I improvised a country style sewing machine cover for my super high-tech sewing machine, that's kinds of an irony.
The cover involved lots of handwork. I used needle-turned cut-away appliqué with 100w Superior Silk Kimono thread and batik fabric to make the leaves. It's my first try and it took me so long to complete. Indeed, I was quite surprised to see how my hand appliqué improved from the first leaf I turned to the last leaf I completed. The leaves were smoother and my stitches were more invisible! I did hand binding to control the curve. Lots of free-motion quilting. I also spent quite some time to design and revise the swan+heart image, and transfer the image to the background fabric and prepare individual appliqué piece with Beth Ferrier's Wash-Away Applique Sheets. The cover was finally finished the night before Valentine's Day. The design was inspired by traditional Chinese Yuanyang (Mandarin Duck) Embroidery and Baltimore Album Style Appliqué.
I am very happy with my free-motion quilting this time. It's my first attempt of McTavishing, and I think I did a good job = ) Also, I finally figured out why the 100w InvisalFil thread broked frequently in the previous projects - it doesn't like the size 70 Sharp needle! For this project I used a size 75 Quilting needle, lowered tension to 3 and hooray, no breakage anymore!
Lastly, I purposely made the four corners open so that the cover can be put on even with the slide-on table, the presser foot lifter, and the wires all connected to the machine.