Flower Pounding - Fabric Dying Technique

The art of pounding flowers to dye fabric was used by Cherokee women and has been rediscovered by Ann Frischkorn and Amy Sandrin. Their book, Flower Pounding: Quilt Projects for All Ages provides clear and succinct instructions, so I will not rehash everything they say. What I will do is to give you a few pointers that I learned and share a lot of photos of my experience with flower pounding.

Simply put, flower pounding entails placing flowers on fabric, taping them down and then pounding the flower with a hammer to dye the fabric with the flower's juices.

Tips:

• Be careful when taping close to the edge of the fabric. When you pull the tape you may cause the fabric to pull and fray.
• Start pounding in the center of the flower and work your way out. This keeps the shape of the petals and preserves the lighter centers.
• Pound the background petals and leaves first and then do the foreground. This give a nice dimension to the arrangement.
• Have a paper towel handy. Wipe the hammer head when you start to see frequent runs while pounding. Small runs will not show through, but the wetter the hammer head becomes, the more they show through.
• When you iron to set the flower dye, be prepared for a horrible smell. It is like moldy leaves. Maybe different flowers produce a different smell and I just picked the wrong ones.
• Dark fabrics and light colored flowers do not turn out very well. They just look like stains on the fabric.

The bad thing about this method is that the colors easily fade, so I did not want to put too much time into a wall hanging that is not going to last. Ann and Amy state in their book that direct sunlight and washing will cause the colors to fade. I am hanging my quilt where it will get occasional sunlight. I'll update to let you know how the colors hold up.


One thing that I did differently then what Ann and Amy recommended was how I outlined the flowers. They recommend using Perma pens and drawing outlines. I chose to use freestyle quilting with variegated thread. I think the effect worked well. It also gave me more practice using the freestyle quilting method. Not back for only a second attempt.

This was a fun technique and was great to do with my daughter. She had a great time.

If you cannot find the book for the instructions, they are also available online at http://www.hgtv.com/crafting/flower-pounding/index.html

How to Make Yo-Yo's - The Fast and Easy Way

There are a lot of great things about making yo-yo's and now it is easier than ever to make a lot of them. For a quick introduction on what yo-yo's are and to learn the traditional method of making yo-yo's, see the Quilting site at About.com.

The fast and easy method is to use a yo-yo maker. I use a 45mm size maker by Clover. The makers come in various sizes and shapes, including hearts and flowers. Each yo-yo took me approximately 5 minutes to complete (after making a few practice ones).

To make the yo-yo's:

1. Cut a scrap of fabric larger than your yo-yo maker. I keep the scraps at least one inch larger than the maker at the smallest point.
2. Place the fabric face-down onto the base of the maker.
3. Put the disc part of the maker on top of the fabric and then snap it into place. Make sure that you properly align the disc and the plate.
4. Trim the fabric leaving a 1/4" - 1/2" seam allowance.
5. Fold the seam allowance toward the center of the disc and insert your threaded needle into the starting point on the disc side.
6. Push the needle all the way through to the base side of the maker.
7. Bring the needle up by pushing it through the notch on the base side up and then through to the disc side.
8. Continue doing this all the way around the maker.
   TIP: Do not sew outside of the holes in the maker.
9. Push the maker apart, and gently remove the fabric from the disc.
10. Pull your needle and thread to gather the yo-yo.
    TIP: Shape the yo-yo as you pull.
    TIP: Pull gently so you do not break the thread.
11. Knot the thread and cut it.

Yo-yo's are a perfect way to use up some of your small squares of leftover fabric. You can make up the yo-yo's from leftover fabric when you complete a project. Each time you finish a project, add to your yo-yo stash. Before you know it you will have enough to make a blanket, toy animal, or wall-hanging. Check out Yo-Yo Cat & Mouse Pattern By Indygo Junction.

They are so easy to make that it is the perfect project while watching TV or sitting in a car. My 11 year-old daughter loves to make yo-yo's. I'm not sure what she does with them, but whenever she has a scrap of material she asks for the yo-yo maker.

Pick one up and give it a try. I'd love to see some of your creations!

