Sunday, July 01, 2007

That darn Kimberly!


There's a new BOM beginning soon that's on her site under Quilt Kits at http://fatquartershop.com/. Debbie's Shangri-la Garden. I love the appliqued and pieced blocks, and the colors really sing to me. (I think she picked one with blue borders on purpose just to tease me!) Gosh, it's gorgeous!

I'm going to have to get going on these BOMs or get a 15 bedroom house to store them all. I love every single one I have. Decided that I'm going to devote a month to just getting started on a bunch of them - then I'll have a choice of what I want to work on at all times. ROFLOL. Like we don't all have that already! These are just the ones stored in the chest that's my coffee table!

Yesterday Jane and I had a fun day. We ran by Ginger's to visit for a bit. Ginger's is my favorite local quilt shop - everyone is so nice in there, most of the time there are groups of friendly women sitting around sewing and chatting, always goodies in the kitchen to snack on, cold drinks in the fridge, and there are hugs aplenty when you leave. It just feels like home!
And I had to drive her by a house I passed on the way to my haircut earlier. I came to a screeching halt in front of the house at 7:45 a.m. Displayed in the front window was a gigantic wooden carrousel horse! It was the most gorgeous wood, not painted. It screamed "Folk art! Take me home with you!" My goodness, it's a good thing I had an appointment in a few minutes; otherwise I would have been banging on their door with checkbook in hand! I think I'm going to drop a letter in the mail to them - just in case they ever want to sell that thing! I haven't quit thinking about it!
And for all you stitchery divas, I have some questions on the Leanne's House patterns. Hanne, you're stitching with batting behind your block. Why? I've been through all of my stitchery books and I don't see that mentioned anywhere. And do you all use DMC thread, or is there something else I need to start collecting -- uh, trying out? One more question. Is there a be-all and end-all stitchery how-to book that you would recommend? I want to do these beautiful patterns up right, and it's been decades since I've done embroidery. Thanks!
Off to finish cleaning house and getting laundry started. Next week I sew!

11 comments:

Cher said...

I love Erica Wilson for her embroidery books...check her out at amazon...it's been years since I did any...but her work is gorgeous!
all those goodies you have bought...wow! I did that when I was working 60 hours a week and making the big bucks-now I am enjoying my stockpiling, as I sure do NOT make the big bucks anymore LOL...!

Texan said...

yep been seeing some lovely embroidery work on some blocks / quilts lately,,, I too need to brush up on that,,, I love it on the quilts!

Your trunk of goodies would be fun to go thru I just know it!

Carol said...

What a fun trunk of goodies! You are right we'll need 15 bedroom houses and we will have to live to be 750 years old. We'll always have something to look forward to.

Kim said...

I'm cleaning today too, but sneaking in little sewing breaks (and computer breaks) when I can. Okay, I know the answer is most likely "no," but I have to ask--did you gitterdun? Or is that the sewing you're talking about for next week? And, by the way, are you trying to Meg all of us here?! LOL!

Leigh said...

There is a book called the A-Z of Embroidery that is really good.
I use pellon behind my blocks so that I don't have to tie off the thread after each leaf,etc. With the pellon on the back you can just carry your thread over to the one and it doesn't show through on the front of the work. This saves a lot of time and fiddling around.

Darlene said...

I see bags from The Fat Quarter Shop, from Homestead Hearth, from The Quilted Crow, etc. LOL Lots of fun stuff in that trunk.

Anne said...

Hi there! Have been enjoying your blog for quite a while and decided it was time to "de-lurk". :-))Just wanted to let you know that I love to read your blog and look at your fabtastic pics. Enjoy your week & Have a happy 4th! :-))

Red Geranium Cottage said...

Vicky, I use batting with most of my stitchery projects. Well I should say when I remember. Sometimes I forget. I like it cause it gives that quilty look and it also hides your threads.

Maddie Can Fly said...

I know what you mean about those BOM kits. I've put myself on a deadline also to do a block a month - trouble is, all my kits are 2-3 years old now!

Sewcamping said...

Here is a link to a free PDF instruction guid on the Magic Embroidery site

http://www.magicembroidery.com/glossary_video.php

I am going to Ginger's Saturday. I have heard some great things about her store. I enjoyed your blog. I am an embroidery educator and teach African Folklore Embroidery. Hope to meet you some time at Ginger's

Dannielle said...

I've had many embroidery books and, by far, my favorite is The Embroiderer's Handbook by Margie Bauer. So much so that I've given away all of my other embroidery instruction books to my friends.

Also, I have an embroidery tutuorial on my blog that covers the basic, most used stitches.

I use batting behind my stitching fabric whenever possible. Not only does it give a nice quilty look to the piece, but it also makes it so you can be lazy.

If you're embroidering something that has a little touch of the same color in many different spots you're, technically, supposed to tie off and start fresh at each spot...no hopping along from spot to spot leaving a trail of thread on the back.

The reason for this is that it not only makes for a messy back, but also you can often see the lines of thread through the fabric. Batting solves the show-through problem just like a slip for a sheer skirt.

Also, if it's for a quilt, some cotton battings (Hobb's Heirloom, for one) need to be stitched into at least every 4" to keep the batting from lumping and shifting when washed. Embroidering through the batting anchors the batting in areas that won't be quilted.

I've just found your blog and I'm really enjoying looking over all of your wonderful projects!