Cottage escape on Free Motion Mavericks

Hi and welcome to week 441 of Free Motion Mavericks. I hope that your summer is going well. It seems to zoom right by, doesn't it? This week I have a couple of things to share with you - including some oldies but goodies! 

Cutwork and Broderie Anglaise

My daughter and I went for an overnight trip to my brother's cottage. We had the place to ourselves and had a lovely, relaxing change of scenery. Of course I brought supplies to keep working on my whitework. I just can't seem to leave it 😊 I added some cutwork to my original sampler.

Cutwork added to the Whitework sampler

The closeup photo is very revealing. I started working with beige perle cotton since I couldn't see the white on white well, even with a strong lamp. Photos from afar are forgiving!

Photo of the sampler outside

I also did a little sample of Cloth Stitch - this looks a bit like lace and covers an entire hole cut out of the fabric. It was lovely and simple enough to make, however the sampler looks much better in this image than the finished one. When I went back to this the next morning, my stitches were much looser and I messed up the finishing of it. I'll have to try this again, but in one sitting!

Cloth Stitch sample in the making

Meditation Stitching 

In my Meditation Stitching Journal, I've been making small meditation pieces to commemorate specific events. Sometimes it's abstract but it can also depict something specific. Last November I attended a Jann Arden concert that was also the annual National Arts Centre (NAC) Gala. We had amazing tickets and I've been wanting to make a meditation piece about it. I finally took the time at the cottage. 

Remembering the NAC Gala

I used the logo from the top of the program and added some glittery and rich textiles and ribbon, just like Jann's dress!. The funny looking pink piece is a flute of bubbly pink drink that was served 😋.

Gala meditation piece with a view from the cottage

Quilts at the cottage

Finally, here are a few quilty gems that are in the cottage.

I finished this quilt in August 2013. It went to Denmark, came back, and is now at the cottage. It was FMQ with a square within a square. It also had a great backing that you can see if you go to the original post (see Related links) 

A very scrappy quilt!

This is a wall hanging that is now a runner. It was made in 2017 for my niece. For the FMQ on white fabric, I had to quilt it from the back, since I couldn't see anything from the front's white on white. It is very heavily FMQ with wild quilting. You can see the details in the original post.

Black and white wall hanging

This next piece is a wall hanging that I made for my brother for the cottage. It's a panel that I FMQ. If you want to see the difference that the FMQ made, check out the original post. 

FMQ moose panel

This is a quilt that my mother made for my brother. This flying geese quilt has been around for a very long time and still looks good!

One of my mother's quilts

I made these tab top curtains for my niece a couple of years ago. Don't they looks great?! 😁

Tab top curtains in
buffalo red & black plaid flannel

What I learned

• The cutwork and broderie anglaise were very interesting to do, and like most skills, would require a lot of time to get good at.
• When making the Cloth Stitch, tension is very important...so is reading the instructions properly to finish it off!
• I'm not sure that I will keep working on cutwork and broderie anglaise. It was great to try and see how it's made, but would require a lot of practice. I think that just playing with whitework on burlap will probably be best for me at this time.
• It was so nice to chill out at the cottage. It was also great to see some of my earlier work! I hope that you enjoy them, and their original links!

Related links

• Whitework sampler
• Whitework at Free Motion Mavericks, July 06, 2023
• Learning Whitework techniques, June 19, 2023
• Quilts at the cottage
• Procrastination Over - Quilt on its Way to Denmark, August 08, 2013 
• White and Black Wall hanging: Learning QAL - October Goal Setting Link-up, October 01, 2017
• FMQ moose panel finished, October 09, 2020
• Tab top curtains in buffalo red & black plaid flannel: September OMG done, September 29, 2020

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Why not check them out before linking up below? Sew & Tell, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put your foot down, Midweek Makers, Design Wall Monday, Off The Wall Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Beauties Pageant, Peacock Party, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap!, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2023, 

Free Motion Mavericks

Quilting Gail participated in the Sew It - Show It Picnic Party Blog Hop by making a lovely picnic bag. She had to design it herself since she wanted it tall enough to fit a thermos. That's a colourful and useful bag!

Gail's picnic bag that's big enough to hold a thermos

It's now your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter