Fan Quilt - CQJP2012, Feb. - TAST Herringbone

This is the second of the CQJP2012 completed.  I know it's a bit early, but I'm on a roll with these fan blocks. I really love new projects, and I have to admit that my other stuff is suffering a bit because this is so much fun.  

I'm trying to make the bottom part of the fan block a bit special and I think this bias silk ribbon works really well with the roses.

I'm also using Carole Samples book for some unusual seam treatments.

I filled this whole patch with herringbone stitches, Week 5 of TAST

Here are four blocks placed the way I will assemble the whole thing when finished. The fan pieces are all silk from ties or silk blouses.  I interfaced the silk with the knitted iron-on interfacing that Ali Aller uses on her blocks. 

I was always wary of tackling a fan quilt: too much measuring, too many places it could go wrong, but I came up with a little helper. 

The top right is a paper pattern I printed off the internet. The pattern measures 8" x 8".  The left hand piece is a heavy quilting see-through plastic sheet. I traced the fan pattern and an extra inch all around to make the block 10" x 10".  I made holes in this pattern to indicate the top and bottom of the fan pattern, and I use a disappearing pen to mark through the holes.  The other two pieces are the sizes of the individual fan pieces with hem allowance added, the larger is for the outside two, the smaller for the inside four. 

Basically, I pin the 8" x 8" paper pattern to the 10" square muslin, and then use the paper pattern to place each fan piece, and then sew and flip all the fan pieces in place.  Then I place a piece of cream fabric on the top, overlapping the top of the fan, and then mark dots through the holes on to the cream fabric to indicate the turn and hand sew line.  Repeat for the bottom.

TAST Week 3 Feather Stitch

Only one example of feather stitch for TAST this week.  I have been really busy getting my piece ready for the "Crazy Quilts are Quilts Too" exhibition on Thearica's blog, also the Indian flag block which is due at the end of this month.  This seam is just a little piece of my Indian flag block where I used beads for the feather stitch.

TAST Week 2 Buttonhole Stitch

Sharon B's second week TAST stitch is the buttonhole.
The little flower at the bottom of the top photo I learned from Sharon, and it's called Kiko's flower.  It's composed of a series of five sets of buttonhole stitches worked very closely together, with a bullion across the top of each set, and  straight stitches with a french knot at the end.

These three are buttonhole stitch rows of flowers.

Check out information on TAST on Sharon's website here.

TAST Week 1 Fly Stitch

A small contribution to the fly stitch possibilities, week one's stitch in Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday.  

Information for the TAST Challenge week one can be found here:  


http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2012/1/3/take-a-stitch-tuesday-week-1.html

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Detached Lazy Daisy

I got carried away with the petals on these daisies!

Take a stitch Tuesday - Buttonhole Stitch

Today is the second Tuesday of TAST. This is my example of the buttonhole stitch. Instead of using it as a seam treatment, I filled up a space. The square sequins in the top picture are a beautiful pink which changes from light to dark as they move. The green one was just a practice when I was doing my Under the Sea block.

Take a Stitch Tuesday

Well today is Tuesday and the first day of Stitchin' Fingers "Take a Stitch Tuesday". Today's stitch is the herringbone. It's not as even as I would have liked, the thread is very slippery, but that's no excuse! And I'm still trying to get the beads to sit up so that the holes don't show. What's the secret??