Before and after

I am still working on Willow Tree Hill. This project has been on my plate for quite a while--not because I've lost interest or anything--it's just one of those projects that is evolving slowly, and it is definitely one of my favorite quilts.

The willow trees in the pattern call for brown embroidery floss for the branches and silk ribbon leaves. Now, I love needlework, but not if it is going to make my quilt lumpy--so I turned to my Janome 6600 to see what kind of stitches it could do. My first iteration ("before") was stitch mode 2 #62 doing two passes of it to fill in the stitching using Bottom Line in the bobbin to reduce bulk since there was going to be a lot of thread on the top. I did one tree, put it on the design wall, and waited to see how I felt about it. Never did warm up to it--I think you'll see why:

It kinda looks like caterpillars on there or something. The plan was to add individual leaves using mode 3 stitch #27--by changing stitch width and length you can make some awesome leaf variations--but I just could not warm up to these branches.

I found some great variegated threads in colors that would complement the fabrics in the blocks--YLI Machine Quilting 40 wt. in "Foliage" and "Forest." Also Sulky 100% cotton Blendables 30 wt. in a lovely mix of greens with just a hint of tan in it. But despite the great thread, I just left this block sit on the wall.

Last week I took my "scribble" practice piece and started fiddling with some other stitches that I initially rejected because I thought the end result would be too small scale for the blocks--lo and behold! I found mode 3 stitch 48 and I have to say I just love it! So here's the "after" version:


I think I'll skip adding any additional leaves--it looks great to me the way it is! This project has a lot of emotional attachment for me and I am taking great care to make sure I do it right. The "before" block got pitched and I remade the whole block--was able to re-do it nearly exactly with only a change to the chimney fabric.

On the Voyager 17 front--I am sorry to say that I haven't actually tried it yet!!! [INSERT STUNNED SILENCE HERE] The stitch regulator is on.....the frame is level and all is good to go.....I discovered at the start of last week that I did not have the right kind of needle for it! Total duh moment. I checked 4 local shops--no one had the right needle, so I called Hinterberg and ordered one pack each of the size 16 and 18 needles. That was on Monday--the needles arrived Saturday--we were running around getting ready for my daughter's 5th birthday party--so no time to play then. I worked on Sunday, spent yesterday trying to clean up from Sat......... well, maybe today I'll carve out some time to experiment! Maybe......