Old Dog, New Tricks

After months of skulking around in the shadows and dropping the odd hint about a secret sewing project, I can now share what I've been up to. It's a Vintage Tree Farm throw for my favourite niece Julia and it's been a good excuse to use a ruler that I'd forgotten that I even owned and learn a couple of new techniques at the same time.

It's a pattern from Buttermilk Basin that Roberta put me wise to, made initially by another of her clients (she herself cut three, has made two of these quilts and gave the trees for the third to a friend to work on). I saw it while picking up a quilt pre-pandemic, so it's been in the back of my mind for a while. I was enthralled, thinking that it would be perfect for Julia and Ryan. They have a tradition of going out to his uncle's beautiful Christmas tree farm to cut their tree. 

And the truck was just too perfect given that Ryan had refurbished this beauty for their wedding day a few years ago.

With fabrics like Winterlude...

Pieceful Pines and

Snowfall how could it not be a winter quilt?

I had purchased much of the fabric from Roberta a few years ago and then seemed to immediately forget about it until I literally tripped over the bag of goodies one day this past summer (yes, that speaks to the order, or lack thereof, in my sewing room!). After pulling everything out I remembered while this had been consigned to the 'some day' list - the machine applique. I hadn't done any before and was fretting that I'd just make a mess of things.

Enter Roberta. What a lifesaver! She coached and encouraged me, not only guiding me in technique but also providing the threads and Heat 'n Bond fusible. Truth be known, I lived in fear of this stuff. In the few times that I tried it I had less than stellar results. Initially I though that I was in for repeating all of my mistakes but then I realized that my iron just wasn't hot enough. Problem solved.

Appliqueing the truck section before joining it to the rest of the quilt was a great idea - SO much easier to work with a smaller piece (apparently working on a larger piece brings out the 'nasty language' for Roberta...😉).

She also wisely suggested that a test piece wouldn't be a bad idea, not only to get a feel for things, sort out tension, and get a little practice 'cornering', but to also sort out the size of the stitches.

So, after circling the machine for a little while longer I finally took the plunge, and by and large, things went pretty well. More pics of the finished quilt next time....M