30 November 2015

Allitare Mystery

Each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville generously hosts a free mystery quilt along. This year's mystery is inspired by her trip to Tuscany earlier this year. Full details and the clues so far can be found on Bonnie's blog HERE
I was not going to participate this year as I do not need another full size quilt, however I would like to make a lap quilt for my son and his girlfriend for their new flat. I have decided to make just over half of the units that Bonnie makes each week. I am rounding up to the nearest number divisible by eight and that will hopefully give me enough to play around with. I may have to make extra units once the final design is revealed, by I am happy with that. In the meantime I get to join in the fun and use up some stash!

I can't decide on my final colour scheme. Bonnie is using Black, Red, Gold, White/Creams and a constant Grey fabric. I have plenty of Whites and a lovely piece of Grey that I can use, but I don't have enough of the other colours. I don't want to buy anything so at the moment it is between two colour schemes.

White, Grey, Navy, Purple, Aqua

White, Grey, Bottle Green, Purple, Orange
Luckily clue one only uses the neutrals and the constant Grey, so I still have a week to make up my mind! I have stitched and pressed all my half square triangles and started trimming them and pinning in groups of 10
I just have these to trim and clue one is finished
I am linking up with lots of other Mystery Quilters on Bonnie's Monday Linkup
http://quiltville.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/mystery-monday-link-up-allietare-part-1.html

23 November 2015

St Michael & The Dragon

I have finished my embroidery of St Michael and The Dragon. I am really happy with how it has turned out, I think my silk shading is getting better. The goldwork still needs some work but I love the effect it gives and just need to keep practicing!
This is the original image I found on the internet (still don't have a source to credit)
My embroidered version, a mixture of silk shading (wings and robe), appliqué (tunic & dragon), goldwork (staff, halo, crown and dragon details) and split stitch (face, hands and tunic detail)










17 November 2015

TrunkShow

Soma over at Whims And Fancies is hosting an online quilt trunk show.

There are some fantastic quilts already linked up HERE I thought that it would be fun to join in, here are some of the quilts I have made over the last couple of years. Embroidery seems to have taken over my life lately, looking at these I am really itching to start quilting again!

Small bags and a sausage dog pincushion




I put together this quilt for a very special lady from embroidered squares from stitchers around the world
An Angel's Story, a favourite with my niece

A lap size Dear Jane
 Christmas Tree Skirt
 Santa Table Runner
 Snowman Quilt
 A combination of quilting and embroidery
 Hussif
 A Box of Chocolates
 A special quilt for my sister to use during chemotherapy
 Heron Wall Hanging
Embroidered and Quilted Needlecase
 Embroidered and quilted book cover
 Hexagon purse and needlebook
 Quilted Hussif
Hand and machine pieced, machine quilted
 Hand and machine pieced, hand quilted
  Hand and machine pieced, hand quilted
  Hand and machine pieced, hand quilted
 Machine pieced and machine quilted

And finally, a lot of time was taken up these last two years with a group project to celebrate the 800th Anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. I was one of 25 quilters who made these stunning quilts. They are just back from Houston, so they are very well travelled! You can find out more on our website http://www.magnacartaquilt.co.uk