Appliqued Candy Dish Runner Finished

I actually finished this Candy Dish table runner by Edyta Sitar in late August, early September.  I quilted the basket part of it with black thread since the base and handles were black to help differentiate the basket from the background since the colours were similar.  I then did an allover dense quilting pattern in the background.  Here's a close up of one basket.

Here's what the whole runner looks like on my bureau.

Just for fun, here's a picture of the runner held up to the light of the deck door for a stained glass affect.

I didn't have a lot of fabric to bind this quilt and actually used two different but similar pieces.  I did a new to me technique using a strip of fabric which was 1.75" wide instead of my usual 2.5" but still gave double fold binding using this tutorial.  It lays really flat so works well for a table runner or something small or, like me, if you are running short on fabric.  I would use this method again in a similar situation but like using 2.5" strips of fabric for a large quilt.

Sewing Machine Cover Binding Finished

I last posted about the cat sewing machine cover when I finished the applique back in May of not this year, but May of last year!  Somewhere between now and then I sewed the pieces together and sewed on binding and it has been waiting for me to finish hand sewing the edges of the binding down ever since.  One curved side was nearly finished so I just had to sew down a couple of inches and then sew down the other side.  It probably only took me about an hour and now I can use it instead of the vinyl cover the machine came with.

I'm very pleased with this finish.  Here's a better picture of the cat himself and his mischievous face.

It's nice to have a cat in the sewing room.

Candy Dish Table Runner

I haven't been doing any major amount of sewing this summer but seem to be on a bit of an applique kick which isn't what I usually do.  I found this free pattern for a Candy Dish Table Runner .  It is a pattern by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts and you can find the pattern and a video tutorial at the above link.  The pattern is just for the pieced runner so I did my own thing for the applique loosely based on the picture.  Here is my pieced table runner.  I chose to attach the two leftover triangles of background fabric to the ends instead of having a rectangular table runner.  (updated link)

And here it is with the applique fused on.

Here is an outdoor picture after I've blanket stitched around all the applique which shows the details much better.

I plan to quilt the candy dish itself with black thread which I hope will make it stand out a bit better from the background fabric.  I might even add some embroidery details after it's quilted too. The birds need some French knot eyes at the least.

Sewing Machine Cover Cat Applique - Applique and Quilting Completed

Wow, time has flown, I didn't realise it was two and a half weeks since I last did a blog post.  I have been sewing on several projects, although I haven't finished anything.  I have almost completed my Sewing Machine Cover with the cat applique on the front though.  After I appliqued all the chocolate Easter bunnies, I got the cat out and started appliqueing his body which was a bit more intricate than the bunnies.  My sewing buddy Marilyn gave me the idea of using the magnifying light to see if it would help me see better, and it certainly did.

After I took the above picture, I also switched to an open toe foot so had a totally clear view of  the stitching line which helped me sew even more accurately.  It also helped my posture because instead of leaning forward to try to see what I was doing, I actually had to lean back a bit from the magnifying glass and sit up straight to see clearly.

Here are detail shots of one of his paws from the back, just for fun, and from the front showing how closely I was able to follow the contours of his toes because of the magnifying glass and the open toe foot.

Here's the cat all appliqued, quilted and with embroidered whiskers.  I love his mischievous face and big feet!

Now I just have to decide what the back of the cover will be made out of and get it sewn together.

Finished Tree of Life Cushion Cover and Progress on Cat Applique Sewing Machine Cover

Yesterday was a snow day so I was able to skype sew with my sewing buddy Marilyn during the work week.  I worked on fusing the applique cat which will become the front of my sewing machine cover.

Here he is with just a few quilting lines drawn on him in white chalk, but it brings him to life.  I can already tell he is mischievious and is going to cause some mayhem in the sewing room.  Whenever I can't find anything, I'll be able to blame it on him!

Today I quilted and bound the Tree of Life Cushion Cover.  Here's what the quilting looked like from the back.  I did some orange peel quilting in the branches of the trees.  I think they look like leaves.

Here's the envelope back and binding.

