A beautiful life ..............

I'm not sure how long this WIP has been going but finally I have the top finished ready for planning how to quilt.  I think Paris is always pleased when I have  a top on the floor for her to walk or lie over.

The stitcheries in this quilt by Helen Stubbings was the best part of making this quilt. It was carthartic and good for the soul with lots of  meaning within each stitchery. 

It's good to be back blogging my journey of my quilting life. 

Happy stitching and hope you all have a good week. 

Sharon 

EPP for fun

I started some paper piecing fun 2 years ago while holidaying and finally got back to it again this year.  I still have a lot more to do but it’s looking like a central medallion now.
EPP IS VERY ADDICTIVE which I am sure a lot of you already have become hooked.  When I first learnt this technique in the 1980’s there was not the choice of fabrics that we have now. Here is a photo of what I started at least 30 years ago made with polyester cotton  and some cottons I bought from America.  So different to what I have reposted below this.

And now 30 years later I'm still EPP making but I do like this better .....

I

At this stage I think this will be a central medallion for a quilt it's another WIP. ....

Have a great week achieving your stitching goals ..

Sharon

Bias stems - bias bars

Morning bloggers today I am going to show you how I prepare bias strips for stems or anything really that requires a small strip.

For 1/4" stems I cut bias strips on the 45 degree angle  at 1" .  Iron these in half and then sew with your 1/4" foot with the folded side against the edge of the foot down the length of the strip.

Once you have done this use bias bar appropriate to the size of your required finished strip size. I have had these bias bars for a while and you can also use zip ties which you can get in quite a small size.

Insert the bias bar into the sewn strip as indicated in the photo trim a small 1/8" from the raw edge so when this is ironed over it will not come out the other side.

Iron this and steam it also remove the bars and give the strip a good steam iron.

You then can place the strip where required on your pattern.


Happy stitching

Sharon

Flower garden progress

Summertime has left us ver dry and on water restrictions here in the south a total outside water ban and has made me think of my flower garden quilt which is moving along nicely, still a lot or work left especially the borders, but Rome wasn't built in a day.  I'm pleased this does not need a water just tender loving care. 

The preparation is always the most work,

Since I wrote this draft there has been a lot of progress to my flower garden quilt and the blocks are nearly done. Then it will be onto the borders . After this last block here I just have one more row which are prepared ready to sew.

I have been working on the one of the last blocks where the gap is. This has thin bias strips which are simple when you know how. Here is how I do this when I have my bias bars handy.

insert the bias bar into the strip that has already been seen 1/4" in from the fold on the sewing machine.  You then get the iron and fold the stitched raw edge over the bar I then turn on steam and steam this down, you may need to get a pair of small sharp scissors and trim this away from the other edge so it will then sit flat when you stitch down.  I'll post photos of me doing this tommorrow. 

Life is beautiful .... always enjoy the happy moments

It's been slow progress on my life is beautiful, I have however got the stitcheries I have stitched sewn up into the blocks.  I decided to sew as I go so I didn't have the whole process at the end of the stitching.

I found this saying recently on our computer and felt it was appropriate to our family at this point in time, where we are currently hoping for the best for my sister and her family, her husband had been in a serious car accident a month ago but we now know he will never walk again... But we all hope for a  a good quality of life...

I therefore find this quilt life is beautiful and the quotes stitched into this quilt to be poignant to this time in our life ...

As I sit her this morning contemplating my day... I have the youngest in bed unwell... I enjoy my kids being home during the weekdays as I get to spend special time with them .... 

I think it will be stitching the last block and stitching the circles onto the blocks for final sewing....

while stitching ...

Hello fellow bloggers, welcome to 2017 and wishing you all a very happy progressive year which is already 6 months  gone and I ponder what life has dealt our family so far ..

Planning for this year has been well underway and class projects to date this year have been in March we did a Lonestar/Star Quilt , April was Quilt as You go techniques and in May it was Scrap piecing a spiderweb cushion, June we had a break with queens birthday weekend and July we completed travelling cutting board and project pouches.

Photos of the year to date are shown below:

Lavender Star- March

Lone Star - March

Quilt as you go -April

May - Spiderweb

Project Pouches -July

July- Travelling Cutting Board

While sitting in my studio contemplating everything my eye caught a mistake in my Life is beautiful quilt... ha lucky i was staring in space but at the quilt as I discovered two red squares together instead of a cream and red....

So I have this unpicked ready to go...  This is so easy to make a mistake on you most definitely have to be on your toes and not be drinking wine when putting this together...

Life always takes on unexpected turns with families, children, friends and as life becomes more chaotic its good to think about what you need in life to achieve your goals.  Always be true to yourself and have fun in the process.

While I sit here very early morning thinking of my sister and her husband who has had an extremely serious car accident waiting for news of his progress I contemplate how life throws curveballs at us and how it makes us stronger and how we all matter in the scheme of things...
It's at times like this that stitching gives me comfort and allows me to be still and thoughtful...


Until next visit wishing you happy stitching...

 Sharon

Sewing with Vinyl..... tutorial

Vinyl... a great product if you know how to use it....  This product can stick on the sewing machine bed,  but....

If you use tissue paper or scotchguard tape to slide this along the machine bed it is much easier.  Also put scotchguard tape along the edges of the needle plate alongside the feed dogs not over them as you will not be able to sew properly...
Another helpful item if you have this is the supreme slider a teflon sheet that sits over the machine bed to help your quilt slide. You can also buy teflon sewing feet now.

 Hold the pieces of vinyl up and away from machine also so they do not stick on the sewing bed, placing tissues under the vinyl will help this, also a teflon sheet as discussed above.

Here are some ideas for using vinyl.  Handy in pockets so you can see what is in there and also to show off the beautiful fabrics you sometimes hide with fabric pockets!

Have some fun trying this product out.  It has some great uses.