Block #1: Color Wheel This month we will be making the Color Wheel block. This block appears to have a bunch of curves but it doesn t require any curve piecing! We will be using a classic bias appliqué technique. This technique is often used for stained glass or Celtic quilt designs. It is not a particularly difficult technique, just a little tedious. I have found this technique to be a really great solution when I want to make a complicated circular design. Think Spirographs! SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED FABRIC YOU WILL NEED FF Block #1: Color Wheel Bias Layout Guide (freezer paper template) FF 6-2.5 x 5.5 - Piece A (use prints) FF Clover Fusible Bias Tape Maker 9MM-⅜ FF 6-5.5 x 8.5 - Piece B (use solids) FF Clover Fusible Web 5MM FF Clover Design Sheets FF 6-5 x 8.5 - Piece C (use prints) FF Iron (I like using the Clover Mini Iron) FF 6-3 x 6 - Piece DR (use solids) FF Washable School Glue with Fine Glue Tip or FF 6-3 x 6 - Piece DL (use solids) Glue Stick FF 1-22 x 22 piece of Muslin (starched heavily) FF White 50wt Piecing Thread FF 1-26 x 26 piece of Backing (starched heavily) FF Cotton Pressing Cloth FF ½ yard piece of white quilting cotton for Bias Tape (starched lightly) FF 1-24 x 24 piece of Batting FF Large pressing board or a heat resistant hard surface FF Painter s Tape and a marking pen 1
CHOOSING FABRIC FOR THE BLOCK By now you have probably chosen the majority of.your fabric and it s time to start choosing the exact pieces you will use for this block. The best way to do this is by auditioning. Starting from the center A pieces, pick out some candidates and lay them out in color order. Try to consider the value and scale of each print. Since the A pieces are so tiny, I opted for really small scale prints and used larger scale prints for the C pieces. Continue to lay out candidate fabrics working outward. Once I had a potential winner, I took a picture with my iphone on a black and white setting to see if the color value was balanced enough. Once you have finalized your selections, create separate stacks of fabric for all the pieces: A, B, C, and D. Cut out each piece according to the Fabric You Will Need section on Page 1. DL1 DL6 C1 B1 C2 B6 C6 A1 A2 DL2 Label each piece of fabric with the proper piece number (A1, A2, A3, etc.). I like to use blue Painter s Tape and a pen to label all my pieces. DR6 DR1 A6 B2 DR2 DR5 B5 DL5 A5 A3 A4 C3 Once you have your fabric chosen for the front of the block, you will need to choose fabric for the backing of the block. I used solid Kona Cotton in Putty. B3 C4 DL3 DR3 Tip: Here is another fun thing you can try: print the Block #1: Color Wheel Coloring Sheet (on page 16), cut off a small piece of candidate fabric, and glue it to each piece on the coloring sheet. If you like what you have chosen, you can use the coloring sheet as a fun fabric key while you re working on the block! 2 C5 B4 DR4 DL4
MAKING FUSIBLE BIAS TAPE #1A STEP #1A Take a ½ yard of white fabric that has been lightly starched and cut it along the fold to get two 18 x 22 fat quarters. Working with fat quarters for this method will be much easier than the entire half yard at once. Lay one fat quarter on your cutting mat so the selvage end is on your right. Take note of the corner labels in the diagram (A, B, C, D). #2A STEP #2A As shown in the diagram, fold the upper lefthand corner (A) downward to the bottom righthand corner (D). #3A STEP #3A As shown in the diagram, fold the bottom lefthand corner (B) upward to the top right-hand corner (C). This will create a new left-hand corner (E). #4A STEP #4A As shown in the diagram, fold the left-hand corner (E) upward to the top right-hand corner (B+C). 3
#5A STEP #5A Rotate your folded fat quarter so the end with all the folds (B/C/E) is on your left. With a rotary cutter and ruler cut off the left edge of folds, creating a nice straight edge for cutting. STEP #6A Using a rotary cutter and ruler cut the folded fat quarter into strips. #6A Note: The width of the strips will be determined by the size bias tape maker you re using. I used a ⅜ /9mm Clover Bias Tape Maker that calls for ¾ wide strips. STEP #7A You should now have a handful of bias strips that vary in length (22-28 ). For the Color Wheel block you, will need (6) 30 strips and (1) 36 strip. To get the proper length strips, you will need to join them with a diagonal seam and then trim them down to size. #7A To join strips, lay two strips right sides together perpendicular to each other as shown. Using a marking pen, draw a diagonal line from the upper left-hand corner to the bottom right-hand corner. Sew directly on the line and trim the seam allowance to ¼. Press the seam open and flat. #8A STEP #8A Following the directions on the packaging for the fusible bias tape maker, feed the 5MM fusible web into the bias maker followed by a ¾ strip of fabric. Gently pull the fabric and fusible through the tape maker at the same speed. Using a very hot iron, press the tape as it comes out of the maker. Do this until you have (6) 30 strips and (1) 36 strip of finished fusible bias 4
