Quilting finished

Last night I finished my spray dyed quilt. He has no name yet, He will be pinned up in the studio until a name comes to me. I really like these big faces, this one is 96cm x 85cm.

 

This is the back

 

I love how lines of hand quilting look on the back of quilts

 After lots of thought I finished the edge without a visible binding. I stitched a strip of calico onto the edge, folded it over to the back and slip stitched down. This has left the edge with a neat seam and all the binding is on the back. May use this technique again in the future.

Skull and cross bones

As many of you know I love skulls, I love the shape of them and how it makes no difference how we look on the outside our skulls all look pretty much the same. I have a cow skull, a seal skull and a concrete human skull.
Well a few weeks ago my children found a bird skeleton in our garden, I just had to clean up the skull and we decide to create our own skull and cross bones, well feet really. The skull is amazing, I love it. Its only 4cm from the back of its head to the tip of its beak. I have glued it onto black velvet and put it in a black frame ready to go up on the wall. I just had to share it with you!

colour from the garden

 

I just love summer, the colour that comes inside from the garden is so fantastic you just have to play with it a bit before you eat it!

 

New quilt started

I cut all my 2 1/2 inch squares last night ready to start my new quilt. I am away teaching for 2 weeks in early February and I am going to take the squares with me and hand piece them while I am on the road. I always take something with me to do in the evening. I will then machine piece whatever I don't get done once I get back.

Quilted face

Not sure if you remember but a while ago I spray dyed a face onto a piece of calico, Well I have stated to quilt it now. I want to pretty much quilt the whole thing in lines that echo the lines on a face. Around the eyes, nose and mouth. I am doing it in the evening when my eyes are tired of fine embroidery or during the holidays when I have watched a few movies with my children. We don't watch TV in our house so holiday movies are a real treat but I can quilt and watch at the same time.

 

Not sure I would win any prizes for my quilting but I love how the fabric looks in-between the rows of stitches. I want the finished piece to look a bit like a Kantha, which is an Indian embroidery made of layers of old sari's held together with rows of running stitch.

Spiders again

My 100 spiders are pinned up in the studio and I had the feeling my work with spiders was not finished. So after some thought I have started making spider buttons. I am thinking about having a small exhibition at some point with the 100 spiders and a collection on stitched, covered buttons.
I really love the idea of doing sets of spiders, tiny and large.

More Birds

I really must stop making these birds and get on with some work! The book is going back to the library on Friday!

We got a Sheriff badge out of a Christmas cracker so my first little bird has been made the sheriff of Bird Town and has caught the Flamingo and Penguin up to no good and is telling them off.

My daughter and I made the Flamingo together, she sewed the body and I did the wings and legs.