And here's the front.

I will have to get another cushion form so I can use it and take another picture with it stuffed.

Flower Arranging for Quilters

I participated in a workshop yesterday put on by my quilt guild called Flower Arranging for Quilters.  It was taught by Anne Morrell Robinson, one of Nova Scotia's most renowned quilters.  It was a fun and informative class and I would recommend taking a class from Anne if you get the chance.   You can browse her website by clicking on her name above.  These are the pieces I made in the class and this is how I arranged them this morning, but not how I had them arranged yesterday and will not likely be the final arrangement by the time I am done.  In class I had them arranged overlapping and not symmetrically.  Today I was going for symmetrical which I like except for the central yellow flower.  I think I need to tilt the two purple flowers out further so I can place the yellow flower higher.

I have to decide what colour vase to make to replace this one which will contrast better with the background.  I am thinking of turquoise.  I also have to add a lot more little flowers to fill in the gaps.  I know I am going to start with some orange ones.  The green random strips are just trimmings from stems in case I need them when I rearrange things.

This will be a work in progress for awhile.  If it turns out well, I plan to make a queen size medallion quilt using this as the centre.  If it turns out that it doesn't warrant that amount of commitment, it will become a wall hanging or a smaller quilt. 

Appliqued Lupine Wall Hanging for my Daughter and SIL to be

My daughter and her partner went to Iceland the end of June and came home early July engaged! There were large fields of lupines everywhere and my daughter was taking pictures in a field of lupines when the question was popped.  Here is one of her pictures:

To commemorate the occasion, I decided to make them a lupine wall hanging.  I found a pattern by Dana Verrengia, Wildfire Designs Alaska which I purchased from Northern Threads (https://www.northernthreads.net/shop/c/p/Lupine-Wildfire-Pattern-by-Wildfire-Designs-x15897803.htm)

I don't normally applique and if I do it is something very simple.  The first day I started out cutting out the background grass and some timothy and got them fused together. So far so good.  I'm not really loving the grass, but I really like the timothy! Like that sky fabric too. (The design wall could use a good de-threading though):

The second day I started cutting out tons of teeny tiny little lupine pieces and started to wonder if I would be able to figure out where they all went and get this project finished or not.  The cutting out of teeny tiny pieces also continued into another day:

The fourth day I started working on fusing the teeny tiny lupine pieces together and I am feeling confident I can get it done and have it look decent.  Here is a picture of the main lupine stalk about half done on my Teflon pressing sheet beside the pattern so you can compare:

Here is the main lupine stalk as well as two little ones fully done and all added to the wall hanging.  I'm feeling pretty pleased with my progress and liking that the grass is getting more and more covered up.  (The design wall could still use a good de-threading. Any suggestions on a good way to accomplish it without affecting the batting?):

Here is a close up that shows all the teeny tiny pieces in the lupine blossoms:

The only thing left now is the big lupine leaves.  I got them all traced on my last bit of fusible and ironed on ready for cutting.  WHAT!  All my material to this point was either a solid or a batique which meant there was no right or wrong side to the fabric as either side could be used.  The fabric I had for the leaves was only printed on one side and I ironed the fusible to the right side of the fabric instead of the back which meant I ruined the fabric and wasted the fusible.  Since it was 4 in the afternoon, I decided to call it quits until another day.

A couple of days later I had more fusible and got the lupine leaves done.  Since some of the leaves hang out of the picture onto the border I also had to attach it.  I was working with a jelly roll and only had one WOF strip of each colour so the border had to be two colours:

Here it is bound with two colours of green fabric.  I left the pins in it just in case I get the courage up to do some thread painting before declaring it done:

Here is the back where you can see the triangular corners to hold a dowel as well as the label (I have obscured their last names for privacy):

And here are my daughter Ainsley and SIL to be Jack opening it on Christmas morning:

As you can see, I did not add any additional thread painting or stitching, maybe once I've had more practice I can embellish it.

Here's another of my daughter's pictures of the  lupine fields in Iceland:

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/12/maine-socks-and-stash-organization.html