Finally...

The Big Quilt is finally finished!

 After 18 months of daily stitching, combining 2584 triangles and a rough estimate of 38,000 quilting stitches, very battered fingers and a lot of pride, the finished article is on the bed. Looking forward to snuggling under it tonight.

The quilting is simple on this one, a curve across each triangle which gives a pattern of interlocking circles.

Patchwork Tray Cover

The colourful patchwork traycover is now complete so here are some photos to show you how it turned out.

The next step is to make some matching patchwork bowls to hold the bits and pieces for the projects.  Currently on the tray is the cathedral felting and various try outs for the foliage!

Pipes and Gears

The Big Quilt is nearing completion, and, while the last couple of hundred triangles are being quilted, I've been experimenting with pipes and gear motifs. 

For a change, I have pieced this patchwork using the machine, which is quick, but requires a lot of messing about to ensure accuracy. The pipes are also machine appliqued, and because of their long and floppy nature,  they were backed with interfacing. The result is quite stiff, so I probably won't be taking this any further. However, I will probably quilt it at some stage and add a few details - maybe some fish for those peeping cats!

I'm making cogwheels in varying quarters to eventually join up in a quilt. The left hand sample is appliqued through flannelette sheet under the background, giving it a much softer look and cutting out the need to quilt the whole thing when the blocks are joined.

Very heavy quilting on thick wadding means the applique really stands out on this sample. The cat and little owls are cut from printed fabric and sewn on with a narrow zigzag stitch, making them very puffy to the touch.

Mice on the Move

Some members of the mouse family who had taken up residence in the ivy and were greatly enjoying the bird seed. Since the removal of their food source, they seem to have moved on, though I keep looking out for them because, as you can see, they were very charming. 

This one is undaunted by the disapproving face behind it.

Running round the tops of flower pots was a favourite occupation.

This one appeared to be quite young, and has the most beautiful gummy little feet! It spent a lot of time darting in and out of the plants before it was brave enough to nab a few seeds.

 

Felt Dragon Picture

Following on from my shell felt picture I thought I’d try something else.  For this one I intended to make the picture in felt and then add some detail with embroidery, it didn’t actually turn out like that!

I had an outline of a dragon’s head from a previous project and thought it would be ideal for this piece.  My first step was to draw the outline on thin paper and then tack it to my support square of felt.  The felt is 5 inches square.

From there I stitched the outline in blue thread and then, very carefully, tore off the paper.

As this is a bit of an experiment, I wasn’t sure where to start but decided to block round the whole outline with the darker felt.  Then I started adding in the colours in the more clearly defined places, the spines, the neck and chin area.  Gradually the colour built up and I realised I could keep felting on top of an area, changing the colours, until I was satisfied with the result. 

At this stage I still intended to embroider in the details, in particular the eye.  Then I decided it would look odd if only the eye was embroidered so I carried on with the felting.  The eye was a bit fiddly but I kept going over the area until I was happy with it. 

I was surprised how precise I could be with the felting and was pleased with the result.  

Felt Picture Experiment

When Sar and I visited the Goole open art exhibition we saw a piece created from felt with stitching to enhance the design.   I was quite taken with the idea and decided to give it a go. I based my simple design on a rock I picked up on our walk to Spurn Point, the rock is dark red and embedded with a lot of small shells. 

My design incorporated a ripple pattern to suggest the origins of the rock from the seaside and I needle-felted this onto a 4.5 inches square of red felt.

I did some trial runs to find the best way to transfer the design onto the felt.  The fluffy nature of the felt made it difficult to draw a clear line.  I found the best way was to draw the design on thin paper and tack this paper to the felt.  Then I stitched through the paper and the felt.

With the sewing complete, I carefully tore away the thin paper to reveal the pattern.

The final step was to fill in the shells, with felting, to cover the ripples showing within their outlines.

I enjoyed trying out this method on a simple design and, of course, now have plans for something more elaborate!

The pencil sharpener and the dragon.

Which came first?

Well, it was actually the game which is the reason there haven’t been any entries on here for a while.   There’s quite a bit of dragon action in the game and a shortage of a baby dragon for Bess to find. 

So out came the pastels and a lot of time was spent trying to find a sharpener which gave me a good point.  I ended up using the craft knife which, for me, isn’t ideal and so decided to buy a mechanical sharpener.  After some research on the internet, I settled on a Swordfish Ikon sharpener which, from the reviews, would work for pastels.

The sharpener duly arrived and I eagerly started sharpening up different pencils and was very impressed.  Unfortunately, one of the pastel pencils then showed their tendency to snap and left a lump of lead in the sharpener.  After some poking various implements into the slot to try and dislodge the offending lump of pastel, I again consulted the internet and found the instructions for taking the sharpener apart.  Perhaps the craft knife would have been quicker after all!

Anyway, that pastel pencil apart, it has put a lovely point on everything else I sharpened, including other pastel pencils, as the photo below shows. 

With a good set of points, I started my drawing of a baby dragon for Bess to find at a hidden location!