Plenty: Still to be done

Remember Princess Plenty? It's a design I love, by Australian quilt teacher and designer Lynne Alchin. I started it last year, entirely hand pieced and hand appliquéed. Consequently it's a 'slow burner'.

 Every quilter needs a slow burner, don't you think? A project you can take with you to stitching get-togethers with friends, work on in front of the tv on cosy winter evenings, or pop into a cabin bag when you travel, just in case you find yourself with time on your hands. 

You can be sure if you don't pack some handwork you'll find yourself twiddling your thumbs in an airport transit lounge for seven hours, bored to bits. It's there in Section 3 Clause 10b of Murphy's Law.

Here's the plot so far...

Princess Plenty's central border is temporarily stalled, waiting for me to complete and attach that final sawtooth border. What can I say? too much repetition wearies me.

Something more engaging, the first of four intricately appliquéed borders, has been occupying my attention in the meantime. It even travelled with me to Zimbabwe and Botswana in February.

Leaves, vines, berries, pears, cornucopias, stars, birds, various flowers. There's always something different to work on so I'll never lose interest, and I'm loving it.

Another quirk of mine is that I like to tweak a quilt pattern just a little, rather than reproducing it exactly. What can I say? I'm full of weird ways😊

Here's how I created this little yellow and blue flower. 

I cut a yellow background, according to Lynne's pattern, and fussy cut a circle for the flower centre.

Using a circle I'd punched in card I made the flower centre by drawing up the fabric around it and pressing, then appliquéing it to the yellow background.

Next I turned the flower over, carefully cut the centre out and removed the circular card. This also helps the centre to pop when the quilting is done.

I snipped around the edges of the flower and, using a Sewline glue pen, folded over and pressed the petal shaped edges with my finger and thumb. 

My interfacing of choice here is Floriani Stitch and Wash Fusible which gives a nice firm base for shaping my appliqué pieces prior to stitching.

I took 8 x 1cm sequins and, using the method I described in this tutorial, made dots and appliquéed them evenly to the front of the flower. I've found that with circles this tiny it's easier to get a smoother circle if I leave the sequins in while I appliqué them.

I slit the back again and removed the sequins. At this point it's ok to cut the gathering threads on the wrong side to release the sequins because they are securely appliquéed down.

Voila! My finished flower!

Sure, I'm making slow progress on Princess Plenty, but what's the hurry?

Princess Plenty - Marking the borders

Do you suffer from quilting withdrawal when you travel? I get a little twitchy if I don't pop some handwork in my bag, just in case I have some time to fill on a plane, in an airport, or in the evenings.

This time Princess Plenty was to have been my traveling project. Ha! Fat chance!

So far this trip I've slept on the flights, walked around in the airports to prevent DVT, and collapsed in a weary heap most evenings.

But at least I'm prepared.

This is the stage I'm up to with the central medallion of Princess Plenty, my Lynne Alchin-designed quilt. It's been relatively simple going so far, and I'm loving those princess feathers in Lecien Flower Sugar and a couple of other similar florals.

The deep outside borders step things up a notch, a deliciously elaborate confection of appliqué fruit, birds, flowers and vines, with cornucopias in every corner. I was so keen to make a start that, after hand piecing only two of my narrow sawtooth borders onto the centre, I skipped ahead, figuring that this wide appliqué border would make the perfect traveling project, if I could just prepare the pieces beforehand.

I traced all four borders from the pattern sheet using a light box and a black Frixion pen. A glass-topped table with a lamp placed on the floor underneath is another simple way to trace the design.

The light shows up the pattern easily and the Frixion pen makes a nice clear line that won't rub off with repeated handling, but disappears with heat when you want it to, just by ironing.

Sometimes this isn't a good thing. Imagine you've just finished appliquéeing a flower, you sit back and admire your handiwork, and without a second thought you reach for the iron to complete your work of art by pressing it. Eeeek! You've just wiped out all the design around it!

Don't worry, if you want it it'll come back if you just pop your work in the deep freeze. Unless you live in an igloo at the North Pole this disappearing/appearing trick shouldn't be a problem, though I do think its advisable to launder your work when it's done, just to be sure you've seen the last of those lines.

I'm primarily using fabrics from my obscenely large scrap stash for the appliqué, so a reasonable way to make sure I have enough of each fabric would be to work on all four borders simultaneously. 

However I want to be sure all my shades and fabrics play well together before committing them, so I'm going to complete the appliqué on one border (making sure I only choose fabrics with sufficient to cover the lot) and once I'm happy with the finished product I'll go on to appliqué the other three borders simultaneously.

Besides, I'm easily bored if I have to work too long repeating the same fabrics or shapes. ✂️

Coming up for air

Sorry I've been a little quiet of late, dear reader.

My creative voice has been somewhat muffled because I've been buried under a monumental pile of paperwork and admin tasks and a tad too often the sun has set on my day before I've had time to complete all the tasks on my To Do list.

Life's events have slowed down my productivity and the words just haven't flowed as easily. Perhaps you know the feeling?

Let me give you a quick glimpse of what's been keeping me smiling in spite of everything.

I've been...

Having fun…
…making a gingerbread village with the Princess when she came for a sleepover.

Cooking…
…apple slice and other sweet treats for some visitors.

Learning…
…not to leave the leftovers on the coffee table while I go outside to farewell my guests.

I wonder who "tidied up" for me while I was gone? I couldn't be cross with him, though, when he showed me this "sorry" face.

Sewing...
…with my friends at our latest class with Blue Mountains quilter Lyn Alchin.

Their Laurel's Stars quilts are looking so gorgeous, aren't they?

