Tag: Teri Lucas Quilts

Quilted Block of the Month – September 2017

 

So, September and October can be a bit dodgy posting regularly. I’m learning how to use the Floriani Total Control U digitizing software. A friend asked me for some help with a bit of digitizing. I’d imported a photo into FTCU and told the software to do it’s thing. I couldn’t remember what I did. Well hello very popular search engine! Looky what I found. Getting Started with FTCU, complete with the solution. The internet has everything.

Now onto the Block. Spirals seem to be the thing, at least for the center, and spiraling out, well, kind of.

IMG_20170929_134108Once the spirals were echoed once I wanted to keep the outward moving feel.

Stay tuned to terificreations.com tomorrow for more details

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The video shows the feather work that continues out.

kaleidoscope block color here's what will happen

I’m still learning how to use the mouse and the touchscreen to draw on images. There’s a good feel for what the rest of the quilting will look like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

kaleidoscope multi

And here we go with a multi block piece.  I do have more kaleidoscope pieces to cut and make into something special.

This coming week will see me preparing for the Dutchess Heritage Celebration, working on Floriani projects, and getting two quilts pieced for Quilt Market.

Oh so you know I have a Sizzix. For anyone who doesn’t like the cutting process, or who has physical issues that limit their ability to cut fabric. Ebony Love of Love Bug Studios has some new dies she’d like to get made. And this quilter would love the dies because the quilts are gorgeous! She’s got a kickstarter campaign to raise the funds. FYI, a kickstarter is akin to a stock IPO on the stock exchange, a way of raising funds to get some work accomplished. What I love about this kickstarter is this allows all of us to benefit from Ebony’s creativity and damn hard work.

Happy Stitching,

Teri

Quilt Shows and a bit of other stuff

Mornin’ Quilty Peeps

The Dutchess Heritage Quilt Show is quickly approaching, October 7 and 8. It’s hard to believe that this is just around the corner. I’m tweaking handouts, getting quilts together, and looking forward to this show. Paula Reid will be in the Sew and Vac booth demonstrating the Westalee Ruler Foot on the brother sewing machines.

If you’re in the neighborhood drop by the show.

Connections Quilt Festival Quilt Show EntryQuilt Show Entry deadline is October 15th. So there’s still time to enter. I need to shoot a quilt, then will be entering 2. After you’ve entered the quilt show head on over and sign up for a few classes. There are some amazing teachers in the group: Melinda Bula, Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill, Lynn Thibault, Margaret Mew, Lynn Wheatley and Me. If I weren’t teaching there are a few classes I’d take.

The Road 2 California quilt show entry deadline is just days away. Yes, I’m entering. It all has to do with that picture!

I'm kind of in love with Kaleidoscope Kreator.

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See you in a couple of days! I’m spending today and tomorrow with my sweetie celebrating our 25th.

Happy Quilting,

Teri

A little or a lot? Or how much quilting for this quilt?

20449106_10213973184472142_3759714678466190392_oHow much threadwork does this quilt need?

A little?

A medium amount?

A lot?

This question comes up frequently often saying something like, “I see all these quilts that are quilted to within an inch of life and I don’t ‘get it’, ‘like it’, ‘understand it’.” or “I like quilts that are quilted this way because they belong on my bed.” or “my walls are warm enough”

bob at Roanoak
Celebrating 25 years with this guy on Wednesday September 27th I love him!

There’s a reason why the word “It’s your quilt, it’s your rules” frequently exits my lips – this part – like so much of quilting – is all about you. You get to pick. You get to choose the lime green and pair it with the deep gray. You get to pick what weight, and color thread.

A slightly more complex answer begins with the following questions:

What is the end purpose of the quilt?
What batting will be used?
What thread(s) will be used?

Once these questions are answered then the rest, like a cute puppy, will follow you home. I’ll give an example:
double-irish-chain-full-viewI’m planning on remaking a quilt for my sweetie and I, a double Irish chain, using a variety of colors, and a gray background. As it’s a remake of a quilt I already own I get to make choices that are significantly different than the first quilt (seen here on the left)

First – no muslin. There are two different weights here because I didn’t know any better in that moment. The cream is where the gray will be.

Not only the gray background, the rest of the colors will be changing as well. My use, and understanding of color has changed.

Second – it’ll be bigger. It covers our queen sized bed, but not with us under it. I’m not a fan of fighting for the covers, are you?

Third – it will be all machine quilted, a bit more consistently across the surface. This is comes from the years of experience I now have. This will reflect where I am as a quilter now, and this is my choice.

Fourth – batting – most likely wool, or silk. because I like how they show off the quilting. When I started quilting this I used a dense cotton, I liked it at the time. However my experience now brought other battings into my quilting world. It’s been exciting exploring what they do. In an upcoming post I’ll share the battings I use and why.

Fifth – thread – it used to be all cotton. Now there are so many threads – cotton, wool, polyester, silk that are worth a look. Then there’s weight. Oh dear me I’m getting excited thinking about the possibilities!

So this is a bed quilt, with wool batting. Depending on the batting I might be able to quilt 4 – 8″ apart. So that will, in some ways, determine how much quilting is stitched over the surface of the quilt.

Now I’ll talk about whole cloth, and art quilts a little later on. Stay tuned!

Happy Quilting,

Teri

PS there’s still time to enter a quilt in the Connections Quilt Festival I’m filling out the paperwork for 2 later this morning!

