The Nifty Stitcher

Batik Heart Cushion with Quilted Feathers

2012-03-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

Hello there,
I've had a busy week working on a few projects but my finish for this week is this :

A cushion made from some very pretty batik fabric. It measures 18" x 18".

I used a piece of dark blue taffeta and appliqued two batik hearts in the center.

I quilted feathers from each corner.

I've decided to try and sell this cushion - details at my Etsy shop.

This time last week I went to the quilt show in Edinburgh where I stocked up with a few goodies.

See the scrapbags at the back of the photo ? What a treasure trove of fabric. This is them all folded and most pieces were at least fat quarter sized and there was even some binding all made and ready to go. What a find.

I usually post photos of the quilts on show but I am a bit hesitant this year as there were signs up saying no photos to be used without permission,

Luckily, Kay, The Borderline Quilter DID get permission to show the photos so head on over to her blog and have a look at the gorgeous quilts. This show was an exhibition of quilts rather than a competition.

Just a reminder before I go that todays TGIFF linky party is over at Laura's blog , Quokka Quilts.

Some nice finishes already posted.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Fancy Feathers

2012-02-23T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

I know I said I was going to do something other than feathers but I just couldn't help myself. I bought a lucky dip selection of fabrics and found this beautiful navy taffeta and I had a reel of King Tut's ELS cotton just crying out to be used.
This is what I came up with.........

.......... a little wall hanging, 16" x 18".

I designed it myself but took my inspiration from "Feather Adventures , Vol 1" by Patsy Thompson.
A 'must have' book if you are a fan of feathers.

I only marked the spine and the rest is freehand. The leafy plumes coming off the feathers, I didn't mark at all.

For the flower I marked the center then just an indication for 4 petals - the other 4 would fit in between.
I had to use tailors chalk as my invisible pen wouldn't show up.

I used a thread to match the background and stippled it all over. It's worth mentioning that I used 2 layers of Hobbs heirloom 80/20 wadding becasue I wanted the plumes to look full and firm.

To finish it off, I made prairie points in a rainbow batik and placed them all aroind the edge.

I really love the thread build up on thsi piece and the effect. It looks like an exploding firework.

Rhonda , from Quilter in the Gap is hosting this weeks TGIFF party and there are already several linkys there for you to peruse. So why not take a minute and pop over.

Today I'm going to the 1st major quilt show of the year in Edinburgh. Woooo hoooo! My bag is empty and my purse is full - when I come home it will be the other way around. I'll be back over the weekend with some inspiring quilty photos. ( I hope)
Enjoy your friday.
Rhianon.

Champagne Feathers.

2012-02-18T00:27:00.001-08:00

Hi there.

First off, I'd like to say welcome and thank you to my new followers. I've gained quite a few this week, which I am delighted about.
Another post so soon but I just couldn't resist sharing this with you. I've been working on it for the last 3 nights.

It's my very first wholecloth worked on this gorgeous champagne satin. I think it looks like a bit of foil and reminds me of a Quality Street sweetie wrapper !

I worked fancy feathers with swirly off shoots.

I was going to do outline quilting in the background but decided on good old stippling instead.

The binding is also satin - tricky to work with to say the least but worth the effort.

This is the fabric I used for the binding. It is genuine 1970's satin. I got it from a lady on ebay who was clearingout her aunt's things. She was a dressmaker in the 60/70's. I have about 3 metres and it was an absolute find. I'm debating what to do with the rest of it now. Can I piece a quilt from satin ? ....... mmmm don't know about that - it's very slippery to work with and cutting the binding wasn't easy.

I used 3 different sized bowls for the uneven scalloped edge. I wanted it to look a bit lopsided and for the scallops to be different sizes but I think it could have been more pronounced. Still, not bad for a first attempt at scalloping.

I'm going to put this in my bedroom on a red wall ( a muted red , not a bright cherry red) - I think it will look nice there.

Anyway , after a week of machine quilting , I feel the need to go and do some piecing now..
Have a great weekend everyone.
See you all next time.
Rhianon.

Memory Cushions with Quilted Feathers.

2012-02-16T23:29:00.002-08:00

Hi there.

This week I have continued working on my feathers. I made these two cushions.

They are memory cushions made for my stepmum. The check fabric is my Dad's shirt.

I started with a 10" square of satin and appliqued a little heart on a bigger heart.

Then I made some HSTs for the next border and it was ready to quilt ..... feathers!

During the week I made a video of me quilting feathers - if you would like to watch it, you can find it here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3TXPAHwM6s&context=C370dd36ADOEgsToPDskLkwJrR7l91LjvzbCLH7df8

Next I added some pretty beige lace followed by a white satin ruffle.

Go here if you would like to see how I make up my cushions.

It's Friday so of course I'm linking up Marsha's Spot - this weeks host of TGIFF. So why not head over and spend a few minutes.

I'll be back soon - I've been doing a lot of machine quilting but now I am feeling the need to do something else.
Have a great weekend what ever you are up to.
Rhianon.

My Journey with Quilting Feathers

2012-02-12T02:40:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that I am taking part in the Free Motion Quilting Challenge.
I thought it would be fun to do a post on my progress to date. I think every quilter loves feather and I am no exception.
When you are free motion quilting - it's the first thing you want to do.

I dug around and found my first attempts.

This was the very first piece I ever FMQ'd. I didn't even have a proper open toe foot so I didn't use one at all. I had a very basic attempt at a feather in the border. It looks more like leaves but I was encouraged to keep going.

I cut a stack of 8" squares with wadding and set about practicing!!!

It's pretty tricky trying to sew the plumes round a curve. All the time I was practicing feathers, I was working on other quilting patterns such as stippling and just trying to get a feel for the machine.

I used a stencil to mark this circular feather and tried abysmally to follow the lines. I was having all kinds of tension trouble too. I gave up with the stencil as I preferred it when the fabric wasn't marked.
Now I only mark the spine.

This was an attempt at feathering an a narrow border.

More feathers - I think you can see an improvement here.

Back of the quilt.

This is from my Bird of Paradise wall hanging. I quilted feathers on appliqued feathers!

More feathers that don't really look like feathers in a border.

These are feathers on a hand dyed cushion I made. Think I was beginning to get the hang of it.

They are definately beginning to look like feathers.

More feathers on another hand dyed cushion. I loved how these turned out.

Feathered sashing on the Tallships quilt.

I made a series of mugrugs and practiced going round corners.

I made progress here - each one was better than the last and plumes had a better shape to them.

More feathers in a border on the Lantern quilt.

These are feathers on a wall hanging that I worked in January.

I was a bit more adventurous here and worked pebbles into the spine.

Then in February, Diane Gaudynski did the turorial for the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge.
I decided to work my sample on satin. Something just clicked into place and I was able to produce this :

I was over the moon - this was something I had wanted to achieve for a long time.

Then I worked a second sample - this time on silk and I tried outline quilting to fill the background.

Now I am working on this ;

I hope this post gives some encouragemnt to those of you who are just starting out with free motion quilting.
You can see how far I have come in just 11 months. I cannot wait to start incorporating my new found skills into my quilts.

My top tips would be to get a pair of quilting gloves and keep practicing. Draw feathers on paper whenever you get the chance. It really does help.
Most importantly though - have fun and remember 'Rome wasn't built in a day'!

See you all next time.
Rhianon.

Liebster Award !

2012-02-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

Wow ! I won an award for my blog !!!   A Liebster Award. A huge thank you to Lynn from What a Hoot for nominating me.

I have read that some people don't like awards - well I'm honoured that somebody thought me worthy and it is a fantastic way to encourage new bloggers.

Now I have to pick 5 blogs that I enjoy ( more difficult than I thought)

I'm going to start with 2 new blogs I have discovered.

1. Carolyn's Quilts    Carolyn is a new blogger and I think she has a lot to share with us. I'm looking forward to being a regular follower of her blog.

2. Tizart      Blog by Liz, from New Zealand - a talented quilter!

3. Happy Days Quilting   This is a very good blog that I have been following for quite a while. Patricia is a
very talented quilter and her applique is fantastic.

4. Borderline Quilter Kay is a longarm quilter and last year won awards for her work at the Scottish Quilt Championships. Love her work.

5. Cherry Red Quilter.   This is Jan Maree's blog. An Australian quilter. Alaways enjoy my visits to her place.

Liebster Conventions:

*Thank your award presenter on your blog

*Link back to the blogger who presented you with the award

*Copy and paste the award to your blog

*Present the Liebster Award to 5 blogs that have fewer than 200 followers that you think deserve to be recognized

*Let them know by leaving a comment on their blog

Stars and Scattered Hearts Quilt

2012-02-10T04:03:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

Friday rolls around again and this week I have finished a child's quilt - for a little girl.

I designed it myself, starting with some star blocks and colourful sashing. I kept the border a simple checkerboard as I wanted to scatter appliqued hearts over it. It's the first time I've ever done machine applique and was pleased with how it turned out.

This photo was taken with the flash on. I much prefer no flash but the weather has been wet, dull and foggy and absolutley no good for trying to get good photos!

This is my set up for quilting - not too bad at all becasue it is quite a small quilt. It measures 44" x 55".

When I first started quilting the pebbles, I thought I had made a huge mistake but I was too far committed (lazy) to unpick it. I kept going and now I'm pretty pleased with the result.

For the outer border, I quilted a swirly circles type pattern that I made up as I went along. Turned out great - I love the textures on this quilt.

For the hearts, I just outlined them.

