So you can see how far I have got. If I were to make this a newborn quilt then I'd be nearly there. I drew up a diagram to help show me where the pink stars should be. But. I could make it bigger. I am not sure if I can hack that much more work though!
This would be a cot sized quilt. Well a bit less tall but it would fit well I think. The orange square reminds me how far I am now and shows just how much more there would be to do. I wouldn't even be half way! Yikes.
Here is the Liberty fabric I am using for the hexagon quilt. I noticed that not only are people seeming to do little english paper piecing projects, but there are also mini Liberty projects popping up of late. Above is my green fabric with one pink diamond.
I alternate between two pink options on the diamonds.
And here is the pink diamond.
I thought it might be useful to keep a record of the fabrics I was using as they seem to have a lifespan and are not always available at Liberties. I would hate to run out and not be able to find anymore. I managed to work out all the fabric names except the moth one. Any heads up as to what it's called would be great!
1. Nancy-Ann-B-Tana-Lawn.
2. Liberty-moths. (this is the one I am unsure of the name)
3. Eloise-C-Tana-Lawn.
4. Mabelle-C-tana-lawn.
5. Fairford-A-Tana-Lawn.
6. Edenham-L-Tana-Lawn.
1. Capel-L-Tana-Lawn.
2. Lauren-B-Tana-Lawn.
3. Mabelle-B-tana-lawn.
4. Meadow-F-tana-lawn.
5. Mitsi-C-Tana-Lawn.
6. Lilians-Berries-B-Tana-Lawn.
So not that much to report. It's slow work and there have been guests to entertain over the weekend. I did manage to sew some bits on the bus though which was good and I have just cut out lots more fabric. You can see that I allow more than 1/4" seam. My seams are more like 1/2" and I don't really measure them I just cut them roughly in chunks of layers.
I've done Hexs just from whole squares and it works perfectly, it's just because these are so small and easy to cut that I have bothered cutting them out. The diamonds I would cut out but even they could just be rectangles. I don't think it really makes that much difference to the bulk of the finished product and actually I find them easier to tack as often the material moves and seams get smaller as you turn the template often leaving you with a super small last seam. Having more generous seams to begin with means less going backwards.
I might invest in some new Clover Black Gold Needles Applique / Sharps (No.9-10-12) needles that the Katy at Fat Quarterly recommends and some of the Clover Wonder Clips as they look quite useful. But you know, I don't really need them. I am just always tempted by pretty things. I've been reading all their EPP tutorials, they're really good if you want to understand how to do it from the ground up. I've got a really old book that was made in the 70's which I have had since I was little with everything in it. I think it was my sisters as she made a cushion when she was young and started making some flowers which have been abandoned in a plastic bag in my room for years.
So one pillowcase has become the softest baby quilt
The applique petals came out perfectly. There are still a few yellow chalk marks where I quilted some straight lines but they'll come out with use.
Here is a close up of the quilting stitches I did round the petals. I try to use cotton abrode but I don't have very much. So when in doubt I simply use Gutterman button thread which they seem to sell everywhere and is really cheap. I find it really smooth and just the right thickness. Terrible I know, but it makes for a really cheap quilt! The binding was just a pack of yellow bias binding from John Lewis.
Basically a very quick, cheap, soft quilt! I was thinking I might try and draw up the pattern. I can't quite decide.
It fits perfectly in the moses basket.
And in the Babybay bedside cot.
I know you're not suposed to use blankets but they seem to sell them in Mamas&Papas so I guess they're just there to look nice really.
See the start of the project here
So I decided to make a little moses basket quilt. I thought it would be a perfect scrap bag project as the quilt only needs to be 18"x22.5". I saw this Honey Bee block on Flickr and it gave me the idea to make a simple plain white, soft quilt with a few of the yellow petals appliqued in the corners. Rachel had made some lovely mini bunting with yellow bias binding and I was really struck by how nice the yellow was. I thought it would look great with some soft, squidgy brushed cotton.
Then I found a brushed cotton pillowcase in Tescos for £3.50. Suddenly the idea was born! So I dug everything else out of the cupboard just before we moved. I found some strips of old wadding and some yellow bits from the scrap bag to do some small applique with. I'm always chuffed when a project uses offcuts and scraps.
I cut the seams off the edges to give me front and back fabric panels. Then I used my wadding tape to tape lots of strips together to make one big panel of wadding.
Then I cut some petal shapes out of freezer paper and ironed then onto my scraps which I then cut out. I think I've been a bit mean with the seem but hey ho. So now I get to sit and tack them all before I apply them. Time to watch some mindless telly.
Well more progress was made today during sofa time. My mum knitted 13 matinee jackets when she was waiting to give birth. She's an amazing knitter, she doesn't even need to look at what she is doing. I knit like a snail and I can't fix a mistake.
