Quilting newbie.

I feel like a complete newbie at this quilting lark!.

I was very taken with the 18 month BOM that Esther Aliu is running based on a coverlet from 1790. I have never done a quilt designed by anyone else or used many of the techniques used in this quilt so it is a major learning curve all round. The deciding factor was that our house dates from pre-1750 so it may well have had similar styled coverlets on the beds.

Of course even though it is mainly hand sewn my Bernina couldn't be left out so instead of appliquing little flowers I decided to add a 3D daisy chain. It is all very scrappy and I might make this into a cushion and start off again with some better co-ordinated colours (although it looks better in real life!)--------or I may stay with it and hopefully see my skills improve as the quilt grows!

Not sure how this will turn out but it is compulsive!

If I am not quilting/sewing/gardening or trying to be a domestic goddess (not) I am doodling and planning. This is one of those doodles!
I decided to try doing the quilt in two stages. This first stage is the "doodle" in many coloured threads which are both free motion stitched as well as a few decorative stitches from my machine.I have one layer of batting under the cotton. When this is finished I will put another layer of batting and the backing underneath and quilt through all layers.
My Bernina has a stitch counter on it and I wish I had made a note of how many stitches it has put on this week!

Wednesday's work (?)

Today's job was blocking out my wholecloth. The middle picture is the best match to the colour but has the shadow from the window pane right across it.
Really enjoyed stitching this one even though I went to bed with sore arms many times. The first colour I used was a ecru that was slightly darker than the backing. I then accentuated the flowers and stems with gold metallic thread using the ecru as the bobbin thread.

Pleased to say that you have to really hunt to find even a hint of gold on the underside.
Glad of that lovely Bernina tension!

All I have to do now is the hanging sleeve! :o)

Will link this post to Esther's blog.

The postie called twice today!

First to return this back from Sandown and much to my delight it has a Judge's Merit rosette. :o)

I had just finished unpacking that when the postie called again with my new Bernina Cutwork set!
This is going to be fun :o)

Time to start stitching

Some more blocks are needed but not sure how many till I get these ones appliqued and cut to size. Once that is done I will work out the layout and see what develops from there. I have the rest of today free so should be able to make a decent start on this. :o)

My Bernina is cleaned, oiled and waiting with a new needle ready to go!

PS Yes, that is part of my thread stash peeping in on the left of the picture. Think it is a thread addiction!

Remember those badges?

Remember the cloth badges I made?

Today we took delivery of the metal lapel badges based on them!

They will be sold in Cockermouth in aid of the Flood Relief Fund based at South Street.:o)

Who would have imagined that Bernina embroidery software would end up being used to design metal badges ? :o)

Postie has been :o)

You should have heard the squeals of delight as I unpacked the boxes with prizes etc from Sandown.

Love the fabric, keen to curl up with the books , really tickled with the purple rosettes and wow a Bernina!

Yes I am still going round with a silly grin on my face !
:o)

Catch up 2

This last couple of months haven't been particularly productive or creative.
I think the period from January to March often catches me like that. Perhaps it is just the urge to hibernate?


I have sorted out my sewing room a little and have been experimenting and using up scraps. This is sitting on the design board waiting for more squares.





A few items have been sewn eg. bags and the new Bernina Mega-hoop has been played with.









There is a lot of outside work to do too so I have been clearing the garden and planning projects for later this year.

I have also been playing around with some ideas!

Bag for Memory sticks

This is the little bag that I made in July to keep the memory sticks in that hold the designs for my Bernina.

I started by counting my sticks and measuring the size of pockets that I would need and then just adjusted everything to fit in with that.

It was very simply made with the zip sewn in to two pieces of flat fabric before anything else was done.
The flat fabric with zip inserted was then sewn to either end of another piece of fabric (backed with a little wadding) thereby making a tube.
Flatten tube and sew sides together.
Fold up and stitch across bottom corners to "box" the bag base.
The lining is a simple rectangle that has a row of pockets sewn at each side of what will be the base of the bag .
Sides are sew and bottom corners stitched to "box" the bag.
Lining was then placed in bag with wrong side facing wadding and held in place by hand stitching to the zip tape.
It isn't a great work of art but it keeps my USB sticks snug and safe and I can always find them.

The sticks have a few beads on them so that I know which is which! :o)

Stash busting!

Trying to get the fabric mountain down a bit whilst mulling over other ideas at the moment.

First some flannelette pillowcases with cotton cuff and trim. This was to try out the ingenious pattern that only uses one seam to join the cuff and trim with no raw edges. It works beautifully!
As I said this is stash busting---------the GDs approve of these colours :o)))



Then a trial attempt at a Japanese knot bag-again very easy.



Lastly a little pouch to hold all the memory sticks for the Bernina. The dangles on them are so that I can remember which is which.


The fabric mountain isn't lowered much. Guess that machine is going to have to keep humming away.

May already

Life has got in the way of quilting in the last few weeks but I have managed to finish a quilt in time for competition this summer. It has taken twice as long as usual as I kept adding more bits to it.



I have just got a new sewing machine too but haven't been able to play with it yet!

It arrived yesterday and as I unpacked it and set it up to have a couple of hours to acclimatise , the weather changed and the thunder started to rumble round. The computer had blown in the thunder the previous day and dented the purse so didn't want another repair bill! Think there are storms forecast for today too! I will just have to read the manual I guess!
Yes it another Bernina! :o)

I decided that the dark floral made quite a good background and also found more vintage Laura Ashley fabric, down my very own fabric mine, to add some borders. :o)

I put tiny strips of Bondaweb all around the central medallion to centre it securely before stitching around it with a blanket stitch. The Bernina knee lift was an essential for pivoting around all the angles around the edge. I used Valdani variegated thread that worked in very well for that. Once the top is finished I will remove the dark floral from behind the medallion area.


It now measures about six feet square so is a useful size.
Of course I now realise that I pinned it onto that curtain pole to take a picture and have photographed it sideways! The left hand side in the picture is actually the bottom of the quilt!

Rosie seems to be tuned in to when the Bernina stops purring along and it is time for pinning and handstitching! She comes straight through , jumps up and then curls up on my knee.

She loves to be on your knees or your shoulder. As she is so small that sometimes it is the safest place for her to be.
We swore we weren't going to let her become a lap dog too.
Guess we have failed miserably there then! :o)

Yorkies are notorious for getting their own way I have since been told !

My sewing room is still tidy :o(

Over a week into the New Year and although I have done many sketches, and scribbled down some ideas no creative stitching has happened yet and it is making me twitchy!!!!

My sewing room/studio is immaculate!

I have turned out my drawers and tidied all my threads. My stash has been tidied and stroked and my machines are serviced and ready to go but still I have not got started. I even have a list pinned up on my noticeboard of what is to be done!!!

Could it be the deadlines for getting things done is too far away and the pressure isn't there yet? Has everyone out there started creating again as soon as Twelfth Night was over?

On a more positive note I now have a Bernina dealer within 25 miles of me. Not only does he see to my machines within a few days but he also collects them and then brings them home again!

I find that very reassuring!

Those silk bits!

Remember those silk snips that I had left over? Well this is what they were left over from!This is still a WIP (Work in Progress) and the deadline for the competition is looming very close. It is mainly silk applique and embroidery all done on on the Bernina 200e.

The shot silk used as the main fabric is lovely to work with and is really coming into its own as I begin to quilt. At some angles it is raspberry pink and at others a really deep purple so the relationship with the colour of the appliqued shapes changes constantlyThe Paisley patterned shapes have extra wadding behind them and initially I will just quilt around them.

I am not sure yet what the rest of the quilting will be like. I have an idea but will need to test it out first.

Fashion,Embroidery and Stitch show at Harrogate

On Saturday I was back though to Harrogate with friends to the Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch Show. It takes about two and a quarter hours to travel over ,so we had quite an early start to our day.

Travelling so early at this time of the year, is magical. All the hollows and lower valleys have light mists in them and the fells just seem to float over them. Travelling home is even more magical as the fells are misty blue almost as if they were painted on stacked sheets of glass .

I took a shopping list with me this time as I usually bring back stuff bought on impulse and then curse that I have forgotten to get something that I did need. My first purchase was these two adapters for my Bernina 200e. The one on the right will allow the machine to use low shank feet or attachments like the ruffler etc.

The one on the left is never advertised in UK but allows the Artistas, Auroras etc to use some clip on feet. In the main I prefer to use a Bernina foot but there are some specialist clip on feet that this will be very useful for.


Next on my list was this little tin of soluble wax pastels. I am intrigued at wax being water soluble?





After that some Angelina and some scarves . I have forgotten to take a picture of them but they are soft blues and greens. These are for an ocean project which is still at the "think about" stage.





Lastly a small Paisley pattern wood stamp block which I think might just work in with the pinky purple quilt I am working on at the moment. I wasn't looking for this----------it found me! :o)
(I am getting quite carried away with the current project and keep doing more and more to it.)

The show itself was very enjoyable!
The Textile Treasures of the WI was awe inspiring and it was fascinating watching how styles changed over the decades.

The rest of the time there was spent just looking at the various exhibits and students work and generally picking up creative vibes from everything.

A very enjoyable day!

Playing around

I came across this quilting sample that I did when experimenting with my friend Jenny's Bernina 440 BSR.

It just happened to be next to some Derwent Inktense pencils and before I knew what I was doing I was colouring it in. The pencils are great as you can use them wet or dry, can shade them with a wet brush or sponge and they become permanent when dry.

Derwent pencils are made just a few miles from where I live.

Embellisher and machine embroidery

Having fun playing around with the use of the embellisher as a canvas on which to apply other techniques. This is a digitised machine embroidery design stitched out onto a piece of Timtex that has been previously "embellished". I used a sticky stabiliser with a window cut into it to hold the Timtex and floated some tearaway stabiliser beneath.

My Bernina stitched out on it with no problems at all. I thought the thickness and the bumps of the applied threads might affect it but no problems.

This is fun :o)