The image above shows the design that I drew out in EQ6, ready to be made into an applique pattern. I decided to use invisible machine applique for this project as the pieces were large enough for the edges to be turned under, so I printed freezer paper templates and contstructed the bird before adding it to the background.

 It was quite similar to make to a hornbill but the biggest challenge was getting the colouring and markings on the beak. I searched through my piles of fabric and found two different batiks which blended blues and yellows. I then added the details using fabric pens. I also added a little touch of colour where the yellow feathers join the black.

For the background I chose a lovely hand dyed fabric by Frieda Anderson that I bought at the Festival of Quilts last year. Sometimes I find it hard it’s hard to cut into these special fabrics, but in the end I have to tell myself that I bought them to be used and they really do help to give  a special touch to the finished design.

The finished wall hanging, quilted with a variegated cotton thread in the background and a solid coloured thread for the borders.

A more detailed photo of the finished wall hanging.

Other people chose to feature green fabrics in their work and I was one of those, as it’s my favourite colour and I enjoy working with greens. For my project I created a foundation pieced background of ‘crazy’ blocks which I printed out from EQ6. I then used invisible machine appliqué to add a jungle plant, spilling out into the borders. In the latter stages I was racing against the clock to get the challenge finished by the end of the month but I just managed.

Quilting with variegated and solid coloured cotton threads completes the design. Initially I started to quilt a trailing leaf design in the borders but then had to unpick what I’d done as I felt that it didn’t look right and drew too much attention away from the main design.

inspiration photographs and some of the fabrics I've chosen.

Most of the fabrics I use are batiks or hand dyes, because of the subtle colour variations which I can use to replicate the patterns of the rocks in the background and foreground.

starting to build up the designMolly watching the progress of the waterfall

Building up the background for the waterfall using a variety of different batik and hand dyed fabriccs.  For the area at the back of the waterfall I used a preprinted fabric and used fabric pens to emphasise the trunks and branches of the trees.

I’ve used invisible machine applique to construct this top, first making templates from freezer paper which I iron on to the right side of the fabric.  I clip the seams, brush the edges with liquid starch, then turn under the edges using the tip of an iron. It is time consuming but I prefer this method to ironing the freezer paper on the wrong side and glueing the edges because this way I don’t have freezer paper to remove after. I also prefer the look of turned under edges.

For the waterfall I used a batik fabric as the base, then added details using Shiva paintstiks and Angelina fibre. The rocks are all added individually and I have turned under the edges of each one. It’s a slow process but little by little I’m getting there.

adding the rocks to the foreground.

Little by little I am adding all the rocks, then the next step will be to add some foliage to the foreground and background.

I start with a freezer paper template which I iron onto the right side of my gecko fabric. My favourite fabrics are batiks because they are tightly woven and fray less and also because of their  gorgeous colours and patterns.

freezer paper template

I draw round the template using a white fabric marker pen which disappears with heat or water or if I’m using a pale fabric I’ll use permanent fabric marker. I leave the template in place while I cut out roughly round the design. I prefer to leave it there until after I’ve cut it out because it’s easier to handle and you’re less likely to snip into the design by mistake.

I next pin the gecko in place on my background fabric, using fine or short pins. Short pins are good because the thread doesn’t get caught up on them so much.

applique shape pinned to background fabric

I use YLI silk thread and a #11 ‘sharp’ needle to hand stitch the gecko, the silk thread is so fine that it is much easier to make small and almost invisible stitches. I cut a piece of thread 16 – 18 inches long and make a knot in one end. People often want to use too long a piece of thread to avoid having to thread the needle so often, but this isn’t a good idea because the thread gets tangled and tends to shred. I trim the seams as I go along and because I am using a firmly woven fabric I can use very narrow ones without fear of them fraying. I usually trim them to less than a ¼ inch, especially around the toes of the gecko.

Getting started. The knot is buried in the seam and folded edge held in place with thumb.

To start, insert the needle from the back of the appliqué shape and bring it up on the right side at the point where you want to start sewing. It’s easiest to start on a straight edge so with my geckos I always start on the body part.

Wooden toothpick used to turn under edge

Fold over the edge of the appliqué along the seam line, my favourite tool for this is an ordinary wooden toothpick because the slightly rough edge catches the fabric and makes it much easier to turn under. Use the toothpick to smooth the turned under edge and then I use my thumb to hold it in place. I make a straight stitch into the background fabric at the point where I brought the needle out of the appliqué, and then make a very short stitch bringing the needle up through the folded edge. Continue in this way all round the edge of the appliqué shape.

 For sharp inner curves, such as where the body meets the legs, or the gecko toes, I clip right to the seam line, but on a gentle inner curve like the tail I just make small snips within the seam allowance. I never clip outside curves.

This is how the stitching looks from the wrong side.

Another finished gecko wall hanging

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

I imported the photo into EQ6 and then because of the complexity of the design I decided I would draw out the pattern in two parts, first concentrating on the hornbill and then creating another layout focusing on the background palm fronds. I did this and then once the background was drawn I copied and pasted the hornbill into the background.

To create the wall hanging I started off with some fabric that I had hand painted for the sky and invisible machine appliqué to construct the design. Normally I use freezer paper templates which I iron to the wrong side of the fabric and then remove after the construction is completed but for this design as there were so many small pieces I didn’t want to have to cut the back to remove the paper. I used a different method where I still use freezer paper templates but iron the paper to the front side of the fabric and then turn the edges under to wrong side using the tip of an iron and spray starch painted onto the seam allowance. The spray starch helps to hold the seam allowance in place.

I printed out the full size pattern from EQ6 and then traced the outlines onto a stabilizer which I pinned in place under my ’sky’ fabric. The fabric was light enough for me to be able to see the lines through so that I could place my pieces accurately.

