What we love most about quilting is the wide realm of choices we have in selecting what we sew.
Beginner quilters start with no skills and gradually add new pages to their repertoire. Practice makes them more accurate.
Intermediate skills allow them to add more depth to their quilts and probe into techniques they are eager to learn. Triangles and rectangles overtake simple squares; smarter pressing and squaring up are second nature.
The less populated advanced quilters have practiced skills, accuracy, confidence, and the understanding of geometry which allows them to alter quilts that draw their attention.
Reaching Out by Edyta Sitar, Laundry Basket Quilts Finished size: 64" x 80" Pieced and Appliquéd Quilt
This week's venture lets us all participate! Whether you prefer to appliqué:
1. By hand using needle turn, blind stitch or raw edge appliqué
2. By sewing machine appliquéusing fusible products, your machine's decorative stitches and an open toe foot to place your elements
3. By embroidery machine-hooped appliqué letting the machine stitch the design you have chosen
It's rare that we can all enjoy the same project using the tools at our disposal... Reaching Out is the perfect canvas for simple appliqué. With lots of circles, leaves, and flowers, it presents an opportunity for you to delve into your decorative stitches (hand or machine) and find where they are best suited.
Small stitches work wonders around small curves, and longer decorative stitches can can easily be coaxed on to the gentle curves of the large leaves.
Taking time to stitch at a consistent speed with a carefully placed needle gives a satisfaction that is difficult to explain. As a quilter you may have developed a favoured colour scheme and it speaks to you - loudly. We often hear this referred to as "your box". Sometimes you want to get out of "your box" and sometimes you just want the quilt to blend with the nook where it will be used.
Colour, textures and prints in your fabric choices are another avenue that Reaching Out excels in!
If you prefer brights - endulge! If you lean towards winter colours - chill out.
If pastels are your preference, it will be light and airy.
Got some mid-century modern prints you can spare? I can imagine it now! Our kits have been curated from our favourite autumn tones as varied as nature. From deep rusts, mellow yellow, and earthy chocolates to soft putty and out-spoken teals, you'll have so much fun being the artist and deciding where each fabric should go~! If machine embroidery is your strength, we challenge you to our digitized version of Reaching Out. For our sample we chose to use moody, dark batiks brightened with our decorative stitches. This digitized version is best created with a 260 mm. (10 1/4") hoop. The hoopings stitch quite quickly. In addition, if you have a cutting machine, the cut files are available for each block.This table runner size version represents a section of the quilt, and incorporates almost all the elements.
Reaching Out is the perfect canvas for simple appliqué. With lots of circles, leaves, and flowers, it presents an opportunity for you to delve into your decorative stitches (hand or machine) and find where they are best suited.
