Sunday 11 January 2015

Little Elephant in the hoop

Now that Charley Harper is finished, it's Little Elephants turn for quilting.  I am trying something new with this one; in fact I am trying two new things.  First I am using a different wadding.  I have been using wool, which I love, but am giving Sew Simple Eco Blend a go.  This is a 70% cotton, 30% poly blend and the appeal of it for me is that is made from 100% recycled material.  It has a nice, felty feel to it, and is alright to quilt, but I'll do a bit more before I draw any firm conclusions.  In the meantime, my conscience is happy with the choice!

I am also trying a new thread.  I love using perle to hand quilt but I can't find variegated shades that I am happy with.  I don't want a variegated which includes a lot of white or just varying shades of one colour, which pretty much rules out my usual brands (Anchor and DMC).  I have tried Valdani, which has some really lovely colour combinations, but found the thread a bit soft (for want of a better word).  It tended to pull apart a bit too often for my liking, and this meant I ended up working with short lengths - lots of extra starting and finishing.

So I am giving Gutermann's Sulky 30 a go.  This is what I bought:


It's early days still, but so far am pretty happy with the choice.  When I've done a bit more I'll post some close ups so you can see how the colours work out.


Linking this post to Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching and with Aylin-Nilya for Monday Makers.

16 comments:

Unknown said...

I love Sulky threads. Next time we meet you can help yourself. Glad little elephant is on the way.

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

The colors look fun !! :)

CathieJ said...

I like the colors of those threads. I used variegated thread to quilt one of my quilts. I really loved the result, especially since it was on a black background. Enjoy your stitching.

Mary said...

I'm always interested in learning more about thread. The colors you chose are lovely.

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

I have never heard of that batting. But I am always interested as new ones are developed. As for varigated threads I haven't tried them yet but sure hope to someday. I hope you will share a pic of how the batting and thread turn out next week.

Barbara said...

Love those colors. Very pretty.

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

I love the Valdani perle cotton colors, but do NOT like using it. I find it is too thick and does not glide through the fabric well. Good luck!

Quilter Kathy said...

Love those photos... especially the photo of your quilt in the hoop...such beautiful colours to enjoy!
Thanks for linking up and sharing some preliminary thoughts on your new experiments!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Oh, I do love a great variegated thread. Glad to hear that it is working well for you so far! :)

Karen in Breezy Point said...

Those threads looks so yummy--love your quilting so far!

Sandy said...

Very pretty! I really like the colors. That variegated thread looks interesting, I'll have to look for it. Although I don't do too much "big stitching" as its hard on my hands.

Jeanna said...

I don't hand quilt but your stitches are just so pretty. I would be interested in learning to hand quilt...one day, so I would love to know which thread you prefer.

Happy Slow Sunday Stitching!

Deb A said...

Such pretty stitches! I'll be watching to see how the variegated thread works.

Mary Marcotte said...

Little Elephant is such a pretty quilt with beautiful colors. I'm sure the variegated thread is going to work beautifully. You'll love both the thread and the batting because what I can see so far is fabulous. Can't wait to see the completed project!

Stephie said...

I love Sulky - although I haven't tried the variegated colours…yet! Gutermann's hand quilting thread is lovely to use too. Can't believe how busy you've been on this quilt already - at this rate you'll easily exceed four finishes this year! Love the way it's coming together and I think the variegated thread will work out perfectly. Look forward to hearing what you think about the Eco wadding - I think bamboo fibre wadding is very Eco friendly too :)

Serena @ Sewgiving said...

I've often seen those threads in the shop and wondered what they were like? I look forward to seeing the results :)