- Hi, I'm Deanna Springer.
On behalf of Nancy Zieman Productions and PBS Wisconsin,
thank you for joining us
for this special educational presentation.
Please add your questions for the presenter in the chat
and stay tuned for a Q&A after the lecture.
Then, be sure to explore everything else
The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show has to offer,
including beautiful quilt exhibits
and an interactive vendor mall.
Thank you and enjoy.
[bright music]
- Hello, my name is Linda McGehee
and I'm proud to be here with you today.
I'm sorry we couldn't be in person,
but this is the next best thing.
I'm from a garment background,
so I grew up sewing and making all sorts of garments
for my dolls as well as myself.
But somewhere along in the '80s,
I was invited to, or asked to go to Quilt Market
down in Houston and discovered that the clothes that I wore
weren't necessarily the clothes that I saw down at Houston.
And what I saw were clothes that looked like they had too,
they were quilted or pieced, but it was too big.
The designs were too big.
They weren't in the correct proportion they should've been.
And so I got to thinking,
and not only thinking about garments,
but also the way to do some piecing
that I can incorporate into quilts.
I'll remind you that I'm still a garment background,
so what I did was play with some techniques that I liked
to make sort of a sampler.
And my first slide is of miniature piecing
combined with log cabin miniature piecing, thread work,
pin tucks, and it was fun,
but I just wasn't the one that should use
the miniature piecing.
So I got to thinking about something
that I had done back in school.
Ms. Bishop taught us how to take a straight fabric
and make it into a 45-degree angle, which is a bias,
and this is one of the scarves that was made
using the straight pieces of fabric.
So this got me into thinking
that I could do the same thing on quilts
or on some of my garments.
On the right-hand side, you see spiral patchwork,
so it's a 45-degree angle.
Some of it looks sort of like chevroning,
some of it looks a little bit more like hills and valleys,
but this is the beginning of the spiral patchwork,
and it's truly become an adventure.
It really is fun.
And even though you know,
or you think you know how it's gonna end up, a lot of times,
it's always an adventure to see what it looks like.
So let's get started about how,
or the fabrics that we need to do this project.
You can start off with jelly rolls.
Of course, way back in the '80s when I started doing this,
there were no jelly rolls,
but a jelly roll is a perfect place to begin.
You could also use a bundle
and there are several companies that make bundles,
whether they're hand dyeds or figured fabrics.
You need lights, darks, and mediums in colors.
You can work with large prints.
They could be modern, reproductions, batiks,
geometric, stripes.
You've got to have two fabrics.
You coulululd have as many as 30.
Actually, the vest that I'm wearing today has 32 in it.
If you choose a stripe, purchase at least two yards.
We're working with the width of the fabric.
Fat quarters really aren't gonna work as well
for this type technique.
If you purchase a stripe,
the reason for the two yards is a yard and a quarter
can be cut lengthwise,
and the balance can be cut on the width of the fabric,
which will give you an entirely different look.
It really is part of the adventure.
You're gonna need rulers,
and nowadays there's tons of rulers out there
and I'm sure you have your favorites.
My favorites when I'm cutting strips
are rulers that are at least four inches wide
and about 18 inches long.
They could be slightly shorter than that,
but generally when I'm cutting fabric,
I cut on the crosswise grain, the fabric is folded over twice,
so I'm working with four layers of fabric.
I need a smaller ruler there.
Sometimes the larger rulers are a little bit cumbersome.
But when I've created my tube,
and you're gonna understand about the tube in a little bit,
when I've created my tube and I'm cutting it open,
I need a longer ruler, so a 6-inch ruler by 24 is perfect.
And I have a new best friend when it comes to rulers.
I discovered a 24-inch ruler that folds in half,
so it's great for easy storage and it's also great for travel.
And that's the ruler that you see down at the bottom.
You're gonna cut your strips and line them up.
I'm by the cutting table,
I have my ruler laid down to line up the strips
so that I can move the strips from the cutting table
in the sequence that I want 'em over to the sewing machine.
Since we're going to make a chevron type look,
we need to make two identical sets.
And I have to stress accuracy right now.
We'll find out in a little bit how accurate you actually are.
There's some general guidelines
and they are that you should handle the strips
as little as possible to avoid fraying the edges.
When you fray the edges,
you're not as accurate with your sewing.
Lay the strips in the desired sequence,
and it's okay to repeat a fabric.
So if you like a particular color,
like the purple has been repeated,
as well as the black has been repeated in this set,
you just want to make sure
the outer two pieces are different colors
because they're gonna eventually be sewn together.
You also, if you're working with narrow and wide strips,
want to keep the narrow strips in the body
and the wider strips on the outside,
because it's real easy to stretch
on the crosswise grain of the fabric.
We're making two sets.
We may make more if you have a larger project.
And as I mentioned before,
accuracy is important when you're trying to match
the points later on in the chevron.
I like to sew two strips together
and do it in the clothesline approach.
So I sew two strips and two strips and two strips,
and I keep them connected like you see over on the right,
and this helps me keep them lined up
the way that I planned when I first laid 'em out.
I know some people like to draw pictures
or nowadays you could actually take a picture
with your cell phone,
but sewing in twos and then fours
makes it easier to keep the set straight.
If you sew all of the pieces together before you press,
you sometimes come into a pressing problem.
So this is my favorite way to press.
I press flat to seat the stitches into the fabric
and then open it up and press the seam allowance closed.
So we're using the point of an iron
to press away from the point of the iron.
Next, you need to square the end,
and this is where you may find out
you weren't quite even when you began.
You can see I'm a little bit wider on the left-hand side
than I am on the right-hand side, but that's okay,
we're gonna square it.
And I use the marks on my cutting mat
as well as the marks on my ruler
to make sure I get a true square,
so this is for a right angle.
You have two sets and you're gonna place them
a mirror image to each other.
So we've got the orange in the center
and we're working our way out to the purple.
