Whoohoo!! Block 9 of "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) is completed! This was bought as a BOM 4 years ago from an online quilting shop here in the UK (no longer trading unfortunately - I do miss those Buttonberry girls) and each moth a pattern arrived in the post, beautifully wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a ribbon. This block is made up of several mini-blocks and combines piecing and applique and stitchery. The churn dash blocks were all made when I stitched the first block, and these dresden plates were applqued next. I chose to stitch a Suffolk Puff in the centre as my own twist on the pattern (Leanne used a fussy cut circle but that just wasn't doing it for me!)... ...buckets of herbs were next and an appliqued heart was hand stitched into place and finally another pretty birdhouse, with embroidered vines and flowers. A skein of "Larkspur" variegated hand dyed "Cottage Garden Thread" was included with this BOM and it is absolutely gorgeous... ...and here it is - Block 9. The borders will be next, using some of the beautiful feature fabric "Grandmothers Flower Garden" by Rosalie Quinlan. That's next on my list of crafty projects, and I will share pictures of the completed quilt top at the weekend.
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The final block of this quilt "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) has been prepped and is ready for the hand stitchery. After sorting out the fabrics the stitchery designs were traced - I use a brown coloured Pigma Micron pen, and yes I'm LOVING my new lightbox!!... ...and then the mini blocks were pieced together, ready for stitchery and applique. This block has some lightweight fusible interfacing (I use Vilene H180) fused to the back to give it some "body" - and now I'm off to make a cuppa and settle down in a comfy chair with my new glasses and make a start.
For those of you who also follow my FB page, you'll know that I've been busy stitching early in the mornings, while I've been enjoying the peace and quiet before everyone starts to get up and get ready for work. Those early starts have been very relaxing, and very productive! The pattern allows for this block to be personalised with your name, and I can almost smell that bucket of mint... ...one of the mini-blocks is a fussy cut block using the feature fabric (Grandmother's Flower Garden, by Rosalie Quinlan), and a pair of blue birds are perched among the cherry blossom... ....this block features another watering can filled with hand-embroidered flowers and bright red butterflies are dancing among them. These were machined into place using raw-edge applique. Block 8 of "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) is now complete, and I must admit I can't wait to make a start on Block 9 sometime over the weekend!!
Block 8 of "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) was still in it's packet, and I was waiting for my new glasses before I made a start on it. Then I decided I really couldn't wait another week, so yesterday morning, bright and early, I sorted out the fabrics and cut up the pieces ready for the mini-blocks, and fussy cut the feature fabric... ...I'd got a busy day planned, so getting the fabrics cut to size was all I had time to do. This morning I've traced the designs onto the fabric, pieced the mini-blocks together, and ironed the fusible interfacing (I prefer to use Vilene H180) onto the back of the block... ...and now I'm ready to make a start - hand-stitchery is very relaxing (although I haven't yet felt the love of hand quilting!) and plan to spend the afternoon stitching while Mr F is busy playing cricket.
Block 7 of "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) is completed, and I've only got 2 more blocks to stitch before the quilt top is ready for the borders. I spent a very rainy afternoon last Sunday curled up on the sofa with my daughters watching a film and made a start on the stitchery - actually if the film hadn't been so good, I probably would have finished this all in one day! The churn dash blocks had been made last summer when I first started this project... ...appliqued onto another mini-block is a pretty dresden plate with a Suffolk Puff centre, (made with a scrap of Lecien fabric from my stash), and finally a little bit more stitchery showing a beautiful bird house. There are 4 different bird houses on this quilt, and they all have pretty vines and flowers trailing around them... ...I can't believe I was able to finish stitching this block so quickly - it's amazing what you can accomplish in the early hours of the morning when you can't sleep! Anyway, here is the completed block. Now there are only 2 blocks left and then the borders to add to fish it off, then I need to decide on the quilting - whether to do it by hand or whether to take it to Janette, who does some wonderful custom quilting. I actually started this quilt last summer on 6th August 2013, and if I carry on stitching with a passion it looks like I just might have the quilt top pieced together by 6th August 2014.
