Spring and Biscuits

Not the delicious type of dunk in your tea biscuits, but these - a type of quilting that I have hitherto avoided, and having make this 12" sample, plan to avoid in the future too!

I'm not sure why it's called biscuit quilting, but I suspect that it's to do with the US baked good that gets served with gravy at meals in some parts of the US...... Maybe someone out there has more knowledge than I do about this.  Anyway, it's a style of 'quilting' that involved big squares of fabric pinned onto small squares of fabric, sewn around on three sides, stuffed and the sewing completed before being joined to similar units. 
Not really my thing, although I suppose that on the whole I'm happy to have tried it!

Do you remember that I started this little tile a while ago?  Looking very spring-like it now appears on the Patchwork Meadow site (if you look at the bottom of their page you can see where it says 1 of 15.  Click on the >> and admire all the patches.  Mine is currently on page 11 at the bottom  You can vote for a favourite if you can choose one - there are lots of lovely tiles there!).  I am quite pleased with how fresh it looks, although I am now wondering if I should have tried something more adventurous design-wise!

Nothing else finished this week.  I've got various sample blocks in various unfinished states and I'm still working on finishing the faux trapunto quilting, so I don't feel that I'm missing out on sewing at the moment, just on concentrating long enough to finish anything!  I'd like to blame a problem with my back, but although I means that I've been pretty uncomfortable, I have been repaired well enough by my lovely osteopath that I can use the sewing machine again, which is good news!  Perhaps I'll manage to finish something soon!

Hope that you are feeling spring-like and getting on well with any projects that you have.

Starting Faux Trapunto

I was lucky enough to be able to take a workshop with Ferret through my quilt group.  We were taught three different methods of faux trapunto (well, I guess one method with three different versions).  These are what I produced during the day, courtesy of my little Singer Featherweight (great for FMQ, light enough to take to a workshop - I feel a bit bad that I don't use her at home more, but I have my Bernina set up permanently in my craft room, so there doesn't seem to be any real reason to.

The first sample is the one that's closest to being finished.  The base is ordinary wadding sewn around and cut back to the rose shape, with a full layer of batting underneath.  I've added a stipple in blue, with a micro stipple (unfinished), in white.  The second sample is made by sewing the rose shape through a layer of turquoise felt which is then cut back and re-sewn over a full layer of ordinary batting.  I haven't quilted around this one at all yet.

This sample (probably my favourite) has a layer of batting sewn through and then cut back to the rose shape, before bright pink felt (and I mean bright!) was used a full layer behind it.  Still unfinished, but I really do like the tiny pebbles around it, time and thread consuming though they are.  The stitching leaves sufficient holes that the pink shows through (note to self, use a finer needle in future if I don't want quite such a pronounced effect, or when I'm going to be sewing on the silk mix.  This was a 'Universal' but I'll probably want a 60 or similar).  I'll try to finish them properly in the next few weeks and show you the finished item.

Colour Play

The lovely Avril ran a transfer dye workshop for our quilting group this week - a brilliant chance to dabble in using the papers that she'd prepared for us by ironing them onto poly-cotton pieces.

 

These are just a couple of the dozen or so pieces that I've created this week, using a few  extra bits of paper that she kindly let me bring home  One of my favourite things was using bits of paper as a resist, but then being able to use the 'resist' for colouring something on the next piece.  Or things like the effect on this piece (right) which uses purple strips which have previously been used in a paper weaving transfer, so have different depths of dye left on them.....

 

Almost endless possibilities!

 

I haven't got any transfer dyes at home, but I have got transfer dye crayons, which had been stuck at the back of the cupboard for more years than I cared to think.  I got them out too, and used more bits of poly cotton to create some fun bits of fabric.

 

This bit is probably my favourite so far, as I can easily see how I could make this to a size that I wanted and then embellish it with beads and hand sewing.....  Although I might pay a bit more attention to which colours were going where!

Fall in love with these!

Isn't this gorgeous?  Difficult to see the shape properly, but you can see the beautiful fabric, can't you?  This fabuous bag is from my endlessly talented friend Avril, who has a second blog, 'Embrellish' where she talks about the bags, buttons and brooches that she makes to sell.

 

And this lovely brooch?  Another beautiful gift from the lovely Avril.

Hop on over and have a look (and then seek out 'Embrellish' on Etsy if you'd like to buy or commission something).  Alternatively, if you are local to Twickenham check out the library 'glass shelves' to see when her work appears, which I'm told it will be doing soon.  Buy something for yourself or a good friend, or drop heavy hints in time for Valentines day!

And this is what I've produced this week - my final sample to support a wall hanging design (yes, I'm back into the swing of my C&G again!).  Made in a silk mix, lots of greys, lots of different quilting patterns / applique styles.  Module 6 submitted this morning, so planning for Module 7 underway this afternoon.

It will all be fitted in around school holidays and other high days.
Quite a lot of hand work in this module, so I hope that my fingers behave themselves  as the samples required look like fun, and a bit different from what I usually do.