This
Labor Day Weekend was a great get away for Me and my Husband. On
Friday, we flew out to Denver, Colorado to visit our youngest son who is
stationed at Buckley Air Force out there. We spent most of the rest of
that day deciding what we want to do for the 3 days we were there. We
also spent time in my sons and husband favorite store, Bass Pro Shop. 
Saturday,
we got up early and headed out to Boulder Area to Heil Valley Ranch to
do some hiking. We hiked through heavy rocky trails approximately 7
miles round trip. We had to be cautious for other hikers, trail
runners, and Mountain Bikers. At the top was a nice looking overlook
point of the valley. The weather was great for a nice mountain hike, it
was nice to get out of the city. Driving through Boulder, I never seen
so many Bicycles in one city in my life. Boulder has designed the
streets through Boulder with their own turning and riding lanes. 
Sunday
morning, we head out to Evergreen, Colorado for more hiking. Parked at
Lair o the Bear Park, a very popular park, it was difficult to find a
parking spot. We had to again be cautious for the Mountain bikers and
other hikers along the other trail. We hiked about the first part
following the the creek which was a really nice trail. Then we head up
the Bear Creek Trail which was a challenging climb over big rocks and
tree roots. Hiking another 7miles that day. My feet and legs were
tired by the end of that day. 
On
the last day, Monday, we had got advance reservation for the Cog
Mountain Train, in Manitou Springs, Colorado. The Train takes you all
the way up on Top of Pikes Pike. It is a nice ride up to the top, they
point out different sites, animals and fun facts about the area as you
climb up to the top at a 14,115 ft altitude. The top was cold at 30
degrees with wind chill of about 15 degrees. They have a nice gift and
food shop at the top. The food shop sells fresh donuts that were made
at the top of the mountain. Was a nice way to spend the day.The
trip was to short for all 3 of us. My husband and Myself didn't want
to leave the Mountain to go back to the big cities of the East Coast,
but work and normal of life was calling us home. I have become very
addicted to hiking, so we are now looking for day hiking trip here in
Maryland and Virginia for us to explore.Well time to get back in the sewing room and finish up my patterns. Hope you all had a great weekend like we did.
Tina
Today, we will be finishing our “Let It Snow Man!!” pattern, by going over the hat, hair, and borders.
The
next steps are for the Yo-Yo hat and Zig Zag hair. Note: If you use
the optional 2 ½” circle template and hair template, fuse them into
place and blanket stitch all the way around.
Now for the Yo-Yo hat and Zig Zag hair. Let’s start making paper templates of the hair and hat, by tracing the pattern
on a blank piece of paper and then cutting them out. Then lay the hair templates to the side.
Using the hat circle template trace and cut out the circle on the back of the fabric you have chosen for the hat. 
Before
making the Yo-Yo, I suggest taking the hat flower and fusing it onto
the hat fabric and using a blanket stitch, sew around the flower edge.
Next fold the raw edge of the circle approximately ¼” in toward the
wrong side of the fabric. Then
with a needle and thread with a heavy knot at the bottom, use a long
running stitch with medium stitches, sew near the folded edge of the
circle. Do not cut threat at the end. 
Gently pull on the thread ends to gather the fabric circle, to make a 2 ½” circle.
Now
that the Yo-Yo hat is made, position it on your quilt top where it
should go. Then slide the hair template under the hat. With an
erasable marking tool trace around the hat and the hair template. This
will get you an idea to where you will sew the Zig Zag Stitches for the
hair. 
Remove the hat and hair template and set aside.
Note before you begin the Zig Zag Stitches, I suggest with a 
separate
small piece of fabric sew a line of stitches at varies widths and
lengths to find the right size. I use a 3.0 width and a 2.5 length. 
This
will vary on different sewing machines. Also suggest using the hair
diagrams in the pattern instructions. Start with a thin layer of Zig
Zag stitches all around the trace template area, in straight lines.
