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Showing posts with the label Threads

THE Quilt Show! Inspiration Overload!

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      October was the month for lots of quilt shows, but the one that has been on my bucket list is the Houston International Quilt Festiva l. This show really got my mind rocking and my heart beating! The quilts were beautiful. The vendors had the latest fabrics and it made you feel like you need to run to your sewing room and start something immediately.      Welcome to Texas!       The shopping opportunities were huge. I picked up a wool and cotton palette for the quilt I will start when Tuscany is complete. I'm on the last block, but the biggest one. AND lots more!!!!  (If you are interested in seeing parts of Tuscany you can do that on Instagram or Facebook for Felice Quilt Designs.)      If you have not had the opportunity to go to Houston for this show I recommend it for whatever style of quilt you create. You will see photos of all styles. There was even a wool on cotton quilt with lots of embr...

One More Stitch?

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One More Stitch? That is the question! I love creating detail and texture with embroidery stitches on my wool appliqué quilts. Sometimes the problem is that I get to a point and ask myself, "Is that enough?" If I do not add enough stitches the shape is flat, and if I add too many stitches I may end up with a big blur and an unclear image. Right now I am at that point with the Sunflowers block for my Tuscany Quilt. Perhaps you can help me out. I recently went on a family vacation to the beach with my kids and grandkids and kept pretty busy. It was a wonderful time seeing the grandkids go in the ocean for the first time. Within a few minutes they were boogie boarding with smiles on their faces.  Those smiles were great.  Even baby Mazie and I had a good time watching the birds.  However, there wasn't much time for stitching. I did however contemplate what I would do once I did start stitching. On the trip home I was able to be passenger for a while and s...

Yummy Fruit is complete. Now on to Tuscany!!!!!!

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Hello! I imagine many of you have been outside the past few weeks watching as the landscape changes. I have.  Things are blooming everywhere and I love to take closeup photos of the flowers around me. I am amazed at how detailed each flower is and the translation to wool appliqué and embroidery seems like an easy thing. Here are some recent photos from my garden. Can you think of stitches you would use to reproduce some of the details you see? In my last post I showed you how I use photos to gain ideas and also details. Today I will show you "Yummy Fruit", the final wall quilt. I had taken some time off from stitching to write up the pattern for this and also "Eat Your Veggies". Both are on my website if you are interested in a pattern. www.felicequiltdesigns.com   Yummy Fruit Eat Your Veggies Tuscany corner block I have designed a new piece and it will be a larger one than what I have created before. It includes many of the photo...

You Can Do It! Use Your Photographs for Designing a Quilt

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     Good Afternoon! It's Tuesday and we had a beautiful sunny, high of 50 degree day yesterday, however today is very gray. Our new weatherman on the local TV station mentioned rain for today. So far, there's no rain but I'm not rushing out the door as I did yesterday to get out in the sun and get things done around town.       How's the weather where you are? Any signs of flowers coming up? I can't wait. Love my flowers!      Flowers and living things are on my mind recently, but the focus is on Italy. I travelled there a few years ago and would love to return sometime, especially to Tuscany. Memories of winding hills, vineyards, flower boxes in windows, hillside towns with amazing doors and stone work are images I think of. You all know the colors that shout Tuscany. Burnt orange, deep and light greens, blue Tuscan skies, sunflower yellow. I could go on.      Since there isn't a trip planned in the near future I decide...

Wool Applique with a touch of cotton print and embroidery. What a Difference!!!

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What a beautiful, sunny day for stitching with window light. I have been working away at the embellishment part of the Vegetable Quilt.  In my last post you saw the dying and cutting of the pieces. Today I will show you some embroidery work on the vegetables. What a difference! With beautiful Valdani Threads, fun cotton prints and variety in stitches used I really think those of you that are working with wool appliqué should jump into combining fabrics and threads to enhance your works. You won't regret it. Felice Quilt Designs 2014 Felice Quilt Designs 2014 There are a lot of beautiful patterns out there that have just the wool and perhaps a button hole stitch. Don't hesitate to look into you tubes, blogs, library books, and even an embroidery app, that you can put on your cell phone, to jump start your creativity.  Here's a photo of the shapes before the cotton and embroidery and one with a block with it. Felice Quilt Designs 2014 Felice Quilt Design...