Block 8 of "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) was still in it's packet, and I was waiting for my new glasses before I made a start on it. Then I decided I really couldn't wait another week, so yesterday morning, bright and early, I sorted out the fabrics and cut up the pieces ready for the mini-blocks, and fussy cut the feature fabric... ...I'd got a busy day planned, so getting the fabrics cut to size was all I had time to do. This morning I've traced the designs onto the fabric, pieced the mini-blocks together, and ironed the fusible interfacing (I prefer to use Vilene H180) onto the back of the block... ...and now I'm ready to make a start - hand-stitchery is very relaxing (although I haven't yet felt the love of hand quilting!) and plan to spend the afternoon stitching while Mr F is busy playing cricket.
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I was very productive on Saturday - firstly I was able to get all the fabric sorted and cut for the next block of "Down In The garden" (more about that later) and then I went off on a road trip with my friend Helen, and my daughter Alice, to Bungay. The main purpose of our trip was to go to Sew and So's, and of course I just HAD to buy some fabric while I was there. Well it would've been silly to go all that way and not buy anything wouldn't it? Last week when I was in Quilters Haven I bought the medium pair of "Perfect Scissors" by Karen Kay Buckley, and they are simply WONDERFUL - so I've invested in the large pair too! I'd already bought the small ones last year, and really couldn't live without them, so now I have the complete set. My sister is a quilter, and she had mentioned that she likes using "Star" hand quilting thread. As I don't hand quilt, I hadn't heard of that brand of thread, but spotted a basket full of spools while I was browsing, so bought her a couple of spools ready for when I see her next. Oh and yes, I did buy some fabric - a gorgeous fat quarter bundle of beautiful batiks in shades of aqua and lime green that I simply had to have. And yes, we had lunch at the wonderful cafe in Bungay too - the crab and crayfish pate was delicious - sorry there's no pictures, but I promise you it was almost as delicious as the chocolate orange cake that I had afterwards!
Block 7 of "Down In The Garden" (designed by Leanne Beasley) is completed, and I've only got 2 more blocks to stitch before the quilt top is ready for the borders. I spent a very rainy afternoon last Sunday curled up on the sofa with my daughters watching a film and made a start on the stitchery - actually if the film hadn't been so good, I probably would have finished this all in one day! The churn dash blocks had been made last summer when I first started this project... ...appliqued onto another mini-block is a pretty dresden plate with a Suffolk Puff centre, (made with a scrap of Lecien fabric from my stash), and finally a little bit more stitchery showing a beautiful bird house. There are 4 different bird houses on this quilt, and they all have pretty vines and flowers trailing around them... ...I can't believe I was able to finish stitching this block so quickly - it's amazing what you can accomplish in the early hours of the morning when you can't sleep! Anyway, here is the completed block. Now there are only 2 blocks left and then the borders to add to fish it off, then I need to decide on the quilting - whether to do it by hand or whether to take it to Janette, who does some wonderful custom quilting. I actually started this quilt last summer on 6th August 2013, and if I carry on stitching with a passion it looks like I just might have the quilt top pieced together by 6th August 2014.
Block 7 of "Down In The Garden" has been prepped and is ready for the stitchery. It's so much easier tracing the stitchery designs before the complete block is pieced together. I've used a Schmetz Microtex needle size 60 for all the piecing, and a smaller than usual stitch length, together with a neutral coloured Mettler fine embroidery thread. I used a very fine Micron Pigma pen to trace the stitchery patterns, and then ironed a very soft fusible interfacing onto the back (my favorite interfacing for stitchery is Vilene H180)... ...this is one of my favourite projects (and my quilting friends know that I've made several designs by Leanne Beasley) as I really enjoy the relaxing time spent on the hand embroidery. These mini-blocks piece together very quickly, and these churn dash blocks were made last year when I first started this project. My friends Linda and Helen persuaded me to make a start on it, as it had been sitting in a box for simply ages, and I can't think why I hadn't started it earlier! Well I'm off to make a nice cup of tea, then I might just make a start on this block!
As you can see, I really have been as busy as a busy bee!! Each morning I've spent an hour stitching with a cuppa, enjoying the peace and quiet before the hustle and bustle of getting ready for work. This was a BOM that I bought 4 years ago, and is designed by Leanne Beasley. It included lots of beautiful Lecien fabrics, and I've added one or two scraps of my own too. This is Block 6 (only 3 more blocks to go!) and I'm enjoying spending time with this "garden" almost as much as I enjoy spending time in my own garden... ...this block shows off several techniques, including stitchery - back stitch, chain stitch and satin stitch using mostly DMC embroidery threads. A beautiful Cottage Garden Thread in "Larkspur" was included with this BOM and it really is beautiful. Machine-appliqued butterflies decorate this block too... ...there's a fussy cutting using the feature fabric "Grandmother's Flower Garden" by Rosalie Quinlan, and I love these cute mini-9 patch blocks. The final stitch was hand sewing around the edge of this appliqued heart (I used a soft fusible interfacing on the back of the heart, and turned it inside out as my needle-turn applique isn't very neat!) using a neutral coloured silk thread, and then I was finished. Over the weekend I'm hoping to get Block 7 prepped and ready for stitching.
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About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! Archives
January 2025
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