BLOG: Quilt Tutorials

How to Make Easy Landscape Blocks

April 13, 2017

Colorful quilted landscape blocks featuring dinosaurs and volcanoes for kids' wall art or educational decor.

Most of my quilts don’t use landscape blocks.

I usually zoom right in on the animals’ faces. 🙂

I like to make it look like they’re looking (and smiling) at YOU.

I frame them in the block so they look like little portraits.

Maurice - cat applique pattern from Shiny Happy World

But that wasn’t going to work for the dinosaur quilt pattern. For dinosaurs I really needed to show the whole body.

That works just fine with my usual solid-color blocks as backgrounds.

Colorful dinosaur quilt block on purple background, perfect for kids' bedding or decor.

You could totally make the dinosaur quilt using all solid blocks like this and it would look great!

But as I was drawing them, I kept envisioning my dinosaurs in an actual landscape. I wanted the pterodactyls to be flying in the sky, above dinosaurs stomping across the earth. And I kept envisioning volcanoes and clouds and palmy prehistoric plants – and those needed to be rooted in the ground and stretching up to the sky.

I wanted landscape blocks.

So I did a lot of thinking about how to make these landscape blocks. I wanted a young, jagged, volcanic panorama – and I wanted it to be easy.

Dinosaur fabric quilt with playful prehistoric scene in bright colors.

I didn’t want all the blocks to be the same, and it seemed kind of silly to provide pages and pages of patterns for what are essentially squares with slashes across them. 🙂

So I came up with an easy method to make these blocks.

no measuring
no fussy templates
an even mix of uphill and downhill blocks
an even mix of earth and sky

Here’s how to do it.

See how easy that is?

My fabrics here are very bright and vibrant batiks but you could achieve the same landscape effect with a totally different feel by using a selection of pastel green and blue solids.

Little purple dinosaur applique quilt block on pastel quilt background, cute children’s nursery decor.

See? Wouldn’t that make a sweet baby quilt?

You could also use blenders. I especially like to pair the blueberry blenders with the avocado blenders.

Those dinosaur eyes are pretty tiny. Too tiny to applique easily – so when I was designing the dinosaur quilt pattern I tested out a bunch of fabric markers and paints to see which ones worked the best on quilts. You can read about the results – and get my recommendations – here.

Here are links to all the posts about cutting your blocks.

Here are links to all the posts about quilting your blocks.

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about how to applique.

Happy quilting!

Using Fabric Markers and Paints for Small Eyes

April 5, 2017

Adorable small bunny embroidery patch with fabric markers on a pink background.

For years I’ve been recommending fabric markers and paints as an option for people who don’t want to applique small eyes, but I’ve never recommended a particular brand.

Until now.

On a recent trip to Joann’s I grabbed one of every black fabric marker and paint they carried. Then I brought them home and tested them out on some dinosaur quilt blocks.

First, let’s talk about the markers. That’s definitely the easiest option for eyes.

Colored fabric quilt with a cute dinosaur embroidery design.

Of all the brands I tested, I liked this Tulip fine-tip marker the best.

Bright fabric marker pen for sewing and craft projects on purple background.

It has a bullet tip, which is nice. I used the fine tip to outline the eye, and then filled in the center using the broader side of the tip. It took two coats (I let it dry between coats) to get the really opaque coverage I wanted – but that wasn’t a problem. Here’s a close-up of the finished eye.

Colored whale applique on blue fabric, perfect for kids' sewing projects.

Nice tip. No bleeding. Good coverage.

Now – what if you want to get a little fancy with a 3D eye?

Bright pink fabric with applique giraffe, fabric paint bottle for quilting and fabric arts.

About a year ago I got an email from a customer telling me she had done her eyes using fabric paint, and I’ve been wanting to test that out ever since. I think she had used a puff paint, but I wanted to try the shiny finish, thinking that would add a nice spark of life to the eyes.

I tested out several brands and this one from Scribbles was my favorite.

Vibrant black 3D fabric paint for textile arts and craft projects.

The black was truly black, not just dark grey. It had a nice shine on it after it dried, and the bottle has a VERY fine tip which made it easier to control. It does take a little skill to use these squeeze bottles – I recommend practicing on some paper before you try it on your almost-finished blocks.

Here’s a close-up of a finished eye.

Dinosaur eye made with Scribbles fabric paint - recommended by Shiny Happy World

A couple of things to note. . .

This finishes to a nice smooth dome – but be aware that the dome is a lot taller when the paint is wet. It will compact down as it dries.

I tried – and was unable – to pick off the eye after it was dry. Just a little testing for kids who like to pick at textures like this. 🙂

You won’t be able to iron over the applique after you apply the paint – your iron will melt it. So you need to fuse down all the applique pieces, then outline stitch, then paint the eyes. You could possibly paint the eyes before outlining, but some of the edges of the dinosaur heads are pretty close to the eyes and I was afraid the rubbery eyes would grab at my presser foot and keep things from flowing smoothly.

