Beth Ferrier’s Blog

This stack of fabric was in a goodie bag from one of The Quilt Show tapings we attended while in LaVeta last year. It’s all solids, something I almost never choose, but I loved the gradations of the colors. I put it aside thinking that I would experiment with it eventually.

Feeling a little stressed by the progress on the book I decided to chuck it all for a day and just play.

I wanted a flower shape that was loose and romantic. (I don’t know why, these things just pop into my head and annoy me until I do something about it.) I grabbed my little camera and headed out into the yard.

 My first subject was the perennial sweet peas at the edge of the yard. They look like little floral ballerinas to me. Very pretty, but perhaps not the right shape for this project.

 Next I focused in on the cranesbill by the pond. I do love this shape for flowers. I love the soft pale centers, the way the blossoms float above the leaves and the leggy, thin stems that cascade over the rocks.

 This photograph gave me several angles, full face, profile and buds. Imported into Corel, I traced the shapes to create my applique outlines.

After making the templates it was time to sort the fabric into flower groups. My ironing board is right by a window. Daylight is one of the best ways to sort value in fabric. This is the final audition before the freezer paper shapes are pressed to the fabric.

Notice how the window is frosted? That’s over spray of Magic Sizing. I guess I should clean that.

The centers of the flowers are really small. To make it easier to glue baste I first trimmed only the edge to be glued, which gave me a little handle to hang on to. Once the glue dried the extra fabric was trimmed away.

The plan was that this project would be just for me, just for play, a little creative mental health day. It was all of those things. But oddly enough, it also turned out to be the perfect project for the last chapter in the applique book. Funny how things work out sometimes, huh?

Recently we had an opportunity to enjoy a baseball game in grand style. Kent’s office reserved a party room at the Great Lakes Loon’s stadium.  A class A farm team for the Los Angles Dodgers, the Loons offer major league baseball in a fun and friendly setting.

There were enough extra tickets that we could include our entire family.

Nate, Caleb, half of Elaine, the top of Rachel’s head and Jake mugging for the camera as they watch the game from our private balcony seats.

I was distracted by someone much more interesting.

We really didn’t expect such deluxe accomodations. We had cloth covered tables, prime rib on the buffet and lots of room to comfortably enjoy each other and the game.

I’ll have to take the guys’ word for the game, though. Because I have to admit when this little fellow is in the room I hardly have eyes for anyone else.

That’s David, my youngest keeping us company. I didn’t get a good picture of Amanda, (or any of the girls, for that matter) darn it all. She was sitting next to David. We had a lovely visit while every one else was distracted by the game. Silly folks, how could a mere baseball game hold a candle to this precious little guy?

When I first started publishing patterns, all those years ago, I really didn’t expect to be successful. (Okay, I’ll admit it, I still don’t!) I was so sure that my patterns would never sell that I bought my first thousand pattern bags without vent holes (which helps them lie flat) so that I could use the other 999 for sandwiches.

While I was truly grateful to the local shops that purchased the patterns I really thought they were mercy buys just to get me out of the store. The first time I saw my patterns displayed at a shop that didn’t know me personally I actually sat down and cried. (Now I know how Sally Field felt at the oscars when she said, “you like me, you really, really like me”.)

It was just like that when I was at The Quilted Cottage, our terrific local quilt shop. They bought the whole collection of Audrey’s Garden! While I was there on open sewing day a customer bought some of two of the fabrics just because she liked them!

And then Karen, my best bud, told me that she saw my fabric in the latest McCall’s Quilting magazine. I can tell you that we have a project using the fabric scheduled for an issue on the newsstands at the beginning of next year, but I was surprised to hear that it might appear sooner.

Here’s what my eagle eyed buddy saw:

Right there on page sixty-two, under the ruler! Sure the blurb is about the Creative Grids square it up and fussy-cut rulers. I love that they chose a bit of Audrey’s Garden to show off the ruler. Doesn’t it look lovely?

So, dear readers, I’m asking for Audrey’s Garden sightings. It should be arriving in your local quilt shops this month. I would love to hear about where you find it and how you use it.

The new applique book is finally taking shape. I still haven’t heard from the publisher, but, one way or another this book will be born.

At the end of my pregnancies I often felt that my focus turned inwards, as if it took all of my concentration to finish growing the babies. It was a lovely, dreamy feeling, the most creative times in my life. Writing a book feels the same way.