Then we're gonna take the purple pieces
and pull 'em in to the center, as you see at this point.
And you will place a pin at that corner
1/4 inch in and 1/4 inch up along that cut edge.
Now this is a pivoting point,
and we're gonna take a look at a video
so that you can see how I pull the fabric around
to form the spiral.
Fold the fabric, the outside corner, at a 45-degree angle
to come to the center.
Place a pin in that corner,
and this becomes a pivoting point.
Pull the outside edges so you're pulling
the orange around to meet the purple
and place a pin perpendicular to that cut edge.
So this will be the area where you will stitch.
The stitching will be a straight line,
but you're actually stitching in a spiral.
You'll find it easier if you sew a few inches,
pull the fabric around, sew a few more inches,
sink the needle, pull the fabric around.
You're not gonna have a straight line.
This is gonna look like a wadded mess,
and if yours looks like a wadded mess, it's right.
If it looks nice and even, then something's wrong.
So as you pull the fabric around,
you'll notice that the spiral begins to form.
And you continue to sew until you get to a single layer.
You will end up with a tube that looks like this.
So on one end, you have a point.
You can see the long orange point
down in the lower right-hand edge,
and the fabric is at a 45-degree angle in a tube.
The other end is odd.
It's probably not gonna be even, and that's okay.
We're not concerned with that.
So you've twisted the top layer of fabric
at your pivoting point to align the outside edges
and stitch the tube.
You're still sewing with a straight line,
but the fabric is forming into a tube.
Lay the fabric on your pressing mat
and press the short side.
You can see the long point over to the right,
but press a single fold on the short side.
Use your longer ruler to trim just a little bit off.
It's about 1/16 of an inch off.
It is better to have your fabric flat,
lay a ruler on top, and trim with a rotary cutter
than it is to use scissors.
And a longer ruler works best for this
because as you shift the ruler,
you could very easily pivot the ruler
so that you're not sewing,
so that you're not cutting a straight line.
So we want to keep straight lines as much as possible.
When you open the fabric, you end up with two pieces.
One of 'em has an angle that goes up in one direction
and the other has an angle
that goes up in the other directions.
So you can see how you start the chevroning part.
This is where you discover how accurate you were
with your cutting and with your sewing
and with your form and the tube.
You can see that the blacks have,
they're matching pretty good in this particular slot,
so we're doing okay at this point.
We're now gonna cut these strips
into a little bit wider pieces, maybe three or four inches wide.
I have a tendency to cut maybe two strips out of each set,
play with them, and then decide how I want to cut the rest.
So on the left-hand side, we have the chevroning,
so the points are matching.
But you know, if you get to this point
and you discover that your points are not matching,
don't fret, it's okay.
You can do something that's on the right,
just shift everything.
You don't have to match.
That was just an idea of when I started doing this,
but everything, that's part of the adventure,
things are changing.
Take a look at adding black to the fabric on the left,
how it gave a different look to our piecing
as opposed to the same identical fabrics on the right
without that black accent.
This is a choice, it's up to you.
You're the designer, you can do anything you want,
and you can change your mind in the middle of your plan
if you want to, too.
It's okay, we don't have hard, fast rules.
This piece was actually started with a fat quarter.
That's where I discovered that fat quarters
was just enough fabric to get you into trouble.
That white is actually 1/4 inch wide visible,
so the cut strip was 3/4 of an inch.
And back when I made this piece, I was using 1/8 inch increments,
and that's where I decided that it's better
to use 1/4 inch increments when you're cutting,
because I think one of those pieces
ended up 3/4 of an inch showing
and another one ended up with 7/8 of an inch.
So as you look down at the bottom where the white line is,
you can see that my points actually don't line up,
but it's an illusion that they match
because there's a black strip
going down in between the piecing, so I love illusions.
I mentioned two fabrics earlier.
So that large swirl that you see in the center
was cut in inch and a half strips
and combined with inch and a half strips of black.
So on the left, you see sort of a herringbone look,
and on the right, you see sort of hills and valleys.
You can change your mind throughout your construction
because there's so many things that will evolve
as you start putting the strips together.
It really is a lot of fun.
What about using spiral patchwork on a tote?
There's piecing in the center
with a wider piece of fabric on each side,
because that gets folded around
and nobody's really gonna notice the piecing,
so why waste your piecing there?
You'll also notice that there's a black strip
that came down in between some of the piecing
just to make it a little bit wider.
I don't remember whether I was running short of fabric
or just needed a little bit extra dark color in there.
I'm not sure, but it did make the piece look
just a little bit better to have that black strip in there.
The leftover piecings can be used to trim your strap,
or it could be used for the binding,
which you see up at the top on the left-hand side.
It's just a narrow little flap that's there for fun.
What about spiral patchwork in the yoke of a blouse?
It's only in the back.
This particular pattern didn't have a yoke in the front.
And this time, the spiral patchwork
has been accented with corded piping.
It really does make the rest of the piecing pop.
Black and white stripes really does give
these hand-dyed Cherrywoods a different look.
So down at the bottom is a small piece,
it's the same fabric, it's the leftovers,
without any corded piping in it.
And up top, the bag does have the black and white stripe.
So corded piping can make your work look so much better
and accent, just pull everything together.
If you choose to use corded piping,
I recommend you use the foot that makes the task easier,
and there are three sizes of pin tucking feet
that I like to use.
On the far left is actually a pin tucking foot,
and that's good for 1/16 inch corded piping.
The middle foot is good for 1/8 inch
and then the foot on the right is better
for your 1/4 inch corded piping.
So we have a foot for the different sizes of cord
that you work with.
And I find it easier to go ahead
and waste a little bit of fabric,
cut the fabric wider than you need
so you have something to work with
when you're making the corded piping,
and then use the Piping Wizard tool
to trim the excess down to a perfect 1/4 inch
or 1/2 inch seam allowance.
