Lily Rose: QUILTED !

'Mum, CAPITALS mean you're shouting.'

Well, I don't mind. Do you mind if I shout about it?

I just finished quilting Lily Rose and I am delighted about it!

As I was quilting Lily Rose, I thought a lot about the elements that were on my mind when I designed it. Really, Lily Rose is just another ode to Love Entwined. In many ways, I just can't get over Love Entwined - in the sense that something about it feels so unfinished. To have come so far and found it, to have discovered that it is still around, and yet have no further information about its origins is so frustrating. And I think about the Love Entwined coverlet design over and over and I know that the woman who made it, or instigated it, could not have gone un-noticed in British Georgian Society circles. And knowing that somewhere, the answer to our questions is out there makes it all the more tantalizing for me.

I designed Lily Rose after visiting the V&A 1700s exhibition and Lily Rose is bit of everything I love from the Georgian era quilts that were hanging there - condensed into one bouquet! That's how I think about it anyway. 

I purposefully chose gaudy colours because it felt so right in a Georgian tribute quilt and looking at them now, I am in love with the shouting vibrancy of them. 

And yes, the turquoise and gold have been used for the same reason: so Georgian and so right in my eyes. I am inspired by most things turquoise and gold at the moment, I still don't have the Georgian influence out of my system!

 I'm finished!

Doesn't it always feel so good to finish a quilt?

Lily Rose will be on display at AQC this year in Melbourne (which is just around the corner now) so if you're coming, make sure to keep an eye out.

Look out for my pattern too! I know there's been a demand for this pattern in hard copy so I'm currently looking to see if its possible to sell this pattern in hard copy through any interested stall holders who'll be there.

I'll keep you posted!

Lily Rose: Quilting Flower Details

This is how I chose to quilt my flower heads. I  felt they needed some emphasis and I've provided it with stitching throughout the petals and leaf veins. 

I also felt that the lillies were missing something. The petals were so large that I decided what was missing was a vein up the middle. I added this simple stitch with an embroidery thread by hand. I think it makes a great visual difference even though its such a small, basic detail. 

I'm nearly done now and I really do love the look and feel of Lily Rose. I can't wait to hang it up and enjoy it every day.

WOW: April Fool's Day

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I know I say this every month, but can you believe its April already? 

Are you ready for Easter?

Today I'll be quilting non stop, I'm nearly there and hope to have Lily Rose finished today. 

Wish me luck!

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Lily Rose: Starting to Quilt

I've decided on simple, elegant quilting lines for Lily Rose. I've pulled out my trusty old Brother Nouvelle because using my Bernina 820 is too stressful. 

As for the Brother, I actually had it for sale on Gumtree as I am trying to downsize and 'let go' of my (good but no longer useful to me) machines, but it's such a great workhorse that I've decided I can't let it go just yet. 

I have 11 sewing machines and I've reached a stage in my life where this is not useful to me anymore. I'm too spoiled for choice and find that I don't use any of them anywhere near enough. There are some machines I will have forever - like my Bernina 440 and my 1950's Elna which is nearly as old as I am! I wonder sometimes if my Elna will outlive me. It probably will you know. This is the only machine I have owned that can stitch canvas to silk without missing a beat. They just don't make them like that anymore. This reminds me that I'll have to take a photo of it and stick it up here as a 'hall of fame' machine for everyone to see for themselves. It really is one of those legendary machines!

With 1500 stitches a minute, I'm in love with the Brother over again! And I'm confident that I'll be able to domestic machine quilt Lily Rose without any hassle. 

Many of you know that I have experienced unacceptable issues with my Bernina 820 and I can tell you that Bernina have contacted me regarding this matter with a view to repairing this machine for me. They would have collected it already, but due to my workshop, teaching and travel schedule this wasn't possible on my end - so I'm looking forward to having my 820 remedied after April.

Today, I am doubly focused - I'm on a strict deadline and have to make progress or else I won't have Lily Rose ready in time. 

I'll keep you posted...

Lily Rose: Getting Ready for Quilting

Yesterday I had a quiet afternoon and decided it was time to take the plunge with washing Lily Rose. I had concerns with further colour leaking in the wash from the batiks I hadn't colour tested and after salvaging the fabric from one disaster, I have been worried about 'ghosting' from the stain.

