I don't remember if I have ever shared this quilt with you.  I have spent the morning preparing quilts for my guilds upcoming show at the local college.  This quilt is silk dupioni and heavily embroidered primarily with designs from Jenny Haskins.  It is loosely based on her Heritage quilt.  Many of the flowers are embroidered on tulle and then appliqued onto the quilt.  I know that it doesn't show up well in the photos, but the entire quilt is embellished with Swaroski crystals, many blocks are couched with metallic threads and the sashing is quilted with couching.  The borders are cut on the bias, using a large checkered dupioni fabric.  That one wasn't one of my better ideas....borders cut on the bias..... what was I thinking?  But the finish result was worth the effort, I think.  Quilt was entered in a show in 2010 and won a second place ribbon. 

OK, enough of a break for me, I have quilts to prepare for the show.  I have been searching out pictures to go with the entry forms.  My Hearts Desire and Peaceful Pathways are ready to go to their first show. 

Here is my lonestar quilt, finally hanging on the wall after 3 years as a UFO.  What is really funny is that now I absolutely love it!  It was that little crooked seam in the middle that slowed down and eventually stopped all progress on this quilt.  After taking this photo, I realized that the Mariners Compass on the back of the sofa is also a pattern by the same designer.  That one is hand pieced and machine quilted. 

So now, with the satisfaction of a completed quilt, I am back to two other WIPs.  I have finally returned to Esther's beautiful Forget Me Not wallhanging, and another hand applique called Hearts and Flowers.  My least favorite part of an applique project is the actual preparation of the pieces, so I am willing myself to spend at least one hour per day doing this.  If I am able to get enough pieces prepped, I will have a peaceful winter with my hand applique.  Of course, I am totally incapable of leaving the sewing machines alone, so there will be another project coming soon!  My younger son is an EMT volunteer with the local fire department in our home town and he has been asking me for a couple of quilts to give to children in distress.  That will definitely be my next project, and a great stash buster as well. 

Off to do some household chores, then back to the ironing board to cut those tiny pieces for the lilac block!  I am not a fan of fusible applique, but I am also not crazy enough to try to hand applique those pieces!  So fused it will be!

I hope everyone has a productive week.  I am certainly enjoying reading the blog links on Esther's page.

 

 

UFO almost done!

 

This year I made a New Years resolution to work on a few UFOs.  I've never been good at keeping those resolutions however, but I do continue to make them yearly.  The ones about losing 10 pounds and starting a regular exercise program are the first to fail!  It may have taken me until September, but here is an almost completed UFO!  All it needs is the binding.......however, after 3 years, I can't be sure where that binding is.  I may take the easy way out and bind it in solid black, so it really is complete before I need to make resolutions for 2013.

 

This quilt is hand pieced, the star was mostly pieced while we were traveling cross country.  The original pattern called for hand embroidery in the squares, but I am more of a fan of machine embroidery these days.  The quilting in the star is blanket stitched by machine and the stippling in the squares was done on my Handi Quilter.  The border quilting is a teardrop design, but impossible to photograph black thread on black background.  The backing is black as well. 

 

The embroidered design in the center of the star wasn't a planned part of the project.  After assembling the star, I found a row that was crooked...... that is primarily the reason for it becoming a UFO.  When I decided this week to finish it, I figured I would cover up the offending seam with another design.  It works for me!

 

I am off to cut some new binding for it!  I hope you all have a great week!

Finally have found time to add to my blog.  It has been a hectic couple of weeks here, having some work done on the house, picking out paint colors, doing some redecorating too. 

This is a picture of a Storm at Sea wallhanging that I am making for a wall in John's den.  I chose the navy blue because the drapes in that room are navy.  The light background is actually a pretty beige and matches the fabric on the sofa that it will hang over.  The design was done in EQ7, which I am slowly learning how to use.  I am part of an online group currently doing the lessons that are provided in the software and I am learning a lot about the program.  This piece is almost done and I hope to finish it by week's end.  It is lightly quilted so it goes pretty quickly.  I am quilting it with Sulky Blendable in reds and it is actually quite pretty.  I still need some more practice on my HandiQuilter, the stitches aren't as perfect as I would like.  I have found that I need to start out each quilting day with a practice piece.  That helps me establish the rhythm that I need to keep the stitches even, or as close to even as I can manage. 

I have only completed 3 blocks in Esther's current BOM.  I am so far behind, but I hope to catch up over the winter.  The photos of the blocks on Esther's page are just beautiful.  So many creative people in the group. 

I hope you all have a creative and productive week!