Begin and end each of the stitches like you did in machine applique by
tucking the ends underneath under a few stitches. 
Once
you have a thin layer of Zig Zag Stitches, you can go back and fill in
bare spots with more stitches that are different width and lengths if
you want. In my project I used a different thread color to add some
highlights to the hair. I used a Brown-Black Rainbow Thread by
Superior. I suggest, as you finish, lay the hat on the hair to make
sure it is to your liking. 
Once you are done with the hair, press the quilt top to make sure there is no puckering.
Next, place the hat in its correct location and sew a blanket stitch all around the hat to complete the girl. 
Now
time for the borders. Press once again to make sure everything is
lying flat. Trim the Background to a 16 ½” x 17” rectangle.
Assemble
the 3 borders, following the directions with the top and bottom first
and the right and left sides. Once your borders are on, will finish be
adding the Snowflakes and dots following the Pattern Diagram. Fuse and
sew them on with blanket stitches. 
After they are all sewn on then press again to make sure no wrinkles and finish the Quilt as desired.
Other Blogs in this Series:
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Preparing
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Fusing Webbing
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Pattern Pieces and Background
“Let It Snow Man!!” Pattern Tips – Machine Applique
“Let It Snow Man!!” Pattern Tips – Finishing
Tina
The
last couple days I have been showing you how to make the Quilting
Affection “Let It Snow Man!!” Applique pattern. So far we have
discussed Preparing to make the pattern, Fusible webbing and Piece
Placement and Background. Now we are to the point we start the Machine
Applique around all the pieces.
Note
before you start Machine Applique on any project practice on a practice
piece of fabric before working on you main project. Also keep a piece
of paper or notepad nearby to write down any setting you use so you have
them for future reference.
Now
the pieces are fused to the fabric we will be using a blanket stitch
around the stitches. I suggest we gathering a few tools to have close
by: First, Self-threading Needles and pin cushion, scissors, and Thread
and bobbins. I love Superior Thread, so when I’m appliqueing I use a
#40 to #50 wt. threads, like Masterpiece and King tut. But you can use
Aurifill or your favorite brand but just make sure it is a #40wt to #50
wt. thread. When selecting your threads also try to match the 
fabric as much as possible to make sure the thread blends into the fabric. You really don’t want your stitches to stand out.
I
also recommend cleaning your machine before starting. Also starting
with a fresh 75/11 Microtex or 80/12 needles for this project, they work
well with these weight sizes.
Now we are ready to start, I
would find your blanket stitch on your machine. If you not sure where
it is on your machine I would refer to your owner’s manual. After you
have found your blanket stitch, I would recommend using a 2.0 width and
2.0 Length only on the larger open areas like the Shirt, Snowman body.
For your tight areas I would adjust to a 1.5 width and 15 length and
sometimes you will have to drop to a 1.0 width.
I start with one color and do all the areas with that color before moving on to the next color area.
When
you’re ready to sew and have picked an area to start. Place your needle
just outside the fused area and make sure your needle is lined up next
to it and touching. Pull your bobbin thread and then put your needle
down. 
Make
a couple of small stitches and look to see if you need to adjust the
width and length you will be using in that area. Then continue sewing
until you get to the end of that piece (Don’t clip any threads if you
have an auto thread cutter). Bring the need up and move the fabric to
the side clipping the bottom and top thread about 2” away from the last
stitch. Now with your thread clipped one on the bottom and one on the
top. You
will now need to get your self-threading needle or our favorite sewing
needle, and bring the top thread through the last stitch hole with your
needle. Once you have the top and bottom thread at the bottom tie a
small knot and thread your needle again with both thread. Then tuck the
thread under about 3 to 4 stitches and clipping thread. 
For the beginning stitch for that area on top, you will have to bring
the top and bottom thread to the bottom, tie off and tuck the stitches
the same way as before. Repeat this for every applique area.
Once
all the blanket stitches are done on the girl and snowman, we will
start working on the hat and hair, which will be in tomorrow’s blog.
