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I've stitched the first 2 blocks of George and the Donkey together - this is the mystery quilt George and the Donkey designed by Lynette Anderson Designs and purchased as a BOM from Poppy Patch. This centre piece has been hand embroidered with a selection of variegated Valdani threads and has been hand appliqued using the Apliquick method. The hand painted wooden button wa ssupplied with the pattern for block 1 and will be stitched in place once the quilt is finished. 
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Block 2 for this mystery quilt arrived in the post from Poppy Patch several weeks ago and due to having lots of other projects needing my attention, it had been packed away in a box while I waited for life to slow down. The flowers were traced with a fine Micron Pigma pen (my favourite is a size 005 nib) ready to be hand embroidered with a selection of variegated Valdani embroidery threads...
...these hand embroidered circles were cut to size, then a small running thread was stitched around the edge. Using Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circle templates, the gathering thread is pulled up, the circles pressed, then allowed to cool down. The templates can then be removed, and the circles will be appliqued onto an embroidered panel, along with these Suffolk Puffs. These fabrics are from Lynette's Garden of Flowers collection, and they're really pretty. A selection of tiny squares was cut for a narrow border...
...here's the completed embroidered and appliqued panel with the narrow border of squares all stitched in place. This will eventually be joined to the first block, to become the centrepiece of the quilt...  ...next it was time to make what seemed like a million tiny hexagons! These pre-cut 3/8" hexagon papers were made by Sew & Quilt and were purchased online from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts in Cornwall. Using a selection of prints, lots and lots of tiny hexies wer made using the hexie papers and a glue stick...
...those 3/8" hexies were joined together in strips with a fine thread - I used Bottomline 60wt thread for this along with a Clover Black Gold applique needle. The rows are then hand stitched onto the inner borders of the quilt. As you can see, there are lots and lots of pretty little hexies all in a row...
...and here they are - hexies galore! All 4 strips for the inner borders have been pressed and trimmed to size. These will be put to one side as they're not needed until I've stitched the next part of this quilt.  Thanks to signing up to the Aurifil Colour Builder club at Oh Sew Sweet Shop I've been able to add to my collection of Aurifil 40wt threads. Pink Land Iguana is this month's selection and these pink threads - shades 2530, 2425 and 2410 - really are beautiful and are great for machine quilting.  The first part of this mystery quilt, George and the Donkey by Lynette Anderson Designs, arrived in the post from Poppy Patch at the beginning of October 2022. I needed to clear my sewing table of a few other projects before I started this project, then block 2 arrived before I'd even had a chance to have a look at part 1 properly!...  ...I started by choosing fabrics from the fabric pack supplied, then pressing them with a warm iron. I decided to use the Appliquick method for this block, including the thatched roof and the gate, which is made with felted wool in the original pattern. Once the applique shapes have been prepared, they are held in place with a few spots of Roxanne's basting glue, then stitched to the background fabric using a mid-grey Aurifil 80wt thread...
...the hand embroidery was stitched using two strands of variegated Valdani embroidery thread in a selection of colours. These threads are hand dyed and the muted colours work well with Lynette's fabrics. Once I'd finished both the hand embroidery and the applique, the block was pressed using a cool iron and a wool pressing mat and finally trimmed to size...
...so after several weeks of selecting and cutting fabrics, preparing applique, stitching, stitching and more stitching, I finally have the first block completed!  As usual I've had another VERY productive year, with lots of quiltystuff being produced in my sewing studio - quilts and wallhangings, tablerunners and journal covers, bags and Christmas stockings - the list goes on and on! Now I need to blitz my sewing studio and make an updated list of the projects that have been tucked away waiting to get made - hopefully I'll have another fabric-fuelled year in 2023.
