New Listing in Etsy Shop

Finally finished my latest project and put it up in my Etsy shop. A bit on the late side, but better late than never...here is the Quilted Christmas Table Runner/ Wall Hanging with the three applique sheep.

The runner measures 18-7/8in x 37-5/8in and looks also great on the wall as a bit of a Christmas decoration. In terms of quilting, I put a loop design in the background behind the sheep, then put a wavy line in the red sashing with a wave ruler. This took me the longest time to work out how the wave ruler would end up in the same spot in every corner but I eventually got there and the actual stitching took a mere 5 minutes. In the black border I just put straight lines as there is really nothing that would show particularly well. 

Also, again, had chosen a light backing which necessitated some fine tuning of the tension. I often read in the Bernina FB group about people's frustration with the pokies being shown either on the front or back. Must say that I have got little problem with that...it truly is a matter of patience and fine tuning your tension and it is absolutely possible to stitch with two different colours. Mine was a tad more challenging as I did use a thin cotton/polyester batting for the table runner, however the back did look great.

You are looking at a sheep sideways here. The background was stitched with an Aurifil 50/2 thread  of grey on top and white in the bobbin. The sheep needed some darker colours for the applique, i.e. the hat was stitched down with a red colour and the face, ears and feet with a dark grey colour. I used Invisafil in the top for this and the Aurifil white in the bobbin. Worked absolutely fine, not one pokie in sight. I think people are afraid to play with the bobbin tension. I must say that I find this super easy on the Bernina Q20, just needed a little nudge here and there and we were ready to stitch...nothing too drastic.

Also solved my problem of having the black feet of the sheep shining through the white fabric. Used a thin fusible woven interfacing between the fabric and the fusible applique paper. Made all the difference!

Now I only have to write up the pattern which now will probably be postponed until after Christmas. That, of course, was not the idea, but so be it...I will put up the pattern for the sheep after Christmas ready for next year's Christmas!

Well, back to my little Mini Wholecloth No 2 now...

Karin