Appleton Dance

  by Linda Theil Alisa's always cleaning house and often asking me if I want some item I'd given her before she sent it to a new home. I couldn't refuse the holiday-print, round table cloth I had bordered in red pom-poms forty years ago, even though she had slit the cloth to the center so that she could use it as a tree skirt. I decided I would make a holiday-getaway bag from the salvageable remnant. The olive-drab faux waxed canvas I ordered on sale looked really great with the old print. I used Diane Spencer-Ogg's outstanding "Escape Pod Travel Collection" patterns. Pictured below: The holiday themed “Weekend Bag” and "Travel Clutch" in olive-drab faux waxed-duck canvas from Sally Tomato , vintage holiday print exterior and interior, and accents of Mora bordeaux faux leather from Emmaline Bags . Pattern and video tutorial "Escape Pod Travel Collection: Weekend Bag and Travel Clutch" by Diane Spencer-Ogg. Weekend Bag front Weekend Bag bac...

by Linda Theil Sample illustration of Fibonacci blocks as a quilt When Steve asked for a quilt based on the Fibonacci Sequence , I thought it would be easy to create a block constructed on the same principal as a Log Cabin block. I wasn't sure if he wanted one big Fibonacci block, or a more traditional quilt made up of multiple blocks. I realized I could make sample blocks of placemat size to illustrate his options. Fibonacci block placemats with two-inch border measure 20x14-inches To make a Fibonacci block, cut contrasting squares of fabric in the following sizes, as illustrated in the photo below: 1.5x2-inch rectangle 2-inch square 3-inch square 4.5-inch square 7-inch square 11-inch square The yellow line indicates the quilting pattern representing the Fibonacci spiral At least, that's the way I did my block -- based on my computations developing a sequence using the 1: 1.6 Golden Ratio. Alternatively I could have simply added 1/2-inch to the 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 56, 9...

by Linda Theil I think my cousin is my biggest fan; I just finished a new "Popping Pouch" for her to add to her collection. Medium-sized Spencer-Ogg "Popping Pouch" in cotton from "Line Work" collection by Tula Pink. Created June 24, 2023 for Carla. Medium-sized Spencer-Ogg "Popping Pouch" in cotton from "Filigree" collection by Zen Chic for Moda. Created September 4, 2023 for Carla.

by Linda Theil Alisa and I created a personalized tote to put in each family cabin at our summer  weekend retreat. We wanted to try printing unique fabric at Spoonflower and using that fabric to make the totes. We dood it! Our finished canvas tote is 12-inches wide by 13-inches tall by 5-inches wide. I chose a photo from our same vacation site last year, ran it through the Waterlogue app, used the GoDaddy Studio -- formerly Over -- app to add personalization, and gave the resulting photo file to Alisa. She laid out the square photos with bottoms together to make an 18x36-inch image,  then positioned three images across the fabric width of 56-inches, making three tote bag prints fit on one yard of Spoonflower's 56-inch wide Cyprus Cotton Canvas. Our finished tote measured 12-inches wide by 13-inches tall by five-inches deep. This is the image Alisa uploaded to Spoonflower. Here are Alisa's directions for preparing our art for Spoonflower: You will need to get your design into ...

by Linda Theil People were raving about Mora faux leather, so I thought I'd give it a try. I could only find it available at a Canadian supplier Emmaline Bags in Spruce Grove, Alberta. The 55-inch wide fabric costs about $18 a yard, and is available by the half-yard and yard. Samples are also available for purchase. I chose Spicy Mustard and Moroccan Blue from a dozen basic shades. Service was terrific, and the fabric arrived quickly. Mora faux leather is a really beautiful fabric that I enjoyed working with. I backed all my pattern pieces with a lightweight, fusible interfacing, Pellon Fashion-Fuse made to support leather, imitation leather, and furs without affecting the hand, and to help avoid shifting during sewing, according to the manufacturer. I used a Schmetz Microtex 14/90 needle, and a Teflon foot on my basic Janome heavy duty machine. The photo above is a belt bag made from a Sally Tomato "Ferris" pattern, medium size, in Spicy Mustard Mora faux leather...

  by Linda Theil I saw this method of splicing two pieces of quilted fabric on a YouTube video and wanted to make a note of the process. In addition to the quilt pieces you will be splicing, you will need a one-inch wide strip and a 1.5-inch wide strip -- both as long as the splice you need to make. Lay the 1.5-inch wide strip right side up on a surface and place the back of one piece of the quilted fabric to be spliced on top of the strip. Place the one-inch wide strip right side down on top, sandwiching the quilted fabric between the strips. Stitch all three layers together with 1/4-inch seam. Fold the 1.5-inch strip away from the seam. Place the second piece of quilted fabric, right side down, on top of the one-inch strip. Stitch the second piece of quilted fabric to the one-inch strip with 1/4-inch seam. This is what the splice looks like when you flip the just-stitched quilted fabric open. This is what the back of the splice looks like when you flip the entire workpi...

by Linda Theil The topic of my quilt-study-group sew-along was "transparency", but the only experience I had with creating the illusion of transparency was with a Shea Henderson free pattern called "The Buffalo Check Quilt" . I was fascinated by this pattern and created an AppletonDance post on the topic in 2016, but never got to explore the concept as I wished. Until yesterday when I planned to come up with a "transparency" concept to work on during the sew-along.  But the buffalo-check pattern makes specific demands in terms of fabrics, and I didn't have the necessary clear color and associated "blend" to work with. From what I understood, I needed a clear bright color and a grayed-out version of the same color to create the illusion of a woven buffalo check pattern. I had no grayed-out fabric! I had gray jelly-roll strips, though. And gray is the grayed-out version of what color?  Oh, my gosh; I can make a White Buffalo! And I did. 2.5-in...