I used a nice bright poly/cotton for the back. I've been having a discussion with some quilty friends about using poly/cotton for quilt backs. Is it a good thing or not ?? If you have an opinion please share.
I've yet to wash this quilt but I'm sure it will be ok on a cool/delicate wash. I'll let you know how it turns out!

I'm linking up with M R from Quilt Matters , who is hosting this weeks TGIFF. Pop over and check out the Friday finishes.

I'll be back soon with another post. See you all next time.
Have a great weekend.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay - Progress Report

2012-02-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Hi there,
I am pleased to say that after a small delay I have finally got my Orca Bay top finished !

After much pondering I decided to go for a scrappy green inner border. I like the green in this quilt and wanted to add more. Plus the fact I didn't have enough neutrals so green it was.

Close up of borders

I'll be machnine quilting this but will stick to something simple. Bonnie's designs are so dazzling it would be a waste to do complicated quilting.
I've put this at the top of my UFO pile becasue I really want it finished, bound and on my bed !

Bonnie, if you are reading this - thanks for a great mystery. I wonder what you have in store for us this year !!!

See you all next time.
Rhianon.

Free Motion Quilting Challenge - February.

2012-02-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have noticed the link in my side bar for the Free Motion Quilting Challenge.I took the pledge to do this but failed miserably to do anything for January.

However, when I saw February's challenge of feathers, I knew I wanted to give it a go. I LOVE feathers !

I was so pleased with the result I made it into a cushion.

I did a rough sketch on paper before I started and took a risk by using satin. I really wanted the feathers to show up and thought the sheen on the satin would do this nicely.

I worked it exactly as Diane Gaudynski showed us in the tutorial. I loved Diane's feathers - she is very talented. You can find out more about Diane and her work here

I quilted the background with as small as stippling as I could manage to make it really flat which would hopefully make my feathers look plump.

I used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 wadding and thread to match the satin.

I can honestly say that I feel I've taken a gigantic leap in my progress with free motion quilting. For those of you who don't know much about me, I've only been free motion quilting for 10 months.
I am so pleased with this - I can't tell you!
I practice a lot and have heaps of determination!!!

Back of work.

For anybody who would like to join in the challenges, you can find all the info here. The logo and link will be on my sidebar all year.

Personally, I can't wait for the challenges by Wendy Sheppard and Patsy Thompson . I'm sure the other tutors will be great too. Wendy and Patsy just happen to be two quilters who I admire and I follow their blogs on a regular basis.

I wonder what March has in store for us - can't wait !!!

See you all next time.
Rhianon.

PS Fast forward a couple of days and I worked a second piece this time on silk.

Funky Little Chickens ! ! !

2012-02-03T01:02:00.000-08:00

I've been working away on a little quilt this week but it's not ready yet. Sometimes when you are working on a piece that is quite big, it's nice to have a break from it and work on another smaller project.

This week I made these...

I first saw these over at Madam Samm's blog. Deonn from Quiltscapes Quilting did a fantastic tutorial last October. Aren't they the cutest ? If you'd like to make one, go here.

I needed a new pin cushion and thought one of these would be perfect.

This was the first one I made. When I showed them to my girls, they both said " Can I have one please Mum!". Actually Ursula my youngest wants 3 of the smallest ones to use for juggling!

Now they are arguing over who is to get this one with the cute liitle heart. The heart is only there because I noticed a hole in the fabric after I had quilted it.

The big chick in this picture was made at quilt group about 18 months ago. It is made from a log cabin block and not quilted. I've no idea where the pattern came from but it is the same principal.

This one is from a 4" square.

This one is tiny - made from a 31/2" square.

They didn't take very long to make - I did all these over a couple of evenings.
I was going to have the yellow one but my pin heads are yellow so I'll probably have the black one.

I'm linking up with Missy Mac Creations - Erin is hosting the party this week so click the link and take a moment to have a look. I'm very excited to be hosting a TGIFF party myself on 16th March - better make sure I have a good finish that week!

Have a good weekend everyone - we're in for a cold one here in Bonnie Scotland. Perfect sewing weather!

Rhianon.

Scrappy Stars Wall Hanging

2012-01-27T05:39:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone
Well it's been quite a testing week for me. Sometimes free motion quilting goes smoothly and according to plan and sometimes it doesn't!
I've been working on this wall hanging - a gift for my twin's birthday.

I saw these scrappy star blocks on Bonnie Hunter's website and had to have a crack at them. The green scrappy border were leftover strings from Orca Bay - thought I'd put them to good use.

I had terrible tension troubles quilting this and I didn't know why until I decided to give my machine a clean and an oil. The lint inside the bobbin case was quite unbelievable but not really - afterall I'd just completed a Bonnie Hunter mystery. Extreme piecing !!!
After a good vacuum out, some oil and a fresh needle, my machine is now back to it's normal self. I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place. Lesson learned!!!

Not good huh?

However it all turned out ok.

I quilted feathers with a pebbled spine and a meandering in the white diamonds.

Here's a great tip I got from Irene (at my quilt group). Use soap to mark your quiilt top. You need to leave it until the bar is nearly done then the edges are nice and sharp. It's quick and easy and smells nice.

After my last post on the Lantern quilt, lots of people have asked if I have a long arm, but I don't. Just a little domestic.

This weeks TGIFF part is over at What a Hoot . LynCC is hosting this week and I promise you there are some fantastic finishes , no less from the hostess herself. Go and check them out - you will be inspired !

I'm off to sew the borders on my Orca Bay now.
Have a great weekend.
Rhianon.

Oriental Lantern Quilt

2012-01-20T01:29:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Today I am pleased to say I have my first major finish of the year.

I made this quilt as a gift for my brother and sister in law. My brother is an ex-Navy man who has a large collection of tattoos. He has a lot of Japanese designs - large geisha on his back surrounded by cherry blossom, Koi carps etc. My sister in law loves to cross stitch and has worked a couple of beautiful geisha designs. So when it came to designing a quilt for them it was quite easy.

I used the lantern block and went with quite an autumnal colour scheme.

I actually worked the center of the quilt a year ago and it has hung in my workroom ever since.

I found this lovely Geisha themed fabric online for an incredible £2 a metre. Gotta love a bargain and it was absolutely perfect for this quilt.

I machine quilted it all over. A simple meandering in the centre with feathers in the border and some pebbling. Although my machine quilting is far from perfect, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Close up

Back of the quilt.

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to dry it after washing.

I took it outside to get a final picture of it but this winter weather is no good at all for taking good shots.
Roll on the spring/summer!
Anyway I hope my brother and sister in law love their quilt - good things come to those who wait!!!

Today I'm linking this post to Kirsty Lou's Creations, who is very kindly hosting this weeks TGIFF party. Why not take a minute and head on over there for a wee peak at what everyone else has been up to.

http://kristylouscreations.blogspot.com/2012/01/tgiff-is-here.html

Thanks for visiting, hope you all have a great weekend!!
See you next time.
Rhianon.

Lil' Twister Cushion

2012-01-15T23:53:00.000-08:00

I'm still playing with my Lil Twister - I made this cushion as a gift for my nephew and his girlfriend who are expecting their first baby in February.

I chose the colours of Daddy-to-be's favourite football team. They already know it is a little boy.

I kept the machine quilting simple - just echoing the shapes.

I was going to make this a pram cover or a car seat cover but I am crocheting a blanket so decided to make it a cushion instead. It is stuffed fairly lightly so it is nice and soft.

For the edging I didn't think a frill was appropriate for a little boy so I simply stitched about an inch in from the edge to create a false piping. first time I've done that and I'm pretty pleased with the result.

It's back to the day job now.
Hope to get some quilting done later.
See you all again soon.
Rhianon

Cushions - with a little inspiration from Jennie Rayment !

2012-01-13T01:15:00.000-08:00

Hello there

It's only been a week since I last posted but it feels longer than that. It is so good to get back to a normal routine after the Christmas holidays and this week that included our first meeting of the Glenrothes Quilters!

As usual, Irene had something exciting for us to do - a new block by British quilter Jennie Rayment.
I love Jennie Rayment's work - she is so clever to come up with all these designs. Some of you may have heard of her as she does a lot of teaching at home and abroad. If not here is the link to her website:

http://www.jennierayment.com/

This is the block ......

After adding a couple of borders, I machine quilted it. Don't forget to click on the photos for a bigger view.

Close up of quilting. For the first time I used a sparkly thread ( Guetterman Sulky ) and I loved how it looks on the black.

I thought this would be awful to work with but it was no problem !

After adding a black ruffle.... here is the finished cushion. I'm giving this to my DH becasue he made lots of favourable noises when I showed him it!

If you are new to my blog, here are a couple of cushions I made last year using another Jennie Rayment block.

I have ordered Jennie's new book and can't wait for it to arrive. I really want to make a quilt using her methods.

Today I'm linking up with M R from Quilt Matters becasue she is hosting this weeks TGIFF, so if you have a few minutes pop over and check out this weeks finishes.

http://quiltmatters.blogspot.com/2012/01/tgiff-turning-back-clockwork-orange.html

Have a great weekend and I'll be back soon with a BIG finish !!!!
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - parts 7 & 8

2012-01-02T03:28:00.000-08:00

We are at the end of the mystery quilt - Bonnie revealed the big finale on New Years Day!

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/orca-bay-mystery.html You will find everything you need to know about Bonnie's mystery at the above link. - just in case you would like to make one!

Well my progress has been steady but I still have a lot of work to do.

This is part 7 in progress and I have not even started the border units yet.

I couldn't resist laying it out on the floor........ just to see how it would look.

