Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Bernina quilt for all Sewing Machine Challenge 2025 - April

April's challenge consisted of 8 blocks.  The first block was a half square triangle.


Block 2 was made with strips of fabric and decorated with decorative stitching.


The third block was a free motion couching block and it was the first time in my life that I did couching with a sewing machine and wool.


Lady Reh (my Brother Luminaire XP3) use these attachments with the muvit foot (aka walking foot) to achieve it seamlessly.




Block 4 was also a couching block using various yarns.  Not my favorite block though.  This one might be a do over.


Block 5's instructions called for a 3D block with echo quilting.  As my previous flowers were stitched flat in the confetti block of March, I did some of the same flowers with faux leather and glitter foam in coordinating colors.  The flowers was attached to the background with gold metallic thread.

Echo quilting done.

The faux leather and glitter foam sheets used.


Block 6 called for a machine embroidered block and as I collected a few of Beyond the Frame's Jumpville residents, I decided to embroider Curly Sue, but with her hair in a French braid.  It is quite mesmerizing watching the machine stitch the 5 layers of hair.  The stuff creative people come up with is just mind-blowing. 

The first layer of her hair done.

All 5 layers completed.

Curly Sue all done.

Block 7 was another traditional patchwork block, the log cabin.  I used different shades of denim fabrics and quilted the block with variegated thread.


Block 8 concluded April's blocks with a 3D pinwheel which I also quilted with the same variegated thread.


I also embroidered a Curly Sue for a member of our quilting group who also partake in the Bernina challenge.


Curly Sue's curls in the making.

And doesn't she looks absolutely gorgeous!

If you are interested in joining the Jumpville crew, sign up on Beyond the frame's webpage to receive notifications of new releases.  The designs itself however, are sold on a completely different website, Embroidershoppe which I find difficult to navigate and yes, very confusing.  

It is so interesting to see all the participants blocks on the Facebook page with no 2 people's blocks the same and to see how differently people interpret the instructions and make innovative blocks by thinking out of the box and not just strictly following the example shown.

We just received May's challenge and it is another 8 blocks with yet again different techniques.  Another month done already with a quarter of 2025 done and dusted.  Time is flying by at lightning speed it seems.

Monday, April 21, 2025

Bohemian Quilt Block 5 added to the store

Block 5 of this quilt was released ten days ago and already had a sale.  Slowly but surely sales are picking up for which I am grateful.

Block 5 available for $1.75 until the release of Block 6


Sunday, April 13, 2025

Bernina quilt for all Sewing Machine Challenge 2025

After discovering this challenge in 2024, I decided to partake in this year's challenge which will be a denim bag, something similar to this: 


Join on the Facebook page here if you want to join in the fun.  The challenge already started in March and will conclude August 2025.


The first block was done using the seminole patchwork technique.  I had a packet of fat eight's from Tilda's prints and decided to combine it with the denim.  The quilting was done with a variegated thread.


The second block is a decorative strip technique using decorative stitches from our sewing machines as well as denim strips  placed on a denim background.  


After submitting my blocks in time for the March voting, I added some bling to the block.


The third block was done using confetti on a denim background with motifs on top covered with netting which was all held in place with dense free motion quilting.  I had some confetti left of a UFO I started way back in 2012 and used some of that.  


The flowers I added on top was made out of different mediums like felt, faux leather, organza and metallic thread.


Most of the detail of the flowers was however lost after the quilting was done.  Luckily I kept a few pieces and added them afterwards on top of the block.


The fourth and last block for March was an applique block.  As I haven't decided on a specific theme, I just went with a pretty bow to which I added a rhinestone and some lace.  Some variegated thread completed the applique.


These four blocks didn't however receive enough votes to reach one of the first three places.  Well, on to April's challenge which is 8 blocks.

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Disappearing pinwheel finished (well, one of them)

After the calamity of my Brother Innovis 4000 breaking down last year and the 5 months it took to get parts and having it fixed, it took somewhat longer to finish at least one of these runners in time to be entered into Bloemshow 2025.


