Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Orange You Glad- a tutorial

Thanks for all the love on my 'Orange You Glad' quilt. I sure do love it. 
I thought it would be cool to walk you through the process I used to make my orange peels. You know, just in case you want to make some. And you should. :o)

Let's get started:
You will need a light weight fusible interfacing. I used a Ultra Lightweight Fusibile Interfacing by Pellon. The lighter the better, just make sure it's fusible on one side and not on the other. 

Draw or print your peel shape onto plain white paper. To determine the size first decide what size your block will be. I was using charm squares 5") so I knew my finished block would be 4 1/2". I decided to make my peel shape just smaller than that- about 4 1/4". I started with a 4 1/4" square and then drew a peel to fit inside corner to corner. It's important to remember that the size of your peel is determined by the size of the square it fits into, not the measurement from tip to tip. 


Trace the peel shape onto the non-fusible side of the pellon (this is lots easier than on the fusible side). I tried lots of different writing utensils and settled on a dull sharpen yourself #2 pencil. But you can use whatever works best for you.


Roughly cut out traced shapes leaving about 1/4" seam allowance.
Place on top of your fabric square with the fusible side on top of the right side of the fabric.
Place a couple pins to keep pieces from shifting.


Shorten the stitch length on your machine to a 2 (I know machines vary in the way stitches are measured- you just want a smaller stitch length for this part).
Stitch on the drawn line pivoting with needle down at points.


Trim around the peel 1/8" from stitched line. Trim across the tip a little closer being careful to not cut through the stitching.


Gently pull the interfacing away from the fabric creating a bubble as shown.


Using sharp scissors, cut a small slit in the interfacing. DO NOT cut the fabric.


Using a stylus ( I love my Purple Thang!) carefully pull the fabric through the cut hole in the interfacing and turn right side out. The right side of the fabric and the fusible side of the interfacing will be facing outward. Working gingerly, use the stylus to smooth the sides and point the ends.


Finger press the sides to smooth edges.


Place the peel on top of the background square. Center on the square making sure there are seam allowances in each corner.


Press in place with a hot iron to fuse. Flip over and press from the back as well.


Make as many peels as your heart desires.

At this point some people opt to stitch the peel to the background square with a variety of methods 
(various machine stitches or hand stitching)
With my quilt finishing technique I find this is an unnecessary step.

Once your quilt top is complete, layer with batting and backing and baste.


Using a walking foot I quilt and secure the peels at the same time by topstitching the very edge of each peel. 


You can see the amazing quilting lines that this creates (I added a few more in between the peels as well).


Now you can make an orange peel quilt just like me.
Orange you glad!?  :o)


42 comments:

Shannon said...

I' m serios, can I have the leftovers. I know ya love me*222

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Thanks for the great tutorial Emily!

kris said...

Gorgeous!! You are amazing and it was so fun to meet you at quilt bliss!

Sonia B said...

Hey, those mountains look familiar. Great tutorial and beautiful quilt.

Nicky said...

Great method which could help me with fixing epp blocks to a background thanks!

Little Quiltsong said...

Love this! What a nice pattern and a great idea for 'white background' Fabric - adding the different colored leaves on top. Thanks Emily!

Nedra said...

I like your method a lot more than hand appliqueing each orange peel. Very cute quilt!

Caro said...

Thank you for a great tutorial. Would you ever consider trimming the center of the fusible away so that there is 1/4-1/2 inch left?

PunkinPatch said...

Get. Out. I'm totally self-taught, which often leaves me scratching my head over beautiful quilts like this one! Your tutorial blew my mind!! Thank you so much for the inspiration. Now I must go appliqué all the things!!

Dawn Frisch said...

Thanks for the great tutorial! I have to make one definitely now!
Dawn
array-dawn at cox dot net

Beth said...

Great tutorial. Thanks. Love the quilt.

Katie said...

remarkable -- you make peeling look so easy and like something i would atleast like to try my hand at.

Yvonne said...

That is so great! Who knows I might learn to do some machine quilting some day!!

Jennifer said...

This is stunning! I definitely need to give it a try

Holly said...

Thank you for posting this tutorial! Using the quilting to secure the segments makes so much sense, but I bet I would not have thought of it!

Lesley said...

Your quilt is gorgeous! Thank you for the tips!

Sue Niven said...

Just Yummy! Thanks for the tute!

Kay said...

This is great, i really think I can do this. Thanks for a fab tutorial. xx

Claudia/Ompompali said...

This is such a great help to me, thanks a million! I never started on an applique quilt because of all the work but this way you have minimized it and it looks totally doable. Really marvellous!

ptmemaw said...

This quilt is to die for...love your fabric selections and appreciate your sharing the "How To."

Becky said...

Thanks for sharing your technique! I'd have never guessed that was how you do it.

Lindsey said...

Great tutorial! And combining quilting with securing the appliques is so smart! I want to make one right now. =)

Rosa said...

Fabulous quilt and tutorial!!

Karee said...

Thank you so much for sharing your skills, tips, techniques... I would be a dull little quilter without such tutelage and inspiration.
Really fab!

Becky said...

Wow! My mind is blown, this is genius!!!!!!!

Lorna McMahon said...

Great tutorial, Emily. Love the idea of adding the orange peels during the quilting. Brilliant!

abby o said...

I have wanted to make one of these for a looooong time and wasn't sure how to go about it, so glad I found this! Love your method and your quilt. Thank you!!

liloca, liloquinha said...

Bom dia!!!!
Muito bom acordar abrir o computador e ler este seu post. Muito inspirador!!!
Abraços!!!
liloca

Kelly said...

What is the awesome background fabric that you used? I LOVE this quilt! Thank you for sharing this tutorial! :D

Sadie said...

Hi Emily, What a great explanations thank you and your quilt looks stunning. Cheers Sadie

Ladette said...

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! I have been wanting to try this (and appliqué in general) and this is a great tutorial. Yay!

SharonD said...

Love your quilt! Can you tell me what the background fabric is? What manufacturer?

Catrina MacDonald said...

Thanks for the awesome tutorial! I am using your technique to make one myself and have linked to this page from my blog. http://cottonncoffee.blogspot.ca/2015/02/orange-peel.html

Unknown said...

Very interesting post, I will try to make it like in your tutorial.

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wendy said...

Brilliant!

Ginevra said...

Love it! Thanks for sharing this tutorial! I'm soooooo looking for your background fabric, could you please let me know the name of it? Thank you so much, I would like to start make it immediately!

Unknown said...

Beautiful!!! I'm seriously gonna hafta make one of these for myself!

Sue said...

I love your method of stitching the petals as part of the quilting - brilliant! Another way to make this quilt go a bit quicker is to use one 9.5" square (instead of four 5" squares) to put your petals on. You save a lot of piecing this way. Thanks again for a great and beautiful tutorial!! :)

Jerri said...

I'm in love with your finished quilt! Just saw this pinned by Amy Ellis and had to check it out. Your tutorial is very clear and easy to follow. I'll be starting my quilt tomorrow!

Jerri said...

I'm in love with your finished quilt! Just saw this pinned by Amy Ellis and had to check it out. Your tutorial is very clear and easy to follow. I'll be starting my quilt tomorrow!

Vaden said...

Love this tutorial! You make it look easy and fun. I found the background fabric you used. Its from Windham Fabrics,the Dreamer collection designed by Carrie Bloomston, and the print is named Newsprint. Very cute fabric for a very cute quilt! I want to make this and with these instructions its definitly doable. Thank you for the tutorial!

Kate B said...

Gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing your tutorial! <3