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These beautiful hand-dyed Valdani Threads arrived in the post all the way from Australia - I've been taking part in this Thread Club organised by Lynette Anderson Designs for 3 months now. These cute personalised thread spools will also be put to good use too! 
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I had a few scraps of fabric leftover from the "Happy Flappers" quilt that I'd recently made, and put them to good use making another project for Mollie Rose. I used a pattern called "A Family Of Owls" by Claire Turpin Designs, and spent a happy sewing day with steam-a-seam lite making applique templates. (I'd bought this pattern as a PDF download from Claire's etsy shop, and her patterns are also available from Under The Mulberry Tree in Australia). The applique templates are firstly traced onto the lite steam-a-seam 2 in reverse, and roughly cut out. Then the backing layer is peeled away. The fusbible webbing is then ironed onto the back of the fabric and cut aout accurately on the traced line. I prefer to use "perfect scissors" for this, by Karen kay Buckley (I love them so much I've got 3 pairs of them in different sizes!). The top layer of paper can then be peeled away....
...the applique shapes were then all fused into place onto the background fabric, then I layered this onto some muslin with cotton wadding inbetween the 2 layers. Finally it was time to machine applique the shapes into position, and as I had already layered this up, it was quilted at the same time, using matching coloured Mettler quilting threads. The eyes were embellished with black buttons, that were securely sewn on by hand. Once all the applique was in place, I quilted around each owl using white Aurifil thread 40wt thread...
...I used a piece of the backing fabric for the top half of the cushion backing, and inserted a zipper. Then the cushion back and front were machined together 1/8" from the raw edges. I made a scrappy binding using a mixture of 2 fabrics - I especially like stripey bindings. This was machined into place, using the single-fold method...
...I made sure that I added one of my labels and inside is a plump feather pad. Here is the finished cushion, ready for the birthday girl!
A few weeks ago I was asked to make a quilt for a colleague, for her grand-daughter's first birthday. We found the perfect kit online from The Bramblepatch, called Happy Flappers, which uses fabric from the range "Happy Flappers" by Riley Blake Designs. The kit included all the fabric to piece the top, fabric for the applique owls and leaves, fabric for the binding, and even included the fusible webbing for the applique too. The main part of the quilt is pieced together very simply in rows...
...the applique panel is completed separately, then inserted between the pieced rows. The pattern included traceable templates for the owls and the leaves. Once these were traced, fused and cut out, they were fused onto the background fabric and machine appliqued into place. I used a selection of Mettler fine embroidery threads in complimentary colours, a slightly smaller than usual stitch length, and a Schmetz Microtex needle size 60 for the machine applique. I used stitch-and-tear stabiliser on the back to give the fabric some support whilst the applique was being sewn into place...
...my friend wanted her grand-daughter's name "Mollie Rose" appliqued onto the quilt too, and I used some extra fabric in a co-ordinating print from the same fabric range for the letters. These were traced onto fusible webbing which was then fused to the back of the fabric. The letters were cut out exactly on the traced lines, the backing paper was removed and the letters were then fused to the quilt top, and machined into place. Again, stitch and tear stabiliser was placed under the fabric that the letters were stitched onto. Once the applique was completed, the loose ends of the threads were secured, and the stitch-and tear was easily removed...
...the letters I used were from the book "Winsome Baby" by Nancy Halvorsen. The letter templates in the book are already reversed, which makes tracing them onto fusible webbing so much easier! You really don't need anything fancy for this part of the construction - I simply used a retractable HB pencil for tracing these templates that I bought from my local supermarket. I managed to get a quick photograph of the quilt top before it was layered with the wadding and backing fabric...
...I decided to quilt this very simply, starting by stitch in the ditch, then quilting some straight rows across the width of the quilt with a pink King Tut quilting thread. I quilted around the outside of the letters too, then free motion quilting around the owls and leaves was done with a cream King Tut quilting thread...
...this stripey fabric for the binding was included in the kit. There was enough fabric to cut the binding strips 3.5" wide. I used the double fold binding method for this quilt, and mitred the corners. I really like using a wider binding on quilts. I added one of my labels to the back of the quilt and then folded the binding over to the back of the quilt and stitched it into place by hand...
...and here it is, on the final photoshoot, before it was wrapped up and delivered to Mollie Rose, ready for her first birthday.  This is the "secret"project that I made a few weeks ago, for a very special little girl called Mollie Rose. Her grand-mother is a work colleague, and I was commissioned to make this for Mollie's first birthday. This was a kit from The Bramblepatch and uses a range of fabrics called "Happy Flappers" by Riley Blake. The owls are machine appliqued onto the background fabric and the letters were added to personalise the quilt for Mollie. I've taken lots of pictures of this project in all it's stages - the piecing, applique, quilting, and binding and I'll share those on here in a couple of days.
 Yes that postman has been to Foreman Towers again! This time he delivered a parcel from Coast & Country Crafts and Quilts, as I'd ordered another beautiful kit "Forest Friends" by Lynette Anderson Designs. This includes the pattern, the fabrics, skeins of embroidery threads, ribbon trimming AND these gorgeous hand painted buttons too. I've used a very fine Pigma Micron pen (size 01 in light brown) to trace the designs onto the background fabric...
