slow stitching

I have been away from my blog for a while...been busy, all good...but now that things are getting back to normal, I hope to get back to my blog.  I thought I'd begin with a relaxing project that is making me happy.  Why? Because I have had these vintage blocks for years and haven't known what to do with them.  Well, I decided to do some needle-turn appliqué and these vintage blocks make the perfect background!

I don't know about you, but I like to have some sort of "slow stitching" project handy.  This one is going to be fun.

I decided to cut out petals, and when I layed them out, it seemed that five were just enough.

My next step was basting the petals a little more than 1/4 inch away from the edge.

Now it was time for some slow stitching...in this case, needle-turn appliqué.

I plan to make a at least a dozen blocks, so my hope is that "practice makes perfect", and I will get more comfortable with my appliqué stitch as I go along : )

Here are two finished Petal blocks:

And of course, I had my helper at my side to occasionally play with the thread!

piece,

elizabeth

wool applique quilt

I finally finished my wool appliqué quilt that I started

several years ago!

It has been a fun project to pick up and stitch…. a few blocks at a time.

I used gold perle cotton to blanket stitch around the hearts and also to tie the

top to the flannel backing.  

Here's little tip to make threading your needles easier…thread lots of needles at once.

That way when you run out of thread on one needle, the next is ready to go!

I decided the pull my threads to the back of the quilt so that the front would look smooth.

I didn't use any batting with the wool and flannel because that would have

made it very heavy.

This is a very cozy little quilt that I know will come in handy this winter.

piece,

elizabeth

liberty circle mini quilt #2

I made a Liberty of London mini quilt for my recent LOL swap.

This was a pattern that I had already made, but this time I think

I had a better grasp of circle making : )

You will find my first liberty circle quilt here and here.

It has always been one of my favorites!

The circular appliqué pattern is found at The Purl Bee here.

This mini finishes at 20"X20" with 20 circle appliqués.

The Liberty of London tana lawn fabric is so beautiful

that it can make a simple mini turn into something gorgeous! 

I used osnaburg cotton for the background fabric and crochet thread

for the big stitches.

Darcy, my swap partner was very pleased with her mini quilt and that 

makes me very happy.  I also sent along the  hexagon pincushion, coasters, and

a few other goodies to make the swap a little sweeter : )

I should be receiving my LOL swap package soon….I am getting excited!

piece,

elizabeth