Creative Quilting with Thread Painting and Free Motion Techniques

Welcome fiber artist and quilter Karen Ponischil, owner of Karen Ponischil Design. Karen teaches thread painting and free-motion quilting at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store. To learn more about Karen, and to see examples of her work visit www.KarenPonischil.com. 

I have always loved creating with fabric and began sewing when I was a youngster. At first I made clothes for my dolls and as I gained more experience I began making my own clothes. I was given my first sewing machine for Christmas when I was twelve years old, and this began a life long love of sewing.  In 2001, I discovered art quilting which was my hobby until 2003 when I decided pursue it as a career. I create quilts using whole-cloth painting or raw edge appliqué. I then thread paint the quilt to bring it to life!

What is thread painting?

Thread is used on fabric like an artist uses pencil on paper, to add shadows, mid-tones and highlights. Thread “painting” makes an object look 3-dimensional by using different thread colors.  Below is an example of a ginkgo leaf design with and without thread painting. This is what you will learn in the introductory thread painting class that I teach at Mary Jo’s.  You can see how the stitching and threads create depth and texture to the fabric.

After mastering the basic techniques, you can take it to the next level by learning how multiple fabrics and greater detail in the advanced thread painting class where students learn to create the poppy flower design below.  Thread painting really brings the quilt to life, making it look more real and lifelike.

What is free-motion quilting?

Quilting also uses thread but the purpose is to hold 3 layers (top, batting and backing) together where thread painting is purely decorative. Quilting can be done by hand, on a domestic sewing machine or a long arm machine. Free-motion quilting is a technique where the feed dogs on the machine are set in the down position, so the quilt can be moved in any direction under the needle, and not just forward and backward.  This allows for greater creativity!

I love sharing my tricks, tips and techniques for sewing, quilting and thread painting with students.  It is such a fun and creative art that combines fabric, thread and design.  Join the fun and sign up for one of my classes today, by clicking here.

Make Pompom Decorations with Knit Fabric

Decorate for your next party with pretty and cheerful pompoms! You can make a variety of sizes and colors to match the holiday or your event. Make an assortment of red, white and blue pompoms for patriotic holidays, pink and blue for a baby shower or white and cream colors for a wedding.

Hang pompoms outside from tree limbs to create a festive landscape; a beautiful backdrop for wedding pictures; or use pompoms indoors, hanging over buffet tables or grouped in clusters to make a simple centerpiece.

Making knit fabric pompoms is easy.  Just follow the instructions below.  We would love to see how you use pompom decorations.  Please share your photos with us on Facebook.com/MaryJosClothStore or by tagging us on Instagram at @MaryJosClothStore!

Easy knit pompoms step-by-step:

To make pompoms you will need cardboard and strips of knit fabric like t-shirt material.  We used Knits by Riley Blake in hot pink and ITY Jersey Knit in a soft blush color.

http://maryjos.com/fabrics/knit-solids-k100-70-hot-pink-riley-blake 

http://maryjos.com/fabrics/ity-jersey-knit-pink-spandex-house

1. Make a template from cardboard to the size you would like. We used a small plastic tub for the outer circle and an aerosol can for the inside circle.  Cut a small pie shaped piece from the circle. This will create a “C” shaped template. Cut two the exact same size.

2. Using scissors or a rotary cutter and mat, cut knit fabric into long strips. Cut ½-inch to 1-inch wide pieces. You do not need to worry about measuring and cutting accurately; the strips do not need to be perfect.

3. Stack the two cardboard templates together and start wrapping knit fabric strips around the template.  Wrap it with an even tension but not tight. When one piece ends, overlap and start a new piece.

4. Continue wrapping knit fabric strips around until you have at least 4 layers.

5. Place the wrapped template flat on the work surface and place the palm of one hand on top while cutting around the edges with scissors.

6. Cut one strip of fabric to use as a tie.

7. Carefully separate the cardboard pieces, slip the tie in-between and tie tightly, cinching all the fabric strips together.

8. After the pompom is tied, remove the two pieces of cardboard.

9. Fluff the fabric and trim to make an even shape.

10. Continue to make more pompoms! You can create different sizes and colors, or alternate colors when wrapping the template to make a multi-color pompom.

Quilting Basics: Selecting Fabrics

Are you new to quilting?  You are probably very excited about starting a quilt project, but do you feel confused by all the different colors and styles of fabric?  How do you know what to choose and where to start?  You are not alone, even experienced quilters can be overwhelmed by the enormous selection of quilting fabrics at our store!

We asked Aimee Griffin, owner of Overall Quilter and Sewing Director at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store to share some tips for selecting fabrics for quilts. Aimee has been quilting, and teaching for many years and has easily picked out hundreds of fabric collections for quilts. Here are Aimee’s tips for narrowing down the choices.

Our first example is a quilt made in one of the beginning quilting classes at Mary Jo’s; the Window Boxes pattern. This quilt has large blocks, medium sized blocks and vertical and horizontal lines.

