My babies

Instructions

Hi, this is a Micheal Miller panel from his fairy series. The name of this one is " Apple blossom fairies". The two children in the middle looked so much like my babies when they were little I had to get it. I have always envied knitters who could carry a project with them. This seemed to be an opportunity for me to do the same. The image is outlined in a thin black line. I tried my hand at "hand quilting" by quilting with black thread along these lines. Needless to say... I had no idea what a huge chunk I had bitten off..lol Two (2) years later.. (yup..lol 2) It only needs a bit of machine quilting to finish up the outside borders. I traced (stiched) all through the hair of the children.. the flowers... branches. etc. It is amazing how you can feel the toes of the young child. I added 3 bordering strips, and the red blocks to tie in with the red backing. Did some major fussy cutting to match up the small striped outer border. The black and green flower border was hand quilted as well... outlining the edges and the flowers. The wall hanging will have a thin red edge flipped over from the backing. I will also add a hand sewn hanging sleeve on the back. The completed size will be approx 38" x 52" Hi, this is a Micheal Miller panel from his fairy series. The name of this one is " Apple blossom fairies". The two children in the middle looked so much like my babies when they were little I had to get it. I have always envied knitters who could carry a project with them. This seemed to be an opportunity for me to do the same. The image is outlined in a thin black line. I tried my hand at "hand ...
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Difficulty:

Category: Quilting

Type of item: Home Decor

For: Home

Style: Whimsical, Traditional, Victorian / Steampunk, Retro / Vintage, Classic

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Materials

100 % cotton fabric, 3M Thinsulate batting

What was your inspiration?

The image caught me... I knew exactly what I wanted as soon as I saw the panel. I also wanted a project that I could hand quilt without being embarrassed by my less (lol) than perfect stitching.

What are you most proud of?

As it turns out.. my hand stitching. I made a lot of progress with the uniformity of the stitching. (very easy to see if you flip it since I used black thread!...oops) I knew it would be mine.. all mine.. so I relaxed and just had fun. It saw me through some rough times and gave me something to focus on.
I took it every where with me... and it sparked many a conversation. Even a high five from a knitter ..lol when I said, " ME!" in response to her question "Who are you making it for?"

What advice would you give someone starting this project?

Once again... let the fabric talk to your creative soul. If the fabric moves you...you will enjoy the project. Unless you will be snow bound for 3 months... this type of project is a long term one. I set the difficulty level high because my panel was very intricate and required a lot of stitching. Once again I shared it as a guide , you can make it as simple as a single flower.
It all starts with one stitch...lol.. and ends with one as well. Take the leap...hand quilting wasn't so scary after all! Enjoy