I've been busy over the past few weeks stitching gifts for friends for Christmas, and this is going to be sent off somewhere very cold!! The stitchery design is a pattern by Leanne Beasley - I had made the centre piece months and months ago, and finally got around to finishing this cushion! I had made the original centre and both inner and outer border with "Simplicity" by 3 Sisters for Moda. The back of the cushion is also made with "Simplicity" fabric and I couldn't believe it when I found this in my fabric box with a zipper already sewn in place - I just had to trim it to the correct size and bind the sides. Once the binding had been machined onto the right side of the cushion, I stitched the binding to the back of the cushion by hand. Add a label? Of course ..and finally completed, here is the cushion front. I'm really pleased with this, and I'm sure my friend will love it too - now I just have to get a few more gifts made and I'll be all ready for Christmas!!
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Last year I made a baby quilt using a pattern called "Pure Baby Boy" from the Moda Bakeshop website, and decided to make this pattern again for a little girl - one of my colleagues, Judy, has recently become a grand-mother again, and I had promised her a quilt for the baby. This time I didn't use a jelly roll, but some of the fabric from the Scrap Bag that I had bought from Glenroy Designs a few weeks ago. I trimmed the scraps into 2½" strips and then randomly sewed the strips together. These colours are so pretty. The fabric is Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda..... .....the white fabric that I used for the borders is also from Glenroy Designs, and I also used this white fabric for the backing too. I didn't use the "Pure Baby Boy" pattern exactly, as I made the quilt a little bit shorter, and decided to omit the inner border..... .....once the layers were spray basted together, I marked 1" rows ready for quilting, with a Clover Hera Marker, and then I quilted in between these rows using the edge of the walking foot as a guide. I used white Mettler quilting thread for the quilting and used strips from the scrap bag to make the binding too. My favourite is this red spotty fabric, which looks great as binding..... .....I also added one of my labels, which I machined into place on the back of the quilt in one of the corners. The dense quilting adds a lovely texture to this quilt, and when it is washed it will feel even snugglier..... .....I love this red and aqua and together and I think this quilt looks super! I've got enough leftovers in the scrap bag to make another one of these quilts too - what great value for money!! The finished size of this baby quilt is 32" square. What do you think Judy? Do you think your little grand-daughter Jessica will enjoy being snuggled up in this quilt? On Sunday I spent a wonderful afternoon with some quilting friends. We did very little in the way of sewing and we certainly did plenty of eating and chatting! We had all taken some yummy goodies for a shared lunch - Jenny's noodles were really tasty! And the goat's cheese and tomato tart was delicious - I must have your recipe Sarah!! Oh and I just took my usual pudding - strawberry and raspberry pavlova - well I guessed 2 fruits would mean 2 portions of my daily fruit and veg allowance??!! Anyway after lunch and a glass of wine, we had a bit of a show and tell - where I did a bit of showing and a LOT of telling then we had a bit of a look round in Janet's fabric room. Janet and her friend Louise have got an online fabric store, Glenroy Designs, and I couldn't resist a Moda Scrap Bag - in Bonnie and Camille's fabric range "Bliss"..... .....these bags contain the left overs from Moda's production of Jelly Rolls. I've made a quilt in this range of fabrics before, using a Layer Cake, and as I needed something pink and girly for a quilt for a very special little girl - thought this would be perfect teamed with some pretty white floral fabric. A couple of years ago I bought my daughter Alice a bundle of fat eighths of "Max and Whiskers" fabric by Basic Grey for Moda. She finally decided to make a quilt herself, and she decided on a simple block layout - she cut the fat eighths into 9" squares which she sewed together. Then she pin based the layers together - she has used an extra wide calico for the back, and used a polyester wadding..... .....Alice quilted it very simply using the "stitch-in-the-ditch" method with a variegated King Tut quilting thread shade 936 (Pharaoh's Treasures) and a cream Mettler thread in the bobbin to match the calico backing. She hand stitched the binding to the back of the quilt and her stitching is very neat - and I'm VERY impressed with her mitred corners!.......... .....she used another Basic Grey fabric for the binding - she picked out