Wordless Wednesday

More on Big Stitch quilting

I just finished another project 
using Big Stitch quilting.

It can change the look of a 
piece and give it more texture.

For example....

 I really love this Moda red and white
fabric and the faux Redwork.
I added some decorative stitches but
it still looked too plain and boring
to me.

So I decided to try adding some 
Big stitch quilting to it.

  

 It changed the look completely!
It's now more interesting, has texture
and more pleasing to look at.
I also added some french knots.
And also stitched around the flower
and leaves. 

I mentioned in another post about
using Aunt Lydia's crochet thread
size 10. It looked nice but it's
hard to go through the fabric -
I could only stitch one stitch at
a time.

I also tried DMC cotton Pearl
size 5 but it too was too thick.

   
The red (above) DMC no. 8 is much
better. You can take 4 to 5 stitches
at a time. And it's 100% cotton and 
colorfast.

In my area the color choices are 
limited. I only found red, blue,
white and ecru. But I have found
that Joanne's fabric and craft store
on-line had a great variety of colors!

Now that the weather is warming up
a bit; I can sit on my deck and stitch
in the sunshine. Which makes me very
happy.

Which reminds me - the other night
while cleaning up the deck; I heard
hundreds of crows. It happens every
fall and spring. They make such a 
racket and it fascinates me to watch
them flying from tree to tree back
in the farmer's field next to
my backyard.
I grew up in the city so I really
enjoy watching this spectacle.

          
What I don't enjoy is when the farmer
man starts putting down the manure right before planting time! phew! I had just hung
out some of my laundry when he
decided it was time to fertilize
the field! I had to take my laundry
back inside.

Have a great week and happy quilting!

  

Wordless Wednesday

Easter Family Traditions - Mangia Bene!

I hope that everyone had a
happy Passover and Easter!

Do you have any family traditions
- for example; do you have to
cook a special kind of food that
your parents or grandparents cooked
for a holiday? And so hopefully
hand down to your children?

My maternal grandparents came here
from Naples, Italy and brought many
family food recipes with them. 

Easter bread

 This is store bought - my grandmother
used to make this round and braided
with at least 5 colored eggs. It 
represents "new life" and is for good
luck. (normally I would make this
myself) It's a cake like bread.

Pizza Rustica

 This also is store bought - my daughter
brought it here from an Italian store
on Long Island. My grandmother made
the best! Although, this one was very
good! Normally it was made with all
your leftover cold cuts, etc. Ham,
salami, dried sausage and many different
cheeses and almost one dozen eggs.
My grandma would make three of these
the day before Easter because "every
body has to have a piece who stopped
by to visit." 
 I'm not thinking about calories (-:

Sausage bread

       
 I'm not sure how to spell it in
Italian. One of Grandma's favorites.
It has pieces of ham and dried sausage.

I did break tradition by making Ravioli
instead of Lasagna )-: My mom would
make the Lasagna and a ham or pork
roast.
Too lazy this year to cook too much!

Zeppoli

    Zeppoli is a deep fried dough -
you add yeast and a little water;
then when they're still hot, you sift
confectioners sugar all over them.
I did make these because they're
my favorite!

I love carrying on family traditions;
it makes me feel close to my roots and
those family members that have passed
on. While we eat the food; we share
stories about what we remember from
past holidays. It makes us feel happy
and still connected to them!

 Mangia Bene!



    

    
  

    

Handmade

Here's a soft sculptured stuffed
rocking horse that I made to go
with the hand pieced quilt that I
posted about a couple of days ago.

  
Most of the fabrics are by Heidi Grace.

I used to sell these cute little horses
in a handmade shop on Long Island.

I also used to buy things that I couldn't
resist. 

Do you have a favorite handmade
item that you just cherished?

Here's mine 

 

   She isn't very pretty but there's 
something about her that I just love!
 She just turned 21 years old.

There were so many talented artists
in that shop and I wish I knew the
woman who made this. Everyone in the
shop was given a number - no names.

She only made a couple and I was happy
when I got to buy this one. 

      

 I marveled at her construction - she has
eyelids and eyelashes! Her little nose and
ears are stitched. A lot of work and thought
went into this little doll. 
She's not perfect but then that's the charm
of handmade items. 

Happy Stitching!

  

Wordless Wednesday

Big Stitch Quilting

Another WIP (works in progress) finished!
 (actually two of them)

This is the table runner that I was
working on in my previous post.

  
I added feathers - hand drawn - that we 
learned in Teresa Fusco's class. ( a couple
of posts ago) Added the binding and washed
it. Now it has that nice warm vintage quilty
look.  
 I made this table runner a couple of years
ago to learn how set blocks on point. And
so I thought it would be a good piece to
experiment with different types of quilting.
Some Big Stitch hand quilting and free motion.
The old and the new. I like it!

The other WIP that I finished was a 
quilt from Fons and Porter magazine.

    It's called Training Wheels. It was in
their magazine Baby Quilts - November
2009. I loved it the minute I saw it.
I wrote a post about. My computer was
being repaired (one month!!) and I had
to do something with my hands. I was
going into withdrawal. 

 This whole quilt is hand pieced and hand 
quilted.But it sat on a hanger ....waiting.

I didn't know what to do with the border.  
Until I decided to try Big Stitch and I liked
the way it turned out.
     

The first quilt that I did Big Stitch on 
was the Folk Art Quilt by Linen Closet
Quilts. 
Hand pieced, needle turn applique
and hand quilted.

 
I used regular crochet cotton and it 
was hard to quilt - one stitch at a time.
Until I read to use Pearl cotton #8 which
is much easier to take a running stitch.

I'm going to incorporate this stitch
in many more of my quilted projects.

I hope that you try it - you'll like it!

Happy Quilting!