Sunday 8 September 2013

A is for Ant and Angel: ABC quilt-a-long week one

Hellooooo quilty friends. Have you got your copy of S is for Stitch out and your fabric chosen?  Have you found out any useful tips for us before we start? Are you ready to start stitching? Are you excited???

Squeeee


I am just dying to know what you're all going to be doing. All the gorgeous stuff is going to be too much to bear!  You will be pleased to know that I have been a busy little beaver trying out a block, just to make sure this is not all going to end in tears before bedtime. And I can tell you, as a total beginner, it's no problem. 

I traced the pattern with dots on to my fabric. 

dot dot dot dot dot


I watched the colonial knot tutorial on YouTube a zillion times (link on my ABC BOW page). I backstitched my letters. I overstitched my ant. 

Look it matches!

My purple pattern vanished before my eyes. I gave it a good press. I sewed on the fabric. 

Riley Blake chevron - which provided the colour-way for the quilt and the embroidery


And then it was done. It took me about 2 hours, but that included a lot of faffing around checking out how to do the stitching. I think I'll get quicker. 

Glamour shot

What have I learned?

  • This is a great little project to potter on in front of tv in the evening with no roar of the machine. 
  • You need good light though. 
  • Knots on the back are fine.  In fact no one sees the back!
  • 4" embroidery hoops are the cutest. 

What do you think? I think it is soooo cute, even if I do say so myself!  Get stitching on yours, so we can see them next week. 

Now link up, quilty people, to show us what you have chosen for your ABC quilt design and fabric (I'm a bit worried I'm going to have fabric envy!). Remember to link your post, not your whole blog, and go and give some comment love to your quilt-a-long comrades!  I'll keep the link open until next week. 

If you don't have a blog, leave a comment telling us your progress and link to Flickr or other photos if you have them.

I. Can't. Wait!


8 comments:

Leonie said...

Cute! sounds like a nice easy project in front of the telly. looking forward to seeing all the other awesome creations!

Laura said...

Very cute! Wish I didn't have so many WIPs or I'd join in!

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

My book has not arrived yet, but hopefully by Monday or Tuesday. I did pick up white Kona today and I plan on using scraps. I can't wait to catch up with you!

Rebecca said...

Love your block.
I talked to my sister in law on Friday and she is having a boy. I was waiting to find out if it wasent going to be a secret. So now I know what I am doing and will be looking at blues and green fabrics so will have to get my skates on now.

Megan said...

So cute! I guess you'll be feeling pleased the first letter wasn't x for xylophone!! Now I want to get myself a magic disappearing marker. I have no real use for it, but it seems like a cool gadget.

Lucy Casey said...

Love your block too. I'll be catching up later this week. Had a lot more on my plate than I realized.

Tiffany said...

I love your ant! I decided to join in, having never done embroidery before, I thought it would be a small project to learn with! I didn't start with A... I decided to start with K, because the kitten looked so cute. However, I'm not sure my outline stitch is right... its quite raised. I noticed you said you "overstitched" your ant... I can't seem to find anything on that type of stitch. Can you elaborate?
Part of my problem could also be that I wasn't sure what type of fabric to use and the quilt store recommended muslin, which is very nice, but doesn't seem overly sturdy. I think I need to go get something else to stitch on...

Susie said...

Looks great! I haven't chosen my fabrics yet - I am hoping to just 'wing' it with my scraps as I go along and I'm also waiting for my book. Looking forward to starting though