Istanbul

Now that all the applique pieces have been cut out it is time to get on with the Quilt!

I have divided my whole cloth into 8 sections and marked a circle in the centre to give me a starting point and also prevent things from creeping into the middle.

Then carefully ironed the first section in place.

Now to choose the embroidery threads....
As you can see I have quite a stash. The result of coming across a shop that had been bought "lock, stock and barrel" by someone who had no interest in craft and just wanted to clear everything out ASAP.

Although I have had these for quite some time, they have been stored in Photo Archive boxes and are still quite sound.  The only exception being the Red which I will replace with some new skeins.

I also decided to make a new project specific pincushion.

Strips of each of the applique fabrics sewn together and embellished with some machine deco stitches.

I also placed a piece of ply (cut to size) inside the pincushion before stuffing so it had a flat and stable base.
So much easier to migrate around the house or balance on the arm of the chair.

I can now keep my threads on the respective colours eliminating the risk of picking up the wrong skein.
I also decided to use 1 needle per colour, so I can keep sewing without rethreading for the sake of six inches of buttonhole stitching!

Now that I am organised - it should just be a matter of getting comfortable and get stitching.

And to keep me from getting distracted....

It is booked in for custom quilting early February!