What I have been working on to day, or some of the things I’ve been doing that I want to share on Esther’s WOW or WIP’s today
One of my 2018 challenge UFO’s I want to work on!!!!
I started making this a few years ago but my applqiue stitch on my 830 Bernina was not so successful and i was dissapointed so stopped working on it. see how shaggy the edges are?
Now going over those edges with my double blanket stitch on my Janome and what a lovely finish it gives? so I will have to trim ALL the edges and reapplique them down? But it will be worth it.
Id only done a few petals on the cones so have just competed doing them on the Janome. Now need to do the petals.
Completed the outer black border today now on to the narrow black border, then centre circle hope I don’t run out of black thread
Have been machine appliqueing leaves down this after-noon so
I can start adding hand applique grapes, Ive also been sitting watch a TV series while hand turning those grapes. I love sitting doing hand applique in the evenings
Pressing this little Round Robyn 20inchs square which I made with 5 other quilter by mail, I love it, going to add to it, started by pressing it today and thinking about my first border around it? In purple tones of courseLOL
Update 11.30 pm Been playing with fabric and ideas tonight? Nothing sewn yet just playing at this stage?
Last week I went through a big plastic box looking for my LE borders I’m working on and came across lots of UFO’s! But no LE borders!!!!!
Redwork blocks from 2007???
I made this one and added the year so know that these blocks are 11 years old!!!
Also made some blue ones around the same time., I used the other blue ones 2 years again a quilt for a darling little girl in Holland. These blocks are designed by Bronywn Hayes Red Brolly designs an Australian designer about 10 years ago or more!!!!
Another mail swap around 12 years ago love the soft pastel colurs every one used, one lady couldn’t make hers so I will need to make it one day!
Need to unpick the bottom dark aqua silk blade as it has black grease on? Have no idea how that happened?
When I first started quilting my aim was to be good enough to make Florence Peto’s quilt made around 1960 calledMy Calico Garden this one below was my first attempt with a limited amount of fabric!!!!
My first try at making Florence Peto’s My Calico Garden about 12 years ago in very bright colours??? I then wanted to add a different border too? 11 flower blocks on the left 2 panels were done by other quilters mail swap blocks . These blocks were 6inchs not 4 1/2 inches finished .
Borders I have made but still not added?? Ive lost the lilac fabric so still thinking about what to do? Have several idea’s just need time to do them!!!! It is now 9.15pm and I just found the lilac fabric now when looking for some purple fabric??? After about 4 years looking for it, it was folded in side another fabric! 7 mins later in another draw found two mauve strips cut for this quilt??? This quilt really wants to be finished finally?
My second Calico Garden I finished two weeks ago! Much more like the original but twice as big.
The basket blocks are from two mail block swaps over 12 years ago, loved how this turned out but had to add the big flowers to some of the basketsLOL Then around the outer border so it kept growing? There is a leaf border to add to finish it off again just need to find time to finish it?????
All my applqiue was hand done then.
Loved making these flowers with lots of different coloured DMC threads
I usually used 3 threads of DMC embroidery threads
Close up of one of the flowers!
Used French knots in one of the centre circle, its so relaxing doing this kind of free embroidery.
Enough for today, as you can see lots of UFO’s all over my home? So I will never have nothing to do?
Thanks for visiting and stoping to read this far LOL. Off to link with Esther that’s why I blog to share there and visit other bloggers.
Cheers Glenda
You have some gorgeous quilts to finish!
Hi Angela thanks for stopping by, Ive just been over to visit your blog, thats the best part about some one leaving a comment you get to visit them, yours is full of colour so very much me LOL I just need longer days and nights to get just 1% of my UFO’s done LOL Cheers Glenda
Lots of progress on each one. Well done so far.
Thanks for dropping in Chris, Ive arrived at the stage where it looks like I’m not moving forward even though I work on several of them each day, but hopefully I will have a couple of finishes before 2019!!!! It was a BIG win finding that fabric last night for my First Calico Garden so now that can be finished in no time.
Cheers Glenda
Glenda, I love your UFOs! Your work has all the colors I love. You’re giving me some incentive to work on mine 🙂
Hi Eileen thanks for dropping in, and its lovely to see you are out and about and glad that I might give you the incentive to pick up your quilting again, just keep smiling? Cheers Glenda
Dear Glenda
Are those Bronwyn Hayes from Red From my embroidered blocks? You are very productive and all the applique looks stunning. LE will let you find it when it wants to be found. Working on mine this month, it is such a beautiful quilt. Calico garden is beautiful. Love both colour ways.
