The missing mojo

I am not quite sure where my sewing mojo has disappeared to recently, but it definitely hasn't been in this neck of the woods for a while!

My poor sewing machine hasn't had so much dust gathering on it since it was sitting in a store room waiting to be picked off the shelf :(

Whilst the sewing machine has been sitting idle, there has been a (little!) bit of hand stitching going on.

On our cruise last year, we spent a day in Bar Harbor in Maine, and naturally I checked out the local quilting shop, Fabricate.

 Needless to say I did not leave empty-handed!

One of the things I bought was a kit for an embroidered sampler quilt based on the wonderful lighthouses to be found in that part of the world. It seemed like a very appropriate souvenir to bring back from a cruise.

The block above is the first of the nine embroidery blocks to be completed. Hopefully, the remainder will not be as slow in the making.

The other hand-stitching project is also a sampler quilt block, from the quilt class that I have been attending for the past year and a bit.  So, this is not the fastest project on the planet either! In my defence with this block, this is my second attempt at the stained glass window applique.

There were raw edges still visible in places in the first attempt at this block, which the more I looked at them the more apparent they became. So I eventually bit the bullet and started the block all over again. It is definitely better this time, although still not perfect. Hopefully any problems will be overcome when it is quilted :)

This is the final block of the sampler, so when I eventually come across that missing mojo, I might even manage to start quilting them.

If you find that missing mojo, you know where to send it!

Linking up to

Coming up Roses

There is a bit of catching up fever going around here at the moment it seems. This time I have been working on another Star of Africa Bee block, those ones that frazzle my brain on a regular basis :)

Although I still haven't worked out how to do the blocks requested for March and May, I do know what I want to do for them. Veena's request for June, a flower block to represent your country, had me stumped though. Then whilst downloading Kristy's Stash Cupboard block for August in the And Sew On BOM, inspiration struck!

Ages ago I had downloaded from Craftsy  a free pattern for a stained glass applique block of a rose inspired by the Glasgow Architect and Artist, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Well if that wasn't perfect for a girl born in Glasgow what was?

I have always loved the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and have had a book of his designs for a long time with the exact intention of translating some of them into stained glass applique blocks, so there was never going to be a better opportunity to give it a go.

My version of the rose will be soon be winging its' way to Veena in India.

My original intention had been to use ready-made fusible bias tape for the stained glass applique, but my local quilt shop was out of the black 1/4" tape that I needed. They did, however, have the equipment needed to make my own bias tape instead. So a quick trip to the shop and I was ready.

 

 I found making the tape really fiddly at first, and discovered very quickly that a full-size iron is not the easiest of implements to work with when you are dealing with 1/4" wide fabrics. Fortunately, my fingers survived intact - just! 

Now that I have the bias tape maker and the fusible tape I shall definitely be casting around for inspiration for some stained glass applique projects. 

And speaking of inspiration, perhaps a visit to a museum or church will be your inspiration for a stained glass applique mini quilt entry in the

 

If you haven't already come across them all of the details of the competition, including the lowdown on all of the fabulous prizes up for grabs, are available here or by clicking the Holiday Memories page link at the top of the page.



Linking up to                        show and tell tuesday