Shoe-box rescue kits

Yesterday I drove up to BribieIsland and visited with the Island Quilters who had kindly donated some Shoe-box Rescue kits for Flood afflicted quilters and sewers.

I now have about 60 kits to deliver, thanks to the Crazy Quilters of Caboolture and the Island Quilters of Bribie Island.
As you can see from the second photograph, my dining table  is being used to tag and seal the boxes prior to delivery.

Hopefully I can get down to the Shed (CONNECTED  regd charity) on Saturday to get them out to the areas requiring help.

Island Quilters are still a community minded group. It's over seven years since I have had contact with them (I used to be a member) and it was good to renew acquaintances and see how they still support communities in need:  Little wooly caps for Premmie babies at Mater Hospital;
                                    Knitted mini sleeping bags that as the infant grows becomes a pullover for kiddies in the PNG Highlands;
                                    Cuddly bears for an orphanage in Africa....and the shoe boxes for our own people.

I'm just an old fashioned gal!

 
 I tried doing some Blue -work stitching by machine, and although I had good designs to work with, I did not like the resulting pieces.

So, once again, I returned to where I started.....handwork!

Two pieces in the six by four inch format were more satisfying for me.
Sure digitised embroidery provides some wonderfully intricate results, but nothing measures up to the satisfaction of hand stitching a design, even if one's stitches are not as precise as machine stitched work

Accidentallandscapes

 Using the technique  popularised by Karen Eckmeier I tried making some" accidental landscapes" in Postcard format.
With "accidental landscapes, one starts layering at the top of the scene.
Each subsequent layer is topstitched in position, rather than the  raw edge applique I normally use..
And instead of using toning threads to sew down each layer I used Superior clear monofilament....I realise now that was a mistake. and in the future will avoid a short-cut in order to obtain a better result.




I wish I could say that I was happy with the resulting landscapes, but feel I need repeat the exercise in a size larger than 6 by 4 inches.
Also, adding some Angelina fibre plus a copper thread for "glitter" on the sunkissed water was  "too much" for such a small format.


 Cards 3 and 4 I used a softer fabric to represent the sky. and more greens for the hillsides:
I still didn't manage to incorporate the SEVEN that Eckmeier suggest using!


Oh well back to the drawing (and cutting board)

But that will need wait until I complete a couple of other postcards with different themes.