Crochet Butterfly

I have been doing quite a bit of crochet lately and I thought it would be fun to merge quilting and crochet together.

I found this butterfly as a free pattern on MyPicot.  It was too big for the project I had in mind so decided to make a quilted setting for it to go on.

I appliqued some leaves and quilted on my Q'nique using 2 layers of Hobbs 80/20 but did not really think two layers added much.

 I used a fine no8 crochet cotton and a 1mm hook to make the flower blossom and a slightly thicker cotton to crochet the branches. An embroidered French knot in the center finishes the flowers.

 The finished piece is quite small, measuring just over 12" square.

I quite like it and will probably hang it in my workroom somewhere.

Now onto something bigger.......

Happy quilting.

Rhianon.

Harlequin Points

A while back (summer 2014) I started putting together some New York Beauty blocks and some Mariners compass blocks.  Well I finally got them all put together and made into a wall hanging.  I called it Harlequin Points.
You can read about the piecing of the blocks in this previous post.

 It was quilted on my Gracie frame with the Janome 1600P, just before I got my Q'nique.
I used one layer of Hobbs Heirloom wadding.

 Off to a good start here with the outer borders.

I enjoyed quilting this and it was quite a challenge with all those seams.  Very bumpy in places !

 Lots of thread changes made this quite slow work.......

Apologies for so many photos in one post but I hope you enjoyed looking at them.

Back soon with more quilty stuff!

Rhianon.

My First Ribbon - Scottish Quilt Championships

I knew this was going to be a great week becasue the quilt show began today but last night I got a call to say I'd been placed 1st in Small Wall Hanging category for my Bird of Paradise.

I am over the moon to have won my first ribbon.  Sooooooo pleased!!!  I get a trophy on Sunday.

I also got placed 2nd in Minature category for machine quilting with My Big Fat Gypsy Feathers

Sorry about the terrible photo but it was busy and the lighting was not very good in the hall.

To top it off my Geckos got a Judges Choice award. ... I am such a happy quilter tonight..

Also at the show I got to meet a fellow blogger Kay, The Borderline Quilter.  Kay (lovely lady!) is a long arm quilter and won best in show and so deserved!!  Here is her winning quilt :

                                                         Many Congratulations Kay!

I am going back to the show on Sunday and I will get better photographs.  It was very busy on the first day - it will be much quieter on sunday.
Of course, there was lots of shopping to be done.  This lot should keep me busy for a while.

I'll be back soon with more photos from the show.
Cheers
Rhianon.

3D Flower Mug Rug Tutorial.

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.