Cambridge Quilters Workshop with Anja Townrow

Following on from my last post I thought I would write about the brilliant workshop we all enjoyed (if that's the right word) with Anja Townrow.  

The topic of the day was 'Curved Piecing' and Anja had put together a project to teach us how to do curved piecing. That is, the entire background to the patchwork was pieced either around leaf shapes or a fish.  If time allowed we could then add applique and/or built in embroidery stitches. So this is what were were aiming for!  Most of us chose the flower, top left,  but a couple of brave souls chose the fish.

There followed five hours of intense work......I found this, by far, one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in my 'sewing' life.   So this is the design I picked...

We had to copy the design (not the flower) and trace the shapes onto freezer paper. We then laid out the shapes in the same orientation as they appeared in the design (for straight of grain).

We then added a seam allowance and some balance marks and cut them out. 

Much careful pining and sewing later to put it all together again. 

We eventually pressed it all and cut off excess fabric. Here's Pam with hers.

 Voila! This looks brilliant! Just add flowers...

And the fish....just add decorative stitching.

My efforts were less than perfect although after five hours of intensive work, I did manage to finish the background.  I found this to be one of the most challenging workshops (in a good way) that I've ever attempted. Got home, put my stuff away, made cauliflower cheese, ate dinner with my husband and was fast asleep by 9pm.  I can now look at pieced quilts with a much greater appreciation of the skills involved. 

Pam Southworth posted a picture of her finished piece on the Cambridge Quilters' FaceBook page.  Well done Pam.

Anja Townrow wows Cambridge Quilters

Cambridge Quilters had a special treat recently when Anja Townrow was our guest speaker.  Anja was born in The Hague, Holland and moved to England in 1974. She developed her skills via the more widely available American books and magazines but in 1993 set up 'Dutch Quilts' to sell her first patchwork quilts. She has won many prizes and is a published author. 

Anja explained how when she started doing patchwork and quilting she found it impossible to do the 1/4" seam.  This is how she ended up doing the foundation piecing (with templates) method which is very accurate, though time consuming.  

Here is a close up of one of her flowers made with foundation piecing.  Anja draws out her design full size on paper. Adding the border is no guess work or jiggling to make the 'bars' fit. Anja works out on paper what all the measurements should be which ensures a white block in each corner and the blue bars coming next in the arrangement. 

Anja's 'Flower Festival ' quilt, mainly foundation pieced, 88" x 88" 

'Abundance' made with curved piecing, foundation piecing,appliqué, broderie perse and embellishments. It is huge! Anya's classic 'Dutch Tile' blocks are set in the border. 

'Floral Compass'  awarded a judges merit at Quilts UK Malvern 2014

I took this close up photograph which shows Anja's classic 'Dutch Tile' block

Aren't these colours stunning?

Finally an example of one of Anja's pattern called 'Pond Life'.  Brilliant 

appliqué and piecing.  

Watch this space for our experience at Anja's workshop the next day. For me it was the most challenging day's sewing ever..but challenging in a good way! 

Let's Face it - Binding a quilt isn't always the best option.

TUTORIAL 

How to put a facing with a built in sleeve case on an art quilt or embroidery

Sometimes when you make a quilt, especially a small one, adding a binding, even a narrow one, just isn’t the right thing to do. This is especially true if, like me, you make ‘art’ quilts or small embroideries which are intended to hang on a wall or be framed. So this is the  illustrated tutorial of how I do it.

First of all, you make the patchwork or whole cloth top; quilt through wadding to a backing fabric as you wish then trim the edges to square it up. Press or starch as required.

For the facing, I try to use a fabric that has some ‘body’. My samples were made with Klona cotton from Cally Co in Cambridge.  Backstitch at Burwash Manor Farm also stocks it. I used the same colour as the quilt back but this isn’t compulsory. 

This method is not that hard to do but writing down instructions makes it look more complicated than it is.  I hope the photos help. 

My art quilt was 20” square. You need to decide which way up it will viewed and we start working on the two ‘sides’. That is the right and left.

I want the facing to finish 4” wide.  If your piece is small, make the facing narrower. Scale it as you feel best, no one will be checking.

Step 1: Cut two pieces of facing fabric 5” wide and 24” long (remember by sample is 20”).  On one of the long edges press over ½” or less and give it a good press. You may need steam. Top stitch this folded pressed edge. I always top stitch with a slightly longer stitch length than normal because garments are always top stitched like this. Remember to move the needle position far left otherwise you will be sewing into nothing. 

Top stitch #10 foot on the Bernina, needle moved to far left

A  #5 foot will be OK or even use a zipper foot. What ever you need to get close to the edge. 

Step 2: Pin the facing to your quilt. Press if desired. Tack if desired. Make sure the top edges line up. The photo shows the facing the wrong side up. and you can clearly see the turned back/topstitched  edge at the bottom. 

 

Step 3: Using a patchwork foot or even a walking foot, stitch the facing to your quilt. Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Step 4: Press as you go, turning over the facing and quilt and top stitch the facing.  All right sides up. Again, use a  #10 foot with the needle position far left.

Step 5:  Turn everything over and this time encourage the quilt to turn over slightly to the back. This is the tricky bit and you will need to press this very carefully. I use steam to make it stay down. The close up photo now shows me pressing the reverse of the quilt. You can just make out the top stitched edge by the tip of the iron.

Step 6: Now turn everything with the right side or quilt side on top. You can see the excess facing which can be trimmed off.  On the wrong side, hand stitch the long side facing to the back of the quilt.

Cut off this excess facing





Repeat all steps for the other side. 

Step 7: Now for the bottom edge of your quilt.  Cut another facing strip, 5” wide and 20” long. Press and top stitch as before. Attach to the bottom edge of the quilt, press and top stitch just as before. You may wish to machine on a label now. 

The only difference here is that instead of trimming off the excess facing (as in step 6) you tuck it in carefully before hand stitching the facing down.  This needs to be done neatly as there is a lot of bulk at this point.  

Snip a little of the wadding away if needed.  The gap between the edge of the bottom facing, where it meets the side facing, will need to be closed with some slip stitches. It will be obvious when you get there. 

This photo shows the reverse of the quilt to the left hand side where the facing has been tucked in ready to be hand stitched in place. 

Step 8:  Basically you do it all over again for the top edge of the quilt. BUT, make the facing longer and deeper. Mine was 6” wide and 28” long. Repeat all the steps. However, as the excess facing is tucked in, let it remain quite wide within the facing/sleeve so that it doesn’t get in the way of a hanging rod. 

This time, you do not stitch up the gaps between the facing and the quilt otherwise you would not be able to insert a hanging rod, etc. Again, it’s quite obvious when you get there. This close up photo shows the top facing with the space created to fit a hanging bar.  

  

  

This photo shows the label which I machined in place at step 7. You could leave this to the end and hand stitch a label in place. Being lazy, I machined it down. 

Next is one of the blocks I made for my series of samples.

Here is another of the blocks I made. Using a 'wonky' log cabin technique; I did draw the designs first and used a foundation piecing method to ensure the blocks were exactly as they were on paper. 

Finally, here are all the four panels on display during my July Open Studio. Not a great photograph but they did look good together in my marquee.