To Mark, or Not to Mark
Of course that is the question, but only you (and your client) can decide the answer! Whenever you choose to mark a quilt with any method, test your marks on the back of the quilt in the seam allowances to be sure you can successfully remove them. Test any fabric which you intend to mark-especially lighter fabrics or those with special coatings that may affect how much pressure you apply with your tool.
For water-soluble marking tools, testing is imperative. These tools need a large number of water molecules in relation to the chemical molecules in the ink so that they will lift completely from the fabric. This usually means completely soaking the quilt in cool water (sometimes several times) to make the ink vanish. Lightly spraying or misting the fabric with water will push the ink into the batting, only to come back and haunt you later. Many water-soluble inks can become permanent if exposed to heat (such as an iron, sunlight, or even a hot car). Take necessary precautions and remove the ink as soon as you are finished quilting. You can even use special pens designed to immediately remove the marks from your fabric. Clover is one brand that carries such a tool...visit your local quilt shop to find out more.
To keep your water soluble marking pens in top working condition, quiltmaker Debra Wagner advises that you store the markers in self-sealing plastic bags to prevent evaporation. Debra also places her markers in a tall tin container in the vertical position with the tip facing down, so that the ink will flow easily whenever she wants to use the marker.
Showing posts with label labeling a quilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labeling a quilt. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Interesting Quilts
Your quilt will be much more interesting and lively if you try to vary fabric proportion and value in addition to color.
The more closely your fabrics resemble each other in these areas, the faster the viewer will scan over your quilt and dismiss it as "average". Start with the fabric's scale. Mix large prints with small-blend florals, geometrics, plaids and stripes. Modern designer Kaffe Fassett is a prime example of someone who has mastered varying fabric scale to create vibrant patterns.
Fabric value introduces another dimension to creating a lively, exciting quilt. Think about walking through a forest filled with beautiful trees. If every leaf, rock and piece of bark was exactly the same color, you would be lost no matter how many different sizes of leaves you found along your path. For example, try incorporating greens with some blue hues to them, some with yellow tones, and even some with black undertones.
If you expand your palette, you'll be amazed at how rich your quilts will look. Besides, it will give you another reason to add to your fabric stash!
The office supply store can help you audition your quilting designs quickly and easily.
Make a sketch of your quilt or take a digital photograph and print it on 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Slip the paper into a clear plastic page protector. Use a fine-point dry erase marker to audition your quilting ideas right on the plastic. Use a paper towel to wipe the marks off until you are happy with your results. Be sure to keep your sheet protector and markers away from your quilt!
You can also purchase clear vinyl at your local fabric shop or discount store for larger designs. Put masking tape around all the edges of the vinyl so that you clearly see each edge. Then lay the vinyl piece over your actual quilt top and use those same dry-erase markers to audition different designs. You can also try transparency markers, which will require water to remove. But be careful...the masking tape helps keep you "in bounds" so that you don't accidentally draw on your quilt!
The more closely your fabrics resemble each other in these areas, the faster the viewer will scan over your quilt and dismiss it as "average". Start with the fabric's scale. Mix large prints with small-blend florals, geometrics, plaids and stripes. Modern designer Kaffe Fassett is a prime example of someone who has mastered varying fabric scale to create vibrant patterns.
Fabric value introduces another dimension to creating a lively, exciting quilt. Think about walking through a forest filled with beautiful trees. If every leaf, rock and piece of bark was exactly the same color, you would be lost no matter how many different sizes of leaves you found along your path. For example, try incorporating greens with some blue hues to them, some with yellow tones, and even some with black undertones.
If you expand your palette, you'll be amazed at how rich your quilts will look. Besides, it will give you another reason to add to your fabric stash!
The office supply store can help you audition your quilting designs quickly and easily.
Make a sketch of your quilt or take a digital photograph and print it on 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Slip the paper into a clear plastic page protector. Use a fine-point dry erase marker to audition your quilting ideas right on the plastic. Use a paper towel to wipe the marks off until you are happy with your results. Be sure to keep your sheet protector and markers away from your quilt!
