Monday 19 May 2014

Painting, plants and embroideries

It may seem like a long time till August but this year I'm determined to be better prepared for Festival of Quilts than I usually am. I've already started to make pincushions. These always sell well as they make nice gifts and don't take up much space in folks' suitcases! The embroidery machine has been purring away in the background while I free motion quilt a waterlily panel on the opposite side of the workroom. It's the most satisfying feeling - I can't tell you how much I love the sound of stereo sewing machines!


This first batch are worked on indigo dyed fabrics, some of which have also been rusted. They were free motion quilted for a previous incarnation but have now been up-cycled using Husqvarna digital embroidery designs.


While I'm in the zone I've also been making more 12 inch panels to decorate the stand. Laura printed and quilted the fabrics and I've been adding embroidery with another Husqvarna design - I couldn't resist Alliums when the garden is full of the real thing right now.


We've got white ones and yellow but the purple are definitely my favourites.


These are only just opening but they'll soon be magnificent, first as blooms and later as enormous seed heads that last for months.


Just in case you think I'm going soft with all this flowery stuff - not all the flowers in our garden are so innocent looking! We're deciding where we can put this monster so the evil smell will not put us off our dinner. It attracts flies so nowhere near the house that's for sure!


Can't remember if I've already let you see this but my latest crow painting is waiting to be scanned and digitally printed. I'm hoping Jamie can print it full width of the fabric for a bit of drama!


Finally, I've had complaints about the lack of Amelie photos lately. Maybe she's trying to avoid the paparazzi these days. Looking cool anyway!

Thanks for reading this. Talk to you again soon with more on preparations for Festival.

6 comments:

  1. Love seeing this update and I do have a question for you about the pincushions. Would you please share what you use to stuff them? TIA

    And thank-you for posting a picture of Amelie. She is so adorable. It seems she was just born, and to share her growing up with your readers is such a joy.

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  2. Amelie just brings so much joy. There is something about little children in sunglasses that makes me laugh. They always seem to be posing. I love the crow painting. I am working on a quilt based on Poe's "The Raven" for my Aunt, so any crow/raven items catch my eye. I am guessing that plant is in the Arum family? Dramatic, but if it is what I think it is, the smell of skunk cabbage comes to mind. :) Have a wonderful week.

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  3. I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing the crow painting quilted on your blog Linda. Sadly, I can't make the FoQ this year.

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  4. Hi Diane - I've used a variety of fillings over the years but now I've settled on polyester toy stuffing. A lot of my pincushions are bought as decorative objects rather than functional so being lightweight is an advantage.

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  5. Dear Jeannie,

    You are so right about the cabbage smell - rotting cabbage at that!

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  6. Dear Rachel - Laura tells me that Jamie printed the crow painting for me today but it hasn't be end steamed and washed yet. I can't wait to see how it's turned out!!

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