January 29, 2017

The Glue Pen workout

If you've been reading my blog posts for any length of time, you will know that I love applique. Many of my designs feature it, and mostly I have used the fusible web/blanket stitch method. You can see a post I wrote about that here.

However, I really do love the look of needleturn applique and after some initial very poor attempts, I discovered the glue pen/Appliquick method a couple of years ago.


I needed a "sitting down and taking it easy" thing to do last week, so out came the applique paper, my Appliquick tools and the glue pen.


I fused, cut, glued and turned over edges ...


... and refilled the glue pen .... and again ... and again, till I had a heap of prepared shapes.


I didn't feel like doing much else last week so sat and relaxed and watched a movie, or the tennis, or cricket which gave me plenty of opportunity to attach the shapes to the background.


and so my row quilt is growing.


I made a row of Dresdens a few weeks ago and it's all quilted ready to join up to the other rows:


While plums were cheap, I did some preserving:


... and thankfully I was able to buy some more Glue Pens!

Happy stitching!
Val

January 15, 2017

2017 Free Block of the Month Wall Quilt - Hand-picked Wardrobe BLOCK 1

I'm excited today to launch my 2017 free Block of the Month Wall Quilt. I have called it:

Hand-picked Wardrobe



It is based on some fantastic and oh-so-relevant verses from the Bible in Colossians 3:12-14. The Message version puts it this way:

"Dress in the wardrobe God picked
out for you ..."

and then it goes on to enumerate the character traits that we should wear every day. I love sharing God's Word and I hope you will enjoy stitching these wonderful words with hundreds of other stitchers around the world.



The pattern is FREE, for personal use or to make as a gift. You may also give a copy to friends and tell them where to find me, but please do not use the pattern for profit.



If you have a blog, I would love it if you would put my
"Hand-picked Wardrobe" button on your sidebar, or post it on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram etc so that other stitchers can share in this free pattern. Here's the button for you - Just right click on it and Save image as or Copy image over to your site with a link back to my blog.


The wall quilt measures 32 inches square and will be broken up into 12 blocks. Each month this year, I plan to give you the pattern for another block plus the finishing instructions. Each new block will be available for free download until the end of 2017. 

The first item in our wardrobe is compassion - how this is needed in our world today:



If you hop over to my Craftsy Store, you will find Block 1 there.


As always, I would love to see photos of your completed block!

 
We have had a heatwave here so it's certainly the weather to be indoors stitching in front of the air conditioner! The result is that I have completed another row of my new QAYG quilt and all the appliques are done on a different section so it's ready for quilting - still deciding how I'm going to quilt this row, but it's certainly easier for me to manage just an 8 inch strip than manoeuvering a whole quilt under the needle.

Before I get to the machine again, I have another job on my list - to preserve a case of plums. They have just become plentiful in our area, which means they're at a good price. It's a bit of work now to process them, but the result is that we can enjoy them on our cereal throughout the year.

Melting heart moment of the week was when Grand-daughter skyped us and asked could we order some play-dough 'food' in her pretend cafe! Thanks to the wonders of technology, we watched her more than 1000 kms away, prepare our nachos, hot dogs, and dessert, all beautifully presented - it actually made us feel hungry!  We are blessed to have such beautiful grandchildren.

May you know many blessings in your life too.

Val 

January 8, 2017

Ushering in 2017

Happy New Year!

Many years ago, I used to make New Year resolutions, but discovered that usually they would barely last a week and they would be either broken or forgotten. For 2017 I am very happy to live a day at a time with no great plans, excitement or trips on the horizon. We live in such a wonderful place, that we’re quite content to spend a lot of time at home.


I enjoy assisting in our Church. As well as hosting a Home Group, I maintain the website and the song database, prepare rosters, play for services and try to fulfil my role as a deacon, so there's plenty to keep my retired hands and mind busy. 

Of course, the pull of needle and thread is as strong as ever and I hope to be able to continue in 2017 to make pretty and practical fabric projects. 

A new year is a good time to start a new quilt. I roughly designed a row quilt recently and prepared a few of the appliqués but in the last week I have actually started putting some of it together. There's a Drunkard's Path row:


and some Sawtooth stars:


The Fabric I am using is the Welcome Home Collection 1 range and it is just beautiful to work with, as well as to look at!



I am making the project using the Quilt-As-You-Go method and those two rows are now already quilted, which is so easy since I am only quilting an 8 inch strip!

The 2017 free Block of the Month design is hanging on my sewing room wall and I'm enjoying looking at it every day. I plan to launch the programme next weekend, so make sure you come back to collect the first block.

Here's a tincy wincy sneek peak - see if you can guess the theme!


Till next time,

Val