Home sweet home

Recently I returned from 4 weeks away in America with my DD no 2 and her school exchange.

What a whirlwind trip, fabulous families we stayed with and visits to some quilt stores  amazing , but there is nothing like home....

Travelling on the freeway. Mt rainier in background

Tacoma narrows bridge

My lovely friend took me here an amazing day out.  Sue spargo was there taking a class sadly I did not have time to attend. 

We couldn't take photos of the exhibition however we were allowed to take photos of this exhibition. 

A skunk! Had never seen one of these

A beautiful sunset on our last days there

Not much stitching in 4 weeks perhaps 2 hours at the most. 

I hope you have all been busy Stitching and creating. 

Sharon 

Starch /Floriani washable fusible trial

Firstly the Floriani product I did try, it was quite stiff and I did not like the feel of this when appliqued down, it made a nice finish but wasn't convinced that it would all wash out. You can now also get Helen Stubbings Product applique paper.

By the time I glued it all down and traced it,  I could trace onto the front of the fabric and have it needleturned down quicker,  But it is personal preference and whatever spins your wheels is what you should do.

The starch was a messy affair also, gave a nice crisp line on your appliques but I felt this was xtra steps and extra product.  You never know one day I may revert to these methods and until you try them you do not know if they will suit your style of applique.

Do look up recipes on the internet for starch and give it a go.

I thought I would use this product on my LOVE Entwined but I did not like the stiffness and was not convinced it would disappear enough.  I needed to do a smaller project to trial this. 

Love entwined hand stitching the zigzag border after Jen kingwells class it encouraged me to get on with this hand stitching and stop procrastinating. 

Happy Stitching

Sharon

Life is Beautiful

Its spring here in NZ, so where is the spring like sun??  So far cold and hail driving rain!  We need spring PLEASE...

Here are the start of the blocks I have begun for life is beautiful...  this is by Helen Stubbings HugsnKisses and you can choose all sorts of colourways..  I have had this in the cupboard for at least three years... hence I am trying to clear away all those projects that have been patiently waiting for me....  I have put my do not look at that project its beautiful but.. on high alert and said DO NOT BUY....

Have you looked in your cupboard lately and calculated how long to clear all those projects..  so many a year, how many good  years of stitching left??  Its inevitable we all buy too much... and have too many stitching ambitions.. but just keep on keeping on if it makes you happy...

So my goal this year was to get those to do's under way and make the finished pile higher..

I am quite pleased how it's going so far.

Sharon

Give me a Daisy Doo ....

Daisy Daisy give me a daisy doo....  I think that is how the song goes.  Jens Shop is Amitie Textiles in Melbourne.

 Jen Kingwell's quilt Daisy Doo has not had much time spent on her but marking and cutting flowers ready for travelling with me to the USA in a week is in progress...

Yes to the USA I am headed.  A school trip with my middle DD, to Seattle, washington State with a 6 day stopover in LA.  Packing is underway a task with two bags to pack and numerous name tags to sort.

Here is the T Shirt design my lovely DD 2 designed and  won and it is one of the tshirts we will wear when in the States.

Keep warm and happy stitching for the weekend.

Sharon

Hand stitching with Jen kingwell

A weekend of learning with Jen Kingwell .. We are hand stitching our blocks together, Jen has shown us how she hand stitches her quilts... Such a lovely tutor and her quilts are gorgeous ..

Kitznthingz have done such a fabulous job of this weekend 

I have started daisy Doo which is in Jens new book "Quilt Lovely"

There are some lovely blocks being done. 

I have posted some photos of Jens quilts and ......

and a discussion about battings... for hand quilting versus machine quilting..

Did you all know that there is a difference with battings.... as I hand quilt I was aware of this but a lot didn't and it does make a difference to ensure your batting doesn't shred if not secured by enough stitches. Also the scrim in battings can affect your ease to hand quilt... so be aware when purchasing batting to make sure that you have an idea of what type of quilting you want to do before you hand quilt.

Jen uses these boards to hold her piecing while she organises and stitches...  I have seen these before quite easy to make they are on Lori Holt's Bee in my Bonnet site. 

Thanks toAngela at Kitz n Thingz for holding this amazing workshop.. Go checkout their website..kitsnthingz 

Until next time happy stitching...

Sharon

Ooh its going to be a fun weekend... Guess who is coming to town

We are so lucky down south... this weekend we get to meet the wonderful Jen Kingwell from Amitie Textiles and Jen Kingwell Designs..check her out here. jen kingwell

Our fabulous patchwork shop  Kitz n Things is hosting Jen for a two day workshop saturday and sunday and trunk show on the friday night.  Check them out here kitznthings.. 

I'm making Daisy Doo from her fabulous new book Quilt Lovely.
Keep watching I will post from the event..

Until this weekend... Happy Stitching

Sharon

Bunting tutorial

Who doesn't like a pretty bunting?  The middle dd had been asking for a bunting for a while, so I thought the panel of bunting flags had been sitting in the cupboard long enough (a year). 

So a couple of weeks ago I set to making this pretty bunting.   I have put up a tutorial for anyone interested in making one.

First find a bunting panel, they are easy enough to find from spotlight, or your local quilt shop.  If you cannot locate one it is easy enough to cut strips of fabric and then cut 60degree triangles of the depth you want your bunting triangles to be.

Iron fusible onto the back of the panel or place the 60degree triangles you have cut on top of fusible.

Cut these triangles apart leaving the fusible paper on the back.

Now find a backing fabric and place the fused triangles on top of backing placing them so as not to waste fabric. Iron this down.

Cut these triangles apart, and choose a bias binding to place along the edge of these triangles.

You could make your own bias in a matching colour or if you find it easier buy the bias, you can get so many colour choices these days.

Place the triangles into the bias binding in the order you like..  I like to tack this down (I know it is a lot more work) but the finish is much nicer and you can ensure that the folded edges of bias are in the right place.

I then cut the end of the tape on an angle but leave it as a raw edge.

Then wella a happy daughter with a lovely colourful room.