Taking a look at the other side of that bag
we saw a while ago,
I didn't have enough fabric to make both sides the same.
So who's to say they have to be perfectly the same?
This is your creativity.
You can do whatever you want.
So on one side,
we have a pocket that's been outlined with the purple.
On the other side, we have the full piecing.
No one can see both sides of your bag at the same time,
so it's up to you how you want to finish your project.
A tunic-length vest with spiral patchwork
would be a little bit much
without breaking it up some kind of way.
So on one side, spiral patchwork has been put horizontally
just below the shoulder, just above the bust.
And on the other side edge, somewhere around the waistline.
So if I had done the line at the waistline
all the way around, it would accent an area
that I really don't need to accent.
So the best thing to do is to have them offset.
And you'll notice there too is a lot of corded piping
to help hold the shape and accent some of your piecing.
Sergers have become very popular,
and you could actually use your serger to sew your strips.
I use the narrow rolled edge on the serger
to stitch the strips,
so they were stitched with the wrong sides together,
the narrow rolled edge is visible,
and it actually looks like a very tiny corded piping.
And then serged strips were used vertically
in the stitching flip as the vest was completed.
Now another thing about this group of fabric,
when I bought the bundle,
I needed another fabric and I didn't realize that
until I was in the cutting process.
And of course, no stores were open at that point.
So I cut the stripe on the crosswise grain
as well as the lengthwise grain,
and that gave me that extra fabric that I needed
to just tie everything together.
So remember, stripes can be used on the crosswise
and on the lengthwise.
Two fabrics on this garment, the floral, the tulip floral,
and then black and it makes a very elegant,
well, not necessarily elegant, a more stately look
in your piecing and in a garment,
and the tulip fabric and the grape fabric
was used to create
three-dimensional raw edge appliqué,
and it's on one shoulder.
When you think about it,
when you're standing in line at these events
or standing in line at the store or wherever you happen to be,
people see you from the back as well as the front,
so you might as well give 'em a little entertainment
on one of your shoulders or in the back of your garment.
Pillows are a great place to show off spiral patchwork,
and they can be small or large, it's your choice.
It's a great way to experiment with
when you're just beginning to do spiral patchwork
and you don't have to worry about fitting anything.
It's a piecing idea.
It can go on a pillow, it can go on the bed,
it can go on the wall, it can go on your body.
This particular pillow has been trimmed
with entredeux beading and the ribbon is in the beading,
and that's what the accent yellow
and purple colors are, combined with the piecing.
This kitchen or dining quilt was designed by Jan Potter
and it has spiral patchwork down at the bottom
and the upper edge is woven fabric to show the basket,
and then there's raw edge appliqué
to complete the look of a small quilt.
This particular quilt is actually behind me
and the beginning point was the kaleidoscopes.
That's a kaleidoscope of a flower that I grew,
and they were printed on fabric
and they're outlined on the outside edge
with spiral patchwork.
It was designed and stitched by Jerrie Thornton.
Actually, the kaleidoscope was a collaboration on my part,
and Jerrie did all the stitching, a beautiful job.
We recently had a vest challenge.
One of the winners was Helen Wall,
and she used the spiral patchwork in her garment.
So the spiral patchwork in a shorter version
is perfect to go all the way around.
And she accented a flower on one of her shoulders.
I adore the straight, rigid lines of spiral patchwork
combined with the undisciplined lines of thread work.
It really is fun.
I've narrowed the techniques that I really enjoy doing
to these two techniques with a lot of detail,
combined with corded piping.
Now, you could also put the stitching on top of the piecing,
so if you're wondering where the stitching would go
if you were doing this piecing,
you back up to where we cut the tube open,
and when the tubes open
is where you will add your stitching.
You don't want to do stitching on your strips
that are cut narrow because you will stretch the fabric
and you're just creating yourself problems.
But you can keep the design separate,
you can put 'em together.
It's whatever mood you're in
the day you get ready to do this.
And I'm gonna throw in one other little thing.
I adore wonderful buttons,
but I'm not real fond of making button holes.
Oh, I know how to do 'em,
but doing a pretty button hole in piecing and thread work's
not gonna work out too well, I don't think.
So the buttons are there,
but you'll notice there are no button holes
and nobody's ever mentioned that to me.
I'm the one that brings it up.
People just assume when there're buttons,
there should be button holes,
but you don't have to make those if you don't want to.
In '96, I was invited to the Fairfield Style Show
and I used spiral patchwork in the garment.
This is the jacket with spiral patchwork on the sleeves,
in the inset, on the side,
combined with some of the other thread work
of pin tucking and couching.
The leftovers were sufficient to make a vest and a bag,
so I got to wear the vest and the bag
while the garment was on display for a couple of years.
But spiral patchwork can be used anywhere.
You can use it on a garment, you can use it on a pillow,
the bed, the wall, you can use it anywhere.
You can use all the leftover tidbits
to go into smaller projects.
It really is fun to play with spiral patchwork.
I love this quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"It is common sense to take a method and try it.
"If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another.
But above all, try something."
You never know where you wanna go
until you've tried something,
so try something and then you can go from there.
It doesn't matter whether
it's a piecing project with thread work
or any other types of creativity.
You never know where it's gonna lead,
but you really do need to try something.
I hope you'll have fun with spiral patchwork
and enjoy the venture.
This is a book that I wrote on the subject.
It's called Spiraling Schemes and Chromatics .
I hope you have fun with spiral patchwork,
as much fun as I've had with it.
I hope I get to see you in the near future sometime.
You can always get up with me at Ghees.com.
That's G-H-E-E-S.com, and send questions if you have them.
We'll be happy to answer and help you with your projects.
I thank you for joining me this afternoon
for a little bit of learning on Zoom
while we're waiting to get to see each other in public.
I hope you enjoy your sewing
and continue to enjoy working with Wisconsin Madison.
