2013 May second half

 

Broom Farm

The ladies at the Broom Farm class have been busy today: blanket stitching

English Paper Piecing

Machine Appliqueing 

Learning how to use a sewing machine

and hand sewing


















Time for me to do some sewing?

Lovely Lovely Lisa

A few days ago I blogged about daughter Lisa, today I'm blogging about sister-in-law Lisa.  The same sister-in-law who very considerately bought a house within walking distance of two fabric shops, and then patiently drove me to every other fabric shop within about 50 miles of her and my brother's house in Sydney.

Her daughter, India, made me this fab paper quilt for my birthday

I reckon there is every chance that Indi may have the sewing gene, but I'm not sure that I'll ever convince Lisa that this is a fun hobby - however she does make a great personal shopper!

I'd mentioned that I'd run low on Australian fabrics for my Aussie hexies and stars,

and just look what arrived in the post!  Far too yummy to cut into yet, I'm just enjoying looking and stroking and trying not to drool

Thank you Lise, love you!!!!

A Little Lull

I haven't blogged much about sewing recently as I haven't really done much.  I think it's due to some fabric that I really want to use (but not sure what to do with it) and a design I really want to make (but don't know what fabric to use). Very disheartening.

Instead I've been despondently plodding with an old UFO from a workshop I did with Jan Hassard and the Richmond and Kew  Quilters in 2011.  I haven't really been feeling the love here either but after 18 months I just decided to get on with it. 

I was so 'bleugh' about everything I didn't take stage photos, but basically I had loads of 1 and 1.5 inch strips in shades of red and black and beige.  I used these to make 36 offset log cabin blocks.  Half had the two narrow sides made of red, 

and the other half had them made of cream.

 (Indoor, flash photos, the cream colour is somewhere between these two shades)


As I made these I pondered my two problems: one being the fabric I want to use, and the other being the quilt top I want to make

This is the fabric: Essential Dots from Moda,

 I love, love LOVE the colours, but feel that the bottom two don't really belong with the other shades, and without them I don't have enough fabric to make anything.

As for the quilt I want to make - it's the giant star that lots of people made a while ago:

This is Katy's version

And this is Nicky's 

Aren't they yummy!  I also fell in love with a version Hadley made a year or so ago, but I certainly don't have charm squares in the right colours

(hope it was OK to borrow your photos, girls xxxx)

I *may* have come up with a solution, I'm off to bed now, I'll let you know tomorrow 

Less of a Lull

So as I left you yesterday I was making blocks for a quilt that didn't excite me, while I tried to work out what I could do with my Moda Essential Dots, and what could I use to make a Giant Star?

So this is how my sewing time panned out:

The blocks have been assembled,  

Hmm The problem with the fabric collection seems to be the red and the gold, they are a different tone to the others. But if I take them out I only have four fabrics that belong together.

The borders have been added,

Hmmm What fabric shall I use for the Giant Star?

 

 Some of the left over fabric got 'piano keyed' and added as another border

Hmmmm, I could use the 4 fabrics I have to make the lone star, but it would be better with all different fabrics

A few more borders to use up all the project fabric, and I seem to have a quilt top, and what's more I love it again.

Meanwhile ... Hmmmmm I wonder if there are any other shades of Essential dots?  

A quick visit to ThreadBear, and a few clicks later and I think that teeny problem has been solved!!!!  So a finished top, AND a plan for the Giant Star when my squishy arrives!!!!!

Waiting for the Weekend

Squishy arrived

8 perfect fabrics for my Giant Star

(again rubbish photos, the colours are more muted than shown.  I'm not using the 3 vertical ones, just the horizontal ones)

Hurry up weekend , I want to get started (suppose I *ought* to give Niki's birthday priority today!  Happy Birthday sweetie xxxxx)

Saturday Star

Well I had a "home alone" day today, waking up to an empty house, and it'll be just me until 10pm ish.

Much as I love my family, this is the best kind of day (once in a while at least!)