I'd hand embroidered this festive design - Christmas Treasures Wreath by Rosalie Dekker Designs - way back in 2011 and wasn't sure how I wanted to frame it, so it was tucked away in a bag with the pattern. Fast forward to Christmas 2022 and thanks to a simple white frame from Hobbycraft, it's finally on display. The embroidered linen was backed with some lightweight wadding, then wrapped around a piece of firm card, which I'd cut to about a quarter inch smaller than the aperture of the frame - this ensures a snug fit, without any puckers once the back of the the frame is clipped back into place.  At the beginning of the year, I made a VERY long list detailing all the kits that I had purchased from 2009 - 2021 and had not yet had time to make. I'd originally planned to complete at least one kit per month, and although I didn't make as many as I had hoped, probably due to making lots of other projects, here are the kits from that VERY long list that I did actually manage to complete this year. Hopefully 2023 will be just as productive if not more so, as my box of kits is almost overflowing. I probably need a MUCH bigger box! 1. Hearts Desire 2. Helårspynt 3. Kaffeslabberas 4. Lilla Fristeler 5. Sommerblomster 6. We Are Family 7. Britt-Lisa’s Blomsterkurver 8. Hanging for Christmas
A couple of weeks before Christmas, I shared a post about some secret sewing that I'd been busy stitching for some very special children. Now they've been received I can share better pictures! I've used my favourite pattern for making Christmas stockings, Waiting for Santa, by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley. I've been making these stockings for several years, and the best part is choosing the fabrics and trimmings. These ones have been made with a selection of fabrics from the Cool Yule collection by The Henley Studio for Makower UK...
...the name tags have been hand embroidered using a selection of Cosmo embroidery threads in co-ordinating colours, and when they were finished, the name tags were stitched in place using these gorgeous turquoise vintage buttons...
...obviously it wouldn't be Christmas without a few chocolate treats, so these were filled to the brim with edible goodies, including chocolate coins, chocolate robins, festive shapes, and of course a delicious chocolate Santa...
...and here are those stockings, absolutely filled to the brim, before they were placed under the Christmas tree for some very special little children.  A new grandson arrived earlier in the year, which meant another Christmas stocking was needed! I used my favourite stocking pattern, Waiting for Santa by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley and teamed it up with a selection of red prints by another Australian designer, Lynette Anderson. I wrote Rory's name onto fabric using a fine tipped Micron Pigma pen, then stitched over the letters using 3 strands of red Cosmo thread...
...the name tag was stiched in place using an antique button and perle thread. I absolutely LOVE this festive print with the cute gingerbread men and hearts on it! I think the best part of preparing this stocking was shopping for some goodies to tuck inside it. A last minute shopping trip to Wooodbridge, my local market town, was very productive - a cute pop-up book called Crocodile by Mick Inkpen, some baby biscotti biscuits, a toy for chubby little fingers to play with and a cute pair of reindeer ear muffs to keep his ears cosy...
...now these goodies just need to be tucked inside and it can be hung up on the fireplace, ready for Rory to discover in the morning!  I always struggle with buying Christmas gifts for men, and Mr F is no exception! He's rather fond of a drop of port, and although I'd bought him a bottle, it just didn't seem special enough in an ordinary bottle bag, so I set to work with making something extra festive. Why use one red fabric when you can use twelve? These pretty red prints are a selection of fabrics from various collections by the Australian designer Lynette Anderson. Once these small squares were pieced together, they were spray basted to a piece of wadding and quilted very simply in a cross hatch design using a red Aurifil 40wt thread. I also used one of Lynette's festive prints for the lining too (this one is from her Candy Cane Angels collection) and teamed it with some red ricrac trimming...
...the front flap of the bottle bag is hand embroidered. This was stitched prior to the bag being constructed and I used a Cosmo stranded embroidery thread with a selection of simple embroidery stitches - back stitch, cross stitch and running stitch...
...and here's the completed bottle bag. I'd bought this pattern, Christmas Cheer, by the Australian designer Janelle Wind about 15 years ago, so I'm not sure if it's still available. However it is an absolute joy to stitch, so if you're lucky enough to find a copy too, I'm sure you'll enjoy stitching it as much as I did. And I'm sure Mr F will prefer the actual contents, rather than the fabric container, but now I've made this pretty bag I can use it again every year - I'm sure he'll be thrilled with my cunning plan to re-use it!  |
 About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! 
 
 
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