Muslin Quilt

My newest project is a muslin quilt. This week I have my third lesson for this quilt taught by Doris Davidson, who has won grand champion ribbons for her quilts. The book(s) for this quilt are by Jennie Rayment from England. She uses different folding techniques to make many block designs. The technique takes advantage of bias and embellishments in many of the blocks. She also uses lots of tucks to create texture. I took the lessons several years ago but never got to the finished quilt. So I am trying again and have several blocks ready for the top. The most fun in the class is seeing what others do to embellish their blocks. It is the first time I have used pintucking, bias bars, and ruching. I enjoy learning the new techniques.

Garden Nouveau Quilt

My friends are not tall enough to hold this quilt but you get the idea. I just have to put the back together and it is ready to take to the quilter. I am extremely happy to have this quilt completed. It was a unique challenge and my new 830 was up to the task. In all of the satin stitching I may have seen two thread loops and they may have been my fault for not changing the needle sooner. The quilt took a lot of stabilizer because each block required two to six hoopings. The side borders had seven hoopings and the top and bottom had five hoopings. Now I just have to decide who receives this quilt...My thanks to Vicky Lawrence for designing and Anna Aldmon for digitizing this beautiful treasure.

Working on Garden Nouveau

I thought maybe I would have this quilt finished in early January, that did not happen. Each of the side borders took 14 hours of stitching and the other two borders took 12 hours each. Then there were four corner blocks to embroider. All of that is complete and the embroidered borders are on the quilt. Now I just have two more borders to finish this task. I am getting a little tired of this quilt and will be glad to have it finished. My machine quilter is about ready to tackle the task of making it look beautiful. I'll have a picture before long.

Happy Stitching!

My First Cross Stitch

This is my first attempt at cross stitch with my embroidery machine. I digitized the pattern in Designer Plus V6 software and then stitched it on muslin. The cross stitch itself is only about 2.5 inches square. The design is pretty amazing as I watched it stitch. The crosses are so small and perfect. I would never attempt something like this by hand. The design has some areas that need work, but I really do like it.