Happy Halloween! This "Spooky House" pattern by Lynette Anderson Designs was made 3 years ago with fabrics from Lynette's "Happy Halloween" collection and woolfelt from The Eternal Maker. This was hand embroidered with hand-dyed Valdani threads and appliquéd using the appliqué paper and glue stick method, and embellished with some wonky star buttons from my button tin.

This spooktacular parcel arrived in the post at the weekend! "The Spooky Set" pattern and "My Halloween" button pack, both by Lynette Anderson Designs - these will be stitched in time for Halloween 2019, probably into stuffed ornaments similar to the festive themed one and spring themed ones that I'd already made earlier this year. Unfortunately they won't be ready for Halloween 2018 🕷🕸👻

All the mini blocks for block 2 of Hearts and Happy Flowers have been pieced together, with all the seams pressed open to eliminate bulk and to help it lay flat - there are lots of tiny 1" blocks again, and I've fused a piece of interfacing the same size as block 2, 15,5" square, on the back ready for the embroidery and the applique. Just when I thought I'd traced all those tiny hearts for block 2, another couple of them appeared! I've used a lightpad (with adjustable brightness) and a brown Micron Pigma pen to trace the stitchery designs. My plans for this evening will involve lots of hand embroidery ❤

Block 2 of my "Hearts and Happy Flowers" quilt is coming along nicely, although there are LOTS of tiny squares in this block, with LOTS of tiny seams. These have been machine pieced together, using a fine Aurifil 50wt thread along with a Schmetz Microtex size 60 needle. I've shortened the stitch length dramatically to prevent any unravelling, and pressed the seams open to reduce bulk. As you can see, these 2 rows (mini block 1 and mini block 2) have had the stitchery designs traced on them. My favourite pen for tracing is a Micron Pigma pen, in a brown colour, with a very fine nib. I prefer a nib size 005 but they can be tricky to source. Once all the mini blocks have been pieced together, a large piece of interfacing will be fused to the back of the whole block, ready for the hand embroidery and applique. (I fused interfacing to the individual pieces of fabric before they were pieced together for Block 1, which was rather bulky when it was finished so I may re-do it when the remaining blocks have been completed - if I can bear to unpick all those tiny seams that took me so long to sew)!!

Block 2 of "Hearts and Happy Flowers" is in progress! This is a BOM that was bought from Cross Patch, an online quilt shop from Wales, and the fabric pack was supplied by Cross Patch too. This pattern is designed by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley, and combines a mixture of hand embroidery, machine piecing and hand applique. These Cosmo embroidery threads are rather delicious, and they are wonderful to stitch with - no knotting, or snapping or shredding - and they have a beautiful sheen too. I find it's really useful to use an embroidery hoop, and prefer to use wooden ones with an adjustable clasp rather than a plastic one. 

Last month I took part in a Soldered Book Cover workshop with Alexandra Waylett at my local quilt shop Kis Quilting Ltd in Ipswich. It was great fun, and I will definitely practise this technique a bit more at home! We also made the Tyvek beads to decorate the cord.

Block 1 is completed! This gorgeous pattern is "Hearts and Happy Flowers" by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley. The set of patterns and fabric pack were bought several months ago from Cross Patch, an online shop based in Wales, here in the UK. This block has been hand embroidered with Cosmo stranded embroidery threads. The larger hearts have been hand appliqued in place. This block measures approximately 15.5" square, and I absolutely LOVE it!

Another peek at Block 1 of Hearts and Happy Flowers by the Australian designer Leanne Beasley. Patterns and fabrics are from Cross Patch, an online shop based in Wales here in the UK. This has been hand embroidered with Cosmo threads and hand appliqued. I'll share a better picture of the completed block tomorrow ❤

Yesterday I spent my birthday at my local quilt shop, Kis Quilting Ltd in Ipswich, on a machine embroidery workshop with Alexandra Waylett. I've been on several workshops with Alex over the past few months, and she really is a great tutor. As you can see, I was very colour co-ordinated with my finished purse! This gorgeous feathers fabric was free motion machine embroidered, using a variety of threads, in a variety of colours, including a very sparkly gold metallic Maderia thread, adding a bit of bling to my purse!

Last year I spent my birthday dipping my toes in the Pacific ocean while I was on holiday in New Zealand. So how did I spend my birthday this year? Well today I've been on a machine embroidered purse workshop at my local quilt shop Kis Quilting Ltd in Ipswich, under the expert tuition of Alexandra Waylett. We spent the morning stitching and stitching and stitching using a variety of threads including using a very sparkly metallic gold Madeira thread...

...then the afternoon was spent constructing the purse. The main body of the bag is layered up with interfacing and curtain interlining. The result is a very structured purse, which has a dupion silk back. This really was a great workshop, we all had lots of fun, and it was a super way to spend my birthday!