Quilting is for Fun!

Sliver Threads

A very warm welcome if you are visiting from the Blogger's Quilt Festival - and also to my wonderful regular readers.   

As with pretty much anything in life, quilting is what you make of it. My Royal Whispers quilt is filled with wild combinations of fabric types and colours, ribbons and trims, threads and stitches, techniques and ideas. In so many ways it is a 'break the rules' quilt - and I love it. 

Most of the fabrics used were left over from previous projects or already part of my collection. In the two months since completing Royal Whispers it has been well used - one of my daughters currently has it on her bed (although I intended it for myself).   :)

If you would like to know more about this quilt, particularly the threads used, you will find details and links in previous posts here and here.


Sharing at Blogger's Quilt Festival: Scrappy Quilt
You can also find details of my Peaceful Night quilt here, entered in the Small Quilt section.

Your Favourite Sliver Use

I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring several ideas using Gutermann Sulky Sliver threads in two of my most recent quilts. Sliver was a new-to-me thread and its beautifully shiny, smooth properties have proved perfect for certain projects. With 200 m/220 yds on each reel, this is a feature thread which goes a long way.

One of you now have a chance to win a selection of five different Sliver threads from those shown above. To enter you need to leave a comment below to let me know how you would like use Sliver thread. So let's have a quick recap of the some of various ways I have used it over the last couple of months - you may well have other ideas which you would like to try (I think it would be a great feature thread in embroidery too).

- Hand stitching an outline around an existing print.

- Hand stitching features on a fabric print.

- Straight line decorative machine stitching.

- Free motion machine stitching/outlining.

- Machine outlining turned appliqué.

- Straight line machine quilting

- Decorative machine quilting and outlining (Opalescent shown in the two photos above).

 - more decorative machine stitch quilting.




Sulky Gutermann Sliver comes in 24 colours. I have only seen the twelve as shown above.

8017 Peacock Blue                      8011 Light Copper
8052 Royal Blue                          8040 Opalescent
8013 Fuchsia                              8020 Multi-Colour Vibrant
8003 Light Gold                          8014 Christmas Red
8007 Gold                                  8019 Green

8001 Silver                                8050 Purple

Sliver is a special thread and needs a little extra care when machine stitching. For best results you need to use a vertical spool pin. Both my new and 29 year old (now broken) machine have a vertical spool pin, designed as an option for bobbin winding. I have successfully sewn with Sliver on both machines. Using longer stitches makes the most of Slivers smooth shiny properties. Lower stitch tension, slower speed and using a metallic or larger size needle such as a 14/90 also assist in achieving best results. I used Guterman's regular Sew All polyester thread on the bobbin. You can learn more on Sulky's website here and the Sulky of America blog here.

If you would like the chance to choose five of the Sliver reels above, leave a comment explaining how you would use Sliver thread - I'll be interested to hear your ideas. A winner will be drawn next week Friday, a week from now. (If you are a no reply blogger, be sure to include your email address with your comment).


* Three weeks ago Gutermann surprised me by generously gifting me with more than one of each of the colours shown above - plenty for my own uses and enough to share too.


Draw now closed. My 10 year old daughter picked the winning name from a bowl held above her head. And the winner is:

Marijke VanderVlist whose comment was -

I would use it for the Xmas sewing projects, it would sure spice up the serviettes and tablecloth and a wall decoration. I’ve got quite the pile waiting for me.
And I use it as my appliqué thread for a fairy and gnome wall hanging I’m planing for the kids room.
Happy sewing! Cheers, Marijke 

Congratulations Marijke! It sounds like you have some wonderful plans for using the Sliver threads. I will be in touch to arrange delivery and for you to choose which five colours you would like to have.

Royal Whispers

Just as I hear and see the wild birds singing freely each day, I also hear whispers of God's love for me. Sometimes it seems that the more difficult the circumstances of life, the more desperately we need to hear those whispers.

 The last few months have been very challenging for us as a family as my husband struggles towards wholeness of health. He's been completely unable to work for the last three months but is slowly improving. Thankfully he has a large amount of paid leave he has been able to use. My role, and indeed that of our whole family, has been one of carer - and he has needed a huge amount of care and encouragement.

