Leaf Butterfly

This project started out as a leaf card. I cut out leaf shapes from some new and old fabric and stitched them to brown card using a raw edge appliqué technique. Then, I started stitching some designs around the leaves but they just didn't turn out the way I'd hoped they would. So I cut the leaf shapes out of the original card and realized that they'd make a lovely butterfly.

Here I'm stitching down the centre part of the butterfly on my JUKI Exceed 600. I use this machine for all my piecing and crafting work.

I've used a variegated thread from Superior Thread's LAVA range on top and a pre-wound bobbin of Bottomline in the bobbin. I've got a 100/16 Topstitch titanium coated needle in the machine. It goes through multiple layers of fabric and card with no problem.

The finished card all ready to fly away to my sister in Baltimore. The butterfly card is a good example of how mistakes can morph into something unexpected.

Source: bit.ly via Martha on Pinterest

Last Daff

I wanted to try one more colour combination before I moved on to a new project. This daffodil is one of my favourites because the colour is so unusual. It begins a pale orange but fades to this beautiful salmon colour.


To capture the colour I used one of the new tone on tone colours from the King Tut range #908 Valley of the Kings. For the pale petals I used #214 Sandy Beach from the LAVA range. Click on the photo above for a good close up of the threads. For the thread painting I used a Topstitch 100/16 needle because the eye is twice as big. This meant that all the different threads from King Tut all the way down to Bottom Line had plenty of room to move around in the eye of the needle so I didn't have any trouble with thread breakage. I used pre-wound bobbins with Bottom Line. I'm hooked on these bobbins because they're so convenient but they also kept the flowers from getting too stiff.

"Das-a-gulls"

What's in a name? When my daughter Rosie was very little she called these flowers "das-a gulls." It's become one of those family words that re-emerge each spring.

I've chosen a deep purple batik for the thread play - I think it will set off the yellows and oranges beautifully. Today I wanted to have a look at the threads against the fabric. In this photo you can see all the threads. Initially on the right of the photo, they're just draped across the fabric. In real life this is a great way to get a feel for the way the threads will act against the fabric. Context is everything! Threads look very different against different fabrics. So I like to audition threads before I choose what I'll be using.

Beginning at the left and working across...first I've got 3 bold and beautiful King Tut threads in variegated colours. Then there's 6 MasterPiece thread colours, a finer version of extra-long staple Egyptian grown cotton but in plain silk like colours. Next there's 2 versions of Rainbows, a shimmering variegated tri-lobal poly. After that there's 3 LAVA threads similar to Rainbows but stronger and more matt. There's an orange So Fine the most trouble free thread ever. Lastly there's 3 colours of Bottom Line an ideal bobbin thread but it can be used on top for detail quilting. Click on the images for a better look at the threads.

Beginning at the left top and working my way down, I used these same threads in the same order using just a straight stitch off the frame with my Janome 6600. Tomorrow I'll do a bit of sketching with pen and paper. Then I'll put the fabric on the frame and have a go machine quilting with my JUKI on the New English Quilting frame. The free-motion quilting will really bring out the differences in the threads.