I've decided to sew little sub-blocks together rather than sewing it all together in long strips - I find it a bit easier to handle. I absolutley love how this is turning out - it's a Bonnie masterpiece!

I thought I had solved the mystery but I was so wrong...........

....I really like this lay out so I may just have to make another one. Any old excuse to play with more strings!!!

Head on over to Bonnie's blog now to check out all the other Orca Bays. There is some fabulous work going on.
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-7-8.html

Hopefully next time I post, I will have a completed quilt top to show you.
Have a good day everyone.
Rhianon.

Update : Here's how it's looking so far :

Happy New Year - 2011 Review

2012-01-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope 2012 brings everything you wish for.

For myself, on a personal level, 2011 was not a good year, however on a quilting level it has been fantastic!

In January I started blogging and I have met so many lovely people. It has been a joy to log on everyday to so many wonderful blogs. To give and receive encouragement and just enthuse about all things quilty has been the best.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you who has come and visited my blog and a special thank you to everyone who has ever left a comment.

I have lots planned for 2012 but for now I'd like to share some of my favourite pieces worked in 2011.

Mariner's Compass Wall Hanging

Batik Wall Hanging

Dresden Lap Quilt

Trapunto Butterfly Wall Hanging

Dresden Cushion

Disappearing 9 patch Lap Quilt with rounded corners (hand quilted)

Dragonfly Wall Hanging

Colourful Cushion

Hand Dyed Quilted Cushion

Bird of Paradise - my favourite!

Trapunto Butterfly

Tallships Quilt

Dresden Cushion

Pinwheels Baby Quilt

Anniversary Wall Hanging

Froggy Baby Quilt

Lil' Twister Baby Quilt

... and finally, 2011 was the year of the mug rug !

I hope you enjoyed my little end of year show.

I will remember 2011 as the year I took the plunge and learned how to do free motion quilting.
It has opened up a whole new world to me and I am loving every minute.

I hope you will come back and be a regular visitor ( or even a follower) to my blog this year. I have a lot of projects lined up and probably a few unexpected ones too.
Let the fun begin!
Til the next time
Happy Stitchng
Rhianon.

Irene's Christmas Challenge

2011-12-27T01:34:00.000-08:00

Hello there.
I hope you have all recovered from the Christmas festivities and are thinking about the new projects you want to tackle in 2012 - I know I am !

At our last Quilt Group meeting before the holidays, Irene, the Boss Lady, gave us all a little gift.
Inside was an empty frame and this note : Click on the photo for a bigger version to read....

Mmmmmm ...... What could I do ? I thought - What are most people living in colder climes thinking of at this time of year ? Summer and warmer weather of course ! So this is what I decided to base mine on.

I got a piece of silk and my iron-on colouring crayons and created a little beach scene. I used a silver paint to give the sea a shimmery look.

Next I ironed vilene on the back of my palm tree fabrics and sun and cut them out. On the right hand side is the little sketch I did at the start.

I drew my leaf shapes and the trunk on the front of my fabric, cut them out and glued them with some spray basting glue.

After adding some flowers to the rock in the foreground and layering it up with some wadding, I was ready for a little machine quilting.

I had a lot of fun with this and used some metallic thread for the sea. As it only measures 4" x 6" it didn't take very long at all.

Finally I added a few little beads for the flowers centers and it was ready to go in the frame......

.......... and here it is ! I love how it turned out.

It really cheers me up and makes me think of summer. Personally, I can't wait for flip flop weather!!!

Have a good day.
Back with more quilty stuff soon.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt Part 6

2011-12-26T00:35:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Well the mystery quilt continues despite it being Christmas time and Bonnie released part 6 a day early!!!!
After all the hard graft of the last few weeks, we finally got to make some blocks.

Ohio Star blocks to be precise.

Didn't take too long at all to cut all the necessary 21/2" squares to make these up.
Feels good to be working with some bigger pieces now. The triangles in the hourglass units that make up the star are tiny !!!

For those of you who are not doing the mystery, I've placed my thimble on the block so you can get some idea of the scale. I find, the smaller the pieces - the more room there is for inaccuracy :( I'm trying my best to be as accurate as I can be.

We have to make 28 with a white background and 28 with black backgrounds. I reckon I am just over half way through.
I'm enjoying this very much but I still don't have a clue where it is going. Looking forward to part 7 on Friday.

I'm linking up with Bonnie's blog again so head on over there and take a peek at everyones's progress.
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2011/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html

Off to do some sewing now.
Have a great day everyone and thanks for stopping by.
Rhianon.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T03:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you !!
Hope you all have a fantastic day.
Rhianon.xx

Orca Bay Mystery Part 5

2011-12-19T03:18:00.000-08:00

Part 5 of the mystery quilt and this week we had to make 700 triangles to attach to each side of the HSTs we made in Part 3 ( in the bowl)

So far I have done 250, so only a little 100 to go !!

Bundles of 10........

Here are the 250 units so far....

I am rapidly coming to the end of blacks from my stash - in fact a lot of my blacks are heavily patterned compared to some other ladies who are doing the quilt but I am just going to go with it. All part of the fun!

As usual I'm linking this post to Bonnie's blog, so pop over and have a wee peek at everyone else's progress.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2011/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

I am loving th link up this year. Last year I did my very first Bonnie mystery quilt and had no one to talk to or compare notes with. This year has been great !!

Have a great week everyone.
Rhianon.

A Few Little Friday Finishes!!!

2011-12-16T01:48:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is fast approaching and I've been busy finishing up a few little mug rugs.
I know you are all probably getting a bit fed up with these but my sister said to me " If I only get one present from you - please let it be a mug rug with a flower!"
Then my girls chipped in, " we want a mug rug too Mum - with a flower". I couldn't deny them now, could I?

First up is an oversized mug rug for my DH. He has a little table that sits beside his spot on the settee, so this was made to fit that.

Yes, I've been playing with my Lil Twister again. Pretty pleased with how it turned out, although I'm not sure about the meandering in the border with the variagted thread. Too bad, it is staying as I don't have the time or the inclination to unpick it all. I'm sure hubby won't mind!

This one is for my youngest daughter.

These cute little panels were in a big bag of scraps that Irene from quilt group gave me. Irene calls her scraps 'leavings', I am always grateful to get Irene's 'leavings' as she dyes a lot of her own fabrics and the colour assortment is always fantastic!

Flower detail.

This one is for my eldest daughter - similar to the last one but a little different.

What girl doesn't love shoes ???

Finally , the last one is for my sister :

I'm glad to get these finished and under my belt.

Today I'm linking up with Lucy from Charm About You. she is hosting this weeks TGIFF party, so click this link : http://charmaboutyou.blogspot.com/2011/12/so-bleeping-awesome-thank-goodness-its.html
and go and have a look at all the finishes.

I'm off to wrap a few presents now while I wait for Part 5 of Bonnie's mystery.
Have a great weekend.
Happy Stitching
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery Part 4

2011-12-12T01:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are on week 4 of the mystery quilt. Time is flying by so quickly.
I loved part 4 - more string blocks, this time in reds, I am using rusts so I haven't deviated too far from Bonnie's choice.

I must have taken these photos on a dull day because the colours look very green. My blocks are much more orangey/rusty looking in the natural light.

This is a better representation of my blocks.

I'm using up some real hideous fabric in this part. I had a FQ of this - no idea where or why I bought this but I am very happy to have found a home for it and it doesn't look too bad at all worked into the blocks.

In part 2 I had teddy bears in my strings and guess what ? More teddy bears in my rust strings!

For the first time ever in my quilting life I used starch ( because Bonnie told us to!).
I have to say it is fantastic stuff. Cheap and easy to use - I can see me using a lot of this in the future.

Stack is getting bigger!!!

This is my working set up - everything close at hand.

So after a very enjoyable weekend I have all but 5 blocks finished.
Roll on Part 5........

As usual on a Monday I am linking this post to Bonnie's blog
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/
Why not go and have a look at everyones progress.
Have a great week everyone.
Rhianon.

Lil Twister Quilt

2011-12-09T02:03:00.000-08:00

It's taken me a week to make this little quilt in between my day job and working on Bonnie's mystery.
I've been taking part in a block exchange this year ( a post on that to follow) and one of the ladies sent me a block using this pattern, then I saw a liitle quilt on Connie's blog: http://conniekresin.blogspot.com/2011/10/worldly-lil-twister-quilt-and-giiveaway.html
So I just had to get one of these :

I'm in the UK and got mine from Creative Grids.
It's so easy

Sew together a selection of 5" squares.......

....... then start cutting.

It goes together easily and fast.

I ended up with this....

I machine quilted it lightly as I wanted quite a bubbly feel to it. It measures 30" x 36" - just a nice size for a baby!

I finished it off with a cream binding and I love how it turned out. I already have my next lot of 5" squares sewn up and ready to be cut. It's a great little tool and I would recommend it to anyone.

So that is all I've done this week. I am linking this post to TGIFF. This week M R from Quilt Matters is hosting http://quiltmatters.blogspot.com/2011/12/tgiff-wee-spy-quilts.html so head on over there and add your link or just enjoy all the other friday finishes.

Have a great weekend everyone
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery - Part 3

2011-12-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

This busy quilting time continues with Part 3 of the mystery quilt.
Mission this week - to make 350 HSTs finishing at 2" square.

Production line - set up and under way !

First 100 completed, although they still have to be de-dog-eared.
Another 150 ready for pressing and I'm well on my way to completing part 3.

