Hooray! Another project is completed. Sewing Day Sampler, by the Australian designer Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched had originally been started back in October 2017, when I was on a long haul flight to New Zealand. I'd stitched some of the embroidery while I was on the plane there and back, and when I returned home it was packed away and forgotten about. Taking part in an online challenge to finish 5 incomplete projects before the 1st May has encouraged me to have a good sort through in my sewing studio! This is the 4th project that I've completed during this challenge - not sure that project number 5 will be completed quite so quickly though!
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I've really enjoyed stitching this project! The pattern is "Sewing Day Sampler" and is by the Australian designer Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched. This was originally bought back in October 2017, was started and packed away incomplete. Anyway, the embroidery has now been finished, along with the quilting and applique. The pattern suggests using a facing rather than binding the edges of "Sewing Day Sampler" and certainly gives a very professional finish to this project. After a good rummage in my scrap bag (I normally donate these to my sister, but might have to rethink that after finding these treasures!) I managed to pull out enough fabric for the facing on this wall hanging... Once the facing was hand stitched to the back of the wall hanging, I added a hand embroidered label, again from that never ending pile of scraps! Finally a small quilt sleeve was added to fit the decorative hanger that I planned to use. I'm so pleased with this wall hanging, and VERY pleased that I managed to find so many "perfect" scraps! ...once the facing was hand stitched to the back of the wall hanging, I added a hand embroidered label, again from that never ending pile of scraps! Finally a small quilt sleeve was added to fit the decorative hanger that I planned to use. I'm so pleased with this wall hanging, and VERY pleased that I managed to find so many "perfect" scraps!
I normally donate all my scraps - however I forgot to take my HUGE scrap bag to my sister recently, so had a rummage in the absolute mountain of scraps that is threatening to engulf my studio to see if there was anything I could use for this project - and what a result!! These treasures were perfect for the patchwork piecing for "Sewing Day Sampler" and there were plenty of scraps to make all the applique too... ...once all the patchwork had been completed, it was layered up with a felted polyester wadding (Pellon H630) and was machine quilted very simply using a neutral coloured King Tut quilting thread and a size 70 Schmetz Topstitch needle. Finally it was embellished with some vintage buttons from my button tin.
Eeekkk!!! Look arrived in the post this morning from Stef Francis! Lots of goodies to complete an "arty" project that I started on a workshop with Alexandra Waylett just before Christmas. Unfortunately I've got a long list of chores to do today, so these beauties will have to wait until the weekend until I can play with them.
I'm taking part in an online challenge to try to complete 5 projects that are in my "waiting to be finished" pile before May 1st, and this is project number 4. It was initially started when I was going on holiday to New Zealand and needed something to keep me occupied on the long haul flight. As you see, the embroidery wasn't quite finished, and was put away on my return to the UK 3 weeks later, and it has been languishing in my sewing basket ever since. The pattern (Sewing Day Sampler) is by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched.
The opposite wall in my studio is also looking bright and cheerful! This shows the trio of bright batik quilts that hanging together. 1. Trees - improvised piecing and machine applique on a workshop with Helen Howes several years ago. Finally free motion quilted by me in 2017... 2. Curved Piecing - piecing, free motion quilting, piping and binding all completed on a residential course with Philippa Naylor back in 2016... 3. Stargazey Heartz - based on the pattern by Jan Mullen. A selection of blocks were pieced by my daughter and me (she was about 12 or 13 at the time).
I absolutely love walking into my studio and seeing these bright colours on a dull grey January morning! Over the Christmas period I've had some festive wall hangings on display in my sewing studio. Last Saturday, when I packed Christmas away for another year, it was a dull and grey January morning, and my studio needed a pop of colour to brighten it up. I pulled out some batik quilts to display on the walls, and they have certainly lifted my spirits! The sunflower quilt was made several years ago, using the stitch and split applique technique which is demonstrated in the book "Stitch and Split Applique" by Jayme Crow and Joan Segna. I made this quilt on a workshop at Quilter's Haven (sadly closed down now). Some beads were hand stitched onto the leaves to add a bit of bling, and I free motion quilted the same leaf shape in the borders... ...more bright batiks are now displayed on the opposite wall too - the trees wall hanging was made initially on a workshop with Helen Howes quite a few years ago, using improvisational piecing and machine applique, and was finally free motion quilted when I was on a residential course with Philippa Naylor in 2017. Instead of binding the edges, it has a facing which is handsewn to the back. The curved wall hanging in the middle was made completely on a "curved piecing" course with Philippa in 2016, and was made with lots of bright batiks. The course focused on how to draught a pattern using freezer paper templates, and piecing curves. Then I had great fun free motion quilting it under Philippa's expert guidance. It has a double row of piping and curved binding too. Finally the Stargazey Heartz quilt was a joint venture with my daughter about 13 years ago and is based on a pattern by Jan Mullen. We attended a workshop together, and both pieced a few blocks using an assortment of batiks which we decided to stitch together to make a wallhanging. This was machine quilted by me, and was one of my first attempts at free motion quilting!
I'm taking part in an online challenge to try to complete 5 projects that were still in that "waiting to be completed" pile before 1st May, and this is my third project so far. The pattern is Little Fox Zippered Purse, and was bought as a kit online from Little Quilt Store in Australia back in 2017. I'd completed the applique and hand embroidery soon after the kit had arrived, but was finding the hand sewn zipper a bit tricky so put it to one side for another day! I finally pulled this out of my "to finish" pile, and found that hand sewing the zipper in place was actually much easier than I thought it was going to be! This morning I hand embroidered the decorative zipper pull and it was finished!... ...the back of the purse was machine quilted in a very simple crosshatch pattern, using a variegated King Tut quilting thread. I'm so thrilled with the end result - and I can't believe how I've managed to make such good progress with the online challenge. As I've got until the 1st May to complete 2 more projects for the challenge, I might reward myself with starting something new!
'I'm having a good spring clean in my sewing studio, and getting rid of a few quilty bits and bobs that I no longer need. A few years ago I made this quilted guitar strap for a very good friend - unfortunately it was returned not wanted. If anyone would like this, it is free to a good home (posting only in the UK) so please leave me a comment below if you'd like it - I'll contact you by email to arrange delivery. 'Update 10/01/2109 - this has now been posted off to it's new owner who is hopefully much more deserving than the person it was originally made for! I'm taking part in an online challenge to try to finish 5 projects that are in my "waiting to be completed" pile before 1st May, and this is my second project so far. This was originally started back in 2016, but the zipper insertion looked a bit complicated so it was packed away and half forgotten about. After a LOT of swearing yesterday afternoon, the zipper was eventually beaten into submission and was finally stitched in place... ...I'm really pleased with my new tablet case, and can't believe it to took me so long to finish it! The pattern is "Nature's Pace iPad Case" by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched - this was bought as a kit back in 2016 from Cross Patch in Wales. The case has been hand embroidered and hand appliqued. The pattern comes with instructions for 2 different sizes, and I altered the pattern slightly so it's a perfect fit for my Samsung tablet.
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July 2023
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