Happy Labor Day! I hope you had a nice weekend and enjoyed the holiday. It was nice to stay home one extra day and catch up on things around the house. I finished my
. The pattern is by the very talented Beth
. You can find her tutorial for the block and the quilt pattern
. It is a beautiful pattern and it comes together really easy. And they fussy cut in the center of each block is a great opportunity to showcase pieces of your most treasured fabric pieces. I used some of my beloved Alexander Henry Paris Flea Market. I have been saving it for something special and I thought this was it. Specially because I decided that this quilt was going to be for me. lol.
While the quilt top came together quite fast it felt like it took me a while to finish this quilt. The quilting really took me a long time. I decided to do Free Motion Quilting all over and I hit a few bumps along the way. One time I forgot to set the stitch length to zero and the thread kept breaking and I had to do a lot of unpicking (not fun). I checked and checked and everything seemed right with my machine, but the thread kept breaking. I was so frustrated (I even cursed my machine a few times), and when I was ready to give up I realized that "little detail" about the stitch length. I felt so silly afterwards. But after that incident the quilting was a smooth sail. And the whole experience made me feel more confident about FMQ. I really love the way it turned out with lots of crinkles all over. I backed the quilt with flannel. This is my fist time I use flannel for a quilt backing: it feels so soft and cozy!
Quilt Stats:
Measures: 54.5"X74"
Fabrics: Alexander Henry, Glimma Kite Tail, Glimma Trees, Moda Comma, Kona Steel, Legacy Studio Natural and Joann's Quilter's Showcase.
Quilted by me.
XX
Martha.
A few days ago Kristy @
was looking for pattern testers for her latest design. I've been so busy, but I couldn't help myself and jumped at the opportunity. Kristy's designs are fantastic and this one is not the exception. The pattern is called Teeny Houses and consists of 9 different 6" blocks. Every little house is a bit different from the other and they are adorable. I had the pleasure of testing one the blocks. My experience with paper piecing is still limited, but the pattern is very well written and easy to follow. It comes together very quickly.
Anyway, after I finished testing the pattern I decided to make my little block into a wall hanging to decorate my sewing room. The words on the mini quilt are embroidered with DMC embroidery floss on natural linen (linen is my absolute favorite fabric). The quilting is free motion quilting with single loops all over. Yes you heard it right, free motion quilting! I finally tried free motion quilting for the first time and I am so pleased with the results. I still need to practice a lot more, but thank goodness the linen is very forgiving and it doesn't show much my mistakes.
XX
Martha.