BASTING APPLIQUÉ #1B STEP #1B Iron the freezer paper Block #1: Color Wheel Appliqué Template Piece A to the right side of your piece A fabric. Cut directly on the solid black line around the template. If you re cutting multiple pieces at one time, limit the number of fabric layers to three. Repeat this process for Pieces B, C, DL, and DR. #2B STEP #2B You should have (6) Piece A, (6) Piece B, (6) Piece C, (6) Piece DR, and (6) Piece DL. Keep the labels on each Piece for now. STEP #3B Take the freezer paper Block #1: Color Wheel Bias Layout Guide and iron it to your pressing board. Fold the muslin into quarters to find the center, then lay the muslin over the bias guide centering it perfectly. Pin or tape the muslin into place. #3B Note: If you don t have a pressing board large enough, you can tape the guide to a hard surface that is heat resistant. STEP #4B Put a fine line of washable glue along the edges of the wrong side of Piece A1. #4B Note: In the video tutorial, I used an Elmer s Washable Glue Stick. If I were to do it again, I think I would prefer to use the liquid washable glue. The glue stick has a tendency to pull and misshape the pieces. Feel free to try both to find out which you prefer. 5
#5B STEP #5B Gently pick up Piece A1 and lay it into place on the muslin, covering A1 on the bias guide. With a dry, hot iron, heat-set Piece A1 into place. #6B STEP #6B Repeat steps #5A and #5B until Pieces A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6 are all fused into place. Remove the labels on each of these Pieces before you heat-set the glue. #7B STEP #7B In the same way you fused the A pieces, fuse B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, and B6. Note: Your pieces may not match up together perfectly. This may be because you didn t cut exactly straight when cutting out the fabric. Don t worry. Mistakes will be covered up with bias tape later. #8B STEP #8B In the same way you fused the A and B pieces, fuse C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, and C6. 6
STEP #9B In the same way you fused the A, B, and C pieces, fuse DL1, DL2, DL3, DL4, DL5, DL6, DR1, DR2, DR3, DR4, DR5, and DR6. #9B After everything is fused set the appliquéd muslin aside. SHAPING BIAS TAPE #1C STEP #1C Each pack of Clover Design Sheets comes with four sheets. Unfold the sheets and press them with an iron to get all the wrinkles out. Using clear tape, tape all four sheets together to create one big sheet. Lay the design sheet over your Bias Guide and tape or pin it down securely. #2C Note: These awesome design sheets allow you to temporarily fuse your bias tape to the sheet while you shape it. The bad news is Clover has discontinued them. I purchased their entire stock and will sell them until they re gone. However, I do think that a Teflon pressing sheet may work as another solution. Let me know if you find a good solution too! STEP #2C Hold your iron with one hand and a 30 long piece of bias tape with the other. Beginning at 1, lay the bias tape along the black line of the template in a clockwise motion, pressing to fuse it to the design sheet as you go. #3C STEP #3C When you reach 1 again, trim any excess tape so the ends are touching. 7
#4C STEP #4C Beginning at 2, lay the bias tape along the black line of the template in a clockwise motion, pressing to fuse it to the design sheet as you go. The bias tape for circle #2 will lay over circle #1, that way circle #2 covers up the raw ends of circle #1. Note: At all the points where two circles meet, press the fusible tape a little longer so they stick together really well. #5C STEP #5C When you reach 2 again, trim any excess tape so the ends are touching. #6C STEP #6C Continue fusing one circle at a time starting at each star ( 3, 4, 5), covering the ends of the previous circles as you go, until you have completed five circles. #7C STEP #7C The steps for 6 will be slightly different. Instead of starting directly on the 6, start fusing the tape about 1 to the right of the. Lay the bias tape along the black line of the template, pressing to fuse it to the design sheet as you go. When you reach the end of the circle, cover the beginning of the bias tape and then gently tuck the end under the circle. I found it helps to use a pointy tool like a Purple Thang or awl to poke the end under the circle. Once the raw edges are completely covered, fuse the ends 8
FUSING BIAS TAPE TO APPLIQUÉ #1D STEP #1D Now bring back your appliquéd muslin and get your 36 long piece of fusible bias tape. Begin fusing strips of fusible tape between pieces DR and DL directly to the fabric all the way around the Color Wheel. STEP #2D Very gently peel your shaped bias tape off the design sheet and slide it over to your appliquéd muslin. #2D STEP #3D Now comes the tedious part! Move your shaped bias tape around, covering up the raw edges of your appliqué. At this point it may feel far from perfect, but that is completely normal! You will need to wiggle, tweak, wiggle, tweak until all of your edges are covered up and your circles look as round as possible. You may even find you need to pop two circles apart to make everything lay correctly. #3D Once you feel pretty happy with how the tape is laying, begin pressing to fuse one circle at a time to the appliqué starting from the center of the Color Wheel, working outward. Here are some tips for this process: FF Make sure your iron is clean. You don t want to leave any brown marks on your white tape. FF Make sure your iron is incredibly hot! FF Once you have the majority of the bias tape secure, use a pressing cloth and press the bias tape with a very hot STEAM iron. FF Try REALLY hard to get the two raw edges centered under the bias tape. This will guarantee that the raw edges don t pop out later. 9
