Time for Some Hand Stitching....

Life gets so busy at times and summer time always seems to be one of the busiest...

with sewing happening in just small bursts, it seems quite logical that hand stitching is my choice in busy times. 

I don't have a dedicated sewing space....still sew in the kitchen. So it is a chore to pull out or search out the fabrics I want. And now that we have a four legged eating machine....all of my fabrics are hidden in plastic containers that serve as a deterrent to jumping on the living room furniture! 

 Spring Fever by Jen Kingwell, has really tugged at my heart strings. I have completed about 4 butterfly blocks (8 more to go), but I decided to work on a couple of the flower basket blocks.

  

Nice easy shapes...

A fun busy summer time project...

The fabulous string art spool is from my dear friend Rachel at Family Ever After! The string art was made by Samantha at Strings By Samantha! Isn't is great?

I also decided to join in on the Sweetly Stitched Sew Along....It is a Sew Along organized by @ohhowsweetco and @sameliasmum on IG. The sew along is devoted to Amy Sinibaldi's book Sweetly Stitched Handmades.

     For the first round I made the Mouse House Doll Quilt...

It was a fun and fast make! I hand quilted it with Valdani Perle Cotton and used wool batting and nani Iro double gauze for the backing. Yummy!

This was gifted to the sweet little girl who lives next door to me.

 

Behind the house doors are fabrics with pictures....Amy's uses mouse fabrics. I used dogs, cats, etc.

If you haven't tried double gauze as a backing...you need to give it a shot. It is amazing and amazing to hand quilt. I love the double gauze paired with wool batting.

Now to choose a project for the next round! Yay!

Happy Thursday!

mary

Quilting and Binding....the Flowering Snowball

Hello....hello....are you still out there?!

We are getting close to the end....I promise!

Once your top is all together and the quilt has been basted...you are ready to quilt!  Yay!  

As many of you know, I LOVE hand quilting!

As a new quilter, I hand quilted all of my quilts...the traditional way.  As a matter of fact, I don't think it even occurred to me that a quilt could be quilted by machine.  

But in recent years, I have converted to quilting by hand with perle cotton using a big stitch.  In my childhood, this would have been called a pick stitch.  

    

I must have been destined to be a quilter because I love the repetitive nature of quilting.  Holding the layers, coaxing the needle through and back out to create the perfect stitch.  

Obviously, not everyone is able to invest the time it takes to hand quilt so free motion quilting or straight line quilting may be the option for you.  But even if you choose to machine quilt, you can still add some hand quilting...it is a lovely option.

    

I am almost finished quilting my Flowering Snowball quilt...

 

For hand quilting with perle cotton, I like to use size 8 perle cotton and I LOVE Valdani thread.  Perle cotton is similar to embroidery floss except the thread is twisted, so you can't separate the threads.  Size 8 is bold enough to be seen and yet not too heavy; making it difficult to pull through the layers. If you can't find size 8 or would like a thread that is not as heavy, look for size 12.

As far as needles, I like Fons and Porter Utility needles.  They are designed for size 8 perle cotton and the pack comes with a rubber disc that can be used to pull the needle through if it gets stuck.

I did a tutorial on the method I use for hand quilting and you can find it here....

I do use a hoop, and I use a Thimble Nimble {different from the thimble in my tutorial}

     

I am a sucker for simple designs in my quilting.  Even if I choose to machine quilt, more often than not I will use straight line stitching or just a series of big loops.  

  

I have never sent a quilt out to be quilted, so I can't really help much on that front.

After the quilting is all finished...the only step left is to bind!

    

 I have a tutorial for binding here....

this method ALWAYS works for me.  And I do prefer to hand stitch my binding on the back.

 

So many fabrics are perfect for binding.  I love spots, stripes, gingham, but don't forget a scrappy binding.  This Feather Bed Quilt is one of my favorite quilts and the scrappy binding just makes me happy!

 

Okay...I will let you get back to your Flowering Snowball!

I can't wait to see them!

xo mary 

 *** as luck would have it.....Lucy at Charm About You just did a post on hand quilting.....you can find her post here.  What a talented girl!***

The Swedish Bloom has Bloomed!

A bright ray of sunshine on this cold Winter day!

I have admired this quilt from Patchwork Please! by Ayumi Takahashi

and as the Winter months just kept getting colder and colder, I decided it was time to dive in!

I didn't want to go out of the house if I didn't have to... so stitching up some bright blooms seemed rather brilliant!

 This quilt required paper foundation piecing...

I chose cute, girly fabrics for the middle of the blooms and gingham around the outside...

The borders are pieced with fun fabrics, keeping with the bright, happy feel of this quilt.

    

I decided to machine quilt narrow straight lines in the sashing.  And then added some pick stitching to outline the blooms and the leaves!  I think the combination really makes the blooms POP!

I finished it off with an embroidered label!

If you are reading this from snowy, cold parts...I hope it brightens your day!  Only a few more weeks of Winter!

happy thursday!

mary

 

Architextures

I have had several questions about the ledger fabric in my last post...

the fabric is called Architextures by Robert Kaufman...

A great text fabric!

I have added a couple of borders to my quilt....

again, the pattern is from the new book by Sarah Fielke...the book is called Hand Quilted With Love and the pattern is Made to Measure...

several of the borders contain delightful corner blocks...