Hi Maggie, yes they are Bronywn’s designs I loved them when they came out and made sooo many of them. They are so whimsical and funny but truly full of life. I guess you are right about LE it will turn up when its ready LOL Found the fabric to finish my first Calico garden yesterday it was folded inside another fabric!!!!! added my first border to my mini RR this morning and I like how its evolving and then found 3 other lovely fabric to use on it also today, one is of pansy’s in maroon tones! Hugs Glenda
I’m so glad you found the fabrics you were looking for. I’ve had that problem too and it can be very frustrating! You have some beautiful quilts in progress. Happy stitching!
Dear Gretchen, here we are both going in to opposite times of the year, you in to Autumn which is so so beautiful up your way, I spent 4 months in Canada from beginning of Sept till late Dec one year and Ive never forgotten the colour of the fall leaves. we were living on the 7th floor of a hotel and my windows looked out over the forest what a magical moment it was to wake each morning and slowly see this beautiful world change from green through all the golden colours to finally be blanked in snow!!!!!! To walk the river when the trees and bushes were covered in leaves then see them bare and to my amazement seeing wee squirrels running along the bushes a metre away???? Then be to see 100’s of beautiful huge salmon swimming next to me then so so sadden to see all the dead bodies a few weeks later. I’m not so keen on this time of the year here the start of Spring as the snakes come out to look for a mate and come far to close to the house some times like one did last night and I nearly stood on it???? Hugs from Down Under
Oh my word, Glenda — your projects are staggeringly beautiful, each WIP is more amazing than the last! I am curious about your machine applique. I love applique but I am SO SLOW doing it by hand, and I lose interest, then come back to it months later and can’t even remember how I was doing it so I have to waste time relearning everything. I have seen magnificent machine stitched applique but was frustrated with it in my first class (with Harriet Hargrave, doing her turned edge/blind stitch method). Trying to make sure my machine needle landed in exactly the right spot every time was so stressful — the opposite of relaxing hand stitching! But I was thinking of giving machine applique another try with Esther’s Queen’s Garden BOM. I’ve purchased all of my fabrics and printed the patterns but haven’t started it yet — wanted to clear out a few other WIPs first. Anyway, I’m looking at your beautiful work and thinking that I have not ever tried to do blanket stitched applique but I like the look of it and think it could be really pretty on Queen’s Garden. Does your method involve cutting the pieces without seam allowances and fusing them into place before stitching? Is there a book, teacher, or tutorial you recommend for machine applique? And finally, what is different about the blanket stitch on your Pfaff versus your Bernina? My Bernina is a 750QE and that’s what I’d need to use for the machine applique — bought a longarm machine recently and I’m not allowed to bring any more new machines into my house for a LONG time! 🙂
Sorry it’s taken so long to say hi Rebecca but I wanted to show you what I do when appliqueing down turned edge pieces and raw applique using iron on fussing. I use so many different ways to applique it depends on what I’m making, is it going to be washed and needs to stand up to a lot of wear, or is it a wall art piece and won’t be washed? Am I using silk or batik fabric or a lightweight muslin cotton !!! But I all ways try to use 100% natural fibers. First up though it is very stressing when you start compared to hand applique that machine meddle has to land exactly in the right spot and to do this you have to sew slowlyyyyyyyyyyyy. How I coped in the end to go that slow was to think I was doing it by hand one stitch at the time but on the machine, now after 20 months several quilts I’m quiet fast at it my eye, hands, and brain are working together I still make mistakes but nothing like when I started learning. Most of my machine appliqué to this point has been irononfussing which makes it so much easier as the applique pieces can not move LOL. Remember that the smaller the piece the slower you go, and the more you move lift and turn your applique piece. Right now I’m appliqueing small circle 3/4 of an inch, to make them perfect I move the circle after each stitch? On Esthers BOM group we have on the side bar Topics where there are photos of the quilts plus one on applique in there is a tutorial on machine appliqué by Jenny Henry who has been teaching me how to do machine appliqué, Esther also has one on her blog, there are many online and I’ve watched so many over and over the last 20 months while teaching my self, I’m so far from any groups or courses so it’s all online watching. Difference between my machines??? My Bernina is nearly 40 years old and back when it came out they used satin stitch for all applique this is such a heavy stitch and causes so many problems when working with small pieces so I don’t use it for applique. My Janome is in the middle range 10 years old but has the double blanket stitch which is a gem to use. This morning I appliqued down 2 1/4 inch circles to show you the difference using it and another stitch I used to just catch the edge of my hand basted leaves. I will send the photo PM. After 20 months of practice practice and several quilts I’m so glad I know my machines much better and know I will be able to make quilts for many many more years after they can not hold a hand needle with my arthritis? Hope this answers all you questions Rebecca. Cheers Glenda.
