A free motion landscape is something I have wanted to try for ages. It was one of the items on my list of projects to do this year for the 2014 NewFO Challemge.
Today I have finally made a start. This is supposed to be the outline of a hedgerow. At first it looked far too much like seaweed. After I had put in another line of stitching it didn't look too bad, then I realised I had done it upside down - I meant to have the pale creamy yellow at the top, not the bottom.
So far, so bad.
Anyway, practice is practice, and if it only ends up as a test piece to see how the different coloured threads work with each other then it will have served some purpose.
Linking up today with Barbara's blog Cat Patches for February's NewFO
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Leah Day's blog for Free Motion Friday
Over the past few weeks, having done two little quilts in quick succession, I have hit on a method for sewing on the binding, using the seam guide to keep it all straight and neat. The mitred corners have been particularly trouble-free. On the front the stitching sits close to the edge of the binding, and on the back...
... it is clear of the binding, running parallel to it.
First, I stabilise the cut edge of the quilt with two lines of machine stitching. This makes the edge firm, so it lines up easily against the seam guide when attaching the binding, and if the quilting is widely spaced, it prevents the top layer from rumpling or pleating. It also keeps the corners nice and sharp, which makes mitring the corners easier
The seam guide keeps these first two lines of stitching straight. It has to be placed as far over to the left as possible, so it is right up against the side of the foot.
This places the needle approximately an eighth of an inch from the edge. Once the first line of stitching has gone all the way round the quilt, I remove the seam guide and put a second line of stitching between the first line and the edge of the quilt.
Next, I attach the binding. The binding is one and five eighths of an inch wide, with one side ironed over by about a quarter of an inch. The unironed edge is laid along the edge of the quilt on the back, and the seam guide set to approximately three eighths of an inch.
When the binding is folded over to the front, I place the needle through the work close to the edge of the binding, and then line up the seam guide with the edge of the work. Only then do I start stitching. The seam guide prevents the stitching veering off the edge of the binding.
Using the seam guide has helped me do my neatest binding and best corners ever. I don't know why it has never occurred to me to try this before.
Linking up today with Connie's blog Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday
and Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
One of the rare appearances of the sun this winter.
This stunning photo was taken earlier this month by my favourite guest photographer, my son. Not only has he captured the charm of the coloured houses to be seen in Bristol, he took it just a stone's throw from where his dad was born. I can just imagine my husband, aged six, in his short trousers and dragging his feet up the hill to go to school - back in the days when all the houses were grey.
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This is a re-working of the oak leaves design, this time on a gorgeous shot cotton from Oakshott, a deep gold woven with dark red, and which has a wonderful autumnal golden bronze colour in real life. The leaves are worked on a slightly smaller scale than the original test piece I did, and consequently the acorns had to be a bit smaller. They ended up being a bit fiddly, so I didn't do as many. On the right hand side of the panel I have done the leaves and berries shown in a previous picture. The colours in the latest photo are far more accurate - months of grey skies mean rubbish photos and lots of cheating with the computer so you can see the stitching.
The quilting on the random coloured strip down the centre is a bit cramped. There is some nice wobbly stitching in there, but it looks fine from a distance. I have done a much simpler pattern on the panels I did after this one, just a line of spirals, and it looks far better.
With these panels, because I am doing different designs separated by a small strip, I have had to make sure that the density of the quilting is consistent over the entire panel. I remember seeing Leah Day explaining this in one of her videos, and showing how dense quilting in one part of the quilt can lead to fullness in adjacent parts of the quilt that are less densely quilted. So far so good... getting plenty of practice makes it easier to keep the density of the quilting reasonably consistent.
Linking up today to Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Leah Day's blog for Free Motion Friday
My favourite programme has started. For the next couple of months Tuesday nights are special, spaghetti bolognese in front of the telly to watch the Great British Sewing Bee! This year there is a great bunch of contestants all working in a beautiful sewing room in a converted warehouse beside the Thames.
So what has the close-up of the scrappy cot quilt got to do with the Great British Sewing Bee? Well, it's all about Cliff, the first contestant to leave - not because he was eliminated, but because he wasn't well. Such a shame, because he clearly has talent, just look at his shirt! I recognised those strawberries instantly. The pink of the strawberries stands out beautifully against the navy background, and the little blueberries in the design add a splash of blue. Colourful, in a sober sort of way. It is a lovely smooth cotton poplin, so Cliff knew it was not only striking, but comfortable, nice to wear, and easy to wash and iron. Top marks to Cliff.
... and we have had the wettest most miserable winter ever, so to cheer things up a bit I have started an appliqué daffodil. This is the daffodil on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Quilt. The one I am doing now will be very similar, and so far I have done the two stems and have nearly finished the second of the three leaves.
I only have the right hand leaf to do, but this time it will not be gracefully drooping. Doing that curve took an inordinate length of time, persuading it into shape with gathering stitches, water and the iron. Despite taking photographs to record how I did it, I decided it was an experience that wasn't worth repeating. All I can really remember about the whole episode was getting a little too hot and cussy.
So now there is a daffodil in the making, which will be completed by St. David's Day. After that I have to decide whether it will be a wall hanging or the central panel of a quilt.
Hello to Luna of Blueball Mountain, the latest follower - thank you for joining!
This moss is about an inch tall, growing on the stone parapet of a bridge over the railway.
I have to confess I almost didn't do a pretty picture for this Sunday. The overall picture here is mud, and we count ourselves lucky. I cannot remember so much flooding in so many different parts of the country coming at the same time as such terrifying storms on the coast. But I got out for a walk yesterday, the sun actually shone for a short while, and there was beauty to be found after all.
I have done a quick internet search and found that this moss is tortula muralis or wall screw moss - at first sight a strange name, but very appropriate, as illustrated on this fascinating blog, Cabinet of Curiosities.
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