Strip Patchwork Casing

The design for the large craft bag will include a substantial drawstring around the top allowing it to be pulled closed for carrying around but opened up for the stowing and removal of larger quilting items.

After making the two patchwork sections that are to be added as pockets later on those patchwork fabrics are near to hand so it's a good moment to make a strip patchwork casing using some of the same colours.

The outcome is meant to be a long strip of pieced casing to attach just below the top of the big bag and which should measure about 60" long.

Start by cutting strips of material 2.5" wide and about 15" long.  It depends how many colours you want to include but I have used 6 different colours, if you want to use fewer colours then repeat some until you have 6 strips.  But don't put the same colour on the outside edges.

Sew the strips together along the long edges and press the seams nice and flat.  Trim the top edge straight with your ruler.




Cut this joined piece across all the colours into new strips measuring 2.5" deep (and if you've used 6 colours it should be about 12.5" wide).

Now join these end to end making sure there are different colours where they join.

This should result in a long strip of pieced fabric in various colours which reflects the colours in the pockets section made earlier and ready to use as a casing near the top of the bag.








Incidentally, once the casing is attached to the bag it will need quite a lot of strong cord to be inserted through it in both directions.  Obviously both cords will need to be as long as the casing itself plus some extra to pull it closed at each side.  (More details about how to do this later).

Quilting Preparation

Lots of preparation to do before the quilting can start.  First the patchwork pocket sections, which have been created by making 6 patchwork blocks, joining them into 2 rows of 3 with sashing strips between and putting sashing along the top and bottom of the row.

After joining three patchwork blocks together and adding the sashing each patchwork pocket section has to be lined with interfaced cotton.  The lining is cut to the same size as the patchwork, backed with fusible interfacing and then trimmed by 1/8" along one long edge because it is thicker now than the patchwork and we don't want it to show on the right side.  Next step is to sew the patchwork to the lining, right sides together (RST) along the top and bottom edge - usual 1/4" seam.  Don't sew the two short side edges as these will be encased in the bag seams later.

Turn the patchwork sections to the right side through the unstitched side openings and press well.   Shown here on the ironing board they are ready now to be quilted and I think Stitch-in-the-Ditch is probably the best type of quilting to emphasise the shape of the patchwork blocks.  Choose quilting thread and a suitable foot for your machine ready to start.



Before starting to quilt the patchwork section the base and body of the bag can be prepared. As you can see the pieces look large but once assembled part of this material will become the bottom and sides of the bag.

The base is in a sturdier fabric as we want the bag to stand up on its own when finished. 

First the two sections are cut out, then joined together and where the two join is where the bottom of the patchwork pocket section will be attached.  It will be your choice how much of that section is divided up into pockets and how large the pockets should be.

However before reaching that stage the fabric for the body of the bag has to be backed with wadding/batting and secured ready for quilting with pins or tacking thread.

I have chosen tacking thread because pins get in the way when doing the quilting, or sometimes they fall out before you want them to.  So tacking threads gives a more substantial easy surface to work with and although it takes longer than just putting in pins in the end achieves a more professional finish.

The tacking should start from the centre of the material and travel outwards.  It should be sewn as a grid with gaps between the stitching of about 4 inches.

To follow:  quilting all the sections before starting to assemble the bag.

Patchwork Blocks

Here is some more information about the patchwork for the large craft bag I am currently designing and making up.

We will need six blocks, not four as I said yesterday, and they will be placed two thirds down on the bag front, back and sides and can be used as pockets.

You will have to imagine the finished bag for the time being because all I have is a sketch and an image in my head.  I can show you some more detail about the patchwork section though and this will help you to decide on your own colours.  You may want to be less varied in your block design than I have been as I now can see I have thrown too many colours at it!!

This scan from my book 'The Practical Guide to Patchwork' illustrates how to do these squares in a more sober way using a feature print for the centre square and then either plain or matching prints for the outer square.  This looks more sophisticated and elegant than mine if that is what you would like.

This image will enlarge if you click on it.

Please see the previous post from yesterday for details of making up the blocks.

I made up the blocks in my chosen colours and decided to join them together in two rows of three, one row for the front and front sides of the bag and the other for the back and back sides.

But first the blocks need to be joined together with sashing in between and framed with sashing all around the edges.

This is simply strips of fabric 1.5" wide (seam allowances included).  See the photo here with the sashing in place between the blocks but not yet attached around the edges.