Three of the five chapters are done. Another chapter is taking shape. Projects are completed. With all the travel for teaching and time at the computer, writing, designing, creating graphics, I can go months without taking a single stitch. It’s been wonderful to be sewing again.

Posts to the blog may be sparse for a while, as all of my energies go into completing the book. I tear myself away to spend time with my family (baby Alex is walking now!), water the garden, feed the fish and cats, but the book is never far from my thoughts.

My youngest son isn’t driving right now. It’s a long story, but let’s just say that learning to drive in snow and ice can be a challenge. He’s also looking for a job. (Anybody in Saginaw looking for a sturdy college boy, polite and a quick learner?) The local community college announced open interviews so off we went.

Facing several hours of waiting I decided to use the time preparing applique parts for a new quilt. So while the view outside was far from inspirational, I was entertained by a good talk show on the radio and some fabric to handle. I’m making a quilt with fabrics from Audrey’s Garden, my first fabric line. (Which should be arriving in quilt stores this month!)

 I keep my projects in these terrific cases from Art Bin. They stack neatly, hold tons of stuff and even travel well in my suitcases. I’ve used them for years to contain my teaching step outs for my workshops. Because my life can be so hectic at times it’s essential for my mental health that I stay organized. Nothing frustrates me more than looking for mislaid things. The bins let me snatch a project in an instant when I’m on my way out the door.

A fast food bag is the perfect spot for the fabric scraps. If it’s smaller than a 4 inch square it’s history.

 I really love the twelve inch June Taylor Cut n Press board for glue basting. It’s so portable and easy to clean. And fits perfectly on the steering wheel.

With this project I wanted to play with different stitches and threads to applique the shapes to the quilt. The edges are still turned so I don’t have to worry about fraying. Sometimes the stitches don’t want to be invisible!

 Here’s the quilt top. The big question remains: is it done? Does it need more borders? It’s about 48 inches square and would fit perfectly over the fireplace in the studio. I’ve already made enough applique flowers and leaves for additional borders. Doesn’t every quilt need to be queen sized?

Remember the Pilgrim/Roy Challenge quilt that I made a while back? (You can click here to review the story if you’re interested.) It was auctioned off at the AQS show this past April. You can see all twelve quilts here. I don’t know who purchased the quilt, but I’m honored to know it brought a pretty good price.

Once again, I was invited to write an article for American Quilter magazine about the quilt. You know, I don’t consider my designs particularly special so it’s a bit of a shock to be singled out (twice!) this way.

On the newsstands now, the current issue of American Quilter magazine has a really nice article on my Five and Vines quilt.

Originally only available to AQS members, I’m glad to see this publication get wider distribution. I’m always pleased with the variety of the projects and articles. A little arty, but also tradtional, the issues contain solid technique information, something really important to me.

 The layout is really pretty. I like the grid system they use for the cutting instructions.

 What a lovely way to wrap up this happy project! It was an honor to be included in the challenge. The quilt was fun to make and it raised money for the American Quiters Society quilt museum. And now it’s in a magazine for everyone to see. It’s all good.

I’ve done something that I haven’t done in a really long time, and it’s making me crazy.

Way, way back in the beginning of my “national” career I sent in a book proposal to one of the major publishers. I understand now that it wasn’t focused enough and deserved the rejection that it received. Still it was tough.

I’m nothing if not stubborn, although I prefer to think of it as tenacious. That rejection lead to self-publishing four commerically printed books (Out of the Cupboard, At Home in My Heart, Hand Applique by Machine and Moondance ’n More) and eight more spiral-bound books that we print on site.

But things are changing here at Applewood Farm. My workforce is moving on. The kids are out of high school, into college and beyond. Kent has a great new position with a wonderful company that takes up more of his time and energy. And I’m on the road teaching almost every month of the year.

It’s time to focus on the parts that I do best, the writing, designing and teaching, and find someone else to do the layout, printing and marketing. At least that’s what I’m hoping for. But it’s so hard to wait, knowing that somewhere a committee is judging my work. Is it print worthy?

So, in the meantime, I’m not sure how much of the design process I should be sharing. This is especially hard because my nature is to be more open. Oh, well. The pup has joined the cat. The background fabrics are still being auditioned, in fact, the kitten has moved on to another fabric altogether. But I really love the fabric behind the dog. What do you think? 

