a spot of stitchery stuff

All pieces cut out & happy with placement ✔ 

Basting done ✔

Ready to start hand stitching ✔ 

Bottom left corner done ✔  

I've been working on my collage flower bouquet today. I basted everything in place first using a yellow thread. I'm using the raw edge applique method and am adding in more detail with extra stitchery stuff like embroidery embellishments & different coloured threads.

I guess it's a combination of borostitching and bohoembroidery. However, I must say, I'm a bit out of my comfort zone here. So it's going to be pretty much a collection of organic random stitching, lots of patterns & textures, changing where the mood & fabrics take me.

But basically, I'm making it up as I go along . . . until next time, Linda

a wee challenge . . .

At the beginning of the week I received an email from Julie from justjulielou. She had been inspired by @annamariahorner latest #amhappliquestories post, and suggested we could both attempt our own version, perhaps as a #nzlockdown2020 challenge.

I remember when Anna Maria Horner was in NZ recently and I too was inspired by the applique story she was working on then. So - I checked out the links Julie had forwarded, and of course got very sidetracked looking at lots of other fabric collage feeds.

Time to play with some scraps . . .

I faffed around for ages trying to decide on fabrics & combos. And let's face it . . . {wink wink} I had all day! I narrowed my fabric choices down and once I'd made that first cut, I was on a roll. I had so much fun cutting out the rest of my pieces for my story.

and after a final tweaking . . .

I'm happy now with the direction of my vignette, ready to secure it all down
and begin hand stitching. 

Linking up with this weekend's Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Stay safe, kia kaha Linda

a little bit of quilty colour for your Sunday

So pleased with my 'courthouse steps' quilt top, it's a little crooked, and just a little wonky! I tried not to think too much about my fabric combos, just dug deep into the baskets and mixed things all up. Lots of bits & pieces from quilts I've made over the years. Here's a few close up pics of the last batch of blocks . . .

Mr D was happy to hop up on the chair for a photo of the whole quilt, 

it ended up half in the sun, half not, 

pretty, but not what I was after . . .

so I asked him for another shot, yep that's better . . .       

And joining in with the nation wide #goingonabearhunt🐻    

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

Stay safe, Linda

in which Pooh leads the way

Where are

we going Pooh?

Home Piglet.

We are going home,

because that's the best thing to do right now

Stay safe, Linda

courthouse steps {update}

Planning to spend some time with these courthouse step blocks this week. Carefree cutting and simple stitching. Feels good to use what I’ve got here in my stash, digging deep to find more variety.

Here's a peek at what more of my string blocks will look like all together in a quilt. Seeing them spread out like this on the 'design floor' is certainly spurring on more stitching - it's a bit like eating potato chips, you know, you can't stop at just 1 or 2 -  and gives me an idea of how many more blocks I might need until I get to the "finished" size.

And thanks to a comment from Ruth, I checked out this link here. Ah I get it now, it’s not about always sewing a wonky slanted seam; it’s also about how the different widths of the strips make for the crooked look! Using strips in varying widths from 3/4" - 2" means each block turns out a different size.
And having a few blocks where a fourth strip is added creates a crooked look too when all grouped together. The extra row helps bring the block up to the right size.

Once trimmed up they all look fine, and charmingly wonky & slightly off centre!

And here's how 20 blocks look so far . . .

. . . still at least 10 more blocks to go I think

 

You can find Bonnie's free tutorial over here at quiltville
Linking up with Kelly for 'needle and thread Thursday' here at myquiltinfatuation

and hey, let's all sew lots and keep the quilty inspiration flowing here in blogland!

Until next time, Linda

crooked courthouse steps

Completely inspired by Margaret from semichaotic - shamelessly copying joining in with her fun, funky courthouse steps, she's made an amazing 182 blocks!  Free pattern from Bonnie at quiltville.blogspot. The pattern suggests 7 1/2" blocks, however I'm making mine 12" blocks, they are quick to sew and I'm using up heaps of my thin strips.
Like Margaret, I’m using anything and everything, digging deep into my string & strip baskets and dividing fabrics into “neutral” and “others relatively solid or bright” - with no colour scheme as such.

However, it's kinda hard getting these to go wonky. I need to practise more at letting things organically lean this way or that {wink wink}, or maybe trim things at a slight angle to get my block started off in a fun direction. Or, even try aiming for the centre square not to be dead in the middle when I trim my finished block to the right size.

My next batch looked just a little bit wonk-ier . . .

and down on the design floor . . .

With todays batch, I used more stripes & checks to counteract the 'feeling too flowery' look. They mixed in well . . .

Many of us are spending extra time staying at home, it's trying times for sure and it's hard not to feel overwhelmed. And it feels good to have some comfort sewing underway, easy mindless sewing, no thoughts apart from which fabric strip to add on next.

Not too sure how big this is going to be, but I can guarantee more blocks coming soon 

. . . until next time, Linda

florals & plaids

I haven't felt like sewing lately, lots of other things happening. But today I wandered into the sewing room and had a little play. The 'flea dash market' pattern {see here} by Jen at Amitie has been in my folders for years. I decided to take this traditional block and give it a touch of something new! 

Here's how my design wall is looking . . .

I’m eeking out every last bit of my #annamariehorner fabrics, lots of different ones, little leftovers from other projects, and mixing them up with 'Harriot' woven plaids by carolynfriedlander for the backgrounds! When going all-out scrappy, I find having a 'receipe' helps control some of the chaos!

And look what happens when I add a little scrappy sashing & corner stones, 

sew scrapilicious . . .

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

until next time, Linda