Book of the Week: Cat Lady Embroidery

I'm making plans to get back into the practice of regular hand embroidery in 2019. It's something I've neglected for over 20 years and I'm itching to enjoy the satisfaction of slow 'thread painting' in the winter months. As part of my preparation plans, I'm thinking about what skills I want to focus in on for the years ahead. And in my world, this means more books.

I know, I know, I just spent 5 years clearing out over 400 titles from my huge collection. And I must say, those books I parted with served me very well. But each had served it's time. It wasn't required anymore for I already knew everything in it or had exceeded what it offered. In a very real sense, I outgrew most of my craft and DIY books. And that's a good thing. So now I'm re-gathering my creative interests to move into areas as yet uncharted. And again, this means more books. Books that challenge me, inspire me and take me somewhere new.

So as I shop my new library, I'll be sharing what I've chosen in case you're looking for a new adventure too.

My first new book is this Cat Lady Embroidery. How gorgeous are these feline faces? I think I'm going to have to make ALL of them! It seems a good ease back into hand stitching and lots of fun too. These will be super cute badges that I'm already planning to turn into magnets for my fridge. And why not?

Now, for some thread shopping..

'Secret Garden' by Rohini Pellizzon

What a riot of colour! This applique masterpiece is made by Rohini Pellizzon and the details are mesmerizing! From the yellow roses to the romantic red blooms hiding a ginger cat, every inch of this quilt is superb and the eye dances around these colour combinations in total joy. 

I love it!  The punchy pink takes this design to another level and it's a pleasure to just sit back and drink it all in. I love the magenta and blue used to anchor the bright yellow roses and balance the violet hued blooms. What a stunner.

I wasn't as happy with my own Secret Garden quilt top as I should have been, mainly because I picked a dull green background which I now regret. So for me to see other Secret Garden quilts is a real motivation to get mine 'fixed'. With my own quilt, I'm going to have to quilt it with bright white thread to 'lift' the background colour, but for now, I'll just enjoy all the drop stitch gorgeous Secret Garden's that come my way. 

If you'd like to read more about Secret Garden, you can check out the Secret Garden post archive right here on this blog by clicking the image below.

'Secret Garden' 

Read more about this quilt by clicking here now

--------------------------- Open Quilt Gallery--------------------------- 

Thanks to Rohini Pellizzon for sharing her finished quilt with us all to take inspiration from. If you'd like to see more finished quilts made from any of my patterns, visit my Open Gallery. It's a place for all quilters who make any of my quilts to show off their creations in a central online gallery. It's new and I hope you'll join us by adding your own quilt there. Submitting your quilt pics is easily done via an upload screen directly on my website. Click here now if you'd like to submit your own quilt.

WOW: Sewing Up

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

Today I've decided to spend my WOW time finishing up my Stash Busting Stars quilt top. I've changed this pattern since releasing it because I wanted to make it bigger and use up even more fabric. Basically I've added sashing between the blocks. I actually had this Moda roll in my stash that matched the existing star blocks so perfectly that I felt I had to use it up. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered changing a thing, I really love the look of the original pattern. But the whole point is stash busting after all and it was too good an opportunity to miss. This will be a 'useful' quilt and I want it to be versatile, so the bigger the better.

I'm stitching the sashing in between rows. I have a print out of the picture I showed last time I blogged about this quilt - it's sitting there to remind me what order I want to star blocks in. I can't actually remember without my photo 'guide'. Although it's patchy and purposefully mismatched, there is an art to balancing the 'mismatch' and I fiddled around quite a bit with the blocks until they were arranged 'just so'. Anyhow, I'm really pleased to be seriously underway with a WOW today and can't wait to show you more progress as and when I get there.

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

BOM 2018: 'Australis' Art Wall Hanging

Let your fabric fancies take flight with this fabulous art wall hanging. Yes, it's the first of two bonus projects for the wonderful members taking part in the paid BOM 2018 program. Large or small? What size will YOU select? Go to the Members Only Download area to download your new feathered friend full pattern right now!

This pattern is a bonus exclusive, it's not for sale.