Butterflies and Feathers Cushion

This was a gift I made for a friend over Christmas.
I fussy cut the butterflies from some gorgeous fabric and machine appliqued them to the background.
I did the same with the leaves.
The flowers are 3D made from Suffolk puffs and were sewn on by hand at the end.

 Basted and ready for the free motion quilting which I did on my Janome 1600P on the table top.
I used one layer of Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 wadding.

 I used a polycore cotton thread made for machine quilting by Empress Mills, a family run UK manufacturers.

 I was really pleased with how the quilting turned out on this.

 I finished it off with a ruffle in a slightly darker shade of blue.

A little pearl bead finished off the center of the flowers.

 Cushion measures 13" x 18" excluding the ruffle.

A little sad to see this one go - turned out so nice.  I must be on a roll !
Thanks for visiting today.
Rhianon.

Some Christmas Decorations

I saw these on Facebook and thought they looked fun to make - and they were.

 This is the tutorial I used from You Tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdU7dliAdMo

The two bigger balls I used were 4" and the smaller one 3". 

I also used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon and bow on the top.  The pins were just not strong enough for the weight of the finished ball.

They are quick and easy but I did have to use my thimble sometimes!

I also made the Christmas tree - same kind of idea.

Here's the link for that one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1YVvxYTBBE

This one is for my Mum who has a white tree with lilac decorations.

I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas when it comes.  Hope Santa is good to you!
Rhianon.

A Quilt for Luna

In my last post i gave you a wee peek at a quilt I was making for Luna, our 6 month old cocker spaniel.

This was a leader and ender project from a quilt called Blue Ridge Beauty by Bonnie Hunter.
It is in her book Adventures with Leaders and Enders.
Anyway, I had started it a long time ago and the blocks I had finished were stored in a box. The machine I was using at the time did not have a quarter inch foot so some of my seams were huge.

I thought it would make a perfect little quilt for Luna to lie on in the evening she seems to prefer to lie on the floor stretched out rather than in her bed.

I added a couple of little borders to frame it.  Now the quilting.

I quilted it on my frame with an all over echoed flowery pattern.  It is not a panto, just freehand.  Somebody mentioned that it looks like little paws.
It does too but that was completely unintentional.
Here's the back

and the front:

I love the texture created. It has quite a chunky look to it because I used a fairly thick polyester wadding.  It will be going through the washing machine frequently I think!

Here's Luna in front of the quilt, bored with me taking photos.
Hasn't she grown since the first photos?

Its all finished now and being used daily. Adds a lovely splash of colour to my living room floor and its good to get another UFO finished!

Now, whats next?

See you next time

Rhianon.

Grand Illusion Part 2

 This is part 2 of Bonnie hunter's mystery quilt Grand Illusion.

Not as complicated as it at first looked plus Bonnie gave us three different methods of achieving these blocks.

I chose method no 3 because it was the easiest and I liked the idea of having all those bonus half square triangle units.

My colours look quite dark but are a bit more vibrant than they look in the photos.  Hate this dull winter weather.

My blocks all done and arranged into a rather nice block.

These would make a great quilt - may have to revisit that idea sometime.

Please click here to head over to the Mystery link up and check out all the Grand Illusion quilts being made.

I'm all ready for Part 3 tomorrow.  

I'll leave you with another Bonnie quilt I've been working on.  It is a small rainbow version of Blue Ridge Beauty for our 6 month old pup, Luna.

See you all next time for part 3 of Grand Illusion.

Rhianon. 

Grand Illusion Part 1

Yes its that time of year again when Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville thrills us all with a mystery quilt.
This will be my fourth Bonnie mystery and I have loved every quilt I have made.
First was Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll which has yet to be quilted.  Next was Orca Bay followed by Celtic Solstice both of which have been quilted and take turns on my bed.

 Back to this years mystery, its called Grand Illusion.
Click here to take you to the link up party and watch the progress of many quilters from around the world.
Ok.  I more or less stuck to the same colours as Bonnie but used different tones.

I am using the easy angle ruler to make my HSTs.  A dye cutting machine would be a great time saver here but I don't really mind slicing the fabric with a rotary cutter.  It's quite satisfying!

Coming along.

I am using scrappy yellows and I should say that I am making half the amount required for a smaller quilt.

                                                              Trimming the blocks.

All done, bagged and ready to go.
See you next week for Part 2
Rhianon.

Appliqued Butterfly Cushions.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been working on these commissioned cushions.
An appliqued butterfly with 3D flowers please.
I love these type of projects.

 I used a batik as the background and for the butterfly I used hand dyed fabrics that I get from a lovely lady at the Edinburgh quilt show.

I used a blanket stitch on my little Janome 601 to do the applique

This one has half square triangle borders....

.. and this one has plain borders.  I free motion quilted both of them on the table top.

Next I made some 3D leaves and sewed them in position.

 These are the 3D flowers, handmade.  Click here for my tutorial for these flowers.
I think they add a nice touch to these decorative cushions.

 Of course feathers had to be featured somewhere! Well everywhere actually :)

 Both cushions measure 20" square finished.

                            
I really enjoyed making these but now it is almost time for Bonnie's mystery quilt.
Next week.........
Thanks for visiting today.
Rhianon.