Now that you have made a Happy Village how do you quilt it? Karen demonstrates some fun architectural details like stones and bricks to add interest to your collage.
Michelle, there are so many tiny pieces in this village fabric collage, so if you quilted on them the edges would fray. The purpose of the tulle (in combination with the stitching) is to hold the raw edges in place so they do not fray. Since the tulle is quilted in place it remains part of the piece and is not removed. Tulle comes in a variety of colors so the selection of tulle is very important in setting the mood for the village. Hope this helps!
What beautiful works of art. Thank you for sharing how you quilt them! I started a happy village. Hmm, don't remember when ... more than two years ago. It is a real UFO!! :-D Got the village finished and the tulle on and started to quilt it and just didn't like it at all (not an expert at quilting I am!!!). I took the quilting out. And it is still there nice and rolled up! I came across some of your videos last night and I thank you for all of your sharing. I am now motivated to finish!! Grazie mille!!
"Put some good music on and get stoned."😉 Perfect!!!! But seriously, this was great! I've been a bit intimidated by this type of quilting, but what great advice using a pad and pen to get some muscle memory before practicing on a machine. Fabric, thread, wear and tear on the machine, none of that is cheap anymore.... but I am! 😄 Thanks very much for posting this. It's been very helpful! I've had a particular piece I've wanted to make for a long time but didn't know how to go about it. Until I found you! 😊 ✌
Karen, your work is inspirational. I just learned about your quilting a few days ago and am new to quilting in general. I am hoping to make one of your quilts some day soon. Thank you for doing what you do and creating!
After watching your beautiful videos , learning a lot from you ,sharing and spreading your genious ideas and knowledge to others, I really appreciate and thank you so much to you Karen.
Quero agradecer, a tempos sou apaixonada por esta arte e foi um grande presente encontrar voce que ensina com tanta dedicação, fica muito fácil vendo voce realizar com tanto talento, um abraço... sou do Brasil, sua fã.
This is beautiful, Karen, thanks for the inspiration! I also like how flexible these little villages are. They are all so unique! My sketch experience turned out pretty good overall-I know I commented on another video I am making my squares a bit larger, however I know they will turn out wonderful following your guidelines! Also, now that I sketched it first, and came up with some ideas for the odd spaces, I don't feel quite so intimidated =)
Would love to see how your villages turn out in the larger scale. You can email photos to me directly at karen@quilted-lizard.com and ask me any questions along the way. Happy to help in the construction!!!
@@karen.eckmeier Actually, I think I will take your advice and maybe scale down the overall size and use the 6 1/2", or perhaps go to 7" or 8". I may even mix up the sizes. I'll play with it, and that's what it is all about, right? It looks like so much fun. My brain has a hard time with the bitty size, however, I may do a grouping here and there, just to play =) I tell myself that it is all play-and it is! and then I start to take myself way to seriously. LOL.
Karen ::: Which type of felt works best ? Wool ? or Wool/Rayon Combo ? or Polyester ? I'm almost ready to discover my own Happy Village ! Thank you so much for creating this !
I use polyester. It's nice and thin and the edges don't ravel. Remember though, that the felt is just an optional backing/border, you can use fabric backing with a fabric binding. Your choice. Have fun...and I love to see pictures of finished villages!
What does the backing look like? Do you have your top layer and batting and then your backing and then you free stitch it together. Help I’m a beginner in landscaping ways and I can use some lessons.
The villages are collaged on top of a cotton batting, then "sandwiched" with a bottom fabric and on the top is a layer of tulle (very fine netting - which holds the raw fabric edges in place). At this point with all the layers together (tulle, collaged village, batting and fabric backing at bottom) the machine quilting stitches hold everything together and of course give the wonderful texture and details. Check out some of my other videos for more visuals on the process and also for complete instructions refer to my book "Happy Villages: Step into a Fabric Collage Adventure" available through amazon.com . If you are interested in fabric landscapes I have another technique called "Accidental Landscapes:Surprisingly Simple Quilted Scenes"....RU-vid videos and a book are available for those also. I hope that helps!
So if I want to make a lap quilt like this, how do I hide the backing from all of the stitches I sew when sewing this all together. Also thank you for your RU-vid videos. I’ve been looking up yours to help me along the way. I just can’t seem to find how to start off (backing, batting, and pieces of landscaping materials. Lol I’ve tried many different ways but I seem to not get it right..... I’ll check your book out on amazon too. Thank you for helping me... I’m trying to make a lap quilt for my 94 yr old mother and I don’t want the back to have all the stitches of sewing the appliqués pieces. So do I make the scene first and then sew it on to the rest later? I’m so lost lol did I mention I live in the show me state. 😁
@@judevucovich7068 Hi Jude, I'm sorry I missed your second question - just seeing it today for the first time.The quilting stitches DO show on the back, so you have to do a nice job! (HOWEVER, if you are doing appliqué....those stitches only are on the back of the top fabric......it's the quilting stitches that are seen on the back).
The purpose of the tulle (in combination with the stitching) is to hold the raw edges in place so they do not fray. Since the tulle is quilted in place it remains part of the piece and is not removed. Tulle comes in a variety of colors so the selection of tulle is very important in setting the mood for the village.
It's the best solution since the fabrics are so tiny that if you quilt on them they fray so much that they kind of disintegrate. Another option you may prefer is to use a paper backed fusible to stabilize your fabrics and hence the edges, then you don't have to use the tulle (fine netting....not mesh). The result is a flatter look and a little harder to quilt through, but many have been happy with this approach. They key is to have fun!