So in my pyjamas, over the first cup of coffee, I cut the biggest squares I could get out of my half metre dots.  Then I cut them into triangles.

Then I stitched and stitched and stitched.  Then pressed and pressed.  Then I joined the blocks into strips and then I realised what a beast I had created.  I joined two Ikea fleeces together and sewing the strips together, until I had this:

Isn't it wonderful!  I love this method of making a quilt top - I reckons HSTs aren't too bad when they are big, but these are probably too big, so I started a smaller version - then the iron packed up, so no more today.

(PS, if I turned this over you would see that two Ikea fleeces are not enough, I need to go and get a third!  So no more work on it for now, until I get to Ikea!  I can see errors: the puckered stitches and the mismatched seams, but I don't reckon you can!). 

Sunday Stars

Today I worked on the Star of Africa blocks.  These have been arriving from Bee Buddies all over the world, and today I had the time and the space, so I got on with attaching the strips to each other and to a fleece blanket in one go, using my Slik & Quick method:

I started spray basting one strip (from the eventual centre) to the fleece,

then I pinned and then stitched its next-door neighbour to it (stitch and flip). 

I then spray basted that one in place then pinned and stitched the next one, then the next, and the next.  Now it's pieced, basted and quilted, in just 8 lengths of machine sewing

I am actually going to hand quilt the stars, to make them pop out even more, and it does needs binding, but it's done enough that I can use it.  Sod's law, we have lovely weather today so I don't need it!

Once I'd finished working on it took it out into the garden to photograph, it didn't take long for my assistants to sit on it,

 

then play it, with one on top, one underneath !

(Just one green eye from the cat under the quilt!)

Medallion Monday

There are a lot of medallion quilts around at the moment, and seeing them reminded me of one I'd started some years ago.

The centre was made about 4 years ago from 10 strips from a jelly roll.  (or 10 x 2.5 inch strips.)  Join them, long ends together, press.  Cut in half (appx 22 x 22").  Put one on top of the other, right sides together, with one side having horizontal stripes, one vertical.  Stitch all around all 4 sides.  Cut diagionaly into quarters, press open

Sometime later I added a yellow border, and then must have decided to add pink into the mix, as I added the pink dashed border

later again I found a bit of pink and some orange in my stash and added a chequer board row

Today I decided to have a go at adding some flying geese blocks.  I used the 'no waste method' where you make 4 at a time.  I then wasn't sure how to arrange them, but I'm really pleased with this chevron arrangements

On the other end I put the HSTs that I made a few weeks ago with that printed iron on interfacing stuff

Followed with a vanishing nine patch row

And finished with the remaining Flying Chevrons

I'm not sure that I like it much, but I liked each separate componant, and it certainly cant be accused of being a dull quilt!

As with yesterday's Star of Africa top, this has been pieced, basted and quilted as I went along, so all that now needs to be done is the binding, but I'm all pinked out, so this can wait.

Wet And Windy

I spent the day at Chertsey Museum (the rain bucketing down outside,) making Wind Socks with the hardy souls who braved the elements

At least it looked bright and sunny inside!

Southern Star

I decided to have another go at the Giant Star , but at a smaller scale than the last one.  I used the Australian fabrics that my lovely S -I-L sent me, first cutting off what I need for the Australian Hexi stars.

I think I need to spend some  time tidying up - I've run out of room in my sewing room

and in Lisa's room,

and my dining room looks like this!

Oooops!

Stars of Silver Screen

I know you all understand that sometimes you see a fabric and you have to have it, well this was one of those fabrics.

Not even suitable for patchwork, I still HAD to buy this fabric.  I then had to choose between bags or cushions: as you can see, bags won!

Crafty Caddy

When I last visited Jackie she was trying to remember how to make a craft caddie that she'd seen: When I left her she still had a just square of fabric.  (She did sort it later and send me a pic)

Yesterday Amanda from the BQL group on Yahoo! posted a pic of a similar caddie, and I decided there was no point in just liking these things, I should have a go, so I did!