You can also purchase clear vinyl at your local fabric shop or discount store for larger designs. Put masking tape around all the edges of the vinyl so that you clearly see each edge. Then lay the vinyl piece over your actual quilt top and use those same dry-erase markers to audition different designs. You can also try transparency markers, which will require water to remove. But be careful...the masking tape helps keep you "in bounds" so that you don't accidentally draw on your quilt!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
I Ran Out of Batting!
You will run out of batting before you run out of quilt at least three times every year.
Okay, this was just made up. And if it has never happened to you, let's hope we didn't mess with your "mojo" by mentioning it. But many longarm quilters have suffered the dreaded "two-inches-too-short" dilemma, discovering that they have more quilt than batting at the bottom edge.
The best way to handle this is to avoid the situation in the first place by opening up your batting piece, folding it in half and then in half once again. Do the same with your quilt top, matching the folds with those of your batting. Check all the raw edges to be sure you have plenty of batting extending past the quilt's outer perimeter.
If Murphy has struck and you've discovered that you're short of batting once you've begun, you can still salvage the project with a little extra work. When you reach the edge of the batting where you need to add an extra piece, overlap a new piece of batting on top of the current batting. Be sure the overlap is at least six inches. You won't need to remove the quilt from your frame.
Use a scissors to cut a serpentine path through both layers of batting at once (be careful not to cut the quilt layers or your canvas leaders!) Remove the scrap pieces and then whipstitch the pieces together. This curved "seam" in your batting is easier to disguise as the piece rolls into the quilt, and is more likely to be caught with your quilting stitches to prevent it from separating when the quilt is used.
Okay, this was just made up. And if it has never happened to you, let's hope we didn't mess with your "mojo" by mentioning it. But many longarm quilters have suffered the dreaded "two-inches-too-short" dilemma, discovering that they have more quilt than batting at the bottom edge.
The best way to handle this is to avoid the situation in the first place by opening up your batting piece, folding it in half and then in half once again. Do the same with your quilt top, matching the folds with those of your batting. Check all the raw edges to be sure you have plenty of batting extending past the quilt's outer perimeter.
If Murphy has struck and you've discovered that you're short of batting once you've begun, you can still salvage the project with a little extra work. When you reach the edge of the batting where you need to add an extra piece, overlap a new piece of batting on top of the current batting. Be sure the overlap is at least six inches. You won't need to remove the quilt from your frame.
Use a scissors to cut a serpentine path through both layers of batting at once (be careful not to cut the quilt layers or your canvas leaders!) Remove the scrap pieces and then whipstitch the pieces together. This curved "seam" in your batting is easier to disguise as the piece rolls into the quilt, and is more likely to be caught with your quilting stitches to prevent it from separating when the quilt is used.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Cutting Fabric
You Can Avoid the "Bends" when Cutting Your Fabric Cross-grain
Rotary cutters have greatly improved the speed at which we can complete our quilt tops. However, in our haste we sometimes end up with long fabric strips that have a bend or unusual sharp point at the midpoint. To avoid this mishap, you must take the time to fold your fabric correctly before wielding your rotary cutter.
Press your fabric to remove the influence of the bolt fold, and then fold it so that the selvages are together. Then pick up the selvages in both hands and slide the selvages from side to side along each other until the fabric's fold is flat. Lay the fabric back down on your work surface and fold the fabric in half again, bringing the fold to the selvage edges so that they line up.
Now you have one edge that is a fold and two selvage edges. Those must all align with each other. When you are confident that the edges are straight, align your rotary cutting ruler with the fold of the fabric, and slice away!
Rotary cutters have greatly improved the speed at which we can complete our quilt tops. However, in our haste we sometimes end up with long fabric strips that have a bend or unusual sharp point at the midpoint. To avoid this mishap, you must take the time to fold your fabric correctly before wielding your rotary cutter.