  

added to some fun pieced border strips...

 

I am loving working on this quilt...makes me want to stay up late and piece...

I also have a special one in the hoop....a little hand quilting with perle cotton {of course}

 

happy thursday!

mary

A Special Quilt.....Blogger's Quilt Festival

It happens twice a year!

 

Amy brings us a spectacular display of quilts from Bloggers across the globe...

My entry is a quilt that is among my top all-time favorite quilts...

The pattern is Whirligig by Sarah Fielke

I still can't believe how this quilt came together.  It is a rather lengthy story....so grab a cup of coffee:)

A year ago this Spring we{my family} were going through a very tough time.  My mother had been diagnosed with brain cancer in February...my sister, brother and I spent day and night with her in the hospital for about a month.  By the end of March, my sister and I were living with her and had the assistance of Hospice to guide us through the difficult times. 

    

On April 11th., I received a call from my husband telling me that Kyle had asked for our daughter's hand in marriage. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it....

I knew my mom was dying...so I told her the good news.  She could barely speak at this point and whispered, "Wonderful".....

my mother died later that evening.

Now, I know every good parent loves their children...as it should be...

My love for my girls is so deep and so strong.  I love them with all the passion that my mother loved me and my siblings.

molly, maggie and mary....my dad just before he died with molly and mary...

    

I have 3 girls and they are all about 20 months apart in age.  They have always been the best of friends. My two oldest daughters have had type 1 diabetes since they were small. So life has definitely had it's challenges.  Anyone who has a child or relative with type 1 diabetes knows full well what I mean.

Molly is so full of spunk...bright as can be and so friendly and fun..

molly=bat, maggie=hershey kiss 

I knew I would make a quilt for them before they were married, but I was not sure what design....what fabric...and then like magic it all came together!

The design was fairly easy....I knew she would appreciate a hand appliqued quilt and I would enjoy the stitching after such a difficult year. Sitting and stitching quietly with my thoughts sounded like perfect therapy.

       

        So what fabric?  Her 'theme' was a honey bee.  When I spotted this seed fabric {on my way back to my mother's home to deal with estate business} I knew this would be a great foundation.  Perfect for the center - a great backdrop for the vines and leaves!  Plus it fit her colors....yellow, white, grey and touches of green.

Then what to use for the huge corner triangles....

It was a bit of Serendipity...

I found Bari J's amazing Art Gallery fabric...

  

Perfect!  It had her colors....and a coordinating fabric in grey worked beautifully into the palette.  And best of all the corner triangle fabric has a bee!!! 

Does it get any better than that?

So the quilt was hand appliqued, and completely all hand quilted...

   

There are so many things about this quilt that I love.  The whimsical tabs all along the border....the curvy, rounded shapes....I am much more partial to rounded shapes than to geometric shapes...they flow...

    

Having the time to work on this quilt was a blessing...it helped me  create something to celebrate the hope of the future and it helped me settle into my thoughts and contemplate how life would look without my mother.  

  

It is now on their bed in their new place.  

It is so much more than a quilt...

Enjoy the Blogger's Quilt Festival!
You can find my quilt in the Hand Applique category 

mary 

Merry Christmas from My House to Yours!!!

Ticking down to the final hours before Santa takes his big ride.....I want to say Merry Christmas to all of you!  I truly hope your holidays are warm and filled with loving family and friends....

I will be spending Christmas at home with grandma's visiting - the girls coming and going - first here and then spending time with b'friend's families.  That's just the way it should be.

my Scandinavian inspired skirt is under the tree....with a few packages finding their way to our place :)

And my Christmas bunting is on the mantel with homemade stockings and lots of sparkle!!!

  

And, finally, I have one more finish for 2011!  Most likely the last quilt of the year....

This is a baby size quilt from Such Designs

The Wonky Little Houses Quilt

Carrie Bloomston, pattern designer, encourages the quilter to 'release your inner artist'....

So I did just that!  I added birds in flight and a big, bright sun.....

I pieced the background, adding some kona in bone, snow and a little natural linen...

       

  Each house is hand quilted as well the entire background...quilted with perle cotton in 1 inch intervals between each line of stitching...

I added a bright yellow rik-rak to the edge of the sun...everything is better with rik-rak!!!

The binding is a sweet pink polka dot!

I am glad to have one last finish for the year!

And the cutest pup {my humble opinion} wishes you a wonderful holiday!!!

   Flanders :)

Happy Christmas Eve eve!!!

mary

Some Quiet Stitching....

Today is all about hand quilting.....

And adding binding to another project :)

Are you beginning a new project today?  Finishing a project?  What are you working on?

mary :)



Stitching Step by Step....

The Courthouse Steps quilt is pieced and I have just finished stitching...by hand....with dark grey perle cotton...

  

I quilted around the center three times per block...but not always the same three sets of "steps".....

I love the look of this log cabin variation....and the yellow with the natural/off white is very soothing....

I just need to hand sew the binding.  The binding is the same red gingham as the center.  Once that is stitched, I will toss this in the wash.  This sweet quilt is destined for someone special {more on that later}.

I am feeling better :) Thanks for all the good wishes.  Just a little virus....tis the season!

Happy Monday!

mary