Di B was so keen she's finished her quilt top already - Oh, what a feeling!

Hosting…
…a rather depleted English Quilt Group for the first time in my new home.

Circumstances prevented Gail, Rae, Anne, Robbie and Wendi from being here, but it was fun to catch up with two of our travellers, Lyn and Jill, and hear tales of Mediterranean cruising and travels in Turkey (from Lyn) and traversing Russia via the Trans Siberian Railway (from Jill).

I love visiting exotic destinations vicariously through my adventurous friends!

Jill's making steady progress hand quilting this spectacular Mariner's Compass quilt for her daughter.

For a change from quilting, Lyn was crocheting granny squares in vibrant colours for a rug.

Helping…
…Di B and our friend Jane use safety pins to sandwich the quilt Jane's making for her daughter, another lucky girl.

We introduced her to the nifty Kwik Klip, a finger-saving tool we'd never be without for a job like this.

Growing…
…my little balcony garden.

My lime tree loves its new home and has a healthy crop of fruit, the diplodenias are climbing high, and the petunias, snapdragons, pelargonium and orchid brighten my day with their bold colours.

Being blessed…

…with new readers. My balcony garden's not the only thing that's been growing.

May I extend to you a warm welcome if you're a reader who's started following my blog as a result of seeing Snippets 'n' Scraps featured in October's Down Under Quilts.

The name of my blog says it all. I write about the snippets 'n' scraps of my life - quilts my friends and I are making, the joys of being a grandma, travel, photography, as little cooking as I can get away with, and settling into a new home and the next stage of my life after my husband's sudden death last year. 

Every day I'm conscious of God's blessings to me, but sometimes, when life throws me a curve ball, I can't help asking God "Why?".

I don't think He holds that against me :-)

Laurel’s Stars - One quilt, so many different approaches

As you know already, my friends and I are working away on several quilt patterns by delightful Blue Mountains quilt teacher and designer, Lynne Alchin.

We fell in love with Lynne’s Laurel’s Stars pattern when we saw Anne’s interpretation (above) of this exquisite applique quilt, and I can’t tell you how excited we were when Lynne agreed to travel down to us at Paddington Patchworkers to teach us this and another pattern, Princess Plenty.

It never ceases to fascinate me how a single quilt pattern can inspire so many amazing variations, and I’m loving every one of these.

This is Lynne’s own softly interpreted Laurel’s Stars quilt.

Di B has machine appliqueed  her leaves in a stronger green, and done something sneaky (of course!). She has fussy cut her star shapes in a single piece instead of paper piecing them, as in the pattern instructions. This meant she could preserve the charming floral posies in the centre of each one. Good thinking

Sue has added even more drama with strongly contrasting swags around a meticulously fussy cut star inside the inner circle.

Janet’s is gentler and more muted, with lots of interest from fussy cutting too. Just look at those swags!

A variety of greens adds liveliness and interest to Rae’s leafy wreath, and that warm red in the star and swags is one of her signature colours.

You’ve seen this one previously, but I couldn’t resist adding Desley’s vintage-look scrappy version to the gallery.

It’s going to be fun watching – and sharing – their progress.

Di

Laurel’s Stars and Princess Plenty

Remember how excited you felt starting out, at the beginning of the school year, with new exercise books and folders? When Paddington Patchworkers invited delightful Blue Mountains quilt designer and teacher, Lynne Alchin, to come and teach a class Di B decided her besties needed folders to keep all our cut-out pieces and applique shapes organised.

The concept is simple, a loose leaf ring binder filled with zip lock plastic pages that can hold all those tiny pieces that seem to get left between the cushions or on the floor under the chair. You could just use ordinary household zip lock bags, but these are made specially to fit in binders and are more robust.

For the covers Di picked a fabric she knew each of us would love – and she certainly hit the spot with my Kaffe hot pink fans!

Gail

Di B with Rae

If you’ve been following my blog for several years you might recall this quilt made by my friend Anne a couple of years ago.

It’s Lynne Alchin’s design, “Laurel’s Stars”, and was the quilt that first sparked our determination to have Lynne come and teach us. When Gail successfully secured her Lynne brought her original “Laurel’s Stars” along to our class and oh my, this quilt is exquisite.

Di B chose this quilt to make for her mother, Margaret, and since she’s such a machine applique whizz she had it finished to this stage in no time. Go ahead, you may drool now.

Rae’s more of a handwork lady, and her starry borders are coming together steadily, piece by piece. This is the only photo I have so far. [Does anyone else use their pants as a pincushion? I confess I do]

Desley’s put her own quirky spin on Laurel’s Stars by using only fabrics from her scrap stash to complete her applique – and I love it!

My own choice is Lynne’s “Princess Plenty” quilt (seen below), with a centre star surrounded by huge feathers, a pieced border and then …. (be still, my heart) … a deep border of applique vines, flowers, fruit, birds and cornucopias.

I’m using some of my treasured Robyn Pandolph florals, along with Lecien Flower Sugar fabrics, so mine will look very different from Lynne’s.

Already I’ve made a rather cheeky design adjustment. I wasn’t happy with how the centre points of my star met (or didn’t meet!).

My solution? A tiny applique dot to hide my sins. Have you seen my tutorial for these babies?

It’s so great to be embarking on another major handwork project along with my quilting friends, and seeing their variations on the designs really gets all our creative juices flowing.

PS. I’ve had a few requests lately for advice on how to assemble the Joseph’s Coat/Orange Peel blocks I used to make my “Daisy a Day” quilt, and I’m preparing a tutorial on this. I’ll post it as soon as I’m able.

 Di