I had purchased a selection of Tilda fabrics to use for the binding, and finally decided to use this pretty brown floral that is also used as the background fabric for some of the blocks. I prefer a wider binding for my larger quilts, so cut strips of fabric 3.5" wide, joined them together on the diagonal. The strips were folded in half, and pinned then machined to the front of the quilt. The corners were mitred, then the once the binding was attached all around the quilt, the binding was folded over to the back. I used Clover Wonder clips to hold the binding in place, then hand stitched it using ladder stitch. This was longarm quilted by Janette at J-Quilts and I was able to buy the backing fabric from her too. This gorgeous aqua fabric was just perfect for this quilt!...

...and here it is, in all it's splendor, blowing in the breeze on a cold Wintery morning. This was a BOM by the Australian designer Rosalie Dekker, and was bought online from Under The Mulberry Tree in Australia. It came with each design pre-printed onto handkerchief linen, all these beautiful Tilda fabrics for the applique, the block backgrounds and the borders, and several skeins of the beautiful variegated Cosmo thread. I really am thrilled with this one, and Janette has done an absolutely amazing job. I couldn't imagine trusting anyone else with my quilts. Now I'm saving my pennies as I have a few more for her to work her magic on, and I'll share some pictures of those when they're ready :) 

Stitched By Me was a gorgeous project designed by Lynette Anderson Designs. I'd already bought the set of seven patterns that are needed to make this wall hanging, and when Lynette asked me if I'd like to host a quilt-along using a kit containing her newest fabric collection, My Hearts at Home, I absolutely squealed with delight! This project has certainly stretched my abilities, and is made with lots of different teques. For starters, the blocks are machine pieced together, then I've made bias stems and used different methods of applique. Mostly I've used applique paper, a glue stick and apliquick rods. The wool felt flowers and birds were made using the fusible webbing method and they were hand embroidered with blanket stitch and DMC thread. The flower centres are made with tiny Suffolk Puffs and were embellished with some more embroidery. There was some simple stitchery, back stitch and satin stitch, again stitched mostly with DMC thread although I used a gorgeous hand dyed Valdani thread for the alphabet in block 2. The 6 blocks were machine stitched together, and finally adorned with a pieced border made up of 32 Friendship Star blocks. The wooden buttons will be finally stitched into place once this has been quilted. This will soon be sent off to Janette at J-Quilts, for her to work her wonderful magic. But for now, I'm enjoying looking at it fluttering on my washing line!

All the half square triangles had been made, and a total of 155 1.5" squares had been cut and were safely stored away ready for piecing together the friendship star blocks (there were actually 160 1.5" squares, but I'd pieced one block together before I packed my sewing away. Only another 31 blocks to make! Fabrics are from the "My Hearts at Home" collection by Lynette Anderson Designs...

...very soon I had a whole constellation of friendship stars to gaze upon! I usually press my seams to one side, but I think it might've been better to press them open, as those pesky seams needed a good shot of steam to make them lay flat! These blocks were then pieced together to make the borders for the quilt. Lynette says in her instructions that a small piece of fabric needs to be inserted inbetween a couple of the blocks, to make them the correct length. This wasn't too tricky, and a small of fabric was cut at 1.5" and then inserted between a couple of blocks for each border strip... 

If you want a kit to make this gorgeous quilt, using these gorgeous My Hearts at Home fabrics, they are available over on Lynette's shop website the Little Quilt Store. This kit contains the 7 part pattern set and all the cotton fabrics for the quilt top, each delightful block in this quilt combines applique and stitchery, the raw wood buttons which are cut in Lynette's studio add dimension to the quilt, which are included in the kit. http://www.littlequiltstore.com.au/shop/product/stitched-me-kit/

There was no Sewing Group on Monday evening, so I was sewing at home instead. After a nice relaxing soak in the bath, I decided to make a start on Block 6 (The Coffee Shop) of Flowerville by Rosalie Dekker Designs, and have a few choccies, and a nice glass of wine - I'd planned the perfect evening! This BOM is stitched with gorgeous Cottage Garden Threads in simple embroidery stitches - chain stitch, back stitch and satin stitch. A few evenings later, and this block was completed. This BOM was ordered online from Under The Mulberry Tree in Australia - honestly, it's like having a birthday treat when the postman knocks on the door with a package from Oz!!

Do you remember the Simply Blessed quilt that I made last year? It was a BOM that I bought from Under The Mulberry Tree in Australia and was designed by Rosalie Dekker Designs. This was made with simply gorgeous Tilda fabrics and hand embroidered with a variegated Cosmo thread. It was started in October2014 and was finished in July 2015. I had to save my pennies ready to take it over to Janette at J-Quilts so she could work her magic on it, and I collected it today. Here's a sneak peek at her amazing quilting. I am absolutely thrilled with it, and plan to get the binding on at the weekend. I also need to get my sketch book out and design a quilt label to stitch on the back to acknowledge Janette for her wonderful quilting. I'll share some more pictures when that's done and the binding is on.

A few weeks ago Block 5 of Flowerville (The Main House) by Rosalie Dekker Designs arrived from Under The Mulberry Tree in Australia. The design is screen printed onto handkerchief linen. It's been pressed, and Weaveline (a soft woven fusible interfacing) has been fused to the back, ready for stitching with Cottage Garden Threads. I've been relaxing in the evenings with some hand sewing, and before long the stitchery for Block 5 is completed.

You khat lovely feeling when you get home from work and there's a gorgeous parcel waiting for you? Well I had that feeling back in December when Block 4 of Flowerville by Rosalie Dekker Designs was waiting for me after a rather stressful day! This was bought online from Under the Mulberry Tree in Australia, and includes these gorgeous hand dyed Cottage Garden Threads and Tilda fabrics. This embroidered centre will be appliquéd onto a Tilda fabric dresden plate. But I'm saving those up for another day!

Block 3 of Flowerville by Rosalie Dekker Designs arrived in the post from Under The Mulberry Tree in Australia back in November. I was really looking forward to stitching this one, but I had so many other projects that I needed to finish before Christmas that this had to wait for a while. If only I had an extra day between Saturday and Sunday to catch up with my sewing projects!...

...the block was prepped on the back with weave line (a fusible interfacing) and I used a wooden hoop to keep the linen taut. These Cottage Garden Threads are really lovely to sew with. I've decided to have a special sewing day once all the embroidered blocks are completed and make all the dresden plates in one session.

I've found a super online shop that has proved to be an absolute winner! I was doing a google search for some bits and bobs, and came across Sew Hot, here in the UK. I'm an absolute scissor-holic and I simply couldn't resist these gorgeous embroidery scissors. These scissors are both beautiful and functional. The large ergonomic teardrop handles make cutting and crafting comfortable for anyone. The high quality stainless steel blades and sharp points allow for delicate cutting and trimming. Perfect for cross stitch, embroidery, sewing needlepoint, and quilting. These ones have beautiful antique copper handles, and are 4 inch long. 

These are my favourite tools of the trade that I used for making Stitched By Me. None of these are essential, but they are the tools that I found to be really useful. The wonderful kit uses fabrics from My Hearts at Home collection by Lynette Anderson Designs and is available from the Little Quilt Store. I used applique paper for the applique shapes and hexagons, and those fabulous apliquick rods and a glue stick. I found this brilliant website to download printable graph paper for the hexagons - I simply printed the file onto a sheet of applique paper, cut them out and fused them on to the back of the fabric - simple! The wool felt applique was made with steam-a-seam lite. Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Scissors are my absolute favourites, and a packet of her Perfect Stems were used for the bias strips. An extra small Clover Yo-yo maker was just the right size for the Suffolk Puffs.