If you have been watching my YouTube videos, you have seen Honey our sweet new puppy.
Our last puppy, Bandit, traveled to 49states and nine Canadian provinces with us. We decided to teach Honey the ins and outs of travel here are some pictures of our adventure:
Honey had a great time for her first Hotel stay… no barking, howling or chewing furniture. She traveled well in the kennel. A good time was had by all. I hope you enjoyed the cute pictures of Honey.
Later,
Lorrie
This was my favorite sample of this technique for today. To make faux tie-dye, you only need a few materials.
Permanent markers, some colors and brands work differently than others. Some permanent markers do not spread with alcohol and should be not be used in this project. My example from this block would be a metallic sharpie that did not work for a tie-dye effect, but made excellent accent marks.
Rubbing alcohol, 70% or higher. I happen to have a dropper bottle handy so I poured my alcohol into it and label it for this project. You could also use a spritzer bottle. Be careful not to inhale the mist if you use a spritzer bottle.
I used freezer paper behind my fabric to protect my surfaces. It has a nice plastic layer that will keep things like marker or alcohol from bleeding through.
To hold the fabric a little tighter, I did use an embroidery hoop, but it is not an entirely necessary for this technique.
The key to drawing on the fabric is to let space between your shapes and colorful designs. My permanent markers were fairly juicy, so the designs needed to have space. I also chose only a few colors for each tie-dye design. I used simple shapes, like triangles and swirls.
After your design is complete or as complete as you want it to be, it is time to drip on some alcohol.
Note that I put plastic baskets under the designs so that there would be someplace for the alcohol to go instead of just pooling on the plastic coating of the freezer paper. I started with four or five drops in the center.
The colors will start to bleed out of your drawing immediately.
If the wicking of the color slows down, add more drops of alcohol… A few at a time.
once the alcohol seems to have done the trick, allow the fabric to dry. Some other videos that I watched sped this process up by ironing it dry. I hesitate to do this with rubbing alcohol because it is flammable.
This is a finished sample that has been heat set and set with vinegar and salt.
There are several ways to help set the dye to make it more permanent. You can use a bowl of cold water with one cup of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt. Let your work soak for one hour.
there are also commercial products available to set your dies. The following two are examples from Amazon.
After setting with vinegar, salt and water, rinse your fabric thoroughly. Wring thoroughly. No need to be gentle. Dry on high in the dryer or iron dry to add another layer of heat set.
Here is the rinsed wet example.
Here is the other example. You will notice that the dark blue marker did not wick very well. Red and pinks had a bigger tendency to bleed onto other portions of the fabric.
Here are some other examples:
Here I’m using some scraps to make these examples into 6 1/2 inch blocks
This technique is kid friendly. My friend Barb who is a retired art teacher used to do this with fourth and fifth graders. It is a great technique to use on shirts and silk.
I hope you are enjoying our little experiments with embellishments. If you would like to see a video presentation of this technique, please click here.
Later,
Lorrie
Today we are constructing the units for the Drunkard’s Path block in the Study in Scarlet quilt that I designed to go along with the read aloud podcast found here.
Last week, I showed you how to create your own templates…no purchase necessary! No need to be afraid. See that video here! This week we are going to put those templates to good use.
To watch the video that goes with the following pictures, click here. I am pinning my templates to my squares…using a generous amount of pins. Then I am going old school…using scissors to cut out the fabric!
Be careful not to cut into the paper! I cut the curves first.
I use a ruler and rotary cutter to trim the straight edges of the pieces.
There is not much waste after the pieces are all trimmed out. These scraps are destined for the fire starter bucket.
To properly align these blocks, I crease the middle of the curved pieces.
Next, I line up the creases. Time to pin…one pin!
I prefer to sew with the concave piece on top. This is my personal preference. You will have to decide the positioning of the pieces after practicing a little. Line up the straight pieces on the outside.
Using a stilleto, pin, etc., keep the pieces lined up straight. Slowly sew…carefully line up the edges up the fabric as you go. Stop as often as you need to as you go. Be careful not to create any tucks in the fabric.
And the ah-ha moment…
I found it easiest to iron or to press this block from the back. I pressed the “pie” shape flat. No need to clip the curve if you press in this manner. Next, I gave the block a good press from the front.
My templates were designed to be generous and allow for trimming to 4 1/2″. Make 16 blocks. This block finishes at 16 1/2″.
Here are two of the finished units.
Join me next week for variations on the Drunkard’s Path.
I hope you enjoy this technique! Give it a try!
Later,
Lorrie
To make the drunkard’s path block, I had a lot of inspiration. The basic block is the same. Sometimes the proportions of the pieces are just a little different.
This first book was the only book that had a suggestion of a pattern that you could trace and use, but no tips on sewing the curves.
The proportions in this book are about 1/3 to 2/3 with the pie crust or concave part being the 1/3.
This book doesn’t really have a pattern. It has a picture. What you see is what you get.
This book has fantastic pictures of blocks. All of them finish at 4 1/2 inches. I love small blocks with fiddly pieces because they look so cute when they are finished… But not today. I’m looking for a 16 1/2 inch block for the Study in Scarlet quilt. This book is great for inspiration, but not reality.
This book is filled with tons of block, layouts and suggestions… Not really patterns, but great ideas. I will use this more when I talk about alternate layouts next week.
Noticed that the proportions in this block are about half on the side.
