Project Quilting 15.3: Inside Out

The third challenge for Season 15 of Project Quilting was announced on Sunday, and the theme this week is "Inside Out:"

"For this week’s project, I want to see what’s normally hidden! Make a project with exposed seams or a raw-edge finish. Take on a bag pattern or other project that is constructed inside out and then literally “birthed” as part of the process. Or use this as a theme and demonstrate your unique inside-out perspective."

I was a little stumped at first on how to interpret the theme. Then I saw a mention on Facebook about reverse applique, and it reminded me of an Alison Glass sew along, The Cozy Workshop, that I had read about recently. The idea is to use cotton jersey knit as the top layer, which is reverse appliqued over a whole-cloth or pieced layer of quilting cotton. The concept reminds me of those pictures we used to make as kids with scribblings of bright crayons as the base layer that were then covered with black crayon. When the black layer was scraped away, the bright colors were revealed underneath. (Does anyone else remember doing this? I described it to my husband, and he had no idea what I was talking about.)

I pulled out a colorful brushed woven fabric for the inside layer that would be revealed by the reverse applique. 

For the top layer, l chose a deep purple mottled print. A quilting stencil was used for the center design.

The next photo shows all the layers stacked together. Under the multicolor is black flannel that was used instead of batting. At the bottom is the backing fabric, with the right side down.

Portions of the stencil were repeated to extend the design into a rectangle for a placemat.  I stitched on the drawn lines through all four layers of fabric. Then it was time to start trimming away the top layer to reveal the inside.

My goal when trimming the top layer was to end up with smooth curves and approximately 1/8" of fabric next to the stitching. There is a blue circle to the left around a place in the top fabric that had been slit with a scissors before the layers were stitched together. I cut openings in several places that were going to be trimmed away, making it much easier to get my scissors under that top layer without catching the inner fabric.

This is placemat #1 after the trimming was complete and the binding was finished, but before washing.

After washing, the cut edges were definitely more frayed, but not too bad, and the whole thing is more crinkled.

After washing and drying

This is the fabric on the back of the placemat.

After that was done, I decided to do another using cotton knit as the top fabric, just to see how well it worked. As I mentioned at the beginning, I was inspired by an Alison Glass sew along, The Cozy Workshop. However, my technique may be quite different because I haven't done the workshop, just read about it.

Other than using a knit fabric for the top layer, everything else was done in the same way as the first placemat. The layers shown in the next photo include a blue plaid flannel that was my batting substitute (I ran out of the black.)

Finished placemat before washing and drying

Finished placemat after washing and drying

Placemat #2 back

The placemat with the knit fabric on top definitely frayed less along the cut edges. It wasn't any easier to cut away the knit fabric, but that might be because my stencil design had deeper curves and narrower channels. It was a fun experiment in reverse applique, and the placemats will be another addition to the stack going to Meals on Wheels.

Linking up with:

Project Quilting 15.2 at Persimon Dreams

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

SAHRR Round 5 - Applique

It's the end of week #5 for the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) and there is only one more border to be added. For our assignment this week, we got a choice of adding applique or rail fence blocks. I decided to go the applique route for my quilt. I even decided to try a form of applique that I haven't done before, Broderie Perse.

According to the Quiltipedia Database at The Quilt Show", Broderie Perse is French for "Persian Embroidery". It is a technique where elements, such as flowers or birds, are cut from fabric and appliqued onto a solid piece of fabric..." The feathered star at the center of my quilt features a beautiful floral print, and I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate more of that print in the quilt. Broderie Perse was the perfect answer!

I cut out many flowers from my fabric and auditioned them on the quilt top before settling on my favorites. I chose four small sprigs of roses for the corner squares around the feathered star.

The photo above shows my sample for testing a variety of ways to stitch down the applique after it had been fused to the background. Along the top edge there is some zigzag stitching, which was difficult to line up exactly at the cut edge of the fabric. If you follow around clockwise, there is some blind hem stitching along the right edge, which did not work well at all. My machine does not include a blanket stitch. I switched to a presser foot that made it easier to see where I was stitching, but zigzagging along the lower right still looks messy to me and frays out the fabric. At the lower left, around the bottom of the stem, is my sample of hand blanket stitching, and that turned out to be my favorite.

This is the only applique piece to be stitched down so far. In the first photo of the post, it is the one in the upper right corner of the feathered star. I used regular poly-cotton thread because it was the best color match I had in my thread stash. The next photo, which is taken at more of an angle shows the stitches a bit better.

It's time for me to link up my post with the other SAHRR folks at Quilting Gail. I'm also going to join the Slow Sunday Stitching party at Kathy's Quilts. Stitching around these flowers is definitely slow going, but I'm very happy with how it looks. We will get the assignment for the last border on the SAHRR tomorrow. I can't wait to see how we finish these off!

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

A New Year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Hurray for another year of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge! I always look forward to getting up on Saturday and seeing the fabulous projects that everyone has linked up. Thanks to Angela for continuing to host, and also to Vicki Welsh for her sponsorship. 

My main RSC project last year was making LeMoyne Star blocks. Each month I made a batch of 6" stars and one 12" star. On New Years Eve, I managed to complete two more quilt tops from my blocks. I finished the pieced border on one top and decided not to add any more borders to the other. These two tops
join the baby quilt top that I showed last week. 

Rainbow LeMoyne #2
45" x 60"

Rainbow LeMoyne #3
46" x 60.5"

I have continued working on my Scrap Hexies project, which was begun in August, 2013. All of the stars and snowflakes are made, and I am adding background to the large stars. Before long I will be able to start joining the parts together!

I haven't completely decided on my new projects for the RSC this year. One that I am very excited about is a new hand applique project, which will become my handwork while riding the train to work since the hexie stars are getting too big to handle easily. The pattern is called "True Colors" and it is from the book Simple Circles and Quick Curves by Nancy Mahoney. I love the 3-D effect of the light and dark backgrounds.

"True Colors" by Nancy Mahoney

Check out all of the terrific scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I'm sure we will have another amazing, colorful year!

Julie in GA