T ulip Garden, 62½" x 81", 2 American Quilter May 2010
T Throughout my quilting career of 25 years, there is one surface design technique I have used in every quilt: screen printing. That wonderfully creative process becomes an integral part of each quilt s design. In Tul i p Ga r d e n II, the tulips in the center medallion, the circles in the next border, and the tulips in the four corner triangles are all screen printed. If you don t wish to try screen printing, however, you can appliqué the tulip and circle motifs on the quilt top. This will require additional bright yellow, pink, peach, and green fabric. You will also need a speckled pink fabric for the tulips in the quilt background. For more detailed information on making quilts, including making and using templates and adding mitered borders, see the AQS Quiltmaking Essentials & Tested Tips at www.americanquilter.com. Choosing supplies Screen printing is a method of precisely transferring paint to fabric using a stencil, fabric screen, and squeegee. Supplies needed are screen-printing paints, stencils, a printing screen, squeegee, old spoon, and printing board. If the supplies are not available locally, you can purchase them from Dharma Trading Company (www. dharmatrading.com). For this project you will need bright green, bright yellow, bright FABRIC & CUTTING REQUIREMENTS Quilt size: 62½" x 81¾" Light yellow ⁷ ₈ yard Light pink ⁷ ₈ yard Light peach ⁷ ₈ yard Light green ¹ ₂ yard 9 G, 20 N 9 G, 20 N 9 G, 20 N 9 G Skill level: Challenging Requirements are based on 40" fabric width. Strips are cut from selvage to selvage unless otherwise noted. White 3¹ ₈ yards diamond border #3, 4 strips 4" x 39¾" 4 K, 62 N, 4 O, 2 P, 4 Q, 2 R, 1 S Bright yellow ³ ₄ yard diamond border #4, 4 strips 1¼" x 50"** 2 H, 3 Hr, 1 Ir Bright pink ¹ ₄ yard Bright peach ¹ ₄ yard Bright green ¹ ₄ yard Medium green ¹ ₂ yard Green stripe 1³ ₈ yards Dark green ¹ ₄ yard Binding ⁵ ₈ yard 8 strips 2¹ ₄" x 40" for 300" of continuous binding Backing 5¹ ₄ yards 2 panels 36" x 90" Batting 71" x 90" * These strips may need to be pieced. If your stripes run perpendicular to the selvage, you must cut these strips parallel to the selvage. In this case, you will need 1³ ₈ yards. ** These strips may need to be pieced. SUPPLIES: Template plastic, craft knife, screen-printing paints and supplies see Choosing supplies ROTARY CUTTING Rotary dimensions include seam allowances. N 4³ ₈" x 4³ ₈" Q 4³ ₈" x 8¹ ₄" O 4³ ₈" x 12¹ ₈" P 4³ ₈" x 19⁷ ₈" 3 H, 2 Hr, 1 I 3 H, 2 Hr, 1 I 2 H, 3 Hr, 1 Ir border #1 sides, 2 strips 1½" x 84¼"** border #1 top/bottom, 2 strips 1½" x 65"** border #2 sides, 2 strips 5½" x 84¼"* border #2 top/bottom, 2 strips 5½" x 65"* diamond border #2 upper left/lower right, 2 strips 1¹ ₈" x 42"** diamond border #2 upper right/lower left, 2 strips 1¹ ₈" x 40" R 8¹ ₄" x 12¹ ₈" S 27⁵ ₈" x 39¹ ₄" May 2010 American Quilter 3
pink, and bright peach or orange screen-printing paints. For the correct paint consistency, the paint must be made specifically for screen printing. Stencils can be cut from 4-mil polyethylene plastic sheeting or freezer paper. Although freezer paper is more readily available, the plastic stencil is easier to position for printing Tip: See Making a combination stencil information on using both materials to make an easy-to-position stencil. Trace the stencil lines onto the stencil material. If you are using freezer paper, trace the reverse of the design on the dull side of the paper. Using a craft knife, cut on the interior lines of the stencil. Trim around the outer lines of the stencil, allowing a 2" margin all around. You can purchase a ready-made printing screen, or make your own using artist s stretcher bars. The inside dimensions of the frame should be at least 4" larger all around than the image to be printed. Screen fabric is finely woven from nylon or polyester. It is stretched tightly over the frame and stapled in place. The screen fabric can be ordered by the yard. The squeegee is a rubber blade set into a wooden handle. It should be longer than the image to be printed. Tip: An old credit card is a good squeegee substitute for making a small print. The printing board is made from plywood overlaid with carpet padding and covered with muslin. A 20" to 24" board is a convenient size for small projects. Stencil printing Place the print fabric right-side up on the board. Place the stencil over the fabric, shiny-side up if it is made of freezer paper. Position the print screen over the stencil. Spoon a long bead of paint onto the frame to just outside one edge of the stencil motif. Holding the screen with one hand (or find a helper), pull the squeegee across the stencil opening at about a 45 angle, using fairly firm pressure. To ensure full coverage, make one or two more passes with the squeegee across the stencil. Slowly lift the screen. If the fabric clings to the screen, carefully peel it away. Set the fabric aside for drying, and move on to the next piece. When changing colors, thoroughly wash and dry the screen. Practice printing on scraps before starting your project. Making a combination stencil In general, it is easier to cut a stencil from freezer paper than from plastic. However, since it is not transparent it is difficult to accurately position a freezer-paper stencil for printing. A combination stencil of the two materials can help solve that problem. Make a freezer-paper stencil according to the directions, but when cutting out, allow only ½" margin all around. Cut a piece of clear plastic at least 2" larger all around than the freezer-paper stencil. Cut a window in the plastic that will cover the outside edges of the freezer-paper stencil and will not overlay any part of the design. Tape the stencil into the plastic window using masking tape. 4 American Quilter May 2010
