Saturday, May 29, 2010

Rightly or Wrongly....

Rightly or wrongly..... I decided to have a go at quilting the "Butterfly Enclosure, " quilt myself. The reason being, I need the practise and to pay someone else to do it when I am not that thrilled with it swung the decision. So,on Thursday, backing fabric all washed, I enlisted some help from R to straighten all the layers ( found a clean broom useful )and crawled around the carpet while I pinned the 3 layers ( cotton/ bamboo batting ) together.
 Here I have started stitching in the ditch around the straight lines working from the centre panel first then out to the borders from there. Surprisingly, so far, so good.
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Yesterday was so wet in the morning that it was surprising that 29 ladies came to P and Q group. I got there really early and had the heaters on, so we had a pleasant day which became fine by home time.
S one of our newer members, but already a good helper, has years of experience ( is / was a trained Elna technicion ) and has done commercial sewing for 20 years, gave a really informative talk on "Getting quilts to hang straight and how to straighten your fabrics."
R a quilter of only 4 years, but prolific, told us of her quilting journey so far. I asked her to pose with one of her many quilts. This cat one is such fun.

I just have to show you this quilt that N has finished the top for. It's for a friend who wanted a quilt with "The Lady of Shalott," on it. Wow!

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 So far during May we have had 267 mls  or 10 . 5 inches of rain! ( that's what happens in BOP ( Bay of Plenty ) whatever we are getting ; sun; wind or rain we get plenty of it at one time )
Right now is a slack time for us on the orchard so apart from gardening ( leaves! ) and shelling nuts we have time for hobbies; R's  medical appointments; renewing drivers licences( mine ) and all those extra things.
 In R's case, buying a new big ride on mower ( Huslter ), that he will spend hours using over the next few years.

Have a happy weekend everyone and those in the Southern hemisphere I hope you stay dry and warm.
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6 comments:

  1. Jennifer12:03 PM

    I would be interested to see how you find working with the bamboo/cotton batting - I nearly bought some the other day, but was undecided.

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  2. Meggie7:42 PM

    I have used some of the bamboo/cotton, & I like it. Nice & stable, but then I am no fancy quilter.
    That cat quilt is wonderful!!

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  3. Meggie7:44 PM

    I also meant to say, the Lady of Shallot is gorgeous- what a daunting project! So well done!

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  4. Tracey Petersen7:57 PM

    Good luck with the quilting. It's always really satisfying to do it all yourself..
    Hope you stay warm and dry too!

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  5. Joyce10:15 PM

    I'll be interested to hear what you think of the bamboo batting. I haven't tried it yet. The Lady of Shallot quilt is amazing. Is it hand appliqued? If so it's even more amazing.

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  6. julieQ3:20 AM

    Waht awesome quilts you shared!! I like the bamboo batting I tried...thin with a nice drape.

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