Machine Embroidery

I bought my new Baby Lock sewing/embroidery machine a year ago at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show, which was last weekend, so before heading off, I finally got the embroidery unit out of its box and did my first embroidery!  About time, huh?  I couldn't go back to the show without having used the embroidery feature - I'd never hear the end of it!  These cute sunflowers are stitched on a dish towel. 

Another hobby rekindled!  I had embroidery on my last machine, but am out of practice, and still have lots to learn about doing it on this machine.  Hoping I can take a class from a local dealer to learn the ins and outs of this machine.

Another Finished Quilt

The annual guild quilt show is not till June, but quilts we want to show have to be finished NOW for photography and planning, so along with Song Sung Blue which will be in the show, I was also working to finish another piece to put in the show.  This one actually got its start a few years ago at quilt camp, when I made the colored rectangles.  They were some hand-dyed pieces that I created textures on using paint sticks; I did each texture in the same color on each piece to see how the colors interacted.  Last summer I finally fused them to a black background, added the border and started the hand quilting.  Since it was kind of plain, and a color study, I decided to emphasize the colors with perle cotton and big stitch quilting. It's been a slow process, since I don't spend a lot of time on hand work, but it is finished!  This one is 24" wide and 40" long.

Back View

Here's a picture of the back of Song Sung Blue that shows the quilting. 

 Of course I forgot to take a show that included the facing.  Guess that will be another day.

Song Sung Blue Finished!

In the 2 weeks since my last post, I've finished SSB - it's for a challenge that is to be unveiled at my guild meeting this Wednesday, so finished with time to spare.  Rather than borders or binding, it is finished with an artist;s facing.  I didn't have any leftover of the hand-dyed fabric I started with, and the pieces I auditioned for binding didn't enhance the piece, so just finishing off the edges seemed the best bet.  I haven't taken any pictures of the back - sounds like a good idea for tomorrow.

I'm happy with the way it turned out.