Then we will finish off with the borders and the snowflakes.
Other Blogs in this Series:
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Preparing
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Fusing Webbing
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Pattern Pieces and Background
“Let It Snow Man!!” Pattern Tips – Machine Applique
Tina
Now
that we have the fusible web pattern pieces ready to go. We need to
prepare the background before we continue working with the pattern
pieces. Before you start, I suggest pressing your chosen background
fabric and if needed use a little starch, like Best Press Starch.
Once
your fabric is ready, cut a piece of the background about 18 ½” x 18
½”, a little bigger than the directions say, this will help with and
shrinkage in the fabric. Next, after you cut the 18 ½” x 18 ½” take
your piece of background fabric back to the ironing board. Press and
starch heavy to 
make
the background stiff (but don’t go too stiff, you want to keep the
fabric moveable and light weight). Once you are done, then cut your
fabric to a straight 18”x18” square.
Leaving
the 18” x 18” square on the cutting board, take your favorite marking
tool and lightly mark 16 ½” x 17” rectangle on the backing. You will
center your pattern pieces in the center of this rectangle. 
Now,
this is where the quilter Padded Quilt Board comes in handy. Center
your backing on this board and using a straight pin, pin your backing to
the board and set aside. Time to get your pattern pieces on the
fabric.
Lay
out all you pattern pieces and fabrics you will be using for the
snowman, snowbank and girl. Separate out the pattern pieces on the
fabrics you have chosen to use for each piece. Like I have done.
Now
that the pieces and fabric is ready to go, time to fuse all the pieces
to the fabrics. Press the fabric before you start pressing the fusible
webbing pieces to the fabrics. Remember press the fabrics to the
reverse or back side of the fabric. Following you manufactures
instructions of the fusible webbing, press the pieces to the fabric. 
Let
the fabric cool a little bit and then check to make sure that the
webbing is sticking to the fabric, if not press again. Once you have
the pieces on the fabric to your liking, cut them out following the
pattern lines. Do this to all your colors and pieces. If fraying
starts with any of the pieces especially small ones you may want to use a
little “Dritz Fray-Check” around the pattern pieces.
Once you have all your pieces on the fabric and cut out to their shapes. Then the fun begins with the placement of the pieces. 
You will need the Applique Placement Number in the instructions and the full size pattern diagram to help with this step.
Starting
with pattern piece #1, position the piece on the background fabric
according to the Pattern Diagram. Remember to remove the paper backing
if needed (this depends on the fusible webbing you are using). Then continue following the numbers one at a time. I recommend leaving the hat, hat flower, hair template and snowflakes off for now. Just placing the main parts. Note: long handle tweezers can be a big help when placing and arraigning the pattern pieces.
Also note the following when positioning the pieces:
- Snowman Arms and Ear Muff band are positioned under the snowman before fusing
- The right mitten is over the carrot and left is under the carrot before fusing
If
need, place straight pins to hold the pieces in place until you are
ready to fuse them permanently. Once you have the placement to your
liking, you can then fuse the pieces according to manufactures
instructions.
Tomorrow, I will start to show you how to do some of the Machine Applique.
Other Blogs in this Series:
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Preparing
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Fusing Webbing
"Let It Snow Man!!" Pattern Tips – Pattern Pieces and Background
Live, Inspire and Create,
Tina
Last
Month Quilting Affection Introduced our first two patterns in the
Precious Seasons Collection "Let It Snow Man!!" and "Falling Leaves".
Today, we are announcing that the we are completing the collection with
the second two patterns "Summer Flowers" and "Rainy Day Play".
is
a lovely girl sitting putting her freshly cut summer flowers in her
vase. The pattern is a quick and easy project for a little girl. You
can have fun making this one with bright or antique colors. 
Sister's out on a stroll on a rainy day in a meadow make up the "Rainy Day Play" Pattern. 
The older sister, the more serious is very puzzled about her little sisters playing in the puddles.