My return to this quilt was not very auspicious.
The stitching format I’d planned for the ivy stems and tendrils didn’t work. At all. After I’d unpicked close zigzagging for the third time, I took a step back and reassessed. Following a short dither, I reverted to hand quilting. The bias strip is fixed down with medium stitches, the tendrils are hand-quilted with the smallest stitches I can manage. And actually, I really needn’t have worried…
The leaves are thick and lush, and it’s virtually impossible to see any stems or tendrils at all! I have all four of the corners quilted, and the leaves placed and pinned on two of them.
I mentioned a while ago that I wanted the little stars in the constellations to twinkle a bit more. I looked at tiny beads and sequins, and settled on tiny silver star-shaped sequins, which I’ve sewn into the centre of each silver star. I love how they catch the light and give a brilliant flash.
Tomorrow I must cut out more leaves – I have only about half of them done. I’ll intersperse that with stitching leaves on; both activities are a bit hard on the hands, but alternating activities helps. I have sprung scissors, which help a lot, but I’ll take it slowly…
It’s nice to be back in the moonlight!
talltalesfromchiconia 
Sorry you had problems with machining, but you’ve found the best solution. It is going to be a glorious quilt.
Love,
ViV xox
It’s added some time, and the tendrils aren’t quite as visible as I’d like, but you’d never know if you didn’t know!
That’s what comes of telling us all!
True, there’s a downside to revealing my thought processes. I live in fear of some hawk-eyed person saying “but I thought you were going to do zigzag there…?” Better, I think, to explain why I didn’t! It will shortly be covered in leaves, in any case.
I am currently working on a gift that I have had to rip back multiple times… partly because of not paying attention, partly because the pattern is not brilliantly written and partly because I’m modifying the item to add an extra feature. So I feel for you with your stems. Anyway, the quilt is looking great… I love that combination of blue sky/background and green leaves.
It’s beginning to live up to my internal vision at last. Once I’d ripped out stitches for the third time it was obvious the fabric wasn’t going to hold up for much more, so I really *had* to find another solution! I hope your yarny something starts to behave properly….
I admire your endless patience…. if I have to rip up some seams again and again the whole piece goes into the wardrobe for a while! 🙂
I’d just had a holiday from the quilt, so I felt I had to persist… And besides, I have a deadline! It didn’t take as long as I thought it might, so that’s OK.
I adore the text around the circle – I’m a sucker for anything with text and I’m betting those little silver sequins work a treat.
I like the new constellation you have added. Is it ‘Fiskar’?
No, it’s the constellation Triumph! The handles are slightly squishy on both those little snips and on my big spring action shears, much comfier for sore hands and fingers…
It’s beginning to glimmer! Yes, the leaves are so thick that the stems won’t be seen, as I thought. Thanks again for sharing this with us.
A day of hand-stitching and cutting out today; rough on the hands, so I may not make too much progress, but the leaves are the last element of this section. After that, it’s on to the straight, machine pieced side sections.
The lettering is absolutely stunning.
Thank you, I’ve always enjoyed calligraphy, and there was no way I was going to *embroider* the poem…!
I love the greens ^^
Yes, me too! I’m glad I varied the colours a bit to give some interest.
Although hand quilting may be a bit rough for some it’s the best way I think. The quilt is very pretty. I’ve been working on the jackets and dresses for the Granddaughters. One of them I sewed the lining on the wrong side and was about to set the sleeve in when I saw my mistake, had to take it apart and remake it. Now the band that goes on one of them does not want to cooperate 😊. Hopefully I’ll be finished with all of this by bed time tonight. I have a bag to do and I’ll be finished with Christmas gifts😄.
Hurray for a finish to Christmas sewing!
This is really gonna be a piece of art!!!! The idea of having the stars sparkling is so great. Gives more life to the quilt. 🙂
I think so too. And having sewn on some of the leaves, I really love how they look as well. Some time in the next two days, I’ll be able to post about the finished centre section! 🙂
Your quilt project is like the unwrapping of a gift… Beautiful glimpses of a gorgeouse future piece of art.
Esther
Thank you! What a lovely image. I hope to post about the finished centre panel very soon, and then at last, on to the side panels!
I like this! Reverse stitching (or unstitching) is never as much fun!
Especially when it’s zigzag!
I love the tiny details, really sparkling stars 🙂