Quilting a forest

Thanks for all your lovely feedback on the Forest QAL quilt top - it is now basted and I've started quilting the first block. I decided to start with the Aspen Grove, as I had a bit of an idea what I wanted to do with it (and I want to quilt the 'pages' before I tackle the background).

I decided to quilt the grey ground sections with micro pebbles - most of these are about 1/4" or 1/2" in diameter. My arms were SO sore after doing these! I think tiny little movements in quilting are much more demanding on the muscles than larger ones. I used a variegated Aurifil (4670) 40wt thread, and the texture is gorgeous. I also love the variation from really light grey pebbles through to darker ones - to me it really suits the block. For the green, I've just quilted in the ditch along the seam lines, so the trunks and leafy sections really pop against the grey.

I'm not sure about the rest of the block. I've quilted vines and leaves across most of it which looks okay (not brilliant though - although it blends so well it won't really be noticeable whatever I do.). I might go back and do some dense quilting around the vines later, but I'll wait until I've done some of the other sections before I decide.

I'll be leaving the rest of this for a little while, so I can work out how to tackle the other pages. And so I can catch up on the last three months worth of bee blocks!!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

xx Jess

Some catching up and some fun

Most of my sewing this week has been my QAL block and tutorial, and some bee blocks. 

 For Stash Bee (August)

 For Scrappy? Sew Bee It!

Today I had a few hours to myself, while the kids went off with off to do stuff with their dad (who got back last night, so they were pretty excited!). I finished quilting Sweary Tula, and I'm trying to decide what binding to use. I'll hopefully get it sent on Monday though (so not too much over the due date :o) ).

And then I got back to Groove - I have a feeling the quilting is going to take a loooong time, so I'm glad I've started now :o) I made the (very simple) back, basted it and started quilting. Apologies for the night-time photos... hopefully you get a bit of an idea. I'm not quite convinced on the blue bit, but I think overall it will look ok. 

I am extremely happy with my thread matches. I bought an Aurifil colour chart with my last thread order, and I used that to match my solids with threads that I hoped would blend really well - they do beautifully.

I haven't done a whole lot, and my arms are already killing me - but I'm loving the textures. I don't usually starch my fabric this heavily, so it's weird quilting it - it sits quite flat. I think it will look completely different once it's washed. Oh, and I've chosen the colour with the smallest area for the pebbles - best decision ever. It will cause pain anyway ;o)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend

xx Jess

Leaving it till the last minute...

I know this is totally my fault, but I'm starting to freak out a little. As my four year old keeps reminding me, its only 6 sleeps till Christmas. And I have got SOOOOO much to get done before then. Yes, I should have started this stuff weeks ago, but I kept getting distracted by new projects... so my WIP pile is massive and I have a few things that are barely started that I need to get done for gift-giving.


Firstly my 1001 peeps quilt, which I have always intended to be for my daughter, needs to be finished off. I decided that this Christmas was the perfect time to give it to her. The quilt top was finished, so just needed quilting (which is done - yay!!!). After much deliberating on how to do it, I decided to do an 'echo shell' type of quilting. Which looks great. But took nearly 10 hours to do (I'm used to getting a baby sized quilt stippled in around 2-3 hours, so this was a shock!)

It's quilted all over in this way, which has given it a gorgeous texture and although it took a long time it was really easy to do, and has motivated me to move away from stippling to other FMQ styles. It's also made me realise how much I love the quilting process - it's really just like drawing on fabric with my sewing machine :)
So this one at least is nearly done - the binding is made, I just need to sew it on (machine all the way, baby!)

Second, my Charmed Prints QAL quilt for my nephew. I (perhaps stupidly) decided to pebble quilt this one, and I am glad I decided to - the texture is just amazing! But again, its going to take a LONG time to finish. I've done about 1/3 of it so far:

It's fun to do, but pretty thread-intensive (I've used about 3 bobbins so far, so I reckon it will be 9 or so by the time I finish - and the area I'm pebble quilting is only about 37" square!!!)

Next on my to-do-by-Sunday list is a bag for my sister (I'm using Elizabeth Hartman's Margaret Bag pattern - totally cute!) which is cut out and needs sewing up. Also a bottle-bag for each of my parents - this is the outside panel for one of them:

I'm photographing as I do this one, so it will probably be a tutorial at some stage :)

Hope you're Christmas gift making is going better than mine!

Happy (panic) stitching,
Jess