I cut my fabric to 16" square (to give a 5 inch base: 5x3+1).  As well as the decorative fabric, I cut the same size square in a plain fabric for the inside and some wadding (except I actually used fleece as that was what I had to hand)

I layed the fabrics fleece first, then lining cotton (right side up) then outer cotton (right side down) and stitched them together with a generous 1/4" seam, leaving an opening for turning along one side

 

I snipped the corners and turned the whole lot inside out, making sure the wadding was in the middle of the 'sandwich'

I marked the fabric (using a frixon pen) into 9 squares, all 5x5 inches

And then stitched over the lines, and continued round to top stitch the edges, including the opening so that was now stitched closed

I then folded the unit diagonally and stitched along the matched seams as shown . . .

. . . to make a triangular pocket

I folded the point down, and secured with a button (what do you mean it looks like a pin?)

I continue with all four corners, then took an out of focus photo

Ta da - a  sewing caddie with pockets for pens, threads, scissors etc

 

Amanda's version also had handles (plaited fabric), which I might add next time.  It should be possible to add pockets inside too

2013 May first half

Ecclesiastical Embroidery

(It does sometimes get difficult to keep using alliteration for post titles!)

At church last Sunday, I was collared by the lay preacher, Beryl.  She handed me a table linen that had been used in church for as long as I can remember.

It had been beautifully hand embroidered with this design

but either the mice, the moths or old age has taken its toll, and it is looking the worse for wear (and has done for a long time)

These things often get overlooked - but Beryl has now noticed the state it's in, so could something be done?

Not sadly with the fabric, and I felt that even if I could rescue the embroidery and applique it onto a new cloth it was still likely to perish sooner rather than later.

So I spent a lovely evening copying the design and stitching it onto a new piece of fabric  so Beryl can make a new table cloth.

I bet when it was originally stitch by hand the stitcher could not have foreseen her design being photographed by a mobile phone, transferred to a computer, being copied and then duplicated with the help of a computer and a rather complicated machine that is still essentially a sewing machine!

Teacher Training

I may have mentioned that I am doing a sort of teacher training course, nothing as grand as training to be a real teacher: but this will qualify me to do the Adult Education classes that I have been doing for a few years.

We all have to do a 'micro teach' - teach a twenty minute lesson on anything so the tutor and the other students can feedback on our teaching skills.

Rather bravely it turned out, I decided to teach them all how to make a fabric flower brooch, and get them all to make one.  What I forgot to factor in is that my usual students are there because they want to make something from fabric.  Last night's motley crew included a dancer, a guy who runs a Drink Driving awareness course, a business tutor, a student adviser and a chef, and none of them had any interest in sewing at all.  They were all very supportive of me, but *everything* took much longer than usual.

Luckily, when the tutor called 'time' after my 20 minutes, they all begged to be able to carry on as they were enjoying it, so I must have done something right!

We did get 9 fabric flowers made, out of a class of 10, so that wasn't bad at all, and I managed to get pics of some of them

My feedback? Overwhelmingly that my timing was way off - it was!

Super Stars

A day trip to Mum's today. As she has clear floor space i took all my Star of Africa blocks . . . A bit of star speed dating later and we had this arrangement.

Slik and Quick Chunky Chevrons

I love the yellow Chunky Chevron Quilt, so decided to make a few more - a pink one.

And then a blue one. 

 

This time I took stage photos so I'll remember next time , so if you are interested, here are instructions for one of the quickest, cheapest and cuddliest quilts you can make.  I really do mean quick - it took me 90 minutes to put this top together - from pulling the fabrics from stash, to sufficiently quilted, just 90 minutes!

You will need 1.5 yards assorted fabrics equalling 10 strips of fabric - width of fabric (minus the selvedge edges) x 5 inches, You can get more 5" strips from a FQ than from a thin Q, unless its very generously cut.  If you want to, pre-join into one long strip for each fabric.

