I started off with a dark variegated thread near the base of the creeper, quite dense scatter stitching to replicate the density of the paint splatters and darkness in this area. As I moved upwards and outwards I gradually used lighter threads and less dense stitching.

To begin with I found that I was consciously thinking about where I was making each stitch but as I went on I got into a rhythm followingfrom dot to dot, adding a bead here and there where there were bigger splatters of paint.

Towards the outside edges of the piece, where there were far fewer paint splatters I used mostly the lightest threads and more random stitches.

I finished off the piece with a narrow binding and hanging sleeve and as I enjoyed the process so much and find the hand quilting very relaxing and easy to pick up at any spare moment, I’ve started quilting and embellishing one of the other pieces.

view of the back

I drew out a pattern in EQ7 and then I decided I would try out the design in a small format as fabric post cards.

For the small design I had some bright green batik fabric which I’d had a while and not used because it was less tightly woven than normal batik and I’d always thought it  a bit flimsy, but it worked fine for this project. For the larger piece I used some beautiful hand dyed fabric by Heide Stoll-Weber which I’d bought at the Festival of Quilts this year. I was a little reluctant to cut into it so soon but the fabric was so perfect, with all  the subtle colour variations, I had to use it.

I assembled the ferns using a non stick pressing sheet before fusing them to the background fabric. I then used a fine satin stitch round all the edges.

Detail of the stitching and quilting

Close up showing thread painting on the flower and butterfly

 I did all the embellishment before adding batting and backing because I wanted the butterfly to stand out from the background. These photos show the design with the quilting completed because the original photos I took didn’t come out very well thanks to a nice smeary finger print across the lens of my camera.

thread painitng on the butterfly and flower

So once this was complete I sandwiched it all together and then began the quilting. I didn’t want the quilting in the background to stand out and draw attention away from the butterfly so I used a fine 50wt cotton thread which blended well into the hand dyed fabric which I used for the background. For the borders I used a thicker variegated thread and a trailing leaf pattern.

The finished wall hanging

Recently I decided to make a wall hanging featuring just these palms. I drew out a pattern using EQ6 and to replicate the background and to give an impression of all the rich colours of the fallen leaves I chose to construct it from small 4 inch foundation pieced crazy blocks which I printed out from EQ6.

The illustration above shows the proposed quilt with the foundation pieced background and the applique motif on top. To construct the foundation pieced blocks I chose a wide variety of fabrics, mostly batiks in various hues and shades of brown, matching them to a photo I’d taken of fallen leaves.

 Once the background was pieced and all the blocks put together I appliqued the fan palms using satin stitch applique and rayon threads, I used a novelty yarn for the stems which I couched in place using invisible thread. I added dark brown borders and then quilted the whole wall hanging using a variegated polyester thread.

The picture above shows a close up detail of the foundation blocks, palm leaves, quilting and couched stems.

The finished design.

I started off by tracing the design onto my fabric, I used a freezer paper template and a water soluble pen for this. The design was my adaptation of a traditional native design which I have previously done in applique.

I then removed the template and placed a piece of batting under the design and secured it in place with a few pins. I stitched round teh outline of the design using water soluble thread in both the needle and the bobbin. Once the stitching was complete I carefully cut away the excess batting, trimming as colse to teh stitching as possible.

The picture above shows the back of the design with the batting cut away.  Next I took another square of batting and layered it between the top and some backing fabric. I used a variegated cotton thread to free motion quilt around the outline of the design and then to stipple the background. This part didn’t work quite so well and the stippling wasn’t really small enough or close enough to the design to make it really stand out. I was having a few problems with the adjustable settings of my quilting foot which didn’t help matters.

The finished design would have looked better with much tighter stippling and maybe on a more solid coloured background, but it was a useful learning process and I can see that this technique could have great potential when used with applique designs.

I bought some rather nice cat print fabric from the local fabric shop in town to use as the main feature fabric and then raided my fabric stash for the rest. The print fabric has lots of different cats in brown, black and grey on a light brown background so it was easy to find coordinating materials from amongst my stash of fabrics that I use for landscape quilts and geckos.

The quilt and pillow top is constructed from 8 inch ‘crazy’ foundation log cabin blocks which I printed out from Electric Quilt. The central patch is quite large so I was able to cut a square featuring a cat for the center of each block. I then applied strips of fabric around the central block to complete the square. I have included detailed instructions of how I made the foundation pieced log cabin blocks and completed the quillow on my web site  AnneMaundrellDesigns.com in a new section entitled ‘Tips and Tutorials’. In time I hope to expand this section and include  lessons covering more different techniques and processes.

