Showing posts with label decorative stitches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decorative stitches. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Branches and Leaves {Artsy Fartsy}

Did you manage to figure out what I'm making for my Aurifil and Island Batik challenge project this month?


Which of the five backgrounds do you think I picked? What do you think I'm making?


If you guessed the top aqua and using the hands to make the trunk of a tree -- you were right!


This project is going to be all machine applique and almost no piecing! To stitch the edges of the tree, I used a gold-tan 50 wt. Aurifil thread and a blanket stitch.


I was initially hesitant about the light thread on the dark brown fabric, but I think it actually works really well.


Next I added a piece of green for grass, using an olive green 50 wt. Aurifil thread for this stitching, but used a different stitch, a cross-hatch like stitch, to sort of give the impression of blades of grass.


I used the same thread for top stitching all of my leaves -- I used two different green fabrics for the leaves and used a blanket stitch for the leaves.


Next came switching over to the 12 wt. peach thread to create a heart on my tree trunk! Having used the 12 wt. thread a few times previously, I have found that I like to use a lighter weight thread in the bobbin and stitch slightly slower than my normal cheetah speed.


Here's my mini quilt top, ready to be quilted!


I have used two different thread weights so far -- 12 wt. and 50 wt. -- and I have a few other 50 wt. threads set aside for quilting as well. I'm not 100% settled on what other thread weight I will add into this project, but I have some ideas!

My very cheesy, slightly arty quilt is turning out pretty cute and I'm very pleased with it! It might not truly fit the "art quilt" moniker, but it's about as artsy fartsy as I'm going to get!

Friday, February 22, 2019

Stars at Play {Finished Mini Quilt}

My latest mini quilt is complete! Making mini quilts was our "assignment" as Island Batik Ambassadors this month -- a fun and quick project was just the thing for me this month!


These fabrics all came in my latest Island Batik Ambassador goody box and I based my fabric pull around the mottled "peacock" accent fabric. As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics to use and share with you! 


I decided to use our "in the pipeline" pattern Stars At Play in the mini quilt size for this project. I used this pattern last year to make a baby quilt! This mini is just a scaled down version of that quilt -- using 6" blocks instead of 9" blocks.


For the backing, I used a large cut of black solid batik (yes, this is a thing!) and layered it and the top with some pieced-together batting scraps. I decided on using the teal Auriful thread for the quilting but decided to use grey in the bobbin. Since the threads were just different colors of the same weight thread, I didn't run into any tension issues, which made the quilting process quick and easy!

I used a swirl-and-loop motif that I have used a few times before -- just in a smaller scale for the mini quilt.



For the binding, I used a grassy green batik. Instead of simple topstitching, I decided to go fancy and use a decorative stitch for sewing the binding to the front of the quilt. I used a leaf-shaped satin stitch (#25 on my Magnolia) in a chartreuse green Aurifil thread.



Now this quilt is ready to hang in my sewing room! 




Quilt Stats:
Name: Stars at Play Mini
Pattern: Stars at Play
Size: 24" square
Fabrics: Various Island Batik fabrics -- a half yard of the main peacock print; 5" strips of other fabrics
Quilting: curls and loops
Started: February 2019
Finished: February 2019

Sharing at Brag about your Beauties and Linky Tuesday!