Park Your Needle Safely

If you sew by hand, you know how vexing it can be to lose your needle. Maybe you were interrupted from your hand quilting, and upon return, you cannot find where you left your needle.

What if the needle is on the floor? That is a real hazard! It happens, but it can be easily prevented with this little trick of mine, whether you piece, applique, or quilt by hand, even embroidery, cross stitch, etc.:

Stop when the thread is not pulled through, and leave the needle hanging with the thread tail still "caught" in the work. 

Upon your return, pick up your quilt (or sewing project) and shake it - the needle can be easily found. The needle will not fall out, or be lost inside a quilt, and is less likely to stick you (or others) accidentally as you search for it. Then you will pull those stitches through and hear "that lovely sound of thread being drawn through fabric" (as my friend, Gina Prosch enjoys in This Day's Joy).

Whenever I teach hand quilting, hand piecing, or hand applique, I always leave my students with this motto: “Park Your Needle Safely!”


Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com
(c)2019 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Molly Culp's Baltimore Garden Quilt

Featuring today: Molly Culp of Waco, TX and her Baltimore Garden Quilt

Molly Culp of Waco, Texas has been  winning big prizes at national shows with her Baltimore Garden Quilt! She has won several top ribbons; a 1st, 3rd and a “Past Show Chairman Award.” Her quilt also won a 3rd place at MQS in Iowa. In 2016, her quilt took 1st and Fat Quarter Awards (that is when the store comes to the show and chooses their favorite). There were 200 entries there at the Dimmitt, Texas Ogallala Quilt Festival. 

Molly has exquisitely quilted beautiful designs on her Baltimore Garden with her Gammill hand guided machine. She has had her machine for 20 years, and has taken lessons from Sharon Schamber on how to set the machine up with rice bags and that was how she learned to control the machine. Her experience and skill certainly shows in this closeup of her beautiful quilting designs. Molly is very proud of her Baltimore Garden Quilt. She has done a wonderful job.

Molly feels that “traditional quilts have a harder time for winning.” I have to agree. However, one judge commented that her crosshatching pattern was very straight. I think the red piping around the bound edge is a nice touch. And I love to see quilters using the Alternate Layout from the Baltimore Garden pattern book. 

Congratulations Molly!

The Baltimore Garden Quilt book with pattern CD or full-size printed patterns are available on my website at discounted prices.

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com

(c)2018 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Baltimore Garden Quilt Layered Flowers

On the original antique Baltimore Garden Quilt made in 1848, many of the flowers were created by arranging and sewing tiny fabric petals one at a time, building up layers to form the flower. 









While making my reproduction quilt, I devised a method to make these flowers easier to arrange and applique by sewing petals in layered groups which rotate and overlap. With this method, we can assemble these flowers in layers instead of sewing single petals one at a time.


This technique is shown In the book, Baltimore Garden Quilt, for a flower with pointed petals (the book is still available at  www.barbaramburnham.com). In workshops, I taught this technique on a flower with round petals, and with the luxury of more time and more detail, students received a detailed, illustrated, step-by-step handout to follow along. Now I invite you to give it a try! 

For those who could not attend my workshops, or want to begin their own Baltimore Garden quilt, I offer a FREE Layered Applique Flowers Tutorial (PDF).* The tutorial includes a pattern and templates you can print onto freezer paper with an inkjet printer. (My method of applique is "freezer paper on top," but you can use other applique methods.) There are also helpful references to the book, Baltimore Garden Quilt, so you will want to keep your book handy as well. My books and patterns are available at my website Store. 

*Adobe Acrobat Reader can be found here: https://get.adobe.com/reader/

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com

(c)2018 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Hand Quilting vs. Machine Quilting

Hand Quilting vs. Machine Quilting? This is not a competition! And this post is not a debate about which is better. They are just different -- very different. Each project will vary depending on fabrics and batting, density of stitching, methods and skills of the quilter. But the same designs can certainly be be used for hand quilting or machine quilting. Here is one comparison using the same designs, each done quite differently.

