Your Love Gives Me Wings

Aurifil Designer Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis is an amazing pattern designer, a fabric designer for Island Batik, an educator, a Studio 180 Certified Instructor, and truly one of the biggest cheerleaders you’ll find in the quilting industry. We were lucky to collaborate with her on a brand new collection of 28wt threads called Kismet. (stay tuned for more on her thread collection and coordinating fabrics next month!)

Today, we’re handing the blog over so that Tammy can share a few tips & tricks for creating her latest project, Your Love Gives Me Wings, just in time for Valentine’s Day! 

Thank you, Tammy!

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The upcoming Valentine’s Day has me thinking all things love. Such as my husband, my family, my friends. Like my new fabric line, Kismet, which I love. And especially Aurifil thread – including my 28wt Kismet collection – which I adore!

An offhand comment by my husband the other day about the Laundry Fairy (no – we don’t actually have a Laundry Fairy, unless I count as a fairy!) inspired this new project! Here’s some (scary) insight into how my brain works:  fairy, fairy wings, Valentine’s Day, hearts, heart with wings. And Your Love Gives Me Wings was born!

It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, combining fabrics in fun color combinations, to make an adorable pin cushion as well as a charming ornament. Either – or both – make wonderful little gifts for those near and dear.

The 28wt threads are so nice to work with. They provide a bit of texture, but don’t require any additional modifications. Stitch fast or slow, overcast, complex, or simple and straight. I recommend using a 50wt matching thread in the bobbin. 

This was a fused project, which means it is quick and easy. No edges to turn under, no hand stitching required. Nothing wrong with needle turn applique, but sometimes a quick, easy project is fun! When working with machine embellished fusible projects, here are some tips for a stress-free project.

Press Your Seams Open
If you are fusing a motif on top of a pieced backing, pressing seams open will create wonderfully flat seams. This means that the seams will be much less likely to show through on the fused motif. The stitching will also be easier and more consistent, since the base fabric thickness is more consistent.

Work in Layers
I’m as guilty as the next person of wanting to Just.Get.It.Done. But especially when I am machine embellishing a fused project, I like to work from the bottom up. This means I:

• Cut all fused shapes out
• Lay out all shapes to determine final placement
• Fuse the shapes from the bottom up
• Work with one layer at a time
• After the fused motif cools, I do all thread embellishment to that layer before moving on

Bury Your Threads
I get it – you probably already do this. Wonderful. But if you don’t, then it is a great practice to begin. Leave yourself a nice thread tail at the beginning and at the end.  I also make every effort to begin and end in the same needle hole if and when my stitch lines will be meeting. I then pull all threads to the back of the project and tie them off neatly before beginning the next layer.

Choose the Correct Sewing Machine Foot
Which is the correct foot? Well, that is partially personal preference and partially determined by the type of stitch you are doing. I like an open toe foot so I can see what I’m doing. If I am doing edge stitching, I like the open toe foot with the marked cross bar. I can use the marking as a point of reference. I also think it helps press against the edge of the motif, keeping it nice and flat while I’m stitching.

If you want to create your own version of You Love Gives Me Wings, you’ll need a few basic supplies. This is a terrific scrap buster project, as almost all of the pieces are relatively small. You’ll want:

• Fabric scraps (3 ½” or larger)
• Felted wool
• Stuffing
• Aurifil 28wt thread
• Steam-a-Seam 2 light
• Open toe foot
• Schmetz Non-stick needle 80/12
• Optional but super fun – glass beads
• Beading hand needle
• Bakers twine (or Aurifloss!!)

If you’d like to make your own project with Your Love Gives Me Wings, you can get the pdf at www.tamarinis.com.  Until February 7^th, the mini pattern will be available for only $3.00.

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Big Thanks to Tammy for sharing her tips & tricks with us today! We’re including a few handy links in case you’d like to learn more about the products or snag your own threads/fabrics/patterns. Happy Stitching!

LINKS

• Kismet Thread Collection — click HERE to find an Aurifil Dealer
• Kismet Fabric Collection — in stores soon!
• Your Love Gives Me Wings Pattern 

THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
Kismet
10 Small Spools, 100% Cotton 28wt Thread
3910, 2810, 1100, 2545, 2235
2479, 2888, 2220, 2135, 2692

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ABOUT TAMMY
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Tammy Silvers is the designer behind the brand Tamarinis. She’s been designing quilts for 10 years, and prides herself on offering bold, fresh new patterns for quilters of all levels. She enjoys working with almost any fabric, but her favorites (the one that makes her drool and blow a carefully constructed budget) are batiks, bold prints, and chicken prints. Having a background in art and literature, another of her guilty quilty pleasures is finding ways to use “words” in her work, be it in the fabric itself or by adding them to the piece.

Tammy is a Georgia native and currently lives in Acworth with her husband, children (when they come to visit!), dog, and her favorite fat cats.

Under the label Tamarinis, her designs are regularly published in a variety of quilt magazines, including Quilt, McCall’s Quilting, American Patchwork and Quilting, Stitch, Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting, Quilty, Quilt It…Today, Sew It…Today, Stitch and Create and Decorate. She also works with some of the major fabric manufacturers designing projects to showcase and promote their fabric lines, including Island Batik (of course!), Northcott Fabrics, Blend, Camelot and Fabri-Quilt.