teaching sewing confidence, tip by tip

Sunday 22 June 2014

A Foxy Circle Quilt - Cloud9 Fabrics Challenge


In June, we were lucky to have Michelle Engel Bencsko, Co-Founder, Design & Marketing Director at Cloud9 Fabrics come along to our NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild meeting.


Michelle talked us through the design and organic production process and shared many Cloud9 fabrics and quilts.

At the end Michelle set the Guild a Cloud9 Fabrics Challenge:
Using 4 x Cloud9 Fabric fat quarters (supplied by Cloud9 Fabrics) make a baby quilt (approx 36" x 42") to give to charity.  Additional fabrics must be from the Cloud9 Fabrics range or any brand of solid.  All quilts to be handed over at the next meeting of the NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild in October.


I've just purchased this Circle Savvy Ruler by Creative Grids, it cuts circles, semi-circles and quarter circles from 3" to 15.5" and every 0.5" in between and this seemed like a great opportunity to give it a try.  I won't tell you how to use it, there's a great video here on YouTube if you're interested.

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I added some more Cloud9 Scribble fabric in grey and orange and also Michael Miller soft white cotton couture solid along with a crib size Hobb's Heirloom double sided fusible batting to complete the quilt.


I started out making a quilt sandwich using the MM soft white for the quilt top and the orange scribble for the backing.  I haven't used this brand of fusible batting before and I wasn't too happy with how it looked before I started quilting.  Those troughs in the quilt surface really had me worried.


Even more worried when the fabric lifted clean away from the batting as I started to quilt - I ironed over it again to refuse it.

Update at 19 August 2014:
I've used the Hobbs fusible batting now in two more quilts and not had a problem with the fabric lifting away from the batting during quilting - I'm assuming from this that some fabrics fuse more easily than others depending on the surface finish.


I cut out circles from the fat quarters using the Circle Savvy Ruler and created this design on top of the MM soft white solid.


I appliqued each circle in place right through the quilt sandwich using Aurifil 40/2 #1133 - Bright Orange.  I was disappointed to discover that this batting needs to be quilted every 4" - a bit close for my liking - so I decided to quilt in wavy lines vertically down the quilt, leaving the circles unquilted and hoping to mask the issues with the batting using Aurifil 50/2 #2024 - White.


The wavy lines worked just as I hoped, masking any fabric bubbles caused by the fusible basting and there were no further issues with the batting.  Given the wavy quilting the quilt was begging to be washed and left crinkly - not my style at all, but I think this time it works really well as the unquilted circle areas stay flat and are more pronounced.

So here's the photoshoot:


See how the applique looks on the back of the quilt

and a closer view

I love the Circle Savvy Ruler, it was a great buy that I'm sure will get lots of use of many years - the jury's out still on that Heirloom double sided fusible batting, nice not to use pins but doesn't give me the pristine, flat look I prefer when I use Quilter's Dream Request and I want to be able to quilt further apart than 4" if I choose to.  Just to add in case you've not yet tried it, I've also used the Quilter's Dream Cotton Fusion and that worked great, total adhesion, flat finish and you can quilt with up to an 8" gap.  The trouble is it's only fusible on one side - perfect when creating my wholecloth QAYG quilts but not much use for a normal quilt sandwich as you still need to pin or spray baste the quilt top or bottom.

Here's a summary of my thoughts on the fusible battings:

Quilter's Dream Fusion

Pros:
Available in 100% cotton and also 100% polyester
Quilt at up to 8" apart for cotton and 10" for poly
Fully adhered to fabric after ironing
Lies perfectly flat against fabric creating a great quilting surface
Great for QAYG Wholecloth

Cons:
Fusible only on one side

Hobb's Heirloom Fusible

Pros:
Double sided fusion
Repositionable
Requires no pins or spray baste
Can fuse quilt top and quilt back separately or at the same time

Cons:
80% Cotton/20% Polyester (a con for me as I don't like using polyester in my quilting)
Quilting surface isn't flat
Repositionable - so fabric doesn't fully adhere and can loosen and lift during quilting
Quilt at up to 4" apart


Have you used fusible batting?  If  you have do share your own stories in the comments, it's great to hear other's experiences and pick up tips - Chris :D

And finally, just so we don't forget why we're here - a last look at my Foxy Circle Quilt.


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Disclaimer: Some fabrics used were supplied by Cloud9 Fabrics at no charge to mbCD otherwise this post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

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32 comments:

  1. I absolutely adore your baby quilt! I think it would suit any sex baby, and any mom should like it.I really like it, and my have to try it, after I get the ruler of course. I wish someone would come to our guild with a challenge like this, but I live in North Dakota, and it's hard.

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  2. Ooooo!! Love this! Especially the quilting, it goes perfectly with this quilt!

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  3. This is sooo cute! I love how it looks on the back, too :) I'd never heard of fusible batting until now!