This is a section of the antique 1848 applique quilt that inspired my reproduction quilt and my book, Baltimore Garden Quilt.* On this antique quilt, the various floral quilted designs between the applique motifs are emphasized by very close, straight diagonal lines of background quilting. There was no trapunto or stuffing of the quilted designs on this quilt, and no quilting "around" the applique pieces as we often do today. The batting is cotton.

This is the same area on my reproduction quilt made in 2008. After scanning the drawings that I traced from the antique quilt, Marty Vint beautifully quilted all the floral designs, and closely around each applique motif, with her Gammill longarm. We could have added dense background quilting, but we agreed this was enough. Oh, and there was also that book deadline! The batting is "Matilda's Wool" (no longer available). The quilting thread is a shade or two darker than the background fabric to add emphasis.

How will you decide to quilt?

Hand Quilting - photo courtesy Carla Therrien

Machine Quilting - photo courtesy Marty Vint

In a future post, I plan to show how to adapt these floral quilting designs to other quilts for hand quilting.

*All of the original 1848 quilting designs are included on the patterns provided (on CD) in the book. A full size pattern set (on paper) is also available separately. Avoid outrageous prices on amazon from third-party sellers! Buy directly from my website for $15.00 +3.99 shipping.

Keep Stitching!

Barbara M. Burnham

www.barbaramburnham.com

(c) 2017 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Baltimore on the Prairie 2017, Nebraska City, NE

Baltimore on the Prairie
*** Applique Conference ***
September 20-23, 2017
Lied Lodge and Conference Center
Nebraska City, NE

Once again, I am very excited to be teaching two workshops at Baltimore on the Prairie (September 20-23, 2017).

A well known teaching faculty has been assembled for 2017: Nancy Amidon, Barbara Burnham, Jeana Kimball, Lisa DeBee Schiller, and Cathy Van Bruggen. Classes cover all skill levels from the very beginning basics to advanced Baltimore techniqes.

For my workshops, we chose two applique blocks drawn directly from the antique quilt in Baltimore Garden Quilt, and updated them with new fabrics and  new techniques.
Here is a preview of some techniques I will offer:

Choose from layered or multilayered flowers with dimensional folded buds,

or try edge ruching method for dimensional flowers and buds.

Fussy cut fabrics or add broderie perse flowers. 

Sew perfectly round padded circles, French knots, fancy fringes, or criss-cross centers.

Choose from several methods to make stems and arrange them in graceful curves. Learn to applique bumpless curves, sharp points and V's, how to handle small appliqué pieces, and tips to make hand appliqué faster and neater. I use a video projection system so all students can watch techniques up close. I hope you can join us!

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com
(c) 2017 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Baltimore On the Prairie 2016

I am really looking forward to teaching these two hand applique workshops, and there are still a few seats available. But they are filling quickly! Hope to see you there in September.

Baltimore on the Prairie
September 21-24, 2016
Lied Lodge and Conference Center
Nebraska City, Nebraska

 



Class Samples

Baltimore Garden Wild Cherry Birds is a block from the Baltimore Garden Quilt, inspired by an 1848 applique quilt in my collection.

Baltimore Garden Tulip Wreath is a new original design never published before, inspired by the antique quilt.

For more information, visit: Baltimore on the Prairie
Hope to see you there!


Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

New Block Finish and Book Sale

Between preparing samples and handouts for applique workshops, and working full time, it seems I hardly ever have time to stitch for myself. But I have finally finished stitching this block from Baltimore Garden Quilt in a new colorway, just for fun!


To celebrate, I’m offering SALE PRICES for my Baltimore Garden Quilt book. Check out the Store on my website for this book and others, plus some new patterns available.

 A favorite fabric is a great way to be inspired to applique -- this little warbler fabric has been in my stash for years, waiting for just the right project. The butterflies are cut from a more recent fabric I found in a local quilt shop, SpringWater Designs in Columbia, MD. (I will be teaching the Bluebird Wreath workshop there in July.)

In an earlier post about choosing fabrics for applique, I showed this little bird fabric that I wanted to feature, and some of the ‘first draft’ companion fabrics for this block. You can see, of course, most of them did not make the final cut.

Students always ask to see the back of my applique - here's a closeup back and front.

