Art & Stitch Workshop

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Carla

I recently attended a wonderful seminar in using Art & Stitch (ANS) digitizing software for quilting and embroidery design. I loved this workshop and had a blast drawing designs using this vector program developed by Theo and Loes van der Heijden.

As an incentive to practice what I learned, I thought I would share fun designs developed using ANS a few times per week. To begin, the following designs were from a class exercise following directions by Loes. (Carla note: For students who have taken my Tablet Design class, this is a similar process taught in designing wholecloth quilts).

You start with a triangle doodle design:

ANS example design by Carla Barrett

Repeat 3 more times to create a bock or motif. For ANS users, you would select and then click on the magic square function in the program:

Next, you can then create a larger block using 4 of the blocks:

Finally, you can also create a large Edge-to-Edge design in ANS, too:

E2E design by Carla Barrett

For those of you interested in the program I am using, Art & Stitch has a free trial download on their website here.

Let me know what you think? Happy quilting! Carla

Doug’s Quilt

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Carla

I am busy working on a quilt for a guy quilting friend named Doug. Doug owns a local quilt store and he is funny to boot! He will call me posing as Bill Clinton, and ask me whether the Presidential library should have a condom dispenser in the bathroom or other product? It helps that his Bill Clinton imitation is spot on.

Doug’s quilt has an overall duck hunting theme. It also has some lovely applique cattails on the quilt for further visual interest, too. (I promise to show pictures when finished). I knew I needed a border design with ducks on it, so I turned to Digitech Patterns to find one. I eventually found this loon pattern by Denise Schillinger, which fit the bill:

This pattern looks more duck-like than loon-like to me. Loons swim very low in the water is why I say this. Anyway, I digress….. here is the finished border design using this design. Note that I took this picture from the back side of the quilt:

border design

Doug’s quilt has light cornerstones in all four corners, so I wanted to place a related design that would go with the border. Unfortunately, I could not find one, so it was time to create one using bits and pieces of Denise’s Digitech Pattern design:

Obviously, I still have to add the tight piano keys to the un-quilted side of the block, but I ended up really liking this design and how it looks on Doug’s quilt. I shared it with him on Facebook, and he was very happy.

Carla Tip: This is my quilting tip of the day- when attempting to locate a complementary design for a quilt, use bits and pieces of an existing design used elsewhere in the quilt- whether it is a stencil design or digitized design.

I am adding some other duck and duck hunter motifs within the body of the quilt, but you will have to wait to see it. Stay posted! Hugs, Carla

Molly’s Quilt

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Carla

I finished Molly’s quilt for her awhile back, but thought I would share the photos here, too.

This was a sweet garden theme quilt, perfect quilt for the start of spring! I knew that Molly wanted to enter this quilt in her guild show, so I did some nice quilting for her. First, an overall view of the quilt on my table:

quilt pieced by Molly Evangelisti and quilted by Carla Barrett

Another view:

quilting by Carla Barrett

Last photo, a close up of my block design you can purchase HERE:

Block design by Carla Barrett and available at www.digitechpatterns.com

Block design by Carla Barrett and available at http://www.digitechpatterns.com

Now, your turn! What have you been up to? Happy Friday, Carla

Feather Practice- Part 10

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Carla

In this Feather Practice Handout, Part 10, I wanted to share my whimsical design to use in sashings, small borders, and especially pieced borders.

featherpractice10 (right click to download)

Feather Practice Handout 10 by Carla Barrett

This design is wonderful used on girly quilts, flower quilts, and any double small border or sashing spaces on a quilt. The mirror design looks great quilted up. Here is where I used this design on this adorable quilt pieced by Doug Hodder. This is the back of the quilt showing my design on the minkee fabric:

I will have to add another photo showing you the front of the quilt and how cute it looks. Keep watching! Hugs, Carla

Feather Practice- Part 9

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Carla

In Feather Practice, Part 9, today we are going to focus on feathering small border or larger sashings spaces on a quilt top.

featherpractice9.pdf (Here is the PDF file to download; you will need a pdf reader to view.)

Feather Practice 9 by Carla Barrett

With practice and growing skill with feathers, you will be able to quilt smaller and smaller spaces. The blank spaces are for you to practice over and over to gain mastery.

This is Part 9 in my feather practice series. If you would like to start at Handout #1, please click HERE.

Next lesson is fun and whimsical. Stay tuned! Regards, Carla

Feather Practice- Part 8

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Carla

Here is the 8th part in my Feather Practice Series. This series of handouts are intended for newer quilters or for anyone wanting to brush up on feather practice. I happen to love feathers for feminine quilts, and feel that this is a wonderful skill to have in your quilting tool box!

featherpractice8-1 (pdf)

Today, we are focusing on feathering spines or small borders. Right click to download my PDF file. Note that you will need a PDF reader to view this file.

Handout by Carla Barrett

The second design in the handout I have used before in my quilting. Here is a photo from the back of a quilt, but you can see this feather being used:

For Barb Kiehn’s wonderful Egyptian Theme quilt, notice the stylized feathers in the border. I quilted sashing sized spaces to fill with a variation of sashing #2 in the handout:

Hope this gives you additional ideas for using this feather design on your quilts. If you use any of my handouts on one of your quilts, I would love to see the results! In case you missed an earlier Feather Series, here are the links for each part:

Feather Practice- Part 1, Feather Practice- Part 2, Feather Practice- Part 3, Feather Practice- Part 4, Feather Practice- Part 5, Feather Practice- Part 6, and Feather Practice- Part 7

Happy Feathering, everyone! Let me know if you would like more of the feather series, too, by leaving a comment. Hugs, Carla

Feather Practice- Part 7

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Carla

Today, I present the Feather Practice Series, Part 7. This quilting feather handout shows you four different ways to feather an inset triangle space on a quilt top. Any of these feathers, quilted in all the inset triangles on a quilt top, will flow visually from triangle to triangle. It will also draw the eye around the quilt and provide some beautiful texture, too.

featherpracticehandout7 (pdf) (Right click to download. You will need a PDF reader)

Feather Practice 7.1 by Carla Barrett

Above are 4 different variations of my inset triangle feathers. Below is the 2nd page, which is where you will practice drawing on:

Feather Practice handout by Carla Barrett

Note, too, that you can just feather the outer side of the spine for a different look.

quilting example by Carla Barrett

You may also decide to fill the blank space with curved cross-hatching or other fill, too, like I have drawn below:

feather example by Carla Barrett

Hope you are enjoying my Feather Practice Series! I have enjoyed all the quilters who have taken the time to comment, contact me via email or tell me they are loving it. I appreciate your kind words! In case you missed an earlier Feather Practice, here are the links:

Feather Practice- Part 1, Feather Practice- Part 2, Feather Practice- Part 3, Feather Practice- Part 4, Feather Practice- Part 5, and Feather Practice- Part 6

Have fun PPP- which means Practice, Practice, Practice! Now go forth and feather! Carla

Feather Practice, Part 5

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Carla

This post is a fifth in my Feather Practice Series, and today, I share how I do my Asian-inspired feathers and spine variations. These designs work great on Asian themed quilts, tropical quilts, and nature quilts and similar themed quilt top designs.

featherpractice5.pdf (right click to download. You will need Adobe Reader to view the file)

Feather Practice 5.1 by Carla Barrett

Feather Practice 5.2 by Carla Barrett

Print out and practice on 5-10 copies. Repetition is how you learn how to draw any feather type. Practice drawing them and filling a variety of quilt spaces, too,

Freehand quilters: I suggest you mark until you can quilt this design by memory. Now, when I quilt them free motion, I will only mark the spine as a guideline.

I hope you are enjoying my Feather Practice Series. If so, please leave me a comment. My motivation for providing this free series is to provide assistance to any machine quilters who needs encouragement in their own personal quilting journey. Happy Quilting, Carla Barrett

Latest Quilting Designs!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Carla

The Feather Practice Series will continue tomorrow for all the feather quilters.

I wanted to share that Digitech Patterns has just released some more of my quilting designs. Right now, if you go to Digitech Patterns and click on “New” designs, they are offering them at 50% off for a short time: