Southwind Inspirations

Most of my dimensional patterns require some preparation before sewing.  Usually it involves pressing some of the cut fabric pieces:  Squares diagonally into triangles or strips into folded strips or rectangles. My dimensional curved patterns are a little different from conventional patterns.  The main difference is that you can make curves without having to cut and piece an actual curve.  This is where the pressing preparation comes in.  Each pressed piece can be shaped into a curve and the smallest curves can be made easily and without tedious curved piecing.  Pressing may seem like a chore at first, but once you realize that fold equals curve, pressing gets much easier. Some shapes may be finger pressed during construction, but squares are always better pressed with an iron. Squares to folded Triangles: Rather than folding, holding down and pressing each piece of fabric separately, use these fast and easy pressing tips. 1.  Lay them all down:  One fast way to do this is to lay

One of my favorite new patterns is my frog pattern, which will be released this October just as soon as the covers are printed. The frogs have been hatching all summer and the quilt has finally made it to the quilting stage. After layering, pin-basting and otherwise getting the quilt ready I was trying to come up with an interesting quilting design. I decided to frame an orphan block, using the same fabrics I used for the setting of the original quilt, to practice some of my quilting ideas on a single block.  First I used my walking foot and with a light grey thread stitched around each frog block. In the blue background I quilted a random circle design which could either represent pebbles on the bottom of the lake or bubbles in the water.  I quilted the bubbles in random sizes and shapes, some are oval, some round, and some are connected with multiple lines. I wanted to come up with just the right quilting design for the frog background and of course the frogs themselves. A l

The Art of Cutting Up I have been in a time crunch lately - deadlines are looming, quilts have to be made, patterns written.  Many of you know just what I am talking about, maybe for different reasons.  When you want to make a quilt for a special event it helps to get yourself organized and accurate cutting is the first in a series of steps to get things done. Much emphasis is put on cutting strips exactly straight by cutting perpendicular to the fold line.  This is still true of course, however, not as critical if shorter lengths of pieces are needed.  Below are the steps I used to cut out another version of one of my latest designs, a modern, two-color quilt which will be revealed in the coming weeks. The original quilt looks great “in person”, but didn’t photograph quite as well as I had hoped, so I decided on a do-over. Step 1:  Fold the fabric back the way it came off the bolt.  Then fold it one more time so everything you cut is four-ply.  Scoot your fabric so the folds are pa