Good morning! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Here, it is finally starting to feel more like Winter is coming. We had a cold and wet weekend and, I can't see the tops of the mountains yet but I am fairly sure there is snow up there. I am not complaining!! We really needed the rain as it has been dry for weeks and, as I have previously posted, we have been making the most of the beautiful weather by being outside and that doesn't work very well for getting quilt tops pieced and projects finished!!
However, over the cold and wet weekend, I did manage to get the last of four baby quilt tops which, I have been working on since I last posted, finished.
I had already shown you the first of these here but now I have three further quilt tops to show you.
One of the hardest parts of the whole patchwork and quilting process for me is choosing the fabrics. I always procrastinate about which fabrics to use and planning these quilts was no exception. I am happy with all the choices in the end though. Sorry the photographs aren't great, the light isn't brilliant here this morning!
Over the next few days, these tops will all be layered and basted and, then the quilting can start! That will bring with it more procrastination as I decide how to quilt them all.
I will probably choose to do a mix of walking foot and free motion quilting but before that can start my poor machine will need some TLC.
Then there will be some sketching and doodling, followed by some practise. I will finally get them quilted..... promise!!
In between times, as I am to become a glamorous grandma (is there any other type?) very soon, I am working on this little project too.
Thank you for coming to visit..... look forward to seeing you soon!
Hello! I hope everyone has had a nice week! We have had beautiful weather here all week even though it is October and it should be feeling like Autumn.
Here are a couple of photographs of the fabulous sunset we saw last night.
Now back to stitching..... Well, as you will know if you read my last post, I am supposed to be working on several baby quilts at the moment. I have pieced, layered and basted one top ready for quilting and I have chosen the fabrics for a second quilt top and, even started piecing them together..... however, that is as far as I got this week, as I was sidetracked!!
For some little while now I have been following a very talented Textile Artist called Alison Whateley both on Facebook and on Instagram and I love her work. I find it very inspiring and, after Alison posted a couple of short videos on Instagram showing how she works on the background of her pieces and then adds in the details, I just couldn't resist giving it a try and made this little quilt of globe thistles, which I love and which we have in our garden here.
I did use a slightly different approach as, I didn't free machine embroider the piece that I made. Instead, I layered a piece of backing fabric and batting together and then free motion quilted the fabric scraps which form the background through all the layers.
I added a few lines of stitching using a couple of the decorative embroidery stitches that I have on my sewing machine. I then added the applique on top using a raw edge applique, finishing the edges and adding details with free motion quilting.
To finish off, I added some hand stitching and a few sequins and beads. When I had finished adding the details, I added some binding to make a mini quilt about 10" x 12". I was very excited to try this type of project and I must say I am very happy with the results.
Today though, I am going back to working on the baby quilts..... hope you have a lovely weekend!
Last time I showed you the latest quilt top that I had finished piecing and mentioned that I was getting ready to quilt it. I always get nervous about starting the quilting on a nicely pieced quilt top in case I mess things up and ruin it!!
I decided that as it has been quite a while since I quilted a bigger size of quilt and, since I needed to brush up on my free motion quilting, that I would quilt a few sections of a whole cloth practise quilt that I started back in May of 2017.
In May 2017, I attended a fabulous class close to where I was living at the time called FMQ 'Beyond the Basics'. The class was run by the lovely Hazel and Terry who are the team behind In Stitches. On the second day of the three day course, we were encouraged to make a largish (1 metre x 1 metre) practise quilt which we basted into a sandwich and then just quilted.
I don't know if you have ever tried this but, quilting a quite large, completely blank canvass is actually quite daunting. I had completed a reasonable amount of the quilting while I was actually at the class and which I told you about in this post at the time. However, I then put the quilt to one side and, I have been filling in sections of it here and there over time.
I find this size of practise piece extremely useful as, it gives you the chance to get used to the weight of a larger piece of patchwork which practising on smaller pieces doesn't give you. It is quite a jump from free motion quilting on a small practise piece of say 14 inches square to a full size baby quilt and this larger practise piece is great for preparing you for the weight and drag that a larger quilt gives.
Each time I have filled in a section I have tried to use different designs, using some of my favourites from online classes that I have taken with Christina Cameli of A Few Scraps and Lori Kennedy of the Inbox Jaunt. I also have books written by them both which are great for looking through for design inspiration.
I am excited to say that while I was practising this time, I finished filling in the rest of the quilt sandwich and I have now bound it and turned it into a finished piece. I am just delighted with how it looks and I think I am ready now to start quilting the baby quilt top!! It is probably just as well as I have three more to make over the coming weeks too!!
I have one more thing to do before I can get started.... I need to give my sewing machine a new needle, a clean up and some oil.
Thank you for visiting and have a lovely weekend!
