Clover and stitch

During the first meeting of 2024 in February, friend Ansulet Swanepoel demonstrated a rather mind-blowing technique enabling quilters to turn any photo into an actual quilt.  Yes, any photo can be printed on fabric and incorporated into a quilt, but she developed a technique whereby the photo is broken up into squares or triangles in the size of your choice and then printed on 100% white cotton.  The only prerequisite being good, high-quality photos to prevent pixelation from happening. 

After requesting a specific layout, a preliminary design was done and send for my approval.

Happy with the layout, the actual breaking up of the photos into the individual shapes started.  The printed shapes already include a 1/4" seam allowance and all pieces are numbered to simplify the process of matching the correct pieces.  All that you need to do once receiving your printed pieces, is to cut them on the edge, match them up and start stitching.

After aligning all the bits and pieces and sewing them all together, I ended up with a beautiful, quilted photo.

Me and my husband decided to use our two grandsons, Aiden and Nathan's first school year photos and made each a cushion by adding matching black and white gingham.

So, if you have a special photo you want to convert into a really special keepsake, just contact Ansulet on +27 83 406 9461 or visit her website Clover and stitch for Clover sewing products, wool as well as a variety of other stuff.

Santa Claus

Visting the grandkids over Christmas time offered me the opportunity to embroider the Large Applique Standing Santa of Kreative Kiwi as they decorate their house for the holidays.

Although we personally do not participate in any of the festivities or put up any decorations, it was such a cute design, I just could not resist.  The design is reversable, so I used similar colors at the back.  Total length when done is 650mm/26.5".

Fabric used included chintz, bridal satin, polar fleece, faux fur, glitter vinyl and imitation leather. 

The design is digitized in such a clever way, that when the last stitch is embroidered, the whole piece is already assembled.  A really fun product.  In this post you can read about how I used Mrs Claus's pattern to embroider a granny for my kitchen.

This was the only piece I was able to finish when my Brother Innovis 4000 decided that it had enough and needed some rest.  Parts were ordered from the USA, so the machine should be up and running at the start of 2025 and I could embroider Mrs Claus as well.