Quiltsalott

I have been known to dabble in a little embroidery now and again. I love anything with bees on so this is one that I'll be keeping.
 And for the back, I had some lovely bee fabric of course.

Happy New Year to you all! Thank goodness 2011 is over, it wasn't a good year.
I set myself a goal to finish the hand quilting on the Double Wedding Ring quilt by the end of 2011 and I achieved that, woo hoo! I felt a bit sad after those last stitches but it's not finished  yet, there's a long way to go with all the trapunto feathers to do, you can see some that I've done in the photo. It's quilted within a half inch of it's life, the most stitches I've done on any quilt to date yet it remains very drapeable with the cotton batting.
in the end I went for an embroidered bumblebee inspired by Sandra Leichener.
Here it is and now you know why it's there. It'll do, even with it's little humpback, lol. I call it my humble-bee.
I'm getting excited about the  Just Takes 2 and have my fabrics all ready. I'll be doing the sampler in red and white solids. This red is from P&B neutrals range and the white I'm using is from the same range as well.
When I wash yards and yards of fabric, I concertina it in folds straight off the bolt and use safety pins to hold the edges together. After washing, I remove the pins, unfold it all and put it in the dryer. I get a lot less wrinkles and there's no tangling around the agitator, it works great.

Isn't he just the most handsome little fella? All the embroidery is completed and he looks like he's about to fly off at any moment. The feathers and outlines are again done with sewing weight thread in some sections and embroidery floss in others. I used a  hoop to control the tension
I pinched this photo of the male Goldfinch to show you the real thing in case like me,  you don't live in America and have never seen a real one

As soon as I got back from the quilt show, I decided I had better make something from the loot I picked up, unlike last year where things got put away and nothing done with them.

we had a good six and a half hour trip down to visit family yesterday where we will be staying for a week although it did rain most of the way. It was good to see the New Zealand countryside again.

I thought I would take photos of more things that have been given away. This angel was made so long ago, I'd forgotton about it. My Sister has it up each Christmas.
This is the very first piece of Stumpwork embroidery that I ever did, also given to my sister as a midwifery graduation gift in 2000.

My DD also took me to a local fabric warehouse and lucky for me their fabric was on sale to make way for a container of new fabric next year. I managed to pick up these for $3 a half metre!

Of course I am missing my sewing being away from home but I always bring some handwork for the quiet times. I do some embroidery and this is a Hardanger tablecloth I have been working on for a long time. It's done on a 36 count linen so good light is essential to work on it. I go to a Hardanger group once a month.