They've been doing so well
with trying to keep us all out in the public light
and keeping our creative juices flowing.
Have a great time, thank you so much for joining me.
>> HI.
I'M DEANNA SPRINGER.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR THE
GREAT WISCONSIN QUILT SHOW AND
THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN FOR "THE
ADVENTURES OF SPIRAL PATCHWORK"
WITH LINDA MCGEHEE.
WE'RE SO PLEASED TO HAVE LINDA
HERE FROM HER HOME STUDIO IN
SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA.
HOW ARE YOU?
>> I'M DOING GREAT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.
IT'S A PLEASURE TO BE HERE.
>> WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR JOINING US
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
OF THE GREAT WISCONSIN QUILT
SHOW AND FOR SHARING YOUR
TECHNIQUES.
WE HAVE QUESTIONS REELING IN
ABOUT YOUR SPIRAL PATCHWORK, SO
LET'S GET STARTED.
>> OKAY.
I'M READY.
>> JAN IS ASKING, CAN YOU REVIEW
HOW YOU DID YOUR FIRST CUT AFTER
SEWING THE TUBE, PLEASE?
>> AFTER -- SO I HAVE THE TUBE.
I JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE THAT PIECE
NEARBY ME.
I HAVE THE TUBE AND I JUST KIND
OF SHAKE IT SO IT'S SMOOTH.
OF COURSE, YOU'RE GOING TO BE
DOING THIS ON A TABLE.
BUT LAY A RULER SO YOU CAN SEE
JUST THE FOLD AND YOU WILL TRIM
THAT FOLD OFF.
I'M POINTING TOWARD THE LONGER
POINT AT THIS TIME AND IF I WERE
PUTTING THIS ON A GARMENT, I
WOULD PROBABLY PRESS THIS FOLD.
BUT IF I'M MAKING A TABLE
RUNNER, I WOULD CUT THIS FOLD
BECAUSE THIS IS THE POINT OF
YOUR TABLE RUNNER.
I'LL LET YOU SEE THE RIGHT SIDE.
THAT'S THE POINT OF THE TABLE
RUNNER IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE
CHOOSING TO USE WITH YOUR
STRIPS.
>> OKAY.
GREAT.
THANK YOU, LINDA.
MICHIGAN VIEWER IS ASKING THE
SAME THING.
I WISH TO SEE THAT FIRST CUT
AGAIN.
NOT REALLY SURE WHERE YOU
TRIMMED OPEN.
SO YOU HAVE YOUR TUBE STITCHED
TOGETHER.
SO SHOW US WHERE THE SEAM IS,
LINDA.
>> WELL, THE LAST SEAM THAT WAS
SEWN IS RIGHT HERE, BECAUSE THIS
IS THE PIECE THAT WAS FOLDED
OVER TO MAKE SORT OF HALF A
HOUSE.
AND YOU START SEWING HERE.
YOU'RE SEWING A STRAIGHT LINE,
BUT IT'S ACTUALLY GOING INTO A
SPIRAL.
SO YOU'RE SEWING AT A 45-DEGREE
ANGLE.
YOU'RE SEWING THE OUTSIDE EDGES
TOGETHER, BUT YOU'RE STARTING
THIS PIECE RIGHT DOWN HERE.
AND SO IT AUTOMATICALLY TURNS
INTO A TUBE.
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SORT OF A
TWISTED MESS AS YOU'RE SEWING.
AND THAT'S OKAY.
IF YOU HAVE A TWISTED MESS,
YOU'RE RIGHT.
IF IT'S NICE AND SMOOTH,
SOMETHING'S WRONG.
BUT YOU'RE ACTUALLY SEWING THE
OUTER TWO EDGES TOGETHER.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT?
I HAVE IT CLOSEBY IF YOU CAN SEE
IT WITH FEWER PIECES.
AND THIS IS THE SCARF.
AND THERE WERE JUST TWO PIECES.
THERE'S THE TWO-TURN PIECE AND
THERE'S THE SOLID PIECE.
>> THANK YOU, LINDA.
THAT'S BEAUTIFUL.
IT SHOWS UP SO WELL ON THE
CAMERA.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT.
>> WONDERFUL.
>> KATHY G. IS ASKING DO YOU
FULLY LINE ALL YOUR PIECES?
>> MOST OF THE PIECES ARE DONE
IN A STITCH-AND-FLIP METHOD.
SO I HAVE THE CASE, AND IS I'M
STITCHING AND FLIPPING TO THE
MUSLIN OR THE BATTING.
I HAVE A TENDENCY IN MY AREA TO
USE MUSLIN AS MY GARMENTS, OR IF
I'M MAKING A TABLE RUNNER, I CAN
STITCH AND FLIP TO BATTING.
BUT ONCE THE PIECE IS MADE, IF
IT'S A PILLOW, YOU'RE GOING TO
HAVE FABRIC ON THE BACK.
BUT IF I TAKE THE PILLOW OUT,
WHICH HOPEFULLY NOBODY DOES WHEN
THEY COME IN YOUR HOUSE, YOU CAN
SEE THIS IS THE STITCH AND FLIP
ON THE INSIDE.
AND I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED THE
SEAMS ON THIS.
IT WAS LIKE GET HER DONE FOR THE
PROJECT AND THIS IS THE FIRST
TIME IT'S BEEN OUT IN A COUPLE
OF YEARS.
>> WELL, IT'S BEAUTIFUL.
THANK YOU.
AND THE NEXT QUESTION A COMMENT
FROM LINDA P.
SHE LOVES ALL YOUR DIFFERENT
APPLICATIONS OF THE STITCHED
FABRICS.
THANK YOU, LINDA.
>> THANK YOU.
IT'S FUN.
JUST GET STARTED AND THEN YOU GO
HOG WILD.
>> AND WE HAVE A LINDA TUNING IN
AND WATCHING AND SHE'S ASKING
HOW DO YOU DO THE THREADWORK?
