Morning All, our wet season has finally left us and we are now having beautiful sunny clear days around 26C but our morning are to nippy for me down to 10C this morning, I was rugged up like a polar bear till 10am LOL. This morning as soon as I finish my blog Im going to play on my machine appliqueing dragonflies, Ive wanted to make these for two weeks so I will be having lots of fun. I write my blog to link with Esther on a Wednesday and share there with others on what we have done through the week or doing on a Wednesday.
Some one asked me how I drew my leaves, well I don’t I copy them straight from The pattern I’m working on usually.
Here you can see how I have sliced up the leaf , I place this over my fabric I want to use for a leaf and use a pencil to draw the outer shape then gently lift the pieces of paper I have partly sliced through and mark the veins in to.
Leaf shape is ironed down on to my backing fabric if you are needle turning same principle applied but it is stitched down.
I stitch draw in the veins with my sewing machine. This stitch is one stitch forward one back one forward so really shows the veins.
Then I use my buttonhole applqiue stitch around the leaf shape.
I have been working constantly on a beautiful design for the last few weeks and promised my self not to touch any other sewing till I reached a certain stage on it!!!!!! I reached that stage last nigh Yippppppyyyyyyyy . So last night I pulled out my Dragonfly Tree quilt top to appliqué some more Dragonflies down so far I only have one appliquéd down???
6 more Dragonflies just waiting for me to bring them to life?
I finished my first of 4 Red and Green blocks, after appliqueing and padding nearly 200 grapes I’m still enjoying making those little red circles LOL But after another 1500 plus I might not be LOL
Red grapes and more red grapes LOL.
in my garden this morning.
These a little local weed that just keeps popping up and giving good ground coverage and tiny splashes of colour .
Airroots hanging down which I cut off two metres every month.
Plucked my ginger during the week and have a lovely wee crop.
My cat is having a hard life, termites found her and started eating her, have moved her and hope she survives?
Self sewn and all ways gives a lovely splash of colour.
Beautiful.
My fishermen have both lost their fishing rods will have to make them new ones LOL
So lovely to see green grass at the base of the steps and not dry weeds?
IF I look hard enough I will find some colour in the garden
THis cactus is throwing babies on the end of all the old leaves nature is so cleaver, before these old leaves die they give birth to new life?
CLose up of the baby plant.
same plant but younger ones but still giving life to new plants.
Im sitting out side in a chair on the patio writing this as it’s warmer than inside, I’m rugged up and this is my view in front of my chair
Very peaceful and quiet. Well it was LOL some one has started chainsawing and they have started up a chipper LOL. So it’s no longer quiet!
I’m off now to link up on Esther’s WOW or WIP’s
Thanks so much for dropping in and commenting, I do enjoy hearing from you and chatting back to you. Cheers Glenda who is cold and its 18C LOL
Oh, Glenda — your Queen’s Garden is coming along so beautifully, and what a clever method for marking the leaf veins! I’m looking forward to starting my Queen’s Garden as soon as I get this Tabby Mountain quilt bound and out of my house. I’m loving your red and green quilt, too. Is that fusible applique, machine stitched? I’m wondering how you would pad/stuff the grapes/berries if you’re fusing them? Also what diameter are the grapes — could they be cut with an Accuquilt die to speed things up a bit? I’m a sucker for little bitty circles in applique, too. 🙂
Hi Rebecca, my leaves are irononfussed down on to my Red and Green quilt blocks and I’m machine appliqueing them down, but my Grapes are all hand appliqued down, I run a thread around 3 different size grapes, 1/4 inch up to 3/4 inch circles. Pull thread in over wash away appliqué paper. Press and then appliqueing Down by hand, appliqué down 3/4 of the circle pop in some wadding and finish stitching down circles. I use a builders punch to knock out 8 layers of washaway appliqué paper, can make around 50 in less than 1/2 a minute!!! lOL See back through my blog on how I do this? I’m sure you could cut them out with your aqua quilt cutter. I just enjoy sitting quietly in the evenings cutting out the fabric circles after fussing on the washaway appliqué paper. I’m also using different reds to give more depth to the bunch’s of grapes. Cheers Glenda
I would say 10 Celsius is chilly – I looked and that equals 50 degrees so when you are sitting out in the afternoon or evening at 18 it is 64 – so still a little chilly – do you use heat in the house or you need it rarely so do not?
I love your applique you are making such progress on all projects and to think you used to do it all by hand and now you are an expert in my book at the the machine applique. Your little red berries on the quilt are fantastic and so many more to go.
Your gardens still look great even though it is your winter now and I know they grow all year round for you.
LOL. Yes 10C is Very chilly for us. Tonight we are back up to around 20C and tomorrow we will be up around 26C during the day. Perfect weather. We do have a firebox in the house but it has been used the most in the summer time in the past during the rainy season to help dry out the house when the mould was getting to bad??? Rod lite it two nights ago when temps dropped down to 10C. Now we may not need it again till August when we get our coldest temps normally. Yes we have two summers really each year, Dec till April which is very very hot summer between 25C lowest to 37C. Then May till Sept which is what I call perfect temps, 18C lowest normal to 27C hightest. Day after day and no rain normally! We really do not have a winter what most of the world have added I’m bpvery happy with that LOL. Cheers Glenda.
Your quilting projects are just gorgeous. Not sure that I’d have the patience for all of those beautiful berries though!
Always fun to see what is going on outside there as well 🙂
Hi Deb I’ve all ways had a thing about circles in any form. I find running a tiny th read around a circle of fabric and pulling it over a ironed on piece of washaway appliqué ue paper very very relaxing in the evening. Cheers Glenda.
Thank you for sharing your technique…it is very interesting and effective. Beautiful work and your real garden is lovely as well.
Hi Jocelyn Thanks for dropping in just dropping in to say hello. It looks like we are both playing with Dragonflies this week? Love that photo of Lucy on your blog it makes me laugh every time I see it. Garden is all ways a pleasure this time of the year till around Dec or Jan Cheers Glenda
Beautiful photos! I love the dragonflies!
Hi Pamela, I have my first 7 Dragonflies machine appliqued down and they look so lovely. Now to find time to add another 7 then another 5. Just need to find that time? Cheers Glenda.
Hi Pamela and thank you. I do love butterflies and Dragonflies. Cheers Glenda
Hi Glenda,
thanks for the great tutorial to mark the leaves! Love the colors and fabics from the block! Love the gardenfotos!!!! It is a paradise.
Greetings, Marita
Thanks for dropping in Marita. It’s an easy way to make them and I enjoy seeing a cut piece of fabric turn in to a lovely leaf shape, I used sulky gold thread and it’s a great thread to use instead of yellow it makes things shine or glow. Cheers Glenda.