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  4. This is so stinkin' cute! That fabric is really fun. I love the squiggle prints. Your ruler is something I have never seen. Way to meet the challenge!!

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  5. I love Cloud 9 fabrics, although orange is a little out there for me...but I LOVE how yours turned out, looks awesome against the blue sky, and I think it looks so cuddly all crinkly, just begging to be scrunched up over someone's lap while they read a book, or gaze at that beautiful view you have!

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    1. Orange isn't my favourite colour either Sandra - a child of the 60s growing up in an all orange house put me off the colour for ever! I do, however, love my view don't think it's something I'll ever grow tired of - Chris :D

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  6. I think you came up with a great solution to the batting issue. The quilting looks great, and I think works well with the fabrics. Great job!

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  7. This is super fun. It reminds me of blowing bubbles. And you always have the best quilt photos. Is that the view at your house, or do you go somewhere else to take them?

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    1. Thanks Andrea, I love that description of blowing bubbles. I do indeed take my photos on the Hudson River walkway that runs alongside my apartment or from my roof garden and sometimes on my balcony, these were on the roof garden. I often think that what many people have as a poster on their wall is my actual view and that still seems pretty amazing to me! If you check out my About Me page there's a pic on there of the full view - Chris :D

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  8. I love how this came out! I recently quilted a quilt with concentric circles and I was thinking a circular quilt should be next. I am visitng from Sew Many Ways.

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  9. Lovely quilt Chris and those circles look perfect and I must admit that I love crinkly. I have only used fusiible batting for bags not on a quilt. Seems to me a bit risky on anything large because the fusible only seems to stay stuck long enough to get it stitched together. xx

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  10. I love the scribbly material in orange, so fresh and free. Circles are always comforting , they look wonderful. It is an interesting quilt in design and fresh in choice of fabric

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  11. Beautiful quilt Chrissie and love the fabrics! I have only used fusible batting in purses and the kind I had didn't stick well do I never tried it on a quilt. Thanks for all the great information!

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  12. Adore the quilt! And love your tips about the fusible batting, I have not tried either.

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  13. Despite all the troubles with the batting the quilt came out gorgeous, Chrissie! I really like how you can see the applique outline in the back. And love, love, love the wavy quilting! Was it a decorative stitch, or did you free motion the lines? I like the geometric look a lot, so the circles just make me smile :)

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    1. That applique stitch is a good old zig-zag and the quilting is straight line quilting using the walking foot but the stitch is the longest, widest zig-zag stitch my machine can do - Chris :D

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  14. Oh that's fun. The appliqués look great on the back!

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  15. This is adorable. I love the way you appliqued the circles right onto the quilt sandwich.

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  16. Thanks for the information about fusible batting! I haven't tried it yet, but it's good to know the best type to look for.

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  17. Love the circles, the wavy quilting and the picture pie fabrics. I have a pile of these sitting waiting for me to get some inspiration. Thank you for sharing your lovely piece. I may pull them out to work on next!

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  18. I haven't used fusible batting, and don't have any plans to at this stage. I love how the quilting looks on the back, it reminds me of crop circles. When you say the crinkly look isn't your style does that mean you can wash a quilt in such a way that it doesn't go crinkly?

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    1. After washing my quilts I only allow them to half dry so they're still really damp but not wet then I iron them on both sides until dry - they go back to looking as if they've never been washed, perfectly flat. There's the odd quilt that requires another heavy spray with water and a second iron over but this isn't the norm. It's more work than necessary if you're happy with crinkly quilts but I prefer mine flat so I'm happy to do it - Chris :D

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  19. That is such a cute baby quilt, I really like your design and quilting on it!

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  20. such a fab quilt Chrissie, so bright and cheerful!

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  21. wonderful! I just LOVE what you've done here!

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  22. That baby quilt is adorable! I've never used fusible batting - am too much of a purist I think! I won't even use basting spray lol

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  23. I love the really elaborate products reviews! and the quilt is fantastic too. Personally I do not mind it not being totally flat, it gives it some cuddlyness.

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  24. Thanks for the pros vs cons on the two fusible battings. I've never worked with either and am definitely intrigued. I love, love, love that fox print. Fabric like that is so hard for me to resist. I'm not brave enough to take on appliquéd circles of this magnitude - I'm just getting the hang of machine appliqué. The wavy quilted lines are just perfect. All in all, great work!

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  25. I've only used fusibles on small things so far too but I'm glad to read about your adventures with this one. I'll probably not try that one myself. The quilt really turned out adorable and the wavy lines was the perfect choice.

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  26. Thank you so much for sharing! This quilt is absolutely beautiful. I'm new to quilting and love the inspiration this gives me to attempt something new =)

    Adreanna @ LifeInOurNomad

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  27. A beautiful quilt, Chrissie and awesome photos.

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Chris Dodsley


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