November | 2022 | Stitch It Again

I loved designing and working on this quilt, and I love the finished quilt just as much. I also learned a few things along the way, from a few bloggers and my own experience. I included the links I used for anyone who might want to make something similar, or who wants to use some of these ideas as a jumping off point.

It all started with the fabrics, and an idea. I would make applique blocks and then add some simple piecing.

I decided on crows, pumpkins, and leaves. I drew two different sized pumpkins, and cut them into 3 sections. I found and downloaded a free crow template, and reduced it to 60% of its size. I added a wing piece. I downloaded 3 leaves from The Crafty Quilter.

When I first tried applique many years ago, I did it all by hand. Not the way I want to do it anymore! I used a excellent and very detailed post by the Crafty Quilter about machine applique.

I used 2 different techniques for transferring my shapes to fabric. For the pumpkins and moons I cut out the fabric and then sewed it to fusible interfacing, sewing the shiny side against the right side of fabric, and then making a hole in the interfacing and turning. Next I iron pressed my pumpkins onto the backing fabric.

This gives an added loftiness to the finished applique, but would be too hard to do for more complex shapes.

For the crows and leaves, I used Heat n Bond (I discovered I already had 2 packs).

I drew my shapes on the paper side of the Heat n Bond, cut them out, ironed them on the wrong side of the fabric, cut out the shapes on the drawn line, and then peeled off the paper, and ironed them on the backing fabric. I didn’t like the leaf fabric pictured, and didn’t use these leaves in the finished quilt.

The next step is sewing the shapes to the backing. There are many different stitches, threads, and stitch density to consider. So many decisions to make! I used a zigzag that wasn’t completely dense. The photo shows the stitching from the wrong side.

After getting the basic blocks done, and some additional patches and strips cut out, I played around with the layout. I taped it to the closet door and looked at it for a while. I saw that the center was weak, and felt it much improved when I rearranged to put the top third at the bottom. I also added a stem to the maple leaf, and changed the pumpkin stems from a dark green that didn’t stand out enough to a tiny print that looks tan from a distance.

I tried a spray adhesive for the first time for assembling the quilt top with the batting and backing. I used to hand baste, but this is easier.

The next step is make or break time: quilting the pieced top. Quilting even a small project can be daunting. I read Lori Kennedy’s 6 Ways to Ruin a Quilt with Machine Quilting and ventured forth.

I quilted to outline the shapes, and heavily quilted the pumpkins. For the crow blocks I didn’t quilt the crows at all, and heavily quilted the background.

After reading the very comprehensive blog on how to hang a quilt on the wall, I decided to add hanging tabs before attaching the binding by hand. I cut the binding with a width of 2 1/2 inches. I then tacked down the tabs and added a stick I cut in the yard and some twine.

Done!

I got started on this quilt without much thought on the technical aspects. What I learned in piecing, appliqueing, and quilting this project:

Change feet for the job – I used 3 feet; the clear satin stitch foot for the applique, the1/4 inch seam foot for piecing, and the even feed or walking foot for quilting.
Change threads – I needed different colors for the top thread and the bobbin thread which needed to match the dark fabric of the quilt back.
Change tension – I didn’t practice with a quilt sandwich, and I had the dark bobbin thread showing on the front. I changed from a 4 down to a 1 after seeing this:

4. Think of ways to quilt to reduce thread ends to deal with. The multitude of hanging threads I needed to get rid of was the one bad part of this project. I mostly tried to bring all threads to the back and knot and bury them, but it was tedious and took so much time. Ugh!