SECURING BIAS TAPE #1E STEP #1E You will be securing the bias tape AFTER your block has been basted for quilting. Using your preferred method for basting a quilt, baste the block, batting, and backing. For small blocks like this I prefer to use 505 Basting Spray to hold all three layers together. #2E STEP #2E Using 50wt white thread and a Microtex piecing needle, sew along the outer and inner edge of each circle and along the edges of the outer strip pieces. You will be sewing through all three layers (block, batting, backing). For a cleaner finish, leave a long tail of thread at the start and stop of each circle (do not backstitch) and, after quilting is complete, go back and properly bury all of your stray threads. If you want to learn more about burying threads, watch my past video tutorial on burying threads here: http://youtu.be/ndccsqz2jqy PLANNING YOUR QUILTING Before I machine quilt any project, I like to come up with a plan of attack for my quilting. Here is one really great way to test out quilting designs: purchase a large piece of plexi-glass from a home improvement store, lay it on top of your quilt block, and draw designs on the plexi-glass with a dry erase marker. When you re drawing, try using continuous line designs, doing your best not to pick up your marker. This replicates the motion of quilting. I like to practice drawing quilting designs over and over so I get a good grasp of where I will start and stop. 10
QUILTING YOUR BLOCK Are you new to free motion quilting? Continue reading the Free Motion Quilting FAQS on page 12 for some helpful beginner tips. Once you have completed securing all six bias circles, you can start free motion quilting the block with your preferred designs. I started by quilting on a per color basis, quilting all the red areas, purple areas, etc. I used one color red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple thread from a 40wt Aurifil Rainbow Thread Kit. You could also use just one thread color (perhaps a gray or beige) that will blend into all the colors of your fabric well. Be sure to leave long thread tails where you start and stop a new thread color. Bury the thread tails after you ve completed the quilting. When your Color Wheel is complete, set it aside until later in the year when we will trim the circle down and assemble the quilt. 11
FREE MOTION QUILTING FAQ S My machine did not come with a FMQ foot. What do I do? You will need to purchase a FMQ foot that is compatible with your machine. If there isn t a foot compatible with your machine, you can purchase a generic FMQ foot. You will need to look online and research what fits on your machine. If possible, try to find a foot that does not bounce or hop. Feel free to email me your machine make and model if you need help finding the correct foot. What type of needles should I use? I suggest using a ballpoint needle, also known as a machine embroidery needle. Embroidery needles are heat tempered to prevent against bowing and breaking. How often should I change my needle? I like to put a fresh needle in my machine with every new project. I also like to clean my machine each time. If your thread is breaking and you haven t changed the needle in awhile, this might be a good time to do it. Some say its wise to change the needle approximately every 8 hours of sewing. What brand and size thread should I use? This is often up for debate and really a personal preference. I use 100% cotton Aurifil 40wt thread for my machine quilting. What color thread should I use? I personally like to use matching thread. I feel like it gives a quilt a beautiful texture without the quilting taking the show. If your quilt has way too many different colors, I would choose a few colors that match the main colors of the quilt or use a neutral color like beige or medium gray. It is often suggested to use the same color thread in the top as the bobbin, but I sometimes break that rule. 12
