I've been playing with my Accuquilt Go feathers die and thought I'd share this wreath project.
The feathers die cuts two shapes and you can cut 3 of each time. Of course you can cut several layers of fabric so it really is fast to cut enough shapes for a project! Can you see how I'd marked the shape outlines with a permanent marker to make fabric easier to place?
Since I was planning to fuse these I first ironed Bondaweb (Wonder Under) onto the back of my fabric. I used a 7 inch strip, width of fabric, which I had left over and cut the fusible slightly narrower so it didn't peek over the edge and attach itself to my ironing board:
Next I folded it in half lengthways and placed it carefully over the curved feather shapes on the die.
Note: I did leave the paper backing on the fabric.
Now place the cutting mat on top and turn the handle to feed it through the rollers. Every time I use this I think of my Grandma feeding laundry through the mangle on her twin tub washer!
This produces 6 feather shapes:
Can you see that 3 of these face the opposite direction? That's because the fabric was folded and it's important because you need both types for this project. I used 24 of one shape and 12 of the other for this project. My strip of fabric was more than big enough for this.
Once the shapes are cut I put away the Go and layed my backing fabric out (22" square) ready to arrange the shapes. First I tried placing them round a dinner plate but was struggling to get them evenly spaced util I had a better idea! I drew round the plate onto freezer paper and cut out the circle. Mine was 9 and 3/8inches. I then folded the circle in half, then half again, then half again (hope this makes sense!) until I had it marked into eighths. I put a pen mark at the edge on all the folds. I then ironed the freezer paper circle onto the centre of my fabric.
I then arranged feather shapes so the points matched up to these marks, keeping the shapes just a little away from the edge of the paper and removing the backing paper from the shapes as I went. It's best to do this on an ironing surface but don't press the shapes in place til you have placed them all!
Now it was easier to place the other shapes evenly between.
At this stage I ironed the shapes in place before removing the freezer paper . Now you need to use the shapes which faced the other direction for the inner circle. I used only feathers in the centre circle but I could perhaps have used one or two more.
So there you have it - a feather wreath!. All it needs now is some buttonhole stitch round the feathers and some quilting. I'll post a picture when it's done.
Would you like to have a try at this? Well I feel a giveaway coming on. Come back tomorrow to see what I have planned!
