My Great Quilting Expedition

I have managed to finish Part 4 of the Quiltmania 2015 Mystery BOM.   It is amazing how much time can be spent on one block!  There were several stages to this: Piece the block. Attach cheesecloth backing. Fuse applique flowers and leaves to the block. Outline all the appliques with stranded cotton, so trapunto stuffing can be added from the back. Add the stuffing to the appliques. Embroider the appliques. Hand embroidery is not my forte, but I am persevering with this project.  I find the hand stuffing onerous, so I don't think I would do another quilt using this method, but I have been delighted to get experience using methods I would never have tried otherwise.  There are two more parts yet to come...I'm guessing sashing and borders? Happy quilting!

Very little practical progress since last week, but I did spend two lovely, exhausting days at The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham.  There were a huge number of lovely quilts on display.  I didn't see a large number of reproduction style quilts on show.  I was disappointed by this, but I just have to accept that my personal preferences are in the minority in the greater scheme of taste in quilts.  Although I don't have numbers to back this up, me feeling was that the majority of quilts on show were in the art quilt category...and lovely, they were.  I managed to spend the money I had saved to spend at the show as well as my birthday money, so came home with some quilting goodies.  I bought some reproduction border fabrics and fabric for broderie perse from Petra Prins - not to mention a pattern for Di Ford's Sutton Grange.  I also managed to get my hands on a versatile ruler (intended for a longarm), to use with my Westalee ruler foot.  A couple ...

One of the main reasons I want to become more proficient at FMQ, is so that I can machine quilt wholecloths.  This week I took an old tablecloth that, I think, cost me £5 a few years ago and quilted it. I used Hobbs Tuscan wool wadding and a tonal white backing.  The centre wreath motif was a free quilting design from Forest Quilting.  I resized it so that it would not cover the embroidery on the tablecloth.  The motifs around the quilt were a combination of a Forest Quilting motif, which I rearranged and my own curled feather design in the centre.    I ditched around every embroidered motif, as I wanted to feature the embroidery. Overall, for a first effort at quilting a wholecloth, I am pleased.  However, there are a few areas I need to improve on, next time. Echoing around the motifs (maybe three times) would create more 'light and shade'. The gridwork would have looked better if it had been slightly smaller.  I should have u...