Video Transcript for “Serendipity Stacking”

Hi I’m Marci Baker and if your watching this video than your probably signed up for my Serendipity Double-dipity class. Which is based on some books that Sarah Nephew wrote, Serendipity and Double-dipty more Serendipity. They are both books are based on the concept of stacked repeats. Where we have six layers of fabric that are matched to pattern and then we cut triangles or diamonds out of them and we get our designs. This is the fabric, the original fabric that I started with on this and these are the designs that we got when we cut triangles or diamonds out of that fabric.

So what I want to share with you is how to choose a good fabric, how to know that you have enough repeats of that fabric and then how to layer it so if you can come to class with those layers done, you can start cutting seeing neat designs and then start picking fabrics to go with it so that you can frame each of those blocks and just kind of frame them. That’s what Sarah’s designs do. They frame and then focus in on each of those designs. So lets look at what types of fabrics to choose.

In the book she says lets get large print high contrast and I want to show you what Sarah, what I’ve chose whenever she was teaching me this. There was a new fabric out at the time and this was it, large print high contrast and this is what I was leaning towards. And let me take this down and you can see what it ended up being. So this is the print and as I layered it and stacked it and cut it I started getting designs that look like this when I started putting my blocks together. I’ve got daffodils  back. And then there were times that I got my favorite candy, the orange slices and then there was even one that looked like the top of a pumpkin. These are not, I mean these are very similar and these are kind of different and not that great so let me show you the fabric that she suggested that I get. I bought both I had to push the limit and see what they were. She suggested this fabric.

Its large print, not as high contrast as the other one that I was working with that I chose, but it has enough contrast. When you squint at it can you see different shapes showing up. Let me show you What those blocks look like when I stacked and put them together. They look like wreaths or just circles of flowers coming together and just a neat spiral on this one. So I think the fabric that she was suggesting, teacher knows best, was the best choice of those two. But I had to try.

So now that you know not this large of print, not this high of contrast, I want to show you a print of fabric that will work. It has high contrast, it has large print. This is about the size of my hand and so are these but the neat thing about this is it has smaller pieces breaking up the background. Where as this was solid green in between. So this is going to give me some nice cuts, those pieces that get cut out of these flowers, the large flowers, they are going to look very similar to each other but there is such a variety your going to be able to do some selective cutting and maybe get less of that. But this would be really neat fabric.

Unfortunately I don’t have it layered to show you, but this would be the type that you would be looking for. And here is another example of one that I do have done with some samples, this one here which has been a popular print. I cut out some diamonds and triangles and these are the types of designs. And I’m  going to show you, do a comparison here, but these are, this is a three or four inch wide design with some one inch or two inch in it and its got overlapping and a dark background. And these are some of the designs, here are some more.

Just some really interesting shapes and if we compare back to this fabric, my original one, and this is the pattern that we do in class. I call them framed star. Notice the shapes are about the same size between these two, but this is a light background and this is a dark background. This is a higher contrast and therefore the designs that you get stand out more in the shape, but if you want something more subtle then look for something like this with a light background. More high contrast more design, more movement go with the higher contrasts with the dark background.

Those are some options and what we need to watch for is what kind of repeat we have on those fabrics. And you might go well how do you know what the repeat is. We are going to look at the salvage edge of the fabric and we are going to count. And I just find a figure that’s in here so lets just pick this one. Where does this show up again as we go down the fabric. It shows up here. So this repeat here is about 12-14 inches. And a lot of fabrics have that size repeat. You can get the larger floral that I showed you those were more of a 24 inch repeat which is great but anything in between those two is going to be best. We are going to be ending up cutting 3 to 3 and 3/4 inch triangles and diamonds so we will be getting strips out of this and if you only have a 9 inch wide repeat from here to here is only 9 inches, you’ll only get two slices out of that so it’s not as much. So go for at least a 12 inch if not a 24 inch.24 inch obviously you are going to need more fabric. That’s what we are looking for and as your counting your fabric I’m going to use this, one of the first things that I have you do once you’ve got your repeat figured out and your yardage, is that we take the fabric and we tear it down the middle, this is torn down the middle of it because I used the other half for all those blocks that you saw. But I have this one length where you can see the repeats and I want to show you how to count.

I’m going to pin this up so you can see it. So, this flower right here we will count this as zero, not as one, but zero we are going to count zero to six, because if you count one to six you only have five sections. So this is zero and we go down until we see it again and this is one. I’m going to pin that up again. Then we go to two This is going to be where it shows up again. So we are at two then we go to three. So this is three. This is a 24 inch repeat but with a larger print that’s going to be what you get. What am I at three. Four, Five, and the last one is six plus a little bit extra. That’s how you count for your six repeats. So before you have the fabric shop cut the fabric, make sure you start with zero for a shape then find six more of those shapes and that will give you six repeats to cut up.

