More than half done!

From Blog Photos

I am now more than half finished with my bluebonnet applique block. I have completed:
3 of 4 large flowers
8 of 16 small flowers
2 of 4 leaves

It's not perfect (great Hawaiian-style applique should be completely symmetrical; mine is off a bit in most places), but I think it's looking pretty good!

I annotated the photo, above, to show some of the tools I've been using:

• General's Sketch & Wash pencil. I use this to mark the pattern on the back.
• My most-excellent Gingher scissors, in their special leather sleeve.
• Normal, boring, blue thread. I sometimes use special thread (like gutterman or mettler) but the boring stuff works just as well.
• Little pincushion with tiny pins.
  

Bluebonnet Applique Progress

I made progress with my bluebonnet Hawaiian applique block this week. As you can see in this picture, I have completed 2 of the 4 large flowers, 3 of the 8 small flowers, and 2 of the 4 leaves. If only there were more leaves! Leaves are really easy!! The floral parts are incredibly difficult to sew correctly.

Also of note in the photo:

• The next small flower section (at about 5 o'clock position) is prepared with a freezer paper template.
• Compare the lower left & lower right corners. Notice the difference between finished floral sections and unfinished (turning under the edge refines the shape drastically).
  
• I'm still having a hard time with really sharp inside points (on the larger floral sections).
  

I'm almost half done! It's not as symmetrical as I would like (in very minute ways). But, I'm happy with it so far.

Technique update:

Glue Baste-It: I used this special water-soluble glue to help turn under the edge in a few of the trickier spots. It has a special applicator, which dispenses a dot of glue about the size of a pin-head. I like the applicator a lot, but wish the glue was tackier.

I love my scissors! I have a tiny pair of extra-sharp Gingher (brand) scissors. They are fantastic for detailed applique like this!

I should find a way to take a picture of my needle. It's bent horribly (it's probably 15 degrees off from straight)! I think I'm gripping the needle harder than normal, as I handle the pressure of working on these very detailed sections.

When I do my big 2010-goal project (wall-sized Hawaiian applique quilt), I think I will go back to working with batik fabric. I used regular fabric (though from a good quilt shop) for the design in this block, and it is fraying too much. Batik fabric seems to have a higher thread-count and tighter weave and doesn't fray so badly.

Bluebonnet Applique Update

I am working more on my bluebonnet applique block. As I work on the block, I thought I'd blog about some of the techniques I'm using.

Today's Topic: Marking the pattern.

Hand-applique involves turning-under the raw-edge of fabric in a precise spot to create the pattern. There are several different ways you can mark where you should turn under the fabric. I will be using at least 3 different techniques on this block (in order of complexity):

• Cut the shape & turn-under.
• Back-baste along an outline.
• Freezer paper on the top.

Turn under 1/4" inch:
The easiest way for me to applique is to cut a shape, attach it to the background, then just turn under 1/8" to 1/4" of the raw edge as I sew. The leaf section pictured below gets this technique. Too bad there are only 4 small leaves in this block: I can breeze through applique when it's done this way!

Advantages of this technique: fast, no extra work
Disadvantages: not for highly-detailed sections



Back-Baste along an outline:
For the bluebonnet floral sections, I am using a technique I learned a few years ago. It doesn't have an "official" name as far as I know, but some people call it "back-basting." This tutorial explains it pretty well. Basically, you draw an outline on the back, baste along it, then remove the basting stitches as you sew. The basting thread leaves minuscule holes, which you follow, stitching dot-to-dot.

In my case, because I traced around a thick cardboard template, I had to baste just inside the lines I drew, as you can see in this picture:


With this technique, one bluebonnet floral section takes about 1 hour to stitch (there are 4 sections total). Here's how it turns out in the end:



Advantages: Can help you sew complicated sections accurately. No templates get in the way of your stitching.
Disadvantages: You have to sew everything twice.

Freezer paper on the top:
I haven't started the other sections (there will be 8 sections, each with 2 small flowers with 5 petals each, on a narrow stem). I intend to use the freezer-paper-on-top technique for them. Freezer paper is waxy on one side, so if you put it against fabric and iron it, it adheres temporarily (then removes cleanly).

This is a very standard applique technique. So standard, in fact, that regular everyday freezer paper you buy at the grocery store includes the directions! (Right next to directions on how to actually wrap food to store in the freezer!)

Advantages: good for detailed sections; the pattern is on top so you can see it easily. Allows you to shift the pattern a little more than back-basting allows.
Disadvantages: the paper can get in the way of stitching, and can be time-consuming to cut out, and can be a pain to get off (if you stitch through the fabric, which you WILL do).

This is not my favorite technique, so I only use it when I really have to. But, I hope it works to help me produce sharp points on the 5-part flowers.

Bluebonnet Applique

Here's the start of my next Hawaiian Applique block. I wanted to make one more (custom-designed) small block before I tackle the larger wall-hanging which is in my goals for 2010. The block pictured here is a custom design, which is roughly based on the Texas Bluebonnet. So, it will be a mix of Texas and Hawaii!

Hawaiian applique quilts traditionally have an 8-part repeat and feature nature-related patterns (hence picking the bluebonnet as inspiration). Traditionally, Hawaiian applique is done entirely by hand. I will do the applique by hand (turning under the fabric with my needle to hide the raw edges then using tiny stitches to secure it) but will do the quilting itself by machine (or, technically, my mom will do the quilting for me!).

I have taken a few classes on applique (in general, to learn needle-turn stitches) and have been trained in Hawaiian Applique both in Hawaii and here in Texas (in Hawaii at a quilt shop in Maui; in Texas as part of International Quilt Market, with instructor Maggie Davies). Davies' book Perfect Points outlines Hawaiian quilting quite effectively.

Making a Hawaiian Applique quilt is incredibly complicated! Finishing a bed-sized Hawaiian quilt would be an amazing life-long accomplishment (the only thing I can think of which would be harder is probably a detailed baltimore album quilt). I've made several small blocks in the Hawaiian style, but I want to have more practice before I try a larger project.

Here's roughly what goes in to such a quilt: (with times for the Bluebonnet block / what I estimate for a wall-hanging)

1. Get a pattern. Published patterns are available, but I prefer doing my own thing - which requires custom-designing, testing it on freezer paper, fixing it, etc. (1 hour / 6 hours)
2. Prep fabric (folding in quarters, then on the diagonal). (10 minutes / 30 minutes)
3. Transfer design to fabric. (30 minutes / 4 hours)
4. Cut top fabric. (15 minutes / 2 hours)
5. Pin to base fabric. (15 minutes / 2 hours)
6. Baste with thread. (30 minutes / 4 hours)
7. Hand applique & all that goes along with that! (15 hours+ / 100 hours+)
8. Quilt (thankfully, I can have my mom do that for me!)
9. Enjoy forever! :)

I anticipate my wall-hanging will be about 30" to 40" square (anything larger is hard, since fabric only comes in 40-44" widths, and also is unruly to work with). I am combing through quilt designs at the Bishop Museum (from Honolulu) for inspiration for that piece.

UPDATE:
Here's the pattern for the bluebonnet quilt (shown above). This section below is repeated 4 times in the block above. As you might notice, I have only roughly cut out the fabric so far; I will have to cut more precisely later.