Quilting How-to Archives - Princess YellowBelly Designs

How to Mend Basic & Necessary Clothes Your Family Needs

February 12, 2021 by admin

Now that we’ve properly explored how useful and important it is to be able to mend all mendable clothes for your family – let’s check in on the clothes that you’ll mostly be mending, and a few handy tips and tricks on how to mend.

How to Mend Denim Blue Jeans

Read the first part of the mending journey…

Jeans are the hardest garments to mend because they are the thickest, but also because the pant legs are quite narrow and therefore hard to get under your sewing machine needle.

piece of blue jean material with patch suggestions for better mending techniques

Preparing the Patch

Make a patch out of left-over denim you have in your stash.

Denim comes in all different shades of blue and many different colors as well. Try to find a patch that matches as closely as possible – sometimes the ‘inside’ color of a patch will match the ‘outside’ of the jeans’ color best.

Make the patch big enough to cover the worn part around the hole, not just the hole itself.

If you just make it to cover the existing tear, you will have those same jeans to mend in just a short while with a new tear beside the patch you just put on.

Cut your patch to fit the area it needs to cover – it doesn’t have to be perfectly square.

I just do this free-hand, and then I edge finish it with matching thread all around the outside.

Preparing the Tear

Trim away any frays or white shreds of thread over the tear.

These just draw attention to the rotten spot.

Turn your jeans inside out and pin the patch around 2 sides only.

Shows burgundy daughters of the highway custom duffle bag

Shows a blue and black custom duffle bag

None of these are blue jean patches – but you can see the way patches work, and the different types of fabric that can be useful…

The jeans and the patch will both shift around as you sew and if you pin all 4 sides you will get pleats.

Slide the storage caddy sleeve off of your machine

Doing this will allow you to slide the leg of the jeans over the narrower sleeve so you can sew flat and smooth. This will work for most pant legs and sleeves as well, not just jeans. If the fit is really tight, I will drop the feed dogs so that I can move the fabric more easily. If you find it just too tight and unworkable, sew your patch on by hand using a whip-stitch.

Mending the Hole

Applique foot on Bernina sewing machine - Princess YellowBelly Designs

Carefully sew a straight stitch all around your patch.

Make sure you have matching thread top and bottom for this part, if it’s close enough you may not even be able to see it once everything’s right side on and being worn.

Double-sew back from the front.

Turn your jeans right-side-out and using a narrow zig-zag stitch around the edge of the tear so that it won’t fray any further. Done!

If you can’t hide the patch – at all – start thinking of the denim like a blank canvas and get creative.

Sometimes I would make fancy patches for the girls’ jeans like hearts, stars or bunny shapes. These patches I would make out of bright, obvious colors and sew over the holes on the outside of their jeans so that everyone could see them.

A Few Extra Ways to Use Denim Patches

If your kids wear house slippers in the winter, chances are that the bottoms will wear through long before they will outgrow them. To extend their life, cut a piece of denim to fit, edge finish it, and sew it to the bottom of the slipper. When that wears through, layer on another patch. I have sometimes put 3 patches onto the bottoms as slippers as the kids passed them down to each other.

Sometimes the buttons on jeans are not sewn down well and will rip out, leaving a large hole behind. Make yourself a patch that fits over the hole and sew it down on the inside of the waist band and then sew the button back on. You have to give that button something solid to hold it so I make this a 2 layered patch.

How to Mend Underarm & Side Seams

The most common kind of “tear” that you’ll get in shirts and blouses aren’t tears at all. If the seams haven’t been sewn deep enough, or they get too much rough tear, sometimes the stitches in the seams will pop, and a hole will open.

sewing do's old fashioned sewing machine

sewing don'ts old fashioned sewing machine

These are my very favorite things to mend because they are so easy and quick to do and they’re invisible!

If a blouse or t-shirt has opened up along an underarm or side seam, simply align the seams again, zig-zag or serge over the hole extending the stitching ½” past each end and you’re done. If, when you turn the garment right-side-out the seam has a dip or bubble in it, turn it back to the inside and sew a straight stitch along the inside edge of the serge stitch.

This will even out any of those puckers.

If the hole or seam that needs mending is in a sweater do this by hand. If you whip-stitch across the entire hole from the inside and gently draw it tight as you go it will be invisible from the outside.

