A Slew Of Maritime Beauties

Maritime Beauty continues to be a very popular pattern.

Here is a sampling of pictures of Maritime Beauty for inspiration in choosing your colours. This is the original version...and still my favourite!

Hoffman snowflakes are fussy cut to fit the space.

Nancie Wiseman Attwater of CA used bright Kaffe Fasset prints. 

I do apologize to the following makers for not adding their names here - please feel free to shout out if you see yours posted. They've all been identified in past posts.

 (Chris McCarthy - this one of your cat still cracks me up!!! :)

This totally scrappy one of Gail's is one of my favourites.

 This is a new picture in today from Myrna Allison;  you may recall Myrna recently shared her Roundabout Again .The directions for this placemat are included in the Maritime Beauty pattern, which Myrna made this weekend on retreat: Love the colours!

Star Of Beauty

Yesterday, the November issue of AQ Magazine arrived, and in it is my New York Star Of Beauty. You can see why it is so named, as the blocks meeting in the centre form a secondary star design.

Amazingly, this quilt only uses one block, but drawn in different orientations on a 60 degree grid. It is quilted with radiating lines in a gold metallic thread.  Alternate rays are stippled to allow the neighbouring one to pop up.  I just love the blue centres for the New York Beauty blocks.

For fun, Hubby and I took the quilt to be photographed at the Gemini Observatory at Mount Allison University.

In person, it appears that the outer row of NY Beauty blocks spins around the centre.

Except for the blue, the fabric is from a gorgeous Hoffman collection called Narumi. (The blue is actually a Fairy Frost).

Narumi contained a stunning border print, which I used as the background for under the spikes and also in its entirety for the backing.

Here's the cover of the magazine;  locally, it is available at Chapters and Superstore.  You can also purchase it directly from AQS here.

If you'd like to see the quilt in person, I will have it with me Saturday at the Zonta Bazaar.

Come Visit The Zonta Bazaar

The Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival opened yesterday in Amherst, and it's always a fabulous event.  This year I will be taking part in the Zonta Fibre Arts Bazaar:

I'll be there with signed books, patterns, and a select number of quilted items. Come check out the Aurifil thread!  There are dozens of colours in two spool sizes and THREE different weights! (Secure credit card transactions available through my nifty little Square reader - your numbers are neither recorded nor stored.)

Specialty packs are also available.

The Col. James Layton Ralston Armoury is easy to find, and close to all festival events.  

See you Saturday!

Red Work Holly

I've been doing more stitching with the Aurifil 12 weight thread and am really excited with the results.  I've long been an admirer of Red Work, but uncooperative fingers don't allow me to do much hand embroidering.  Doing it free motion is incredibly quick and easy, and very satisfying. Red Work is so feminine, you can't help but love the delicate look. I decided to stitch out a Christmas wreath I had designed a few years ago.  For the first run through, I only did the centre section, thinking it will make a sweet cushion.  A little red piping on the edge  will frame it nicely.

Since it turned out so well, I added some patchwork chequerboard, pieced with a solid red and white from Michael Miller's Cotton Couture line. The needle thread for the Red Work is Aurifil 12 weight and in the bobbin is Aurifil 50 weight, both in my favourite 2250 bright red. I traced the design with a red FriXXion pen (and hope that won't come back to haunt me...) Then I layered the top with wool batting, and a polka dot backing.

I timed the stitching of the centre heart:  3-1/2 minutes, which included a stop to take a couple of pictures.

When I finished the lines in red, I switched to a 50 weight white cotton thread and quilted the piece as usual.

A plain narrow red binding frames the edge.

I've stitched it three times now, each version quilted a little differently. As easy as it was to stitch, it was certainly not easy to photograph.  By our holly hedge seemed a logical spot, but the yard was shaded and the stitching doesn't show well.

This one on the table is a little clearer, and you can see how nicely the stitching looks.  You would never know it wasn't hand embroidered.

Thank you to Cheryl Coville for her help in proof-reading the instructions. You can download the pattern for Red Work Holly here or order a printed copy from my website. I'd love for you to try this method and let me know what you think!

Aurifil 12 weight - Clinical Trials

I finally got a chance to play with the Aurifil 12 weight thread I ordered in.  I am excited by the possibilities wound in each spool.  I've sewn with 12 weight thread before, but never successfully through the needle - it always ended up having to go in the bobbin, and my work stitched upside-down. This Aurifil thread is different.  I gingerly started stitching some samples to test it out.  I didn't even have to adjust the tension on the machine.

The thread has a silky finish which goes easily through a size 100/16 Topstitch needle.

Free motion embroidery with this thread holds lots of promise.  I traced a simple design onto white cotton and layered it with tear-away stabilizer.

Not bad for a first attempt! Honestly, it's way better than I could have stitched by hand...and literally done in minutes.  I can see some cute Red Work Christmas ornaments in my future.

Blue Work is fun too.

This time instead of doing it with stabilizer, I added batting and backing and quilted through the layers. You can see where I checked the thread tension on the side - again, no adjustment needed.

I had this basket block on hand, so I added a bit of embroidery to jazz it up.

This gorgeous straw-gold colour reminded me of grape tendrils, so I dug out some grapes leftover from a liturgical project. (nothing gets thrown out :))

What an easy way to add quilting and embellishment at the same time.

 The thicker thread has much more impact than a 50 weight.

So far, I have the 12 weight thread available for sale in red, black, gold, blue, white, and leaf green.  I used the latter on a quilt which will appear in the winter issue of Quilter's Connection. Obviously, I can't show that quilt online as yet, but I will have it with me at the Zonta Bazaar on October 17.  Next post I will show more Red Work. (I am going to have free-motion embroidery on everything in the house!!)