No stitching today as I'm at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexander Palace in London!
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On Saturday I had a super sewing day with my friend Denise. I took my set of patterns of JOAQ (designed by Leanne Beasley, and bought online back in July from Cross Patch in Wales) along with the fabrics and made a start on cutting out all the pieces ready make the block. There was lots of chatting, so the progress was rather slow in the morning!...
...however after lunch I manged to speed up, and traced the stitchery designs onto the fabric, and stitched the 4 mini blocks together. I made a start on the stitchery, and I've spent the past few evenings embroidering these pretty designs...
...and here it is completed. This project is beginning to look very pretty, and so far I've resisted the urge to sew the first 3 blocks together into row 1, but I'm not sure if I can resist for much longer!  I haven't made one of these cosmetic bags for simply ages! I needed a gift for a friend who's very crafty and this will be perfect! This pattern is "Annas Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa (instructions are in Norwegian and patterns are available to purchase in Scandinavia) These pretty yellow fabrics are from the Floral Collection Princess Rose by Lecien, and have been trimmed with some cotton pink lace and quilted very simply with my favourite Aurifil threads.  This really is such a pretty project to stitch, and last weekend my fingers were itching to get stitching block 2. There are lots of small stitchery pieces in this block, so I fused some weave line onto the back of a selection of fabrics that are suitable for stitchery, and then cut out the pieces that I needed. The leftovers will be used for future blocks. This is also easier than trying to fuse interfacing onto such small pieces (some are only 1.5" x 2.5"). I traced the stitchery designs with a pale brown coloured fine tipped Micron Pigma pen. You do need a steady hand as the ink is permanent. Once all the pieces of fabric had been cut out and all the stitchery designs traced, the block was stitched together. I machined around the outside edge using a 3mm length stitch about 1/8" from the raw edge, to stop the small blocks from coming undone. I used a slightly smaller than normal stitch when the block was pieced together, and used a neutral coloured Aurifil 50wt thread, a Schmetz Microtex size 60 needle (they're super fine and very sharp) and a straight stitch needle plate to help with the precision piecing of such small pieces...
...once the block was pieced together, I made a start on the hand embroidery with the DMC embroidery threads. The pattern suggests using 3 strands of thread, but I found that a bit too bulky, so I've just used 2 strands, and it covers the traced lines perfectly. I always use a wooden embroidery hoop for my work, as it keeps the fabric nice and taut...
...and here's the finished block, finally completed.Once all the hand embroidery is finished, I press the block on the back, using a thick towel on top of the ironing board so the embroidery stitches don't get flattened. These fabrics really look very pretty together, and the hand embroidery has been very relaxing to do in the evenings after a busy day at work. I'm hoping to make a start on prepping the next block later today as I'm having a crafty/sewing day with a couple of friends. And yes, cake may be involved too!  |
 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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