More Frame Quilting

Happy Hogmany everyone!
I've spent the whole day ( 9 hours) quilting on my frame.
I am loving it!!

For those who are curious, I've used one layer of HobbsHeirloom 80/20 wadding (batting)

Can't wait to get this one finished so I can move onto the next one!
I'm off now to have a well deserved Baileys and wait for the bells.
Happy New Year and all the very best in 2014 to every single one of you.
Cheers
Rhianon.

Celtic Solstice parts 4 & 5

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and managed to keep up with Bonnie's mystery quilt.
I forgot to post my link last week......

                                                                     Part 3 all finished.

 Part 4 was Christmas week and Bonnie gave us an easy clue - gorgeous little 4 patches.

                                                          Bagged and ready to go.

                                                             Now onto part 5........

 ..... a task made all the more enjoyable for me because look what Santa brought !!

These are the 3.5" blocks for part 5.  Almost finished them and I will be ready for part 6 on Friday.
Linking up with Bonnie's blog.  You can see how everyone else is fairing - some fantastic colour combinations going on and I can't wait to see the quilts coming together.  I'm hoping next week will be the big reveal.
Thanks for visiting and a Happy New Year !!
Rhianon.

Getting to know Grace again.

Hello there.

I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas time.  We did in our house and my DH bought me a new sewing machine.!!  ( I'm so lucky)  A Janome XL 601 which I will use for piecing and applique.  Sorry I have no photo yet but will take one soon.
Anyway this means that my big Janome ( 1600P) can now sit permanently on my Grace frame.

For those who are not regular visitors to my blog, my DH ( I have the best husband in the world) bought me a queen sized Grace frame back in July.  Around the same time I was asked if I'd like to have a display of my quilts in 2014 ( 15 -20 pieces gulp!), so I said yes and this meant I had no time to get acquainted with my new frame ...... until now.

I started off with this practice piece, just plain white cotton.  I have to get used to working within a 6" wide space and working long feathers.  The ones parallel to the bars are fine, no problem but it was the ones going down the frame are more difficult but I sussed it out.  I need to work them in small sections.

Oops!  a few little puckers but I'm not being too hard on myself - this is practice.
I used this just to get used to the feel of the machine again.  I've slowed the speed down when I stitch which is helping with control.  I always ran the machine quite fast when FMQ on the table top but it was not the right way to approach quilting on the frame.
I've also discovered that I like to sit on my high kitchen stool.  It's much more comfortable and I don't get backache.
Couldn't wait to get started on a pieced top so I loaded one up.

So far, it is going really well and I'm pleased with my progress.  I am finding it more time consuming than I expected but that's ok - there's no rush.
This is what I've done so far:

                                                               Feathers in the border.

I wasn't sure if i was going to like frame quilting but now I think I'm gonna LOVE it!  and no more crawling around on the floor basting quilts.

I'm off to do some piecing on my Christmas present now.  

Back soon with more quilty stuff.  Thanks for visiting.

Rhianon.

Hand Embroidered Tropical Fish Wall Hanging - Finished!

Hi
I did promise I would come back and show you my fishy wall hanging when it was finished and here it is :

I've added some 3D quilted seaweed to frame the scene. It also hides the rough line of the appliqued coral section.

I think the star of the show is the lion-fish - he's certainly my favourite.

I know its a busy time with Christmas approaching so I hope you are all organised.  I am (I think!)

I'm looking forward to getting some sewing done over the holidays.  Happy Days!

Thanks for visiting.

Rhianon.

Celtic Solstice Part 3

Hello quilty friends

I'm making good progress with Bonnie's mystery and managing not to fall too far behind,  I did get part 2 finished:

One of my fabrics has teddy bears on it and I love how they are going to be peeking out from this quilt.

100 x  3.5" chevron blocks, bagged and ready to go!

Part 3 of Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt  = half square triangles and lots of them., 200 to be precise.

We need 25 pinwheel blocks finishing at 3.5". Aren't they cute?  The remainder are left as half square triangles.
I'm almost done with this clue and looking forward to the next one.
 Linking with Bonnie's page today, so click here to go and see how everyone else is getting on.
I'll be back with part 4 next week.
Thanks for visiting.
Rhianon.

Floating Hearts Baby Quilt

Hello there

I was very happy to be asked to make a baby quilt recently.  I was given free reign as long as it was girly and had some nice quilting on it.
This is what I came up with:

I chose hearts and kept the design simple so as to leave big open areas for quilting.  The finished quilt measures 35" x 43".

I used bondaweb and machine appliqed the hearts.   There is no trapunto here, instead I used a thick 6 oz polyester wadding (batting).  Outline quilting, then flattening the background with stippling really makes the hearts and feathers 'pop'.

I free motion quilted this on my domestic machine. I will be practicing my frame quilting in the new year but until then I am doing it they way I know best.

Decided to try a half feather in the pink border and i love how it turned out.

 I finished the quilt with a piano key border, rounded off the corners and bound with a plain pink.

I worked a loopy heart pattern in the outer border.

This quilt will be delivered to new owner next week and will be given as a gift. I hope they love it as much as I do :)
I'll leave you with one last close up.

  Thanks for visiting.
Rhianon.

Celtic Solstice part 2

This is part 2 of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt Celtic Solstice.

Make 100 of these cute chevron blocks.  They measure 3.5"

I'm at the half way mark with 50 completed so far.
If you'd like to make Bonnie's quilt then you can find all the information here.  If you don't have time right now, why not print off the instructions.  They will only be posted for a short while.
If you'd like to see how others are progressing, then head over to Bonnie's linky party.
I'll be ready for part 3 on Friday!!
I'm so glad I decided to do the mystery this year - enjoying it immensely!
Happy Stitchin'
Rhianon.