That’s counting your six, make sure you have six. So once you’ve gotten your yardage length then go ahead and take it and cut it in half because we are going to, we are not going to need that much of it. So tear it down the middle just some where down the middle and we are going to work with fabric that is this long. That it’s,  we are going to be 22 inches wide instead of 44 inches wide. So here are the two, I have the two ends of the fabric. This is the beginning of one end and it’s the big flower and this fabric has been cut rather than torn. So I want to get a straight edge on that and we are going to get a straight edge by tearing it. So I’m going to snip this on the salvage  and I’m going to tear across. And if you want to you can actually snip from the middle part and then tear the salvage and you’ll have less strings hanging off. Ok, so I have a straight edge and it’s going to ravel some but don’t worry about that we are going to trim anyway. You can press that back out.

So if this is my zero, and it’s the full circle of that center of the flower, this is what I had at the other end. When I counted six I have the full circle of this flower. So really my sixth ends right before that full circle. So I can take and snip on the edge, just to this side of this full circle and I’m going to do that for every point across the fabric at each of the repeats just before the large circle, I have a snip. And go ahead and do that on all six of the because we have both ends to trim and then you are going to go ahead and rip them apart and we will get layers. And let me show you on the next piece that I already have done, how to sew those together.

So here I have six layers that have been torn and I believe that I pressed them at the edges just to get rid of that ruffled edge that you get when you tear them, but it will get trimmed off so don’t worry about it. But count and make sure that you have six. One,two,three, four, five, and six and you don’t want extras. Sarah had a student who took, and she had seven that she was layering and she hadn’t paid attention and she took forever in class because she was doing seven layers and so she spent time she didn’t need to. So we have our six layers and now we are going to use needle and thread that I have threaded this up with a double thread and we are going to do a knot, I call them spit knots, because I get my finger wet then I roll the thread around. But basically it’s a huge knot. You want it as big as possible, it can have loops on it sticking out but basically we don’t want this to go through the fabric at all.

So as many times as you need to roll that around and get that a knot. So, I’ve got a big knot that’s not going to go through the fabric. And now I’m going to, basically  do a layer, right, layer all my six together or all on one top on the other and, I’m going to use my needle to do this. Now, where to pick? We need to find a point that is easy to find and distinguish. I wouldn’t pick the center of this brown line right here, but in a V section might be a better place, right in there. Or there might be a place where it is the end of a print. You’ll just need to look at your fabric and see how consistent it is as far as the printing. I probably wouldn’t pick this little brown spot here Because you might find that they change in size. So, I am going to pick a V and I am going to on this particular fabric, it’s about 12 inches, I am going to pick a point here and here, one here, here and here, one here, and then continue on so I think I am going to have seven no eight different points and picking them here in the middle, starting in the middle and then working this way, turning it around and working this way is a good place to start. Right there in the center is a really nice V. But I am going to do, I said two one two so I need to pick a spot on either side here and I am going to pick this V right here. Can you see that, that point right there is what I am going to be looking at and I am going to take my needle and I am going to put it through that top one, flip the fabric back, put my needle down on the second one, flip the fabric back, and basically pull the fabric up on to the needle in that same spot.

If you want to count again and make sure you still have six and not five or seven, go ahead and do that. But I am just taking and putting the needle in that same spot making this nice and smooth, just get that needle in that same spot. And go ahead and pull it through and if you made a good knot, it is not going to come through those layers. And on the back side I then flatten it out and we are going to make a big knot just like the other one but in a different way. And then I am going to take my needle and I am going to pull on it and I hold my finger down on that until I tighten that up and I am going to make that knot probably four or five times, because I need a big knot on this side that wont go through, I don’t want it to pop. Each time I am making the next knot I kind of get that thread underneath the knot and that makes it even bigger.

Rather than a roll of knots it is one knot that is kind of growing on itself. Then I go ahead and clip that off. We are going to do that, so we have got it there, now we are going to pick a spot over here and we will get that one done. Again, make your knot and then you are going to do all of those layers together. So here is my other point that I am going to pick for V. And I am just picking that fabric up. Then making the knot on the back side. Again these fabrics are not nice and smooth yet, but we will make them smooth. One note from in a class, the fabric I use is from quilt shops rather than from large chain stores. The larger chain store fabrics can be not as good a quality and therefore whenever you tear them this way, or that you have the way they print it, I’ve seen it to where this pattern here does not match the pattern further down on the fabric.

So, the better quality fabric the better this project is going to go for you. So we go ahead and tie that knot, keep it tight because you want all of those layers not to have any give or play in them. So we’ve got two done and between those two points, I should be able to smooth my fabric out and that is is starting to match up and line up, it is lined up in those two points. Then we are going to work towards a point in here and then these two, go ahead and do that to all of them. Once you get done with all of those layers and  these should line up, then you are going to go ahead and take an iron and flatten those and smooth those out. The iron will help keep those layers stuck together so as you travel to class you can go ahead and fold it, but then we can go ahead and press it again whenever you get back to class. So, that is what you need to do to prepare those layers with the knots. This is the six layers.

Its already been stitched and based together and if you can get that done ahead of class, then you are going to be a lot further and you’ll be able to lay out and see some of the designs on your project in class and feel like you have made more progress. Whichever you can do, if you can put the time great, otherwise, this is where you will start in class and you will know what to do. So, we will see you soon at class.

Thanks for joining me, I’m Marci Baker with Quilt with Marci Baker and Alicia’s Attic