Peekaboo Bears - a Mini-Mini Quilt

I thought you'd like to see the completed mini-mini quilt that I started while on my trip to Australia. I posted some in-progress photos and more info about the pattern here.

It is mostly hand quilted with perle cotton, although I did do one outlining machine stitched line using 30 wt Aurifil in hot pink in that navy border. The binding was sewn on by machine and hand tacked to the back. Sadly, my hand-piecing accuracy is not the best (it's been ages since I did much hand-piecing) so most of those pretty points were lost around the outside, but I think overall it's still adorable. I hope my partner in the Ottawa MQG likes her little bears.  All I know about her is that she shares my aversion to brown and she likes Cotton & Steel fabric...this is 8" x 8" of 100% C&S!

I embellished all of the bear eyes with a french knot - so cute!

I really enjoy participating in the swaps we do at VMQG because they tend to be small, manageable projects with a generous time frame to complete them. I'm thankful for the volunteers that take on the organisation and planning; in this case Amy. Our guild ships everything in one go (or sometimes we get lucky with a traveller who can personally deliver the goods). The rules for this one were "make a mini-mini quilt that has an outside perimeter of less than 48 inches". Perfect!!

If you've read Poppyprint for a while, then you know I used to swap like a fiend back in the Flickr days, starting with the famous Doll Quilt Swap.  I think one year I did over 10 swaps and learned many new things every time. Making stuff especially for another person according to their wishlist can be a really fun challenge.  Although I love participating, sharing and receiving beautiful handmade things from around the world, I try to limit myself to one or two a year now and that seems to be the perfect amount. Guild ones are great fun and it's especially fun to connect with other Canadian groups.

How about you...swapping anything these days?

Blowing My Hair Back I

Just popping in with a little finish that you saw here before I added the big-stitch hand quilting. The name is explained in the original post, as is the source of inspiration for this 22" mini that I have grown to love despite the in-yer-face colour scheme.

I was lucky to have the opportunity to take and review Gwen Marston's Abstract Quilts in Solids class available on iquilt.com . They often have sales and specials on the site, so when they do, grab your chance to learn from the lovely Gwen. Her gently encouraging teaching style is my fav. This quilt is exactly modelled on one of her "string block" class sample quilts.

I love the fun details and shapes that emerge when they angled lines of the quilting meet!

I decided to quilt this in a large running stitch using 8wt. white perle cotton. Gwen often does free form zigzag quilting on her abstract work and it's super effective, so I thought I'd give it a try. I marked the lines with a 1" x 6" ruler and a Clover white wax pen so that they would be straight, but unmeasured. I'll definitely do this again as I love the effect. I quilted this whole piece over the course of our summer vacation on Hornby Island...mostly waiting for, and riding on, the ferries (it takes 3 boats to get there!).

I've made a start on a second abstract quilt based on other lessons in the class, but I think I'd like to grow it in a medallion-style like Gwen so often does. I may refer to her excellent book Liberated Medallion Quilts that is in my home library for some additional ideas. I have enough scraps of these fabrics, that's for sure!

I'm really enjoying working with solids and a limited palette at the moment. I've got another fun improv quilt to share next week that is a sample for an exciting new workshop I'll be teaching in the coming year.  Check back Monday for that one as part of the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Poppyprint Embroidery Sampler

After my recent embroidery course, I wanted to get busy and practice some of the new stitches I'd learned before they were forgotten. Suzanne requested a hoop featuring some of my poppy-printed fabric for our private swap. It's not complete yet, but here is where things stand at the moment.

I picked up this oval hoop at a charity shop last spring and have been wanting to use it for a swap. The fabric is a natural linen printed with red ink and I used Presencia perle 8 cotton for the embroidery. My idea was to embellish the prints, using their symmetry to guide my stitching, without entirely concealing the printed forms. Check it out: I learned how to do Shisha!

It's more fun saying Shisha! than it is stitching those little mirrors on, trust me. I need more practice to get my stitched frame more symmetrical (obviously). Please don't ask for a tutorial, because this is a technique you've got to see done right in front of you. Possibly 10 times over before you will 'get it'. Ahem. I may need a trip to India.

Next is an old stitch with a new look. How adorable are these sets of three nested lazy daisies?

Something else I learned is the wrapped spider web. Perfect for the season!

I have a bit more work to do and hope to show this in it's final form in a day or two. I have a thought about finishing the edges of the hoop that may or may not work....

I'll be mailing the hoop inside this embroidery project pouch that I made before our summer holidays.

Made with 'twofers' leftover from this project's flying geese blocks.

Here's the flipside, with some stitched dragonflies.

My to-do list is dwindling now that I am almost done with swap commitments. I'm not taking on any new ones so I can free up some creative time for Christmas gifts and a bed quilt for us that I want to have pieced before the holidays. Here's to a productive week ahead!

Pile of Perle 8

This is not what I went shopping for this morning.

But I had visions of this dancing in my head and I thought these delicious Presencia perle 8 cottons would stitch the wee woodland faeries up so beautifully.

I especially love the variegated ones. These are made in Spain and are definitely eye candy for the sewing room! I'm much more inclined to buy and display these perle cotton balls than use floss skeins anymore. No separating strands involved, no stray floss leftovers, no re-wrapping around plastic cards. Presencia has DMC and Anchor colour conversion charts available here.

I have only stitched one project with this cotton and I enjoyed it, so am anxious to do something more substantial. I must say that I wasn't thrilled with their machine threads. I've sewn with the 50wt and while it's got a beautiful sheen on the spool, I couldn't believe how linty it was! I've never had thread fill my bobbin case and machine with so much lint, so quickly. I'll let you know how the perle goes!

Or, I might just put it in a pretty jar and stare at it for a while....