My Great Quilting Expedition

It's been pedal to the metal over the past week.  I had two long term quilting projects that needed to be finished. The first quilt is for my younger son, Peter.  He is a mariner...hence the maritime theme.  This was also my first attempt at designing a medallion style quilt.  I used a wide range of techniques in piecing the quilt including foundation paper piecing, broderie perse and English paper piecing.  The ships came from a purchased panel. The second quilt is an 80 inch square quilt I started about a year ago.  The pattern for this was created by Joanna Figurola of Figtree Quilts.  Piecing the top was very straightforward, but then the problems started.  I wanted to quilt it entirely by hand using big stitch and using perle cotton. The wadding was so heavy, it was absolute murder on my hands. I found that I liked the look of it in the spools but it looked awful in the sashing. I then unpicked the sashing quilting and quil te...

First...the things that make me happy... I am making good progress with one of the borders on the quilt I am hand piecing.  This border has over 670 little pieces of fabric in it.  There are lots more borders to go after this one, but I'm enjoying the process. Somewhere on the Internet a couple of years ago, I saw someone had made some fabric bowls in the shape of flowers.  It has taken me a long time to get around to it, but yesterday I had a go and made two.  I am pleased with them.  I fused some angelina to the fabric before I thread painted the bowls, so they catch the light and sparkle.  I had to learn from my mistakes, so the first one took some time to make.  I made the second one in a third of the time.  It is fun to play! I get fed up with my tools rolling off my sewing table, so I made myself a 'tooly'.  I purchased the pattern on Craftsy.   It is just great.  It sits well on my table next to my machine...

I love to break up large projects with small projects.  I need that instant gratification of a quick finish sometimes. I've had some fabric lurking in my stash for a while, but didn't know what to do with it. I thought I'd have a go at making a bag. The colours are pretty loud, but I guess I'll never see another the same. The pattern was designed by Susan Brubaker Knapp.  My husband's comment was 'I guess I'll see you coming!'  I have started to make a second bag, from the same pattern, using batiks this time.    This has prompted some thought about the choices I make when I FMQ.  OK...so we quilt for a practical reason - to hold the layers of fabric and batting together.  This can be as simple as straight lines or stitch in the ditch.  The purpose of FMQ, must, then, be to enhance the appearance of a quilt.  When I quilted the bag above, I followed the contours of the designs, so the quilting is very subtle.  I used peb...

Not much progress to report this week.  I was inspired by the ferns in my front garden to draw some ferns unfurling and then to attempt to FMQ them.  I used a fat quarter yard of Kaffe Fassett shot cotton and Isacord thread.  I used a dark green thread for the ferns and regretted it.  The thread looks black, rather than green against the shot cotton.  I used Patsy Thompson's method for doing trapunto for the first time.  It does make the ferns pop.  I intended to leave the piece with just the thread  - like a wholecloth, but to my eyes, it looked pretty dull, so I used my Inktense pencils lightly to add a little dimension.  I think the piece would have looked better with some hand dyed backing...maybe next time.  I get frustrated with myself at times, but I learn from each and every mistake. :) A fern in my front garden

There are no two ways about it - life can be tough.  On the 9th May, my beloved Daisy, passed away suddenly.  She was only 10 years old.  Every day has been difficult and I haven't felt like sharing my sorrow with anyone.  People have their own set of problems.  She was a wonderful dog and companion.  I didn't use my sewing machine for six weeks, but have started hand piecing a quilt.  The pattern is called the Hertfordshire quilt from  Carolyn Konig's book.  I think it is based on the Billings quilt.  There are many more borders to add.  I have made a start and think of Daisy as I stitch. Last week I managed to complete the third block of the 2015 Quiltmania mystery quilt. I have found an easier way todo all the trapunto work.  Hurrah! The last couple of weeks have seen me back at my sewing machine. I have started quilting my son's quilt.  He is a mariner, so I hope he will like it. A lone star quilt ...