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Snippet Sensations Technique

The snippet technique has quickly become a favorite. This is truly painting with fabric. Check out Cindy Walter's quilt gallery using snippets. (Cindy is the creator of the snippet technique, by the way.) It is so easy to create an impressionistic-like quilt. Ever wished to quilt Monet's Water Lilies or Van Gogh's Starry Night? This is the method that can pull it off. The bad thing about this technique is that the quilt is for hanging on the wall or framing. It is definitely not for quilts used for snuggling.

Tools

1. First, you need Cindy Walter's book Snippet Sensations: Fast, Fusible Fabric Art for Quilted or Framed Projects. Cindy does a wonderful job explaining step-by-step what to do and she offers her own experiences with different tools and brands.
2. Assorted fabrics. Lots of different shades and prints. This is the perfect opportunity to use up your scrap stash. Avoid large prints.
3. Two-sided fusible web.
4. Iron and ironing surface.
5. Comfortable scissors. You will do a lot of cutting.

Technique

Cindy recommends thinking of the fabric as dabs of paint. You iron fusible web to the fabric and cut lots of pieces. You can create a limitless number of picture by arranging the "dabs" on a backing fabric.

Here is my attempt at the snippet technique and the picture I used for inspiration. I call it Romeo and Juliet in Central Park.

I haven't finished this quilt yet, only I am not happy with my choice of fabric colors and prints for the statues. The great thing about this technique is that if you do not like something, you can easily redo it. I'll post a before and after picture when I complete this one.

If you have tried snippets, I'd love to see your accomplishments!

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Christine Friess-Ureel

If you do not know who Christine Friess-Ureel is, you are missing out on viewing the most beautiful and artistic quilts. The truly inspiring thing about Christine's quilts is that when she started she knew nothing about sewing. There is hope for everyone regardless of your quilting level!

Christine is an international award-winning quilter from Vermont. She combines her love of painting and quilting into spectacular pictorial art quilts. She finds inspiration from classical works of art and from the whimsical. The amazing thing about her quilts is the attention to detail. Visit her web site to see images of quilts and close up details. She prefers to use machine applique without leaving raw edges.

She also uses a technique called thread painting, also known as free-motion machine embroidery. Thread painting is the use of different colors and types of thread to create images. Use a free-motion foot on your machine and "paint" with the thread on your material, which is the canvas.

Christine will be teaching a workshop at Keepsake Quilting in April. In the class you will make a smaller version of her "Miranda:The Tempest" quilt and learn how to create the magnificent detail in the woman's hair and in the ocean. See Christine's site for a complete list of her upcoming workshops.

Have you tried quilt painting? I would love to see your work!

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Easy to Make Landscape Quilts

Landscape quilts are some of the most beautiful and intricate quilts. I always wanted to try my hand at one, so I did what I always do. I read. What I discovered was that there are several different ways to create a landscape quilt. Most of the techniques sounded very complicated, but the results were beautiful. I tried a few sample patterns provided by the books, some with good results, and some so complicated I gave up. I then received Landscape Quilts by Nancy Zieman and Natalie Sewell. As I read, I felt confidant that this was a landscape quilt I could do with little fuss. It even sounded fun. As a matter fact, Nancy and Natalie describe this technique as fabric painting.

Tools
For this technique, you need your standard quilting tools: scissors, safety pine, rotary cutter, mat, ruler, etc. There is, however, one thing that you probably do not have in your sewing box, but your kids will have in their school box. You need lots of glues sticks. As the book states “Gluing is a key step in creating a landscape quilt.”

Technique
The technique of cutting and gluing fabric onto a background fabric is a lot like placing dabs of paint on a canvas. Using Nancy and Natalie’s technique you have more control over the pieces of fabric and it is easier to see if something is going to look how you want it to look. If you mess up, you simply remove the fabric and try again. Other techniques require a lot of up front planning, because once you place a piece it is difficult to change it. After you have all of the fabric pieces in place, you simply stitched around the fabric to hold it in place. You can add details to the landscape when you quilt it.

Results
I decided to create a fantasy style landscape based off of a picture I saw on the internet. I call it Between Two Worlds. I love the results of using this technique. However, I did discover one issue; the edges of the fabric pieces slightly unravel. It adds an interesting look to the leaves, but the elf details look messy. Use this technique only for wall hangings. The fabric pieces are too fragile for anything else.


Overall
I recommend picking up the book and trying Nancy and Natalie’s landscape quilting technique. It is a lot of fun and it allows another side of your artistic ability to come through.