How to Mend the Devil’s Spawn – Zippers

Zippers are the items we hate to replace because they take the longest and are the most intimidating. It’s an illusion! They’re not really that hard once you learn how, but they do take time and care – and if you’re like me the tedious work is annoying – so make sure that the garment is worth it before you start.

Only use jeans zippers for jeans.

They are much heavier and much more durable than the regular zippers.

Try to use the same length zipper as the old one.

If zippers are too long, you can cut off the excess after you sew them in, but jeans zippers are so heavy that they will ruin your scissors if you try this.

Shows bright green custom duffle bag by Princess YellowBelly Designs

Look carefully at how and where the zipper is sewn in – different manufacturer do it differently.
Carefully use a seam ripper to pull out only one side of the old zipper.
Remove all old threads and then pin the new zipper into place on that side.
Use a zipper foot to baste in this first side.
Now, tear out the second side and baste that side in.

When you’re satisfied with the way it looks and fits, sew it down for good. I always like to do this twice because zippers get a lot of use and wear and tear. You’re done!

How to Mend Missing Buttons

If you have the old button all you need to do is thread your hand sewing needle with matching thread and sew it back on. So I’ve trained my family to save all buttons and beads that fall off of clothes.

If you don’t save the garment, or if you don’t have the matching button, you’ll likely be able to match a button from the ones you’ve salvaged over the years.

If you can’t find one semi-identical, find one in the same color and shape category. If the missing button is anywhere from the neck to bellybutton area, then a different button will be extremely obvious. So remove the lowest button on the garment, sew it into the missing slot, and sew the not quite matching one into the lower spot.

No one will ever notice!

I find it a lot faster to do buttons by hand than fooling around taking the old foot off my machine, putting on the button sewing on foot, getting the spacing right, etc. Much simpler and faster to do it the old fashioned way!

I like to double my thread when I sew on buttons because it doubles the strength and halves the time it takes.

Sew through the button holes at least 8 times and then wiggle it. If it’s tight then slide your needle carefully through one of the holes but not through the fabric. Wrap your thread around the bottom of the button at least 3 times before pushing your needle through the fabric to the back.

Wrapping the thread around the underside of the button is the magic trick here – my Mom taught me that neat trick.

On the back slide the needle through the first layer of fabric and then pull the needle twice through the loop before gently pulling it tight. This gives you a double knot. I always do this twice to make sure my knots never come undone, and I can’t think of one instance when one of my buttons have come off.

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Name It and Claim It – How to Name a Quilt with a Quilted or Embroidered Nametag

February 11, 2021June 11, 2020 by admin

Ocean Maidens by PYB Designs quilting - how to name a quilt

Almost all quilters – myself included – advise that you name your newly finished quilt with a nametag; today we’re going to talk about why we name and claim our fabric masterpieces, and more practically, how to name a quilt.

The second best part of giving birth is that you get to name that tiny scrap of humanity anything you want. Why do you have that privilege? Because you produced him/her! Giving everything a name was the 1^st job that God assigned to Adam in the Garden of Eden so, to my way of thinking, naming something is a right, a privilege, and the honor of it naturally goes to the person who produced “it.”

The same is true of anything you produce during your times of quilivity.

The Power of a Name

Anything that you sew becomes yours, you are the creator – therefore – you are the namer. And, once you name something you are actually claiming it. Just the fact of the naming implies the act of claiming.

The wonderful thing about naming something is that it gives you all the power.

Not only does the thing that is named have to abide by your decision but so does everyone else!! It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about the name you bestow on your creation, you alone have all the power in this equation, so use it to the best effect. Below are a few ways that you can creatively name your creations.

The most beautiful nametags are often the ones that break the rules

How to Name a Quilt with Pre-Printed Tags

You can purchase pre-printed tags where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. I’ve seen a few of these available in quilting catalogs, and they seem like a good way to get the job done very quickly, but to my mind there are a number of difficulties as well.

Grain of Salt Advisory – I’ve never used a pre-printed tag, so these thoughts are based on opinions and guesswork, not lived experience.

Problems with Pre-Printed Nametags

What if the name of your project doesn’t fit on their lines?
- You will have to make your own tag then.
What if there aren’t enough lines?
- You will have to make your own tag then.
What if there isn’t enough height between the lines?
- You will have to make your own tag then.
What if the style of the tag is all wrong and doesn’t correspond at all to the theme of your project?
- You will have to make your own tag then.

