26 September, 2012

Wine Gums in Progress



When we were writing the book I was in awe of Amanda Jean's quilts. She specializes in making use of the teeny tiny scraps. It's a great use of fabric, but all those pieces do mean that even a small quilt takes some effort. Don't be fooled by the size. You get great impact and an amazing use of fabric. And truly, it is hard to appreciate the scale of some of these quilts from the book.

It wasn't until we were giving our schoolhouse at Market that I could appreciate this. And now that I am out and about giving trunk shows I realize that I need to share these quilts to show more quilters the awesome opportunity presented by these designs. The first of Amanda Jean's little pieces quilts I'm tackling is Gumdrops.


I actually started this quilt in March, when I got my new scissors. And when cutting up little pieces of fabric was about all my big ol' pregnant body could handle. The little pieces then got put aside in favour of the baby and other work. But after my last trunk show I decided they needed return to daylight and be put to use.

Of course, I had to do things differently than Amanda's pattern. I have such a hard time following patterns. This time, however, it was unintentional.

In the pattern Amanda suggests fusing the scraps to a lightweight fusible BEFORE cutting the shapes. I neglected to read these instructions before I started cutting out my gumdrop shapes. That meant I would have to add fusible in tiny pieces, after the fact. That bit of work did not appeal to me. But, I do think you need some stabilization of the pieces to the background prior to assembly.

This piece has you sew down your applique and quilt as one step, so the pieces need to be stabilized prior to basting.


Instead of fusible I rummaged through the girls' craft supplies for a glue stick. Yup, a plain old glue stick. A little bit of glue on the back of each piece tacks it to the background. Then you can sew your strips together, baste, and quilt. As long as you don't coat the back there is no residue left after quilting and washing. You also don't get the stiffness associated with even a lightweight fusible.

As a bonus, this becomes a craft project with a bored preschooler missing her big sister at school all day. An excellent alternative to the endless tea parties.

10 comments:

Flaun of I Plead Quilty! said...

I love to use a glue stick on my machine applique! Glad to hear the quilt police won't come knocking on my door. If Cheryl does it, it's legit!

Live a Colorful Life said...

I love how new techniques/designs/color choices often occur as a result of having to make a "design decision"!

Josie McRazie said...

I love this one! And what a great tip! I have the booknsitting beside mu couch and keep pondering what to start first! They are all so great!

Paso Robles wines said...


its really very nice post to read and am really thankful to you give me such awesome idea to spend with my friends ......

Beth said...

Don't you love those glue sticks? And happy accidents? I really like that quilt, but think I will start with the slab quilt. I really want to do a slab.

Suzanne said...

I'm liking how you are approaching this quilt. There are so many ways to get from point a to point b. :-) Off to bed with my copy of the book to compare your approach with AJ's.

Kris P said...

Hi Cheryl, Love the glue stick. I've done it in the past... before I figured out fusible, but really like how quick it is. Can't wait to see how your version of gumdrops comes.

Amanda Jean said...

this is looking so good! hurray for the humble glue stick!

jeifner said...

Ah! Good idea for small fingers. I've a nephew that likes to organize and create with my scraps. They are nothing that I would put together and are always great. That'll be much easier to keep things in place.

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