24th July 2016 This and that !

Just finished my 2nd 365quilty circles quilt.  now I need to sandwich it to do hand sashiko quilting on it. I say hand as now they can do sashiko quilting on sewing machines!!!!!

My first 365Quilty Circle quilt.

I picked up my Quilty365 Circles again!!! I have made 267 circles so far and this is my next 90 all cut out plus 4 1/2 inch square blocks all just fit neatly in to this wee cigar box.  All my circles are cut from Japanese kimono fabrics.

I picked these little backings for quilting pins up for $1.00 I thought it was a bit gimmicky but for $1.00 I thought I would give them a try. But WOWWW they make the pins so easy to use when you have arthritic hands.

Slowly I’m getting to the end of this border sewing on my ovals or leaves as some call them.

Adding my first two twisted flowers to this border.  Stems are bias cotton ribbon 1/2 wide which I cut in 1/2 the stems ended up about 16th of an inch wide.

These pieces of fabric are very tiny but there are many smaller pieces yet to make for inside these leaf circles!!!!!!  Stem is 100% cotton but rest is all 100% silk.

Finally hand appliquéd my black bias around my outer circle of the centre of Little Hazel,  designed by Esther Aliu;  it took me 3 1/2 hrs ?????

Close up of that slow stitching!  I have pulled some fabrics for my swirl blocks and started cutting out the shapes on to washaway iron on freezer paper.

I’ve washed and just finished unpicking a beautiful Ikat cotton Kimono which I want to use on the backing of my Japanese quilt.  this is a hand reset pattern using rice glue then dipped in to indigo dye baths.  origianlly it was a 11 metre long bolt of fabric woven at 14inch wide only.  Im going to try sewing it all back together again? then I will have the pattern flowing for the backing, it is such beautiful fabric and design it will be worth all the time spent doing this.

Trying to work out were the original fabric was cut and sew it all back together the design will flow when I sew it in to the backing for a quilt.

These panels are woven at 14inchs wide, and the design is set with a rice glue then dyed in indigo a long slow process but what a lovely soft soft look it gives.

Trying to see if the pattern is off set will it look better.

I sat one night and appliquéd the face and ears on to some of the sheep. Easier than threading the machine up with pink thread as both machines are been used at present.  This is going on to the bottom of a wee girls quilt.

Just opening. My first one that flowered is now finished.

Its fungi time again and when this one blooms you can smell it 50 metres away. I removed this one and the next day another one had grown in its place the one below. .

A fungi which has the most ghastly pungent smell, just before taking the photo it had around 20 flies on or around it!!!!!

My big catterepillar is about to changing in to a cyristlis

He has attached himself here and over 24 hrs covered himself completely. I could not believe how he wove all those spiky hairs in to his web.

Finally he has stopped weaving and what a snug place he has made.