How to Name a Quilt by Making Your Own Name Tags

Obviously, sooner or later you are going to have to make your own name tags – by this I mean both the background, fabric size, shape, and edging of the tag as well as the writing on it.

So you may as well learn how to make them right, learn how to make your letters the way you want them, how to measure and draw lines for all you want to say, and how to attach them to your projects.

How to Come Up with a Name for Your Quilted Masterpiece

While you’re doing all of this you should be trying out different names for your project. Naming something is fun, and so it’s a good idea to get your family involved. Try out a different name every few days – you will know instinctively when you’ve found the right one.

Use Alliteration

Words go very well together when they all start with the same letter and they’re much easier to remember. So, if at all possible, alliterate!

Give Your Creation a Name That Correlates With the Theme of the Project

Home Pastures - a project that used printed fabric panels for quilting - close-up of horse pastured printed panel with a windmill

Home Pastures - a project that used printed fabric panels for quilting

For instance, since our horse quilt had 11 different panels we decided to name it “Home Pastures” because all of the horses were in their separate, home pastures. We named our frog on a lily pad – “My Pad” – because the frog was on the lily pad but also because he has attitude.

So think mostly about what your quilt is saying while you think of a name.

Try to Keep it Short!

The longer your quilt’s name is, the more letters you have to sew. This is not only tedious, but the longer the name, the bigger your tag has to be. The longest name I ever gave to a project was “Dragons in my Window” and the darn thing took me all morning to sew onto a tag! Brevity is the password here!

Make it Personal

If your project is for a specific person it’s great if you can incorporate their name into the name of your project. I once made a rose quilt for a girl named Cassidy Rose, and guess what I named it – “The Cassidy Rose!”

The fact that I named it after her almost thrilled her more than the quilt itself. Be creative. I named the Sunbonnet Sue quilt I made for my oldest daughter the “Sunbonnet Suzanna” and she treasures it.

How to Make a Name Tag

Once you’ve settled on a name for your project, you can start thinking about what you want the tag to look like.

This includes not only the shape of the tag, but also:

The color of the background fabric
The color of the thread for the letters
The shape of the letters themselves,
How you’re going to construct the tag
And how you’re going to sew it onto your finished project

Since I don’t usually make my tags until the project is completely done, I have a lot of time to think and all of this thinking usually produces a clear picture in my brain of the name tag by the time I’m ready for it.

How to Name a Quilt by the “Nuts & Bolts”

Every craft has its “nuts and bolts” elements. A mechanic has literal nuts and bolts. A cabinet maker has wood and glue. A quilter has fabric and thread. And whatever you do, it all comes back to your nuts and bolts.

Making a name tag is back to the fabric and thread, just like everything else.

Background Fabric

The first rule of thumb here is that your background fabric should – if at all possible – be a fabric that you used on the front as well. This helps to make the project more cohesive (such a big word!)

But also, on a more practical level, it gives you a chance to use up some of the leftover scraps from your project. The tag is 2 layers of fabric thick, so that you can use one fabric on the back of the tag and a different fabric on the front if you like. Or you can make the front of your tag a crazy block or a patchwork or whatever floats your boat.

You can also make your tag into almost any shape you like – this is where the creative juices can really flow and why homemade tags are so much more fun than store bought ones!

Outside Edge

Once you’ve decided on the background fabric and the design and shape of your tag you need to construct your tag. You can do this in one of 2 ways.

How to Edge Your Quilted Nametag Version #1:

Layer your 2 fabrics with right sides together and sew a ¼” seam all around the outside, leaving a 4-5” gap along one side. Don’t leave the gap in a corner, as corners are very hard to get straight when you turn your fabric. Turn your tag right-side-out and press in the edges of the gap with a hot iron so that they match the corresponding edges. Sew this down with a matching thread right along the outside edge of the tag.

How to Edge Your Quilted Nametag Version #2:

Layer your 2 fabrics with the wrong sides together and pin. When you have all the letters sewn down and are ready to sew your name tag to the back of your project, you can finish the raw edge in one of 3 ways.