But sewing mini hexs is easy peasy!
I've scaled mine down to 1" Hexs. It just came out that way. It's coming together great. Some of the joins are a little hairy but I just tell myself how handmade it will look. I am not sure how big it will be. I might just keep on going until the Big Day!
I was really inspired to do this by seeing Ruth's work. Just the intricacy and the detail in the fabrics. I love the small prints. Ruth was kind enough to send me the pattern as I can't really do geometry, thanks Ruth! I have some templates somewhere and lots of books with it all in but, yes, they are all buried deep in boxes. The bane of moving house. I'll never find them again amongst the sea of boxes.
I am pretty impressed with how quickly this is taking shape and I think it is going to look great.
I might introduce some pinkier colours to see what those look like as this is really a tester. I'm so lucky. My mum just gave me this whole pack of hers just after I had bought one of my own! I spent so long deliberating over buying it as the fabric is so expensive and I really didn't know if I was going to take to it. Then suddenly I have two lots for the price of one! She's a very nice mumple!
I'm pleased that it's not using up too much fabric either. I am so precious about my lawn. It's just so expensive! I worried it would be too thin but actually it's perfect. The fabric is just such good quality. I thought it might be slippy and silky and catch on my fingers all the time but so far it's behaved really well and folds to the points easily.
I've been doing a basic whip stitch on my blocks. I know that there are other methods which are more invisible, but to my mind, this is handsewn and so should look so. I think it's just about using the right colour thread and making your stitches neat and even.
A while back, I embarked on EPP (English paper piecing) by making the huge rainbow hexagon quilt. It's not actually complete. It's waiting for me to decide on a back fabric and finish it off. I stopped when I ran out of the fabric I had bought from Strawberry Fayre as I realised I didn't really like how my colours were coming out in strips but I do think it taught be a huge amount about sewing hexs. My one tip is to make your stitches quite close as it gives the straightest, neatest seam. That's a pretty easy task when you're working with 1" hexs. It was much slower going on the bigger version. Oh and avoid different thicknesses of fabrics as it's a pain making them join! Hence my worries about using lawn and voile but so far so good.
Anyway, more updates as I progress. I am already so pleased with it! Much more so than the monster above! I swear it looks better in real life though.
So with ten days before giving birth I find myself more and more restricted to the sofa. I could be binding my Swoon offcut quilt but I'd have to make the binding first. I could be sewing together my sawtooth star blocks but then I wouldn't be able to put my puffy feet up. So I suddenly decided to insert a totally new project!
My mum gave me some Liberty fabric as she saw I had bought a little pack of it from Sunflower fabrics for my postage stamp quilt and then later asked for the 'Liberty in the Cabin' kit by Ruth Eglinton from Sunflower fabrics, I am just having a Liberty moment it seems.
So I made some templates and cut some strips. Now I am ready to give it a go. It might be too tiny. It might be perfect! We'll see how tricky it turns out to be.
I decided to make the hexagons solid colours and the stars from the patterns. The patterns are lawn but the solid is voile so we'll see how that works out.
So the current project is the Sawtooth Star quilt, but whilst that is on I am thinking about what happens next. Something small I think is the answer. Last Chilford I saw the lovely 'Me and Kitty Lytell' pattern at Sunflower Fabrics.
For some reason I bought some of the fabric but not the pattern so I have asked for it for my birthday. I am quite looking forward to the tininess of it and the traditional fabrics.
It is essentially the same pattern just smaller, but I really like making stars. I find it very fulfilling.
Because I am in a family way, I am making things for the nursery. I am not really being very organised or colour coordinated about it. I saw a lovely mobile on Etsy, it was beautiful, but I am too poor to buy it and would take more fun from making it myself. I feel bad though as I have basically ripped off someone else's lovely idea! Terrible. But, in my defence I have made the top out of an embroidery hoop and I have put rain drops in mine which is different. Plus I have done mine in a much less professional manner. I really should have starched the drops so that they didn't curl.
But the colours and the elephants are basically the same. It's a little rough round the edges but it was dead quick to make, especially as I have been spending so much time on the sofa trying to ease my ridiculously puffy ankles.
So it soon became apparent that I have no big table now on which to do cutting, ironing, basting etc. I really miss the old kitchen work surface. It was so flat and perfect. So this has been constructed for me out of a bit of old work surface and the kitchen stools. It is a make do until I can once again, have a big table.
I think it looks much better washed. I did it on the gentle cold wash first and dried it on the washing line. It didn't look that scrunched to be honest. Then I noticed it had got stained from brushing against a plant pot and in a fit of annoyance just plonked it on a standard cotton wash with a tumble dry. Well it came out perfect! All scrunchy just like this one.
It was just too neat and smooth before.
Now it looks lived in. I just need it to get all soft now.