To be totally honest, much of the motivation behind the quilt I have been working on over the last few weeks has come from a desire to be wrapped in luxurious beauty, comfort and an expression of love. I have felt uplifted being surrounded by the rich, glistening colours of threads and fabrics as well the prayers of others and the whispers God has spoken to me in the quiet places, through nature and the words of others. For these reasons I have named this quilt "Royal Whispers".

Over the last week I have experimented with needle-turn appliqué as a way to add some happy birds to my quilt. These birds are from a Michael Miller fabric range named "Flock"which I recently ordered from Hawthorne Threads.

Their feet and beaks were later embroidered with a little DMC stranded cotton.

Sulky's Sliver thread has found its place again several times in my work this week, as well as more Sulky rayon, 12 Wt cotton Blendables and DMC variegated stranded cotton.

Do you also find your quilting choices/motivations reflecting what's happening in your own life at the time?



Sharing at Work In Progress Wednesday.

Sparkle and Shine

The last few days have seen more play with my colourful mixed fabrics for my current quilt. There has been much fun adding hand stitching, machine stitching, braid and ribbons. I've been using Sulky 12wt variegated cottons, Gutermann rayon/viscose threads, DMC embroidery threads (metallic and cotton) and some Sulky Metallic thread.

Another new-to-me thread I have thoroughly enjoyed using is the Sulky Sliver. I began using it for a little hand stitching as shown above and below. I love the sparkle it adds to the cloth.

This afternoon I decided to see how the Sliver "thread" would stitch using my faithful (29 year old) Janome. A quick google search gave tips on how this can be done. You need to use a larger size needle (e.g. 14/90 or a special metallic needle), reduce machine tension right down and use the reel on a vertical spool pin (which I had never used until today). Using the silver Sliver on top and ordinary white cotton thread on the bobbin, it sewed beautifully. I sewed straight stitch with the Sliver using the regular machine foot and also experimented with some free motion outlining using a darning foot.

The Sliver, which comes in 24 colours, adds a true sparkle to the fabric and is smoother to the touch than the metallic thread. I can't wait to use it on some more pieces.


Extra Notes: You can learn more about Sulky Sliver Metallic thread here. You will find it at a number of retail outlets including Amazon. The wonderful people at Gutermann generously sent me a surprise parcel of mixed threads, including Sliver and Metallic threads, a few weeks ago to add to my own collection. 

***Updated October: You can see more of my Sliver experiences here.

Sharing at WIP Wednesday.

Playful Sewing

Playing with a selection of ribbons and threads I have had some fun over the last few days working with my colourful fabrics for this quilt. With no pattern to follow I'm working towards a set of 5 x 11" rows of fabric strips - unless I change my mind along the way. 

This week I've enjoyed using my "hand quilting" Sulky 12wt Blendables cotton threads for a little decorative machine sewing. Some shiny blue viscose/rayon also found its way onto my machine too, thanks to a surprise parcel of threads from the wonderful people at Gutermann.

This is the Gutermann Sulky Sunset Sky rayon/viscose machine embroidery thread pack which was in the parcel. I've never sewn with rayon threads before but their lustre and smooth texture are a delight both in the machine and for hand stitching. On the fabric below I used two threads of the rayon together to hand stitch a feature spot on the Acacia print, Hummingbird in Midnight.

It was fun to add some sparkle to my favourite new Anna Maria Horner fabric with some Gutermann Sulky metallic thread and also some DMC stranded metallic. The DMC, even using one strand, was a little stiff for this use but still pretty. The Gutermann metallic was finer and softer, just right for smaller stitching.

Sewing a quilt with an eclectic mix of fabrics, threads and trims is quite relaxing, resembling the free play of childhood in some ways. There are no rules and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!


Extra Notes: The wide ribbon in the top photo is Moths in Lavender and Turquoise by Anna Maria Horner by Renaissance Ribbons (bought on sale recently). I have sewed a grey velvet ribbon to the lower edge of the AMH ribbon using a matching Gutermann Extra Fine thread. 
The Gutermann Sulky rayon thread pack was a surprise gift to me from Gutermann, along with a selection of Sulky metallic threads and sliver reels.
The Anna Maria Horner fabric in the last three photos is Primrose in Sapphire from her recently released range, Pretty Potent. This fabric has a wonderful soft feel to it too - I have ordered sufficient to make the backing from this fabric.
Previous update on this quilt are here and here.


Sharing at Work In Progress Wednesday.