IS IT FREE MOTION?
>> THIS IS FREE MOTION ON MY
GARMENT THAT I'M WEARING.
ON THE VEST THAT'S BEHIND ME,
THAT'S ACTUALLY COUCHING, AND
THAT WAS DONE FREE MOTION.
I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO GET INTO
THAT MUCH IN THE CLASS, BUT I'LL
GIVE YOU A QUICK TIP.
I DON'T HAVE THE PIECE THAT I
OPENED.
BUT REMEMBER WHEN WE CUT THE
TUBE OPEN, WE TRIM ON THE SIDE,
CUT THE TUBE OPEN AND WE HAD A
BIG, FLAT PIECE, LIKE THIS?
THIS IS WHEN I DO THE
THREADWORK.
YOU DON'T WANT TO CUT YOUR
STRIPS AND TRY TO STITCH DOWN
THEM WITH LOTS OF EXTRA
THREADWORK BECAUSE WHAT'S GOING
TO HAPPEN IS YOU WILL STRETCH
THE PIECES.
ALL OF THESE PIECES ARE KIND OF
SORT OF ON THE BIAS.
AND SO THAT WOULD STRETCH THEM.
SO IT'S MORE STABILIZED WHEN
IT'S A LARGER PIECE.
>> THAT'S A GREAT TIP.
SO YOU COULD DO FREE MOTION.
>> THEN ALSO ON THESE SLEEVES,
THE COUCHING WAS DONE WHILE IT
WAS IN A BIG, FULL PIECE.
>> BUT YOU COULD DO FREE MOTION
OR COUCHING OR REALLY
EMBELLISHMENTS OF YOUR CHOOSING
WHEN IT'S CUT OPEN AND FLAT.
>> OH, ABSOLUTELY.
SOME PEOPLE DO A DECORATIVE
STITCH.
I THINK THE VEST THAT WAS BEHIND
ME WHEN WE WERE DOING THE
FILMING HAD COUCHING DOWN THE
CENTER OF SOME OF THE PIECES OR
JUST REGULAR DECORATIVE
STITCHING.
IF YOU CUT A STRIP AND STITCH IT
IN AND DISCOVER THAT IT'S A
LITTLE BIT WIDE, WHAT YOU CAN DO
IS INSERT A DECORATIVE STITCH OF
SOME SORT TO FILL IN THE AREA TO
MAKE IT LOOK LIKE IT WAS
ACTUALLY TWO STRIPS.
>> ALSO A GREAT TIP.
THANK YOU, LINDA.
AND WE HAVE A COMMENT FROM
GISELLE.
I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF LINDA'S FOR
YEARS.
I HAVE HER FIRST BOOK ON PURSES
WITH THE PATTERNS INCLUDED.
>> ALL RIGHT!
VERY GOOD.
THANKS.
>> AND JUDY'S COMMENT IS --
>> SEND PICTURES.
>> SEND PHOTOS TO LINDA ON HER
SOCIAL SITE.
>> ABSOLUTELY.
YES.
>> JUDITH IS SHARING A COMMENT
OR QUESTION.
IS A FAT QUARTER ENOUGH TO GET
YOU IN TROUBLE?
I WANT TO TRY THIS ON A T-SHIRT.
>> YOU KNOW, IT'S ACTUALLY
BETTER IF YOU START OFF WITH A
STRIP.
LIKE IF YOU HAVE A JELLY ROLL,
JUST GRAB A COUPLE OF STRIPS.
OR THE EASIEST WAY TO START OFF
TO BEGIN WITH IS TO GRAB A
STRIPE, BECAUSE IT WILL GIVE YOU
THE ILLUSION OF BEING PIECED.
AND USE THE WIDTH OF THE FABRIC.
I'VE STARTED OFF WITH FAT
QUARTERS, BUT I JUST DISCOVERED
FATDFAT QUARTERS, WE GOT STARTED
PLAYING WITH THIS, AND I
DISCOVERED THAT A FAT QUARTER IS
JUST ENOUGH TO GET YOU IN
TROUBLE.
YOU DON'T GET MUCH WEIGHT.
A FAT QUARTER GIVES YOU PIECES
THAT ARE ABOUT THIS LONG AND
IT'S ACTUALLY EASIER TO DO THE
TECHNIQUE IF YOU'RE USING 45
INCHES.
>> GREAT TO KNOW.
THANK YOU, LINDA.
AND OUR NEXT QUESTION IS FROM
NANCY.
WHEN YOU QUILT YOUR GARMENTS, DO
YOU EVER USE BATTING?
>> MY GARMENTS ARE
STITCH-AND-FLIP.
AND I'VE USED CORDED PIPING
BETWEEN THE SEAMS TO ADD DETAIL.
IT'S SMALLER PIPING ON THIS
GARMENT.
THIS IS A GARMENT THAT I WEAR.
ON THE BACK, IT'S A LITTLE BIT
LARGER CORDED PIPING.
AND ON THIS GARMENT IT'S LARGER
PIPING ON THE SLEEVES AND THE
TWO OTHER AREAS OF THREADWORK.
SO IN STITCH-AND-FLIP, I DO NOT
QUILT IN BETWEEN BECAUSE THESE
ARE NARROWER STRIPS.
HOWEVER, IN MAKING A TABLE
RUNNER OR ON A QUILT, WHERE YOU
DON'T HAVE THE CORDED PIPING
SEPARATING THE PIECES, YOU CAN
OF COURSE QUILT ON THAT.
SO MY TABLE RUNNERS HAVE
QUILTING ON THEM, YES.
>> AND DO YOU HAVE BATTINGS
BETWEEN THE LINING AND THE TOP
FABRIC?
DO YOU HAVE QUILT BATTING?
>> I HAVE BATTING ON TABLE
RUNNERS OR WALL HANGINGS.