All the quilting was done with Lady Reh, my Brother Luminaire XP1/2/3 oh, and what a joy it was using the scanning and projector functions in placing and aligning the designs as well as using a 20 x 20cm (8 x 8") magnetic frame for the first time which I bought off Temu at a fraction of the price of an original Brother frame.


The aligning went at lightning speed and I finish all the quilting in one afternoon.


I again used some of Stitchdelight's designs from the Patchwork set.


The outside row was done with these two designs,


followed by this design in the four inside corners

with this one in the center.


Now to finish the second one also.



Friday, April 4, 2025

Jelly Roll Rug completed

Although I had to undo the blue part twice, it was such a fulfilling project that I ordered more batting from Temu to stitch another one.  The undo part was rough will millions of little pieces of thread to remove, but the stitching itself is utterly relaxing, just you, your thoughts and your machine chucking away.  And the best part, it is finished when the rope ends!  No quilting, nothing.  It is done.

So, using the nifty Clover Tube Maker, the strips with batting are turned into a long tube 4 layers thick



and rolled into a ball by starting with the colors you want on the outside of the rug on the inside of the ball.


There are a few ways of starting out in the center for an oval mat and I chose the more traditional way which use this template.  To calculate the beginning of the start strip, just deduct the width from the length of the rug.  I think I started with about a 12" strip and ended up with a rug of  34 x 44".


I did not experience any trouble with the inside bends, just keep scrunching around the bends, keeping the outside of the tubing flat and iron regularly.


With the blue parts though, I somehow didn't feel the need to keep on feeding extra fabric around the bends, big mistake.  But, after fixing it, it came out great.  The photo was taken just before the final press. so I can guarantee you it lays flat.



At end of the rug, I just added a handmade label to both sides and added the quilt's label to the back and off to Bloemshow it went.



Three of the Rotary Cutter members finished their items as well.

Rika stitched a beautiful turquoise rug,

Marietjie did a rug in shades of blue

and Hesmari made a gorgeous beach bag.

This group offers so much help.  Do join them and just follow the posts for a few weeks before starting your own.  Uniquely Mateo is another goldmine of information.  Another big help is this Jelly Roll Calculator which tells you how many strips you need for a specific size.  So, what are you waiting for? Take the plunge and enjoy!


Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Needing more space

With the arrival of Lady Reh (the Brother Luminaire) I had outgrown my current crafting space.  As my husband doesn't want me to sell Boetie yet (the Brother Innovis 4000) we had to make some serious decisions as how to incorporate everything.  

With me not working from home anymore, we could use the office space and moved the two Brothers to that space with all the paraphernalia needed for more specifically machine embroidery.

My laptop is situated between the two machines with a cutting station at the back wall.  The cupboard underneath contains all the accessories of Lady Reh.  There is a also small flatscreen TV to keep me company.  As this is a rather small space, I have to keep it super neat and organized otherwise I get totally frustrated.


The desk with computers were moved into the current needlework room where all the fabrics and cupboards stayed behind.  The cupboard with my 1981 Bernina as well as the overlocker also stayed put, so I am now operating between the two rooms which is somewhat strange with me still figuring out at times what is where.



The router and cameras are also based in this space.


As you can see, even with more floor space in this, the original sewing room, every nook and cranny are packed to the brim.  But, as I became more accustomed to this setup, I am sure I will enjoy it immensely.

It was a rather busy week with me having to seriously look at my wardrobe as I was working from home the last 5 years and suddenly realize that I was in dire need of office clothes.  All my clothes were worn and I even discovered shoes and sandals I had completely forgotten about as I operated barefoot at home.  With the help of friend Magda I was able to get that done as well before eloping to the seaside for a week before I had to start work today.  So yeah, a whole new chapter starting just when I had begun to grow accustom to the idea of being unemployed. 😃

Bernina quilt for all Sewing Machine Challenge 2025 - April

April's challenge consisted of 8 blocks.  The first block was a half square triangle. Block 2 was made with strips of fabric and decorat...