I would not use two different colors if you have a dark backing and a light quilt top. Do not use a dark thread in the bobbin and a light thread in the top because no matter how good your tension is, you will see little pops of the dark bobbin thread all over the quilt top. In this case, I would use the lighter thread to match the quilt top for the top and bottom! Do I have to get the quilting gloves? Gloves really help give you control of the quilt as you are quilting, which can relieve a lot of shoulder and back pain. If you feel like you don t have control while you re quilting, try a pair of machine quilting gloves. Do I need the Supreme Slider? No, but it is amazing! If you don t have one, you could try a silicone spray. You spray this on a rag then wipe down your quilting area and it can make the quilt move more smoothly. What is a thread tree and why do you use it? A thread tree is a vertical stand for your spool of thread to be used instead of a horizontal thread holder, which is usually built into a sewing machine. Horizontal thread holders can cause tension issues when quilting. A vertical thread tree will improve tension and stitch quality. What settings do I need to set my machine to? First, sew normally with some test fabric to be sure your tension is okay, then change over to the free motion quilting foot. Set your machine to stitch length 0. This will disengage your feed dogs from pulling your fabric. The feed dogs will still move up and down, which is fine. Most machine quilters drop their feed dogs, but I find I have prettier stitches when I leave my feed dogs up. If you do this, you must be able to set your stitch length to 0. 13
My machine does not have automatic needle down. What do I do? When you stop quilting, you always want your needle down into the quilt. Some machines have a setting to stop in the downward position and some don t. If your machine does not have this setting, carefully pick up one hand from your quilt and turn the wheel to lower your needle down. Once the needle is down, you can remove both hands. How do I start and stop? When you start, you need to lower your needle down into the quilt once, then bring the needle back up. Tug on your top thread just a little and your bobbin thread should pop up to the top. Pull your two threads back out of the way so they are fairly long and then begin stitching. When you stop, lift your presser foot, put your needle up, pull your quilt out, and cut your threads long. When you are finished with your blocks, you will bury your thread tails in the quilt layers. See this video tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ndccsqz2jqy) on how to bury your thread tails. How fast should I go? Start off at a slow or medium speed. How fast or slow you go is up to you, just make sure you move your hands the right tempo for the speed you are going on your machine. If your hands are moving faster than your machine, you ll have super-long stitches. If your hands are moving more slowly than your machine, you ll have itty bitty stitches. Try to find a balance that gives you medium, evenly-spaced stitches. This takes time and lots of practice, so don t fret if you re not getting it to look the way you want right away. And don t rip your stitches out unless they greatly affect the quality of the quilt, as in they may fall out when washed. Keep in mind no one will ever be looking at the stitches as closely as you are! out? As I said in the question above, only rip out your stitches if you made a huge mistake or the quality of the quilt is at risk. If you do end up having to rip stitches out, here is an Un-Tutorial (http:// www.quiltingismytherapy.com/2012/07/20/ an-un-tutorial/) on how to seam rip a quilt by professional long arm quilter Angela Walters. What s the best way to practice FMQ? FF First, practice by drawing continuous quilting designs with paper and pencil. Do this over and over and over to lock in the muscle and mind memory. FF Second, practice on test quilt sandwiches approximately 10 x 10. FF Third, practice quilting blocks, or place mats, or a table runner. Smaller items are always easiest to start with. Don t be scared, just go for it! FF You can also try taking the thread out of your machine and stitching through computer paper. How dense should my quilting be? Once again, this depends on your personal preference! The more dense your stitching, the more time involved. I personally love a very dense, completely quilted quilt. Do keep in mind that when quilting more densely, you will use lot of thread and it can stiffen the quilt slightly. If you space your quilting out, it will be a bit more snuggly. What if I do end up needing to rip some stitches 14
The top tension looks beautiful, but the back is a nightmare. What s wrong? I d have to see the stitches to know better, but if you start to see eyelash looking stitches on the back in the curves, this usually means you are moving your hands too quickly through the curves. You will need to practice moving into and out of the curves at the same speed. If your machine s tension works just fine when piecing but is terrible when you re free motion quilting, you are most likely experiencing user error. Believe me, I still experience issues from time to time! It happens to the best of us. Check out this fantastic tutorial that has helped me (http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2011/02/ loops-tension-or-speed.html) by fellow quilter Leah Day for some further tips on tension. Questions? Did I leave any questions unanswered? Feel free to email me at alyssa@pileofabric.com. 15
Color Wheel Coloring Sheet DR1 DL1 C1 DR6 DL6 C2 B1 B6 C6 A1 DL2 DR2 B2 A2 A3 A6 A5 B5 DR5 DL5 A4 C3 B3 B4 C5 DL3 DR3 C4 DL4 DR4 16