An Enjoyable Week of Stitching

This past week has been a productive one. I feel as though I've made progress and thoroughly enjoyed myself in the process.

I put the finishing touches on Connie's purse and mailed it to her. She has a show coming up soon in Tucson, Arizona and I hope she enjoys her neck purse. She has created a great product and I've found so many wonderful uses for it. McCalls Quilting Magazine has an article on Connie's cordmaker in the March/April issue due out soon.

My landscape is complete except for the backing and binding which can wait until a later date. What fun I've had with this project! "Points of View" by Valerie Hearder is an excellent book with many new and fascinating concepts. Her instructions and explanations are thorough and concise and definitely a "must read."

My final addition to the landscape was my fence and I really looked forward to trying the "vanishing muslin." I drew my fence layout with a pencil onto the fabric and then began my free motion stitching. This was my first project using the muslin and I put more stitching than necessary but I'm pleased with the results.

With a hot iron I pressed the fence and was totally impressed when the fabric began to turn a dark gray and disintegrate. My mind began to swirl with other ideas for using this neat product. If you would like to experiment you can purchase a product called Heat Away by Sulky.My next landscape will be a Texas one complete with a field of Indian paintbrush, bluebonnets and buttercups. The trees will definitely have moss hanging from them and I know I can make that authentic by using the vanishing muslin.

The picture below is taken in the yard of my dear friend, Lynnis. I love the way the moss hangs from the trees. On the right is a field bluebonnets

And now to my current project....two blocks for our 2008 wall hanging for cancer awareness. We currently have ten blocks in progress and another ten will be created. Be sure and check out the Flickr site to watch the "works in progress." It's fun to see the pieced blocks begin to evolve into mini works of art as embellishments are added. How very creative these wonderful ladies are! While you are at the Flickr site be sure and check out the 2007 wall hanging.

I wanted to applique a large butterfly to this first block and used a fabric given to me by my dear friend, Melanie. A friend had recently returned from India and brought a number of beautiful fabrics and embellishments back and Melanie shared this wonderful piece. It's really close to the color of my background fabric but I was determined to use this beautiful piece.

I put a layer of high loft batting behind it and then used a gold feather stitch to tack it down. I didn't like the flat body and remembered a class I had taken at the Houston Quilt Market. Diane Ricks with Artemis silks had taught a butterfly pattern and the body was a separate piece. I drew one out the size of my butterfly and added it last night. I'm pleased with how it looks so now it's time for the embellishments.

I don't know exactly what I will do but plan to use beads and Kreinik metallics threads to embellish the wings. I will definitely do a beaded picot edging around the entire butterfly. I think this will help in setting it apart from the background.

On the left is a picture of my second block. It's pieced and ready for embellishments.

There are several in our group who are blogging the progress of their blocks. I will try and post some of their sites later.