Block 7 of "Down In The Garden" has been prepped and is ready for the stitchery. It's so much easier tracing the stitchery designs before the complete block is pieced together. I've used a Schmetz Microtex needle size 60 for all the piecing, and a smaller than usual stitch length, together with a neutral coloured Mettler fine embroidery thread. I used a very fine Micron Pigma pen to trace the stitchery patterns, and then ironed a very soft fusible interfacing onto the back (my favorite interfacing for stitchery is Vilene H180)... ...this is one of my favourite projects (and my quilting friends know that I've made several designs by Leanne Beasley) as I really enjoy the relaxing time spent on the hand embroidery. These mini-blocks piece together very quickly, and these churn dash blocks were made last year when I first started this project. My friends Linda and Helen persuaded me to make a start on it, as it had been sitting in a box for simply ages, and I can't think why I hadn't started it earlier! Well I'm off to make a nice cup of tea, then I might just make a start on this block!
As you can see, I really have been as busy as a busy bee!! Each morning I've spent an hour stitching with a cuppa, enjoying the peace and quiet before the hustle and bustle of getting ready for work. This was a BOM that I bought 4 years ago, and is designed by Leanne Beasley. It included lots of beautiful Lecien fabrics, and I've added one or two scraps of my own too. This is Block 6 (only 3 more blocks to go!) and I'm enjoying spending time with this "garden" almost as much as I enjoy spending time in my own garden... ...this block shows off several techniques, including stitchery - back stitch, chain stitch and satin stitch using mostly DMC embroidery threads. A beautiful Cottage Garden Thread in "Larkspur" was included with this BOM and it really is beautiful. Machine-appliqued butterflies decorate this block too... ...there's a fussy cutting using the feature fabric "Grandmother's Flower Garden" by Rosalie Quinlan, and I love these cute mini-9 patch blocks. The final stitch was hand sewing around the edge of this appliqued heart (I used a soft fusible interfacing on the back of the heart, and turned it inside out as my needle-turn applique isn't very neat!) using a neutral coloured silk thread, and then I was finished. Over the weekend I'm hoping to get Block 7 prepped and ready for stitching.
I've been busy preparing Block 6 of "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) and I've been SO glad that I bought an A3 sized light box a few weeks ago. It really is so much easier to use, and much better than having to tape my patterns and fabric onto the conservatory windows. I've used a pale brown coloured Pigma Micron pen to trace the designs onto the fabric... ......I used a pale grey Mettler fine embroidery thread for machine piecing the mini blocks and a Schmetz Microtex size 60 needle, and used a smaller stitch than usual as the block will be put under some tension when it's in the embroidery hoop. One all the mini blocks were pieced together, and all the loose threads trimmed away, I fused a thin piece of stabiliser (Vilene H180) to the back of the block, and now I'm ready to start stitching.
I don't like to waste time, and so as my machine was already set up this morning, it made sense to make another one of these small cosmetic bags. I used a selection of turquoise Lecien fabrics for the front, back and the binding, teamed with some turquoise lace, and used this Moda spot for the lining... ...and there's another project crossed off my list - one of my nieces has a very special birthday in September, and this will be a perfect gift for her! Now I'll give my Bernina a well deserved rest, and treat her to a good clean and oil and she'll be ready for another sewing project next weekend!
I've had a very productive day sewing, and this was the first project of the day - using a selection of Lecien fabrics and some orange velvet ribbon trimmed with lace. The plainer fabric is textured, and worked beautifully for the project that I was planning, and used a variegated Gutterman Sulky thrread for the quilting, and a plain Mettler thread in the bobbin. The lining fabric was the left over backing from my brown batik quilt, and is by Moda. It really was the perfect match. So - quilted and labelled... ...another cosmetic bag ready to use as a gift when I need one in a hurry! This pattern is by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and although the instructions are in Norwegian it is easy to make by following the diagrams. I have a few more Lecien fabric scraps and lace that I need to use up, and I'll show pictures of that project later on!
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