Tutorial and Giveaway - Chickadees and Berries Gift Trio

Greetings and Welcome to
Christmas in September !!

If you've been following along on Instagram and/or Facebook you know I've been working on a surprise using the awesome Chickadees and Berries Fabric Panel by Jackie Robinson for Benartex.

I'm excited to share my creation with you today on the Bear Creek Quilting Company Blog.
The neat thing about this fabric panel and tutorial is that, with just one panel and a bit of yardage, you can make a beautiful coordinating Christmas Gift Trio that includes a wall hanging, a table runner, and a set of 4 coasters.

Share it with someone you love or keep it for yourself.  Either way - it's really charming! 

This is the wall hanging we'll be making: 
And the table runner and coasters:
As always, I had a blast free motion quilting the Trio using my Aurifil 50Wt Mako Cotton thread and including some decorative top stitching with Aurifil 12Wt Mako Cotton... Oh! The joys of having a growing stash of Aurifil thread. 
Maybe you've heard me encourage others to use panels for practicing and enhancing their free motion quilting (FMQ) skills -- this tutorial and trio is a great place to start.  It doesn't matter if you're quilting on your domestic machine or just learning a long-arm... practice makes perfect.  

A panel allows you to play and learn and grow your skills with little investment in time or money.   Also, when you're done stitching, you have a sweet gift to give to someone you love or donate to a charity organization.   It's a win-win situation.

On the Bear Creek Quilting Company blog - I share the fabric requirements and a step by step process for preparing the Christmas Gift Trio that uses this *beautiful* panel.
But, before you run off to the Bear Creek blog to see the step by step tutorial, let me share a few FMQ images and tips.  

I pieced, quilted and finished the Trio on my home machine -- a Janome Horizon (7700).

The quilting process is always the most fun for me - I love scrutinizing the fabric and thinking about where and how the piece will be used to help determine how to quilt it.   If the fabric is really busy, often the quilting details won't even be noticed -- keep that in mind when you're deciding how to quilt busy fabrics.

On this particular panel - much of the quilting design came from studying and listening to the fabric.

Enjoy these close-up images and tips:

I used Aurifil 12 Wt to avoid

Stitching in the Ditch:

 Often, before free motion quilting a pieced quilt, I will stitch the seams in the ditch to stabilize the quilt (domestic machine quilting).  With this particular piece I decided to stitch outside of the ditch with Aurifil 12 Wt thread.

Don't you just LOVE the texture and sheen the Aurifil 12Wt thread provides -- a beautiful decorative element to the overall quilting... 
Keep these things in mind when top stitching with Aurifil 12 Wt thread:
  • Use a 90/14 needle
  • Use Aurifil 50Wt thread in the bobbin
  • Take advantage of your machine Walking or Even-Feed Foot
  • Choose thread colors that complement the fabric
  • Set your stitch length higher than normal
To top stitch with 12Wt Aurifil thread, I set my Janome straight stitch to 3.0 or higher and took smaller stitches at the beginning and end to "tie-off".
It gives such a wonderful accent:
 Once done stabilizing the quilt sandwich I'm ready to begin stitching with a finer weight thread.

Aurifil 50Wt is my go-to cotton
thread for Free Motion Quilting!

On this particular piece, I LOVE the way Aurifil #5001 made the panel shimmer!!
I free motion quilted around every bird and nearly all the leaves and berries -- what great FMQ practice!
If the panel has a subject that I want to highlight with movement, I almost always use echo stitching to do this.  Echoing involves quilting around the original subject several times in even (or not so even) increments.  For the Chickadee -- it added beauty and movement.
Try it out yourself - sew much fun!
On the table runner quilting, the background in the panel fabric was perfect for stitching little mini C's or swirls.
If you were following along on my Instagram feed -- this is what I shared.
Notice how the quilt design was actually inspired by the fabric background.
It's good to let the fabric speak to you -- quiet your mind so you can hear.
 

Let's talk Free Motion Feathers:

Often when I quilt feathers I use a air or water soluble pen or a Clover Hera Marker to mark the feather spine.
With this panel the pine boughs were screaming "Quilt me with feathers!".
Never pass-up an opportunity to quilt feathers!

Mark the feather spines:
Here's another section marked:
To begin quilting a feather I always start with a pearl or paisley at the bottom of the spine.  Now work up one side of the spine, creating "bump-back" feathers as you go and remembering to make rounded plumes as best you can.  After I've stitched one side, I use the spine to travel back to the beginning and work up the other side of the feather.
Once you get a rhythm going they are so fun!!
I don't fuss too much with perfecting feathers -- I just have fun!

*** Note: 10/18/15 ***
I've recorded two Curled Feather videos for your learning pleasure. 
Click here to watch the stitched version.
Click here to watch the "practice on paper" version
Have fun with it!!!

And thank you for subscribing to my channel: Redbird Quilt Co. YouTube

On this particular piece, filling the negative space with echo quilting seemed appropriate.
On the smaller sections of the wall hanging I let the fabric speak to me.
I quilted those wispy lines that were already printed on the fabric - love it!
On the table runner -- I quilted little C's or mini swirls in the panel ends and decided to practice feathers on the Cream/Red center.  The Cream/Red Scroll fabric is beautiful and can really stand on its own.  Quilting feathers or any motif here is great practice because no-one can see your mistakes ;)
Winding down... so you've seen all sorts of detail images and read fun quilting tips -- if you still have questions about the Trio feel free to leave me a comment (include your email) and I'll be sure to get back to you...

To close and before the Giveaway details are revealed -- No quilt is complete without a photo-shoot at the lake...
We love our summertime cottage, the water, the air, the neighborhood -- and especially the view.
Table Runner
Wall Hanging
 ****

Its a Giveaway!!! ** CLOSED **

 Now for the fun part -- the wonderful folks at Aurifil thread and the Bear Creek Quilting Company have sponsored a giveaway for one lucky winner!

How would YOU like to win a collection - that's right, 12 Spools of Aurifil 12Wt Cotton thread.  This particular designer collection was chosen by Victoria Findlay Wolfe and is called "Fresh Modern and Timeless".  The colors are amazingly beautiful and I KNOW you'll be thrilled to top stitch or hand stitch with this lovely collection of threads!
Also, you can't practice your Free Motion Quilting on this Trio unless you have the fabric.  The generous Bear Creek Quilting Company added a Chickadees and Berries Christmas Trio Fabric Kit to the giveaway mix.   Yes!  You'll win the exact kit I used to prepare the Christmas Trio - woohoo!
For a chance to enter the giveaway -- jump on over to the Bear Creek Quilting Company blog, check out the Chickadees and Berries Christmas Trio Tutorial, and leave a comment there letting them know what part of the Trio you liked best and why.

When you return here -- leave me a comment too-- any comment at all.

Please be sure I have a way to reach you - NoReply bloggers, leave an email address.
(It breaks my heart when I have a winner with no way to reach them)

The Giveaway is open through end of day Sunday, September 27th and a winner will be announced Monday evening, September 28th.

Entries are open to ALL participants - We love our International followers too!

Here are some extra entries if you so choose:

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Aurifil shares inspiration daily including awesome projects, tutorials and events.
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Leave me an extra comment if you follow one or both!


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Have a blessed week all -- Happy Quilting!!
Karen

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