to add some dried out leaves too......and definitely a crow. In the fall the crows spend most of their day in our real sunflower bed trying to peck the seeds out of the flower heads. They are great fun to watch!

I am the only one who sees the view under my sewing machine table. Gunnr and Suzy spend many hours asleep under here. I think they are ready to call it a day.

Weaving Sunshine,

LuAnn

To see my New Work CLICK HERE

To see the Thread Shed CLICK HERE

To see my Exhibit Quilts CLICK HERE

To see Tutorials CLICK HERE