Batik Wall Hanging - Finished!

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

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

 

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.

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!!!!

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

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!

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!