The paint is made permanent by heat setting after it is dry. Set the paint with an iron, or if there are many pieces, place them in a baking pan covered with aluminum foil and bake at 300 for five minutes. Getting started Prepare templates G, H, I, and K from template plastic. When using the templates, be sure to use them right-side up against the wrong side of the fabric. Place the template wrong-side up on the wrong side of the fabric to mark the reverse (r) patches. Prepare the stencil templates, A-D, L, and M. If you are using freezer paper as your stencil material, draw the reverse of the template on the dull side of the paper. Set L and M stencils aside for later. Using stencil A, screen print bright yellow tulip tops onto light yellow G diamonds. Position the tulip stencils precisely, so that all the sections of the tulip will meet after piecing. Using stencil B, print bright green stems and leaves onto light green G diamonds. Using stencil C, print bright peach or orange tulip parts onto light peach diamonds. Using stencil D, print bright pink tulip parts onto light pink G diamonds. Heat set all before continuing. Assembling the diamond center Join the four sections of a tulip (fig. 1). Press seam allowances open. Make 9. Tulip block Make 9 Fig. 1 Referring to the Diamond assembly diagram, sew the Tulip blocks into 3 angled rows. Press seam allowances in adjacent rows in opposite directions. Sew the rows together and press seam allowances in one direction. Diamond border #1 is added using a partial seam. To do this, join 1 yellow Ir, 3 pink H and 2 yellow H, starting with the yellow Ir and alternating colors. Diamond assembly Press seam allowances open. With right sides together, match the strip s pink end to the diamond s upper left edge. Pin the border to the diamond, matching seams as you go. The last yellow piece should extend beyond the diamond edge. Do not trim. Starting about 4" from the end of the yellow piece, stitch the border to the diamond. Press all seam allowances toward the diamond center. Join 1 peach I, 3 yellow Hr, and 2 peach Hr, alternating colors as you go. Matching ends and seams, pin and sew the border to the diamond s upper right side. Join 1 green Ir, 3 peach H and 2 green H. Pin and sew to the diamond s lower right side. Join 1 pink I, 3 green Hr, and 2 pink HR. Pin and sew to the diamond s lower left side. Pin the loose end of the diamond s upper left border and complete the seam. Center and sew a dark green diamond border #2 strip to the upper left side of the diamond. Press seam May 2010 American Quilter 5
allowances away from the center. Trim the border ends in line with the angled sides of the diamond. Repeat for the lower right side. Repeat for the upper right and lower left sides. Trace the J trimming template onto template plastic. With right-sides up, align the point of the template with the end of a 4" x 39¾" white border #3 strip. Draw along the edge of the template and trim on the drawn line (fig. 2). Without flipping the template, move it to the opposite end of the strip. Draw and trim. Make 2. J trimming template Fig. 2 J trimming template J trimming template Trim diamond border #3 - make 2 and 2 reverse Now flip the template wrong-side up. Place it against the right side of a white border #3 strip. Draw a line and trim on the line. Move the template to the opposite end of the strip. Draw and trim. Make 2. Using stencil M, print 7 bright pink evenly-spaced circles along a trimmed border strip. Stencil 6 bright yellow or bright orange M circles between the pink circles. Stencil all four border strips. Using stencil M, print a bright yellow circle in the center of a white K patch. Make 4. Heat set all before continuing. Center and sew a stenciled white border strip to the upper left diamond side. Press seam allowances away from the center. Repeat for the lower right side. Join printed K patches to each end of the remaining printed border strips. Center and sew the strips to the upper right and lower left diamond sides. Press seam allowances away from the center. Center and sew bright yellow diamond border #4 strips to the diamond as you did for the dark green border # 2 strips. Turn and press under ¼" all around the diamond. Set aside. Stencil M Assembling the quilt background Using stencil L, print tulips on 44 white N patches. Following the Background layout diagram, lay out Section X using stenciled tulip patches, and N R patches. Sew the patches together into rows. Press seam allowances in alternate rows in opposite directions. Join the rows. Press seam allowances in one direction. Repeat for sections Y and Z. Press seam allowances for adjacent sections in opposite directions. Join the three sections. Press seam allowances in one direction. Adding the borders and diamond center Join a medium green side border #1 strip and green stripe side border #2 strip. Make 2. Centering the border strips on the sides of the quilt, sew them to the quilt center, starting and stopping ¼" from each corner. Press seam allowances away from the quilt center. Repeat, using the top and bottom medium green and stripe border strips. Miter the corners, trim the seam allowances to ¼", and press them open. By hand or machine, appliqué the diamond unit to the center of the quilt. If desired, trim excess fabric from behind the appliquéd diamond. 6 American Quilter May 2010
Quilting and finishing Layer the backing, batting, and quilt top. Baste the layers together. Quilt around the edges of the tulips, circles, and plain squares. Echo quilt inside each of these shapes. Stitch in the ditch on both sides of the diamond borders and the outer borders. Channel quilt in the background of the large tulips, and in the outer border. Sew the binding strips together to make 300" of continuous binding. Finish the edges of your quilt with double-fold binding. Stencil L I & Ir H & Hr May 2010 American Quilter 7
Tulip Garden Trimming Template J K 8 American Quilter May 2010
G May 2010 American Quilter 9
Stencil A 10 American Quilter May 2010
Stencil D May 2010 American Quilter 11
Stencil C 12 American Quilter May 2010
Stencil B May 2010 American Quilter 13