isn’t it lovely?

i FINALLY figured out how to quilt the quilt  cut out with acrylic templates (custom made here), sewn by machine with a 1/4″-foot.

 

it will be 4 squares bigger than this, originally i thought even bigger, but having spent a lot of time and fabric on testing techinques i’ve run out of the green fabric – and so has the fabric shop! i am very happy to have figured out how to machine piece this – this way it may get done sometime in the near future

some intense googling has also given me the name of the pattern – flowering snowball.

and yes i did – last month i bought a new sewing machine! for some reason i just decided i needed one – after having used my mom’s husquarna machine since the 80ies.

since last time, i have also made 3 christmas ornaments from the book julekuler by the designers arne & carlos. the pattern calls for wool filling, but i put glass balls on the inside to give a better round shape, and gave’em a bit of rub with soap and hot water to tighten them up. very quick little project, but a bit fidgety with two colors, 5 needles and a glass ball…

guess what i did today?

FO – latvian hearts

i’ve had to tear myself away from the absorbing quiltety to get back to finishing the latvian garden-inspired baby blanket. the receiver was born in the middle of july, so i’m a bit behind. well, yesterday i focused and finally got it done

I have knit the edging, sewed it on to the back like your regular binding on a quilt.

after discussing it with a non-crafter-friend – decided to give the option of getting a fabric backing if small fingers get tangled up in the back. i have even bought the matching flannel, but we thought it’d be nicer with only the wool.

quiltetyquilt

i am very much in the crafting corner these days   the quilt has of course been my main focus. i’m still working on the right technique and on the road to deciding, i’ve googled A LOT! since i’m not the most experienced hand quilter. i’ve come across some interesting tutorials and books on the way, and these are the options i’ve tried/discarded:

1. hand applique using applique-stitch, using freezer paper

this technique is ok, my stitches are not too great, and it’s a bit annoying to stitch with the freezer paper on the piece being appliqued (but i’m sure it would work to remove the paper once the piece is ironed well)

2. hand piecing using running stitch (according to this book)

you can see the result of that in my previous post. of course, i can’t have that lump in the middle of every square… and it’s much more work cutting out the pieces…

3. hand piecing using ladder stitch

4. hand applique using ladder stitch (also called invisible applique)

both nr. 3 and 4 is done according to amy simms’ book invisible applique, and i actually emailed the author to ask which way to go and she replied “piece it”. so i tried, but somehow i found it not much different than option 4 and also – option 4 has less cutting.

so  the winner (so far) has to be – number 4!

this is, though, slower that option 1, but i totally like how it actually is invisible! very nice. and little work pre-stitching as you follow the exact drawn lines from the template and use needle-turn to tuck the seam allowance under. (i have, of course, not mastered that technique yet, so i’m mostly tucking with my fingers…)

but seriously, people – am i really going to HAND applique one whole quilt? won’t i then also have to hand quilt it? will i ever get it done?

i may look into option 5.

invisible machine applique.

(i wonder how people survived without the internet…)

(and – maybe i need a new sewing machine?)

hm…

interesting meet in the middle….

back to applique?

hand appliqué or hand piecing?

i think i’ve gone from appliqué to hand piercing, but now comes the question of machine piercing… guess i have to test it all. gotta love the process…!

(and weekend-rain)

i got distracted

i fell in love with this while blogsurfing….

having shot a picture of my screen showing this post from the inspiring diary of a quilter-blog. just now tying to figure out how to make this… i think keyword here may be hand applique – somewhat ambitious maybe? stay tuned