Last month I took a trip to see some friends in South Wales. I was doing the stitching around the last piece of appliqué on the Diamond Jubilee Quilt at the time. We ended up in a lovely quiet pub where I could relax with a pot of tea and do a bit more of the blanket stitch.
This oak leaf is on one of the panels representing England on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee quilt. Today I am adding the machine stitched veins on the leaves, using a dark mustard yellow cotton. This particular oak leaf can lay claim to having been made in three different countries - mainly at home in England, with most of the blanket stitch having been done in Poland, apart from about six stitches which were done in the Czech Republic. It says it enjoyed its holidays and is quite happy to stay at home now.
Today I have been adding a bit of machine stitched detail to thistle leaves. One of the panels on the Diamond Jubilee quilt is of a thistle, representing Scotland.
Looking at the leaves again, now that it is a few weeks since I completed the blanket stitch, the centres seemed empty, so the machine stitched veins in the middle were today's job. I didn't bother with a stencil. I drew the central veins on the back with fabric marker, so the bobbin thread shows on the front.
Here is the last of the three appliqué butterflies, in a darker shade of yellow.
This appliqué butterfly is based on a brimstone. It was fun doing the pointed wings.
I have just finished this appliqué butterfly this morning as a fill-in detail on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee quilt that I have been slaving over for the last few months. Two more butterflies should be taking flight over the next couple of days.
It is a bit grubby and frayed, because, like its maker, it is getting on a bit. This is how it all began, in Miss Bennett's class when I was six. We were given pieces of binca, big fat blunt needles, lengths of soft embroidery cotton in jolly colours, and shown samples of different stitches we could try out. The choice of colours and stitches was up to us.
When we were finished Miss Bennett made them up into needlecases with four felt pages inside.
I look at this needlecase and am filled with respect for Miss Bennett for what she could achieve with a class of fidgety infants. She didn't just limit us to running stitch and cross stitch, but took us further into the realms of alternating running stitch, and blanket stitch with a second colour woven through it.
Them was the days, as they say where I come from.
Since March I have been working on a quilt to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. At about the same time a new topic started on Quilting Board, the Patriotic Challenge, started by a couple of Canadian ladies who were looking forward to Canada Day in July. The idea was that we should all encourage each other on our patriotic projects.
Because of all the hand sewing I have been doing, my project is taking months, but the end is in sight!
Having been abroad twice in the past few weeks, I didn't want to fall behind with the project, so on each occasion I took my sewing with me. A couple of appliqué flowers were blanket stitched in Spain, and the pine cones and some acorns and oak leaves were blanket stitched in Poland. Because we were so close to the Czech border I took my sewing with me on a trip we made there and did five or six quick stitches on an oak leaf in a Czech car park.
The ladies on the Patriotic Challenge all thought it was a great lark, and then a voice piped up from Indiana. "Why don't you do some stitching in the Pub?", followed by another from Canada saying "Yes, and take pictures to prove it!"
So here's a picture. A couple of pints for the lads on Saturday afternoon, and a lemon tea and the chair with the Union Jack cushion for me. A very relaxing little sewing session.
Here they are, back from their travels, edged in a rather daring shade of lime green. The idea was to give a hint of the greenness that you see in young immature cones. Also, I didn't want them to look too heavy, which wouldn't be in keeping with the rest of the quilt, where I have used lighter, fresher colours rather than the autumnal tints of this particular panel.
To demonstrate this little trick I have used green for the new thread.
On the back of the work, pass the needle through the loop of the new thread...
... then bring the old thread to the back of the work with the next stitch.
Now take the needle off the old thread and put it on the new thread, and carry on sewing.
Welcome to JeanInMaine - thank you for following!
For the blanket stitch around appliqué I always use four strands of stranded embroidery cotton. It has to be an even number of strands because I start it off with a loop. Leave the loop showing at the the top of the stitch on the right side and pass the needle through the loop to make the first stitch.
The fun starts when you need to start a new thread.
The purple is now trimmed approximately an eighth of an inch from the stitching and the edge finished with blanket stitch. It is best to trim a little at a time to reduce the risk of fraying. For the blanket stitch I have been using four strands of stranded embroidery cotton. With the blanket stitch you can either use a contrasting colour for decorative effect, as I have here, or a colour to blend in with the appliqué shape.
So there it is - easy! If anyone gives this method a try, please let me know how you get on!
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