Tea Party

This is the last quilt of 2015.  It is from the embroidery pack entitled Time for Tea from Embroidery Library.  It was great fun to choose the colors for the different teapots and teacups.  I lost some of the definition of the embroidery with the block design that I chose, but a lesson learned.  I probably should have stippled around the designs so they would stand out from the block.  Have a happy stitching New Year!

Merry Christmas

Carpenter's Star

This is a large carpenter's star pattern by Debbie Maddy of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.  One of the patterns that we purchased in Paducah last year.  I used fabric from two Benartex lines designed by Michele D'Amore, Shadows Paintbox and Urbanicity.  I love everything about this quilt including how quickly it can be pieced.  My friend, Dee Gerardy, quilted it and I love the pattern she used.  I am almost sure this one will not leave the house.

FSL Snowmen

It is very easy to embroider free standing lace on my Babylock Enterprise.  Once you have the colors on the correct spool, it is press the button and let it stitch. The stabilizer is Pellon's Wash-N-Gone. I purchased the snowmen patterns from Secrets of Embroidery.  Mea Bernina, my local Bernina shop, decorates a Christmas tree for the Lawrence Festival of Trees.  Mea Bernina also include a quilt which this year is a snowman quilt. So my fsl snowmen will emphasize the snowmen on the quilt. They look so happy to be working on a Christmas tree.

Zipper Pouches

I have made a tubful of zipper pouches. This pouch was the project for October's Software Inspiration from Bernina.  I thought it had a great design and the Frond fabric makes it extra special.  The entire pouch is stitched in the hoop--even the zipper.  I love the zippers from byannie. The zippers come by the yard and you can order any color of zipper pulls.  When I was in Houston at quilt market, I purchased two groups of bright colored pulls. So I was able to match the zipper to the fabric.  She also has colored zippers but I had 4 yards of the black and of the white for this project. The pouches are stitched with batting between the outside fabric and the lining fabric. 

Barn Dance

Vicky Lawrence of Prairie's  Edge Patchworks has a series of 12 quilt patterns titled Barn Dance that make a full-size quilt.  They were originally designed for red work by hand.  Now she is having them digitized and they will be available for embroidery machines with very large hoops.  Some barns have two hoopings and some have three.  You can see the alignment marks in this stitchout.  The marks are to be removed after stitching the entire design. The embroidery patterns should be available in the next few weeks. She has allowed me to test-stitch her patterns. 

Embroidery on Hankies

I spent all morning and half of the afternoon embroidering on these hankies.  They all are very old and the fabric needed delicate handling but had to withstand the embroidery needle.  I practiced on some flimsy fabric that I had and decided to try Terial Magic, a stabilizing fabric spray.  I had read that it causes yellowing and I got some water stain looking spots.  But it gets very, very stiff and allows the stitches to lay on the fabric without pulling.  All of the Terial Magic washed out without a problem. I will have to try the stuff again on another project.