Shimmering Seahorses Wall Hanging.

Hi there

I finished my seahorses wall hanging last night.
Here it is:

Unfortunately I didn't get it finished in time to take a photo before the sun went down.

For the seahorses I worked the machine embroidery with a layer of wadding underneath, then I cut away the excess before making a proper quilt sandwich.

I stupidly added the beads by hand before I machine quilted it.  This made it difficult to quilt close to the edge of the seahorses.  You live and learn!

I quilted simple stippling in on the background and pebbles on the inner dotty border.

In the HST section I quilted a swirly circles pattern to represent water.

I had fun using a variety of varigated and metallic threads.

The following photos were taken before it was finished but I like how they show up the quilting.

I had worked an outline around the seahorses and corals but didn't like it so I had some unpicking to do :(

I quite like how it turned out in the end.

Today I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and also TGIFF, which is hosted today by Dreaming in Patchwork.  It's been a while since I had a friday finish so it's nice to take part again.

I'm off to crawl about the floor now - basting a quilt.
Enjoy your day.
Rhianon.

Seahorses

While I wait for the wadding to be delivered for the butterfly quilt, I thought I needed a little project to keep me going.
I started with this pile of bonus HSTs from the afore mentioned quilt.

I thought these would make a nice border for something, so sticking with the aquatic theme I decided to do seahorses.

First I made some cardboard templates......

I chose some yummy batiks for the seahorses..

Now they need a setting to go in.......

I used Bond-a-web for the first time and I love it.  Before I ironed a stabiliser on the back, cut out my design and then used basting spray to attach before sewing.  The Bond a web is much quicker and I can see me using a lot of this in the future.

Here are the seahorses attachd and it is ready for some serious machine quilting now....

I'm not sure if I like the way this one is going but I'm too far down the road now.

I quite like the way the center seahorses are 'hiding' among the corals.  Hopefully the seahorses will come to life when I've added some features and detail.

Hope to get this finished today if I get a good run on it.

See you next time.

Rhianon.

I'm linking up with Connie's blog ,Quilting By The River  so why not pop over and see what eveyone esle is getting up to toda.

Bloggers Quilt Festival

The other day a fellow quilter wrote and encouraged me to enter the Blogger's Quilt Festival which is hosted by Amy's Creative Side

This is the quilt I have decided to enter - my Gecko Fabulous wall hanging.

I don't have a special story to go with this quilt - it just kinda happened.
This was a spin off project from a challenge we were set at quilt group - to decorate a bag.
Here is my bag :

I loved the little gecko so much I had to do something else so that is how this wall hanigng came about.

I started with some 1 1/2" batik strips and made a postage stamp border.

I then added them to a piece of hand dyed fabric.

After quilting it and binding it,( I tried McTavishing for the first time) , it was ready for me to 'decorate' it.

The geckos and the leaves are 3 dimensional - I machine quilted some fancy patterns on them and added some beading.  Then I added more wadding and a backing and satin stitched all around the edge and cut them out.  You can see in more detail here

It measures 20" x 24".

Don't forget you can click on the photos for an even bigger view.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my geckos , now hop over to Amy's blog and check out all the other quilts in the festival.  I warn you - you could be there for some time!  Enjoy!

Butterflies and Sunflower Quilt - nearly a flimsy!

I am continuing to make good progress with this quilt.

I've added another 31/2" border here...... now it's time to audition fabrics for the next round of blocks.

                                                    Mmmmm , not sure about this one....

                                                  I'm liking this one better....

I decided to go with this one and made 40 snowball blocks for the next round.

These blocks also gave me 160 bonus HSTs to use in another project!

Now it is time for the final border.  This consists of 31/2" squares in a rainbow effect.
It's almost too big for me to lay out on my livingroom floor - need a bigger house!

So far I have 2 sides completed and hope to get the other 2 done today.  My Hobbs Heiorloom wadding is in the post and I will be able to start quilting this very soon. Cannot wait.

See you all next time.  Thanks for visiting.
Rhianon.

Work in Progress - Butterfly Quilt

                                                               Hello there.

                        I've had a busy week trying to make some headway with this quilt.  I've never done so much machine applique and found it to be quite time consuming.

                       Last time you saw this, I had all the pieces cut out but nothing sewn down.

                                      Now I have everything where it should be......

                               For the sunflowers I used  variagated thread.

                          Next up .... time to add a bit of detail to the butterflies.

                                              I am really looking forward to quilting this.

Then I added the churn dash blocks around the edge..........

followed by another border of the gorgeous turquoise batik fabric.

I'm looking forward to a full day in my sewing room working on the next round of blocks.  I think it would make a great wall hanging just left as it is right now but this one is to be a bed quilt. 

Next post I hope to have the top completed and be ready for quilting.

See you all next time.

Rhianon.

Butterflies and Sunflowers - The Beginnings of a New Quilt.

Hi there.
I hope you've all had a productive week.  I don't have a finish for today because I have started  a major project.............

I have been commissioned to make this quilt - key words are blues, greens, butterflies, sunflowers with possibly a rainbow effect.
This is how it is going so far.

A friend of mine (thank you Irene !)  hand dyed the center fabric - I didn't want to use cream or white as I thought it would be too stark.   I made up some churn dash blocks and already it is taking shape.

I made templates for my butterflies and cut them out of fabric that had vilene(stabiliser) ironed on the back.

Next up - placement of the sunflowers.......

Now I am ready for the next stage, which is sewing down all the shapes.

I am very happy with how it is looking so far.  I have quite a bit to go before it will be the right size for a double bed.
Must say I am really enjoying working on this and I'm really looking forward to quilting it.
More updates on this quilts progress to follow.
Now I am off to spend the whole day in my sewing room - bliss!
See you all next time.
Rhianon.