Aren’t we fortunate to have a multitude of beautiful fabrics available today? Here is the same block on the original 1848 quilt, on which the Baltimore Garden Quilt book and patterns are based. I can only hope to hand quilt my applique as beautifully as the original.

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com
P.S. The bird fabric is "Bittersweet" by Moda. The butterfly is "Sue Schlaback of Wild Apple for Timeless Treasures.

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

 

Choosing Fabrics for Applique Blocks

Applique students often ask me how I choose fabrics. That's a difficult question to answer. If you are trying to reproduce an antique quilt, or trying to match a photo that comes with a pattern, most of the fabric decisions are fairly easy - it’s just a matter of finding similar fabrics.


For this vase block in my book, Baltimore Garden Quilt, fabric choices were easy by following the antique quilt (also shown here) with reproduction fabrics available at the time.



If you want another color scheme, there are many inspirations and fabric choices.  It helps to know a bit about contrast, value, intensity, but there are no right or wrong choices, as long as the end result pleases YOU. Helpful books for learning to choose fabrics: Jinny Beyer's "Color Confidence for Quilters" and "The Scrap Look." Joen Wolfrom has also written several wonderful books on choosing color schemes for quilts.



This Baltimore Garden Vase is one of the blocks I will be teaching at the 2016 Academy of Appliqué, in Williamsburg, VA, so I am working up some different samples. One version is a simple color scheme in shades of pink and blue.

For another version, I want to find a feature fabric to make the vase center a focal point. Auditions begin with a pattern window cutout for the vase center.  Some fabrics are more promising than others.  This white dove could inspire a Christmas version.

 

A horse racing theme might be fun.

Chickens are popular, and the black background offers nice contrast.

I love bluebirds, but these are rejects – the birds get lost in a confusing background.

           

 

 

A bluebird with nest is too big – another reject.

 

But this little warbler has real potential! So I will cut this applique piece to feature her. Next step is to start finding fabrics to coordinate with her --

-- looking for bright red, red-orange, orange to gold, and greens from light to dark with olive tones. I won’t use them all, though. 

Appliqué takes a lot of your time and effort, and fabric costs $$$, so you might want an idea of what your final result will really look like before investing your efforts. Stacking fabrics that blend and coordinate is a good way to start.
For a complex block, I might take the time to paste a mockup – rough cutting chunks of fabric, and pasting them with gluestick to a pattern copy. The paper mockup will be my guide for fabric cutting and stitching, as well as inspiration on my sewing room wall.

There are many ways to approach fabric selection for applique - this is just one example. I'll try to post some more ideas soon.

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham

www.barbaramburnham.com
(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

May I Interrupt Your Quilting Design?

Deborah Y. sent a question to AppliqueAddicts, a Yahoo group: “I feel like I'm stuck in a handquilting rut. Any suggestions other than cross hatching and echo quilting to complement applique?”

There’s nothing wrong with quilting a classic background grid or echo quilting. It’s relatively easy to mark and so relaxing to stitch; almost meditative. Your mind can ponder the world as your needle and thread gradually bring the surface of your quilt to life.

 I shared a photo with the group of an antique (1848) quilt from my collection for inspiration. This quilt has floral quilting designs in the open spaces among the applique. (The applique and quilting designs were traced from that antique quilt for patterns and published in my book, Baltimore Garden Quilt.*)

Here is how the designs look on the antique quilt. Dense background quilting helps to emphasize the floral quilting designs; in this case very close straight lines, almost stippling. But that doesn’t mean that stippling is required, or even necessary, to make use of the floral designs.

Here is how the designs look when they fill an open space on my reproduction of that quilt. My friend, Marty Vint (Dogwood Quilting), skillfully quilted around the applique first. Then she used my tracings of the antique quilting designs and quilted those designs to fill the open spaces; thus background “fill” was not needed.
And here is the back of my reproduction quilt. Plenty of lovely quilting here! (Judges have awarded this quilt with several ribbons at national quilt shows.)

My friend, Carla is hand quilting her Baltimore Garden. She shares her progress on Facebook, and has kindly given me permission to re-share her photo here. Carla is quilting a background grid, and sprinkling just a few of the original motifs in the open areas between the applique.


