Elephant show and tell...

In order to encourage all of you very talented stitchers and quilters to contribute and show off your work, I decided to share with you some show and tell that I'm very proud of! {I couldn't bring this one into sewing as it had to go to it's new owner the day after it was finished}.

These images are of the very first baby quilt I've ever made, which is also the first quilt I've finished from start to finish on my own {to clarify, I've done a few quilt tops, but nothing in it's entirety}. It's also the first time I've used my free-motion quilting skills to great effect! Workshops do come in handy!!

The elephants were raw-edged appliqued onto a 1m x 1.5m piece of white Moda solid fabric. The quilting was mostly squiggly, swirly, "e" shapes and curls and a few elephant shapes here and there to break things up a bit. I did find it quite challenging handling the quilt bulk with such a small sewing machine, but after a while I found I got into a bit of a rhythm. The stitches became more even and flowed really well and I became more confident with my "driving" of the machine. I'm sure Pauline {teacher of our SS&Q quilting workshop from last year} would've been proud of me!

One little Ellie... prior to applique magic!

free motion quilting...

Sewing that binding... probably my least fave part!

Label... and oh so cute spotty, dotty backing!

The label had a quote from Winnie the Pooh that I love...

"Sometimes," said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

And here in all it's finished glory is Amy's Elephant Walk... my first completed quilt {all on my very own}. The little feet sticking out of the bottom belong to my Mum... isn't she brilliant?

Here it is! Finished...

See ladies! It didn't hurt a bit to share. Hope you like my elephants.

Kylie x

Tension Tension, Tension!

Let's face it: sometimes stitches go bad, and tension is usually the culprit. But not always. Sometimes there is a problem with the needle, the thread, or even (cough) lax machine maintenance.

Australian textile artist Dijanne Cevaal has some very helpful advice for solving these little stitch hiccups that can give us such a headache. As a quilting teacher and author of several books, she really knows her stuff.

source

Though Dijanne says you shouldn't worry about your stitching looking absolutely perfect, when stitch issues get in the way of your quilting enjoyment and artistry, you should consider the following in an article on Quilting Daily by Pokey Bolton.