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My Kawandi is finished!

I took a one day Kawandi class with Lorena Uriarte at Quilt Symposium 2022.  We learnt to make Kawandi and here is mine.  

Kawandi are meant to be scrappy, but I used a charm pack of Koi Pond by Ruby Star Society.  I knew the colours would all work together and I'm pleased with how it turned out.  

 Last weekend I had a small SIYOB Retreat at my shop. SIYOB stands for Sleep In Your Own Bed. I got to work on my Crimson Tweed the whole time, except when I was helping customers.

I started quilting the center snowflake block. When the retreat started I had less than a 1/4 of that block quilted. Now I have about 1/4 left to go. See below for a detail shot of this section.

Seed stitching is slow going but I really like the effect. This is going to take a while, which is why I decided that ...

 I finally decided that I am finished with the embroidery on my Crimson Tweed. Here is the final layout, before quilting.

Would you believe that I didn't have ANY of the thread colors that I needed to seed quilt this with!? I was a bit shocked, but I gravitate toward the brighter colors and I need neutrals for this.

The tin shown in the photo above contains the 5 colors of thread, size 8 Eleganza solid colors, that I will use for the seed stitch quilting. This style of quilting takes quite a while to do, but I'm ...

 Missy gets a lot done! Recently she stopped into the shop to get some backing and binding fabrics for these projects.

Autumn Art Panel Pillows:

 I have been playing around with more scraps to make stitched pincushions. Previously I was using only one color of thread so I was using only that color fabrics. This time I decided to switch the threads to match the fabrics and use whatever fabrics I wanted.

For all the fabrics except the bottom right I just stitched them down with a running stitch. But for the one in the bottom right corner I stitched along the print on the fabric. I really like the way that piece turned out and I have that fabric in several colors. I decided ...

 I finished up my COVID sanity project!

I am currently out of this embroidery kit but I have ordered more. They will be here in a day or two. I also ordered a bunch more of these type of kits besides this one.

All of these kits are listed on my shop website in the Kits section. When the new kits arrive the website will be updated. All the ones listed right now that are sold out have been reordered, plus a few new ones. These are really fun to do. They come with the design already pre-printed on the ...

 Cynthia C. purchased this adorable panel at another shop on her travels. The border fabrics came from this shop. She has embroidered some of the elements on the panel.

The photos below show some close-ups of the hand embroidery she has done.

Cynthia is my newest employee. She's been working at the shop about 7 months now. She is eager to try just about any type of sewing. She's done some hand embroidery before but just recently picked it back up again and is enjoying it.

 I was quarantined upstairs away from my family for over a week recently when I had COVID. There is only so much surfing online I can do and watching movies and such on my iPad. I just had to have a hand sewing project! Luckily I had one ready to go in my sewing room. So one morning when I was briefly allowed downstairs to shower I snagged the kit on my way back upstairs. (My sewing room is right at the base of the stairs so I didn't have to go far.)

I had actually started this the ...

 I taught my first class for the little stitched pin cushions. I had two willing "guinea pigs" and they both did great. One didn't think she would like the technique but went along with it because she is just super nice like that. However, she ended up really enjoying the process. This is her pin cushion.

My other student was more of a willing participant. She asked to join in when she found out what I was doing. She also did great and enjoyed the process.

They both started out just doing running stitches but quickly caught on to ...

 The Spargoettes Group (Sue Spargo design fans) meet several times a month at my shop. Janet D. has been working on this bunny during her recent visits.

The pattern is not a Sue Spargo pattern. I can't remember who designed the pattern, but Janet only used the pattern as an inspiration and for the main applique elements. She is doing a lot of hand embroidery on this in the style of Sue Spargo. She thinks she is almost done now.

Barb R. has started Squash Squad, a Sue Spargo pattern. She has all 9 blocks appliqued but has only ...

Material Obsession in Sydney, Australia sent out the last package for the Wendy Williams Licorice Allsorts Block of the Month last week.  

I love that this quilt ...

 I have been playing around more with my "Kanwandiko" stitching. I am leaning toward the name "stitched meditations" now or "mindful stitching" instead of a weird, made-up word. I have finally perfected my technique to one that is more my own rather than following someone else's ideas. Here are the few I have made so far.

The one above I made using only solids. I thought I would like it more than I do. Maybe ...

 I took this photo a few months ago when I taught at Monarch Quilters in Poncha Springs, CO.

Laurie purchased the pattern, Family Tradition, and the fabrics from my shop. You can view the pattern and the fabrics we have left from this collection by clicking the following link: Home Sweet Holidays.

The next one is also a photo I took a while ago, but it is just too awesome not to share. This was made by one of my customers, Michele S.

Michele stopped into the shop for advise on this project. She had the wools she planned to ...

 I finished up my "kanwandiko" sample and have turned it into a Chunky Wee Zippy Pouch. Unfortunately, I am currently out of the patterns, but more have been ordered. It was more popular than I expected!

This is the last photo I took of my piece before turning it into a bag.

Here it is finished. It measures about 5" by 5" by 5". This is the "storage cube" size from the pattern.

For the inside I used a scrap of backing fabric from a previous quilt.

 I made this notebook cover several months ago. I thought I had shared it with you but I can't find the post so I guess I forgot!

The notebook cover above is my first attempt. For it I used some Essex Linen Denim color, scraps and size 8 pearl cotton in four variegated colors. I just laid the scraps on the linen and left the edges raw. A running stitch holds everything in place. The scraps are not fused or appliqued to the linen, just sewn on with the running stitches. I like working with the pearl cotton but ...

 I might be done with the embroidery and ready to baste it together for quilting.

But I'm not sure yet. I just hung this up on my design wall and I will think about it for a few days. If I get a great idea for more embroidery I could do in the border then I will do it. If nothing occurs to me within a week or so I will just baste it together with backing and batting and start quilting.

 Both of my Sue Spargo pin cushions are now actual, useable pin cushions!

Top: Canna Blossom Pin Cushion Kit or Canna Blossom Pattern

Bottom: Circle Play Pin Cushion Kit or Circle Play Pattern

Both of these were kits. They came with all of the required fabrics, even the fabric for the crushed walnut shell inner "pillows" and a piece of wool for the back. I opted to put the wool pieces for the backs into my stash and use a cotton fabric instead for the backs.

Of course, I have these kits and patterns in my shop, Alamosa Quilt Company ...

 I'm making progress on my Canna Blossom pin cushion. I have finished the hand embroidery.

I just need to turn it into a pin cushion. My Circle Play pin cushion is also waiting to become an actual pin cushion. Hopefully I will get some time to get both of these finished up soon.

If you want to see what it looked like before the embroidery click the following link: Canna Blossom before embroidery.

For some years crafters and quilters have extolled the virtues of slow hand stitching. They say it’s a soothing meditative process that will relax you, make you appreciate the process, and be mentally restorative. The implication is it will make … Continue reading →