Diverted by the Aztec Stitch

Last Christmas during an ornament exchange I recieved one made in a technique I did not recognize. I've been stitching a long time now and this doesn't happen too often. I tracked down the lady who made it and discovered it was the Aztec Stitch. Some quick googling revealed information and a free project from Piecework Magazine that I quickly printed out. I didn't have the supplies on hand so it was put aside, but not forgotten.

My EGA (Embroiderers' Guild of America) Chapter was looking for program ideas so I suggested the Aztec Stitch. Patience paid off and the program was a few weekends ago but I had to miss it. I picked up the canvas and instructions last weekend and dropped everything to get started. This bookmark is stitched using 18 count canvas and #8 pearl cotton.

Canvas threads are removed and the design area is outlined with nun's stitches. Then the fun begins. Alternating stripes of wrapped bars create a beautiful effect.

This thread was dyed in a class many years ago. The colors are uneven and mottled. Some are not colors I would normally use or combine with each other. I just alternated the colors I had to see how they would look together. Sometimes the best color combinations are accidents like this. I would never have chosen these colors to go together, but they do.

I also don't deal with yellow well and rarely use it. I don't know why. I am cool color girl - I love greens and blues. It was a great achievement to actually use yellow (and yellow-orange) for a change. Maybe I'll have to make an effort to include yellow more often.

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It's about time - the big reveal

My bright quilt was finished in June but I wanted to wait until both were done before sharing the pictures. Quilting the blue quilt didn't take long but finishing the binding sure did. I did procrastinate a bit as it was too warm to have a huge quilt on my lap for most of the summer. After this, I'll probably do all the binding on my sewing machine (and stick to smaller quilts). Notice the cut-out corners? That was a challenge. I found instructions here and it looked easy enough but I wished I had practiced some. After a lot of finessing I finally got good miters but I could have done much better. The cut-out corners allow the quilt to hang nicely over the edges of the mattress and it's a perfect match for a full sized mattress. But, the top edge isn't even close to the pillows. I wonder how the quilt fit on the bed it was made for. Here, at last, is the original quilt that I was copying. I just noticed - all of the baskets are

Basted

A few weeks ago I was at the Local Quilt store basting my bright sampler. It's been ready to go for a while. I've been working on a baby quilt and it's now done. It's been a while since I've quilted so I'm glad I had a quilt to warm up on. Next I need to pull a folding table out of the garage and re-arrange my quilting space. This quilt will have a lot more drag than the baby quilt. I've also been looking at pictures of similar quilts looking for quilting pattern inspiration. I'm thinking of taking the easy way out and u se wavy lines like this quilt . I should start quilting next weekend!

The last 2 blocks and the tops are done!

I needed 2 more blocks to finish the gray version of the quilt. I ended up making simple 9 patch/half square triangle blocks. One is the yellow block in the lower left. Here it is closer up. When I made the half square triangles I had the red fabric going the wrong way so you are seeing the backside of the fabric. So the red in the triangles is a little lighter than the red in the center. It wasn't worth redoing. The other corner has a blue block and I managed to get the front of all the fabrics showing. So, here's what it looks like almost complete. And here's the blue version of the quilt. I've got the backing and the batting for the gray quilt (the backing is in the washer now) and I'm working on the thread to use for quilting and how to quilt it. They are too big for me to free-motion quilt. I don't have the space. As it is, quilting with the walking foot will be a challenge. These tops deserve so

Erica's Stitches

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