2010 in Stitches

Well, that's 2010 nearly all sewn up (boom boom!) and I think I achieved a fair bit, sewing wise:

• I completed my Jacob's Ladder quilt top, started late 2009 and am part way through quilting it. It's taking a little longer than I originally expected mainly because I made the decision to hand rather than machine quilt. I have counted up, and I have completed 59 out of the 80 blocks. Estimated time spent hand quilting this so far = 24 hours. Yikes. Think I will stick to smaller projects and machine quilting.



• I have nearly completed quilt tops for both Gman and Waif.  Gman's red and black quilt centre is complete, and I working on some wonky square blocks for top and bottom borders (all will be revealed in time).  Waif's village quilt is waiting for a few more trees and lots more fences.



• I made a few mini quilts:  a beach hut themed one for my mum's caravan; a scrappy Army Star/Split Nine Patch for the back of the sofa and recently a little hexagon quilt for Waif's Guinea Baby toy.



• I made a start on a hexagon charm quilt.  Lost momentum a bit on this one TBH, but might pick it up again in the summer, cos I was very partial to sitting in the garden with these!  Bring on the summer.



• Made a nightie.  Think my dressmaking career endeth there ;-)



• Made a load more Morsbags...current tally stands at 137.



• Started to learn embroidery with the help of Sharon's Stitch Files.



• Bought an embellisher machine and made a few cloths with this, plus a couple of little pouches.



• Helped Gman to make two quilts himself, and Waif to make a little drawstring bag.

All in all a sewtastic year :-)

So, goals for 2011?!

• Get the Jacob's Ladder quilt quilted and bound - hopefully within the next two months.


• Complete quilt top for Gman.  Should have this done by the end of January, or hopefully earlier.  Then to decide how to quilt...?


• Complete Waif's liberated village quilt top.  This might take a bit longer...


• Continue learning to embroider with the help of the Stitch Files.


• Make something with a zip.  (this was a goal for 2010, but never seemed to have gotten round to it)


• Have a go at some free pieced letters a la Tonya Ricucci


• Make a journal quilt each month (in collaboration with a new quilty friend).  Watch this space for more info...

I also have a hankering to make an art doll after borrowing Jan Horrox's book from the library.  Yes, I quite possibly have lost the plot :-)

Basically, I just want to continue to learn all I can about quilting, embroidery and all things textile.  And to have fun doing it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Auto Draft

A Finish

Not a WIP, or even a WISP, and defo not a UFO...it's a finished quilt! OK, so it's only 16 inches square, but it's complete!

It's a Christmas present for Waif's soft toy guinea pig - "Guinea Baby" who particularly likes hexagons and the colours red, yellow and orange. Apparently. Hope he approves.

The hexagons are flowers I made for my hexagon charm quilt (before I decided on the star layout) and I hand appliqued them onto the squares. I machine pieced the squares and machine quilted. The binding is "mock binding" ie the backing brought forward to the front.

I almost forgot to show you this...

...it's a little winter landscape I stitched up.



I must admit, I'm not entirely sure I like it (I wondered if it was a bit too bleak) but it is growing on me.

The background is done on the embellisher on white felt with various white and cream rovings, bits of yarn, and a little bit of gold sparkly material. I then hand embroidered using various stitches: running, chain, stem, fly...

Waddya reckon?

More Stitch Files

I've done a bit more on my stitch files...

I experimented with running stitch to make some darning patterns:



And made a little sample of feather stitch:



After looking at the amazing samples on Raphaela's blog, I will definitely be back to explore this stitch a bit more :-)

INTERNATIONAL TONYA RICUCCI DAY

OK, I peaked too early...yesterday's post should have been today (oops)

So today is the day to surf the Liberated Quilters webring and read all about the wonderful quilts people have made, all influenced by Tonya. You could start off by having a glass of champagne at Clare's blog...

Ode to Tonya

As all liberated quilters will know, today sees the release of Tonya "Lazy Gal" Ricucci's first book "Word Play Quilts". Aside from Gwen Marston herself, Tonya has got to be the most influential liberated quilter about. Certainly, if I hadn't stumbled across her wonky house tutorial, I never would have discovered liberated quilting, never would have joined and been inspired by the fabulous Liberated Quilters yahoo group, met the wonderful Clare, and made a start on my liberated village. So, if you are not familiar with Tonya's stuff, step on over to her blog, then order your copy of Word Play Quilts!

To complete my ode to Tonya, here are pics of all my Tonya-inspired wonky houses in all their glory:






I can't wait to get my sticky mitts on a copy of Word Play Quilts and I am sure you will be seeing some free pieced letters on this blog very soon :-)

The Stitch Files - Running Stitch

Sharon has released part four of the Stitch Files - you can download them here.

One of the stitches this time was the humble running stitch and I have had fun with it. First off, I challenged myself to stitch with colours that do not normally form part of my palette (pastel, muted, pink - feminine!!) and made this little felted piece:



I actually quite like it, and so does DH, cos he has pinched it for a mat to put on top of one of his speakers!

Then I had a play with whipping and interlacing rows of running stitch, and I like the way they look too:



As well as working on my stitch files I have also been doing a bit of holiday related stitching. Some I can't reveal as the recipients may well see this blog first, but I can show you this, which is a little embellished and stitched piece I created to affix to a sketchbook for my much loved stepdad:



I think this is my favourite piece of embroidery so far, I especially love the effect of the chain stitch tree trunk. I was inspired to stitch this by some of the lovely brooches made by Kayla coo - check them out on her blog.

I am also busy making a mini (doll sized) quilt using some of my hexagon flowers. Waif has demanded a quilt for his soft toy guinea pig - the imaginatively named Guinea Baby - and apparently Guinea Baby insists on hexagons and a red/orange/yellow/brown colour scheme! I don't have time to piece a whole hexie quilt, even this size, so I am hand appliqueing the flowers to square blocks which I will then sew into a four patch. The first two are yellow and orange flowers on red backgrounds, the next two will be red/brown flowers on an orangey yellow background. I think it will look pretty nice :-). Let's hope Guinea Baby approves!