Sew a ribbon such as grosgrain just along the edge of your tag so that it hang off the edge approximately ¼”. Grosgrain ribbon has a nice finished edge, and with the raw edge covered you can sew the outside edge down quickly and easily. I did this with the tag for Dragons in my Window.
Sew a nice, wide satin stitch all around the edge of your finished tag. Depending on how well your machine does this, you may have to go around the edge twice – I often do. Sewing the edge like this will make it curl up but all you need to do is steam iron it or spritz it with spray starch and iron to make it lie flat again so that you can sew your tag on neatly. I used this method to sew the edge of my Ocean Maidens quilt.
Make a short length of binding and sew it around the edge to finish it off before you sew the tag on. Check out my blog ‘Binding Tips & Tricks’ if you’re not sure how to do a binding.

Measuring & Marking for Your Nametag

Once you have decided how to finish your edge, you need to mark your tag and draw lines so that your lettering will be straight and centered.

You’ll want to get everything on 3 lines if at all possible but if you can’t, use 4 – no more!

If you can’t fit everything onto 4 lines then you need to re-think, because there are 3 things that should go onto each tag that you construct:

If you can’t fit everything onto 4 lines then you need to re-think, because there are 3 things that should go onto each tag that you construct:

Name of the project
Your name
And the date

That’s it! Anything more is superfluous.

Measuring the Distance (it’s more important than you’d think)

To start, measure the length of your tag. Starting 2” down from the top, draw your first line all the way across.

This is the name line.

Measure how many inches you have left and divide it evenly in two. Remember, you have to leave enough space between your lines for the height of the letters. I like to leave at least 1 ½” if I can because it makes it so much easier to read.

If your fabric is dark, draw your lines with chalk but if it’s a light-colored fabric a black erasable pen is always a good choice.

Measuring by the Math

Next, count the letters in each set of words and divide them by the length of the line you have drawn. Remember to factor in an empty space at the front and back of each line, and, if your name has two words or more, a space between each word. For example, if your line is 8” long and you have 5 letters in the name of your project, you should make your spacing marks 1-1/4” long each. This gives you a place for all 5 letters, an empty space plus an empty space at the front and back end of the word.

If your machine has an embroidery feature that you can program to sew letters and words that’s great – my Bernina did that till it quit working – it takes all the figuring out of the equation for you.

But honestly, measuring your spacing for your letters isn’t rocket science. It sounds complicated on paper, but it goes pretty quick in practice.

Stabilizer

In order for the stitching and appearance of your letters to be smooth and even you will need to pin a piece of Tear-Away Stabilizer to the back of your tag.

Simply cut a piece of stabilizer a little larger than your tag, iron it flat and pin it to the back of your tag. This helps to stiffen your tag and helps your fabric to move smoothly and evenly over the feed dogs.

Once you’re finished stitching you simply tear it away from your letters.

It’s easy to do and will make a world of difference to the final appearance of your tag.

You can find Tear-Away Stabilizer in any store that sells fabric – it’s usually in among the batting and interfacing packages.

Sewing Your Letters

Once your measuring and marking is done, draw in your letters if you’re doing it by hand. I prefer using cursive because the letters join naturally and you don’t have to start and stop at the beginning and end of each letter to tie off.

It all depends on what I want my tag to look like.

Once again, use an erasable pen on the light fabrics and chalk on the darker ones.

HINT: Only draw one word or line of letters if you’re using chalk because it tends to rub off quite quickly.

HINT: I discovered that a pink glitter permanent fabric marker works real well for marking black fabric as well and lasts a lot longer than the chalk!

Once you have your letters marked, set your machine to a narrow, tight satin stitch and follow along your marks slowly. There is no way to do this fast if you’re sewing your letters by free hand.

HINT: Practice on a scrap piece of fabric first so you will get the stitch width, thickness, and feel of how the thread will work and look before you sew on the real tag. Make sure that your practice piece is constructed the same way as the tag – 2 pieces of fabric and a piece of stabilizer so that you will know exactly how your machine will handle this.

Sewing on Your Name Tags – The Final Step in “How to Name a Quilt”

Name tags are usually sewn in either bottom corner of your project – right or left doesn’t matter. Just make sure it’s in one of the bottom corners and is right-side-up. I once sewed one in upside-down, and I did it by hand so I learned my lesson – always double check!

There are three ways to attach a name tag to your project/

The First Way to Attach a Nametag is to Sew it by Machine

This option only works if you have a large section of very dark fabric on the front of your quilt where you’re planning to attach your tag. Preferably black. If it’s any lighter the stitching will show and mess up your pattern on the front. Sometimes, like on Dragons in my Window, I sewed the bottom and outside edge of my tag by machine, and the top and inside edge by hand.

