Journal quilts - 1 and 2 finishing off

These two little quilts have taken just over a week - what was I worrying about?

If you have been following my progress you will know that my ideas were developing nicely.

When I left you the first quilt - the words quilt - was assembled and ready for stitching.

First up, bit of a tip.  If you want to try my technique - using paper bonded to fabric - don't quilt using lovely expensive wadding.  The stiffness of the backing does not allow the 'bounce' of any wadding to show through.  For these I have been using an inexpensive acrylic felt for the wadding.

So, I knew I wanted some additional applique on the little quilt top, so had a rummage in my stash of organza fabrics (I collect there when ever I go to a loud and brash fabric shop - you know the type, cheap poly cottons in glarish colours you would never wear - because they usually burn and distress so well.  But that is another post.)

I used the technical wonder that is Bondaweb to stick small small rectangles onto the quilt top, and then I quilted those rectangles down using a standard embroidery stitch on my machine - a fancy zig zag. (I rarely use these stitches, preferring on the most part to free motion stitch anything down).

A traditionally applied fabric binding, and Quilt 1 is finished and ready to post on the CQGB site.

Meanwhile the other little quilt needed far less stitching.  The shoes say it all really.  So again, using a standard embroidery stitch but with a variegated thread, I stitched a simple border of hearts.

 Again I did a traditional fabric binding, but pondered over the colour to use for the binding - green, to pick out the colour in the thread, or lilac?

Then I attached the shoes - using an invisible thread.  And voila!  Quilt 2 is ready to post.

And I already have ideas for Quilt 3.  But I have a horizons project to start and lots of things to finish!!