What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Apologies for the delay in last week’s link up. WordPress had a moment and took the blog down Sunday morning. Once real people looked it over on Monday, they restored it.

Not enough fabric out last week to count.

I fell off the no buy wagon yesterday. It was a good run while it lasted. I was thrifting with a friend and this piece of silk was $2. Leaving it on the shelf was not an option.

I also made a small piece to test a round mattress finish for embroidery. I couldn’t find a tutorial online and ...

No change in the numbers.

For something different, I experimented with Sharpies and alcohol. I saw someone on YouTube do this to decorate clothing. That didn’t appeal, but I wanted to try it.

I started with the moth, using blue, magenta and black fine point Sharpies and rubbing alcohol.

Such a hot mess. The blue was out of control. I learned you can take a paintbrush and move the color around when the fabric is wet. Then I tried again with the flower shape (upper right) and the blob (lower right). I used a lot less alcohol on the ...

I recently saw some lovely hand dyed shibori fabrics and was immediately in "lust" with them.  It reminded me that I my "someday" list had "try making shibori fabric with fabric paint rather than dye." Needless to say,  it had been on the list for some time, and I said "Okay, today is the day." Of course that extended to two or three days of experimentation.   

Perhaps you’ve heard of Frankenbatting.  That when a quilter takes leftover batting bits and sews them together to make a batting big enough for the current project,  I love using wool batting - the texture it creates is wonderful, and it’s perfect for my hand quilting.  Wool bats are expensive, and I am proud of using leftover bits to make a whole.  But it’s a bit painstaking. 

This quilt top went together quickly with a layer cake of fabrics and a wonderful Art Gallery neutral,  I like the herringbone design, but…. This is a noisy quilt.  Too many ...

It’s been all about cheesecloth this week.

I added dark blue and purple paint to the blue cheesecloth from last week. I’m much happier with it now.

I also cut up the rust cheesecloth and did some experimental stitching.

I liked the zigzag stitch (top), but it wasn’t the look I wanted. Below that I tried a straight stitch. The thread matches the fabric making it hard to see.

I ended up using the straight stitch for the current project. I expect the zigzag to make an appearance in the future.

I’ve decided not to show ...