Friday, May 13, 2011

Garden Jewels

I managed to get over myself and get this wall hanging done this week. 

And do you hear that?  That is one tremendous sigh of relief coming from me for having finally finished this.

I have felt a little blocked with this project, mainly because I wasn't sure exactly how to approach quilting the cross stitched sections.  Even as I was ditch quilting the frames around the cross stitching, I still wasn't sure, so I proceeded to do the general meandering and quilt everything else but.  

Finally, after some practice on a separate piece, I decided to outline quilt around the veggies and then do a smaller stipple in the outer white spaces.

Well...my machine had its own plans.  It had issues with the type of thread I had switched to on the Aida cloth, and tension troubles, and generally started acting schizophrenic about halfway around the outlining on each block. 

Frustrating.

Finally, by stitching v-e-r-y slowly so as to circumvent the machine spazzing out on me, I was able to get the outline quilting done.  Then I did what any sane person would, at that point.  I switched back to my old Singer and a walking foot and straight-line quilted diagonal lines to anchor each block a bit more.

I do like the way it turned out, and I think my sister is going to be tickled pink with it.  She gave me the dresses (the center floral/veggie print and the blue fabric) to repurpose, as well as the piece of fabric that I used for the back.  The cross stitched pieces were thrifted.  They were in dingy frames, 99 cents apiece, and I bought the lot of them, removed the frames and soaked the stitchery clean. They were so excellently done, they deserved to have a new life.

Sis has a spot on her kitchen wall reserved for this piece, and it's going to look nice hanging there. 

(Back)

I'm calling this one "Garden Jewels."  The inspiration was right there in front of me!

Another PhD Challenge project completed—one more to go!  

I'm linking to Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop-Whoop?  Come join the fun!

14 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Wow! Beautiful job! And you got a steal of a deal on those veggie cross-stitches. Congrats on a finish!

xo -E

Sarah Craig said...

Very cool, P.! And thanks for the info about quilting on cross-stitch - I've got a couple of pieces of my grandmother's that I want to work into a quilt, but I was wondering about how to quilt it, myself! Congratulations on finishing your UFO!

Anonymous said...

Always cool to see how one will repurpose stuff. The xstitch fruit are beautiful, as is your sister's "new" quilt.

Enjoy your weekend.

blessings, jilly

Miri said...

Lovely! Great finish...I think I would have just quilted in the ditch around the cross-stitch pieces. Glad you're braver than I am-and once again you're inspiring me to go for it-this time on embroidery blocks.

Jill {Sweet Diva} said...

You did a great job ~ absolutely beautiful!!

Shay said...

I hadnt realised that the cross stitches were vintage and re-purposed. That's a great idea and a fantastic re-use of something lovely.

I cant talk about FM...still.That shit is going to send me to therapy.

I see you've spent your Blogger down time wisely. Way to go on the blog makeover. I LOVE it!

KatieQ said...

Congratulations on bringing a UFO to the finish line. It's a lovely quilt. Those cross stitch vegetables certainly deserved to be rescued and featured in a place of honor.

Myra said...

Oh my! I does look like you had your challenges with the Cross-Stitch/Aida cloth... Ouch!!

Quilt looking good! Another finish!!! Yahoo!!! 8-)

greelyrita said...

Very Nicely Done! Whoop! Whoop!

Michelle said...

Totally awesome! Sorry your machine had to misbehave though.

Brita said...

Congratulations on getting this beautiful piece finished. I would have been so scared of quilting on it, but you did a gorgeous job. Whoop Whoop!

sarah nicole said...

I love it! Perfect for spring and summer.

xo,

Sarah

BunkHouseQuilts said...

Congrats on your finish. It's really lovely. Love the back too~!

SueWis said...

Love this! I think I have that backing fabric somewhere in my stash. Nice that you saved those stitcheries after someone's hard work.