Anita Goodesign Tropical Quilt - Another Embroidered Block Update

Oh, what fun I'm having machine embroidering appliqued blocks for my tropical quilt. Check out some of the blocks I've already finished in my earlier tropical quilt and tropical quilt 2 blog posts. I've completed nine blocks so far...only four more to go!  I can't wait to start piecing and get this ship sailing.

Then comes the hardest part for me, choosing the shashing and border fabrics.  Help!!! I'm thinking of a light blue fabric with some texture that looks like waves or water. Or maybe a very subdued tropical tone on tone. Or plain, so it won't compete with my bright colored blocks?  I have too many choices in my stash.  I love striped borders, but I'm not sure how stripes will look with a tropical quilt.  Maybe like a striped beach umbrella! That would be cool.

I won't know exactly what my design will be until I get all the blocks done and organize them to see what shape and size my quilt will be.  It's like arranging puzzle pieces.. I'm praying that they'll all fit together perfectly.

I guess part of the excitement is seeing where the process takes me. Speak to me, quilt! 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Anita Goodesign Tropical Quilt - Embroidered Block Update

I'm still having the best time machine embroidering the quilt blocks for my tropical quilt wall hanging. Here are three more of the twelve designs I will make for this quilt.

I love the fact that these are applique designs.  I can pick out any coordinating fabric I want to give them color and texture. 

It actually feels a little like creating a stamped card.  I get to choose my fabric and thread to make the design look exactly how I want it.  Maybe that's why I love it so much!

I used ombre fabric for these flowers. I reach for this type of fabric when I want a soft, shaded look.  I love how these turned out.

Stayed tune for more of my blocks as I finish them.

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and be fabulous. 

Nancy

Anita Goodesign "Life's a Beach" Wall Hanging - More Blocks

I've been absolutely mesmerized machine embroidering these tropical applique designs for my beach wall hanging. They're so bright and sunny...they make me want to step into those flip flops and build that sand castle!  

I'm using two types of embroidery thread - the Brother thread I received as a Christmas gift when I bought my machine and Isacord, a more expensive but highly recommended thread.  The Brother is shiny and beautiful and I have it in every color, but I have to watch it very closely for breakage and "nests" (which are bunched up clumps of thread which appear on the bottom of my fabric when the top thread isn't feeding properly). The Isacord is heaven to work with! The finish is more mat, but it's strong and sews very evenly with no problems

I use Floriani No Show Mesh cutaway stabilizer because it's soft and sheer and doesn't show through my fabric.  I also fuse Heat and Bond Lite to my appliques and iron them to my fabric during the embroidery process with a small mini iron. This keeps the appliques smooth when the quilt is washed. This time I did it out of habit because this wall hanging probably won't get washed but I like to know that my appliques will stay smooth and secure.

There are a lot of steps to these applique embroidery designs and I know if I mess up, I pretty much have to start over. There's no unpicking those tight stitches!  It takes time, patience and perseverance but I think the results are worth it. I absolutely love this project.  I can't wait to pick out fabric and get started on my next blocks.  Eight more to go. I'm headed to the "beach" but I'll be back.

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Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Anita Goodesign "Life's a Beach" Wall Hanging - Machine Embroidery

Now that the craziness of tax season has subsided,  I finally found some time to start sewing my highly anticipated beach quilt wall hanging. I put some thought into choosing my fabric because I need soft, pastel beachy tones to offset the bright embroidered images.  There are twelve motifs on the Anita Goodesign CD  I will be working from and I divided them into three categories: surf, sand, and foliage.   

I'm not sure what size my quilt will end up but I would like to hang it in my family room in a long rectangular area over my TV.  Each block will be 6 inches square because the largest hoop my Brother PE770 will accommodate is 5 x 7 and I can add an inch when I remove the block from the hoop. I'll decide how big to make my sashings and border after I lay out the squares and see what looks good. It's always a work in progress for me.  

These motifs are applique designs so I get to add pretty fabric to the embroidery to cover large areas. 

After the applique fabrics have been placed and stitched, I stitch the rest of the design like a regular embroidery pattern.

Here's my first block all stitched, trimmed and ready to sew into my quilt.  Only eleven more to go! I'll post them as I finish them.  

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Fancy Dresses all in a Row

Anybody have a fascination with miniature apparel like I do?  I think it comes from playing with paper dolls as a little girl. When I saw this Anita Goodesign quilt block collection with all the darling applique baby outfits, I fell in love. I couldn't wait to use my embroidery machine and favorite Riley Blake fabrics to make this adorable wall hanging.

                              

It was difficult to choose from the 14 boy and girl outfits in this collection, but I finally narrowed it down to six dresses, a romper and some jazzy little shoes (which had to be red, of course.) I'm sure I'll be using the other designs for something else very soon.

The program amazingly stipples the background perfectly on the blocks.  It's magic! The embroidered detail on all the outfits is absolutely gorgeous, right down to the little hanger, the pockets, the flowers and the bows. 

                           

I chose a pretty machine stitched heart pattern for the alternating blocks.

I finished the quilt top with a three-inch border and added Warm and Natural quilt batting for the inside layer.  The backing is a coordinating Riley Blake floral print.  I stitched in the ditch to finish the quilting and then added  yellow print quilt binding.

I'm waiting to give this to a special little princess some day, but until then I'm going to hang it outside my craft room and smile every time I walk past it.  

Thanks for visiting.  

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy