Fabric fun with flower designs and stitches for a millefiori décor item –
an experimental approach Maretha Fourie
Playing with fabric and piecing for a ± 40 cm diameter handmade Millefiori quilt-item.
Workshop will cover: Flower prints and motifs, layouts, match fabric to templates and vice verse; mapping and pin up designing;, tacking, glueing and piecing; quilting and embellishing; applique to background; evaluating.
Classroom experience
Understanding isometrics, shapes, characters, and layouts. We work with a radiating layout.
Piecing with and without templates. : inlay (EPP), dot-to-dot, regula and the Y-seam
Choosing suitable prints, identifyeing the motifs make the window templates.
Stitches: tacking, whipping, ladder, tying, quilting
Traditional quilting, big stitch and tying: aplliqueing
Tacking: Continuous running, diagonal, big stitch, glueing and machine ( demonstratiing)
Choosing and using flower prints for a 4-ring, 7-row count flower block
Mapping and pin-up method of designing
Workshop requirements:
Piece of foam board or other for pin wall. ±50x50 cm covered with a plain natural coloured fabric (eg. cheap pre-shrunk calico) to draw a grid onto. Koki, ruler and regular or short pins.
Fabric: flower prints, bring what you have. We can swop and share fabric and cut different motifs for individuals from the same piece. A variety of flower prints will be welcome.
· One, two or three flower print fabrics, minimum fat quarter each. Try to include an overall flower small print, and a print where 6 or 12 motifs can easily be identified to cut out and a solid or solid textured print.
· Solid fabric and or vilt to match the background of the flower . Do not cut large pieces. Refer to the millefiori picture in my book p. 67 and the attached photo.
(You will cover a few templates with workshop fabric for homework, to save time).
· Two mirror tiles, which can open as a book (pre-prepare it using massking tape)
· Rulers: equalateral triangle (60°), school and 15 cm metal ruler hardware shop) 1cm
· Template material, A4 carton page or 4 old postcards is enough
· Commercial cutting and fitting templates if available, don’t buy , teaching includes making your own window template. but you will have to make your own window and secondary templates.I prefer to teach you how to make your own window and secondary templates.
· Regular sewing equipment including quilting needles, thimble for the clever middle finger and strong thin piecing thread and poor thread for tacking. Scissors and rotary cutter for paper and fabric. etc. A latex thimble is wonderful to work with. Mark everything.
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