Head over to Bonnie's blog to see everyone elses progress. There are some interesting colour schemes going on and it is going to be such a blast seeing all the different versions of Bonnie's Orca Bay.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/orca-bay-mystery.html

Hope you all have a productive week.
Rhianon.

Orca Bay Mystery - Part 2

2011-11-28T01:07:00.000-08:00

The mission this week was to make 72 31/2" strip squares.
Bonnie is using blues - I am using greens , everything from limes to emeralds !

These blocks are fast and fun to make.

Funny coincidence no 1 - my scissors match my blocks!

Funny coincidence no 2 : Teddy bears on my fabric and teddy bears on my foundations!

As of this morning I have 60 blocks done just leaving 12 to do today. That leaves lots of time until friday to work on Christmas presents.
Happy days!

Friday Finishes!

2011-11-25T02:06:00.000-08:00

Must say, I've had a really busy week with my regalia work and Part 1 of Orca Bay ( mystery quilt) but I did manage two small finishes.
I've been making a stack of mug rugs as Christmas gifts and got two finished last night.

This first one is two strips of seminole patchwork. We did this at our last meeting of quilt group.
I'm not sure I got my measurements correct as the contrast fabric in the center of the fat strip is an ablong and not a square. mmmm ? Still I think it turned out okay.

Close up of my tribally / swirly free motion quilting.

Next up is an old faithful :

I don't think I could ever get sick of making these and I love getting the chance to practice feathers !

I used a satin fabric for the flower this time , a bit tricky and slippery to work with but I think the end result is worth it.

So that is it for now.
Being Friday means I am linking up with Shanna from Sparrow in Flight who is hosting this weeks TGIFF party.
http://ssparrowinflight.blogspot.com/2011/11/tgiff4-santa-claus-is-coming-to-town.html

Why not head on over there and check out the finishes ?

Have a good weekend everyone
Rhianon.

Orca Bay 2011 Mystery Quilt by Bonnie Hunter. PART 1

2011-11-21T04:49:00.000-08:00

It's November and that means it is mystery quilt time with Bonnie Hunter.
This is my second mystery quilt and I cut my teeth last year on Bonnie's Roll, Roll Cotton Boll.

It was such a blast - No matter what - every Friday was MY sewing day.

Part 1 of Orca Bay was out on Friday.
If anybody wants to join in then here is the link :

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/orca-bay-mystery.html
You can also find the link in my side bar - it will be sitting there for the duration.

Here is my progress so far ;

Production line under way!

I'm using the 3 1/4" square method as I don't have a companion angle ruler but it is working a treat !

Getting there !

This is it so far - 167 hourglass blocks completed, 57 to go. The end is in sight.

I'm a really going to enjoy this mystery because I have made some lovely quilty friends from all over the world and we are all doing it together, so it is going to be excellent to have people to compare notes with and also Bonnie has set up the link for bloggers. So who knows, I may even make more new friends or even get some new followers. Now that would be nice !!!
If I'm lucky enough to have Bonnie look at my blog, then just want to say thank you for everything you do Bonnie!!!

Til next time
Happy sewing
Rhianon

A Friday Finish - Baby Quilt / Playmat

2011-11-18T03:05:00.000-08:00

I am really pleased to get this little quilt finished ahead of starting Bonnie's mystery quilt today.
My sister commissioned me to make this for our nephew who is going to become a daddy for the first time in early February.

Luckily, I was able to find out that the baby is a boy and luckily I had these cute froggy fabric strips that i picked up at the quilt show.

I did the best I could with the fabric, made up some blocks and sewed them together in rows.

I used navy and turquoise for the border and machine quilted it all over.

Machine quilting detail.

I'm so glad to have another project finished. Now I just have to wait for the baby's arrival, then I can embroider a label with all his birth details.

I'm linking this post to Bending Pins who is hosting this weeks TGIFF party. Why not drop by and have a look at the other finishes this week. Here is the link : http://bendingpins.com/2011/11/17/tgiff/

I'm off to sew now and I'll be back soon with more quilty stuff.
Have a good weekend.
Rhianon.

WIPs - Two Quilts for Christmas.

2011-11-12T00:10:00.000-08:00

For some illogical reason, I decided that I would try and make my girls a quilt each for Christmas. I had 2 jelly rolls kicking about in my stash and thought why not ?
There are a couple of Bonnie Hunter quilts I have wanted to make for a while now, so bit between my teeth....off I went.

This one is called Strip Twist and is easier than it looks.

A couple of plain borders and it's done. It finishes at 72" x 58". I used most of the jelly roll and have 9 strips left over which will be plenty for the binding and I may even have enough left to make a small matching cushion.

On to the second quilt now. This pattern is called Pineapple Blosson.

These blocks finish at 12.5" and were fast and fun to make up.

Now to decide on which lay out ??

One of the best things about making the blocks is all the little bonus HST's you get.

I had fun playing with these and thought I could even make a childs quilt.......

.......but I have decided to use them for the border instead.

This is as far as it goes at the moment. I will add a black dotty inner border before the HSTs. Hope to get all that done today. I still have a lot of strips of the jelly roll left over ..... I could make the quilt bigger but my girls don't want their quilts 'too big'!
Okay I can deal with that ! but the big question now is...will I get them quilted and bound in time for Christmas ?? I'll try my best.

You can find Bonnie and all her wisdom at http://www.quiltville.com/

That's all for now. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for visiting.

Rhianon.

Friday Finish - Anniversary Wall Hanging

2011-11-04T02:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I was going to manage a finish but a few hours work last night and this was done !

It is a wall hanging for my sister in law and her husband to celebrate 20 years of marriage.

I decided to go with blacks and whites becasue that is the colour scheme of their living room.

Top - with decorative flowers.

Middle section - with hand embroidered details

Bottom section.

I machine quilted the whole piece, with feathers in the outer border.

I invested in one of those cute little hangers. first time I've used one of them and I think they are great. I can see me buying more of them. It just finishes it off nicely and makes it easy to hang.

I'm linking this post to Laura's blog, Quokka Quilts. She is very kindly hosting this weeks TGIFF party.
So if you have something finished, head over there and post your link. We'd love to see what you have been up to.

http://quokkaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/11/tgiff-black-n-white-and-red-all-over.html

Have a great weekend everyone!
Rhianon.

A Lovely Surprise !!!!

2011-11-02T02:45:00.000-07:00

At the weekend I was blog hopping as you do and I spotted a comment from another Scottish quilter. So, off I went to this lady's blog and it turns out that she is a Scottish champion Quilter. She won 3 rosettes at this years show!!!
Her name is Kay Bell and you can visit her blog here : http://borderlinequilter.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-hundred.html

For those of you who were at the show or remember my post about it, here is one of Kay's award winning quilts.

Kay is a very talented long arm quilter and as I decided to follower her blog , I was her 100th follower.
Look what Kay sent me in the post this morning.

I can't believe it! thank you so much Kay. A selection of beautiful Christmas prints. Aren't they lovely? I am over the moon to say the least!

This is Kay's business card - just look at the incredible quilting. fabulous!!!

This is the card Kay sent with my goodies. It has a wholecloth designed by Kay on it. Again brilliant work.
If you have a moment please go an look at Kays blog and become a follower. You won 't regret it.

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Kay for being so thoughtful and kind.
Rhianon.

3D Flower Mug Rug Tutorial.

2011-10-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hi there,
Today I thought I would do a tutorial on my 3D flower mug rug. In the past week I have made 6 !

They are pretty straight forward, so why not give it a go ?

Using 4 different fabrics and referring to the photo above, make up the rug as follows : Left hand side is a 4.5" square bordered with 2 x 2.5" x 4.5" strips in a contrast fabric, then 2 x 2.5" x 8.5" strips.

Right hand side : 4 squares of each fabric measuring 2.5" each. Make up your checkerboard and join to the left hand side.
Layer, and quilt as desired. I used a meandering pattern on the checkerboard and in the center square. I filled the border on the left hand side with a continuous feather.

Trim away the excess wadding and backing. Your mug rug should measure 8" x 16"

Bind in the usual way.

Now for the fun bit - making the flower.
You need 5 circles for the petals and one contrasting for the flower center.
I use just whatever I lay my hands on which in this case was a little glass bowl. It has a diameter of 4" Perfect size for the petals.

Fold each of the petal circles in half and press, then fold them in half again and press. Leave the center one for the moment.

To make the leaves, put 2 small pieces of green fabric right sides together and draw a leaf shape.
Add a piece of wadding to the back and machine stitch ALL the way around. Cut out leaving a very small seam allowance.
Now with a sharp pair of scissors and bieng very careful to only cut one layer of fabric, make an incision and turn right side out. You will need 3 leaves.

Using a double thread in a matching colour, work a running stitch along the curved edge of the petal. Make sure you have the folded edges all facing the same way. Pull the thread so as to gather the petal.

Add then next petal, then the remainder. When you get to the last one pull up tightly then join to the first one. Work a couple of extra stitches just to hold it securely.

Do not fasten off the thread.

Make a Suffolk Puff or a Yoyo with the center circle. Do not fasten off this thread either.

Using your flower as a guide, position the 3 leaves in a nice arrangement and pin.

To attach the leaves to the rug, I machine quilted mine but this could easily be done by hand.

Now using the thread already attached, stitch the flower to the rug. Use small stiches and 'hide' them in the folds of the petals.

Add the Suffolk Puff in the same way and finish off with a nice button.

Taaa Daaaa!!! All done!
Here are some of the other rugs I made earlier.