Brown is really one of my least favourite colours, but since I have been making art quilts I have accumulated a large collection of lovely batiks and blenders in all sorts of lovely shades and tints. I have grown to like using these colours a lot more and I was happy with the way the blocks turned out. I used a pale buttery yellow for the sashing to set off the blocks and this also brightened up the quilt a bit.

I used more of the cat print fabric for the outer border, being careful to remember to make sure everything was the right way up and the cats weren’t standing on their heads. The pillow top was made in the same way except that round the outside I used small strips of fabric sewn together in random order to make up the border with a square in each corner.

For the quilting I quilted in the ditch around the first row of the log cabin and around the outside edges of each quilt and the borders. The first time I made this quilt I didn’t do any more quilting but this time I wanted to practice my free motion quilting so quilted all around the blocks using a loop design and variegated cotton thread.

If you’re curious to see how the quilt turns into a pillow and becomes a quillow, chack out my web site for more photos: Anne Maundrell Designs

my rain forest threads

Before starting with the coloured threads I outline quilted all the main features using an invisible thread, I then quilted in a trailing leaf pattern between the trees, using a darker coloured variegated cotton in the lower part of the design.

creepers and leaves

I’ve couched some yarn for the creeepers in the top part of the design and here you can see a detail of the quilting. Below you can see the completed design, I have allowed some of the leaves and foliage to spill over into the borders to break up the edges of the quilt. I finished the binding by hand stitching it on the back and then adding a hanging sleeve. Now I just have to find somewhere to hang it.

The finished wall hanging

Some detail shots:

foliage spilling into the border

Fan palms

design with leaves added

I have done some more work on my rain forest design, adding leaves in the form of small snippets of fabric. I have just added to the trees in the background and this helps blend them in and make them look more realistic. I have also added fallen leaves in shades of brown overlapping into the lower border.  I added some machine embroidery to the leaves in the background and then the next step will be to add more undergrowth and plants.

The picture on the right shows some of the leaves and the machine embroidery.

I have taken a break from this quilt for a few days now to get on with some other projects. I belong to an Internet sewing group linked to my sewing machine and they also have a partner group for challenges which I have just joined. The challenge this month was to make a small, simple quilt and practice free motion quilting, with the resulting quilt to be donated to an animal shelter in Florida.

I thought it was a good cause and I was also keen to practice some free motion quilting on my new sewing machine so I decided to participate and raided my stash of fabrics for a plain piece to use for this quilt. I used an all over meandering design of loops and hearts from Patsy Thompson’s DVD: Free Motion Fun Volume 1.

close up of loops and hearts design

I also took this opportunity to practice sewing on the binding by machine. Normally for my art quilt wall hangings I prefer to hand sew the binding because it gives a good finish. Occasionally if I am pushed for time and it is a simple design I will machine sew the binding using invisible thread and a straight stitch on the top side, with a thread to match the binding on the reverse side. As this was to be a utilitarian quilt and withstand wash and wear I thought a machine sewn binding would be appropriate and I wanted to try out a method that I had learnt about in my quilting group. I used the same variegated cotton thread that I had used on the quilt top and a shallow zig zag stitch. It worked well and looks attractive for this sort of quilt but isn’t something I would use on an art quilt or wall hanging.

machine stitched binding

I made the needle lace leaves using a technique I learnt in an online course at Quilt University: ‘Machine Embellished Surfaces’ with  Susan Brittingham.

The leaves are first drawn out onto dissolving stabilizer with a permanent pen and then layered in an embroidery hoop with organza. Then using a free motion foot and the feed dogs lowered you stitch round the outline of the leaves and veins using a straight stitch. For these leaves I used a variegated rayon thread in both the bobbin and needle.

Detail showing the veins stitched first.

Detail showing the veins stitched and then the outline of the leaf. After the outlines are stitched you remove the fabric and stabilizer from the hoop and trim away the organza being careful to trim closely but not so close that the fabric will fray when you do the next stitching.

Next using a free motion zig zag stitch and the organza on top you stitch over the straight stitch outlines using a narrower stitch for the veins and a wider one for the outlines.

Once all the leaves are stitched you trim away the excess stabilizer and then rinse the leaves to remove the rest.

The completed leaf ready to be stitched onto the design.

 The finished design.