The three weeks since I came back from my travels have flown by but I have managed a little progress with my foragers book. This is a stitch-a-long by Pretty Little Fabrics and Trims, I get a pack each month with everything I need to make another page…I’m only four months behind!!

Last time I posted any actual progress with this project was back in April, I had just finished the February page of gorse…

With two months complete I could start to quilt my first double page spread. I trimmed the pages to 9″ square and stitched the two pages together. I then used spray baste to attach the batting. There’s no actual backing fabric so the quilting is just done onto the batting. I couldn’t find the original instructions for January (you haven’t seen my sewing room recently!!) so I did try to work out a quilting design using diagonal zigzags. I wasn’t happy with it after one side, so I left it and went on to the February page which I had a picture to see how she had quilted it.

I quilted round the embroidered part and then using a Frixion pen I drew diagonal lines across the borders one inch apart. It was nice and simple to quilt and didn’t take too long. I remembered the other side was quilted with lines across. I initially drew 1″ lies across, but I changed it a little when I started and stitched pairs of lines instead. I’m pleased with how the pages have turned out.

My next task is to bind the edges with some Liberty tana lawn. I think I’ve worked out how she puts the book together, I need to bind right round the two pages, I’m not folding in half first and just doing the square page, which puzzled me at first. I think we’ll stitch the centre of the pages to the spine and then stitch the two sides of binding together.

Last night I started the next page embroidery, wild garlic, which we have growing just outside our back gate on the old railway line. Hopefully I’ll manage to catch up over the next couple of months.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Deb, Karrin, Margaret and Daisy