I hope you enjoyed my wee tutorial. Please let me know if it was useful or if you would like to see tutorials on anything else and if you make one of these mug rugs, I'd love to see it. Why not post a pic on my Nifty Stitcher Facebook page.
Thanks for visiting - I'll be back with more quilty stuff soon.
Rhianon.

Update : Seen as I finished the last mug rug last night and added it to my post this morning,I am going to link this post to http://tgiffriday.blogspot.com/2011/10/tgiff-party-here-today.html
It's lots of little finishes for me this week.
Click the linky and head on over to see what everyone else has been up to this week, or even add your own link. The more the merrier and everyone is welcome.

Tallships Quilt -Finished!

2011-10-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone

I've had a busy week on the quilting front with way too many projects lined up.
Around wednesday I finished my Tallships quilt.

Middle border on.

I decided on some simple pinwheels for the next border.

Let the machine quilting commence!

I was very pleased with how my feathers turned out in the sashing bearing in mind that I am still a novice at free motion quilting.

I worked a bigger swirly pattern over the pinwheel section.

Simple but striking.

Finally bound with the same fabric as the inner border. Always feels good to get another finsih under your belt.
Today I am working on 3 mug rugs and over the weekend I hope to get back to the Dresden quilt.
I've just realised that I have a huge to-do list for Christmas and I am going to be doing Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt which starts on 18th November. Going to be a busy time which means I will be busy in blogland too!

I'm linking this post to http://missymaccreations.blogspot.com/2011/10/tgiff-epic-fail.html

Missy Mac creations is hosting this weeks TGIFF, so if you want to join the fun head on over there and post you link.

Have a great weekend - hope it is filled with lots of sewing.

Rhianon.

Work in Progress - Batik Dresden Quilt.

2011-10-19T00:40:00.000-07:00

This week I have been working on a Christmas quilt for my eldest daughter Natalya.
A dear friend in America sent me some gorgeous batiks ( love batiks!!!)

I decided to set the plates on a black background to accentuate the colours.

Thank goodness for my Dresden Plate ruler. it takes a lot of hard work out of it.

MMMM - to sash or not to sash ????

This is as far as I have got at the moment. I will be starting on the borders later on today and I cannot wait to quilt it as I got the most gorgeous rainbow coloured thread at the quilt show.

I'm linking this post to http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com/ for Work in Progress Wednesday.

If you are in the middle of something, please head over there and share your work. We would love to see it.
Til the next time .....
Rhianon.

That Mug Rug Bug !

2011-10-14T01:41:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me to make a mug rug for her so yesterday afternoon I duly obliged !
She is a lovely lady who deserves so much more than a mug rug but I hope she likes what I came up with.

It's very 'busy' with all those patterned fabrics but I think they work well together.

3-D flower detail

Simple meandering quilting for the mug bit.

A Suffolk puff and a colourful button just finishes off this flower perfectly.
This is the second mug rug I've made and I love them. Yesterday I looked out some Christmas fabrics and I'm now planning a table runner and some placemats.

The last few posts I've been meaning to show you a cushion I made as a birthday gift for my friend Shelley in Australia. I kept forgetting but I've remembered today.

Shelley's fave colour is purple and she loves the Victorian/shabby chic/ romantic look. She loved her cushion.

Finally today, have a look at these little button jars.

Aren't they super cute ? My daughters got a jar each at the quilt show. You should have seen their faces when I asked for ONE button for the mug rug - they didn't want to give me one ! I bribed them with chocolate!
Have a great weekend everyone. I will be back with another finish very soon.
Til then
happy sewing
Rhianon.

PS I am linking this post to http://quiltmatters.blogspot.com/2011/10/tgiff-falling-for-stripes.html

It's all about Friday finishes, so if you have some thing you've just finished then come and join the fun. We'd love to see what you have been up to.

A Friday Finish - purple butterfly.

2011-10-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, well I'm fibbing a little because I actually finished this yesterday.
Another trapunto butterfly made for Karen, a quilter friend of mine who lives in South Africa.

Karen had seen my butterfly and asked if I could do her one in purples. No problem.

I used exactly the same method as before and I still don't like having to cut the wadding away from the back.
It's just so nerve wracking!

Preparing to quilt

Detail

I love how the early morning light shows up the trapunto in this photo.

another angle

I have a full free day ahead of me - and a full list of works in progress - just don't know what to work on next. DH modified my darning foot on my new sewing machine, so I can actually see where I am going now. Have a great weekend - I'm off to do lots of sewing now.

Works in Progress - and a new sewing room!

2011-09-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

I've had a busy week, working on a few diffirent projects.
The most exciting thing though, was the arrival of my new sewing table and new sewing machine!!! I was working on the dining room table before that and had a permanent bruise on my thigh from walking into the corners when squeezing past to get to my stash!

With the ironing board set up just to the right of my chair ( out of shot ), I am now workingin total luxury. Love it!

My new sewing machine. It is not the most expensive one, but it is a great little machine and runs so smoothly.

Anyway, onto some sewing.

I've been wroking on this Tallships quilt. Top is nearlt completed, I only have some dark blue borders to add then it will be ready for quilting.

Next up is a commission I have been working on. A trapunto butterfly. Hoping to get the binding put on this over the weekend. I can only show a little of this as I don't want to spoil it for the lady I am making it for.

Also this week I have been making a braided border for a panel that I dyed and printed by hand at quilt group on Monday. I love it when Irene does projects using dyes - she is realy into all that and has some great ideas.

Now the borders :

I'm looking forward to quilting this one.

Finally, at last weeks quilt show, I bought some back issues of a quilting magazine. Lookng through them last Sunday morning look what I found;

You may need to click on the photo for a closer look , but it is a quilt I'd entered into the show in 2009. I didn't know that it has been printed in a report about the show. Made my day!

Have a great weekend everyone - hope you get lots of sewing done.

Rhianon.

EDINBURGH QUILT SHOW 2011 (sept)

2011-09-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ok , Apologies for having to split this post into two parts.
Enjoy the rest of the show.

I hoped you enjoyed this selection of quilts from the show. There were a lot of quilts there and I know I didn't take photos of them all. I got everything I wanted - King Tut thread, 505 basting spray , couple of scrap bags ( I love scrap bags), lots of fabric , beads, selection of magazines and my favourite purchase was a fat Quarter pack of Robert Kaufman's Valley of the Kings range. Have to say they were NOT cheap - but they are so lovely. I adore those fabrics and have been eyeing them up online for a while now. I feel a major project coming on !!

Also at this show, I had a go on a long arm quilting machine for the very first time. It was so strange to move the machine and not the fabric - kinda the opposite of what I have been doing but I loved it. I would love a long arm - it's going to take me a long time to save for one of them - they cost £4000 ! Oh well I can dream!
Until the next time
happy stitching.
Rhianon.

EDINBURGH QUILT SHOW 2011 (sept)

2011-09-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the big quilt show at the Royal Highland Showground in Edinburgh. It is held twice a year - February and September.

Needless to say I had a great time and came home with an empty purse and a bulging bag!!!!
I will shut up now and show you some of the quilts that were on display.

Loved all the colours in this one.

This was a stunning quilt, beautifully pieced and quilted by hand.

Close up of previous quilt.

That is the end of part 1 - blogger won't let me upload any more photos in this post so I will do a part 2 .

CAN YOU HELP A QUILTER IN NEED ?????

2011-09-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

This post has been linked from another blog.

John'aLee's daughter's fiance was killed in Afghanistan. They were to have been married yesterday.
So sad....
Can you help?

Monday, September 19, 2011

Blocks Needed for Grieving Family

I've never been good at asking for help....

but I'm going to on this one.

I know the heart of quilters....

I am going to put together quilts for Tory, Chris' Mom

his two brothers and one for the

soldier who was his best friend

and who fought right alongside Chris...

and was

there...

when he took his last breath.

I'm going to do the quilts in a muted red, white and blue

theme.

And I thought 'Star' blocks would be so appropriate

in this situation.

I would so appreciate any of you who

would like to help me in this endeavor.

I need 8" blocks

(Finished Size of Block to be 8 1/2")

and when I say muted...

the best way to describe it...

is kind of like the Minnick and Simpson fabrics

that are always designed for Moda.

(They don't have to be Minnick and Simpson though!!)

We would be so grateful for any!

I would so appreciate it too,

if any of you would like to copy this post on your blog.

I'm hoping Tory will help me sew them all together

to help her in her grieving.

I'm also going to try to get a local group

together to help out as well,

when all of the blocks are received.

If at all possible we need the blocks by end of October.

You may send them to:

The Scrappy Appleyard

3218 Knobview Drive

Nashville, TN 37214

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You all will never know how much your comments, prayers

and thoughts have helped us to get through this tragedy.

May God bless you all...

Pretty Pinwheels Baby Quilt - Thank Goodness it's Finished, Friday Party.

2011-09-16T01:44:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.

Today I am taking part in a Thank Goodness It's Finished, Friday Party.
My quilt I've finished is this Pinwheel baby quilt.

I had a set of really pretty floral, girly fabrics that had been hanging about in my stash for a long time, so it is finally good to have them used up.

It was machine pieced and machine quilted.

Detail

Apologies for the poor lighting in this shot but I love how it shows up the puffy texture of the quilt.

I usually have several projects on the go at once and so I am going to sneak in a wee link to this little wall hanging I recently finished.

Here is the link to that post.
http://rhianontaylor.blogspot.com/2011/09/trapunto-butterfly.html

I loved working on this trapunto butterfly and have plans to do something on a larger scale. Watch this space!!
If you have not visited my blog before, you would be very welcome to come and have a visit.

Do you have any work you have recently completed ? Want to join the Friday fun ?
All you have to do is head over to Quilt Matters and link your post.
Here is the link http://quiltmatters.blogspot.com/2011/09/thank-goodness-its-finished-friday.html

I can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to so I'm heading over there right now. Hope to see you there.
Have a great weekend - I hope it is filled with lots of sewing!
See you all next time
Rhianon.

Mug Rugs of the World - SCOTLAND

2011-09-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hello

I was asked by Laura from Quokka Quilts if I would like to make a mug rug with a Scottish theme.

I've never made a mug rug before so I thought why not.

You don't get more Scottish than thistles and tartan plus blue is a very Scottish colour!!!

If you would like to join in and make a rug representing your country , please feel free.
All you have to do is make one, then do a post about it. You don't have to send it anywhere.
Here is the link http://quokkaquilts.blogspot.com/p/mug-rugs-of-world.html

What would you come up with for your country?

Have a great weekend everyone.
Rhianon.

Trapunto Butterfly

2011-09-07T01:20:00.000-07:00

Last week at quilt group we worked a sample of trapunto. I have done trapunto before but only a small sample and I didn't know how to incorporate it into a quilt. Now I do.
I was so fired up I came home and started a little wallhanging.

I put on my artist hat and used Carron Dache water soluble pencils to create this butterfly on a piece of cream silk.
After layering it with 2 pieces of wadding I back stitched by hand using standed cottons all the way around the design.

Next the scary part !! Trimming away the excess wadding from the back. Had to be very careful not to cut the silk on the front.

After adding a couple of borders, more wadding and a cotton back, I was ready to start machine quilting.

First I outline quilted very close to the butterfly and leaves to make them 'pop'.
Then I worked a very small stippling design all over the background. I wanted this to make the background as flat as possible.

I love this effect - and I definately have plans for a bigger project.

Detail

Another angle

My butterfly measures 16" x 16" and is now hanging in my workroom.

So that's another unexpected piece of work finished.
I've finished my baby quilt too and will post about that the next time.
Till then , thanks for stopping by.
Rhianon.

Hand Dyed Quilted Cushion #2

2011-09-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

When I dyed the fabric for the cushion in the previous post, I also did another panel. This time the colours were purples, browns and rusts.
I made this panel into another cushion.

I machine quilted a pretty feathers and flowers design.

Close up of quilting.

Detail of hand appliqued butterfly.

More detail.

Again this cushion has a white satin ruffle with cream lace.
I love how these cushions turned out -I think they are pretty and girly.

Today I started a new quilt using bright batiks ( my favourite) on a black background. It has already been claimed by daughter #1 !!!
Tonight I hope to get the binding sewn onto the baby quilt, so perhaps another post before the weekend is out.
Hope you all have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by.
Rhianon.

Hand Dyed Quilted Cushion

2011-08-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to get this cushion finished this week. It's been sitting in a pile of UFO's so I thought it was about time I did something with it.

I hand dyed the fabric myself, using a method called disperse dying.

It is machine quilted with a touch of hand embroidery.

Quilting detail.

It measures 18" x 18" and is edged with lemon lace and a white satin ruffle.
The back is plain white cotton.
I am selling this cushion. Details on my Nifty Stitcher Facebook page.

I hope to have 2 more finishes before the week is out and as always a few more projects brewing in my head!!!
Have a good week :)
Rhianon.

Colourful Cushion

2011-08-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hi there

This week I finished this cushion, which is a commission for a friend. The brief was ' bright colours ' and I think this fits the bill.

The block in the center is a design by Jennie Rayment. It's a great block to make and uses the same principal as Cathedrial Windows. Click on photo for close up.

I machine quilted it and hand embroidered the name for that personal touch.

I really hope the birthday girl likes it.

Also this week my iron broke - a disaster for any quilter. It happened in the week my girls went back to school and my youngest daughter had a birthday, so there was not much spare cash going.
So I bought the cheapest iron I could find. £3.99 from Argos!!
What a fantastic buy !!! It is so light to handle and does the job perfectly.

Little new iron on the left, big broken one on the right.

I will get a bigger, better one eventually but I think I will continue to use this one for pressing my seams.

I've also been busy putting together a baby/toddler quilt and hope to get it quilted this weekend. Pictures in the next post.

Finally, I've entered my Bird of Paradise into the Quilting bloggers competition this week. Yes i know its the second week in a row, but it will be the last this year. It just so happened that it fitted into the theme of this weeks comp. I am not allowed to win any prizes because I came 3rd last week, so it's just a bit of fun.
If you would like to vote for my birdy then here is the link
http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/08/26/embroidery-stitchery-quilts/

Again , there are some beautiful quilts to vote for - there are so many talented, creative people out there.
Of course I would appreciate your vote.
Have a great weekend, whatever you are up to and to all my American friends - stay safe and out of the way of hurricane Irene.
Til next time
happy sewing
Rhianon.

I came 3rd !!!

2011-08-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

Quick post to let you all know that I came 3rd in the Quilting Bloggers competition. So I want to say a huge thank you to everyone, especially Paul, the Outnumbered quilter, who made me guest blogger on his blog. I have 4 new followers. Welcome and I hope you enjoy following my blog.
A new quilty post comng soon.

Vote for me

2011-08-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

I've entered this weeks Qulting Bloggers competition. Please vote for me - if you like my wall hanging.
Thank you. http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/08/19/vote-now-quilts-with-flowers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+QuiltingGallery+%28Quilting+Gallery%29

Bird Of Paradise - Finished !

2011-08-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

The good thing about having lots of projects on the go at once means - lots of finsihes one after the other.

I'm a happy bunny today because I've finished my Bird of Paradise and am so pleased with how it turned out. All the applique was done by hand as was the embroidery on the bird.

I machine quilted the background and the borders and only machine quilted the birds plumage very lightly.

Close up of machine quilted feathers on 'feathers'

You can see in this photo that I echoed the flower in the background pattern.

Close up of hand embroidery. Feather stitch using DMC stranded cottons.

Flower detail. Click on photos for extra close ups

I'll be keeping this one for myself for a while. I feel as if I am making progress with the machine quilting but I still have 'bad' days. I broke 3 needles making this. Perseverance and patience work wonders!

Today I was working on blocks for an exchange I am taking part in although I can't show you them - yet. They are looking good and I hope the ladies like them.
My iron broke today also - so first on the shopping list tomorrow is a new one. Just can't quilt without one!
Have a great weekend what ever you are doing. I plan to sew.
Happy Stitching.

Dragonfly Wall Hanging - Finished !

2011-08-07T00:45:00.000-07:00

At last, I've made some great progress with my wall hanging and I guess I could almost call it finished.
It's a very 'busy' piece and it's knowing when to stop. I think it has enough on it now and it pretty much resembles the picture I had in my head.

I took this on a lovely sunny day but had still to add the little flowers in the bottom right corner.
Click on photos for extra close ups.

Close up detail of 3D flowers.

I worked some hand embroidery on the flowers and dragonfly.

Close up - bottom left corner.

Top right corner.

Beading on Dragonfly

Hand embroidery and machine quilting detail.

Last to be added, were these little flowers which I made from tiny Suffolk puffs.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, in fact my brother and sister have already tried to get me to part with it, but after all that hard work I think I will enjoy it myself for a while. I will pass it on eventually ( maybe!).
This week I will be working on my Bird of Paradise applique. It is almost ready for quilting and I can't wait to let you see it.
Have a great week whatever you are up to and thanks for stopping by my blog.
Rhianon.

Quilt for a Baby Boy

2011-07-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone

It's been quite a while since I last posted. A few reasons for this - first of all we enjoyed a family holiday to the island of Ibiza in the Med.

This was the view from the hotel. A very pretty island and we would definately go back.
I was looking forward to getting home and immersing myself in my sewing again but unfortunately I injured my shouder/arm lugging suitcases about. After 5 days of intense pain, I am finally on the mend although I still have very limited mobility and sewing is out of the question. Very frustrating!!!

So today I thought I would show you a quilt I was commissioned to make a couple of years ago.
It is all my own design and is machine pieced with hand applique.

I really enjoyed making this one. It is also hand quilted.

I used quite a thick wadding so the quilt would have a nice puffy effect.

Don't forget to click on the photos for close ups.

I have several projects waiting in the wings and I'm raring to go. My Bird of Paradise applique, Bonnie Hunters Virginia Bound top, waiting to be quilted and my magic lantern quilt which is also waiting to be quilted.. I think I will just have to be a little careful and not too eager or else my shoulder won't heal properly.
One thing is for sure - I really miss my sewing.
I hope you are all getting lots done.
Til the next time....
Rhianon.

Dresden Plate Lap Quilt

2011-06-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

I've recently finished this Dresden Plate lap quilt. I made the blocks 12" and mixed them with some Irish chain blocks.

This is one of my favourite quilts I've ever made. I love how it turned out.

It is all free motion machine quilted - I didn't mark the quilt top first. Click on the photos for close ups.

I'm even quite pleased with how it loks on the back.

I'll finish with a photo of my sewing room. This is how I store my WIP s and UFO s. I don't like to keep them folded, so I use the coat hangers for trousers with the clips on the top - perfect for the job. How do you store yours?

Until the next time ......

Appliqued Bird of Paradise

2011-06-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hello

Today I thought I'd show you my newest project. It was something I hadn't planned to do but sometimes a project just screams out at you and this was one.
It started with a tattoo design by my sister. She pinched the feathers from me after she saw me quilting some, so I in turn pinched her design. I thought it would be perfect for an applique.

This is the original drawing.
I scaled it up to the size I wanted and away I went. I had decided to try my hand at needle turn applique. that was ok on the small flower sample I started but when it came to doing the feathers, I could not get the accuracy I wanted. So I switched to raw edge applique.

It is a lovely project for sitting in front of the tv watching Wimbledon.

It didn't take very long to get all the main parts stitched down and now I am working on the top stitching, using dmc stranded cottons.

I plan to do a colourful boder with more appliqued leaves and perhaps a flower.
Please come back to check my progress over the next few weeks.
If any of you like tattoos - go check out my sisters Facebook page - here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Inkantation-Tattoos/160083404008307

Think I might be stopping by there myself to see what else I can 'borrow'.

Have a great weekend everyone - hope it includes lots of sewing!!!
Rhianon.

My Time At The Royal School of Needlework

2011-06-11T00:38:00.000-07:00

Hello All

I have been doing some quilting this week but nothing that I can show you yet. So in the meantime I have decided to do a post on my time spent studying at the Royal School of Needlework in London.
People get into quilting via all sorts of routes - mine was through embroidery.

I have always sewn, since I was a little girl (age 7). I started with tapestry kits then by age 9 I had moved onto embroidery.

These were worked when i was 9 years old - I know that because my Mum wrote it on the back.

By the time I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to sew on a more serious level.
When I was 19, I applied to the RSN and was accepted. So in 1985, I moved to 500 miles away to London to follow my dream. It was a huge step for a young girl from a smallish town in Scotland. I was terribly homesick for the first few months, but was kept so busy. I stuck with it.

I did the 2 year course which was very intense. 9am til 5.30 everyday then home to do more sewing. The course I did is now stretched over 3 years and is a recognised Foundation Degree.

I graduated in 1987 - which was the year the RSN moved from it's premises at Princes Gate ( just a few doors away from the Iranian Embassy which was raided by the SAS a few years before) to it's current premises at Hampton Court Palace.

I will now take you through some of the work I did. As well as the RSN work I worked on my City and Guilds Embroidery pt 1 at the same time.
I started off with this canvas work cushion.

Pommegranite
These are goldwork samples. They were purposely left half finished so one could see the different types of padding used for the relief.

Crown.

Fleur di Lis

Gold work sample - design taken from the Queen's Coronation robe.

These samples are 25 years old now and although they have been carefully stored ( not carefully enough) there has been some tarnishing. Goldwork will tarnish especially if it is left in the open air. I worked these samples towards the end of my course. not for beginners!

Blackwork Owl.

Smocking sample.

Hardanger sample.

Hedebo sample - a form of whitework.

Tassles.

Sample of crewel work - one of my favourite techniques!

Needlepoint Lace (below)

The photos below are of the most difficult technique - Both sides Alike embroidery. It is used on Regimental Colours and was practically the last technique we learned.

Back

Front.

Front

Back - remember this is ONE piece of fabric with the embroidery the same on the back as it is on the front.

Finally, for today I think I will finish with a couple of City and Guild pieces, We had to make a 3-D construction. I decided on a bedouin tent.

A lot of canvas work in this project!

Finally, finally my Jellyfish panel also for City and Guilds.
My friend Shelley in Australia made the mermaid doll and she now hangs beside the jellyfish.

I realise that some of my samples are looking a bit tatty but they are 25 years old. I have some other work which I just can't find at the moment - a both sides alike crown, whitework cushion and my favourite - a goldwork cross with a saint worked in silk shading. Sadly I fear I have lost this last piece but the others are in the attic. I will did them out one day. Don't forget to click on the photos for a close up view.

I had the best time at the RSN and it will always be one of my proudest achievements. Whilst there, we went to many exhibitions around London, including quilt shows, batik demostrations at Covent Garden and also a trip to see the Queen's Coronation Robe. I also had the chance to do some restoration work in the workroom 'upstairs' - including working on the funeral pall for Canterbury Cathedral. We ( us students) exhibited our work at the Festival Hall on the Embankment and had a final exhibition at All Hallows Church near the Tower of London, where we presented with our Certificates by the Lord Mayor of London upon graduation.
It really was a blast!
I hope you have enjoyed this post.
Til the next time happy sewing everyone.
Rhianon.

Batik Wall Hanging - Finished!

2011-05-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hello

Well it feels like a while since I last posted but I guess it's not that long. I've been beavering away in my sewing room and have finally finsihed my batik wall hanging.

I machine quilted it all over.

I did not mark the quilt - it's all freehand. I attempted some continuous
line tribal - like pattern on the outer border. My twin brother is a very talented tattoo artist so I took my inspiration from him.

The back of the border :

I even attempted some feathers in the inner border. Next time I might be brave enough to try them on a larger scale becasue I think they turned out ok.

Today was also the last meeting of my quilt group. No more for 3 months!!!!
Irene gave us a real treat and we made our own quilted fabric.
Take a piece of wadding, spray with glue then layer it up with little pieces of fabric. Spary with glue again then cover with something like organza, then quilt it.
Here is mine :

I have not decided what to do with mine yet - the possibilities are endless.
Daughter #1 has requested a pencil case. I was thinking of making a trinket box with a fancy tassle.

Finally for today, I've also been working of my Virginia Bound quilt. It is a Bonnie Hunter design. It is not on her website and I'm not sure which one of her books it is in - I just guessed how to do the block from looking at it on one of her slideshows. Yes I'm that keen!!!
Here it is so far.

Next post I hope to have the scrappy borders on so until then,
happy stitching
Rhianon.

Machine Quilting Practice

2011-05-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone
I hope you have had a productive week. I know I have. I took the plunge and decided to have a go at quilting my batik wall hanging. Well it can't hang in my workroom as an UFO forever can it?

You know, I've discovered that it is one thing practicing on a 8" square, which is easy to move around, but it's a whole different ball game working on a bigger piece. Even though I have my ironing board at the side to support the weight, it still drags.

My stitching lines are not straight and far from perfect. I seriously thought about unpicking all this but I thought NO I'm going to leave it.
In ten years time I want to look back and see how I have improved.

I will keep going with this one - hopefully getting some done today.

Earlier in the week I was practicing feathers. I love feathers- they look so impressive.

I had fun doing these but I've yet to try them on anything bigger than a small square.

We had some other crafty fun in our house this week. My youngest daughter, Ursula had "to make something out of rubbish" for a school competition.

Out of this mess, came these.....

Big sister, Natalya had to make one too!

Ursula in her hat. She got the most votes and won! Guess what her prize was ? A grow your own corriander herb pot. Yes you can imagine her excitment... It was fun anyway.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend.
See you again soon.
Rhianon.

Mariner's Compass Wall Hanging

2011-05-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

At last - here it is - my finished Mariner's Compass wall hanging. It is by far the biggest piece I have attempted to machine quilt. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out although I must admit, it was pretty scary starting it - I mean what if I messed it up ? There is a lot of work goes into a Mariner's Compass and I didn't want to ruin it all!

I also finished my practice piece.

It's hanging in my sewing room now.

Hoping to have a good weekend with some quality sewing time.
See you all next time.
Rhianon.

Mariner's Compass cushion.

2011-05-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hi there.

I wasn't able to get to my quilt group this week because my babysitter had tonsilitus. Instead I just had to sew at home. I had a spare block from the wall hanging I am making so decided to turn it into a cushion.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and it was more free motion quilting practice!

Been busy working away on couple of other projects. I have quite a lot of binding to be sewn on which means FO s (finished objects) to show you the next time.
Til then happy sewing
Rhianon.

Practice, practice, practice!!!!

2011-05-06T23:26:00.000-07:00

Hello quilty people!

I've a good week on the quilting front.Those of you who know me will know that I am very new to machne quilting. For over 10 years I have sat and laboriously hand quilted everything I've ever made.
Now I have made the foray into the world of free motion quilting - and what a blast I am having.
The thing I read the most is to practice, practice, practice - so that is what I have been doing.

Yesterday, I filled in the side triangles and corners of the Mariner's Compass hanging with a fancy swirly pattern. Thank you Leah Day of Day Style Designs for the inspiration.
Anyone new to free motion quilting like me, should check out Leah's website. It is fantastic!

This piece was done just to practice on. We did the dinosaur block at quilt group - but I thought it looked more like a flower,so turned it upside down, added the leaves to the block and stuck them in a basket!

I was so pleased with how this turned out.

Click on the photos for a bigger view.
Food shop day today but as soon as that is done, it's back to my machine.
I've only had my Machingers a few weeks and already they are filthy!
Have a great weekend, what ever you are up to.
Rhianon.

Seahorses

2011-05-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

Hello there.
This week at quilt group was great fun. We made little 'journal' quilts.
We had to wet the sticky side of Bondaweb then paint it with lovely metalic paints. After it dried, we simply had to draw our design, cut it out and iron it onto our fabric. After peeling the paper off - the paint remained on the fabric.

Next, it was onto the machine to practice my free motion quilting.

We could add any beads or fancy stitchery we wanted. I opted for some beads.

I really enjoyed this so much. My girls want to have a go too. It was their suggestion to add my name.

Finally for today, last night DH brought home a present for me. It was from Ian and his wife Laura to say thank you for the goldwork piece I did for him. Wasn't that nice? Lindt chocolates are just THE best!!! And a beautiful smelling reed diffuser - I've only ever used scented candles before but I like this. Such a nice thought and such yummy chocs!

