LE: Embellishing My Vases: 1 of 2

I've loved this polka dotty fabric from the beginning. It was one of the original fabrics I considered for the quilt from the very beginning, and its survived several colour scheme changes, so I'm happy to see it take pride of place as two opposite vases. I'm thinking of making the polka dotty vases a bit more feminine as this quilt is unashamedly romantic and can take all the embellishments you can think of. 

I really love seeing how everyone is choosing to embellish their own elements of the pattern design, so here's what I did:

Just a little detail, but I think a touch of gold lifts it

Now I am in love with this rust coloured thread: I'm just looking for an excuse to use it! I really had to think and rethink using this colour here or elsewhere (because my 'crosses' need some attention and I think this rust would look perfect there).

stitched down, but just a touch too plain

This pink is perfect and compliments my hearts too: I'm embellishing the base with just a few knots and going around the vase in a simple blanket stitch

that's better

 This is almost too much but wonderful all the same

I'm having great fun making this quilt and the only think more enjoyable than making it myself, is seeing how everyone else is choosing the express themselves through the pattern. I love them all. 

WOW: LE Stems Finished

WOW = WIPs On Wednesday 

I've had some serious quilting time open to me these last few weeks, and I've put every spare minute to use. My hand embroidered stems are completed. And I love them. They don't look like  much right now, but I can see the bigger picture and its wonderful.

The only thing is, the vases look a little plain to me now. I've just pinned them for this pick, they aren't sewn down yet. So today, before I start thinking about my flowers, I'm going to embellish them in harmony with this quilt: which is fussy and embellished and full of love. I think they need it. And I'm going to work as I go, I don't have any firm ideas yet...

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Just Playing Around

My DDs think its so funny that I convert so many everyday objects into 'containers' but the fact is, I never seem to have enough, so I'm always looking at everyday things to see if they'll be suitable for my needs. 

This was a tissue box, now its my portable sewing kit for when I move around the house.

This was a tea jar and it's really handy, so no doubt I'll be covering this too with a fun fabric when I get a chance

as well as this old coconut oil tub

and it probably won't stop there

Speaking of fun fabrics, this cat panel fabric below has caught my eye as something really cute and fun. I especially like the mustache and busted cat and I think it would make a gorgeous pencil case - and I always need more of those about. I found this fabric over at www.equilter.com. I haven't purchased anything from them before, but prints like this are just too cute. 

LE: Beautiful Bountiful Berries

My berries are a lot like my hearts: but smaller and fiddlier! Again, finding the right fabric was tough but I was lucky enough to find some in my stash. I thought long and hard about ruby red berries which just felt so logical, but they really stuck out too much against my scrappy fabric. Then I thought about pinks but gave up on that for the same reason. I had settled on the idea of a rust, brown or mustard coloured tones as all these work so well with my fabrics - but felt they weren't authentically 'berry' enough. Then I found this fabric - I really don't do a lot with anything from the purple family, its a colour that doesn't immediately speak to me. But it works perfectly as a berry colour - its a bit red and blue - just enough but not too much and it blends in with all my scrappy mid tones beautifully. And the yellow helps it blend in with my browns without disappearing completely.

I really enjoyed seeing how many of you worked your own berries. With so many of them to do, its really something to consider in terms of shape outcome and time. I did think about embroidery. But decided that I couldn't do justice to perfectly round berries and anything less than perfect little spheres would have proved to be too frustrating.

Here's what I'm doing: cutting the berry pattern shape from wash away fusible - that's the white circles you see. Then, putting this cut out shape in the center of a larger circle - that's the circle drawn onto the fabric.

The circle I'm using for the larger circle is precisely drawn thanks to the aid of this plastic template called a "Mathomat", I purchased it for a few dollars from my local newsagents. And it has a circle that works well for this purpose.

You can see how much turning margin I have all around the circle: I'm cheating because this extra fabric will actually be my 'filling' so my berries aren't completely flat. It's just enough without being too much. 

So, the end result from the back looks something like this

I'm going to make all my berries before I start hand stitching them down on the background. With tasks like this, I break the preparation down into 'parts' because I personally think that I create slightly different work on different days and I like to get it all out in one 'lot' so that its as uniform as possible.

In all, the pattern calls for 96x berries. This means I'll make 100x as I always make a few more in case any turn out wobbly ;)

I'll be breaking up my berry turning preparation with a few hours of Hungarian stitches for my stems. But for now, I just have to keep on turning...

WOW: LE: Hand Sewing

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

Today I'm sewing down the last of the zig zag border - its taken a few weeks but its a time consuming task and can't be rushed. I'm already thinking about the berries to come and I have created a 'sampler berry' and pinned it down to check for size. I've also pinned down my newly turned hearts and I'm delighted with how they look. I've pinned the vase down because I've started thinking about my vases, I think they need more embellishments and I'm thinking of some embroidery work on them. I'm in two minds about this, but I think LE need more fuss. 

One thing's for sure; I have plenty of time to think about it as I work through another 5 or so hours of needle turn applique today. I find hand sewing quite soothing and once you find a rhythm, it can be hard to stop. I will usually sew next to this window here until light fades and I have to set up my daylight lamp or my needle snaps (and that is happening more and more, I'm sure they just don't make them as strong as they used to!)

This is what I mean when I say, 'happy sewing', I hope you find your creative nook today as I have found mine; its a creative and rewarding place to be.

What's Your WOW ? 

An InLinkz Link-up

LE: Turning Hearts

These are the hearts tucked in around the vases. I've been thinking and re-thinking the colours for months. Originally I would have gone with blue - and this was when I was thinking of a light and dark blue zig zag border throughout the quilt. But since going scrappy, I was really stuck. I considered pink of course, but all my pinks seemed too pink and clashed with the scrappy style of the rest of the fabrics I'm using. Then I found these fabrics in my stash, and they are the perfect balance of pink and a few other tones that keep them in harmony with my other fabrics without taking my quilt into a pink direction. Although I do love pink, there's a real danger of overtaking the mid tone colours with a few bright hues which would dominate and unbalance the overall 'look'. I'm really happy with these blender hearts now.

I purchased lots of fabrics when I started LE, but am surpised to find the best blenders in my own stash!

and I fussy cut through the fabric the get the colours and hues I thought would work best

I'm using wash away fusible for my applique pieces - it really speeds things up and I love the end results too

LE: Stitching Down the Zig Zag Border

Finally, my zig zag border goes down. Last month I spent 3 days pinning down each zag zag against the pattern precisely in alternating shades of light and dark. In that post I showed you how I was hand stitching the seams between the light and dark units together (left).

Some of you reading this blog (but not making or reading the pattern) wondered what I was using on the applique pieces - I'm using Floriani stitch n wash fusible. You don't remove this product, you just keep on working. When washed, it simply goes away. I have used it in many projects previously and I like the results it gives.

Today, I'm taking this half assembled zig zag border, accurately placing it on my background fabric and hand stitching it into position.

Yes, I'll be hand stitching all my applique, all the way. This is a decision I made when I stated LE, it is an heirloom quilt and its one of those 'once in a lifetime' quilts and I'm going for 1790 authenticity with hand stitching and intense attention to details. This is a quilt of flourishes, fussiness and time.

Preparation, repetition, addiction: a true labour of love

If you're making this quilt yourself, remember to add your own LE based blog posts over in the Love Entwined Archive at the top of this blog. We love seeing how every quilter makes LE their own - me included!