Sewing your tag on by machine is much the quickest option, but unless you do it before you sew the backing down it is almost impossible to achieve. So give it a think before you completely finish your project.

The Second Way to Attach a Nametag is to Sew it by Hand

I’m anti-hand-sewing nine times out of ten, but this is the option that I choose most often because I rarely have a section on the front that will not show extra stitching coming through from sewing on the tag.

I don’t actually mind hand sewing tags since I did hand embroidery and cross-stitch for years. It’s actually a very soothing activity for me. Use thread that matches whatever color edge you put on your tag and your stitching will be almost invisible, especially if you use a smaller whip-stitch.

The Third Way to Attach a Nametag is to Glue it On

If, for some reason you can’t hand-stitch it, fabric glue is your last option and it’s a good one. Simply spread the glue – make sure it’s permanent – lightly over the entire back of your tag, lay it down on your project and then lay something heavy like a book on top of that and leave it for 24 hours.

Voila! A permanent bond and no hand-stitching involved!

I truly hope that you’ve enjoyed this article. As a last note, please consider naming your smaller projects as well – like table runners and wall hangings. Not only does a named, dated, claimed piece have more value in terms of money, it has more value in terms of human connection.

Until next time!

Your Guide to Quiltivity,

Karyl Fitzgerald

Princess YellowBelly Designs’ “original-pattern-designing, straight-seam-sewing, seam-ripping-mistake-fixing, verbose-wording, how-to-do-it-funner-faster-easier-instructing, quilting-artist”Resident Genius

P.S. You can contact me with questions or ideas for articles, patterns, whatever, at my personal email: karyl@pybdesigns.com.

Creating Quilting Stories to Stimulate the Imagination

February 11, 2021March 11, 2020 by admin

Cowboy on a horse against a sunset made of beautiful batik fabrics ranging dark pink to bright orange

Human curiosity is a marvelous thing, and it’s the driving force behind our shared need to know the end of the story – which is something we fabric artists can put to work for us when we’re creating quilting stories. The more curiosity’s used and trained the healthier it gets. In fact, it becomes almost magical when it’s coupled with a healthy imagination. This may seem like a hard thing to achieve, but in reality – curiosity and storytelling are both skills that can be trained.

As we all know, the sooner you start training a character trait in a child, the stronger that trait becomes.

Michael and I raised our 3 kids on an isolated ranch with no neighbors and homeschooled them to boot. Because the kids weren’t getting a lot of outside stimulus, I worked very hard making sure that their minds were constantly engaged with:

Made-up stories
Books – by the hundreds
Games
And all sorts of verbal stimuli.

I knew I had succeeded when they finally took me to their favorite outdoor play place that they had named Dragon Rock. It looked like a boring old ditch to me, but they confidently assured me they could see the scales of a petrified dragon wing and proceeded to enthrall me with all the stories they had come up with about it. (This was the inspiration for my dragon quilt, by the way).

This is my family – I think we turned them into an imaginative bunch!

Wanting their imagination muscles to continue developing, I took a long look at the quilts I was thinking of making them, and decided they were really blank canvasses just waiting to spring into life.

How to Develop Your Imagination Muscles

There are ways to begin developing your imagination muscles faster so that you can start creating quilting stories, rather than just ordinary quilts.

Add Heroes to Your Quilts

I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to tell a story about a character you love and are inspired by. If you’re in love with the main hero of your quilt – people who see it will be, as well. This holds true for everything from butterflies, to a traditional Lazy Susan quilt, to some of my wilder creations.

Black stallion rearing against a sunset — This is a stock photo we found on Google Images – please do not attribute ownership to us! This was labeled FREE for REUSE…

Running wild black stallion on the beach at sunset, black, orange, gold, red fabric art interior wall art — This is a stock photo we found on Google Images – please do not attribute ownership to us! This was labeled FREE for REUSE…

Finding these heroes is a lot easier than it sounds…trust me.

FIRST – I think about what I want the piece I’m working on to say or do

Are there characters that can fire the imagination and generate stories or is there only movement? Keep in mind that ‘characters’ does not necessarily mean ‘human’. They can be anything, from mermaids, dragons and fairies, to puppies, vehicles or fish.

