My Great Quilting Expedition

I rested my finger for about 10 days after putting a machine needle through it, while FMQing my tablecloth quilt.  I say I rested it...I mean, I stayed away from the sewing machine.  In the meantime I hand pieced a couple of rosettes for the Passacaglia quilt. My finger is a lot better, so yesterday, I got back to machine quilting.  I have missed it. I have a number of misgivings about this tablecloth.  I'm happy with the way the embroidered flowers are popping off the surface.  I don't dislike the centre of the quilt.  I painted the motif in the centre, as it really didn't look defined enough with just machine stitching.  I don't like the colour of the painted, swirly motifs in the corner.  I may try painting over them with a lighter shade of blue.  I also painted the dragonflies and a few flowers.  I'm OK with these, except that I have noticed from the photo, that one wing of the dragonfly doesn't match the other.  This should...

Last Friday I managed to put a machine needle through my finger while FMQing.  Not my finest hour! I decided to take a rest from my machine until my finger recovers...but in the meantime, I have started a hand sewing project - La Passacaglia.  I am using materials from my stash.  I have a fair old stash of batiks which I am hoping will work for this project.  I have found a lovely, Facebook group for support.  I'm not sure I could have made a start with this without all the helpful information available there.  I have managed to make the first rosette (90 pieces).  It has gone together well and I am going to enjoy the journey.  I am using Inklingo and hand piecing using running stitch.  I like the idea of having a project that will be portable and that I can pick up or put down as I wish.  I am planning to use a limited palette of colours with occasional shots of brighter colour.

I finally managed to get the facing on my Vintage Butterflies tablecloth quilt.  I am now struggling with myself.  I have several projects on the go.  I have some Christmas projects that I want to get done, but I am also thinking about starting quilting another vintage tablecloth.  It is lovely to have a choice of projects, but at the same time, I'm dithering.  None of this is made easier by the fact my left wrist is strapped.  I've no idea what I did to it...all I know is that it is painful!  I need to just get on with something! I have made a start on Christmas projects. I used Superior metallic threads and attempted to use random, continuous feathers as a background fill. I saw the panel as part of a free project by Karen of Redbird Quilt Co on www.bearcreekquiltingcompany.com/blog/2015/09/19/chickadees-and-berries-christmas-gift-trio/ I was able to buy the panel here in the UK, (I have to admit, I bought 3), but not the other fabrics, ...

I don't know how many hours I've spent quilting this tablecloth, but it has been fun!  It is lovely to be able to take a damaged, but pretty tablecloth and make it usable again.  I don't know if it qualifies as recycling or upsizing.  I'll have to look at the definitions! This time, I wanted to try using a finer quilting thread, so used 60 wt Superior Bottom Line in white.  It behaved very well and I was really happy with it, particularly for all the scribbling.  It is one of the very few threads I've used, that haven't left the bobbin case area covered in lint. One of the challenges of quilting old tablecloths, is to design motifs that will fit comfortably between the embroidery motifs already on the cloth.  I really enjoy this aspect, but must have spent three weeks mulling over the look I wanted for the quilt.  I was worried that feathers might overwhelm the existing embroidered butterflies, so chose to quilt flowers instead.  There was q...

After several weeks of indecision, I have taken the plunge and started to quilt my old butterfly tablecloth.  I don't think it is terribly old, as the embroidery is done by machine, but it is pretty and I can only hope I make a decent job of it.  The tablecloth was very inexpensive, as it had a small hole in the middle.  I have fused a small patch of cotton behind it and strategically placed some lace butterflies (another eBay purchase) over the top to disguise the hole.  I used Superior Monopoly to sew them down. I decided I didn't want to use trapunto for this project.  The stitching twice aspect gives some potential for a lack of tidiness on my part, not to mention the extra work, so I thought I'd try a double batt for this project to see if I like the effect and whether or not it is a viable alternative.  I am using a layer of Hobbs Tuscany wool on top of a layer of Hobbs Polyester. I have done very little stitching so far, but I am getting a nice p...

I have finished the Tree of Life quilt today. I added one line of echo quilting around the tree and flowers motifs. I decided on gridwork for the centre panel inside the loopy border, with cathedral window fmq using the same size gridwork outside the loopy border. I used Superior Monopoly in the top and Bottom Line 617 in the bobbin around all the motifs..  I used a fine calico for the backing and for the facing.  I've decided I like facings rather than binding around my quilts.  For this quilt, I cut 4 strips of calico 4.5 inches wide about 10 inches longer than each side.  I sewed on the calico stopping a quarter inch from each end, leaving 5 inches either end.  I sewed mitres in each corner, trimmed and turned.  I used some strips of Mistyfuse to hold the facing in place, in readiness for sewing down. I enjoyed the method I used for creating the blocks.  I made a major error when I added the outside border.  I forgot to measure the l...

This quick project is ready to quilt.  The centre is a panel by Di Ford and Petra Prins.  The pattern is from her book.  I added an extra pinky-red  border, as I used a different method for producing the half square triangles and mine ended up oversize.  I didn't want to cut them down, so added the extra border.  Maybe, I should learn to follow a pattern, but I do feel the need to wing it most of the time.  The windmill blocks used lots of different reproduction fabrics.  The outer border is tan paisley from Collections for a Cause. The centre panel and some of the lights were too light for my taste, so I tea dyed the entire top.  The photo below shows the partly pieced top prior to tea dyeing.  The quilt top (above) is slightly darker than shown by the photo.  One day I'll learn how to manually adjust the white balance on my camera.    After all the stitch in the ditch, I will FMQ around the motifs, maybe a coupl...