1. Begin by selecting a “focus print”. This will be the fabric used for the biggest areas and largest pieces in the quilt. In the quilt below, the white background fabric with the red motif is the focus print, used in the 12 ½- inch squares and around the border. This is also where you can use a large scale print: larger blocks = larger prints.

2. Next, select “secondary fabrics” for the next largest sized blocks to tie in with the focus print. On this quilt, the 6 ½-inch blocks are where the secondary fabric will be used. Note that the scale of the print is not as large of a pattern motif but still a pretty design.  For this quilt Aimee chose a gray background fabric that is not “matchy” and is a little unexpected – this makes it pop or float over the other colors.

3. Last are the tertiary fabrics, used for the horizontal and vertical lines. This is a place for the eye to rest. Aimee recommends using small-scale prints and tone-on-tone fabrics for this part of the quilt. 

Aimee put together a collection of fabrics to illustrate the three rules above. Primary fabric = large floral print

Secondary fabric = coral swirl print

Tertiary fabrics = small blue floral and lime green tone-on-tone

Here is an example of the same quilt in different fabrics, shared by students in a recent class.  The same three steps were used but with eye-catching red and green fabrics. 

Can you identify the primary, secondary and tertiary fabrics in this quilt?

To learn more about how you can join us for beginning quilting classes, click here: http://maryjos.com/sewing-class-schedule

Another popular style of quilt is a monochromatic design, where fabrics from one color family are combined together.  An example is the “Twilight Stars” pattern from Wilmington Prints.  This design comes in a kit with the fabrics included so you are ready to go!  But you can use the same idea with other quilt patterns. 

To replicate this monochromatic look, select fabrics that are all the same scale and colors.  Batik fabrics work great for this because they are subtle and blended, and often have hints of other colors within the design.  For monochromatic quilts choose fabrics from color families such as purple, blue and green or red, orange and yellow or create a quilt with neutral fabrics such as tan, cream, and ivory.  Many of our quilting fabrics are grouped together by color, this makes selecting fabrics for monochromatic quilts easy! 

We have discussed the fronts of quilts, but what about the back? Aimee suggests having fun with the backing material, “it doesn’t need to match the front”. For new quilters she recommends choosing a busy, all over pattern for the back, which doesn’t require precise stitches – the stitches will be hidden in the pattern. Aimee’s last piece of advice for choosing fabrics, “of course there are not rules”! 

Ten Tips for Ironing and Pressing

Next to the sewing machine, the iron is one of the most used tools when making quilts, garments or home décor. If you are doing anything with fabric, you are going to use an iron. 

Here are our favorite basic ironing and pressing tips:

1.    Iron with straight, back and forth strokes. Ironing with a circular motion can stretch out your fabrics.

2.    Wait for the iron to heat up completely before you use the steam feature. If the iron is not heated it could drip water on your materials.

3.    To iron embroidery, applique or other raised designs, cover your ironing board with a towel and lay the fabric face down, then iron.

4.    Regularly clean your iron to prevent marks on your materials, and for better performance. You can find hot iron cleaners in the notions department.

5.    Pressing is different than ironing. When ironing you are moving the iron back and forth, to press you will lift the iron up and put it back down. Pressing will prevent the fabrics from stretching.

6.    Use a press cloth to prevent creating shiny spots on the material.

7.    Press seams in garments from the right side of the fabric, with the iron running parallel to the straight of grain to avoid pressing tucks into the seam.

8.    Press bias seams with the iron at an angle to the seam so that you are pressing along the straight of grain. This will help to prevent stretching.

9.    To hold pleats in place while ironing or pressing, use paper clips or clothespins.

10.  Test your iron settings on a small scrap of fabric, or in an inconspicuous place to make sure the fabric can accept heat and steam.

      If you would like to learn more about irons, and ironing equipment we recommend this video from Threads Magazine “Pressing Equipment 101” 

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-YEMlYkfhg

7 Steps To Dress Your Window Like a Pro

Dress Your Window with Elegant Silk Curtains

Are you looking for an elegant style of curtains that you can make yourself, for a special window in your home?  This beautiful curtain features a smocked top heading, created with fabric, lining and gathering tape available in the home décor area at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store. A purple silk fabric worked up beautifully for this style with hand stitched glass beads for even more glamour!

Gathering tapes are a great way to create curtains or valances. To use shirring tapes, finish your curtain or valance allowing for a double fold of material on the reverse side at the top. For silk or other thin fabrics, be sure to add lining material for added body. You will need 2 ½ to 3 times fullness across the width of the flat, finished curtain.

After the curtain panel is finished, pin the shirring tape on the reverse side, and machine stitch using a thread that matches the face fabric. You can drop the tape down from the top to create a ruffle like shown, or line it up even along the top.

Sew the tape to the curtain using a matching thread. Depending on the tape you are using, you will need to stitch two or more times across the top. Be careful not to stitch across the gathering cords that are woven into the tape!

After it is sewn, fish out the shirring cords on one end and tie securely. On the opposite side, fish out the cords, tie and pull to gather the curtain to the desired fullness.

