Yesterday I decided
to sign up for my first swap. Lia is hosting a Secret Tote Bag Swap. It looks like it will be loads of fun. Go here to read the
rules and maybe you’ll want to sign up too! The deadline for signing up is the end of May and then you'll have month to make the bag and get it in the mail. And while you are there take a look at Lia's blog. She has done some really pretty paper piecing including a donkey travel pillow in memory of Tinkerbell!
It is a beautiful spring day here and the trilliums are now blooming. They are the provincial flower in Ontario and are protected. I came a cross a lovely little wall hanging of trilliums in bloom on the florest floor at Nellie's Needles. I've also made a wall hanging with trilliums and it is called Where the Fiddleheads Grow. I'll save that story for another day but until then, here is a little teaser of one the trilliums I appliqued!
Close-up of Where The Fiddleheads Grow
This is a very pretty quilt that my friend Barbara made. The
blocks were made of leftovers that were put on the scrap table at our guild.
When Barbara went through the scraps and sorted them into piles she realized
that there were many that were identical so she put four patches together to
make each block. It is a little bit like a kaleidoscope. Each block was
bordered with a 1” border and a 2” border and she alternated a cream fabric and
a beige fabric. Another friend was having a fabric garage sale and she had a
bolt of border print that worked with the blocks so Barbara bought the bolt and
used it to border the quilt and make the backing.
Yesterday I spent the day preparing this quilt for quilting. It
is now pinned and ready to go. I’ll anchor all the major seams with stitch in
the ditch and a light weight thread that blends. Then I’ll have to do some thinking and some doodling!
A little more about stitch in the ditch. I wrote about this last
month. Against my better
judgement I decided to skip this step when I started quilting Alex’s quilt. I
had quilted about three-quarters of it when I realized I should NOT have
skipped the stitch in the ditch. The reason I skipped it is because I am
quilting concentric circles and I didn’t want the stitch in the ditch to show
on the back (it would not have shown on the front since the stitches would be buried
in the seams). I am spending my evening removing all of the quilting (also
known as reverse sewing).
Lesson learned – don’t skip stitch in the ditch! Once
all of the quilting is removed I will press, pin baste and quilt it
starting with stitch in the ditch.
YLI makes water soluble basting thread
called Wash-A-Way™.
This thread is
used for basting; it dissolves in water so I might try it
out on the top and in the bobbin for the stitch in the ditch. I’ve never used
it before and am reluctant to try it on a large quilt in case I run into
problems. Maybe I’ll leave it for now. If you have used this product please
leave a comment and let me know how it worked for you!
I am working away on a pattern for
Baskets and Nine Patches. I had hoped to have it ready today but that isn't going to happen because I have too much to do today. But it will be ready soon!
Finally to all of you who voted for myquilt Flora and Fauna, Parts of the Garden at
Quilting Gallery's Show and Tell a great big thank you! Voting is open until Monday at 6:00pm EDT. There are some really beautiful applique quilts.
Close-up Flora and Fauna
Until I post again, happy sewing!