Yes – it’s more than a little nerve-wracking to add paint to an otherwise finished block. I wasn’t joking about practicing on paper first. It took me a few eyes to get a feel for how it squeezes out of the bottle.

So there you go – my favorite fabric markers and paints perfect for small eyes if you don’t want to do tiny applique. 🙂

There’s a round-up of all my different ways to do the eyes here.

And you can find that dinosaur quilt pattern here. 🙂

Here are links to all the posts showing how to applique with fusible adhesive – my favorite method. It’s fast and easy and (with the right materials) it holds up beautifully to rough use and repeated washing.

How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – a very basic intro
How Durable is Applique with Fusible Adhesive?
Fusible Applique the Easy Way – the way I currently work – use with any of my patterns that include SVG files
How to Use a Light Box to Layer Your Applique – perfect placement every time
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – photo tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – video tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files
How to Window Cut Fusible Adhesive – if you’re worried about stiffness

Here are links to special posts about eyes.

Easy Eye Options for Applique
Using Fabric Markers and Paints for Small Eyes
Free Embroidery Machine Files for Machine-Stitched Eyes
How to Machine Stitch Eyes without an Embroidery Machine
How to Minimize Show-Through on White Eyes
How to Applique Dark Eyes on Dark Faces
How to Add Catchlights to Eyes
How to Change the Eyes on Your Applique Patterns (adding lashes or changing to sleepy or smiling eyes)

Here are links to some extra fun things you can do with your applique.

Other Applique Methods

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about outline stitching.

Happy quilting!

Quilting from the Center Out to the Edges – a video tutorial

March 21, 2017

detail of modern quilt block in grey, orange, and purple with diagonal quilting lines

What does it mean to start quilting in the middle and work your way out?

I get this question a LOT – so I made a video showing the answers.

That’s right – answers. Plural.

Because the answers are different depending on whether you’re quilting by hand or by machine!

See?

Here are all my posts about layering and basting your quilt, and the final round of quilting.

Here are all my posts about hand quilting and Big Stitch quilting. I don’t use these techniques with fusible applique or Quilt As You Go, but I LOVE using Big Stitch Quilting with my cheater fabric.

How to Tie a Knot
Hand Quilting Basics – traditional hand quilting
Hand Quilting without Marking
Big Stitch Quilting
How to Quilt All the Way to the Edge

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about binding and finishing your quilt.

Happy quilting!

How to Assemble a Quilt that Uses an Alternate Grid – video tutorial

March 8, 2017

Colorful fabric quilt featuring woodland animals and fungi with playful words, perfect for children's décor and crafting.

Quilts that “break” the traditional simple checkerboard grid can be really fun and dynamic, but if you’ve never worked with an alternate grid before, figuring out how to assemble the blocks can be kind of tricky. Take a look at the Noisy Farm quilt.

Doodle animal quilt with farm animals and playful words, kids' fabric design, colorful children's textile.

You can’t just sew all the blocks into rows and then sew the rows together!

Instead of rows or columns, you break these quilts into chunks – and there’s an easy way to figure out how. That’s what I show you in this new video. 🙂

See? Now that you know how easy it is, try breaking the grid on your own! You could take the Lovable Mutts pattern – a simple grid. . .

. . . and add a bunch of half-blocks with puppy sounds using this free alphabet pattern. Arf! Woof! Yip!

Use this free guide to help you calculate yardage and plan your layout (includes 6 common sizes). . .

And you could have a really fun and dynamic version of the puppies quilt all your own! Noisy Puppies!

Here are a few more posts you might find helpful. . .

Find links to all the posts about pattern size and layouts here.

Quilt Sizes and Supplies Needed

Play with Your Layouts – Multiple Possibilities for One Quilt Pattern

Sashing

How to Make Applique Bust Out of Its Frame

Alternate or Broken Grid layouts (adding half and double blocks)

How to Make an Applique Rag Quilt

How to Make a Polaroid Quilt

How to Make a Wonky Churn Dash Frame for Any Block

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about choosing your fabric.

Happy quilting!

Stitching Eyes and Mouths – video tutorial

January 27, 2017

Stitching eyes and mouths on a cute sloth quilt block for quilting and sewing projects.

I get two questions a lot when people are ready to start outlining on my face applique patterns.

How do you stitch around small parts like eyes and noses?
How do you stitch the mouth?

I made a video to show exactly how I do both of those steps!

That’s it!

Remember. . .

Shorten your stitch length.
Go slow!
Stop with the needle down and pivot your work as often as you need to to keep a smooth curve.

