I Stippled A Wallhanging!

Here is a cheater panel that I made into a wall hanging. This one is quilted in a different way than I usually do it.

I put the free motion quilting foot on the machine and stippled it. That basically means that I used my hands to push the fabric under the needle making designs. The designs were mostly loops and swirls.

It is challenging to quilt this way. The fabric has to be guided with both hands and it is easy to get the stitches to sew over top of each other (which you should not do.) It is important to set the speed so that you can complete your design without losing control of where you are stitching.

I tried not to get the stitches over the colored parts of the panel, instead opting to quilt around the design in each square. I also chose to stipple only the 5 largest blocks. The smaller designs are just outlined with stitching.

I learned how to do the stippling on Youtube. I have found that in addition to millions of videos showing stupid people doing stupid things, Youtube has many instructional videos. There are some skilled quilters who demonstrate techniques to help out us novices.

They say that practice makes perfect. I will keep at it.

Redbirds in the Bower Wall Art

This wall hanging is a quilted cheater panel called Redbird in the Bowers by Kathy Schmidt. It is too dark to decorate with this time of year, but I love the primitive folk art illustrations in each section. I machine quilted it and then embellished with some buttons.

For a backing fabric I used a soft cream colored sheet with roses which I obtained from the Goodwill. Other bloggers have mentioned that they use sheets to sew some of their projects. Last time I went to Goodwill I found some great sheets in good condition to cut up and use for backing fabric. There is no longer anywhere in the town in which I work to buy fabric, and I was feeling desperate one day for some backing fabric to use on some panels that had come in the mail the day before. That is what drove me to buying the sheets from the Goodwill. Normally that is not a source I would use for cotton quilting fabric. You cannot beat the price--$2 per sheet for several yards of fabric.

Fresh Tulip Wall Hanging

I love this cheater panel so much I had to buy another one. Which may indeed lead to a third purchase because my sister wants one too. It has all the things I love about the coming of warmer weather-- flowers, butterflies, birds, vibrant colors. This panel has lots of "blocks" of different color and design. It was fun to stitch around all these "blocks" to make them look pieced.

I sandwiched the layers, stitched around three sides and turned it right sides out. Doing this allows me to do without a binding strip.After machine quilting most of the top I stitched the remaining side and finished the quilting. Once I run this through the washing machine, the wrinkles will disappear and it will be ready to go to its lucky recipient.

This fabric is from the Fresh line by Deb Strain for Moda. I have enjoyed surfing the 'net and finding these wonderful cheater panels. The best thing about them is the quick completion time--almost instant gratification. I have several more waiting to be sewn and a list of others to buy when they are available.

Cheater Quilt Panels

I am not a skilled seamstress. I sometimes have trouble sewing a straight line. The fact that many fabric design lines include cheater panels is a bonus for me. Cheater panels are blocks of designs printed all ready to sew into a quick and easy project. Some quilters use the panel as the center block and add pieced blocks to make it large enough for a bed.

Here is a cheater panel door hanging (or wallhanging) I made from a springy panel with a garden theme. I am giving it to a special gardener I love.

I am especially proud of the hanging loops I stitched to the top of this piece. I pinned them between the layers and stitched around the outside. When I flipped the layers right side out, the hanging loops were perfect! Yay- another sewing skill accomplished.

Last weekend at the quilt store I purchased a set of panels to make beach bags with Fruity Ladies on them. Several more are on their way to me from ebay. It will be interesting to see how these projects end up--I cannot predict yet.