Wednesday night's parcel was from Maison Sajou, France, with the embroidery thread selection box I had ordered. I had first been pointed in the direction of all these lovely things by Jacky and now I have them in my possession, they're mine, mine I tell you!!
The embroidered tin, cards, thread winders, stitch pattern (so you can have a reference of all the colours of the threads) and catalogue all came as a bonus. The catalogue is beautifully presented in both French and English with plenty of things you just don't find over here.
Thursday night had the delivery of these books which I had ordered about three weeks before Christmas. Lots of design ideas, all from Dover Publications.
I have finished quilting the JB Baby Blocks using the Suzanne Early method for the long arm.
Basically you stitch a very large meander right across the quilt top with no space smaller than a clenched fist. You carry on down the entire quilt to secure all layers and then re load the quilt as a single layer. It is then just a matter of going back along the meander filling in the spaces either side with your chosen motifs. I chose a ribbon scroll, a scroll with a feather back and some leaves. Just three things but they could all be sized to fill in the spaces easily along the meander. It was great to do, I hope you can see some of the stitching in the photo. This was taken after washing when the 80/20 wadding had scooched in a little, I just love that effect!
I also chose to do another all over pattern on White Nights only with loops and stars this time and not the double load method. One of the rules Suzanne Michelle Hyland quilts by when choosing designs is that if the piecing is dark or dominant, don't knock yourself out with the quilting! The all over designs for these two quilts works well and I'm pleased.
And a lovely gift I received for Christmas from Chris was two balls of Rico's Can Can yarn. It's like netting when you open it out and makes frilly scarves. I've made these two already but I keep thinking of other ways to use the yarn so will be working on that at a later date.
My back is mending well, thank you to those who commented. Too little exercise can be more detrimental than too much sometimes! The boys are playing in the garage so I'm going to see what I can play with now.
A happy and healthy New Year to you all.
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