The main focus should always be on this main character with the movement and story going on around them. Look at my ‘Christmas Delivery” Panel. The main character is the unicorn (and he’s only a unicorn because I added the horn).

Christmas Delivery - Christmas small wall hanging, what a completed project of a fabric panel for quilting looks like

I also added 7 fairies engaged in different activities; but they’re there in support of the unicorn.

Now, instead of having a plain white horse with some Christmas greenery around it (pretty but typical); you have a unicorn (magical) that is being delivered to someone – (part of creating quilting stories is in letting your imagination come up with that someone) by other magical creatures – the fairies.

You can see that the unicorn is having a chat with one of the fairies, while the rest are busy getting him ready for the Christmas Delivery.

SECOND – I create countless unanswered questions

The Christmas Delivery scene generates multiple questions in my mind, such as:

Christmas Delivery - Christmas small wall hanging, what a completed project of a fabric panel for quilting looks like - close-up of an added fairy on a new poinsettia flower

What are they chatting about?
Where are they?
Who is receiving this magic gift and why?
What is the unicorn’s mission? Will only the recipient be able to see him, or everybody else as well?
Etc.

In my dragon quilt – which is stunning, by the way – if you have any imagination at all, you begin to wonder why there are dragons on an old abbey window.

Were there ever real dragons there?
What happened to them?
Why is the focus all on the big one in the middle?
What did it do…accomplish…destroy?

Black dragon silhouette in stained glass window

Even inanimate objects, such as my Shamrock Table Topper can make you stop and think. Why is this four-leaf clover special? Will anyone find it? What magic can it create?

Engaging your viewer in the story brings it to life, and makes it much more interesting (to my mind) than a regular patterned quilt.

Let Your Project Have a Hand in Creating Quilting Stories

I’ve just finished the Ocean Maidens quilt and Suzanna has lamented numerous times how much she would have adored this quilt when she was young, and the endless stories she could have made up from it.

With just a few mermaid silhouettes and accessories, I turned a basically pretty border into a mermaid sea where mermaids swim…read books…have tea parties…ride dolphins…collect jewels…pick bouquets…and blow bubbles. Much more interesting than just a funky-strip border with endless scope for the imagination.

Suzanna’s also made me promise never to sell the Coral Reef panel because she wants to use it to stimulate her future children’s’ imaginations.

Creating curiosity leads in a project is relatively easy to do.

The Easiest Way to Add a Curiosity Point to a Quilt

Start by taking a good, long look at the project you’re contemplating sewing. What does it say to you? Is it begging for more ‘pop?’

More glitter
Something magical?
A story?
Etc.

How can you improve the quilt without too much trouble? How can you make it completely individual from the million other Log Cabin quilts or whatever your pattern is?

But if you want to fastest, easiest way to add a character or a curiosity point… I have one word for you – appliques. With the right appliques, you can change an everyday quilt pattern into Shazzam!!!

Appliques

Once you have your hero character, and the corresponding pattern and colors chosen, think about what else should be in this picture.

I was very drawn to the Christmas Delivery panel, because the horse was so beautiful and elegant. I bought it not knowing what I was going to do with it; so I just let it sit there and percolate in my mind until the idea to change it into a unicorn with attendant fairies came to me. Then I appliqued on the horn, fairies, neck ribbon, holly leaves, etc.

The silver & gold ribbon and jingle bells really helped, too, and before I knew it, my panel went from the same as hundreds of others to shazzam!!!

Completely unique and different.

I also added fairies to my ‘Fairies in my Garden’ panel and made it pop. Michael Miller Fabrics has a great line in fairies. Check it out. But don’t limit yourself to just those embroidered appliques you get in packages at the quilting store, or to appliqueing on printed fabrics, either.

Appliques can be made from almost any type of fabric or accessory and are only limited by your own imagination.

In my Coral Reef panel, I used some super bright, large floral fabric from Kaffe Fassett to construct my coral reef. Some of the reef I made from fussy cutting the existing flowers, and some I just made up my own shapes for.

It all works.

I have found a little fake fur stole at the thrift store, and I’m going to use it to make animal appliques for bears, dogs, cats, etc. Your own imagination is the only limit here.

Here are a few other suggestions for adding “wow pops” and stories to your quilt:

Fabric

Sometimes the only thing you have to do is choose completely different colors than have ever been done before.