MY GARMENTS I GENERALLY DON'T
USE BATTING BECAUSE I LIVE IN
THE SOUTH AND THAT'S A LITTLE
BIT TOO MUCH WARMTH.
>> HERE IN WISCONSIN I CAN
INCLUDE THE BATTING FOR WINTER.
>> YES.
AND, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE MAKING
A WINTER VEST, THIS IS A LITTLE
ADD-ON TIP.
GO A HALF A SIZE LARGER BECAUSE
THE BATTING TAKES UP SPACE AND
YOU'RE PROBABLY WEARING A
HEAVIER GARMENT UNDERNEATH.
AND SO YOU GET TO FILL IN THAT,
YOU'RE GAINING WEIGHT OR
WHATEVER, BUT THAT EXTRA HALF A
SIZE KIND OF HELPS IN THE
FITTING A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
>> GREAT TIP.
THANKS, LINDA.
YOU MENTIONED FAT QUARTERS WILL
NOT WORK WELL.
WHAT SIZE STRIPS WOULD ALLOW ME
TO PLAY WITH FAT QUARTERS AS A
STARTER?
>> WELL, THE --
>> MAYBE SHE COULD SEAM TWO FAT
QUARTERS.
>> INCH AND A HALF PIECES.
MAKE A SET THAT'S MAYBE, WHAT IS
IT, ABOUT 6 INCHES WIDE, 7
INCHES.
BECAUSE IF YOU GET TOO WIDE, YOU
END UP WITH A SQUARE AND YOU
CAN'T SPIRAL.
>> OH, GOOD TIP.
WE NEED A RECTANGLE.
>> YEAH.
IT NEEDS TO BE A RECTANGLE.
AFTER YOU'VE DONE ONE FAT
QUARTER, YOU'LL GO, OH, I GET
IT, I REALLY SHOULD USE THE
WIDTH.
BUT I'M SURE YOU HAVE JUST A
COUPLE AT HOME THAT ARE A 45.
THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO BE
WONDERFUL.
YOU'RE JUST TESTING.
YOU'LL BE SURPRISED.
THEY MIGHT END UP WONDERFUL.
>> MAKE YOU'RE SURE USING FULL
CROSS-WISE FABRIC.
THAT WILL WORK GREAT.
>> YES.
>> THANKS, LINDA.
DEE IS ASKING HOW ARE THE
RIBBONS SEWN INTO THE SPIRAL?
>> THE RIBBONS WERE ACTUALLY
INCLUDED IN THE BEADING.
I'M ASSUMING THERE WAS A BLACK
VEST I BELIEVE I SHOWED, AND
THERE ARE RIBBONS ACTUALLY IN
THIS PIECING.
LET ME SEE HERE.
YOU CAN SEE THE YELLOW?
THE YELLOW RIGHT HERE?
>> YES.
>> THAT'S BEADING.
IT'S SOMETHING WE USE IN
HEIRLOOM SEWING, WHERE THEY
WEAVE THE RIBBON IN AND OUT.
GENERALLY YOU SEE IT ON A LITTLE
GIRL'S SLEEVES AND THEY TIE IT
IN A BOW OR IT'S ON SOME OF THE
LAYERING OF THE BOTTOM OF THE
DRESS.
AND I JUST INSERTED IT.
THESE WERE FABRICS THAT WERE
SENT TO ME FROM A COMPANY TO
MAKE A SAMPLE FOR THEM FOR QUILT
MARKET.
BUT I HAD TO ADD SOMETHING.
I COULDN'T JUST USE THE FOUR
FABRICS THAT THEY SENT ME.
SO THIS WAS MY WAY OF ADDING A
LITTLE BIT EXTRA COLOR.
>> IT REALLY MAKES IT POP.
AND YOUR USE OF USING BLACK,
PURCHASED TRIM, THAT'S A TRIM
THAT YOU PURCHASED AT THE FABRIC
STORE IN THE FABRIC DEPARTMENT
AND YOU CAN WEAVE YOUR RIBBON
WITH A LARGE TAPESTRY NEEDLE IN
AND OUT OF THERE.
>> YES.
>> BEAUTIFUL.
>> THIS ONE, I KEPT THE RIBBON
FLAT, AND THE BLACK GARMENT THAT
WAS IN THE STRIPES, I USED TWO
LAYERS OF RIBBON, TIED IT IN A
KNOT EVERY SO OFTEN, WHICH MADE
THE RIBBON FLIP, SO YOU MAY HAVE
RED A LITTLE BIT, THEN IT TURNED
TO YELLOW, THEN BACK TO RED.
AND THE LITTLE KNOTS GAVE YOU
EXTRA TEXTURE.
>> GREAT TECHNIQUES, LINDA.
THANK YOU.
MARY IS ASKING ON FACEBOOK, IS
IT POSSIBLE TO SHOW THE VEST
THAT YOU MADE WITH THE BLACK AND
WHITE FLORAL PIECE?
SHE SAYS BLACK AND ONE FLORAL
PIECE, EXCUSE ME.
WHERE CAN I SEE IT?
AND MARY'S ON FACEBOOK.
>> OKAY.
YOU GOT TWO SECONDS?
I CAN PROBABLY PUT MY HANDS ON
IT.
>> AND WHILE LINDA'S AWAY, WE
HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT FROM BOTH
LINDA AND MISTY.
THEY'RE BOTH EXCITED BECAUSE
THEY GREW UP IN SHREVEPORT, SO
WE'LL BE HAPPY TO TELL LINDA
THAT.
SO ANOTHER COMMENT IS FROM
CAROL.
THIS IS SO INSPIRING, LINDA.
CAROL IS SAYING THIS IS SO
INSPIRING.
>> THANK YOU, CAROL.
THIS IS ACTUALLY A GARMENT THAT
WAS MADE FOR OUR CHALLENGE.
