Free Motion Mavericks - Week 349 - Pearls

 

The veil is now completely finished, attached to the comb and decorated with pearls.  The comb is metal (I don't trust plastic combs) and just 3 inches across.  To give myself a surface to sew into, I wrapped a thin strip of the veiling fabric around the top, weaving in between the teeth, and secured it with thread wrapped around in a similar fashion.  That formed a cushion over the metal, over which I then stitched a strip of the satin binding that I had used to edge the veil.

The veil is stitched to the back of the comb.  Finding the exact place to attach it was fun.  Veiling isn't the easiest fabric to handle.  I had to fold across the width of the veil a third of the way down, and then find the central point of the fold.  The veil is approximately 75 inches long, and the measurement from the top of my daughter's head is roughly 25 inches, so when the veil is hanging from the comb the top layer is half the length of the lower layer.

The decoration is made of pearls that I have had stashed away for years, waiting for the opportunity to use them.  Last Sunday night I stayed up late and started stringing the pearls onto some fine invisible thread.  By some sort of a miracle I ended up with this little confection, having started out with no real plan, and with the thread living up to its name because I could barely see the wretched stuff.  The pearl decoration is secured to the comb at each corner at the top, and when the comb is in place in my daughter's hair the pearls hang down over the top of the veil. 

Another job done!  Just as well, now that we have little more than a fortnight to go.

And now for an apology and explanation to anybody who came by last week looking for the linky and ended up disappointed.  Yes, I clean forgot, I totally lost track of time.  This time about a month ago I was tired, and kept getting worse, having a nap most afternoons, and then ending up only being able to get on with ordinary life every other day and just pottering about the next.  Then I started panicking, thinking that if I carried on like that I wouldn't be able to get through the wedding.  Fortunately, I had an eye test recently, and the optician wrote to my doctor because there was swelling around one of my eyes.  This meant I got an appointment with the doctor (no mean feat these days) and was prescribed antibiotics for a persistent sinus infection.  For the past week I have been feeling better than I have done since the beginning of the summer.  Thank goodness, I am now looking forward to the wedding again, and not dreading it because of lack of energy.  Disaster averted!

Here goes for Week 349:-

Well it was a quiet linky last time, so here is a blast from the past featuring beads from my archives:-

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The 

first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.