I am hoping I am just in time for March Pillow Party over at Stitched in Color! I finished this over the weekend for my nephew's 6th birthday next weekend. I started with the print in the middle, 'Tasty Retreat' by Michael Miller. I wanted to show his love of the outdoors; camping, exploring, messing around. A log cabin style seemed to fit in with this nicely!
Possession is important when you are 6 years old, hence the property stamp- Versacraft ink again. The other prints relect his interests- Lush dots for paint, a bit of Kumiko Fujita for the essential foods in life- biscuits, milk and cereal, and the other prints are for the outdoor life- wood, water, frogspawn- was my train of thought.
For the straight line quilting I used this rod thing that came with my walking foot to see how it worked. I have not tried it before. Great results, very straight lines but you can only quilt one way, maybe I have missed something here, I like to stitch in alternate directions for straight line quilting.
I also used the stitch in the ditch foot for my label following a tip I saw on one at Melissa's post as part of March of the Tools participants- it sews right to the edge of the label with ease.I loved this technique! So easy and so useful. I will be using this for top stitching on clothes and for stitching pockets down.
More tools, I found a great new chalk pen, the Signet marker, with loads of different colour refils at a quilt show on Friday. The vendor got it out of the packet and showed me how good it was, less than £10, I was impressed! I used this for the first quilting line and to put in a lapped zip. I used the sewing machine maintenance brush to remove it, worked a treat. You can buy it in the UK with the same seller, Pauline's Patchwork, they have an excellent pen and marker selection!
I have been looking for something like this for ages, a good purchase with all the colour options and refillable too so no waste. Nice and pointy too, the chalk sharpens with a pencil sharpener for a precise line.
I am sure Ted doesn't read my blog so I haven't spoilt his surprise! He does love cuddly stuff so it should be well received, and a portable box of watercolour paints too so he can paint on the go.
Have a great start to the week x
