Colourful Stain

I know I still have loads of UFOs and PHDs to complete, but I have reduced the total over the last few weeks so I felt I could give myself permission to start on the Stained Glass Quilt (what sort of stain were you thinking of???)

I am not following Sarah's instructions, because I'm rubbish at following instructions, and the thought of cutting all those pieces accurately filled me with a deep foreboding (there's a work I've never used before!).  Another excuse is that I am making a much bigger quilt than Sarah's instructions allow for, and that I have some fabrics I want to fussy cut, and they are quite big prints.

So I started today, and fussy cut my biggest print - Hissing Sid (you probably had to be in your teens in the UK in the late 70s for that name to be familiar, what did he promote? was it Milk? Or was that Humphrey?), and he needed to be cut as a panel 15 inches wide - so that is my starting point: 15 inch blocks.  I have used sashing (lead) cut at 1.5inches, and can present block #1

Untrimmed, and unironed, but a start :-)

Blog link

I have a great niece - she's a terrific niece but also a Great Niece in that she's my nephew's daughter - I usually refer to her as my niece to stop me feeling quite so old!

Anyway, I digressed (as I often do) She goes under the pseudonym of Roxi Flame, and is nearly 12. She wants to be a writer, and she reads *loads*. She writes book reviews for her blog, as well as posting some original short works. If you need to buy a book for a trainee teenage girl, or want to support a young writer, she'd love you to visit her blogs at Sewing The Seeds.

Love you Roxy x x x

(S)cream

I shall scream if I have to do another cream quilt soon

I started with two - one for a January baby,
one for a February baby. 

STOCK = 2

The January baby was Henry,

but I managed to embroider Harry on the quilt, 

so that went on the waste pile

WASTE = 1

STOCK = 1

I used the spare one for Harry

WASTE = 1

STOCK = 0

DELIVERED = 1

Then Lisa's friend, Roseena wanted a cream quilt
for her 21st, so I made a whirly gig one

 

    WASTE = 1

STOCK = 0

DELIVERED = 2

Then the February baby arrived: Luke. 

I made the prefect point quit for him, which looks fab,

but is stiff like cardboard - so onto the waste pile

 

WASTE = 2

STOCK = 0

DELIVERED = 2

Then I made another Orphan block D9P, 

and successfully managed to embroider Luke's name
onto it, and deliver it to the customer

WASTE = 2

STOCK = 0

DELIVERED = 3

Phew!

Pointless Perfect Points

I was really chuffed with my perfect points, and started quilting it, but it is too thick to be a baby's quilt - it's like cardboard!

So all that work (plus time, fabric, wadding) was a bit pointless . . . and to make it worse the customer texted to say the baby she wanted it for has arrived!

The baby is to be called Luke (shame it wasn't Henry) so I'm frantically making another Orphan Block Vanishing 9 Patch, and will hope to get it finished by the weekend.

There was enough fabric for the top, but I need to get to a fabric shop tomorrow for the backing!

Sewing Saturday

Last Saturday I hosted a Fun With Fabric session in the morning, and a Crafty Church session in the afternoon. I didn't get any photos in the morning, but one lady was cutting quite large hexies (2" hexies) for a flower garden, and a new 14 year old started on appliqued flowers onto a gingham background for a cushion. With three new people there was lots of chatting and looking at samples and examples, but not much decision making!!

At crafty church we had 7 I think. Lesley brought along a felting kit that much much better than mine! Mine was one lethal needle which was difficult to hold but hers (a) had five needles, and (b) had a comfy handle, so I know what I'm going to get!

She was cutting out felt flowers which were going to be felted onto a scarf

Lesley's sister, Alex, is working from Quilting for Dummies, and was finishing a lovely trapunto patch, while their mum was working on her tapestry.

Pam is waiting for a pink jelly roll before she starts a new project, so she was on teas, while Carolyn was helping Yasmin with her crochet and knitting

 

Reverse Applique

The Chertsey class yesterday was learning to do reverse applique, from this great book lent to me by the lovely StitchinScience. 

Not only did she lend me the book, but also her carefully made samples pieces for all the stages - so I didn't have to do ANY homework - thanks A!

