BLOG 447

Blog 447

I am happy to say that I got down to quilting ‘Sampler in the Cabin’ this week. I started by sewing a stretch stitch on the ¼” borders around each 6” square to stabilise them. I have opted to do non-decorative stitching and just use the quilting process as a means of holding the three layers together. I don’t want the quilting to distract from the intricacy of the patchwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Borders

After preparing a miniature cable stencil for the quilting motif in the lattices, I abandoned that idea straight away and decided just to sew a line of stitches ¼” from all the edges. This was quick and just the lift I needed to start quilting the squares. (Sometimes, I think you can be too cerebral about how to tackle the quilting and that was what was stopping me from making progress. I need to enjoy what I am doing or there is no point at all in doing it as in ‘Love what you do and do what you love’)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lattices

 

Once the lattices were sewn, I added the binding and sewed a line that was ¼” away from it before hand-sewing the binding on the back.

 

 

Line parallel to the binding

 And then I started to tackle the blocks themselves with in-the-ditch quilting. This necessitated leaving all the starting and finishing threads free so I could weave them in later.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished 9-patch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Threads on Clipper ship

 

Weaving the ends of the threads can be a bit of a chore but I have learned over the years to leave a long enough end to do it comfortably! Then a friend loaned me one of her easy-thread needles and my life was transformed! You can see from the picture below that this needle has a double eye. The top eye has a split in it and all you have to do is to pull the thread down vertically over the top of the needle and it slips into the eye. Brilliant! For short ends, you can push the needle into the fabric first and then do this simple manoeuvre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needles

 

I have decided to put my labels on display at the Gresford exhibition as I have a good and varied selection to date. I have been cutting up some of the sewing samples that I sometimes make before embarking on a larger project; it’s good to be using them with a purpose. I have also been threading the ones I have finished with different coloured baby ribbon. They look good and I can very much see this project developing in finesse and quantity over the years!

 

 

 

 

 

Labels

My latest label is in progress. I bought a sewing case at the Festival of Quilts a couple of years ago. It was for sale on the stall for the silk guild and it was exquisitely sewn and very cheap! A lot of the lines are sewn using a single thread and the detail is extraordinary. I decided to have a go as this is just the right sort of project to take to my local sewing group, where talking is probably more important than the craft! My repertoire of 4 stitches pales into insignificance beside the original but at least I can say that I had a go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hand embroidery