Friday 18 September 2009

September Journal Quilt -Autumn Jewels



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I am pleased to say I'm ahead of the game with the September Journal Quilt for the Quilters' Guild Contemporary Quilt Group. This month I wanted to practise the granite stitch we had used at the workshop I did with Gina a couple of months ago. I bondawebbed fresh ivy leaves to a base of silk dupion and then bondawebbed a burgundy coloured chiffon over the ivy leaves.


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The next step was to stitch around the leaves and along some of the vein lines and then to cover the background area with granite stitch. I have to say I found this quite difficult. I couldn't seem to get a very smooth action and many of the supposed circles are extremely spiky. In the end I worked at this for 20 minutes at a time and then changed activity as I found it hard work. Probably just me! I think I probably used the wrong stitch. Maybe granite stitch is better used in small areas or for edging? Once the machining was finished I added some beads and a binding.

8 comments:

Angela said...

Julie your stitching looks lovely. Will you be able to bring this with you next month so we can see it?

Aussie Jo said...

The granite stitch is very textural and looks perfectly appropriate with the leaves. Machine stitching can be very tiring as it is very intensive, you did the right thing having a break.
By the way Ken Smith did some great machine embroidery tutorials on WOW during 08/09 if you are interested.
Cheers
Jo

Maggi said...

I like the way you have incorporated the real ivy leaves. Get into the rhythm on a practice piece first for the granite stitching then shoulders down, relax and don't forget to breathe!

Gina said...

Well done... I saw the photo before I started reading and recognised the technique. Your stitching looks fine to me... and practse makes perfect... run the machine quickly and move the frame slowly!

Heather said...

I can only echo the advice already given Julie and think your quilt is beautiful. I'm a lapsed machine embroiderer and have to practise to regain skills that have gone stale. It is a question of 'keep trying' and you will soon feel more confident.

Julie said...

Thank you Heather, both for the compliment and your very good advice. Practice is definitely the order of the day!

B.T.Bear (esq.) said...

Ooo I like that. All ortummy. Brown. I like brown. Brown's a good culler.

Julie said...

Thank you Bob! :o) I agree brown is a luvly colour - speshally on bears :o)