Heart Applique Cushion - OPAM April -Update

I did not realsie just how much blue fabric bits I have.  I really need to change direction with my choice of colours.

This is a heart applique block left over from making my blue and white quilt back in.........not sure will have to look it up.  2009 perhaps?

Anyway....... now that I am back with my sewing group after a 2 year sabbatical with my evening classes, I have been pulloing out some WIP's and bits and peices that ned sorting out.

I really enjoy applique and my beloved Husquvarna  has always made an excellent applique stitch.

The block on its own was not a size suitable for a  cushion pad so I added a couple of rows of blue and gingham fabric.  By adding a thin layer of wadding behind it I then quilted the pnale a little to give it some strength when the cushion pad is inside it.

I bought some blue and whote gingham  while back which is 100% cotton and comes from France.  Lovely fabric and wears well too.  This was to be the back panels.  No zips on this cushions just a deep and generus flap opening at the back.
Yesterday I attended my sewing group ( I did not realise just how much I have missed those meetings until last week)and managed to fully complete it.  I have decided to give it to my friend for her birthday in June and she loves blue and white and this is pretty darn close.

I like a good bit of satin stitch on those applique shapes.

I do not have a cushion pad as yet, there seems to be a bit of shortage of 14" cushion pads at the moment.
Another WIP sorted and completed.
I then start another block for my quilt.  I will try and take some photos over the weekend, weather permitting.
Take care all
xx
UPDATE:
Finally found the ideal cushion pad sonow completly finished.

FNSI - Applique cushion cover.

This is my first sign up, and thank you to Wendy for helping when I could not get my own link to load up.  My struggle with technology continues.

I may not have made quite as much progress as I thought I would as I was quite worn out on friday evening.

Anyway, this is a half made applique panel which is left over from a quilt that I made quite some time ago, and has been lying around waiting for something to happen to it.  So the applique was completed with satin stitch on the sewing machine.

It is not currently big enough to do much with so I had a search through my scrap fabric and managed to find a few strips which I think are left over from the same quilt.

I did not have enough of any one colour so I picked two blue gingham and two plain blue strips to widen the overall panel.

I think this will look ok and the plain blue picks out the blue of the heart applique as well..  Not sure if it will be big enough for the cushion I have so I might need another row.  Coming along though.

In fact there is rubbish on the television at the moment so I think I might pop off and finish it.

Let you know how it looks another time.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

xNext time I willmake something that is NOT blue........promise.

xx

  

Patchwork Cushion - Le Challenge & Opam April

The April theme for Le Challenge this time around is Tradition.  I have not entered for several months as I have been a little side tracked with my printing evening class but seeing as it is the Easter holidays a little more free time has come my way.

So above is a sample of patchwork which I am really pleased with and was part of my City and Guilds course some time ago.  I have never really known for sure what to do with it.  I posted a picture of it on Instagram and JanesFabrics came back  saying the centre of a cushion panel.  

So on Thursday evening after dinner I did a rare thing of going to the sewing room and actually staying there for three hours!!!

Here is the result of my efforts.

The patchwork in the middle did in fact have raw edges as it was intended as a sample to show skill and understanding and not to be made into anything, so solving this took much of the time.  In the end a long piece of homemade bias sorted that out.  I then used a large log cabin square left over from another project which I cut in half for the two back pieces.  That just left the front which I added to the sample by using up matching shades of blue strips left over from making my blue and white quilt.

So two half finished projects and a bag of scraps were used to finish this off.

This is now sat in my chair which is also blue.  Much better now that it is being used rather than sitting in a box unfinished and I like the Tradition of patchwork designs.

What traditional skills and techniques to you like to create or have in your home?

xx

www.le-challenge-blogspot.co.uk

Felty Fun...

Just a few pictures to show you what I made during the Easter Holidays. I noticed that several of my bookcovers were leaning towards some colours and stocks were running low, so I decided to try out some new colour schemes. I love blue anyway and I was surprised when Sophie said how much she liked this one.

However, I still could not abandon the popular pink and green either. Now, the next problem. Etsy or Folksy? I may have to flip a coin.

Bye for now

xx

Quilt Continued.....

As promised, I have photographed the squares that I did last evening at my sewing group. Firstly the applique, which is basically a simple heart shape which has then been arranged into a pattern.

I have calculated that I need to make nine of these to go with nine of the machine embroidery squares. I had to stop at five for now because I ran out of bondaweb and stitch and tear. Then I will finish the other 4.

Due to running out of these I decided to make a start on the log cabin squares. I thought about it much more than last time. I cut all the strips and then counted them out so that there should be an even spread of colour and pattern. Well that is the plan anyway.

I am still sticking to the random colour approach because I am worried that I will start a colour order that I will not be able to keep up because a colour might run out! So I can not ruin a colour pattern that I do not have, can I? This time all of the fabric is the same thickness and type so when ironed the square looked really good. Whereas with Sophie's quilt I used whatever fabric I had and then bought some more to add to it. I have also made the strips a bit wider this time, 3.5 inches. So all of the above with...

Once the squares have been made my next job will to cut the dividing strips and calculate (or guess) the backing. That fabric is waiting upstairs. it is gradually taking shape.

More another time.

Take care

xx

Quilting Capers...

In the background has been my blue and white quilt. Long time readers will remember Sophie's pink quilt that I stumbled my way through last summer. well I was quite pleased with the outcome considering little firm planning went into it. So this time I have tried to improve on my approach to this one. It is going to be a little bigger, the same thickness as I want to take this places such as the school trip to France in June and I have managed to get the same backing fabric as Sophie's but just a blue version. Sophie thinks this bit is 'cool'. Is it me or is it weird hearing a 6 year old use the word cool? Anyway, moving on....

I wanted to use some of the built-in patterns on the new embroidery machine at school, Janome 350E. So I took in my own threads and after school between doing other things I gradually stitched 9 squares over several days. Took ages too...

I picked a range of blues from my machine embroidery thread collection and using the shade guides on the leaflet I made up my own colour scheme.

TIP: If using machine embroidery threads always use a matching general purpose thread. This is for two reasons, machine embroidery thread is quite weak and the general thread adds some strength when stitching and not clog up underneath the machine and it will be an economical use of your best threads.

I chose just two of the patterns for my quilt...

I did add a little tint of palest green in this pattern.

I then used the same colour scheme with the next pattern.

Tonight I went to my sewing group at the local church hall and I started to work on the next stage of the quilt by putting some of the strips together.

It is too late to take any decent pictures but once I am home tomorrow I will show you an update. I forgot to say that I also have some applique squares as part of this quilt too. It will certainly keep me busy for a while, but I like that. I am taking part in Quilt Improvo with Tall Grass Prairie using this quilt. As part of the challenge I am going to produce a block (or two) for a charity quilt which is also being created by a huge number of participants. My colour scheme for that I Pink and Orange. Unusual combination for me and I am looking forward to getting the fabric for this next week!!

I am also plugging away with my knitting too. So a massive photo session after work tomorrow plus an award which I was given a while back which I have been hanging onto until now because there seemed to be so many flying around I thought that I would wait until things died down a bit.

Take care all.

xx