This last book isn’t a pattern book, but it has wonderful pictures of quilts. This one calls the block robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The bottom quilt is the one that we are actually making a block like this week. I love the top quilt. It has some extra solid squares in the corners and creates a butterfly or bat pattern. I think it is absolutely a beautiful pattern. Maybe I’ll do that later on .
Now that I talk to you about different proportions, you can choose your own to create templates to make this block. My YouTube video this week is all about templates.
I have a fur baby helper in my room this weekend. This is Honey. She has been at our house for exactly one week today. She is so sweet and such a good helper she even got a new doggy bed from a cheap Walmart pillow and one of bandits recycled blankets.
She’s not sharing her toys, so I’m not letting her use my sewing machine! Have a great weekend! Enjoy sewing!
Later,
Lorrie
I enjoyed a wonderful Saturday. Some friends came over and we talked about quilting. We had a great lunch together. We shared Grammy pictures, talked about our children, and our spouses. It was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. Time well spent.
Here are a few of the Grammy pictures that I shared:
Scarlett loves her dog friends. I have seen enough snow for the entire winter. sunrise over a snowbank is still a beautiful sunrise. Scarlett had an excellent birthday and now she’s in the terrible twos. I wish my son and daughter-in-law luck. Mwahaha!
I was glad to be out of the land of snow but driving through the blowing, drifting white powder was nerve-racking at best. Yes, this is I 75.Ugh! On the other side, it was beautiful and sunny. The further south we drove the less snow there was. I have never been so happy to see so much brown, dead grass.
Still, all in all, time well spent.
I hope you enjoyed this little blurb and a few pictures! See you next week for quilting updates.
Later,
Lorrie
After some thinking about quilt sizes, I realized that 72″ x 96″ was disproportionate. I like a quilt that is rectangular, but this one is not wide enough for two adults to share it comfortably. I decided that it needs to be a little wider. Here are the printable documents that explain the math and a new, wider coloring sheet. The new finished size in 88″ x 96″.
I hope that you are enjoying this “mystery”!
Later,
Lorrie
In chapter 3 of A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson collaborate on their first case. When they arrive at the scene of the crime, Sherlock finds his first clues in the garden in front of the house.
Here is the printable pattern for this block:
If the directions at the bottom of the sheet seem short, please watch my presentation of the block construction on youTube here.
I hope you are enjoying this series. Comments can sent to me at YouTube and my gmail.
Later,
Lorrie
I know that very few of my YouTube friends… or in-person friends, for that matter… make it to this blog. I may be the only one reading it as I proofread. This is my old school technology habit. This is a nice place to post patterns, etc. as a back up to the comment box on YouTube.
Looking back at my play list…I started the embellishment series in July of 2024 with this video…check out the playlist. I have been publishing a new video every week since then. I have decided to take a “break” from introducing new embellishments for the month of February. In other words, we are going to review and/or combine some of the skills I have already shared. This should be fun and relaxing. By March, I will be refreshed and ready to go forward with new skills in this series.
I also have a set of 12 inch blocks that are blinged out and ready to share. Years ago, I ran a Yahoo group…called werquilters. In the group, we had many fun round robin quilt blocks. One of the round robins was a Victorian quilt block swap.
The rules were simple. You constructed a block with a muslin base. I provided an address list to each participant. You sent your block and tracking sheet out into the world via US postal service. Each month you sent the blocks that you had in your possession on to the next person on the list after you added a little bit of bling. Postage was $1.95 for one of those little 2-day boxes…life was good! If you did want to send it in a box, large envelopes could be stuffed, too. There was no limit to thickness…and no extra postage for thickness! Oh, life was sweet for us quilters. Not so much for postal carriers…sorry!
The A Study in Scarlet quilt project is moving forward. I set a slow pace for this project. It seems that everyone has a sew along going, starting in January. I have even joined a few of them myself. You will have to watch episodes of Blabfest Fridays to get more information about which ones I couldn’t resist…ha ha!
As I am typing this, I am waiting for the arrival of a new camera tripod. This one is up to 70″ tall, easily movable, and tracks motion. It is not as expensive as it sounds. It should make various angle shots much easier…and you won’t have to tolerate the machine vibration as I am filming sewing on my little white singer or on the midarm quilt machine! Life just keeps getting better and better!
I hope that you are enjoying your life, too! Do something everyday that makes your heart sing…pet the cat, hug your loved ones, sew & quilt…something to make you happy!
Later,
Lorrie
P.S. Please remember that comments are turned off here because of spam attacks. Ten screens of something in Russian is not a comments. I am not interested in anyone’s manifesto as a comment! Sorry!
I bet that you do not have as many UFO’s as I do! My husband says I am the best “topper” he has ever met…but actually assembling the final quilt! That is like work!
To help you, and myself, I am issuing a challenge. Choose eight UFO’s (unfinished objects). Try to finish one a month for the next 8 months. Not a big committment…should be easy enough, right? (I know I will do a better job this year…last year I hit a 25% completion rate. So sad!)
If you would like to play along, print the form below. Fill it in…and occasionally refer back to it. If you would like to share your list to make you feel more accountable, please e-mail it to me at my gmail address.
A group I belong to will pick a number on the first Thursday of every month of the project to work on…or you can just choose one from your list.
As we work through our lists, we will have projects to share. Everyone is inspired by completed work, no matter how big or small…or even still in progress!
Please join in!
I look forward to seeing and hearing about your progress!
Later,
Lorrie
Here is a second quick printable for this month:
I hope you are enjoying this sew along series, as well as listening to some classic literature.
Enjoy!
Later,
Lorrie