This post shows my favorite sewing machine feet – include the clear applique foot I use to get good visibility. That’s essential if you want to neatly outline applique pieces.

If you like that adorable sloth face I used in the demo, get the Silly Sloths applique pattern here. It’s one of my easiest patterns – great for beginners!

Here are links to all my posts about outline stitching.

How to Topstitch and Edgestitch
How Durable Is Straight Stitching?
In What Order Do I Stitch?
Stitching Eyes and Mouths – with lots of help for stitching tight curves
Tips for Scribbly Outlining
Playing with Thread Weight
How to Mark Detail Stitching Lines

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about how to trim and assemble your blocks.

Happy stitching!

How to Couch by Machine – a video tutorial

November 2, 2016

Couching is a method of sewing 3-dimensional “stuff” (cord, braid, strings of beads or sequins, etc.) to fabric by zigzagging over it. It allows you to sew down things that can’t be sewn through. 🙂

I’ve got a video here showing how to couch by hand, but you can also use your machine!

That’s what I demonstrate in this video.

You do need a special foot for couching. I the video I show you the one I use with my Bernina, and point out the features you need to look for when you’re buying one for your machine. They’re usually pretty inexpensive and it’s a nice foot to add if you do any decorative stitching.

You’ll also get a sneak peek at the three new blocks for the Shiny Happy Houses Quilt Club!

Watch the video here or below.

See how easy it is?

You could use it to add raised whiskers on cats, raised stripes on a snake, pearly snow on the ground, and lots more. I can’t wait to see what you do with it!

Happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

How to Applique with Shiny Metallic Fabric

October 6, 2016

How to Applique with Shiny Fabric - tips and tricks from Shiny Happy World

Whoa! That monster is silver! Shiny, metallic silver!

When I want a bright, metallic look to my applique, I always grab some tissue lamé.

This surprises a lot of people, because tissue lamé is a notoriously fragile fabric and kind of a pain to work with. But I have tricks!

One of the main problems with it is that the edges fray like crazy.

Seriously. All you have to do is look at it and it does this.

But you can reinforce the fabric with fusible interfacing and it makes it much stronger and controls the fraying. Once the interfacing is applied you can treat it just like any other fabric.

Awesome!

Except that some tissue lamés melt at the temperatures required to melt the fusible adhesive on the interfacing. But you can use a press cloth – just like you do for the satin I talked about in this post.

Here’s a piece all ready to cut and applique.

And here are the steps I went through to get to this point.

Lay the tissue lamé out on your ironing board.
Layer a piece of fusible interfacing over the lamé. I use Pellon light weight interfacing.
Layer a press cloth over that and press, following the instructions on the interfacing for time and steam/no steam.
Rough cut your paper-backed fusible adhesive pieces and layer them over the interfacing. Cover that with a press cloth and fuse according to the fusible adhesive instructions.

Now you’re ready to cut out the pieces and fuse them to your applique – again keeping a press cloth between the metallic lamé and your iron.

Here’s a block where I used those hexies for shiny windows.

I just stitched around the edges as usual. The combination of fusible interfacing and fusible adhesive keeps the edges from fraying in every lamé I’ve tested – but the fiber content can vary quite a bit so I recommend testing before you use it for a full size quilt that you’re planning to wash a lot.

A little pop of metallic shininess can add so much to a lot of quilts. And tissue lamé comes in lots of fun colors!

Don’t be afraid to explore the fabric store beyond the quilting cottons section! A lot of those fabrics can be used in applique with just a little special handling. 🙂

Here are links to all the posts about choosing fabric.

And here are links to posts about using specialty fabrics.

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Happy stitching!

Satin Applique – Fusing Melty Fabrics

October 5, 2016

Colorful quilt with a house and pink tree, showcasing satin applique techniques.

Satin applique is just perfect for getting shiny smooooth things like this blue dragon.

Satin applique used to make a shiny blue dragon quilt block

Usually when I use satin in a quilt I use it for soft 3D pieces – like the lining on these fun, floppy ears in my Mix & Match Monsters quilt.

blue monster quilt block with satin-lined flappy ears - one of the blocks in my new Craftsy class

But you can do satin applique too – even if you use fusible adhesive!

Like fleece – the big problem is heat. The heat required to melt your fusible adhesive will melt most satins too.

The answer is simple.

Use a press cloth!

A press cloth isn’t anything fancy, and it isn’t anything you need to buy. It’s just a piece of regular woven cotton that you put between the potentially melty thing you’re ironing and your iron.

That fall tree in the top photo is satin. Here’s how I did it.

Bright red fabric with a large paper pattern for a sewing project on a blue background.

Fuse your paper-backed adhesive to the back of the satin, just like you would with any fabric except. . .