Please don't forget that I will be doing a worksheet and demonstrating how to do all this, these photos are merely an introduction.
 Below see some photos of the sashing in place all around the edges  and in between the blocks. 

For a cleaner more formal look you could use a high contrast sashing which would make the squares more pronounced.


 

Large Craft Bag Project

Between now and our next Quilting Arts session I will be illustrating how to make a large craft bag.  It will be posted in several parts as I make it and once finished I will write up a worksheet as well so no need to print it off.

I've no doubt everyone has already got a craft bag, but the purpose of this one is to practice some patchwork and quilting while making something useful.  A large part of this bag can be made in undecorated fabric to provide an opportunity for quilting practice - either by hand or machine.

Today I am showing a method for making Square-in-Square blocks which will become the pockets for our bag, two on the front and two on the back.  These are simple beginner blocks which are easy to do.  But the pockets can be created with any kind of patchwork so those with more advanced skills can make them up in whatever way they choose.  The ones shown here measure 8 1/2" square and once attached in pairs to the bag will create a large pocket section back and front measuring about 16" across the lower middle part of the bag.

If you want to follow the bag project but plan to use a different type of patchwork block please keep to these measurements more or less.

 For each block you need a 5" square, two pieces measuring 5" X 2.5" and two pieces measuring 9" X 2.5". 

I made templates from plastic so that I could draw around them on the wrong side of the material.  I then cut them out in the usual way with rotary cutter and ruler.  The templates were useful to check accurate sizes and to draw the shape first.

I have used about 10 different prints, the squares cut out in more distinctive prints and then a mixture of toning colours for the pieces around the centre square.

To make 4 blocks you need 4 squares, 8 small sides and 8 longer sides.

first join the smaller pieces to opposite sides of the squares and press well.

Next join the longer side pieces remembering to keep the wrong side uppermost as you sew so that the earlier seams don't get twisted by the sewing machine.

The resulting squares will be joined together in pairs for the front and back of the bag, then they will be backed with interfaced lining to give more substance to the pockets.

As I make the bag I will post the next episode but this is only as a preparation for those who plan to make the bag so that materials and colours can be thought about beforehand . 

There is no intention to rush ahead before we have finished the wall hangings.  Also I know some people want to work on their own project.  The quilted craft bag is an option to be taken up or not and will always be there later on anyway.

Next episode shortly .......

More Embroidery Images

Hi Crafters:  sorry one of the embroidery images did not come out the other day.  I have edited and saved it for the web and will try again.  It was the raised cup stitch we tried last week shown in another embroidery book called The A~Z of Embroidery Stitches (a very useful guidance manual).

Well it looks OK to me this time so I hope it appears successfully at your end as well.

This week I have been concentrating on course work which for this module is all about trimmings.  So I used some of my try-outs to cover buttons and I thought you might like to try that for yourself.  There are a variety of buttons on the market from Hemline and Dritz and I found them quite easy to use.  We could do a craft session on trimmings if you like - just let me know.

 This is the raised cup stitch with French Knots in the centre.



Below is the Spider Web Stitch - method shown in the earlier blog (scroll down for that).









 Below again is the Woven Rose and you can see from the last image how it is prepared to cover the button.

 

 

 

3D Embroidery Stitches

 
 




Here are the instructions for some of the stitches we tried out at Bredon Crafters this week.


I have only re-produced a few here but if anyone would like the other stitches illustrated I can do that.  I have picked out the ones that were troublesome, or that we did not have time to do


I have used two books - Three-Dimensional Embroidery Stitches by Pat Trott.

 
 
 
 
 
Also the well known - A ~ Z of Embroidery Stitches from Country Bumpkin Publications.  So you will see that the techniques for Palestrina Knot Stitch and Raised Cup Stitch are duplicated as the instructions may be clearer in one book than in the other.















Sending emails with lots of images is not always successful and can take lots of time to download so it is easier to put this sort of thing on the blog.

Click on the image to get a larger picture in your viewer.
























I will keep you posted 2 or 3 times a week when I can so check back here from time to time.

3D Embroidery

This Wednesday the subject for Bredon Crafters is Hand Embroidery.  Here is a photo of the stitches I will be demonstrating.  they are Palestrina Knot Stitch, French Knots, Tufting, Woven Picot, Whipped Spider's Web, Bullion Knots and Woven Rose.

Some of these are done with Perle Embroidery Thread and others with Stranded Cotton thread.

