Work In Progress Wednesday - December 18

Last week I shared the last finished patches of my Christmas project. It didn’t 

take much time to find a nice layout for my wonky patches. I pinned notes on 

the patches to make sure I would know how to sew them together.

It only took me one evening. As you can see there were a few bigger gaps between the patches. I didn’t want to hide them, but had no idea what to do.

So I flipped through my embroidery books and found a chapter about insertion stitches in Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches. This would be a great way to decorate the gaps and strengthen the quilt. It was the first time I tried this technique, so I did it by the book. First I attached a piece of cardstock at the backside with tacking thread.

This would keep the patches in place when I stitched the insertion stitch. 

First I filled the small rectangle at the left side.

I stitched knotted insertion stitch AKA knotted faggot stitch in perle 5. This stitch 

is similar to Antwerp edging, which I already knew. Apart from stitching without a hoop, it was quite easy.

Then I stitched the second gap, which started small at the left side and becomes wider to the right. Here I stitched knotted insertion stitch in cotton a broder from right to left.

The next gap was tricky, it had a Z-shape.

I decided to use the knotted insertion stitch again and make two corners. 

The thread is perle 8.

This last gap was the biggest, ½ x 1 ½ inch. Too big for a normal knotted 

insertion stitch.

So I added buggle beads while I stitched the knotted insertion stitch in cotton a broder. Before securing the thread, I took it through the beads again to keep them in place.

I didn’t had time to make a label and stitch my info. But I knew I had some pre-printed labels in the back of my cupboard. I wrote my info with a permanent marker and stitched the label to a false backing with a running stitch in cotton a broder.

Then I appliquéd the false backing to the backside of the quilt and sewed a hanging sleeve.

So here it is, all finished in time for Christmas. I just love the wonky look of it!

This quilt only took me one month from start to finish. It's 17 inch wide at the top and 22 inch high in the centre (about 43 x 56 cm). Here I wrote about the start with a link to Teesha Moore, who inspired me to make this quilt. I wrote about the patches here, here and here. You can also take a closer look at this quilt and the patches in my Flickr album Christmas inspired by Teesha Moore.

More info about Work In Progress Wednesday at Pin Tangle.