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.