Press your fabric to remove the influence of the bolt fold, and then fold it so that the selvages are together. Then pick up the selvages in both hands and slide the selvages from side to side along each other until the fabric's fold is flat. Lay the fabric back down on your work surface and fold the fabric in half again, bringing the fold to the selvage edges so that they line up.
Now you have one edge that is a fold and two selvage edges. Those must all align with each other. When you are confident that the edges are straight, align your rotary cutting ruler with the fold of the fabric, and slice away!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Quilts and Feedsacks
Quilters scour estate sales and antique shops for feedsacks, hoping to score big and find a special bag to add to their stash.
Feedsack interest faded in the 1950's as yard goods became readily available, though some feedsacks were produces as late as the 1960's in the Southwest.
Today's collectors help preserve some of the nostalgia surrounding the feedsack era when curtains, dresses, handbags, men's shirts and even bathing suits were made from brightly printed feedsacks.
In their heyday, feedsacks prompted the National Cotton Council to sponsor a feedsack wardrobe campaign. The genre was so popular that 30 million yards of printed cotton material were converted into feedsacks annually in the U.S., according to a 1944 Business Week report.
Today quilters pay as much as $15 for a single intact vintage feedsack!
Feedsack interest faded in the 1950's as yard goods became readily available, though some feedsacks were produces as late as the 1960's in the Southwest.
Today's collectors help preserve some of the nostalgia surrounding the feedsack era when curtains, dresses, handbags, men's shirts and even bathing suits were made from brightly printed feedsacks.
In their heyday, feedsacks prompted the National Cotton Council to sponsor a feedsack wardrobe campaign. The genre was so popular that 30 million yards of printed cotton material were converted into feedsacks annually in the U.S., according to a 1944 Business Week report.
Today quilters pay as much as $15 for a single intact vintage feedsack!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Quilt Labels
Without a label on your quilt, generations to come will be unable to trace your quilt's history.
Quilt labels not only help establish a quilt's historical importance, they can also help deter theft and even provide identity in case of theft.
Quilt labeling has become such an art form itself that we may revisit it more than once in our tip section. At the very least, you should attach a muslin label to your quilt that includes this information:
Quilt Piecer's Name
Quilter's Name
Date the Quilt Was Completed
Pattern (give credit to any pattern designer)
Inspiration
Title of Quilt
For a simple label, spray-starch a muslin square and then iron freezer paper to the back of the muslin for stability. If you like, use a thin-point marker and ruler to draw straight lines on the paper side of the freezer paper. These lines will show through the muslin and provide writing guides. Use a permanent, non-bleeding marker to write your information on the label (Pigma pens are one brand available in quilt shops). Heat-set the ink with a dry iron. Remove the freezer paper, turn under the label's raw edges, and applique the label in place on the quilt back.
To deter theft, apply the label to the quilt backing before you quilt the project. This extra stitching makes it difficult to remove the label without also destroying the quilting.
Quilt labels not only help establish a quilt's historical importance, they can also help deter theft and even provide identity in case of theft.
Quilt labeling has become such an art form itself that we may revisit it more than once in our tip section. At the very least, you should attach a muslin label to your quilt that includes this information:
Quilt Piecer's Name
Quilter's Name
Date the Quilt Was Completed
Pattern (give credit to any pattern designer)
Inspiration
Title of Quilt
For a simple label, spray-starch a muslin square and then iron freezer paper to the back of the muslin for stability. If you like, use a thin-point marker and ruler to draw straight lines on the paper side of the freezer paper. These lines will show through the muslin and provide writing guides. Use a permanent, non-bleeding marker to write your information on the label (Pigma pens are one brand available in quilt shops). Heat-set the ink with a dry iron. Remove the freezer paper, turn under the label's raw edges, and applique the label in place on the quilt back.
To deter theft, apply the label to the quilt backing before you quilt the project. This extra stitching makes it difficult to remove the label without also destroying the quilting.
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