Last Look at Treadle On Origami Bow-Tie Blocks

I've posted several times about my Origami Bow-Tie quilt.  The quilt was made with 3-D, or Origami Bow-Tie blocks in an exchange with members of the Treadle On vintage and antique sewing machine group.  The guidelines for the exchange required making the bow-tie blocks using a pre-1900 sewing machine.

My blocks were made on a Singer VS 3 hand-cranked sewing machine from around 1894.  The machine makes a great, smooth straight stitch.  I call her Bertha in honor of my maternal great-grandmother.

The VS in the machine's name stands for Vibrating Shuttle. 

The bullet-shaped shuttle holds the bobbin, and "vibrates" back and forth, catching the thread loop created by the needle and creating the stitches.  

Once I finished machine appliquéing the borders (not on a vintage or antique sewing machine!), I sent the quilt off to my local long-arm quilter, Cindy Braiwick.  I didn't give her a lot of specific instructions on the quilting, so she could get as inspired as she wanted.

I may have already mentioned the emotional attachment I have to this quilt.  The block exchange took place just prior to Hurricane Katrina, and I received my exchanged blocks just as I was about to move back home to New Orleans after being evacuated for about six weeks.

When I picked up the quilt from Cindy after she finished the quilting, I may have gotten a little verklempt.  I was just blown away by what she had done with the quilt!

First, she chose a perfect design for the blow-tie blocks.  Every part of the block was quilted except for the bow tie "knot" - the 3-D part.  

Even better, she really filled in around the appliqué shapes with lots of different designs.

One of my favorites - the feather and heart design shown here.

It took a little while, but I finally finished the binding, sleeve and label for this quilt.  It's hanging on my hallway quilt rack so I can admire it every day!

Tiny Tuesday: 3-D Bow Tie Block

Welcome to my Tiny Tuesday Tutorial!  I'm publishing this a little early, as Monday is a holiday and may afford some stitchers the chance to complete their weekly block ahead of schedule.

When SoScrappy Angela described her idea for a tiny block sampler for this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I was intrigued.  I figured small blocks in rainbow colors would be a fun challenge, even if the finished block size was an untypical 4.5 inches.  Better still, Angela was inviting RSC participants to submit their own block tutorials for the challenge.

One idea that immediately occurred to me was the 3-D or Origami Bow Tie block.  I learned how to make this block many moons ago at a quilt guild demonstration.  Since then, I've made several quilts using this traditional block with a structural twist.  Once you figure out the slightly unusual block construction, the blocks are fun and addicting to make!

Note:  I recommend reading through the instructions before sewing up your block.  If you need more help visualizing the process, there are several Youtube videos available online.  Sometimes seeing the process demonstrated is easier than looking at static pictures.

For one 3-D Bow Tie block (finished size 4.5 inches), you will need:

• 3 bow tie fabric squares, 2.75 inches
• 2 background fabric squares, 2.75 inches

Take one of the bow tie fabric squares and fold it in half, wrong sides together.  Finger press the fold.  This will eventually become the knot of the bow tie.

Place the folded square on top of one of the background squares, right sides together.  Align the raw edges at the top.  I've used a pin to hold things together and mark the raw edges.

Place another bow tie fabric square on top of the background and folded square combo - right sides together.  Pin together on the left side.  Keep the background/folded square combo raw edges at the top - see next picture.

I've temporarily flipped back the bow tie fabric square so you can see the placement of the background fabric and folded bow tie fabric pieces.

Stitch a 1/4 inch seam along the pinned edge.

After stitching the seam, finger press the seam away from the folded bowtie square, as shown above.  The raw edges of the folded square should be at the top.

Keep the block aligned as shown in previous picture.  Place remaining bow tie fabric square under the folded square, right sides together.  Place remaining background fabric square on top of the folded fabric square, right sides together.  Align the edges of the two squares with the top and right side of the folded fabric square.  My pin is marking the top right edge of the folded fabric square.

Stitch a 1/4 inch seam along the right edge, as shown above.

After stitching the second seam, your bow tie block should look like this.  The folded square makes a "bridge" between the two sections of bow tie and background fabric squares.  

Looking at the block from the top, you can see the folded square piece can open.  This piece will now be pinched and pulled into the knot on the bow tie. 

Align the four bow tie and background squares as if you were aligning two sections of a 4-patch block.  While aligning the squares, open the folded square/knot so the raw edges line up with the raw edges of the other squares.

Pin the raw edges together (right sides together), catching the edges of the bow tie square/knot, but being careful not to catch any other part of the knot.  I've flipped the block open in the picture so you can see how the folded square/knot should look.

Pin everything securely in place and stitch a 1/4 inch seam, catching the folded square/knot in the seam.

Completed seam.

Open the block and make sure you didn't catch the center of the knot in your seam.

Press and enjoy your completed Tiny Tuesday 3-D Bow Tie block!

Finished Flimsy: Treadle On Origami Bow-Tie Blocks

I finished machine-stitching the appliqué border on my Origami Bow-Tie blocks this week.  Once I started the machine stitching, I kind of got into a rhythm and just kept working at it until it was finished.  I don't have any solid plans for the quilting yet; I'm just happy to have the finished flimsy!

I used Soft Fuse to hold the appliqué shapes in place (fabric glue for the vines), then machine-stitched a blanket stitch edging on all the shapes.  The border design is from Fons and Porter's Quick Quilts from the Heart.  The stitching was not difficult, but I did find I needed to be careful to use good posture, remember to breathe (!) and take frequent breaks to stretch and rest my wrists and hands.

The Origami or 3-D Bow-Tie blocks were from an exchange among antique and vintage sewing machine users from the Treadle On mail list.  The exchange requirements included using reproduction quilting fabric and stitching the blocks on a pre-1900 people-powered sewing machine.  

These blocks will always have a special place in my heart because I received them during my exile from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  My son and I were living with my sister's family in Florida so my son could continue to attend high school - his school had taken on over 12 feet of water and was in no shape for classes.  My husband had gone back to New Orleans to work, because his hospital was one of the only functioning hospitals in the metro area.  I looked for a job in Florida, but although folks were sympathetic, they weren't interested in hiring a temporary employee.  I didn't have any access to Fabric Therapy, so I spent my days reading and trying not to watch television coverage about the flooding in New Orleans.  When my package of blocks arrived in the mail, it was a harbinger that life might eventually return to "normal".  Not long after that, we learned electricity had been restored to our neighborhood, my son's school had arranged for classes to be held at an alternate location and we would be able to go home!

Machine Applique Prep

These applique shapes are all destined for the outer border of the Origami Bow-Tie quilt.  The shapes are all backed with SoftFuse, ready to be positioned, fused and machine blanket stitched.  The stems are also ready, but not pictured.  Now I just need to prep 32 cherries and 40 leaves!  

Playing with Bias Stems

I have been working on a folk-art style border for the Origami bow-tie quilt I shared back in May.  I want to finish this quilt sometime this year, so I'm fusing the applique shapes and finishing the raw edges with a machine blanket stitch.

One of my LQS staffers recommended SoftFuse for the applique shapes.  It seems to adhere well and is very soft and flexible - more so than other fusible products I have used.  I have only blanket stitched the heart in the center of the vase, but the fusible provided stability for the stitching and didn't gum up the sewing machine needle.

There are a number of stems included in the applique border.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to proceed with them, as I'm still rather a novice at appliqueing stems.  First I tried the method I learned for hand applique:  applique press bars.  I cut a stem wider than needed, folded the wrong sides together and sewed a 1/8" seam.  Then I used the 3/8" press bar to press the seam to the back side of the stem.  When you use lots of starch, this creates a nice crisp edge for hand stitching.

Bias press bar (top) & back side of folded and stitched bias stem

Unfortunately, I thought the finished stem was a little too thick, especially compared to the other applique shapes that were just one layer.  

Next I tried fabric glue.  The glue held the fabrics together adequately.  There was no additional stability to support the stitches, but it didn't seem to be a problem.

I also wanted to try narrow, paper backed fusing tape made specifically for applique.  Apparently Clover makes this type of tape specifically to use with their bias tape makers.  I only had time for a quick run to my nearby Hancock fabrics, and of course they didn't have any of the Clover product.  I did find this wash away 1/4" Wonder Tape.  It doesn't need heat to fuse it in place - it's more like a double-sided adhesive tape.

Here's the Wonder Tape applied to the wrong side of a 3/8" bias stem.  The paper backing is peeled off to the left.  I applied the stem to the background fabric and could continue re-positioning the stem until I had it curved just the way I wanted.  No need to worry about glue residue getting on the background fabric!

The Wonder Tape provided good fabric adherence.  It also added a little stability, but since it's not as wide as the bias stem, it didn't really improve the quality of the stitching.  Still, I think the machine blanket stitch looks just fine.  I didn't photograph the practice curve, but the Wonder Tape worked well at holding curves in place and easing out the bias.

Now I just need a chunk of time to get the bias stems stitched in place!

Inspiration Strikes Another UFO

Quilt Sampler is one of my favorite quilting magazines.  I look forward to new issues and constantly revisit old issues for inspiration.  I enjoy being able to travel to quilt shops all across the country without ever leaving home!

A quilt in the most recent issue caught my eye, as it was made from bow-tie blocks set in the Xs and Os pattern.  That set off the little lightbulb in my head - didn't I have a stack of bow-tie blocks from a Treadle On Block Exchange?

A few moments of hunting through the stack of UFOs produced a packet of 24 origami bow-tie blocks in reproduction-type fabrics and unbleached muslin.  Origami, or 3-D bow-tie blocks are made with 5 squares of fabric and no set-in seams.  The center bow-tie on the block winds up being three-dimensional, like a real bow-tie!

The plan for this block exchange was to use a pre-1900 sewing machine to create the blocks.  Mine were made on a Singer VS 3 that was made sometime around 1894.  She is a well-loved handcrank machine who sews a fine, smooth straight stitch.  

The VS part of her name means she uses a vibrating shuttle mechanism to create stitches.  The shuttle moves back and forth in an arc, passing through a thread loop made by the needle action and creating a lockstitch.

Here's a close-up view of the shuttle and its bobbin.  The bobbin is approximately 1 inch long.

I didn't have enough blocks to make a satisfactory arrangements of Xs and Os.  And rather than get caught up in making more bow-tie blocks, I decided to go with a simple arrangement.  Once I make a 25th block, I'll have a nice square group of bow-ties.  I've been dreaming of applique border treatments, so maybe that will be the finishing touch for this quilt.