Wow indeed! what a stunning collection of UFO’s. That top one is so eye-catching! A beautiful group of projects. And the hand blanket stitching and french knots on your flowers are all so simply beautiful. Four years of looking for the fabric? Oh my. Well you are all set up now. Can’t wait to see the progress you make with it.
Your blog is always to full of goodies!
Hi Lennea and thanks for dropping in, Ive been writing replies this morning and noticed the one I wrote to you yesterday is not here!!!! I must of not hit reply? Makes me so cross when I do some thing like that, I wish it would come up with are you sure you don’t want to reply instead of just deleting what one has just spent chatting to some one about LOL Ive not started on my first Calico Garden but I have put the found fabric, borders and centre of the quilt together in a bag this time!!!! So I can pull it any time to work on it. Would be nice to finish the top before Christmas but Ive just realised there are only 3 months of this year left!!!!! This week Ive been turning my Mini RR wall art in to a double sized quilt top LOL Its grown from 20inchs square to 30inchs and hopefully by this time next week it will be a double bed quilt top? Cheers Glenda
What a difference having the right machine can make. Your newest machine applique is great along with the hand stitched buttonhole from years past. You have so many wonderful things going on. No time to get bored.
Hi Kyle, yes that is so true the right tools make it so much easier, I do love that Janome double blanket stitch, it took me ages to get comfortable with the stitch going backwards and still keep the fabric straight LOL but now I don’t hardly notice it happening. I’m appliqueing down small circles this morning and thats moving the fabric after every stitch??? I tell my self I can do 10 circles in the time it would take me to do one by hand and that makes me relax and not get frustrated any more going so slow on the sewing machine LOL I really want to get these 28 circles down as then I can finish the quilt as the rest of it is just flanges and borders! Then its sew the blocks of mums memorial quilt together before 2019????? Hugs Glenda
There is so much to enjoy about the stories and photos in this post! Your blanket stitch applique’ around the edges is so perfectly beautiful! You seemed to have picked the perfect colors to use as well. That part is always hard for me to decide.
I also loved your redwork blocks that popped up. There is so much work in them that they simply must become a finished quilt.
I love your border choice on your calico garden. Borders really make a quilt!
Hi Deana, Babysitting to day, catching up on mail while watching the Grandies catch my mini mini fish in the pond, they catch them pop them in a bucket of water then put them back when its time to go!!!!!! Fills in a good 20 or 30 mins. We have just raided the blue berry tree for them to take a punit home with them. SO no sewing getting done this end today. Yes I must do some thing with those lovely red and blue-work blocks One day!!!! LOL Ive all ways loved colour and as a small child my teachers would try and get me to tone down my colours when painting or drawing LOL I remember colouring my roof on a house pink and the teaching laughing and saying how stupid are you Glenda!!!!! but I came back and said my Aunt lives in a house with pink walls and roof in Spain, well it was true but not my coloured pink she lived in Spain LOL I took a photo to school to prove my point !!!!! I was not her favourite student needless to say but I just love colour and crazy shapes you should of seen my trees back then, Id make the trunk with branches but circles and oval shapes hanging on them.LOL Hugs Glenda
Another sad Bernina story. I think you and Esther had problems with the same model? Was it the first year it came out? My father always said to never buy anything the first year because they haven’t worked out the kinks yet, but I’ve been disappointed that Esther didn’t seem to get any customer service with her machine at all. I am about to buy a new Bernina (have one 30+ years old and one 20+ years old). I have had such good luck with mine. Your UFOs are just beautiful and I’m glad you found a machine you could be happy with!
Hi Pat no its not a sad story on Bernina LOL My Bernina is around 50 years old and still goes like a charm she has worked so hard over the years for me and still till this day sews as good as the day I bought her home, but they only had satin stitch back 50 years ago for appliqué so not what you want to use now days to applqiue. Its such a joy to have a new to me 10 year old Janome which was a great machine when it came out and still is a top seller for my machine appliqueing. I started learning form Jenny Henry 20 months ago and when I found my Janome online 9 months ago Ive not looked back. It sure helps when you have the right tolls in any hobby or job LOL
. Cheers Glenda