Back again!!! With stitching and a review of Tulip Needles.

Well, March has zoomed by and we are into the 2nd half of April already!
March was a bit hectic around here and I ended up getting sick earlier this month. I'm well on the road to recovery now! :)

A little down time has meant I have been able to catch up on some sewing.

Last week I finished sewing together all 8 sections on my Lone Star.

Next will be the setting squares and triangles. I am still deciding whether to applique some smaller stars on the background fabric.

I've managed to keep up with the Chester Criswell blocks.

Block 30

and block 31.

Only 2 more blocks to go!!!


I have completed one more block for Citrus Sweet Love.

The next block is half finished. I hope to get that one done tonight.

For Noah and Matilda I have made a little pile of purple grapes for the border. Lots more to go! I have extra fabric for the vines coming in the post, so when that arrives Noah and Matilda will be full steam ahead again!

Recently I purchased a set of Tulip Needles. They are beautifully packaged!

Sorry the photo is up side down!!

I have tried a few of them now.

The sewing needles are no. 9 and are a bit thicker than I am used to using. The gold eye is easy to thread and think they will be good to use for general sewing.

The milliners needles come in 3 sizes. I choose the finest needle to try out. It is a longer needle with a small eye. I didn't have trouble threading Aurfil 50. The needle has some "flex".

So far my favourite needle is the applique needle. It is shorter than the milliners, but has a much larger eye.
I have used both Aurifil 50 for piecing and YLI silk for applique using the milliners and the applique needle. Both needles have "flex" and are nice and thin. When I first started using the needles I encountered some "resistance" to the needles passing through the fabric. However, I persevered with stitching to give the needles a good try out. I am wondering if there is some kind of coating on the needles because after some use they become much easier to pass through the fabric. I had no trouble finding the only needle I had used after it had been put back with all the others.


I hope everyone is finding lots of stitching time! :)