All white on the night!

Well..... I might not have made it to the Quilt Show yesterday but the day was not a total loss.   I had a lovely relaxing FNSI instead. 

Isn't it funny how when you have a good rummage around looking for something different to do all sorts of goodies you'd put to the back of your mind catch your eye again.   Like this.....

Tailfeathers..... one of my all time favourite BOM's.     I had great fun prepping the little applique Robins.  For once Steam-a-Seam didn't get the better of me and I got all the pieces fused with no trouble at all.  Well... if you don't count that I fused the body of the bird on red fabric instead of tan first time... hey ho!
Got some of the blanket stitching done on the birds too.

Now for all the white stuff!

The roll of Sticky Fabri Solvy I ordered arrived yesterday so how could I not play with it last night....

The photo above shows the Solvy after I ran it through the photocopier to transfer the design.   It was a bit fiddly to do but that was more because I bought it in a roll rather than flat sheets.   The roll worked out cheaper (call me mean) inch for inch than the packets of sheets.   

Using my brain (!) I cut a piece of Solvy from the roll and stapled it at the corners to a sheet of craft card... kept it nice and flat and it fed through my aged printer/copier no trouble at all.

After that I trimmed the sheet down to the actual design area and peeled off the backing paper I stuck it in place.  Apologies for the brightness of the above photo.  I tried and failed to make it any clearer.   The design is in fact really well defined and PERFECT!   None of my shaky handed tracing ... it's just as the designer (in this case Leanne Beasley) intended. 

I did apply Parlan to the fabric before I placed the Solvy.  Wasn't too sure how the adhesive on the Solvy would react to the heat of pressing on the Parlan.   I'd imagine I could have had a real sticky mess on my hands and lots of tears before bedtime.  Better safe than sorry eh! 

Here it is in the hoop.   Have to say the design is really clear and easy to see and I felt it helped me to stitch a bit more accurately.     The fabric is a bit stiffer than usual and in the hoop I found it easier to stab the backstitch rather than working the stitch in and out in one movement.  Not much flexibility in the fabric.

I haven't worked with Parlan much... it's a bit bulkier than the Weaveline I usually use so maybe I just need a bit of time to get used to it.   I'll try the Solvy with Weavline soon and let you know how that works.

Here's a close up so you can see the texture of the Solvy.  Can't wait to see the end result once it's been dissolved away.

OK.... I didn't stitch a whole lot last night but I did enjoy playing with fabric.   It didn't help that I couldn't stay awake for a late night stitch in.   Didn't get much sleep Thursday night so I was comatose by 10pm.

Here's someone else who is having trouble getting out of bed recently.....

poor little Bagpuss has been to the Dr.   What do you do with a constipated cat?   Give it an enema according to the vet.   Fortunately Baggy has recovered from the embarrassment and is feeling quite comfy again.  He's much happier since I assured him no one can see his bald patch.... as long as he keeps his tail down!    What next.......

I'm off to blog hop now.   Hope everyone who joined in FNSI had a really great night.   Oooop's... just realised I forgot to drink my wine!  Next time.....

Have fun and I'll see ya soon
Hugs
Josie