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Here's a close-up of the words that I'd hand embroidered using a Valdani Perle thread from the Cross Patch Favourites collection. I'd had a comment on one of the pictures of A Merry Christmas Garden on my FB page, asking why did I say it had been hand embroidered when there wasn't any embroidery on it! Maybe they thought the words were printed on the fabric as my stitching is quite neat! 
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I've also been preparing more applique shapes using the Karen Kay Buckley Bigger Perfect Circles too. These will be stitched in place on blocks 5 and 6 - I've had quite a production line going on in my sewing studio, cutting out fabric cirles and gathering them onto the KKB templates. A quick squirt of Best Press, a shot of steam from the iron, and then leaving these to cool down for a couple of hours gives great results. I'm a great believer in using good quality tools for my sewing, and spending a few extra minutes with the preparation certainly does make a huge difference to the finished item! These circles will be appliqued into place by hand, using a Clover Black Gold needle and those Superior Threads Superbobs which are pre-wound bobbins of 60wt polyester thread. I've had my packet of Bigger Perfect Circles for ages, but they are available from Sew & Quilt.  I've been busy making even even MORE berries for my latest project with those Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circles - I decided to make the whole blooming lot in one session. I love pressing these, but I'm not so keen on pressing Mr F's shirts! Anyway, these are for the next 3 blocks of A Merry Christmas Garden. I've also prepared all the bias stems for the next 3 blocks 2 - great preparation will hopefully give me great results!  I am absolutely thrilled to bits with my latest block from A Merry Christmas Garden. This is a lovely festive project by the Australian designer Gail Pan and thiese lovely fabrics were supplied as a kit from Cross Patch in Wales, here in the UK. This block was very simple to put together - a little bit of hand embroidery, lots of hand applique (which I absolutely love) and some machine piecing. The 6" star block is repeated throughout the quilt in an assortment of colours. This block just needs a final press on my wool pressing mat and then I can make a start on the next one!  On Friday morning there was a knock on the door from the postman, and what should he have for me but a little parcel from Cross Patch! The next month of the Vintage Sewing Club - another selection of four gorgeous skeins of Cottage Garden Threads. These really are lovely for hand embroidery, and have a beautiful sheen to them. Each month a pattern is also supplied, but I haven't stitched those yet - there are just not enough hours in the day to stitch all the things I've got on my to-do list!  More applique has been prepared and stitched into place for block 3 of this gorgeous quilt A Merry Christmas Garden. I've been using Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Circles for the berries, berries and more berries - and they really do give perfect results! The hand embroidery has been stitched using a Valdani Perle thread that is from the Cross Patch Favoiurites collection, and it is a loely thread to use. All the components of block 3 are now ready to join together - love how these colours and fabrics all look together, it's such a lovely project to make. Spending an hour or so in the evening with some hand sewing is a great de-stressor after a hectic day at work.  Goodness me the next instalment of this lovely BOM has arrived from Cross Patch already! Tree of Life is this year's mystery button club by the Australian designer Lynette Anderson Designs and like the other birds from the previous months, "Wise Old Bird" is made with a combination of applique and hand embroidery. I haven't actually started this one yet as I have been busy with so many other projects, but I'm hoping to make a start on it as soon as my "to-do" pile has dwindled a bit! At this rate the final reveal by Lynette will happen before I've got the first block stitched!  I was sorting out some photographs on my phone, and realised I hadn't shared this one! These GORGEOUS Cottage Garden Threads arrived a few weeks ago and are from the Vintage Sewing Club that I've been taking part in. Excellent customer service from Cross Patch as always!  Here's a peek at some applique ready for the next block of A Merry Christmas Garden. This single pear is really very pretty, and has been made using the Apliquick method of applique. It just needs a good press on my new wool pressing mat, and can be joined to the rest of the pieces to make block 3 complete.  As well as stitching A Merry Christmas Garden, I've also stitched a smaller project by Gail Pan. This was supplied as a kit from Cross Patch, and included all the fabrics for making this wall hanging, including the backing and binding. Along with the fabrics, vintage buttons and a cute bee charm charm were included and are just perfect to embellish this project with. The hand embroidery has been completed using one of the gorgeous blue Valdani perle threads that were in the Cross Patch Favourites collection (no guesses where they came from!) and the variegated thread looks perfect with the blue fabrics that Julia chose for this kit. And the little silver coloured bee charm has been hand stitched into position...
...and here's the completed wallhanging. This was machine quilted very simply using a walking foot and a dark blue Aurifil 50wt thread. A narrow quilt sleeve has been hand stitched to the back, and it's all ready to be displayed on the wall of my sewing studio.  |
 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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