So, what was in the lovely bag? First, there was this fabulous pattern
and these wonderful fabrics and threads to make it
just a few of the fabrics - I must read the thesaurus, I'm running out of words to describe gorgeous fabrics!
next, what do these two patterns have in common?
these beautiful/gorgeous/delicious/etc Tilda fabrics, which I am going to use to make both of them.
I also bought some fabric for the quilt top that Helen gave me in Melbourne. It was a slightly extravagant purchase for a quilt back, as it is Moda fabric, but it just goes so well with the top ....... I will give it to Kay next Friday to have it longarm quilted - but Kay isn't just an ordinary, everyday longarm quilter, but a multi-award winning Scottish Champion quilter!
I made a start this afternoon, cutting the pieces for the Needle Nookie (sorry, but the name makes me laugh, as here nookie is a term for s*x!!) I have added a piece of felted wool, which is from this pack, which I bought all those years ago in San Antonio. I hadn't even opened the pack before!
all cut, and ready to start sewing
the next stage is to iron on the transfers for the embroidery ...... but that will have to wait until next week
did you notice that the square of fabric on the right is back-to-front? It's because we couldn't find another fabric in the shop that went with the Tilda fabric to work the main part of the embroidery on, so I suggested using the wrong side, as it is much paler and better for showing off the stitching. I had remembered the tip given to me by the teacher (sorry, I've forgotten her name) of a class I did in 2003 in Houston. She was a substitute teacher for the quilter who should have been teaching the class, who had fallen and broken her ankle (oops, can't remember her name either!). The substitute teacher was horrified when we all produced the fat quarter of floral fabric which had been on the reqirements list, and promptly suggested that we turn them over and use the faded-looking reverse side
You can just see how much deeper the colours are on the little bit I could turn back (and don't you just love that variegatedquilting thread!)
the next job was to make a template for cutting out the pieces of fabric for the clamshells. I temporarily stuck one of the clamshell papers to a piece of thick card (using a doubled over piece of masking tape). This is where it is advantageous to be married to an engineer (or at least one who used to draw plans by hand, not use CAD on the comuter)....... I handed the card to Malcolm and asked him to draw round the shape, adding a quarter of an inch, as I knew he would make a much better job than I would
I cut out the card template, cut some strips of fabric, organised the other things I needed to make a start to sewing, ready to take to patch'n'chat tomorrow ...... and what better thing to put the work in, than this Tilda tin, which Anne gave me yesterday
so, what haven't I revealed ...... well, I've still to tell you why I was making the hedgehog for tomorrow night. You will just have to come back tomorrow to find out!!