AND IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE AT ASG
OR IF YOU COME TO THE RED RIVER
QUILT SHOW IN SHREVEPORT
OCTOBER 1, 2 AND 3, I'LL HAVE
THE FULL DISPLAY THERE.
YOU CAN ALSO GO ON OUR WEBSITE
AT ghees.com AND ON THE
HOMEPAGE YOU CAN SEE THE TOP
WINNERS IN THE CHALLENGE.
THEY HAD TO USE MY VEST PATTERN,
BUT THEY COULD DO ALL SORTS OF
OTHER EMBELLISHING.
THIS WAS MADE BY A LADY IN
ST. LOUIS, AND SHE ACTUALLY USED
FABRIC THAT I DESIGNED.
THIS IS A CUTOUT OF AND MINE
ACTUALLY BLOOMED LAST WEEK.
SHE HAS INSERTED COUCHING IN
SOME OF HER THINGS FOR DETAIL,
WHICH IS WHAT YOU WERE ASKING
ABOUT A WHILE AGO.
SHE HAS CORDED PIPING INCLUDED.
AND SHE EVEN INCLUDED SOME ORGAN
ORGANZA WITH IT.
>> IT'S BEAUTIFUL TO SEE IT ON
THE FRONT AND THE BACK.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A PLAIN
BACK TO YOUR VEST.
>> NO.
YOU'RE ENTERTAINING PEOPLE
BEHIND YOU IN LINE.
A LITTLE BIT IS FINE.
>> AND, LINDA, I SHARED WHILE
YOU WERE GETTING THE VEST THAT
LINDA AND MISTY BOTH GREW UP IN
SHREVEPORT, SO THEY'RE REALLY
EXCITED TO BE TUNING IN TODAY.
>> WHERE ARE THEY NOW SO I CAN
VISIT?
>> THEY'LL HAVE TO POST ANOTHER
COMMENT TO TELL US WHERE YOU'RE
LIVING NOW UNLESS YOU'RE STILL
IN SHREVEPORT.
ANOTHER QUESTION FROM SANDRA.
IS THERE A LIMIT TO HOW WIDE YOU
MAKE YOUR STRIPPED FABRIC BEFORE
TUBING?
>> THE STRIPS, THEY'RE ACTUALLY
20ISH.
THEY'RE MORE THAN 20.
MOST OF THE TIME IT'S BETWEEN 15
TO 20 INCHES.
>> GREAT.
THANK YOU, LINDA.
AND NANCY IS ASKING WHEN YOU SEW
IT LOOKS LIKE THE SAME TECHNIQUE
THAT YOU USE TO MAKE CONTINUOUS
BINDING.
IS THIS THE SAME METHOD?
>> CONTINUOUS BINDING.
>> WHEN YOU SEW CONTINUOUS QUILT
BINDINGS.
>> WHEN YOU'RE SEWING STRIPS
TOGETHER?
YEAH.
WE CALL IT THE CLOSED LINE
APPROACH IN THE SEWING INDUSTRY,
WHICH IS REALLY WHERE I'M FROM.
AND YES.
THAT WAY I CAN KEEP THE STRIPS
IN A SEQUENCE.
AND SOME PEOPLE KIND OF LABEL IT
ON A PIECE OF PAPER.
YOU CAN TAKE A PICTURE ON YOUR
CELL PHONE.
BUT I LINE THEM UP THE WAY I
WANT THEM TO GO AND TO KEEP THEM
IN THAT SEQUENCE, I SEW KEEP,
KEEP IT ATTACHED, KEEP IT
ATTACHED, SEW TWO MORE, KEEP IT
ATTACHED, SEW TWO MORE.
I PRESS THAT AND THEN THE FIRST
PIECE IS ATTACHED TO THE SECOND.
AND THE THIRD IS ATTACHED TO THE
FOURTH.
SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY SEWING IN
FOURS.
AND THEN YOU SEW IN EIGHTS.
IF YOU HAVE AN ODD NUMBER, JUST
DON'T FORGET IT.
BUT THAT'S THE WAY I DO IT
RATHER THAN HAVING TO MAKE ALL
THOSE LITTLE TIDBITS OF PAPER OR
WHATEVER.
THAT JUST TAKES TOO LONG.
AND IF I GET IT MIXED UP AND THE
STRIPES DON'T MATCH, THEN SO BE
IT.
YOU NOTICE IN THE STRIPES THAT I
DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH SAMPLES OF
THE MATCH.
I GOT AWAY FROM THAT REAL QUICK.
I LIKE THE MISMATCHED.
>> THAT'S GREAT.
IT'S SO FOR FORGIVING.
YOU CAN SEW THE STRIPS TOGETHER
AND NOT WORRY ABOUT MATCHING
SEAMS.
>> WHY STITCH YOURSELF UP FOR
TROUBLE?
>> RIGHT.
WE HAVE A COMMENT FROM SUSAN K.
THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO.
AND WHICH SIZE PIN TUCKS DO YOU
FIND YOU USE THE MOST?
>> WELL, I HAVE THREE THAT I
USE, AND THERE WAS A SLIDE THAT
HAD THREE DIFFERENT SIZES IN IT.
THOSE WERE BERNINA FEET.
I'M A BERNINA AMBASSADOR.
BUT I'M ALSO A SEWER.
SO I TEACH SEWING ON ALL
MACHINES AND EVERY MACHINE HAS A
VARIETY OF FEET.
THAT SMALLEST FOOT THAT WAS IN
THE PICTURE WAS ACTUALLY A PIN
TUCK FOOT TO MAKE PIN TUCKS.
WELL, IT'S AN OPTICAL ILLUSION.
IT LOOKS LIKE PIN TUCKS.
BUT IT'S DONE WITH A DOUBLE
NEEDLE.
I USE THAT VERY TINY, 1/16"
CORDED PIPING.
THERE'S A FOOT THAT HAS A LARGER
GROOVE AND I USE THAT FOR 1/8
INCH.
