Thursday, March 21, 2019

Switch-A-Roo

Last week, I started on a journey to create a table topper from four of the bird blocks from The FLOCK.

I think I left off having finished adding borders to the four bird blocks I chose. I continued on to create four triangular corners and a center made from the print fabric and some cream fabric. The top is done! And . . .


Table topper quilt made from bird quilt blocks


Then I was distracted. You've been there, right? The 'squirrel' in the sewing room. The UFO (UnFinished Object), the PhD (Project Half Done) . . . . called me to come to its 'rescue.'

In this case, my 'shiny new object' isn't really new. I've been working on this stylized hummingbird cross stitch piece (the pattern found on at Danceneedle on Etsy) for several months now, on and off.

I think I was inspired by the washing experiment I did on a quilted/cross stitched piece a couple weeks ago. Or perhaps I just got on a tear. Or needed some bright colors in my life after a gloomy, rainy, snowy week.

Mix in a fair bit of couch-potato sewing time in front a couple MCU movies over the weekend. And the  stitchery is finished.


cross stitched hummingbird quilted wall hanging


So now what?

I found this fun geometric print in my stash that goes perfectly with the thread colors in the stitching. So I used the applique technique I've been playing with and talking about, for the last month or so, to add a border all in one piece. With this technique, the border has no seams, so the geometric pattern isn't broken.

I've had a few requests for more details on this technique I'm creating, I hear you, and I promise I'll tell you all the nitty gritty soon. I think it's pretty slick, and I'm anxious to share, not quite yet though. I need to get a little more confident with it, first.

I cut a piece of the print about fat-quarter size and appliqued it in place on the cross stitch.

Then layered and pin-basted the quilt to prepare it for quilting.


cross stitched hummingbird quilted wall hanging


Because the linen/cross-stitch element has a pretty low thread count compared to the quilting cotton, I added an extra layer of fabric to the quilt sandwich:

  • Top
  • Solid Cream fabric
  • Batting (I like wool)
  • Backing


cross stitched hummingbird quilted wall hanging


That extra layer of fabric (among other things) made me think this piece should be machine quilted.

I followed the lines in the print to quilt the borders. . . .


cross stitched hummingbird quilted wall hanging



. . . That left me with a pretty puffy center. Yeah, one might argue that I shoulda quilted the center first.

I didn't.

I'm like that sometimes.


cross stitched hummingbird quilted wall hanging


I outlined the the bird with some machine stitching.

And this is where things fell apart a bit. I tried some free motion quilting to fill in the negative space on the linen.

Yuk. (I didn't make a photographic record, but trust me, it didn't work!)

I picked out those stitches and. . .

. . . Scratched my head a bit.


cross stitched hummingbird quilted wall hanging






Then I caught a view of this book from the corner of my eye, Joyful Stitching (aff.) by Laura Wasilowski. I bought it from Laura last fall.

I think I might find some inspiration here to fill in that negative space and de-puffify it a bit.


Joyful Stitching book by Laura Wasilowski #quiltinspiration


Sometimes, it's nice to justify a little chaos in the sewing room - things don't grab your attention when everything is put away neatly! (*wink!*)

I can't wait to thumb through the pages and get inspired.

Stay tuned! . . So many balls in the air! Or quilts on deck, as it were.

Happy Stitching!
Joan

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