Blocking your quilt on insulation board

BLOCKING YOUR LANDSCAPE OR WALL QUILT

I do not give up easily. So, I am attempting to post this link showing you how I blocked my latest quilt. As it is very difficult for me to get on the floor any more, and we now have bamboo flooring, I decided to try plan B.......I went to Home Depot and had them cut an insulation board in half. Using the shiny foil-type finish on top, I placed a layer of the Teflon ironing board fabric on top of that followed by a vinyl, flannel backed tablecloth, with the vinyl side down. 
Next, I pinned the quilt face-down on the apparatus, using t-pins. Using a dry iron on a medium-high setting, I took a piece of muslin, dipped it in water, and placed it on one edge of the quilt and ironed the muslin until the muslin was dry. All the moisture and the heat actually go into the quilt itself, making it one cohesive unit instead of a top, batting, and backing. I continue dipping the muslin into the water (squeeze it just enough so it isn't dripping) and go over the entire circumference of the quilt, paying attention especially to the edges where quilts often wobble. I place this sandwich under a ceiling fan to help the quilt dry. Depending on the weather, it can take one day or even three days to dry. Once the quilt is dry, square it, and then bind it. My friend Sonia Grasvik taught me the basics of blocking quilts and I just enhanced the method doing it on the insulation board.  See the link below to watch me blocking a quilt.








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Video of Blocking quilt

So, I am going to try one more time to post the video of how to block a landscape quilt. My attempt yesterday didn't work but hopefully, this time it will. Live and learn. I hope it works this time. It was the easiest method of blocking I've tried and I will use it from now on!

xxoo
Joyce R. Becker
Landscape quilt artist, author, web site www.joycerbecker.com  JBecker3@hotmail.com

BLOCKING YOUR QUILT

Video about blocking your quilts by Joyce R. Becker

I am not sure if this is going to work or not, but I am going to give it a try. I have a new way of blocking my quilts and I thought I would share a video with you about how I do it now. My friend Sonia Grasvik initially showed me how to block my landscape or wall quilts and trust me, it has been a life saver over the years. 
If you have never blocked your wall or landscape quilts before here's why you should:
Blocking your quilts results in quilts that lay flat without wavy or wobbly edges. What you are basically doing is marrying the three layers together so they are one and you do it with heat and water.
Previously, I blocked my quilts on the floors which were carpeted. Since we now have hardwood floors, I can no longer do that. Also, my arthritis prevents me from getting on the floor anymore anyway!
So:
Go to a hardware store and buy a piece of insulation board. I bought one and then had it cut in half at the store.
Cover the shiny top of the insulation board with the Teflon fabric you can buy at the fabric store. 
On top of that, place a vinyl, flannel backed tablecloth, with the vinyl next to the Teflon.
Place your quilt face down on that sandwich and pin into insulation board with t-pins.
Dip a piece of muslin or a tea towel in water and squish out some water so it is not dripping.
Place it on one corner of your quilt
Heat your iron to cotton setting, dry heat NO STEAM.
Iron the muslin until it is dry, pressing down at the same time
Move muslin and repeat until you have done that do the whole quilt. 
If possible, place board under a ceiling fan or project a fan on the quilt so it dries quicker.
Once the quilt is dry, square it, add your binding, and Voile, You are done! 

PLAN B

Well, as you might know, sometimes when you try something, it doesn't always work! In this case, I quilted the bottom of my quilt, Mt. Rainier, reflecting in Tipsoo Lake with a variegated thread. While I was quilting it, it looked fine. When I hung it on my working wall, it looked like KA KA. The darker portions of the thread stood out and didn't look pretty. So, I said to myself, "Well, I guess you'll just have to pull out all the quilting threads."

Have you ever "reverse stitched" quilting threads or tried pulling them out. Maybe things would of been fine if I were yanking out quilting threads on a commercial fabric but I was in fact, pulling them out of a fabric I hand-painted. As I pulled them out, my cloth starting looking like it came from another planet and the blues became almost white. So, half-way through the process, I bagged it.

Of course, I hadn't painted enough matching fabric when I initially painted my sky and water fabrics, so what to do?????? Digging through my stash, I found a perfectly lovely hand-painted fabric by Mickey Lawler that  sorta kinda "went"  with the sky fabric. I dug out my wax pastels and did some shading to reflect the sky and voila! it looked pretty darn good.

In order to remove the fabric I previously quilted, I cut away the backing, batting, and hand- painted fabrics. Luckily, I had enough backing fabric leftover, so I hand-stitched it to the back of the quilt, placed another piece of batting inside, followed by the Mickey Lawler fabric. The major issue was the trees and the mountain reflection were then twice as thick so it was kinda sorta touch and go stitching them down to the new fabric and backing and batting. It also required more machine embroidery and a pretty large needle to go through all of the layers. Before stitching those layers down, I slid in three layers of different colored tulle to make the reflections on the water a bit darker than the sky. 

I am now "re-quilting" the bottom portion of the water with a different colored thread! Lesson learned, always test your quilting on a like piece of fabric before going to the actual project!

Here's a photo of the quilt prior to quilting it with the wrong thread. I'll post a new photo once I finish the quilting!

Happy quilting!

Fondly,

Joyce

 

Mt. Rainier Reflecting in Tipsoo Lake Quilt update

Today, I am sending a query off to an agent in the hopes that I can get my novel published. This is the quilt that I am hoping will appear on the cover of my novel. I am still quilting it and still have the top sky and the reflection to quilt, then  I need to block, and bind my quilt.

I am really hoping my novel will be picked up as a series! I love to write and I love to quilt and the two go hand in hand for me. Although I had the basics for my novel, I let the characters lead me rather than write from a outline. As my characters developed it was fun to watch their interactions and see where the novel would lead me! Yes, there are parts that draw from my own experience as a landscape quilt artist, author, designer and teacher but I figure why not use some of my knowledge to make the novel authentic.

Anyway, wish me luck - I am crossing my fingers and my toes in the hopes that I will find an agent and then a publisher.

That's all for now!

Fondly,
Joyce

Adding texture to trees with free-motion embroidery

Well, it took me a half hour how to figure out to upload this video from my phone, but I don't give up easy! I just wanted to show you how I add the texture to my Douglas fir trees in the quilt I am working on of Mt. Rainier. I use my right hand to control the free-motion embroidery, making small circles. I use a straight stitch.

Threadpainting trees

I am doing my best to update my blog more often! Now that I have finished my first draft of my manuscript, it is being read by my friend, Cyndy Rymer. Cyndy was the editor on two of my quilting how-to books and an amazing writer and quilt artist as well.  I am forging on with my quilt that I hope will be featured on the cover of my novel, if and when it gets published. If Cyndy says my novel is a "piece of crap," I will go on to plan B. I just don't know what plan B will be..........My dear friend Jane Moxey also took the time to help mentor me and gave me so many helpful suggestions that made my novel so much better. A big shout-out to Jane - "You rock girlfriend."

Anyway, I am adding texture to the top row of trees with thread work or free-motion embroidery. I will be putting a layer of light pink tulle on the bottom half of the quilt to make the reflection dulled a bit and it won't be as necessary to do as much thread work on the trees as a result. Each of the larger trees takes around 30 minutes each and I use a stitch I invented - tight little circles with a squiggle on the end - takes two bobbins for each tree and a heck of a lot of thread on the top!
I am still contemplating whether or not to add a border or not.....normally, a quilt just whispers in my ear and says "You don't need a border, you idiot," or, "What were you thinking, put a border on me!"
It's funny how quilts talk to you if you listen, isn't it?
Onward and upward. Until next time!
Happy quilting,
Love,
Joyce