...once the tracing was done, the fabrics were cut and pieced together using a fine Mettler thread and a Schmetz Microtex size 60 needle and was ready for the stitchery. This project uses some simple hand embroidery stitches using 2 strands of DMC embroidery thread - back stitch, satin stitch and colonial knots. Then it's embellished with these beautiful hand painted buttons (the buttons were all included in this kit, but there are also instructions in the pattern for making applique shapes if you don't have buttons). The narrow border is finished with 2 rows of running stitch...
...the quilting was also kept very simple for this project. I used Aurifil 40wt thread and a size 70 Schmetz Topstitch needle, and quilted "stitch in the ditch" first, then quilted straight rows 0.5" apart on the outer border. I prefer pillow backs with a zipper, so made the back a bit different from the instructions that came with the pattern. I used the backing fabric that was included in the kit for the binding too, and used the single fold method of binding. Once this was machined into place, I hand stitched the binding to the back of the cusion. I added one of my labels before the binding was stitched into place...
...and here is the finished cushion. It's stuffed with a plump used a feather pad which I bought from Barratts of Woodbridge. I was raining yesterday when this was finished, so I had to do my photoshoot indoors. I've really enjoyed making this selection of cushions by Lynette Anderson Designs.  It's a good job Mr F hasn't seen the "regular international customer" sticker on the parcel that the postman delivered a few weeks ago! This is block 5 of "Simply Blessed" by Rosalie Quinlan Designs. This BOM was bought online from "Under The Mulberry Tree" in Australia as I couldn't find a stockist here in the UK. I really was in stitchery heaven getting this block completed!...
...the centre piece was stitched using Cosmo Seasons variegated thread shade 8049. The next step is the appliqué with these gorgeous Tilda fabrics. I've overlapped the sheets of appliqué paper and pinned them together to make them large enough. I've used a pencil to trace around the templates and cut them out with my Karen Kay Buckley perfect scissors...
...once the templates were fused into place, I cut out the shapes leaving a small margin all around the outside edge, then I was ready for some appliqué with a glue stick and those apliquick rods (there is a great tutorial how to use these here on Lynette Anderson's blog). The appliqué shapes were then hand sewn into place, using a neutral coloured YLI silk thread and a very fine appliqué sewing needle. A few drops of Roxanne's basting glue held each layer in place...
...the borders were machined into place, and block 5 was completed. This has been a beautiful project to sew, and I've really enjoyed every part of it - the stitchery, the applique and the piecing. Can't wait for block 6 to arrive!  At the weekend I was busy playing around with fabrics and lace and zippers and EQ printable fabric sheets, and a very special wedding photograph. This pieced together and quilted with my favourite Aurifil thread...
...once the cushion front was quilted, it was embellished with some vintage buttons. I even managed to find a sparkling "diamond" button for this special project! Then I was busy sewing the binding into place. The binding was folded over to the back, and hand sewn into place. This picture shows a close-up of the quilting, the lace trimming, and the vintage buttons, including the very sparkly one....
...and finally here my latest project. I bought a nice plump feather cushion pad from a local shop, Barretts of Woodbridge, to put inside this gorgeous cushion cover. This was a commission for a friend who wanted a unique gift for her in-laws to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.  Mr Postman you really are VERY naughty.... look what he's delivered today! Month 2 and some more beautiful hand-dyed Valdani threads and wooden spools from the Thread Club Lynette Anderson Designs. 
A few weeks ago I did a little bit on online shopping from Patchwork Chicks here in the UK, and couldn't resist another kit to make this delightful cushion called "Christmas Friends" by Lynette Anderson Designs. Everything was included in the kit - the fabrics (also designed by Lynette), the embroidery threads and a hand[painted snowman button. I stupidly mis-laid the reindeer ribbon that trims one of the blocks, and Karen came to the rescue! Thanks Karen - you saved the day!...
...the pattern was placed on my lightbox, and the stitchery designs were traced very carefully onto the background fabric with a very fine Micron Pigma pen. When the designs were all traced, a piece of weaveline interfacing was fused to the back of the fabric. I added a quick dab of Sewline fabric glue to the back of the reindeer ribbon and it was pressed into position on one of the mini stitchery blocks. The glue eliminates the need for pins and is easy to stitch over. I used a longer stitch for the top-stitching, approx 3mm then pieced the cushion front, pressing all seams as I went along...
...I did most of the stitchery while I was having some "me" time while Mr F was having a lay-in a couple of weeks ago. I'm very glad that I'd invested in those apliquick rods from The Fat Quarters. They certainly make these small applique pieces much easier to make. The Santa mini block had a "fuzzy" beard for Santa, and the Snowman block was embellished with a hand painted snowman button...
...I was able to get the cushion front quilted this afternoon. Using my favourite thread, Aurifil, in matching colours. I quilted this very simply "stitch-in-the-ditch" then some straight rows 0.5" apart on the outer border. I prefer to make cushion covers with zipper closures, so used the backing fabric that was included in the kit for the binding and part of the cushion back, and used a double layer of muslin for the lower part of the cushion back....
...and here is the finished cushion, made with a combination of techniques. Machine piecing, hand embroidery, hand applique, and machine quilting. Another project completed, now just what shall I start next?  |
 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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