I'm on a roll here ....!

Brrrr.... goodness it's cold outside!  This is definitely the winters of my youth!  A great time to sit inside, fire nice and toasty and stitch the evening away!

A while back (March 2012), I wrote an entry on Sulky - Sticky Fabri-Solvy for use in transferring hand embroidery designs.

I'm still a big fan of this product and would like to share with you what I have learned from my experience in using Sticky Fabri-Solvy for the past couple of years.

If you expect it to needle as easily as a design traced on fabric, you will be disappointed.  Having said that, it is not that difficult to work with and it's benefit, especially when working with a complex embroidery design, outweighs the bit more pressure you need to push the needle.

I would like to offer the following advice:

1) This is a water soluble stabilizer and is sensitive to humidity levels.  I would suggest that you place your unused sheets in a resealable plastic bag.

2) If you have numerous blocks to hand stitch, do not prep your blocks all at once.  Stick you design once you are ready to hand stitch.  I found that the product, once the paper backing has been removed, tends to dry easily.  If it is humid (summer months) it actually makes the needle sticky.  Now that could also be from my hands being moist from the heat.  When I worked in an a/c room, I did not have that problem.

3) Once in place, it is best to complete the block as soon as possible.  I had a stitchery that sat around for a while (around 8 months) and the stabilizer became difficult to needle.  As I've mentioned in number 1, being water soluble, it is sensitive to humidity levels and actually became dry.

I would suggest you place your photocopied sheets and work in a Ziploc bag.  It creates a somewhat stable environment.

Hope this helps.  Please feel free to share you tips using this product.  Thanks for stopping by!

Gorgeous snow fall .....!

Wow, what a storm!  Brrrr ... it was cold outside!  The wood stove fire was roaring ... nice and toasty inside!

This is what greeted me this morning at Fibre Junction!

Shovel, shovel .... a path has been cleared!  I love snow!  It had been such a long time since we had a storm.

On the quilting front, I managed to put together this little quilt.  The pattern is called Santa Quartet! by Bird Brain Designs!

I like to look at this project as being ahead for the holidays! ;o)

I have so many of these hand embroidered blocks and/or quilts done.  It's finding the time to piece the top and/or machine quilt that seems to be lacking in my life.  Sometimes, okay most of the time, I just want to sit and do something mindless and hand embroidery allows me to do that.  Piecing and/or machine quilting requires thinking! lol

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Keep well!  Cheers!

C'est moi ....!

How are ya?  For those in the Northeast, are you getting ready for the snow storm headed our way?  They are predicting 12 - 16 inches of that white stuff!  That would be nice given that most of the snow has missed up, but not the cold weather!  I love snow!

I've been a busy quilter and managed to complete a few projects, one of which I will share.  It is appropriate given our weather forecast!

The pattern is called "Snow Friends" by Primitive Gatherings.  This is a wool on cotton quilt!

I had such a good time working on this quilt ... they are so happy!  So much so, that I completed the project in less than a week!  It's the machine quilting that dragged on! lol

Here is an outdoor shot!  Brrrr..... it was cold that day!

Given that Seam-a-Steam 2 Lite is no longer available, for now anyway, (at Fall Market I did speak with the Warm Company representative and they mentioned that they cannot get a supplier for the special paper that is required) I used Heat N Bond Feather Lite Fusible.  Let me tell you .... I LOVE it!  I will not go back!  It needles like butter and my Snow people's heads and what nots are well secured!  It's not stiff at all and the quilt feels great!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyber space! I have a few more finishes to show you!  Later!

Side of the Road .... homage to an unknown quilter!

I've been a busy quilter.  Lots to show, just no pictures at the moment.  I did want to do a photo shoot this weekend using the barn as a back drop, but it was to windy.  Oh well....

What I do want to share with you is this beautiful quilt that a customer of Fibre Junction, Claire, graciously let be borrow to study the design and re-create the pattern.  The story of this quilt is quite sad, but luckily it has a happy ending.  

Claire found this stunning quilt on the side of the road, in a trash bin, some 20 odd years ago.  It was filthy .... Yes, this is a rescued quilt!

The quilt is made using feedsacks dating from 1930 to late 1940's, hand quilted and the batting is cotton.  Unfortunately, there is no label on the quilt, so the quilter is unknown.

Here you get a better view of the hand quilting.  Where there is some shifting of the batting, the stitches are intact, so I'm puzzled as to why the batting shifted so much.

You can actually see the maker's pencil markings and how the cotton batting shifted to one area.

The fabrics are absolutely gorgeous, the colours retained most of their vibrancy despite the bleaching the quilt had to undergo in order to remove the filth.

Check out this indigo blue.

I do like how the maker made the backing work for the size of the quilt by adding pieces here and there.

And .... I even found a make do! Is that cool or what?

I must admit, I enjoyed studying this quilt, looking for unique finds.  For one thing, one of the sides of the sawtooth border has one extra half square triangle than the other. Yes, it is lopsided, but you wouldn't see that when the quilt is opened.  Unlike today, math was not a pre-occupation for our ancestral quilters, nor was perfection, which is really what makes their quilts so beautiful.  

It is a shame, yet a blessing that this quilt was discarded as rubbish.  Claire enjoys this quilt and has allowed myself and many of the Prairie Women Sewing Circle club members to admire it's beauty.  Thank you Claire for your willingness to share your treasure.

I have since worked out the instructions and plan on making the pattern available soon.  I have named this quilt Side of the Road - it is my way of paying homage to the maker of this quilt.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed the entry!  Cheers!

Hey, how are ya'll doing ...?

I do hope well!  Myself, I've been keeping out of trouble.  ;o)  Getting lots done on the quilting front.  I sure hope you are too!

A while back, geezz yea back in November, I wrote a post about playing with a fabric line, Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille.  The top has been finished for quite some time, I just forgot to share!

The pattern is called Surfside by Camille Roskelley.

Scheduled a play date with Penelope.

And voila!  A done deal!

Such a happy fabric line!  I love how it turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!