This was the product of a moving day sale from my favorite quilt store – all colors I love, none I need…right now! Tomorrow? Who knows?

Traditional log cabin quilts, for example, tend to use darker earth tone fabrics. Imagine what would happen if you used fuchsia pink and turquoise fabrics instead!

You can most often use fabrics in your stash for these types of projects. Especially as I have to admit that I love some fabrics at first sight, and can’t spend another day without having them in my stash, even though I have no project to use them on yet. I put them where I can see them easily and wait – eventually they will tell me what they want to be used in.

Angles

Round table mat with autumn strip spinners

Quilting is all about angles and how they go together. If a pattern calls for all right angles and triangles, study it and see if you can switch some of these out with something totally unexpected.

Remember that your brain works extremely well with patterns, but it’s the unexpected that makes it take notice.

Fabric Flowers and Leaves

These pre-made, easy-sew, bond-well-with-wonder-under gems can REALLY add a lot of pop to your project, they’re relatively fast to work with and they’re SO realistic!

Small pinon flowers on a fabric panel creating quilting stories

Appliques do not have to be big and bold to carry a punch.

If you look at my Autumn Daze panel, the first thing you see are all the autumn leaves that I appliqued on. They are stunning. But when you look more closely you will find an appliqued owl up on a branch, a few songbirds enjoying the day, and a fox peeking out from behind some leaves; which begs the question –‘Will the owl see him?’

Learning the art of subtlety really helps when you’re creating quilting stories that you want people to come back to over and over again for years.

Silhouettes

These are figures cut from a single piece of fabric – usually black – and appliqued in place. They can be of absolutely anything, but the genius of them is even though there are no distinguishing features, they can express every emotion known to man.

Shepherds look at the star of Bethlehem - quilted using free motion quilting techniques

Silhouettes are all about body language and as we all know, that speaks much more powerfully than words or expressions do. Take my ‘Keeping Watch by Night’ panel. You can see nothing of the shepherds’ faces, but by their stance and the one pointed finger you know exactly what they’re seeing, feeling and discussing. Even the sheep – with the exception of one – are paying attention.

In the ‘Camel Panel’ you can see that the 3 Wise men are tired but determined to reach their goal even though it’s night.

In the ‘Cowboy and His Lady’ you know that he’s coming in tired and hungry after a long day on horseback and 2 true and loyal hearts are waiting and watching for him and thrilled to see him coming. Even though you can’t see it, you know there’s a house just out of sight with light shining through the windows, the good smells of supper cooking, and it’s warm and safe.

Without saying a word, this panel speaks to the very heart of each of us because it shows us what we’re all searching for. Love, acceptance, safety and someone waiting for us to come back. It speaks to our hearts of the true meaning of home with only 3 simple silhouettes.

A western lady and a dog against a sunset - quilted using free motion quilting techniques

Cowboy riding at sunset - brilliant background in a landscape quilt design

I’m a major fan of silhouettes, since they’re easy to create and sew, and they leave such an effortlessly powerful impression.

So give this option a think when you’re planning to tell a story.

Not All Stories are Created Equal

Some projects work best if they get right in your face, bold and unapologetic – like the Coral Reef and Dragon quilts – while others just need a hint of mystery.

The shamrock table topper invites you to imagine all sorts of things, but it does it very quietly. I’m thinking of doing a corresponding wall hanging to my Ocean Maidens quilt, and it too will whisper very quietly of mystery.

Think carefully about what colors and accessories will convey the mood you’re trying to portray and find what you need. Otherwise, all your effort will be wasted.

Consider Movement

If your main character is moving – and this can be anything, remember – answer these questions to yourself.

Is it moving to or away from something?
What emotion will be evident?
Is there a predator?
Is it hiding?
Is it doing something completely out of character?
Does it have any supporting characters?
What season, what time of day, hot or cold, old or young?

All of these kinds of questions should be considered before you make your first fabric cut.

Allow the Quilt Some Creative Freedoms

Black dragon silhouette on stained glass window creating quilting stories

Don’t panic if you’re planning for your project to go in one direction and it changes course in mid-stream. It happens – just go with the flow. You often end up with something very different, and even better, than the idea you started with.

So be BOLD dear reader, and do not fear to take the road less traveled.

To the greater good of your quiltivity,

Karyl (aka Princess YellowBelly)