First of all INTENSELY pleasurable to read all the kind comments on the TASTy bird. THANK YOU all!
The workload on the home front has been intensive, too, keeping me away from needle and tread.
Today I can only tell you that I have continued the quilting in the border of the bias tape quilt.
From the picture you can see that I am using 'ordinary' sewing thread and a long needle. We all quilt in different ways. When I am doing just three layers (e.g. a whole cloth quilt, or top, wadding and back, and no bulky seam allowances from pieced work) I hold the needle between my thumb and index finger and use no hoop nor a thimble. The needle then needs to be long. MY way!
In this particular quilt I have used so many various kinds of thread for the ornamental stitches I also quilt in 'whatever' I have. After all, it is a wall hanging and will not be washed (ever?), so I can break all the rules!
Here I am using a reel of thread from my mother's stash. I know just what dress she used this thread for. It is nice to think of her while working.
.............
This has nothing to do with WIPW but I made a couple of birthday cards:
Spring flowers of felt with embroidery.
My brother- and sister-in-law are teachers of traditional Japanese dance and were ordering new summer kimonos for practise and lessons. I was given the fabric swatches left by the salesman:
Lots of beautiful fabric!
20 comments:
Sometimes life is very demanding and there is no time left for our personal passions.
When I do handquilting my stitches on the backside are always too small. I will give your method a try! Thanks for sharing.
The birthday cards are very nice! I like them, they ssem to bring springtime.
I'm looking forward to see what you will do with your beautiful fabric swatches.
I too am using up old thread from my Mothers stash. It includes threads from my grandmother and a lot of her sisters my Great Aunts. I only have a few memories of my Great Aunts so sewing with thread they had is lovely.
Oh, I wish the birthday cards would bring spring forward. It is still too cold in Tokyo.
The fabric will have to go into the stash. I have promised myself to first finish the UFOs, then start new things. Plans are forming in my head, though. Didn't you get a lot of inspiration at the show in France?
I am sure your Great Aunts would be happy to know you are making good use of the thread they did not have a chance to use up themselves. Among Mum's things were thread that might have belonged to Grandmother or even Greatgrandmother. That thread was so old and 'frail' it could not be used.
Enjoy your thread!
How wonderful to have things from your Mother and Grandmother. My Mother didn't sew but I did get a few things from my Grandmother, which I have used up years ago. I often wonder if my daughter will keep my threads? Those fabric samples look delicious.
Great post! Your birthday cards are so charming! I have been thinking of making similar cards with sashiko designs - may I ask where you get the blank forms? And... yes that fabric is just gorgeous - what good fortune! I hope you will blog about what you eventually do with it. What a sweet thing, to use your Mom's thread. Even the tiniest elements - tiny stitches with thin thread - can add so much meaning to a project. And I agree - there are many ways to quilt; we each have our own. I hand quilt without a hoop now and find it much easier.
I hope your daughter, or sons!, will keep your thread. Even if they don't find a use for them right away, one day, someone in the family will want to use them, I would like to think. Why not prepare a pretty sewing case with a selection of things you love so that it is tempting to keep forever? My father handed out tools grandfather and greatgrandfather had used to all relatives in my generation. It is with great pleasure I use the same screwdriver they used 100 years ago.
Thank you for your kind words, Cynthia
Sashiko greeting cards will be lovely, to make, to give and to get. The empty window cards are from Sweden and Britain. I'll check where in Tokyo we can get them. Let me come back later about that.
The kimono fabric is very fine so it has to be used for something delicate, and my head is still buzzing with ideas. First there are those UFOs though!
I am quilting along the outline of the print so the stitches don't really show up, that is why this thin thread is ok.
Love your cards, yet simple but oh so pretty!
Good to see you're still working on your quilt. The cards are so lovely. I'm looking forward to see what you're going to do with that yummie fabric.
Thank you.
Felt is good for cardmaking; it does not fray and will never be washed so you can use any 'bleeding' thread!
Slow progress, but will eventually finish this quilt. Also need to make some more cards for birthdays in March and planning what to do with the kimono swatches.
Those sample swatches are a real prize if you can get them. I have been gifted some real gems over the years. The problem is finding all the other fabrics to go with them.
I agree, the problem is finding other prints of the same low weight.
Foundation piecing is a possibility to stabilise the flimsy fabric, or fuzzy cutting for appliqué...
Oh, the swatches are beautiful!!! Seems to be a very Japanese relationship. And I see that you are sewing with German thread!! And I am sewing with American thread, I mean quilting, when quilting by hand.
Had I been handquilting a pieced quilt, I would probably have used the US made Dual Duty thread. This is good for an utilitarian quilt (e.g. child's play quilt) that will be washed and washed.
For 'finer' work I use whatever thread takes my fancy.
love your birthday cards Queenie and congrats on the bird, top of the leader board on SF and well deserved
Thank you, Margaret.
Well, you were at the top recently, too, with your lovely Hardanger biscornu. Well done!
Your cards are lovely and your swatches are so beautiful. Like you I use the old threads of my mother and it is always a pleasure.
What lovely looking cards and the fabric looks wonderful. Looking forward to seeing what you will make with them.
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