Houston Auction Quilt Completed

I have finished my little quilt for the International Quilt Association's (IQA) Silent Auction which will be held at the Houston Quilt Show in early November 2011. The money raised helps support the activities of IQA including the quilt show.

I have named my quilt Crazy about Kookaburras and it measures 17" (44cm) square.

I think that it looks much better quilted. Quilting adds  texture and interest. Traditionally crazy quilts were not quilted and usally didn't include any wadding or batting. They were just the embroidered top and a backing fabric and then tied in certain spots to hold the two layers together.

I make my quilts to hang on a wall and so always include the wadding and quilting.

Bye for now,
Linda

Kookaburra has a Border

I have put a border around my Kookaburra block and I decided to add some embroidery as well. I used a feather stitch and then added some leaves, lazy daisy flowers and some colonial knots.

After I had finished stitching the border, I embroidered some more flowers in the top right corner because I thought that it looked a little bare up there.

A friend contacted me to say that she couldn't see where I had added the ribbon embroidery on the block, so I have a couple of close ups to show.

I added some ribbon flowers on top of the lace motifs.

I also added some ribbon leaves underneath the blue wren.

I have basted my little quilt and I hope to have some time over the weekend to quilt it. Nearly finished now!

Bye for now,

Linda

Ribbons and Beads

I am still working away on my small quilt for the Houston Silent Auction 2011. I have finished adding the ribbon embroidery and the beads and now it is starting to look finished.

I have used 4mm silk ribbon and most of them have been hand dyed so there is a slight variation in the colour. I think that it is not quite as flat looking as a plain silk ribbon.

I always use the Mill Hill small glass beads, I think it adds a bit of sparkle and light to the stitches.

Next I will be putting some borders on the little quilt and I'll decide if the border needs some embroidery as well.

Bye for now,

Linda

Kookaburra Stitching Complete

I've been very busy stitching my block for the Houston Silent Auction in the last couple of days. I think that I have just about done all the stitching that it needs.

 I added the fish near the bottom of the block using needle turn applique and used a few blanket stitches for their tails.

Next I will be adding some ribbon work and some beads.

Houston Mini Auction Progress

I have done the stitching on the motifs. I use a slanted straight stitch that is not as regular as satin stitch to give more realistic looking fur and feathers. I am looking forward to doing the rest of the stitching now.





Bye for now,
Linda

Houston Mini Auction

The International Quilt Association in Houston has a silent quilt auction every year. It is an invitational event and they have asked me to participate and blog about it as well. They only expect a small quilt and all the proceeds go to IQA to help them run the Quilt Show.
I decided to make a small crazy quilted wall hanging loosely based on the Kookaburra block in my quilt, Crazy about Australia.

These are the fabrics that I got out to use. It will be a combination of blues, greens and golds.

I wanted the block to be bigger than the original block, so I drew up another design onto a piece of calico and foundation pieced the base block. The block will measure abour 12" plus a border.

This what the block looked like after I had pieced the base and fused on some of the motifs that I plan to use. They'll look much better when they are stitched.

This is the blue wren after I had stitched him and he looks much happier now.
I have to finish the quilt and have it into Houston by September 23rd, so I will have to work on it and forget my other sewing until it is finished because I have to allow two weeks for the postage from Australia to Houston.
Bye for now,
Linda