Turtles (Honu)

I simply love doing needle-turn applique......and it's been quite some time since I've picked up a needle. So to get my feet wet I decided to do something small. Hence, the turtles (or honu). These are small pieces.....made to fit in a 8x10" frame. Something small that can be displayed either hanging on a wall or sitting on a shelf (table, etc). They were hand-appliqued using some lovely batik fabrics for the turtles....and machine quilted using a blue variegated thread. I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. Now to buy frames and finish them up.

My newest applique project is a wool applique wall hanging called "Wooly Sheep" designed by Rachel Pellman (love her designs!). This is another small project (13" x 15"). I bought it as a kit eons ago and wanted something small to work on after I had finished the turtles. Just not quite ready to pick up one of my applique-in-progress projects just yet. This has proved to be a fun little project to work on! I made the quilt top and had all my sheep placed in an afternoon. Then I spent that evening happily stitching away. I'm using thread to match and an applique stitch to stitch my wool applique pieces to the background. I had thought about using embroidery floss and a blanket stitch.....but really didn't want to have the stitching that visible. Yes, the stitching is still visible...simply because you need to take a bigger "bite" with the wool........but the sheep are seen first and then the stitching. Last night was spent cutting out flowers, leaves, and stems for the border applique. It's all tacked in place (with a bit of acid-free, water soluable glue) and ready to be stitched down. This piece will be hand quilted. Just haven't decided on whether I will frame it or not.