AND THEN <!0> I'M GOING FOR THE
1/4", THERE'S A FLIP FOOT THAT HAS A
LARGER FOOT.
EACH OF THOSE FEET HAS A REASON.
IT DEPENDS ON THE PROJECT.
A BAG I HAVE LARGER CORDED PIPE
IN A GARMENT.
MAYBE SMALLER.
IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE DETAIL.
SO I USE THOSE THREE SIZES.
AND WHILE I MENTIONED BERNINA, I
AM A BERNINA AMBASSADOR, AND
I'VE NOTICED THAT THEY ARE ONE
OF THE SPONSORS.
IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT
PURCHASING A MACHINE FROM THE
SHOW, CONTACT ME, AND YOU NEED
TO DO IT TODAY OR TOMORROW, AND
I HAVE A CARD THAT I CAN GIVE
YOU.
ANY PURCHASE THAT'S OVER $1,000,
BERNINA WILL SEND YOU $100.
BUT YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME TODAY
OR TOMORROW.
I CAN GIVE YOU THE FULL DETAILS
AND I WILL SEND YOU THE COUPON
THAT YOU NEED FOR THAT PURCHASE.
>> SO WE CAN JUST GO TO
ghees.com AND THEN EMAIL YOU
THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE.
>> YOU CAN DO IT THROUGH THE
WEBSITE OR YOU COULD EMAIL
BAGS@DGHEES.COM.
EITHER WAY IS FINE.
>> THAT'S VERY HELPFUL.
THANK YOU, LINDA.
>> I WILL BE SITTING NEAR A
COMPUTER THIS WEEKEND, SO I WILL
GET BACK TO YOU.
>> THANKS FOR BEING THERE FOR
US.
MARY HAS A QUESTION ON FACEBOOK.
WHAT SIZE ACCORDING DO YOU
USUALLY USE FOR YOUR VEST
PIPING?
>> FOR THE VEST, I HAVE A SPOOL
THAT I USE A LOT.
I DROPPED IT, SO IT'S STARTING
TO LOOK A LITTLE BIT SHABBY
HERE.
BUT THIS IS A SKIMPY 1/8".
BIEW THE TIME YOU PUT YOUR
FABRIC AROUND IT, IT ENDS UP
BEING ABOUT ONE EIGHTH OF AN
INCH.
WE HAVE SOME OF THIS ACCORDING
ON OUR WEBSITE.
I THINK THE SPOOL IS 100 FEET.
THIS IS ONE I USE WITH THE
PIPING WIZARD TOOL IN MY
TRIMMING.
THIS IS A TRIMMING TOOL TO MAKE
SURE YOUR SEAM ALLOWANCES ARE
EVEN.
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW WONDERFUL
YOU ARE AT CUTTING.
THE RULER SLIPS SOMETIMES AND
YOU DON'T GET THE NARROW STRIPS
THAT YOU NEED, THE EXACT SIZE.
AND IT'S ACTUALLY EASIER TO WORK
WITH A LITTLE BIT WIDER STRIP.
SO JUST GO AHEAD AND WASTE 1/4"
OF FABRIC.
IT'S EASIER TO SEW YOUR CORDED
PIPING WITH THE FOOT AND THEN
USE THE TOOL TO TRIM.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S
DIFFERENT GROOVES FOR DIFFERENT
SIZE CORDED PIPING AND DIFFERENT
SEAM ALLOWANCES.
>> GREAT TIP.
THANK YOU, LINDA.
AND CAROL IS ASKING, COULD YOU
PLEASE REPEAT THE NAME OF YOUR
BOOK?
>> MY BOOK IS WORKING WITH
CHROMATICS.
THIS IS A BOOK I WROTE A FEW
YEARS AGO THAT WON AN AWARD AND
I HAVE NOT REPRINTED IT, BUT I
HAVE MADE IT INTO A DOWNLOADABLE
BOOK.
SO YOU CAN GO ON OUR WEBSITE
NOW.
I PUT A BUNCH OF SPECIALS IN THE
SPECIALS SECTION IN THE
DROP-DOWN BOX AND THIS IS ONE OF
THEM.
SO YOU GET THE FULL BOOK, WHICH
I THINK IS A 32-PAGE BOOK, AND
I'VE ADDED A BUNCH OF PHOTOS AT
THE END.
SO YOU GET SOME CURRENT PHOTOS
OR ADDITIONAL PHOTOS.
>> WELL, THANK YOU FOR MAKING
THAT AVAILABLE ON YOUR WEBSITE
THIS WEEK, LINDA.
THAT'S WONDERFUL NEWS.
AND YOU CAN CONNECT WITH LINDA
AT ghees.com.
LINDA, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US
TODAY AND SHARING ALL YOUR
EXPERTISE AND ALL YOUR BEAUTIFUL
SPIRAL PATCHWORK IDEAS.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH, DEANNA.
IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE TO BE A
PART OF THIS.
I APPRECIATE PBS FOR ALL THE
EFFORT THEY'VE DONE TO MAKE
SEWING AND QUILTING AVAILABLE TO
EVERYBODY.
AND I PARTICULARLY LIKE THE
EXERCISE CLASS.
AND I LIKE THE FACT THAT I CAN
TAKE ALL THE CLASSES, TOO, WHICH
HAS NEVER HAPPENED.
>> AMAZING.
WELL, THAT'S GREAT, LINDA, AND
THANKS FOR SHARING ALL YOU DO
TODAY.
WE WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR
TUNING IN TODAY AND JOINING
LINDA FOR HER SPIRAL PATCHWORK
TECHNIQUES.
BE SURE TO GO TO quiltshow.com
AND YOU'LL FIND LINDA IN THE
VENDOR MALL AND TAKE IN ALL THE
SPECTACULAR EXHIBITS, TOO.
>> I DON'T THINK I'M LISTED IN
THE VENDOR MALL.
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