Of course there are many more we could do but time will limit how far we get.  It may be worth programming in another hand embroidery session later on to look at another range of stitches and how we could use them in our craft and quilting projects.

Flower Pots

Thinking of embellishments for the little houses in our Scrap House Quilt I have been experimenting with 3d plant pots.

I think these are useful to disguise imperfections and to inject some change and fun as we continue working on our patchwork quilt. 

Plant pots are just one thing you can make using 3d applique but other simple shapes would serve equally well.  For example, a big flower, a garden parasol, a cat or a dog or a car.  Any simple shape that you can draw could become an addition to your patchwork quilt.

First I sketched the plant pot outlines then traced these on to Bondaweb (good old Bondaweb!).  The Bondaweb was then ironed to the reverse of the fabric and the individual parts cut out roughly to start with.

Then the shapes were cut in detail with small sharp scissors and the paper backing peeled off.

Next the glue side of the shapes was fused to a backing fabric and I have chosen one that will serve equally well as the top fabric so that I can use my shapes either way round.  They were cut out individually and  the result is raw edge shapes made of two fabrics bonded together.  They can be left with raw edges as they won't fray much  or they can be edge stitched on the sewing machine - I think they would be too fiddly to edge stitch by hand.



I decided to finish the edges of mine on the sewing machine using a close zigzag stitch.

The appliques are quite firm and easy to sew and will have to be attached to the house block with stitching. I put a little strip of Bondaweb on the back of mine and fused them in place first before sewing.

When stitching them in position small details can be added. For example notice the rim around the top of the pots which was added after I had sewn them in place all around the outside edges. I anticipate adding some embroidered flowers in and around the pots but this will come later and possibly be combined with our next Bredon Crafters session as the planned activity is embroidery.

 After all that I have only used two of my pots but the others are stored safely waiting until I need plant pots again.

Roofline

After making several houses the pointed roofline can get a little boring.  So I tried a flat roofline as follows. 
 
After attaching the roof fabric to the beam as before take a piece of sky fabric about twice as deep as the roof material and place it above the roof with the seam edges overlapping about half an inch.  Don't sew it yet.

Find the top centre point of the sky fabric and mark with a soft pencil. 

There is to be a cut from 1/2" beyond the beam edges at an angle up to the marked point at the top of the sky on both sides of the roof.  This will give the roof its shape.  Try out different positions using your rulers until you find the roof shape you like.

Mark these lines so that you can gauge where to put the chimney.  Make a little chimney and pin this in place at the seam between the top of the roof and bottom of sky before joining the seam as shown in the photo above. The chimney can be finished by hand later.

The next stage is to cut on these lines to produce a shaped roof and a pointed bit of sky but we need a larger piece of sky behind it first.  This larger piece of sky should be as high as the top marked point and deep enough to extend down to where the two cuts will finish at the sides of the house.

The photo illustrates how it should look after the cuts are made.  There will be a triangular shaped bit of sky behind the roof to be removed.

Now these sky seams have to be joined - see photos below.


 

Applique Tree

A different background for your little house could be an applique tree fused in position and then enhanced with either hand or machine embroidery.  I have found a simple little tree on line from a website called www.WeeFolkArt.com and there you will see a whole list of free applique designs.  Although these have been developed to use with felted wool they work equally well will cotton and Bondaweb. I will bring this design with me on Sunday 6th so if you want to copy it please bring a small amount of Bondaweb.




 Here is a little house ready to have a background added to it.




First decide on the fabric for your garden and add a piece of garden  below a piece of sky ready to receive your little tree.  Then attach this to the side of the house block.





Now stitch your garden to the bottom of the house block, sloping if you like.   You now have a canvas to add your background, whatever you choose.  In this case we are going to add an appliqued tree.

Trace the shape of the foliage and the trunk on to the paper side of the Bondaweb.  Cut around the shape roughly at this point.

Iron the glue side of the Bondaweb on to the wrong side of the fabric and then cut out the shapes properly.

Before gluing them down audition them on the block to decide the best position. 

 At this point perhaps you may find that two trees would be an asset.  Or you may think that the trunk and branches should have been reversed so that they lean in the other direction.  If this is the case you must reverse the design when drawing it on to the Bondaweb.

In these photos the tree has not been fused to the background yet and when it is I will be adding some embroidery around the edges, either on the sewing machine or by hand.

In fact I am looking forward to adding embellishments to this little house and some of the others in order to give them more personality

We need about nine houses for the full quilt so this gives lots of opportunity for artistic licence in our colours, design and background details.