Long Time... No post...

Hi Everyone,
just wanted you all to know, that I have been lurking even though I have not really been able to comment much lately, I do keep up to date to see what all of you are doing.

I am in awe of the speedy ones and jealous of the 60 shoo fly block progress I just saw :) I've been leaving my shoo flys but will need to touch them soon.

This photo is from last week:


I have now commenced the long top stitchery, and still have the chain stitch flowers, the satin stitch flowers and the hill to go! [And then of course I have to sew my shoo fly blocks!]

Hope you are all doing well and happy with whatever stitching is going on :D

Q

Parlan help? :)

Well, now that I have all 60 of my Shoo Fly blocks done, I'm ready to start the embroidery.  I have a question though...I'm wondering what others in the U.S. are using instead of Parlan?  I have purchased three products so far, and I'm not liking them.  The first was a supposed light weight fusable batting, but it seems quite thick.  I have also purchased featherweight iron on interfacing and that is nearly impossible to hand stitch through.  So, my question is...what is everyone using instead of the Parlan, and could someone post or email me a picture of what Parlan actually looks like so I could try and find something similar?

Thanks for your help! --Kristen  http://meadowbrook-Kristen.blogspot.com/

Vignette Mystery Quilt Found Me!

I was so excited to find this beautiful quilt and magazine! We are a little slow getting things to the USA but when I came across the magazine the fabric's and embroidery just jumped out of the computer at me. I love the wonderful colors of the fabric's. I haven't done a quilt with such bright fabrics before, so when I saw it in May I couldn't wait to find the magazine's and fabric. After searching I found both and ordered right away!
I was just finishing a quilt when they arrived so I was able to get started with my blocks for block one!
I haven't embroidered in years but it was one of the first things my mother and grandmother showed me how to do! I'm really hoping to get done with the first three magazines before four comes in September. Wish me lots of luck!

And thank you Perri for letting me join!

Julie

Already!!!

I've stuffed up already!!! I don't like destroying books or magazines so I scanned the stitchery patterns and printed them out so I could pop them onto my light box and see through properly. I thought they looked a little small and I even checked out the blog to see what everyone elses looked like and, still, I  persevered. I just figured I would adlib some flowers and be clueless as to why mine was different! I even remeasured and rechecked my cutting. This morning it hit me that I had printed it a different size so I checked... sure enough it had printed at 93%! I'm such a nit wit! I have dithered about with whether or not to unpick it or not and have decided that I have to. So much work down the drain! So here is my progress so far...

... to only get rid of it!

If anyone was worried that this quilt wasn't for them because of the bright colours, don't be! It is looking delicious in darker traditional/ country colours!!! I'm working on the shoo-fly blocks and should have an update on them soon!

Block 4

I have made a little progress on block 4 ... I completed the shoo-fly blocks in the weekend and have started the stitching, so far I have finished the bird stitchery ...

I am really enjoying getting back into this quilt, I love the stitcheries that Leanne has designed!!
Happy stitching, Wendy

Hexie Quilt...Row One in Progress.

Thought I would start putting my Hexies together in Rows...I will Baste these so I can hold onto them when sewing them together Properly...I am using Blackbird Designs Fabrics a mixed Bag...This Quilt will be Called 'Scrappy Blackbirds'...
Cheers
Maree

Better Late Than Never!

I discovered Vignette a couple months ago through PamKittyMorning, a favorite blog. I love Australian quilt magazines, so when heard this one, I knew I had to have it! Once issue one arrived in my mailbox, I drooled all over it and immediately decided to make the mystery quilt. I loved the fabrics and colors Leanne had chosen, so I found a shop that had most of the Sweet Broderie fabrics. I don't have a complete 100% match, but that's okay - the stand-in fabrics have a similar look and feel.

When all of my fabrics arrived, I wanted to start the stitching immediately and thought I would do the stitching first and then attach it to the patchwork. I realized, though, that with the batting behind the stitching panels, the seams might be bulky. Of course, I had already started stitching the bird - oh well! I rethought my plan and decided to do it the way Leanne suggested. Just last night I finished the block and now I'm ready to get started on the stitching.

Since we don't have Parlon available here in the US, I went to my local quilt store and got the thinnest batting I could find to use as the backing. I'm trying to decide if I should use a spray adhesive to attach the batting or just baste it into place with thread. I worry that the spray might gum up my needle when I do the stitching. Any thoughts?

Another concern I had was fraying around the edges of the block as I work on the stitching. I've thought about using some Fray Check around the edges to keep everything intact. Has anyone else done that? I don't want to make any mistakes on this gorgeous quilt, but the edges already show some slight fraying and I haven't even started the stitching yet!

I'm exciting to be a part of this blog! Although I'm an avid blog reader, I don't have my own blog, so this is a first for me. Many thanks to Perri for allowing me to participate!