Debra chose an oval shape and started to quilt it too

While Kay went for a circle

 I was a bit late getting the camera out so the others had packed away before I got photos, so here is mine, front and back (with the flash not working it would appear)

I found some pirate ship fabric in the box, so did some fussy cutting and used a ship for my insert

 

***  TOP SECRET ***

The Assistant Curator at the museum is going on maternity leave soon, so with a barrage of 'innocent' questions, we have established she is expecting a girl, and the nursery colour scheme is yellow - so next month's plan is to make a sample quilt for the baby!

Perfect Points!

I do NOT claim to be able to stitch with perfect points - partly because my attention to details is too scant, so my cutting is only close to correct, and then whilst I will tweek and, um, encourage seams to meet up, I generally work to the 3 metre rule - is there an obvious fault if you look from 3m away? No? then it's good enough for me (In my head I say "It's good enough for government work" is that from a character in a book?  I'll guess a Stephen King novel, but I cant name the character)

Anyway, back to points (sorry I drifted off a bit there).  A while ago, the lovely Hadley showed how she made a panel for a zipped pouch using an iron on method that gave perfect points (I'm not, of course, suggesting that her points aren't always perfect) so I thought I'd give it a go.  She demonstrates her method [here], but as I took photos of my version too I will show them as well

 I got some fusible interfacing/stabiliser, and drew a 2.5inch grid on the non-fusible side

 

 I cut my fabrics into 2.5" squares and ironed them on in a tessellated cross design

I folded along each line and stitched (right sides together)

 I trimmed the fold

I cursed as I tried to press the seam open, and gave up.  Trouble was my points would now be very bulky, so I snipped at each junction so I could push the seams in alternate directions as I stitched the perpendicular seams

I stitched and then trimmed the second lot of folds.  I considered trying to press open these seams, but eventually gave up

Instead I flipped the whole thing over and leaned heavily on the iron to flatten the whole thing into submission.

I'm very please with the points, but if I ever do this again, I will (a) use light interfacing, (b) use bigger seams so I can trim and still be left with enough to press the seams open, and (c) maybe read Hadley's post in full so I see where she has added a link to a full tutorial, sigh!

Kids' Fun With Fabric

You may know that I run 3 monthly and one weekly Fun With Fabric course.  This all started when I went to chat to Chertsey Museum about helping with their Kids Craft days during school holidays.  When I was childminding I would take the gang there during the hols, and got to know Sally, the assistant curator.  When we talked about the children's sessions we got sidetracked and ended up arranging the adults sessions.

Well today I did my first children's sessions: 12 kids in the morning and 17 in the afternoon!  The theme was Making Monsters . . .  and just look what they achieved!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me ? I'm exhausted!  Good night

Done the Diamonds

OK, not finished sort of 'done' but based and quilted sort of 'done' and I'm still in an alliterative mood, so this was the best post title I could think of!

It still needs binding, but at least it can move to the  blue  area of the UFO list, and I know I can add the machine part of the binding fairly quickly once I run out of hand sewing

Thank you Block Lotto girls :-)

Diamond Quilt

These blocks were the ones I won from the Block Lotto  at the end of November,

And in my quest to reduce the UFO list (although I prefer the PHD list as it sounds so much more intelligent) I decided to make something with these blocks.  This is them stitched into rows, then auditioned for the best arrangement

and later I hope to do the cheat joining rows / basting / basic quilting that I do, so it is then ready to be quilted through the diamonds

Reducing the UFO list

A finish - not a quilty finish, but a patchwork finish all the same

I spent most of Sunday adding the last row of squares, and sewing in the loose ends of wool.  It's been on my bed unfinished for quite a few weeks, but I swear it's even warmer now for being finished!

Rosie's Quilt is Ready

 Rosie's quilt is ready to be given to her today - thank goodness, as today is her 21st!

The finished quilt

and a hand embroidered in-binding label

In other news - This arrived earlier in the week (but I was phone less and therefore camera-less until today)

This is an i-pad case from the lovely Victoria at Boutique Uniquely, who also sells her fab creations over at ETSY - some of the scrummy fabrics are also used in her summer picnic table topper - do go and have a look


It came to me as her Pay It Forward which I think we started last May or so.  It does serve to remind me that I have to make goodies for Plum and Wilma as they are my PIF victims.  Don't worry girls, they are under construction, but I confess to being a bit distracted!