Making Bugs

You may remember a post I did last year about cutting out blue moths with my Scan and Cut™ (click here for that post). I finally put them to use. The ThreadBenders group’s latest challenge is entitled Driven Buggy. Fifty percent of the 36″ square quilt must be covered with a bug, a portion of a bug, or a bunch of bugs. I opted for the latter.

I made a bevy of bugs using fusing and fabric painting. I decided to back them with black wool felt and stitched details into each one before putting it on the quilt in a 3D fashion. To do this I fused them all to a single piece of wool felt and began to stitch.

I added stitching to each one, securing them to the felt well:

Then I cut them out close to the edge.

Next I quilted the background in a large “leafy” design, and started stitching my felt-backed bugs in place in a medallion style bursting out from the center millipede:

Once they were all in position, it was time to embroider legs and antennae.

Then I let myself play with Cathy’s button maker ~ it was time for ladybugs to descend on the quilt ~ but that will have to wait until next week’s post!

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An exciting announcement!

For those of you in southeastern Wisconsin, a new quilt shop has just opened in Watertown. I stopped by the Quilter’s Block recently and met Cory, the owner. He’s had an online quilt shop for a while. For any of you who don’t live nearby click here to go to the website to check out his offerings – and don’t miss all the free downloads!

Cory’s shop is a building on Church Street (Hwy 26) that has been vacant for many years and he’s made it into a bright and cheery space!

Cory told me he’s ordered loads of fabric, but the supply chain issues have slowed down the arrival of much of his inventory. How frustrating! That isn’t deterring him and he already has a lot of patterns, notions and pre-cuts!

The walls are covered with a wonderful mix of old and new:

and there’s room for classes too!

Watertown is a fun place to visit. We boast numerous antique and thrift shops. I previously shared information about a great artisan gallery, my favorite bakery, and a yummy coffee ~ lunch spot, in a post about my granddaughter’s puppet theater (click here for that post 😊).

I’m proud of our town and think you’ll find it a wonderful destination to cheer up your winter!