I have Synthrapol in my cupboard from my hand dyeing days. When I had my Lily Rose disaster and blogged about it back in February, I was reminded of how useful it could be. Speaking of colour run disasters, Vicki Welsh shared her blog over in those comments, she has a 'save my bleeding quilt' area that is full of useful info and I have added her button to my sidebar now. I recommend reading the info for the sake of it, just so you have that knowledge in case you ever need to use it. I did have a lot more working knowledge regarding dyeing back when I was doing it frequently, about 12 years ago now, but it's a case of out of sight, out of mind for me!

I'm relived that Lily Rose is fine and now that it's dried and ironed, its ready for squaring up as I prepare for quilting. I always say, 'quilting is what makes a quilt, a quilt'and its much the same with a wall hanging. Today as I prepare Lily Rose, I'm already thinking about shapes and lines that will be useful as I quilt. 

Looking over Lily Rose, I'm really happy with the colour balance in the patchwork and overall generally. I love the pop of the aqua and the gold and the bouquet is just right in my own opinion. So I'm thinking of completely neutral quilting in a neutral thread colour as I want to quilt and bring out the quilt itself, rather than the quilting.

Because of the oval shape in the centre, I'm feeling that the oval will need more concentrated lines to keep the shape nice. I get this feeling because the fabric I used from my stash in the gold was a little lighter than I would have liked ideally and I did go ahead and add some extra batting to plump out the frame too.

I measure precisely, clipping as I go to get everything neat and lined up. Ideally, I would love to have this quilt basted for me, but it's quite expensive for what is an easy task for me, especially at this size. I would really love to have all my quilts basted prior to quilting, but the cost often doesn't justify the means. I find that with my larger quilts, I find this process much more time consuming and physically involved, but with Lily Rose, I can make do on my table.

I was really excited when I first purchased these 'pins' a few years ago (4? 5? years ago now?) but really haven't found them to be useful to me at all. In the beginning I though they were great and I also thought they would cut down on my pinning time. To be honest, they get in the way. It's just the way I work and do things, I find them to be more trouble than assistance for me because of my own pinning style and they only come in handy with smaller wall hangings and projects, so this has been the first time I've seen and used them in quite a while.

I'd love to know if anyone else uses them. How do you find them?

  stitches in, ready for quilting 

I'm not even considering using my Bernina 820 to quilt Lily Rose. This year has been non stop hectic for me and I have a deadline for quilting Lily Rose, I physically do not have the time to deal with issues. For me, a lost afternoon can be the difference between showing this quilt - or not. So I'm not taking any chances. I have pulled out my old Brother and will be quilting with that machine this week.

Sewing Into The Weekend

This is how my family sees me most evenings at the moment; hunched in the corner with my 'daylight' lamp, sewing the night away. As you can see, I have set up a little sewing bar stool 'station' of my essentials.

The nights are getting cooler and usually at this time of year, I think about my yearly winter knitting or crochet project. This year I won't be making anything up with wonderfully warm wool as I am having one of my busiest years yet - volunteering, teaching and a revival in stencil workshops has seen me so busy that I simply don't even have my evenings free anymore to think about crochet.

Luckily, I have a sidebar full of bloggers who are knitting or hooking away and I am living my yearly project ideas through their talent and creativity. Sometimes when I am sewing away here in the evenings, I think about how far I've come, internet wise. I would never have believed 20 years ago that I would have quilting friends throughout the world and be part of an online blogging quilting group either. Its really wonderful to see how small our creative worlds are and how easily connected they are these days. What a great time to be creative in...

WOW: LE2 Progress

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

When I designed my AQC Love Entwined workshop, LE2, I thought I'd have plenty of time to get all that hand sewing done and down. And I suppose I don't have to tell you what happened next? That's right, time ran away with all my good intentions and planning! Somehow I am still hand sewing my top in all the spare time I have. I don't think I have ever done so much hand sewing ever! It's intense. Any yet, as with anything associated with Love Entwined, its somehow also addictive and I just keep on going.

I've made a lot of progress and the end is finally in sight. I have about 100 hours left of hand sewing on this top to go.

As you can see from the picture above, I am working on a whole cloth which I created by joining several pieces of fabric together as I couldn't find a whole cloth big enough in the fabric I wanted. You can barely see the join in real life with the eye, but somehow the camera really picks it up in this image. And here is the back, all my neat small hand sewn stitched. I have a renewed enthusiasm for everything Love Entwined at the moment and have already heard from a few of my AQC students. I'm really looking forward to our workshop together and know that it will be 'time' in no time.

Can you believe it's already March? Almost Easter? The year is marching on! As for me, today I will be hand sewing and hopefully I'll get in a good 10 hours before my fingers demand I stop.

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up