the turquoise blue "grunge" - and it looks stunning teamed with the brown and mustard and coral in the rest of the quilt..... .....and here is her finished quilt - what a clever girl!! I wonder who she takes after! Maybe she'll start making bags next!! Alice tells me that this is going to be the quilt that she snuggles up with when she's watching TV - she still wants me to make the quilt for her room with the Bali-Pops that I bought her from Birmingham last month. Maybe she'll be able to help me! I have joined a group on Facebook called "Sew SwapIt" and items are made and swapped among the group members. The swap this month is a table runner, and could be either a Halloween or Autumn theme, and these are the fabrics I have decided to use - an Autumnal collection called Gobble Gobble by Sandy Gervais for Moda..... .....I received only a little bit of information about the person who I'm making this runner for - she had requested autumn colours - and she'd said that although she was just starting to get into "modern quilting", she was not totally embracing it yet, but was trying to broaden her horizons, so this fabric range is ideal for the project I had in mind. Traditional piecing, but with a modern layout and quilting design. I thought my "swapee" would like these autumnal fabrics, in a variety of colours - greens, rusts, oranges and browns. Pumpkins, leaves, flowers and spots. Funky and modern patterns but traditional colours. I decided to design my own pattern for the runner - a modern layout, but made with traditional piecing. So, I started off by cutting out lots of 2½" squares..... .....I joined the squares together to make a nine-patch block, pressing my seams as I went along - then I joined 5 of these nine-patch blocks together..... .....asymmetric crisp linen borders were added on each side of the runner..... .....the runner was finished with simple machine quilting, using a dark brown Mettler quilting thread (top tip - I always use Schmetz Topstitch needles size 90 for quilting). I used a Clover Hera marker to mark quilting lines 1" apart, then quilted in the middle of these lines by using the edge of my walking foot as a guide..... .....I have used matching prints from the same fabric range for both the backing and for the single-fold binding. And one of my labels as a final flourish? But of course..... .....and finally - here is the finished runner! This will be winging it's way across the sea to America - and no I'm NOT going to say who it is for yet, I don't want to spoil the surprise! Oh and I might just add a couple of extra "treats" for the lucky swappee! Do you remember the Stitchery Challenge that I set myself a few weeks ago? I used a Leanne Beasley pattern called "Ruth's Quilt" (from Leanne's book "Living the Dream) and stitched one little block per evening for 35 evenings. Well look at it now! A few weeks ago I drove off to visit Janette in her studio, J-Quilts, with my friend Linda (didn't we have an eventful afternoon out Linda!!) anyway, I left my quilt with Janette and look what she has done! It's superb!..... .....Janette had suggested a peach coloured thread to blend with the subtle tones of the colours of the fabrics, and I knew exactly which quilting design I wanted - this one is called "Alfresco" and I simply adore it! I had already bought some extra wide fabric for the backing (Aster Manor by 3 Sisters for Moda) from my local quilt shop, Quilters Haven. So I left my quilt and backing fabric in Janette's capable hands and waited..... .....at last I got that all-important email from Janette to say it was ready, so on Saturday morning I drove off to Janette's studio with my friend Helen to collect it - and I really wasn't disappointed! And the peach thread that Janette had suggested looks beautiful on the back too..... .....as you can see I have used an assortment of Fig Tree Quilts fabrics for the scrappy binding. I used all my left over scraps of Fig Tree Quilts fabrics for this project, which gives a co-ordinated scrappy look. Patisserie, Mill House Inn, Buttercup, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Gypsy Rose, Strawberry Fields and Fresh Cotton have all been used in this quilt - and yes, I've sewn on one of my labels too..... .....and here is the finished quilt, bound and labelled, spread out on our bed ready for us to use tonight. It really is gorgeous. Thank you so much Janette - this really is my favourite quilt. I absolutely LOVE it! * By the way - if you click on this link here you can read all about the stitchery challenge I made to myself and see how this quilt started! * And Janette has written about my quilt over here on her blog too!! Another baby quilt has been pieced and embroidered and quilted and bound - this one is for a very special friend who is soon to be a Grandma - well, the quilt is not for her, obviously, but