So far, no sewing yet today but I thought I would spend some time updating the blog & I also made some scrummy coconut slice for hubbie & HM (my daughter) for tea tonight as a treat. I have not made coconut slice for ages and to make it even more special I used some of my best home made raspberry jam inside it. Also above is a photo of the blanket stitching I did last night around one of the flower pots on the wall hanging....its a bit difficult to see but I hope you get the general idea.

Wall hanging - second session

So the children were tucked up in bed & I sat down to work :-)

First task was to make my final fabric selection for the flowers and quilting. I referred to the finished design on the front of the pattern, using that as my guide. After choosing the fabric for the flowers, pots & stems I cut out the flower stems, pressed them and then decided to use my machine to attach them to the backing fabric (as I have a new machine I might as well use it as much as possible in the project & it will enable me to discover more about the functions & all the different stitches).

Stems attached, next came the pots & the flowers. I traced the pots & flowers onto fusible interfacing & then ironed them on to the fabric. I cut out the shapes now ironed on to the fabric, peeled off the paper layer on the interfacing and then ironed the fabric shapes to the backing fabric in the desired position.

The pattern instructions then advised to use a decorative stitch to securely attach the shapes to the backing fabric. I like to use blanket stitch but decided to do it by machine & not by hand. Again, this was a new function of my sewing machine that I was going to use. I practiced a little on a scrap of fabric before letting myself loose on the wall hanging. In fairness it probably will take just as long as sewing it by hand as I found it quite tricky turning corners & ensuring the stitches ended up in the right direction. Overall the finish is probably not as neat as I would like here but I am viewing it as a learning process & frankly practice makes perfect :-)

By the time I finished doing the blanket stitch around the flower pots it was time for bed & I decided that I will tackle the flowers this evening....