And you will need a piece of fleece about 80cm x 110 cm (30"x44" ish)  I used an Ikea one, cut in half with the fancy ends trimmed off.  You can make this quilt as large as you want, but this size works perfectly for a child.


Finger press a triangle at the end of one strip, matching the edge like this, and neatly cut along the folded edge.(this gives you a right angle isosceles triangle)

Place the triangle, right side up, long edge along one edge of fabric. Anywhere.  Really!  Maybe anywhere except close to the middle, now you don't have to worry about it being symmetrical!

Take a strip of a different fabric, and place it on top, matching one side (right sides together), pin and stitch in place, flip open, and press (plenty of pins as fleece stretches)

Repeat, along the opposite edge

And again, and again and again

Trim any excess as you go along (These cuts will be at 45 degrees, and to use them economically some strips can be started at the edge of the quilt rather than at the tip of the chevron)

Continue until the fleece is covered.  If it gets bulky in the throat of the machine (to the right of the needle) roll the excess fabric to make it easier

You can now quilt it: perhaps echo quilt some of the chevrons


But if you don't want to, it's no problem.  By using the fleece as a foundation piece you have already quilted the layers together

so there wont be any movement, so you can go ahead and bind. 

There should be some 5 inch strips left over.  I made them into 2.5inch strips - perfect to join into a strip and use for scrappy binding.  (If you cut your binding wider or narrower than I do, I suggest you cut your strips at double your binding width)

The quilt police will tell us that is it NOT a quilt as a quilt needs to have three layers, but any child will tell you that this is super soft and cuddly, and the clock will tell you it's really quick

Ooops

Previously I have had a resources allowance for the Adult Education classes, so I have just claimed that and then supplied everything from home.  Now I have to submit receipts and claim what I have spent.  So that gave me an excellent excuse to go shopping.

So in the first shop . . . picture fabrics, more needles, more pins (where do they all go?) fabric pens and Dalmatian fabric for the classes

And binding for me for the yellow Chunky Chevrons, and for the pink and for the blue Chunky Chevrons

 

Double Ooops

After buying up loads in my local independent store, I popped into the chain store we have locally, the one that has things for Hobbies and for Craft.

I got some bits on sale, but the best bit was the entertainment.  The sales assistant cut me three lengths of Hungry Caterpillar fabric, and each time he picked up the scissors and put his thumb through the large handle section and his fingers through the small handle section, and each time he complained how bad the shop scissors were.  I was biting the insides of my cheeks to stop laughing, so I couldn't even speak to suggest holding the scissors the other way

Great entertainment, not so good staff craft skills or staff recommendation for their own products.  Good thing the prices and reductions were good!

Finally A Finish

I don't feel as if I've finished a quilt for months, but at last the Baby Blue Chunky Chevron quilt has been bound

End of Education

Lisa (DD#1) started pre-school 19 years ago.  Since then, with her, or her sister, or both, we've gone through learning alphabets and spellings, homework, 11+ exams, coursework, CGSEs (O'levels in old money, end of compulsory education exams to non UK residents) A'levels (post 16 optional courses), choosing whether to do a degree or not . . . And now in 19 days it will all be over.

Lisa, I am *enormously* proud of you just for sticking at it.  (Having done 8 weeks I know I couldn't do three years!)

Not only did you stick at it, you attended every lecture, handed in every essay on time, existed on the student loan, worked to fund a social life, and even managed to put money into your savings account, (and found yourself a nice young man at the same time).

The result - well we will know in the summer.  If all goes well it could be good, it could be very good, but for me,  that you did it at all is more than enough, the rest is icing on the cake.  

I love you Lisa xxxxx

Star Tree Block

I'm slowly catching up with the Start of Africa blocks - this is March's block for Brinda.  She wanted trees.  With a number of us living in the UK I decided not to go for an English tree.  I toyed with the idea of going Norwegian, but then I saw this on the Urban Threads website, and decided this was perfect for an international Bee.

A tree, as requested by Brinda, but have you noticed the foliage clumps?  All the continents are represented, and even better, Africa is pretty much the centre - hope Brinda likes it

One Persons destash . . .

A lovely lady at church, Eileen, is moving and has been off loading her sewing room in my direction.  The boot of my car is always full of crates of sewing stuff, but now the back seat is full too!  Books, embroidery hoops, fabrics, board and rulers for rotary cutting, plastic template sheets, plastic embroidery sheets, more fabric, dress maker's dummy . . .  and amongst other things there are these linen cotton fabrics.  Almost certainly upholstery or curtain fabrics  . . .

They are great for bags too

The faint suggestion of a horizontal line just above where the smaller stripes finish is a pocket, and I put the same on the inside, for sunnies etc on the outside, and purse, keys, phone on the inside.

Just how many bags does a girl need?

Wondering What This Is For

One of the things I got from Eileen's destash was this very flimsy possibly iron-on fabric, pre printed with squares and triangles, and another sheet just with squares.

I cant work out the squares version at all, but the triangles reminded me of something that Nicky sew and sow mentioned a while ago - Thangles?

So I ironed it onto fabric, and placed that fabric right sides together with another fabric

And stitched along the diagonal lines.  I'm not a fan of triangles, but how much of that is due to the flaffing around?  Using this method there are no stop start stitching requirements, I stitched across up to 3 squares at a time which is quite satisfying.  Can you see the stitches?

Is this better?

Now I'm off to work up the courage to slice between the stitch rows, and the horizontal and vertical solid lines - I hope this works!

It worked

So yesterday I played with this iron on stuff, and today,  pushed into action by your encouragement, I took a pair of scissors to it

I cut along the solid lines, cutting it into squares

















I then cut diagonally along more solid lines

And with a little apprehension, I opened the block

And found a pretty darn perfect HST

Good job I made lots of them

 

 So the next question is: what am I going to do with them?

And the question after that ... what was the stuff called in case I want to make any more?

Friday Finish

Hot on the heels of Blue Chunky Chevron came another finish . . . Pink Chunky Chevron!

Amazing how much sewing you can do in front of junk TV when really you should be doing college work!!!!!

Well Done Niki

Daughter #2 decided last year not to go to university: the cost was too high compared to her lack of passion to study anything further.  Given that she got better A'level results than the rest of us put together it was definitely a choice rather than a lack of choice.  18 months previously she'd started working part time at a new bowling alley, and so she negotiated full time hours with them, albeit on a casual contract.

Since then during the last 12 months, she's gone from party host and receptionist, to bar staff, to shift supervisor, to licensee, to acting duty manager - all on the casual contract.  She's bought herself a convertible (from savings) and has found herself a lovely young man.   But after yesterday, my friends, I can confirm that my lovely Niki has taken her next step on the ladder, and is now a legitimate, permanent contract, Duty Manager . . . Still 18 and a manager!

Well done Niki, really pleased for you, and really proud of you!  Love you xxxx

Huge Hexies

One of my ladies at Chertsey Museum brought this e-nor-mous paper pieced hexi top in to show me.

It measures over 3metres square, and looks to be made in the 1970s.  There is a large variety of fabrics including some very, um, *something* crimpline, tweed, silk and some cotton - and the sewing isn't particularly brilliant.

Kay was given it by the daughter of the lady who assembled it, with a "you like sewing don't you" comment - the one we mostly dread.

So Kay doesn't want to use it, but cant bear to throw it away.  I thought we could chop it into 6 children sized tops and finish them for Siblings Together, or Project Linus or some other children's charity.  Other suggestions included draping it over a rope to make a play tent for the grand children, an enormous picnic blanket, or seeing if the Cath Kidston stores buy patchworks for curtains for their changing rooms.

Anybody else got any ideas?