Making long stems for Trailing Vines and panel one is now available.

These instructions are  for the Trailing Vines quilt along.

First prepare your cut background panel by first pressing  it in half lengthwise and width wise.

Run basting stitches in the pressed lines by hand or by using a large stitch on the sewing machine.

I draw the lines for the edges 2 1/2" from the middle and the top and bottom so that you can be sure the leaves will be contained and not move into the seam allowance. I use a pen that washes out.

 

BIAS STEMS

There are many methods to make bias stems and you may have your own way that you're comfortable with so go ahead with whatever method you prefer.

This is how I make mine. The stems are 1/4" for the branches and 3/8" for the main stem. I like to use the Clover bias makers.

First I starch and press the fabric.

Line up the 45 degree line on your long ruler at the bottom selvage edge.

I've butted up another ruler at the top end to give me more cutting length. Make the cut from selvage to selvage and realign rulers as you progress across to the other selvage edge.

Once the initial cut is made, fold the cut edge in half.

Cut strips 3/4" wide from the cut edge for 3/8" stems and cut strips 1/2" wide for 1/4" stems. I actually cut a smidgen over the 1/2" which gives me better results.

For the main wider stem, you'll need to make joins so that your strip will measure around 100" long.

Place strips as they are in the photo below. Draw or eyeball the bias seam and sew.

Open up the strips and trim excess fabric.

Press seam open. I secure the seam allowances down with a little basting glue or fabric glue stick so that they will move through the bias maker smoothly.

I put the pattern on my light table and place the stems with the tiniest dots of basting glue, being careful not to distort the background fabric. I try to aim the dots of glue between the leaves.

The last panel I did differently by drawing the pattern on the background and then placing the stems.

I thread baste in the middle of the main stem and the branches on one edge. (click photo to see)

This is so that as the leaves are sewn on, you can slip them under the stem so I would do one side of the branch, undo the basting and fill the other side with leaves.

Sew the edges of the stems as you complete adding the leaves to each branch.

It's your choice if you draw the pattern on panel or not. If you don't like to do that, I would suggest putting a dot on the bottom and top of each leaf placement and use those to guide you.

Panel one is now available for download. Click on the page under my header to go to the Trailing Vines page. I'm going to upload photos of each branch from panel one onto flickr.  Once I've done that, I'll add the link to the Trailing Vines page.