Dogwood Finishing School - Class #5

Well, here's the last class in the Dogwood series.  I've has much fun teaching you this pattern and I hope you are having fun, too, making a beautiful Dogwood quilt.

It's hard to write a post and watch a very smart and active granddaughter but I am trying.

 Pool time!  It's 100 degrees and the air conditioning went out...

First,grandpa has to get her out of the sink...

...then grandpa gave her a cream cheese bagel in the living room.

I will be introducing new patterns and kits in the future but the Dogwood classes will have the most detailed instructions.  You can come back and refer to these as you work on other patterns. I will keep these available to you on YouTube and my blog. You may want to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you will not miss any upcoming classes or tips on future patterns.  I have a lot more to share in the future! 

Click on the arrow above to watch class #5.

This video is not as long as the first four but is very informative - it's 30 minutes and chock full of information.

Renegade Thread Play on the back of the Dogwood quilt.

My wish is for those of you that watched the classes to feel more confident in trying something outside your safety zone.  Remember, you can always fix a mistake or start over. It's only fabric.

So, if you are ready to take the next step, which is working from your own photo, come join me in Pacific Grove (on the beach in central California) next year for the Empty Spools Seminars, February 21-26, 2021.

At Empty Spools, I will walk you through the steps of making a pattern from your own photo, how to enlarge it, and create a palette of fabrics.  I show you how to pull out your creativity and create that next masterpiece.  This is a place where you can truly focus on your project  and I am there to hold your hand if you need it.  I've been teaching there since 2005 and it is so exciting for me to see students arrive somewhat timid with this process and leave with the confidence to succeed.

Thank you and I hope this series has increased your confidence in tackling that next project! 

Dogwood class #4 “Renegade Thread Play “

I have been excited to make this video and show you how to finish your Dogwood quilt or any other patterns you may have started in one of my classes and longed to finish.  I have taught a lot of classes over the years and I know there are a lot of you wanting to finish your quilts. That is why I am doing these videos. I know some have criticized, "she is giving these away for free".  I have had a great career and taught all over the country and internationally. 

I've met a lot of wonderful people and they have bought my patterns and want to finish their flower quilts. Now is the perfect time to finish that quilt since we are stuck at home. So why not do a tutorial to help students finish their quilts.  It’s sad we can’t get together, take a class or go to a quilt show. But we can still learn and finish those UFO's.

The Dogwood videos has a lot of techniques that will be use in most, if not all my patterns. I can’t make you a pro over night, but I can push you a little and give you some tricks to make you successful. Just remember, this is just fabric, we can always get more. No one is critical of your efforts, but you.  So, stop it.  Life is too short.

Click on this box below to view Video

Supply I use for this Renegade Thread Play class.

Sulky 40-weight Rayon thread in an assortment of colors. Look at the fabric colors you use for your flower. The lightest values and the darkest values.

Sewers Aid-important

Thread snip- I like Karen Kay Buckley’s snip 

Lots of bobbins- if we use 15 threads you need 15 bobbins      

Quilters Dream Batting 100% cotton- Request        

Medium safety pins       

Top Stitch or Jeans Denim needles size, 80/12 or 90/14 - important     

 Supreme Slider

Some of these supplies you can find on my Esty Shop. The link is on the gray bar above.

 

Dogwood Class #3 "Finishing Your Petals and Leaves"

Welcome back, the link to the third class in the Dogwood series is below.  There's a lot of information I need to cover in this video. I love my flower - I just got it done last Thursday and I cannot wait to get the thread play going.  This video, at 90 minutes, is longer than the first two.  I did not want to split it into shorter classes because so many of you are ready to get started. You can stop the video, work on your flower, then start it up again. 

I do want you to watch the whole video because there are some fixes and corrections I make along the way and I want you to know how to do them. Below is a link to a page that you can print out - it lists some of the oopsies I cover in the video - you may want to print it out before you begin or watch how I make the fixes, then print it out.  That is the fun part about taking a class - you get all the ins and outs plus tips and tricks. 

  Dogwood Correction Sheet

Above is where we are before this class - after this class you will have something like the pictures below.

This is the Dogwood up on  my studio wall.

For the seeds, I cut out at least 98 little circles. Relax, I'll show you a trick for cutting 4 at once.

The colors of the leaves just make the flowers pop.

 

I cant wait to get the Renegade Thread Play going.

This is a long holiday weekend and we are having  a pool party with our granddaughter and the forecast is for triple digits by Monday(!).  I will be posting the  Renegade Thread Play video in 2 weeks (from air-conditioned comfort), so stay tuned!

If you have questions, email me at melindabuladesigns@comcast.net

Dogwood Class #2 Fusing, Layering and Backgrounds

I am SO glad you joined me for Dogwood Class #2. This video is going to cover a lot and is 45 minutes with resting spots along the way.  In this video, I will cover:   

• How to fuse large pieces of fabric (like color A in this pattern)  
• Which pieces to cut out first   
• How the layout guide works     
• Adding the lining pieces to color A     
• How to use parchment paper sheets       
• Working with the first layer
• How to choose a background fabric

There is homework for next week, which is to fuse and cut out all your fabric pieces. I discovered a new way to organize all those cut pieces, which I like better than putting pieces in a little baggie. I saw the idea on the Fat Quarter Shop.  Designer Lori Holt made these little design boards covered in batting that hold your appliques while you are working on them.  I also found that they hold my cut fused pieces until I am ready to use them and I can stack them on top of each other so they take up less space while I'm working.

At the Fat Quarter Shop, they have a video on how to make these out of foam core board. I did not have foam core, but I did have lots of cardboard boxes.  

I cut my firm cardboard, my batting, and one piece of fabric all 12” x 12”.  Then I put Steam-A-Seam 2 on the back of the batting and the back of the fabric.  Next, I ironed them, peeled off the release paper, and put the sticky side of the batting on one side of the cardboard and the fabric on the other side and ironed them onto the cardboard.  I then made 2 ¼ inch binding and hot glued it around the edges of the exposed cardboard.  Or you can just buy one pre-made for $12 from the Fat Quarter Shop - they come is all sizes and colors.

I organized the boards by letter - 3 letters (colors) to a board. I put all my red hearts on one board and put that board on the top of the stack. This is going to help me find pieces when we do next week’s class.

Next week,  class #3, we will finish laying all the Dogwood flower pieces down and get it ready for Renegade Thread Play in week #4. 

I hope you are having fun doing this project.  If you have any questions, you can email me at melindabuladesigns@comcast.net or leave a comment below.

If you need supplies, kits, or patterns, you can find them at my Etsy shop - click on the link above this post on the gray bar.

Dogwood class #1 Learning the Pattern

I deleted the first Dogwood class. How and why dont even ask me. 

What can I say but HELP!

So here it video #1 to help get you ready for making the Dogwood quilt or any of my pattern i have.

I want you to feel confident and be successful and maybe learn some new tricks.

You can find supply and patterns on my Etsy shop plus I have fabric kit and fusible web. 

etsy.com/shop/melindabuladesings

Summer Dogwood

Its been a crazy spring at my house. We are getting ready to sell our house which means packing up your item to stage your house like you don't really live there. I understand the process but when you work and run a business out of that house it get real tricky.  When I need to find all the things I just hid from the people who are on there way over to look at your home, I get a little crazy.
If we sell this house I will be surprised for sure. But we are trying.

In all the commotion I have not been blogging, so sorry for that.  I do have some new videos to show you.   The first is a video that I created is of the building process of my Dogwood flower pattern. My patterns are different than other designers.  So I like to give you more visuals to help you create or just purely entertain you for a moment.
The song is by Darius Ranker and its called Wagon Wheel. I made this video back in December. Enjoy!

Today someone emailed me that forgot to write in the pattern how to do the seeds in the center of the flower.  So here it is. I put the seeds on the flowers, last. So here is the video and the instruction for the flower seeds below.

1.  Fuse your U fabric. 
2. Trace 3-4 seed shape from the large lay out guide.
3. Fold you U fabric in half and pin the traced seed pattern onto the fabric and cut out the 4 shapes out. because the fabric is folded you will have 8 seed shapes. do this again until you have the desired amount.
4.  Now arrange like the photo shows.  
5. Press in place.