Wednesday 19 October 2011

Hand Sewing WIPS

The trouble with hand sewing is that it's slooooow, which doesn't make for lots of photo opps. So you see, I haven't been slacking off the last few weeks, it's just that most of my sewing has been by hand. I'm working like mad to get Waif's "Fenced In" quilt finished before the cold nights set in. Plus adding the odd few hexagons to my charm quilt here and there. I tend not to make much progress on EPP in the darker months, because I find I need natural daylight to be able to see well enough to sew them together and there's not enough of that to be had :-(

Anyway, here's some work-in-progress shots of Fenced In (apologies for the scruffy basting threads that I haven't yet removed!):

quilted house
quilted church
quilted tree

And a little one of my charm quilt. I am about two-thirds of the way round the next "ring":

hexagons wip october 2011

And I have added borders to Harry's name banner. Next job to get this quilted, which I will probably do by machine:

harry with borders

And yes, I have been continuing with the ICAD Challenge. I have even been following prompts from Tammy. Here's "scissors":

icad october #15

And this one's "zebra" (although it does look somewhat like a stripy cow I know!):

icad october #16

I think I may tackle "pineapple" next :-)

Monday 10 October 2011

Paint, Stamp, Stick, Sew

Well, I've been a bit more creative this last few days, I think!

For my index cards, I prepped up a bunch of cards with gesso and acrylic paint, then each day picked out a card and added stamps, collaged bits, words etc. This was a fun way to work, cos it's not practical to paint every day (I make such a mess!) but I like the depth a painted background adds to what I make. Anyway, have a look:

icad october #9icad october #8icad october #7icad october #6icad october #10

Sewing wise, I have made a start on the last of my niece/nephew name panels. This one is for my youngest nephew, baby Harry:

Harry

I have to add borders, then quilt and bind but I've done the tricky letter making bit, and love how it looks. Something about the way the "a" sits next to the "H"...

Otherwise, I have been beavering away hand quilting "Fenced in". I am quilting with big stitches in pearl cotton, and *hoping* to get it done with the next month or so ready for the winter but we'll have to wait and see. Hand quilting should not be rushed I feel :-). At least, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it!

Saturday 1 October 2011

ICAD Challenge - October

Another month of the ICAD Challenge..?

icad october #1

...oh, go on then!