Enjoy your day everyone.
Rhianon.
PS Don't forget to click on the photos for a better view.

Quilts for Japan - finished!

2011-05-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Hello

I love Mondays because it is quilt group day. Yesterday we hung out and photographed all the quilts we have made for Japan. We made 7 in total which is great because we are only a samll group - 7- 9 of us!

Rena and Kathleen in this photo.

Irene quilted this one with fantastic swirly leaves.

These quilts were a real group effort - everybody was doing something - piecing, pressing, quilting,binding.
To think our group has been meeting for just over a year and that most of the ladies were beginner quilters - I think they have done an outstanding job! Well done everyone!

Gift for a Special Lady

2011-04-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hello
I've just finished this cushion for my Aunty Jessie. She will be 89 years old on Wednesday. She is my favourite aunty and has not been keeping too well lately so I hope she loves her cushion.

Close up.

I hand quilted the Dresden Plate and machine quilted around the borders.

Remember the goldwork piece I was doing for Billy's work colleague ? Well it's back from the framers.

Billy chose the black frame with the gilt edging and I think it looks great. Just sets it off nicely. Can't wait to hear of Ian's reaction when he gets it. It will be a complete surprise for him.

It was very difficult to get a good photo of this because the high shine made it very reflective.

I've also been making good progress with the Mariner's Compass wall hanging but i'll save those photos for the next post.
Happy sewing
Rhianon.

Little Truckers Quilt

2011-04-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hello
A quick post today to let you see a little quilt I finsihed.

I used Suzanne McNeils 10 minute block ( you tube). It was good fun and I got the chance to practice my free motion quilting.

I sent it to my friend in Northern Ireland who has a gorgeous little baby boy. One good turn deserves another, right? She loved it.

Today I am hoping to make some progress with the Mariners Compass wall hanging. Here's a sneaky peek at it so far.

Have a lovely Easter weekend everyone.
Until the next time
Happy sewing
Rhianon.

Mariner's Compass and some goldwork.

2011-04-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hello all.
I've been having a busy week, working on two projects. The first is a Mariner's compass wall hanging which will go in the entrance hall of my husbands workplace. I chose the Mariner's compass block because Billy's company is in the communications/navigation business.

2 done - 3 to go!

The next project - I offered to do as a gift for a colleague of my husband, to commemorate his 22 years in the Royal Marines.

The first dagger I did was not up to scratch - so I had to do it all again.

The blade was not sitting on the handle properly and the only black stranded cotton I could find was this horrible wirey stuff. Nasty!

Second attempt faired much better and I was able to start the goldwork lettering. I will search for some ordinary black stranded cotton this weekend.

Coming on nicely now - once it is done it will be off to the frame shop.
I think a tarnished gold frame will finish it off perfectly.

I will come back with more photos when it is done.
Til the next time, happy sewing everyone.
Rhianon.

Something Different

2011-04-09T01:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week for me with not a lot of time to indulge in quilting unfortunately. So today I thought I would post some pictures of my embroidery work.
I saw a great blog on Stash Manicure by Mary Corbet, who is an embroiderer.
It made me want to go and get my threads out.
Here are some of my past efforts.

These fish were embroidered by hand using stranded cottons and were originally intended to be part of a large wall hanging. I took a mad turn one day and cut them up. Now I am thinking of incorporating them into a quilted wall hanging.

I love this cheeky little head on fish.

Clown fish

I'm thinking of using some gorgeous batiks to tie all these fish together - yet another project that is still in my head. One day.....

Next up are some embroidered shorts - they were worked a few years ago, hence the high waist (urghhh!).

The design is loosely based on crewel work.

I hope you have enjoyed my embroidery. After food shopping today I hope to get back in my sewing room and have something quilty to show you the next time.
Until then happy sewing everyone.
Rhianon.

Quilts for Japan.

2011-04-03T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hello friends.

The past 2 weeks have gone by so quickly. You know time flies when you're having fun. I've been making 2 quilts to go to Japan for the poor souls who have lost everything. I know there are quilters all over the world who are donating to this worthy cause.
My first quilt is a baby quilt.

Because these quilts are needed in a hurry - I HAD to attempt some free motion quilting. I didn't even have a proper foot for my machine, so I did this one without a foot.

I was pretty pleased with the result. It looks half respectable.

Onto the next quilt - a pretty little girls quilt.

At this point, my machine started to act up. DH took it apart and serviced it for me. Just look at what was underneath the throat plate!

Urrrgghhh!!!! No wonder my machine wasn't running properly! When was the last time you looked under your throat plate????!!!!!

After a jolly good vacuum and a few drops of oil, all is well with my machine and I purchased one of these - a darning foot!! I was so excited when this arrived because then I could really start practicing this free motion quitling!

Here is the second quilt for Japan. this tine I attempted a loopy heart pattern. It was so much fun to do.

Towards the end of the week I got my Dad-in-laws lap quilt finished. It has a mixture of hand and machine quilting. I hope he likes it!

Finally, my quilt group have decided to do 2 group quilts to send to Japan.
We each had to make 4 disappearing 9 patch blocks.( that old favourite)
Here are mine ...

Now I am left to ponder over my next project.....
Until the next time
happy sewing everyone.
Rhianon.x

More Cushions !

2011-03-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hello there. Following on from my last post, I thought I would continue with the theme of cushions.

This one was made for my neighbour, Mary whose husband had sadly passed away. It was made from his pyjamas and shirts.

The little one was for Mary's grown up daughter.
Tears were shed from both ladies when they saw their cushions - what a lovely keepsake for them.

This next one was made for my brother Allan and his wife Sylvia for their 20th wedding anniversary.

Sylvia shed a little tear too - she loved her cushion.

This next one was made to go with a quilt I made my daughter.

Much to my wee girl's disgust - this remains a UFO, which is ridiculous because the quilt has been finished for a couple of years. One day I'll get round to it....

This is the quilt to match the dinosaur cushion and a close up.

I made two of these cushions - one finished, one a UFO
The green tartan is my Dad in law's shirt - I loved the colour.
They were a good exercise to practice my snail's trail block.

Today I was lucky to get a few hours at my machine, so I'll show you what i was up to the next time. Til then...

Rhianon.

Dresden Plate Cushion Tutorial

2011-03-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

First of all I would like to thank Benita from Victoriana Quilt Design for posting a link on her FB page for my blog post - Edinburgh Quilt Show. I had an amazing 400 visitors overnight which is just amazing!

Today I am going to show you how I made this Dresden plate cushion. It is a birthday present for a friend of a friend and I hope she is going to love it.

Choose some pretty fabrics, I used a selection of 5 and still had lots left over.

Using a Dresden Plate Ruler - cut out 20 segments and chain piece them together.

After doing that I poked out the points using my fabulous wooden iron.

I love my wooden iron. It was made by my quilter friend Irene's husband. It's beautifully crafted and made from purple heart wood. That's the real colour - it's not been stained.

Back to the cushion - join the segments together in groups of five, then join them to make the plate. Applique onto a 12 and a half " square

I then added a one and a half inch inner border followed by an outer border made up of 7 2 and a half inch squares. This completes the cushion top.

Quilt as desired and add any embellishments or embroidery. I hand quilted mine and added the name of the person who it is for.

Next step is to add the lace and frilled edging. I cheated and bought ready gathered lace. The frill is made exactly the same way as binding for a quilt. I made mine 3 inches wide ( before being folded.)

Start by making a small fold in the lace and stitch all the way around, making a little pleat just before and after each corner.

Next add the frill. Start by turning under 1 cm twice and sew from there.
To get the ruffle effect, make a fold about every inch or so.

This is a good angle to see but please excuse my mangled nail. ( I cut my finger with rotary cutter at Christmas and had actually cut my nail. It is just growing out now) Sorry I know its gross!

When doing the corners, as with the lace just do a couple of pleats close together and close to the corner as you can. Sew right up to quarter inch away, leave needle in, lift foot and swivel round. Pull out the corner away from the needle, make a pleat as close as you can and carry on until completed.

It should look something like this now. See the split - just sew this together from the back. Now for the backing. Hem 2 pieces of fabric - one longer then the other.

Before I attach the backing I put a pin in each corner to keep the frill and lace out of the way.

With right sides together, pin the longer side down first with the hemmed side to the bottom of the cushion. Sew slowly. There are quite a few layers here but I just have a basic machine and it coped well. Attach the other half in the same way

Not forgetting to take your pins out of the corners - turn right side out and your cushion is ready for stuffing.

I hope you enjoyed my post - next I will be working on my batik wall hanging and my magic lantern quilt.
Happy sewing until the next time.

Rhianon.

Edinburgh Quilt Show, part 2

2011-02-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

Back again with some more quilts from the show. Enjoy.

Finally. on the way home I took a photo of the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Rail Bridge.

Last photo is of the Lomond Hills which look down on the town we live in.
See you all next time.

Edinburgh Quilt Show, Feb 2011.

2011-02-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hello,
Today was a fantastic day because I got to go to the quilt show in Edinburgh. It's one of the two main shows that are on in Scotland - the next one is in September. I had a great time although my 2 daughters were a little bored. Think I will have to find a babysitter next time.

Here are some of the beautiful quilts that were on display.

I do apologise if i don't have the whole quilt in the frame but it was very busy and there was not much space.

I liked this one alot.

I thought this was really well done.

Some good work there I think you'll agree. For some reason this is not letting me post anymore photos. I'll have to do a part 2
Hope you enjoyed part 1.