Modern steam iron with blue water tank on white cloth, close-up view.

. . . top it all with a press cloth before you fuse.

Use the press cloth again when you fuse the tree top (or whatever) to your block.

After that just stitch around the edges as usual. The fusible adhesive keeps the edges from fraying in every satin applique I’ve tested – but the content of satins can really vary so you might want to make up a quick sample yourself and test it before you use it for a full size quilt that you’re planning to wash a lot.

Wouldn’t it be super cute to make all the cars and trucks in the Beep Beep quilt out of satin, so they’re shiny and smooth like real cars?

Have some fun adding satin applique to your next quilt project!

Here are links to all the posts about choosing fabric.

And here are links to posts about using specialty fabrics.

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Happy stitching!

How to Applique with Fleece

October 4, 2016

It’s lots of fun to use cuddly soft fleece for your applique – and it’s easy!

But you can’t use fusible adhesive for it. The heat needed to melt the adhesive will also melt your fleece. Not good!

The solution is glue stick!

You’ve seen me use glue stick before to hold pieces in place on fleece while you stitch them down, like adding felt details to a softie face.

But you can also use glue stick to hold the fleece itself in place on a quilt block!

You can use any glue stick made specifically for fabric. It’ll hold really well (and make things kind of stiff) but it washes out easily so your finished quilt is cuddly and soft.

That means you do need to stitch the edges down permanently!

If you look at that blue bird up there you can see I used a fairly wide and open zigzag stitch around the edges. That’s one option.

Another option is just to use a simple straight stitch, like I do around all my other applique pieces. You can see that option on the snowy ground in this Shiny Happy Houses quilt block.

I loaded up large images for both of these – so you can click on them to see them closer. The zigzag stitching leaves a slightly crisper edge, where the straight stitch is a softer, fluffier edge. If you decide to applique with fleece, just choose the edge treatment that works best for your project!

Both of my examples are using cuddle fleece, but this method also works well for polar fleece. Just make sure to get the no-pill kind!

I’d love to see some fluffy, fleecy cats and dogs!

Here are links to all the posts about choosing fabric.

And here are links to posts about using specialty fabrics.

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Happy stitching!

Fussy Cutting and Broderie Perse – Fancy Applique Tutorial

September 9, 2016

Broderie perse applique tutorial from Shiny Happy World

There are two kinds of applique that rely on the print of the fabric you’re using – fussy cutting and broderie perse.

A lot of you have probably done fussy cutting without even realizing it has a name. It’s when you carefully position your applique template to incorporate images printed on the fabric.

I did it on this Paper Doll quilt block to make sure the top T.A.R.D.I.S. was centered on the V-neck and the bottom ones were lined up with the hem.

Bright colorful embroidered doll illustration on pink background, playful and creative textile art, handmade crafting.

I also did it on this haunted house quilt block, to make sure there was a bat flying in the center of each window, and the skull was centered on the door.

Bat-themed Halloween felt house decoration with skull window and orange pumpkins.

Fussy cutting is easy. It just means paying attention when you position your templates. You can hold your fabric and templates up to a window so you can see really well where your outlines are falling.

Broderie perse is similar, in that it uses motifs printed on the fabric. But with broderie perse – the images ARE the templates. You’re cutting out the images on one fabric and appliqueing them to another. It’s traditionally done with flowers – but you can do it with anything you like!

Heres how I used broderie perse to add a couple of cute trick-or-treaters to one of my Shiny Happy Houses quilt blocks – designed especially for Halloween.

You have to start with adorable fabric. I’m using two fabrics from Dear Stella that are designed to work together.

Whimsical Halloween and winter-themed fabric designs with playful animal and costume patterns.

Bundle Me Up is the fabric with the sweet animals faces, hands, and feet – but no bodies. Costume Party is the fabric with all the fun costumes for those critters to wear. So clever!

Handmade embroidered fox appliqué with gold crown and princess dress on purple background.

Roughly cut out the image you want (like the fox in this picture). Back it with fusible adhesive, and then cut the image out neatly (like the dress and crown).

Cute fox and princess crown appliqué patches on purple background.

The dress in this example already has little slippers attached, so when I cut out the fox neatly I decided to cut away the lower part of the body. It would have been hidden anyway and this makes assembly easier – I don’t have to line things up as perfectly.

I’m such a lazypants. 🙂

After that it’s applique as usual.

Position the critter first, then the costume and fuse it down with everything else in your block.

I stitched around all my pieces in simple black thread for a nice cartoony look. I added a couple of pumpkin buttons for their trick or treat pails, and – of course – some spider buttons on all that magnificent glow-in-the-dark spiderwebbing.

Have fun with broderie perse! It will make you look at your fabrics a whole different way. 🙂