The specific tape used on this curtain gives a diamond-smocking appearance. 

To enhance the appearance of the smocking, it may need to be hand-stitched at the top, bottom and center of the gathers. On this curtain, small glass beads were added to accent the stitching.

To install the curtain on the hardware, insert pin hooks by stabbing them into the back of the gathering tape, spaced about 4 inches apart. You will find the pin hooks and a wide assortment of high quality drapery poles, finials and brackets in the drapery hardware area at Mary Jo’s. 

Sew Your Own Grommet Curtains

If you would like to try sewing curtains, but lack the confidence to tackle a complex project, grommet curtains are a great place to start!  They require less fabric than pleated styles and are simple to make. Plus grommets are a hot trend; used in purses, tote bags, garments and home décor. Grommets are everywhere!

Here are a few tips before you get started:

1. Select a rod that is a smaller diameter than the grommets, so the curtain will slide easily.
2. Install the rod above the window first, so you can measure the finished width and length for your curtains.  Remember the top of the rod is where the top of the inside of the grommet will be – the curtain fabric will be above the rod.  If you are unsure of the correct length, install the rod and make the curtains but leave the bottom hem unfinished.  Hang the curtain on the rod to mark the length, then remove and finish the hem.
3. Always plan for an even number of grommets so the curtain will begin and end facing the wall.
4. Space the grommets around 6 to 7 inches apart on center.  If you space them too far apart the curtain will hit the wall when it folds back behind the rod.
5. If you want to open and close your grommet curtains, allow for at least one and a half times fullness across the width of your rod.
6. Allow 16 inches of extra fabric for top and bottom hems.

Purchase everything you need to make grommet curtains at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store:

Home décor fabric

Lining fabric

Plastic snap-together grommets

Fabric glue (choose a glue that dries clear)

Basic sewing tools and supplies

Making the curtain panel:

1. Cut fabric allowing for top and bottom hems. With the fabric face down on your work surface, fold and iron a 4 inch doubled hem (allow 8 inches total) at the top and bottom of the curtain material, measuring for the correct length. Fold and iron a 1 ½-inch doubled hem down each side (allow 3 inches total). To add lining to your curtain, cut lining fabric allowing 6 inches for the hem and fold a 3 inch doubled hem in the bottom and iron. Machine stitch the hem. With the curtain face down, place the hemmed lining face up and inset 1 inch from the bottom edge. Trim the lining to fit the curtain panel, tuck the edges under the side and top hems and pin. (The bottom of the curtain and lining will be free hanging).  Sew all the hems by hand or machine stitching, or you can wait until after the grommets are set in the top to sew the hems.

Adding grommets to the curtain:

1. To plan the grommet spacing, measure and mark 1 ½-inches from each end on the backside of the top curtain hem.  This will be the center of each end grommet.  

2. Measure in-between the marks, and divide by an odd number (so that you will have an even amount of grommets).  For this curtain, the measurement between the marks is 40 ½ inches, divided by seven for eight grommets spaced at 5.785 inches apart. 

3. Mark for each grommet in the center of the top hem. 

4. Pry apart each grommet using a small, flat head screwdriver and use one side of the grommet to draw a circle at each mark.

5. Cut out each circle slightly larger than the line that was drawn – this will keep the fabric from being too tight around the neck of the grommet.

6. To set the grommets, add a little glue around the inside of the grommet front piece (the front of the grommet is the piece with the longer neck) and place it into the cut circle so the neck of the grommet is coming through to the back side.  Add a little glue to the back piece and snap the front to the back.

7. Once all the grommets are set, the curtain is ready to hang at the window.
   
   

Pretty Purse Tissue Pack

 This pretty tissue pack cover is so much fun, you will want to make a few for yourself and a few more to share with friends or family.  We used a cute cotton polka-dot fabric, which is bright and cheerful.

Are you planning a wedding?  Make a tissue pack cover for each of your bridesmaids and the mothers, using scraps of fabric from the dresses or wedding decor – you know somebody will need tissues! 

Step-by-step:

1. Cut two pieces of fabric 6 inches x 7 inches.  Cut two pieces of narrow elastic 3 inches.  Along one of the short sides, on one piece of fabric, secure the elastic (folded to form a loop) inset 2 inches from each end.  Use painters tape to old the elastic loop in place.  

2. Place the two pieced of fabric face to face and sew along the short sides using a ¼-inch seam allowance.  Backstitch over the elastic pieces, to make sure they are sewn securely.  Turn right sides out and press with an iron.

3. Topstitch along each sewn edge, inset ¼-inch from the edges.  Fold the sewn edges together, meeting in the middle and pin each end to hold in place. 

4. Sew across the end using a ¼-inch seam allowance.

5. Flatten out each end and mark 1/2inch from each corner and pin to hold in place.

6. Sew each corner, keeping the seam allowance facing in the same direction.  This will create a box shape. 

7. Turn right sides out and sew a button opposite each loop of elastic. Insert tissues and loop the elastic around the buttons.