Jacobean embroidery

I have finished a Jacobean embroidery, stitched in Chameleon threads on silk. I like using space-dyed threads, they give a such nice varied finish.

I always feel a great satisfaction when I get from this,

to this.

Design: from book by Via Laurie "Embroidery Techniques Using Space-Dyed Threads".

Threads: Chameleon hand dyed threads Perle No.8 and Stranded cotton.

Stitched on silk.



In fact I have enjoyed Jacobean embroidery so much, that I am starting another one.

It gives me a welcome break from the Scandianvian Christmas quilt.

I wish you all a very good week!

red quilt finished

At the previous T for T last May I bought very cheaply this red vintage fabric, which had some marks and damage. When I saw it I knew that it would make a good start for quilt.

I managed to salvage enough fabric.

Although strictly speaking it is red and blue, I call this quilt "red" for short.

I matched some fabrics from my stash and bought some new, to compliment the red.

I kept the design of the quilt simple as not to detract from the beauty of the old fabric.

This is the result:

The main fabric is unusual shade of red, difficult to match with quilting thread, so I decided to use a pretty shade of pink for hand quilting, which I think worked very well.

Fabric: vintage, from stash and new

Hand quilting thread: Aurifil 28, shade 2440

spring quilt - finished

A year ago we spent 2 weeks in a pretty town of Rattvik on the shore of lake Siljan, in Dalarna region of Sweden. (You can read more about our time in Sweden in "Sweden 2010" under "labels" on the left.)
I love shopping in Sweden, mainly for fabrics and items for home.
My favourite shop in Rattvik was this shop, on the main street:
full of things you never know you needed, until you visit.

I visited the shop several times during our stay and among my purchases was a selection of matching fabrics, which I thought would make a nice quilt.

I think this is the reason I love making quilts, seeing the transformation from a few pieces of fabrics

 to something hopefully beautiful and very useful at the same time

 

The green fabrics to compliment and for the backing, and also the pink for the binding I bought later in Midsomer Quilting .

It took me a while to decide on a design, I wanted to show the flower pattern at its best.

Eventually I found a design in the Magic Patch magazine.

All the quilting was done by hand, which wasn't always easy, due to a more open weave of some of the fabric.

I decided to call this quilt the "Spring Quilt", because the colours of the fabrics remind me of spring.

It will now live on our sofa to keep me warm during chilly summer evenings. It will always remind me of our holiday in Rattvik.

Threads used:

hand quilting : Aurifil 40, shade 2902 light sage
embroidery: Presencia Finca No8, shade 142

aurifil threads

                                          Welcome to my new "sweet shop"!

                                                          Aurifil threads

I  discovered this beautiful Italian thread when I was doing stitcheries for the Scandinavian Hearts tablecloth and my baking cloth.

I also used it for quilting my Tail Feathers quilt. I like their colour shades and the way the threads handle.

Aurifil 100% Egyptian cotton threads come in 4 thicknesses, Mako 12, 28, 40, and 50, the lowest number being the thickest. It also seems to wash well, and depending on the Mako you use, suitable for any job.

I have at last found a very helpful UK website, stocking Mako 28, 40 and 50. If they haven't got the shade you want, they will order it for you.

Meg at New Threads Quilt Shop has been very kind and ordered me a couple of shades in Mako12, which I want to use for Easter tablecloth and to do some embroidery on my "Spring" quilt and Mako 40 for quilting it.

My "Spring" quilt is ready and waiting for the lovely threads to arrive.

"Scandinavian Christmas Hearts" tablecloth

I finished my tablecloth just in time for Christmas, I am so pleased with it!

                                              I even had the time to hand quilt it.

 

The other side of tablecloth, which I have made less "Christmas" like, so it can be used all the time, not just at Christmas.

Design: Northern Quilts

Fabric: mostly Moda, also Fabric Freedom and some from my stash

Threads: embroidery Aurifil 2260, quilting King Tut 972

tail feathers quilt

Yesterday was a perfect afternoon for it. Outside was wet and windy, but inside the fire was glowing.
So I settled down in front of TV, put on DVD (Jane Austen's Persuasion) and finished stitching the binding on the Tail Feathers quilt, at last! How better to spend an afternoon like that?
I fell in love with the quilt first time I saw a picture of it about a year ago and I knew I had to make it.
And here it is!

The quilt was originally BOM, but by the time I discovered it I had to get the whole package. This was nearly a year ago, but I did not start on it until early summer, when I took the first stitchery with me on my holiday. I enjoyed the embroidery parts of the quilt most of all. The rest of the quilt is done on the machine.

I am mainly a hand stitcher, but as this is the largest quilt I have made to date, 1.5m x 1.5 m,  I decided to machine quilt the whole thing for the fear that if I don't, it will end up another UFO. This is the first time I machine quilted anything, and I don't do machine embroidery, so please don't look too close.

Design by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches;

Fabric: Moda, mainly Mill House Inn, purchased with the pattern from the lovely ladies at Buttonberry;

Threads: embroidery DMC threads 470,680,733,830,3328,4120, machine quilting Aurifil 2110.

Wadding: "Warm & White" cotton

where has the week gone?

I have taken this picture of a Red Admiral this week. There have been quite a few of them in the garden, feeding on the last fruits left on the plum tree. Eventually one of them settled on the fence to sun himself. Isn't he beautiful?

I have also stitched together all the main blocks of the Tail Feathers quilt.

I am now working on the border, which is made out of 24 log cabin mini blocks, with 4 stitcheries, one in each corner.

We are slowly getting ready for the autumn and the winter. The boiler has been serviced this week and we have filled the tank with heating oil, ready for the central heating to be switched on. The coal also arrived and logs are stacked, both ready for our multi fuel stove, which can keep all of downstairs warm and cosy, when there is no need for having to heat the rest of the house. The days are still beautiful and sunny, but the warmth has gone out of them and the night are getting colder, so the change of the quilt was required.

We are still making most of the weather, with regular trips to the forest.

We have not been picking as many edible mushrooms this week, but this morning's find was enough for our breakfast and to fill up a tray for drying. It is still relatively early, we normally pick well into a late October,

so there is hope yet.

I have also made another bird for the Textile group's Christmas project.

The postman was really good to me this week.

 Two new books from Amazon.

                                                                    Fabric and Tilda stitchery from Tikki.

Moda fabric from Puddleducks.

Aurifil quilting thread from The Tabbycat.                  

And an Australian magazine and Tilda fabric from Coast & Country Crafts & Quilts.

I should have enough faric to choose from to start my "Scandinavian Christmas Hearts" BOM!

And to finnish the week, Workbox magazine arrived this morning.

Christmas project

Well, it must be true, Christmas is coming! It started with the Christmas fabric birds. Today the postman brought a packet from Northern Quilts in Norway, a pattern for a Christmas tablecloth "Scandinavian Christmas Hearts". It is BOM, in 4 parts and this is part 1. With it I also ordered Aurifil thread in Christmas red. It is an Italian thread, new to me, so I am quite curious about it.

I do have another two quilts on the go at the moment, but I am getting on with the "Tail Feathers", I am now stitching the last block.

I must admit that it is a bit difficult to seriously think about Christmas, when outside it looks like summer and the garden is still full of colour.