Sewing machine: clean, well oiled, with all it’s feet, pedal and cord, and several bobbins. Bring an extension cord if possible. Optional: and couching or braiding foot (# 21 or 12C if you have a Bernina). You can do this couching with your regular #1 foot, but it is SO much easier to do with a couching foot as this foot has a hole to put the yarn that you’re couching down through and a channel under the foot so you can just drag it along. Carol will bring as many of these Bernina couching feet to sell as she can, but if you have another machine, do look into getting one. Also bring your walking foot.
Basic sewing supplies: scissors, pins, thread, 90/14 machine needle
Rotary cutter and mat and see-thru ruler. (6x6” ruler will work well).
Separate stand alone thread holder for yarns IF you happen to have one
Fusible web---5-6 yards regular weight Wonder Under or Transweb. NO Heat and Bond (it’s too heavy). You will iron the fusible web to the 7-10 fabrics you choose. DO THIS AT HOME BEFORE CLASS!! (Just cut a piece of fusible web approximately 9” x 9” size, and turn the sticky side down onto the wrong side of your fabric and iron on, on the paper side, without steam until it sticks tightly. (about 60 seconds). This will save you time and let you concentrate on the composition instead of just the ironing on of the web in class.) Bring a little extra fusible to class as you might need it if you find another fabric you want to add.
Fabrics: This is a piece where TEXTURE and VALUE are the focus. So bring 8-12 different fabrics in EACH of 4 values. We will spend some time in class talking about value and deciding which fabrics go in which value pile, so feel free to bring extra fabrics if you’re not sure.
- Choose a palette that you will use for the whole piece---usually 2-3 basic color groups will be plenty. I used blues, greens, and yellows in one sample, and reds, yellows, oranges and purples in the other.
- Separate your fabrics into FOUR value groups:
Light, Medium Light, Medium Dark, and Dark.
- Then make sure you have 8-12 fabrics for EACH value. You won’t need very much of any one fabric as the whole piece will be only 14” x 58”. You will also use this for the small 16x16 sample piece.
- You will need no more than 9x9” (or even 4 x 10” or other odd sizes you happen to have) of any one fabric.
- You can use scraps of fancy fabrics that will be “tamed” by the
fusing, like organzas, silks, suedes, velvets, upholstery fabrics,
sequined fabrics, wild polyester prints from old blouses, or anything
else you find. Remnant bins and upholstery samples are good for
this & so is sharing in class. You just don’t need much of any 1 fabric!
- Regular commercial fabrics that look like textures can be mixed in or used entirely if you prefer.
- Bring your extra fabrics to class just in case you need to fuse more.
****So, ideally you will come with 4 piles of values containing 8-12 fabrics each (9 x 9”ish of each fabric to give you an idea, but they can be scraps of any size) with fusing already ironed on the back and ready to design with.
YARN TRIMS: You NEED 2-3 KINDS OF “YARN” TO COUCH. Since students continually struggle to bring a yarn that will work well for couching The fringe kinds of yarns don’t work, and many yarns are too “fat” or “too skinny” to work, so it’s hard to find just the right kind. But, if you have yarn you think will work, this is what you will need, so please bring it……..
- To cover the background raw edges: You will need a color that matches or blends in with your fabrics. This will be couched on all of the “seams” & raw edges. Be sure to bring a continuous length of yarn as you will use a lot. (not just pieces). Black or a subtle multicolor works well here, nubby or smooth, but no eyelash. Chenille is the most forgiving and easiest.
- Heavier for the circles that go on top of everything else and should
contrast and show up well. Multicolored yarns work well for this. No
Eyelash because it doesn’t couch well with all the threads hanging off
of it for either of our uses. 2-4 different colors of yarns make the circles
work well, especially when they overlap.
THREAD: Be sure to plan to buy some fancy thread that is perfect for couching in class.
Iron and Small Ironing pad: You’ll love having it on your own table. You are actually going to lay your 15 x 15 piece of muslin on this and design right on the ironing surface, and then iron it down. If you don’t have a pad, folding some towels with a piece of muslin or sheet over them will work…large enough for the 15 x 15 piece. Also bring a light weight press cloth to put over your delicate fabrics. Having the pad is more important than having the iron. We can share irons.
BACKING and BASE FABRIC and BATTING:
- Bring FOUR (4) 16” x 16” pieces of WASHED (so the fusing will adhere better) muslin or solid black or white cotton fabric for the base. This will not show in the end.
- Bring a 16” x 65” piece of backing fabric (Hint: I usually try to find a busy print in the colors I’m using because it will be very forgiving and not show the zigzag stitch as much as a solid, plainer fabric).
- Spray baste a 16” x 65” piece of batting to your backing at home. Steam iron it together from the fabric side after spraying. This will make it ready to be spray basted to the top you will make you’re your 4 small squares to complete the quilt sandwich, which we will do BEFORE we couch the circles.
- If you want to try my method of “facing” instead of binding, cut two 3” x 18” strips, and two 3” x 68” strips of your backing fabric, and I will demo how to bind the quilt without having binding that shows.
- Basting Spray (I use 3M Photo Spray Mount, purchased at an office supply store) to sandwich the three layers in place.
Bring a practice quilt sandwich that’s been sprayed together (about 15
x 15) to try couching the circles and test doing the binding as a facing.
And, if you want to practice the facing method in class, bring 2 extra 3” x
18” strips, and you can try it on this practice 15 x 15 piece where you try
your circles.
Zip Lock bag (s) to take home extra cut fused fabrics scraps to use later. |