The polka dot kitten is appliqued together and waiting for a decision on her background. I’m thinking there may be more to the story, like a patchwork pup to keep her company.

Since Chapter Three is all about threads it seemed to be the perfect time to take the machine out on the proverbial sewing highway and see what she could do. It was time to experiment with some of the decorative stitches on my sewing machine. You know, those stitches that aren’t straight or free motion. Honestly, even though my machine has a zillion buttons, I rarely touch any beyond the needle-down function.

Here is our kitty again. This time I used a sharpie pen on the basic outline to give her spots. I’m using gorgeous hand-dyed fabrics from Cherrywood. I just adore the rich suede look, a perfect canvas for decorative stitching.

Instead of freezer paper, this kitty is cut from Stitch n Wash Fusible from Floriani. Each patch will be decorated with those fancy stitches and sexy thread. The stablizer makes it possible. It will support the stitches, keeping the fabric from distorting and also define the edges to be glue basted. I love this stuff!

This is a not so great close up of the stitching. Not only are each of the patches decorated with thread, each patch is appliqued in place with a fancy stitch.

She’s a perfect victorian kitten, a machine work crazy quilt kitten. I’ll show you when I can.

It is inevitable. A new pond is destined to have an algae bloom. It’s just a natural part of the cycle as the environment gets established. Normally, if the pond is built properly, it will clear itself over time.

So, I was patiently waiting to see my fish again. And waiting. And waiting. When the water coming over the waterfall turned green it was time for action.

Off to the pet store I go, to load up on pond treatments. Algae killer, beneficial bacteria, water clarifier, pond salt. Frankly after a week of applications I figured the pond would qualify as an EPA superfund site.

Time to drain the swamp. With the help of my son, Caleb, who worked for several years building ponds, we pumped out about two thirds of the green water. (Could be why the lawn is suddenly so lush in that part of the yard.)

When the pond was refilled the water was still green, just a lot less so. Using a water clarifier that makes the algae clump up was the best choice. We needed to find a filtering pad that would trap the tiny algae particles without blocking the flow of water.

Quilt batting to the rescue! This half yard sample of Soft n Bright polyester batting from Warm and Natural proved to be the perfect algae filter. It has been in and out of the filter, sprayed clean and manhandled, for about two weeks now. It’s holding up like a dream. I’m sure this isn’t exactly the endorsement that W&N was looking for, but I’m convinced it would gracefully handle heavy use in a quilt! A little wirey out of the package, the handling has softened it to a cuddly hand without shredding or pilling.

(That weird looking sprinkler to the right of the filter is motion activated to scare away preditors. The motion detection light at the upper left is there for the same purpose.)

The water is still a little green, but at least now I can see the bottom, and the fish. I’m guessing we’ll have it stablized just about the time that the snow flies, but next year it will be terrific. Just like gardening, pond keeping helps with perspective. In a world of instant gratification, it’s nice to have a place to remember that what really matters is eternal. Wait, breathe, listen, learn.

It occurred to me that all of the designs for the new applique book are florals. Although, with my love of flowers, I can hardly understand why, all florals might just limit its appeal. Frankly, it stumped me! Why applique anything else? Oh, geesh, this is bad. I’ve really lost it now.

Not only should it be not floral, this new design also needed to illustrate some of the concepts I want to cover in chapter three: playing with thread.

Apparently all the head shaking jarred something loose. I remembered a “pet” project that always seemed to get pushed aside. It would be perfect for this application!

Off to the computer to create the simple outline. It’s tempting to get too detailed at this point. All I really need is the most basic of shapes. Detail can come later, in fabric choices and placement.

This is the print out from the computer, trimmed so that I can glue the two parts together. The next step is to create the freezer paper shapes.

I’ve been collecting polka dots for ages, no specific project in mind, just for whatever. As I prepared the freezer paper shapes it seemed clear that this kitty cat needed dots, and lots of them.

Here you can see the body of the cat, wrong side up, already fused to the freezer paper. Don’t the face parts look silly sitting there on the cutting table?

This is why we need a stash. It would be really hard to find all of these dotty fabrics in one shopping trip. Most of these are just fat quarters, even the body of the cat fits on one fat quarter. I would rather have four different fat quarters than one yard of anything else. Yardage makes me nervous. How about you? How do you collect fabric?