Well, I certainly didn’t intend for time to get away from me like this. Now, the world has changed in a blink of an eye and I have so much to catch up on. January and February I spent as I usually do, blissfully sewing away without worrying about deadlines or upcoming events. Meanwhile, there was a gathering storm and by the end of February it seemed like we might still escape the reality of a pandemic, but who knew. In early March we went ahead with a planned trip to Hawaii. We had a wonderful time despite being very mindful of hand washing, hand sanitizing and not touching our faces. By the time we returned in mid-March things were getting much worse back here. In Hawaii things were still business as usual when we left, but back home Oregon was in the “stay home, stay safe” mode. We got home, did a couple of big grocery runs, and hunkered down. Today is now day 16 of our quarantine (I know, I’ve been keeping a #coronadiary).
I have so many projects I’d like to show here and I usually like to stay in order time-wise, but this particular moment in history deserves it’s own special post, so I’ll start here and catch you up on other projects later. This piece was inspired by the phrase you hear everywhere. We really are all in this together. No one will be able to escape the effects of this pandemic and the measures put in place to try to halt the spread. I hope this quilt will provide some measure of hope in such a stressful time.
I’d like to invite you to join in as well, using the tag #wereallinthistogetherqal. There are no rules. You can sew by hand or machine, make it big or small, quilt it or not, use precise templates or cut it freehand. Mine will include birds, but you can add anything you like. Use whatever color scheme strikes your fancy. I’ll be using mostly scraps, but if you want make the vines, a bit of yardage is nice.
Here are some particulars about mine:
My background measures about 40x40 inches.
The background fabric is Essex cotton/linen blend which is really nice here due to it having a little more heft and structure than all cotton fabrics. A cotton background will work well too.
My scraps are mostly cotton, but linen and other fibers will work well for that too.
I am doing needle-turn applique for all of it and will explain how I do that. You are welcome to use any method that works for you, but I won’t be explaining other methods.
I plan to hand quilt.
I’m going to explain a couple of tricks as I go along, starting today with the vines. If you have a bias tape maker you’re one step ahead and I’ll show how to use it. If not, you can still make them.
The vines have curves, so you should be cutting strips on the true bias to get the best curve. If you don’t care about curves, feel free to cut on the straight grain. I cut several strips from a 1/2 yard of fabric at a 45 degree angle. Strips are 1.5 inches for my bias tape maker, but you can use any size maker. The package comes with strip size directions, but you can also find them online.
I used a Clover size 12 bias tape maker. They are color coded by size. This one will create vines that are 1/2 inch wide, but you can do any size. To use the maker, you’ll need a pin as well. Cut a point at one end of your fabric strip. This will help to get the strip into the maker. Use the pin to ease the fabric in from the large end to the small end. Put the pin into the slot as seen below and nudge the fabric out through the small end.
Once the fabric starts to come through, pin through the fabric into your ironing board. At this point you want your iron on the highest setting suitable for cotton or linen and some water and steam. Press the tip of the iron into the little bit of fabric to the left of the pin and gradually ease the maker to the left as you run the iron behind it. Give a few bursts of steam as you go along to make sure you get a good crease. As you move the iron along it works best to leave an inch or so between the iron and the tape maker.
Tada! Now you have a beautiful piece of bias tape! You can give your bias a bit of a curve by turning it over and holding one end while you apply the iron with some tension on the fabric. As you move the iron along, give the strip a little curve and it will press right in.
If you don’t have access to a bias tape maker, you can still make vines. Cut your strips as mentioned above, then press in half lengthwise, then press the edges to the middle. Turn over and press it again so the middle crease flattens out. You might get some singed fingers, but just be careful and turn off the steam setting if it’s hurting you.
Now comes the fun part. Make a few of these and start playing around on your back ground fabric. Begin composing, but considering where you’d like the words and lay out some vines. You can pin them in place if needed, but I would suggest not sewing until we get a few more elements placed. Next time I’ll talk about making letters. Stay tuned!