Tuesday, 4 March 2008

This one's for Helen!

On Saturday Helen came over to bring the new club banner which she had pieced. I am taking it over now and I will satin stitch around the edges of all the letters and then layer and quilt it. Helen also brought me a present - a white flannelette sheet to replace the green one on my design wall. I have complained about the green sheet and how poorly quilts photograph with a pale green background but I wasn't able to find any plain white sheets at the time. Thanks for thinking of me Helen! And here is a photo of the Row by Row (with some sashing ideas) on the new white wall - and by the way, there are more flower heads to be stuck on the stems on the wild flower strip between the two lowest rows.

And here is a photo of the first letter on the banner, satin stitched with the embroidery thread Helen gave me. I have tried both reels Helen and both broke when I went too fast. I'll see how they go if I keep the speed down! I ironed on some light interfacing before doing the satin stitch and I'm using a wide 2-step zig zag because we want the wide white edging to make the letters stand out from the background. I know my stitching isn't as smooth as it could be but I'm sure that by the time I've finished the banner it will be much better!

6 comments:

Susan said...

I think that those letters look good. Your quilts are really beautiful.

Birdydownunder said...

wow again that is some quilt. Very creative over there in NZ must be the water. :)

EGE said...

Jeepers, you are really a quilting animal! All these projects going at the same time and here I am, knitting booties in two different sizes!

Unknown said...

I like very much the row by row quilt. I think the poppies are wonderful! Maybe you should change your needle if the thread keeps on breaking and choose a size bigger.
I use the 90 embroidery needles with thicker embroidery thread and it works very well. Take care.

Janice said...

Thanks Gwen - it was a fairly thin embroidery thread and wasn't giving such a good finish - I really wanted a solid white to make a sharp edge on the letters. I gave up after the third letter and now I've bought some plain white poly thread and we'll see how that goes.

Helen said...

Hi Janice

Sorry about the thread :-(
I now confess that I hate doing satin stitch, so I am doubly appreciative of you doing this.

The row by row is looking fab!