Lily Rose: the Hearts

I decided to do all my hearts at once. Of course, I did opt for the heart blocks in the Lily Rose border which are optional. I think these blocks really add something special to the quilt and I have a real soft spot for them.

It's just a simple method of tracing out my hearts onto wash away fusible, ironing it down my chosen fabric, cutting it out with a small seam, and then gluing the edge fabric with Elmer's disappearing purple glue and turning the edges over with a small cuticle stick, keeping the whole shape smooth.

You can also create this process with freezer paper using my freezer paper applique method (see my tutorial on the sidebar), but in that case you need to remove the freezer paper. I'm very fond of the freezer paper technique, the reason I use wash away fusible is because I find it easier to work with in terms of speed. Also, I print out my pattern on a copier that prints the pattern directly into the fusible and this saves me time too.

My Bernina 820 has been very bad today. I'm having ongoing trouble using anything but the plainest thread. With this machine, thread, tension and stitch troubles are the three key issues with it. It's the same issue over and over. I am determined to have my gold stitched hearts, but its becoming more trouble than its worth. 

 I have a lot of experience stitching in metallic thread so I go through my thread stash trying them all out until one is accepted by my temperamental machine. Once again, the simplest sewing endeavours become a struggle.

 the Bernina 820 ruins this heart with poor stitch work so I have to remake it. Like most quilters I don't have time to re-make otherwise perfectly good blocks and I certainly don't expect my sewing machine to be the reason why I should! It's remarkable to me that a machine this 'advanced' could chew up and spit out stitches like this

I'm surprised anew at how badly my 820 is performing. It has a knack for turning what should be the simplest work into messy, unusable work. Thanks Bernina. 

I got ahead of myself when I thought the Bernina 820 could be used for a simple blanket stitch - it can't. I'll be changing my plans for the rest of the quilt now. Decorative stitches are out.

WOW: Lily Rose Patchy Border

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I'm having one of those weeks. My copier has died with a tricky CE40 error code and being the one tool I most rely on, its totally thrown out my schedule for January. I'm really unhappy about it, however there's nothing I can do so I've decided to take my frustrations out with some repetitive sewing, that way something good will come from my January set back. Having three patterns sitting on my copier desk ready for scanning in just makes it worse. What else can I do but sew? I'm going to make the most of my computer downtime by getting behind my sewing machine. Seeing that I need to finish Lily Rose ASAP, it might even be auspicious. At least that's how I've decided to think about this pause to my BOMs progress and hopefully, if nothing else, I'll have Lily Rose up to date and perhaps even finished before February. 

Apart from two greens meeting up (how did that happen?) I'm really pleased with the balance of patchy fabrics making up my Lily Rose HSTs. Who would have thought such a simple border would cause me so much time and (over) thinking? The good news is that I really love this effect, it's so complimentary to the centre design. And now I can re-focus on my applique bouquet in the centre. 

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up

Oma's Blues: Part 1 of this Free New BOM is Launched

We're starting Oma's Blues with the central plate, "Oma's Plate'. This is a digital image of the design. As mentioned in the Introductory Post, I'm having trouble settling on the right blue to show this pattern off in its best light, but you get the idea.

The pattern itself contains extra flourishes and lines to enhance the design - this image is of the pattern pre embellishments. I just love everything about this plate and plan on making two - one for my quilt and one for a matching cushion.

In this first part of the BOM, you receive the fabric requirements for the whole quilt and from the blue fabric allocation, you create the applique on a white background to complete this block. For those of you with beautiful blue fabrics in your stash, pull them out and search for any motifs suitable for broderie perse, this quilt is perfect for showing off fussy cutting and embellishments.

This is where we're up to, quilt wise:

Oma's Blues is a free BOM made available to members of my Yahoo BOM Group. 

Schedule: Jan - Nov 2015. New blocks released 15th of each month. 

Introducing Oma's Blues: my FREE new BOM

Are you ready for a new BOM? I am! 

I've been in a Love Entwined cloud for the last 2 years and I'm ready to share some new quilts with you all. Whilst LE will continue to have a place in my heart forever, there's enough room now for me to dust off those quilts that have been waiting in the wings. I am hoping to release several this year. The first for the year is Oma's Blues. This is a quilt based on my love for blue and white tableware, specifically delftware plates. I've always wanted a quilt that somehow incorporated my love for dishware and plates - and now I have! What do you think? 

This quilt starts off with Oma's Plate - the central panel block which is the focus of the quilt. Surrounding Oma's Plate is a selection of smaller hanging charm plates and finally we have 'stacks' of plates all around the quilt. These are framed by ornamental plates in the top corners. In my minds eye, I'm imaging an old fashioned large kitchen with stone floors, an aga, shelves of plates and a wall beside a window for seating - and this quilt taking pride of place. I think it's important to give quilts an imaginary life when we're creating them and this one is especially vivid for me.

Oma's Blues will run from January - November 2015

Blocks are released on the 15th of each month. To take part and download the patterns each month, you must be a member of my Yahoo BOM Group. It's free to join my Group, you simply have to be willing to abide by our Group Rules.

‘Oma’ is the German word for Grandmother and is also used throughout Northern Europe. When I was child, my own Oma would task me with the seasonal chore of carefully dusting and wiping down her blue tableware and fine china. I can still remember gazing into the rich motifs of florals, animals and flourishes—some naïve, some highly decorative. It’s a memory that’s stayed with me all my life.

In Oma’s Blues, I’ve recreated a series of designs as a tribute to my own childhood and the charming blue drawings that captivated my imagination. I have designed a decorative central applique plate, surrounded by smaller design plates and centered it all in with piecing that looks to me like much arranged pottery and china.

These images are off the internet, not my own. I'm sad to report that I didn't inherit any of the beautiful blue china from my memories and I don't have any photo's of them either. In fact, I have no idea what happened to them. These images I have found are very close to the plates in my mind
You can see what I mean about the variations in blue. From mid tone to dark. Personally, I've noticed that blue and white quilts don't photograph terribly well - unless under the right lighting conditions. I have found this to be true for red and white quilts as well. It's just one of those things.

I am disappointed that I can't express what I see in my mind with you colour wise, but I think you get the general idea. Capturing the 'right shade' of blue has been very difficult for me. Although I had a delft shade of blue in my mind when creating this quilt, I feel in love with a cool Wedgwood type shade of blue right after. But both posed a drama for me - neither shows up well in the images I have created to share this pattern with you. The image used above is a tone between the two colours I had my heart set on. Of course, in real life colours are always different but for the purposes of sharing this quilt, I had to modify my original vision - at least for now. When I get around to making Oma's Blues myself, I will certainly stick to either a true dark dutch blue (so classic and so perfect) or a cool light blue as below:

and the colour I choose will be based on the decor of my home as this quilt will hang. I have a very bright room which I am thinking about painting in either warm earthy tones or cream - two very different styles. I will let my furnishings and colour scheme decide when I get to that point. After all, I like my quilts on my walls and this means I have a whole room to think about. I think this could be a superb scrappy stash busting all blues quilt too...so lets see how I feel about it when I get there.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you use the pattern to suit yourself. I think that's the best bit about sharing my quilting folio with my blog readers - I get to see so many of my quilts made up in different styles and colours - something I don't have enough lifetimes to do myself. 

WOW: Lily Rose HST Positioning

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

I actually thought this would be the easy bit, but its proving just as difficult to arrange my patchy HSTs as arranging any scheme of fabrics always is for me. I think I'll have to pin them to a wall and get a visual on it, although its so much work and I was hoping to sort it out faster than that. 

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up