Blog Archives

George and the Donkey - Update Parts 1-5

26/2/2023

Here's my progress so far of the mystery quilt George and the Donkey by Lynette Anderson Designs. I just couldn't resist putting a few more bits together! Parts 1-5 (George and the Donkey, Garden of Flowers, The Honey Patch, Field of Horses and Baa Baa Black Sheep) have all been hand embroidered with a selection of variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads and hand appliquéd. These fabrics, all from a variety of Lynette's collections, really blend well together. Hopefully I've got enough scraps to ensure each of those hills is a different shade of green. Thankfully I've got quite a large collection of her prints! Now this has been put together, I can't wait to see what surprise Lynette has for the next block!

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George and the Donkey - Block 5 - Baa Baa Black Sheep

25/2/2023

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This arrived in the post from Poppy Patch at the beginning of February - it's Block 5 - Baa Baa Black Sheep - which is the next instalment of the mystery quilt George and the Donkey by Lynette Anderson Desgns.

...I was still playing catch up when the pattern arrived, and was still working on block 3. However, as you can see, I've been concentrating on catching up with these blocks rather than stitching anything new, and I'm making very good progress! I have to say, these sheep were the cutest things I've ever made...

...this long, narrow block has ben rather tricky to photograph, so I've had to do it in stages. I've added a few close ups of the details - this really is such a pretty block. I can't wait to start putting these blocks together!

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George and the Donkey - Hexagons Galore

23/2/2023

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Before I started to make the lovely George and the Donkey mystery BOM, I always used to say that hexies were my nemesis. But after making ALL of those tiny 3/8" hexies for the inner borders of the quilt, I'm beginning to change my mind! Using pre-cut paper pieces really are SO easy to use, and once they're stiched together, they do look very pretty. I used a spool of 60wt Bottomline thread in a mid grey colour to stitch these hexies, along with a fine milliners needle...

...once they were stiched, they almost looked too preety to use! I decided to make ALL of the outer border blocks - that's 44 hexie flowers - which is 308 half inch hexies - I must be mad! Once they were stoiched in place, again using the same 60wt Bottomline thread, the background fabric was carefully cut away using a pair of Karen Kay Buckley applique scissors (the ines with red handles and curved blades) and the paper pieces were wriggled out. Some came out easier than others, so a quick press with a warm iron on my wool pressing mat and they were finished!

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George and the Donkey - Block 4 - Field of Horses

22/2/2023

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Block 4 - Field of Horses - the next installment of the mystery quilt George and the Donkey by Lynette Anderson Designs - arrived in the post from Poppy Patch at the beginning of January, and when it arrived I still hadn't finished block 1. Anyway, I'm slowly catching up, as I've managed to keep focussed on stitching the blocks for this pretty quilt. There are lots of hexagons required for this part too, which as you know they really are my nemsis, so this time I decided to stitch them first, before I started the embroidery part. Incase you were wondering, this is what 308 cute little half-inch heagons look like when they're joined together to make a total of 44 hexagon flowers. Don't worry, they're not ALL needed for this block - this block only required ten hexie flowers, with 7 hexagons in each flower - so that's only 70 little 1/2" hexies! In keeping with the hexies from the previous border, I've used the same red fabric for the centre of the flower and each flower is made with a differnt fabric for the petals...

...I delved into my stash of Lynette Fabrics to find an assortment of green prints for the hills. I'm determined to use as many scraps as I can, and hoping to use a differnt green print for each hill! The hand embroidery is all stitched using an assortment of variegated Valdani stranded embrpoidery threads...

...this block is tricky to photograph as it's long and narrow - one end has a mare tending to her foal, while a handsome stallion is at the other end, reaching up for one of those delicious looking red apples...

...this block will be put in a safe place along with the 4 Honey Patch cornerstone blocks and the hexagon flower border, ready to be assembled once parts 5, 6 and 7 have been stitched.

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Sew Sweet Violet - Needle Minder

18/2/2023

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I recently discovered the loveliest shop Sew Sweet Violet and whilst I was browsing their online shop at some beautiful patterns and kits, I just couldn't resist buying this pretty enamel magnetic needle minder. I can't believe I've never had one of these needle minders before - my sewing needle won't get mislaid ever again!

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Aurifil Colour Builder - Whale Shark

16/2/2023

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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. Whale Shark is this month's selection and these blue threads - shades 2784, 2735 and - 2770 really are beautiful and are great for machine quilting.

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George and the Donkey - Block 3 - The Honey Patch

10/2/2023

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Block 3 - The Honey Patch - is the next installment of the mystery quilt George and the Donkey, designed by Lynette Anderson Designs. The pattern had arrived in the post from Poppy Patch at the beginning of December, but I was busy with other projects, so I'm still trying to catch up! First of all, I prepared some pretty bee hives which have a tiny bee-sized door on the front...

...the bee haves were appliqued in place, and some bees were hand mbroidered around the hives. I'm using a selection of variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads for this project. If you don't have any variegated threads, my top tip is to use a couple of solid embroidery threads, in similar colours, and thread a needle with one strand of each colour. This gives a softer effect than using just one colour...

...I'm using the Apliquick method of applique for this project, as I seem to be all fingers and thumbs with traditional needleturn applique. Once the hives and birds were stitched in place (I've been using Bottomline 60wt thread for this along with a Clover Black Gold applique needle) I could concentrate on the hand embroidery...

...these four blocks will be the cornerstones for parts 4,5,6 and 7 so they'll be put in a safe place while those parts are being worked on...

...next it was time to make a huge pile of 1/2" hexagons, ready for the border around the centrpiece. These pre-cut hexagon papers are really useful, and so much quicker and easier to use than trying to cut my own papers! These ones are by Sew & Quilt and were purchased online from Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts. A total of 140 hexagons were prepared, ready to make a bouquet of twenty hexagon flowers...

...as you can see, I used the same red hearts print for the centre hexagon, with an assortment of 20 different fabrics for the flowers. Lots of tiny squares were cut from my stash of "Lynette" prints and were added to the corners of larger squares which had been cut in an assortment of neutral fabrics...

...the hexagon flowers were then stitched in place onto the background squares, making sure they were different to the prints used on the corners of the squares. Once the hexie flowers were all stitched in place, the mini blocks were stitched together in two rows of four, two rows of six, and then joined together around the centrpiece. This was then carefully pressed on a wool pressing mat using a cool iron...

...finally, the narrow borders of 3/8" hexagons were stiched in place. A final press on my wool pressing mat, and I could breathe a sigh of relief after making all those hexies!

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George and the Donkey - Update Parts 1-5

George and the Donkey - Block 5 - Baa Baa Black Sheep

George and the Donkey - Hexagons Galore

George and the Donkey - Block 4 - Field of Horses

Sew Sweet Violet - Needle Minder

Aurifil Colour Builder - Whale Shark

George and the Donkey - Block 3 - The Honey Patch

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