On another antique 1850s applique quilt (shown below),  various feather motifs interrupt double rodded quilting lines. Antique quilts are my favorite inspiration!
















Copy bits of your applique designs and echo them in your quilting. Add a single stemmed rose, a bird, a heart or heart-in-hand, or any motif special to you. I like to add a double heart. Tracing a child’s hand is another fun idea. Wind some leafy vines around your applique or between your blocks to simulate sashing.

Quilt your initials or your whole name into the quilt, and of course, a date within the quilting. Finally, be sure to plan a label for the back of the quilt, and document your quilt for those who will care for your quilt in years to come.

*From the CD included with the book Baltimore Garden Quilt, print selected patterns as needed. A complete full-size paper pattern set is also available as a separate package at my website www.barbaramburnham.com .)

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Applique A Tiny Bird's Eye

Several people have asked me to do a blog post about how I manage hand appliqué on a tiny bird’s eye. And they keep reminding me. (These things take time!) So here it is.

First, enjoy shopping for just the right fabric for your bird’s eye! On antique Baltimore album quilts, a daisy-like flower might be cut out and sewn as a bird’s eye. I appliqued this tiny flower which made a 1/8” circle – quite challenging!

This fish’s eye was the center of a large flower. His upper lip was appliquéd with the technique explained below.

Polka dots are great if you find just the right size. Circles and ovals provide a nice guideline to appliqué. This eagle's eye seems to have eyelashes.

Here's a wild bird eye! Wish I had more than a scrap of this fabric....

The little block design below was clipped from the full-size block in my Baltimore Garden Quilt book, for a workshop on basics of appliqué with freezer paper on top, tricks and techniques for leaves, skinny stems, stuffed cherries, and a tiny bird’s eye.

The black polka dot is the perfect size for my bird’s eye, and its white background allows me to include a white eye-ring which shows up nicely against the bird. But it’s still really small to applique! Here is the trick: Usually I cut an appliqué seam allowance about 3/16 inch. However, for tiny appliqué, cut out the appliqué fabric with a HUGE seam allowance. Knot a thread, and baste all around the eye. End the basting thread with another knot.

If a white eye-ring is desired, use a circle template to mark a bigger circle. Depending on your fabric, you might not need that, such as the eagle with eyelashes shown above.

Clip out one or two basting stitches – just enough to trim a LITTLE BIT of the HUGE seam allowance down to 3/16 inch (or less) for ONE STITCH of appliqué. The remaining basting stitches will hold the fabric in place while you begin to sew.

 

Thread the needle with appliqué thread and knot the end. Insert the appliqué needle under the eye fabric (so the knot will be hidden) to begin the first appliqué stitch. Turn the seam allowance under and send the needle to the back of the block. Pull the thread taught and then park the needle.

That first appliqué stitch is now holding one side of the eye in place while the remaining basting stitches are still holding the other side.

At that point, you must clip out more basting, and trim more seam allowance away before you can continue around the circle. The appliqué stitches must be very close together. Instead of the usual horizontal appliqué stitch, send the needle straight up and down vertically for each stitch. You might call it a stab stitch. 

About halfway around, all basting will be gone, but the eye will be stable. From there on, trim carefully and appliqué until the last bit is turned under. This is probably the most difficult part. The seam allowances have to be very small – all the seam allowances have to be cut narrow enough to fit under their its part of the circle.

TIPS: On this tiny appliqué, concern yourself with only one single stitch at a time. Trim only enough and turn under only enough seam allowance for that one stitch. Use the needle to wipe the seam allowance under. Slide the tip of the needle under the circle to smooth the gathers. If too much is pushed under, flattening the circle, use the tip of the needle to coax it out a bit before taking the stitch. Push in any bumps with a fingernail or a toothpick. Hold the block at the eye between your finger and thumb and press to flatten the gathered turnunder (finger press).

Finished! If there are a few bumps in the applique, you can still push those bumps in with the needle, a toothpick, or a fingernail, and take an extra stitch or two.

In my book Baltimore Garden Quilt, there are more ways to make use of this method. Try this technique on a bird’s eye, or any small appliqué piece. I would love to see your photos – visit me on Facebook. And watch for a future post on embroidered bird eyes.

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.