for her soon to arrive grand-daughter. The fabric I chose for this is called "Puttin' On The Ritz" and is by Bunnyhill Designs for Moda. I bought a pack of 10" strips from my local quiltshop, Quilters Haven, and aded the strips of white paisley design from my stash. The original pattern suggests making these quilts with a pack of charm squares. The pattern is called Charm Squares Baby Quilt by Elizabeth Hartman, and is a free download from her blog Oh Fransson - this is one of my favourite baby quilt patterns. It is very quick and simple to piece together, and I just love the subtle pinks and greys in this fabric collection..... .....I have stitched the words with backstitch, using a pink Cosmo embroidery thread shade 803 and I used 3 strands of thread as the letters are quite large. I traced these words from a book called "Winsome Baby" by Nancy Halvorsen. I love adding some stitchery to these baby quilts..... .....and I've quilted it using straight rows of quilting, ½" apart. I used white Mettler quilting thread to quilt the rows on the white sashing, but used a King Tut variegated quilting thread in pink and beige, shade 944 for the rest of the quilt, and I also used the same thread in the bobbin too..... .....the binding fabric and the backing fabric is also from the same Bunnyhill Designs range of fabrics, "Puttin' On The Ritz". As a final little flourish, as usual I've added one of my labels to finish it off..... .....what do you think Sharon? Do you think your grand-daughter will like being wrapped up in this quilt? Can you guess what my latest project has been? I have gathered a selection of fabrics (Etchings by 3 Sisters for Moda) and trimmings (white ric-rac) and a zipper and one of my new labels (I really like the style of writing on these labels, and the wider ones are so much easier to sew into place!) and not forgetting a rather saucy vintage photograph that I printed onto fabric using EQ pintables fabric sheets..... .....and here it is completed - I'm really pleased with how these cosmetic bags look, especially when I have appliquéd one of the vintage pictures on to embellish it with - Bellisimo!! This is a birthday gift for one of my friends - hope she likes it!! Well I've made a fantastic start to this version of "Ruth's Quilt" (pattern by Leanne Beasley from her book "Living The Dream") made with scraps from various Fig Tree Quilt fabrics that I have collected over the past couple of years. When I went to quilt group on Thursday, I was able to finish tracing all the stitchery blocks. I prefer to use a Pigma pen for this, in a brown shade - it IS permanent ink, so you do need a very steady hand. Luckily I have managed to get the quilt top pieced this weekend, as I want to start the stitchery on Monday. .... .....the rectangular blocks were put together fairly randomly, and I tried not to put any together that were the same print. Now for the stitchery part - bring it on!! I have decided to use a deep coral coloured embroidery thread for this, DMC shade 3328 and I'll use 2 strands - this covers the ink lines perfectly. Looks like my evenings are going to busy for the next few weeks as I try to complete a block per evening! Hopefully this will be finished in about a month, ready to take over to Janette to be longarm quilted. Wish me luck! I have used a variety of fabrics from "Fig Tree Quilts" over the last couple of years, and had collected an assortment of scraps from "Patisserie", "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "Mill House Inn", "Buttercup" and "Gypsy Rose". Having a collection of scraps from the same fabric designer means they all co-ordinate beautifully, and it was with this in mind that I decided to pool them all together and see whether I had enough scraps to make a quilt with my medley of Fig Tree Quilts fabrics. I knew exactly what pattern I wanted to use - one of my favourites called "Ruth's Quilt" by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley - I have made this pattern before, using another gorgeous range of fabrics, "Simplicity" by 3 Sisters for Moda - (this quilt won first prize last year at the Orford, Sudbourne and Gedgrave Flower Show and Fete and won me the princely sum of £3 hehe!!)..... .....anyway, I have set myself a challenge to see if I can get the top pieced in just over a month, and I plan to start the stitchery on Monday 18th June. My plan is to embroider one block per evening - (there are 35 stitchery blocks altogether) so if everything goes according to plan, my aim is to finish the stitchery on 22nd July. Altogether there are 220 rectangles and 20 squares that make up the quilt top. Well I've gotta dash as I've got some stitchery blocks to finish tracing - will keep you updated! |
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July 2023
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