I used a lot of fine pins to hold the appliqué pieces in place for stitching. I used invisible thread with a fine thread in the bobbin and a very fine needle (#60/8) and started stitching the pieces in place a few at a time as I built up the design on the background.

I had a lovely striped batik fabric which proved to be just perfect for creating the varied colouring of the palm fronds.

The fronds at the lower edge of the picture were so small and had such sharp points that I decided to fuse them in and use raw edge appliqué. To quilt I used invisible thread and outlined all the fronds and the bird, with stippling in the background areas and meander quilting with variegated cotton thread in the borders.

The finished design.

The photoshows the work in progress on my original wall hanging with Aicha keeping a close eye on it. The sky was hand painted and I decided to do the same for my recent piece. I haven’t done any fabric painting for a while so it was fun to get my paints out again.

This was the fabric I painted for the tropical sunset sky.

My recent design was a little different from the original one as there were to be two cats on the wall, one of them a tabby. The tabby was quite a challenge as the people who wanted the quilt were going to bring me a photo but then were too busy so I had to just use my judgement and hope that I would get it right. I chose a grey subtly striped fabric and then used a fabric marker pen to draw the stripes.

The two cats on the wall, everything pinned in place and ready to stitch. I used invisible machine applique to stitch the design as I didn’t want raw edges.

The finished design, two cats beside each other on the wall, dense vegetation and the tropical Brunei sunset in the background. I used a narrow accent border of deep red print batik to create contrast with the outer dark green border and to pick up some of the colours of the sunset sky.

The picture above shows the design as drawn out in EQ6. I then went through my pile of pale fabrics to chose the colours I needed to make the frangipani petals and stems.

Batik fabrics for the petals and stems along with my original photo. I printed the design out in reverse onto freezer paper and then used this to make templates for the design. I ironed the freezer paper templates onto the wrong side of the fabrics and then using a scant quarter inch seam I turned the edges over to the wrong side and stuck in place using a glue stick.

The picture above shows the pieces with edges turned under and glued in place then positioned over a full sized print out of the design to get correct placement. I used invisible machine applique to stitch the design together, assembling the small pieces before stitching the whole flower to the background. I auditioned a number of different fabrics for the background and borders and finally came up with a combination that I liked. The fabric for the borders was a batik I’d ordered over the Internet a few years ago and hadn’t used as it wasn’t quite what I’d been expecting at the time.

The completed design.

Close up of the flower.

I was happy with the way this turned out so decided to make another wall hanging using similar fabrics for the flower but a hand painted back ground which I had made recently.

I haven’t done any fabric painting for a while but I was prompted to do it as I had to paint a ’sunset sky’ for another wall hanging that I was making and while I had all the paints out I thought I might as well do a few others.

Close up of the frangipani on blue background. I achieved the mottled look by using a sponge to paint the background.

Detail of the quilting in the border. I used a lovely variegated polyester thread  I had which went just perfectly with the mottled batik fabric.

This time I wanted to try something a little bit different and just focus on a small detail of the leaves to create a more abstract design. It is an idea I’ve wanted to explore for a while and I was finally inspired by Katie Pasquini Masopust’s book: Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter where she devotes a chapter to exploring details of images.

I cropped the above image where two of the leaves overlap and create an interesting pattern.

I printed out the image and made an drawing on tranparency film which I thne scanned and imported into my Electric Quilt programme to create a pattern. Once the pattern was drawn out I went through my stash of greens  and chose over twenty different fabrics to recreate the shading in the leaf and add variety and interest. I printed out the pattern from EQ6 and traced one copy onto a satbilizer to use for the background and another copy onto freezer paper to use as a working pattern.

To make the design I cut out each section one by one from the freezer paper, applied it to the right side of my chosen fabric and then used starch and an iron to fold under the raw edge. Each piece is then applied to the background stabilizer and pinned, then I stitched each section in place using invisible thread and a reversed blind stitch.

The picture above shows the first sections stitched and further ones pinned in place and ready to stitch. I have used a mixture of batiks and tone on tone fabrics for greater variety and to add interest to the design.

This photo shows more leaf sections stitched in place. And finally the finished design.

I added a bright green narrow accent border and I outline quilted each individual section of leaf using rayon thread.

To get a good pose to make into an applique design ideally the legs should all be splayed out away from the body as it makes it easier to sew and make a pattern. For this design I chose a photo of a gecko with a nice curved tail. I imported the photo into EQ6 and drew out the design as an applique pattern, which I then drew out onto freezer paper ready to transfer to my fabric.

I chose a spotted batik fabric for the gecko and a pale batik for the background. The design is transferred to the fabric using a white fabric pen, I cut out roughly round the design and pin it onto the background ready to start needleturn applique. I prefer to sew these designs by hand using a fine needle and silk thread so that I can get all the shaping around the gecko toes. The gecko pinned and ready to start sewing.

Two years ago, I was intending to go outside one evening and take some photos to make a new design and I got a big shock. I went out of the kitchen door and there in front of me was a large snake which I imediately recognized as a python because of its distinctive markings. Luckily I had my camera in my hand so was able to take some shots straight away. It didn’t seem too bothered by me and I’m not worried about snakes (only terrified of spiders) so I was able to get quite close and get some good photos of it on the ground.

It then moved off past the car and then effortlessly coiled itself up the post of the washing line where it then settled quite comfortably. It didn’t look as if it was going to move off in a hurry so I went and got my SLR camera so that I could take some better shots. It was a wonderful experience being so close to this beautiful creature and I regret that here in Brunei so many people panic the moment they see a snake and want it killed. A large number of the snakes here are not harmful to man and most if left alone would rather escape than attack.

I hope this beautiful snake is still out there somewhere.