A Few Finishes

18 Mar 2014 12 Comments

by averyclaire in Easter, Hand Quilting, Ornaments, Quilting, Trapunto, Whole Cloth Quilt Tags: , , , ,

I have been hibernating to finish out this crazy winter!   At long last most of our snow is melting.  Chicago (Chi-beria) is now beginning to thaw. We have had a few warmer days, but not enough!  However, I did finish a few things while keeping warm.

My yellow whole-cloth quilt is now complete.   I finished doing the trapunto work a few weeks ago.   I am in love with the quilt and am so sorry it took me SO LONG to finish it.   My thanks to Tim Latimer whose beautiful hand quilting and exquisite trapunto inspired me to complete this.  Please visit his blog to see his work.

Yellow Whole Cloth Finished

Next I finally did the “finishing” of two Christmas ornaments I did a while ago. I made some for friends for Christmas and liked them so much I made a couple for myself.   I KNOW that the photo background is not exactly a “christmasy” background, but my quilt was JUST SITTING THERE waiting to be photographed again!  Note…the red on the ornaments is really red…not orange!  (Both ornaments are Little House Needlework patterns.)

Xmas Ornies Jan 2014

And last but not least is an Easter ornament that I love. I have a couple more in the works but they are not completed yet.  This ornament is from a Prairie Schooler  leaflet entitled “Folk Eggs.”

Easter Egg 1

QUESTION FOR MY READERS:
Does anyone out there have the pattern from Prairie Schooler called “A Prairie Garden“?  It is rather old.   I wondered if anyone out there would be willing to sell me theirs?   Please let me know if you have one for sale or trade.

During the last blog hop I was lucky enough to be the recipient of some very nice gifts from Joyce at “Joyces Love of Life” blog.   Please visit her here.   She has a LOT of lovely cross-stitch projects in the works!    Thank you again Joyce for the lovely gifts.

DSC_0024

Others things have been in the in my studio, but my wonderful lovely Husqvarna sewing machine is in for repair at the moment.   Hopefully it won’t be TOO expensive for the repairs.    I was working on a king size red and white quilt and it just up and quit on me!    Oh the pain!    But then my hand stitching is getting caught up, so I shouldn’t complain!

Hope the Spring Solstice scares away the frigid north winds and lets the balmy breezes blow up from down south!

Amities, Averyclaire

It’s Off the Frame!

29 Jan 2014 16 Comments

by averyclaire in Cross-Stitch, Gifts, Hand Quilting, Quilts, Thank You, Whole Cloth Quilt Tags: , , , ,

I had GREAT fun this past weekend with the Grow Your Blog Party.   I have met SO MANY wonderful people and have seen such exquisite work and great blogs!   Thank you very much to Vicki of 2 Bags Full for coordinating this.  I am quite sure it was an overwhelming amount of work!   Looking forward to seeing more of the beautiful work that I saw last weekend.

Yellow Whole Cloth - Copyright

Yes…my yellow whole cloth quilt is almost completed.  I took it off the frame last week, squared it up and put on the binding.  Then it was soaked and washed (to get all the pencil marks out).  I love the look of it being all crinkled up nicely just like an antique quilt!  To be honest, I was TERRIFIED that some of the pencil marks might not come out.   This was a quilt I had begun years ago and stuffed in a drawer until last spring.  I took it out re-marked some of the lines and finished hand quilting it a couple of weeks ago.  Luckily all  of the pencil lines disappeared.  I am working now on trapunto-ing the flowers and leaves (corners and center circle). It is not taking as long as I thought it might…goes rather quickly.   Ahhh….I will be able to check another UFO off of my list!  I am in love with this new addition to my quilt collection!

U make my heart happy 1

Also finished this small cross-stitch done on 32 ct. linen, finished with twisted pearl cotton and has a wool back. The pattern is from Homespun Elegance and is called “You Make My Heart Happy.” I made this small gift for a dear friend who lives in France, Maggy, for her birthday.  It can be used as a pincushion, a door hanger or a small wall hanging.  She received it in the mail last week and loved it.

Thanks again to all of you who stopped in to visit my blog during the blog hop…and to all those to signed up as regular visitors. I am delighted and honored.
I hope to see more of your lovely work soon.

Amities, Averyclaire