More Progress on the Little Quilt

As promised, here is more on my process on the little quilt I wrote about in a recent previous post.  Now that the piecing was done and all the securing of seams with invisible ladder stitch, the fun begins!  There were lots of short little seams on this so it was a great chance to try some new seam treatment ideas and to use old favourites.  The colours on this quilt were so much fun to work with - I got a chance to drag out all the bright threads I have stashed but never get a chance to use!

This seam was a variation on a sheaf stitch.  I used two different threads on this, alternating them between the bars and the wraps.  I finally realized on this seam that it was easier to make the shorter horizontal stitches and then thread the longer vertical stitches through them as I made them.  Sometimes it take quite a while to see the easier way!  lol

This one was fun!  (Please ignore the messy right end that eventually disappeared  when the binding was sewn onthe quilt.)  I started with two rows of  Chevron Stitch, stacked in such a way that they create large diamond spaces.  Next I added a piece of ribbon above and below the chevrons that matched the mauve of the thread.  I had these two star beads I wanted to use so they went into the diamond spaces. Matching blue thread then made the straight stitches as well as a row of chain stitch in the center of each ribbon. 

More fun!  lol  If you look closely you can see this started as a simple vertical row of feather stitch, worked in green Gloriana Princess Petite Perle silk thread.  Once again, I had these flower beads, but only three of them so I sewed them on with a couple detached chain stitches at the base of each flower.  I tried to follow some rules as to where I put the rest of the detached chain stitch "leaves", because in nature there are set ways that each plant grows.  I decided that on this plant, the end of the little stems that do not have flowers would have three leaves on them.  If they were longish stems, more leaves would grow down the stems in pairs.  And, lastly, sometimes where a new branch was perhaps thinking of growing out at the base of a "v" there would be one little leaf.  I think that making rules for your embroidered plant growth, even if the plant is imaginary, makes it look more realistic. 

 Nothing exciting here!  I used a little hippo button and if I had more time I think I would have gone back and embroidered him a little scene with grass and maybe a tree for shade. For the buttonhole stitches I needed a template so I used half of the base of a Bic lighter.  Necessity really is the mother of invention!

I collect all kinds of buttons and I have a weakness for some of the older plastic buttons that might not be old enough to really be considered vintage, like these two cup shaped yellow flower buttons. With all the colour on this quilt, I finally found a place to use them!  I embroidered them little stems and leaves and then secured them with a green bead in the center of each.

Another simple seam of long and short buttonhole stitch and french knots.  The meandering "pearls" are just a piece of that cheap plastic bead trim, couched down.  The seam at the bottom is covered with several rows of feather stitch in a variegated thread.

Another chance to use some of my not-quite-vintage plastic buttons!  Aren't they adorable?  I love the colours and the shapes of them.  The seam to the left is zigzag stitch with blue straight stitches added. The seam on the immediate right is a simple herringbone stitch with trios of detached chain stitch in a scrumptious variegated thread. Next to that is an experiment with a chain stitch variation - not too sure on that one!  The bit of lace was dyed at the fabric manipulation class I took at EAC Seminar this year but the pale blue and yellow used don't show up much in the photo.

I had the shortest little piece left of some of Nicki Lee's wonderful dyed lace. How I wish I could get results like this with my dying experiments but I can't so I have to content myself with buying her gorgeous stuff at her Etsy shop, Raviolee Dreams. I wanted to add a little work to it as well so I did a satin stitch in a matching silk thread in the center of each section.

I used a Pyramid Buttonhole Stitch for the top seam in this portion.  Under that seam, I secured another baby button, this one of a Mom and Baby Rabbit.  It had been my intention not to use any embellishments other than the seam treatments, but the beads and buttons kept falling into my hands so what could I do?  Under that is a seam of Cretan Stitch with added Detached Chain Stitches.

And here, at last, is the finished piece.  Quilt bindings are not my thing so I need to work on doing a better job of the mitred corners.  The whole thing is not quite as wonky as it looks though, the photo was a hurried job before it headed off in the mail to - where else? - AAQI!  This was my Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) contribution for the month of June. Hope you enjoyed the posts on this and sorry for the excrutiating detail!  lol

One more thing - if you head over to AAQI right away you can still catch the July online auction and see all the lovely little quilts up on the block this month!