Quilted Block of the Month September 2017 Week 1

If you’ve been following on Instagram you may have taken a gander at this:

Batik Kaleidoscope in progress @sewbatik @sizzix @sizzix_quilting

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I’ve been working on a batik kaleidoscope quilt on and off over the last several weeks. It all started with the Sizzix Big Shot Pro, having the ability to cut the pieces quickly, cleanly and easily. There are a couple of things I want to do with the blocks and hey! I can cut more really easily.

So the first thing is:

September Block of the Month

2

Thankfully EQ6 is available making mocking up the block super easy.

line drawing setpember block of the month

I am using an orange/gold for the background on all the blocks. The orange in the mock up is a bit more on the hot red side because warm is good!

So this month there will be a mock up block and a pieced block.

kaleidoscope block color

Excited yet? Because I am.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

Quilted Block of the Month August week 2

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
The congratulatory messages on my new position with Floriani are simply awe inspiring.

Now onto our regularly scheduled program:center square

 

Oh I do remember giving  you this update sometime during the week in Instagram. Debby was stitching this motif on a postcard, and I was inspired by it. I’m not entirely certain that Debby posted this anywhere publicly so just know that I have permission to copy her homework at any time. Cool, eh? With this project you have permission to copy my homework. If you’re playing along please feel free to send me pictures and I’ll share them here on the blog.
Remember I tend to show all the stuff that I’m not happy with because I’m still learning how to machine quilt. 2017-08-11 19.29.52

Bernina 24 foot on ruler

 

 

The free-hand embroidery foot is aboutt 1/4” from needle center to the outer edge of the foot. I chose a spot roughly in the center of the square to start stitching a circle. Once the circle closed I very slowly started curving out until the edge of the foot was on the center circle. I kept stitching around, and around, and around, and around, and around and around. Once I reached the edge the ditch helped me keep the curves consistent. Using 80 weight thread in the bobbin means that there is little thready build up, and the fabric doesn’t distort.

IMG_20170804_163514

I’m going to show this one in a very quick vid.

This should give you an idea of how this motif is stitched out. This one looks like a wonky log cabin block, however it’s stitched from the outside in. On the quilt itself I simply winged it. In the video I used a ruler to make the lines. Going from the outside in is what helps create the visual twist.

in block stitching square 2
It’s interesting how thread looks on different color. 80 weight thread is the best!
in block stitching square 3
I like the different texture with the straight lines in the square and the ribbon candy in the border.
in block stitching square
This is the first square I stitched in. While I’ve done this before I wasn’t quite remembering the rhythm of the stitching. It came back after the first full round.

square ribbon candy

Stay tuned next week for the next installment of the Quilted Block of the Month.
Quilted Block of the Month August week one

Happy Quilting,

Teri

 

 

 

 

 

Quilted Block of the Month Part 3

“How do you get from here to there?” she asked. I promised to show her. When stitching on a pieced block, the ditch is your bestie.
qbom ribbon candy peak

The ribbon candy ended at the peak, to start the next wedge there are two options:
stop, tie off the thread, then restart in the next wedge. A viable option, one that I’d give consideration if this were a competition quilt.

travel in the ditch. This is a favorite option as it saves time, and thread. Depending on the weight of the thread it’s possible to stitch in the ditch several times without creating bulk, or warping the look of the quilt.

qbom travel 2

Stitching on the line, or in that ditch is key, however remember it’s perfectly fine if it’s not perfect. Wobbles on quilts add character.

qbom travel 3

I pause here to reposition my hands for a smooth transition.

qbom travel 4

You can see that the stitching isn’t exactly on that line. Yes I’m breaking my own rule for now showing the flaws. It’s my job as the teacher, and I take it very seriously. Yeah. Bridge. Brooklyn. I’ll make lots of money.

qbom travel 5

It’s only a little off, and most people wouldn’t notice it. Starting at the top of the peak let the ribbon candy begin. Next week there will drawings of the ribbon candy in the wedge, and the swirly sun motif in the lower corner.

qbom done

The next bit is NOT picking apart my work at all. overall I love this piece and will be happy to show it at any teaching venue.

Design Decisions happen.

Now I had to set this block aside for a few days. Upon returning I didn’t look before starting to quilt to see what thread I was using. I switched from Superior’s MicroQuilter to Wonderfil’s FabuLux, noticing only when starting the second wedge. I could have taken the stitching out, however I was grooving on the change in look, and the overall feel so I left it.

qbom yellow arrow

While stitching all the straight lines some distraction happened, phone call, meeting whatever – on one of the straight lines I stopped earlier than intended, to “fix it” an echoed circle seemed a great idea. It’s different, eye catching, and helps the eye travel over the surface of the quilt block. Were this a competition quilt the seam ripper and I would have had a hot date.

20170325_084043
One HOT date

I chose to bind front to back and stitch in the ditch, there are a couple of places where it’s not exactly pretty and there’s a wee bit o’fixin’ that needs to happen. Just not today.

Here are links to each one of the posts:

Week 1
Week 1a
Week 2a

Next week will be the final post for this block. If you have questions please ask. I love giving extra information.

Happy Quilting,

Teri

Some Family Time

New on the teaching schedule: Saturday September 16, at the Quilt Basket (Pawling, NY) I’ll be doing the “If the Foot Fits Use it” and offering some advice on quilting your quilts. First lecture at 11, second at 1, and I’ll be there til 3. Give them a call and sign up. Bring two quilts and a sketchbook, let’s talk.

We had some family time over the weekend so not much in the way of quilting.  I did visit Quilting Possibilities. This morning I’m going to open the big box

I like big boxes I cannot lie

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that I like. And get started on a project for the magazine.

Before all of this I’m going to finish writing my first post on Quilt Coach.

Have a great quilterly day.

Teri