biscuit

Postage Stamp Techniques

2012-01-29T18:19:00.001Z

So after not doing very much so far this year, I decided to get back to making my postage stamp blocks. I was surprised when I saw my latest block next to my first test block. My first one is rubbish! It made me realise that I've adopted several techniques to make the block neater. It slows the process down, but I think it's worth it. I thought I would write them down so I remember.

The process I used was to sew two fabric panels together, press them flat with an iron then trim one edge to 3/4" from the seam. The process is then repeated by sewing another panel to the short bit of fabric and pressing and trimming that until you have 6 strips in total. Then I trim the starting edge. Hey presto you have a long strip of 6. I make 6 of these strip units then I begin to sew the strips together at the shortest edge and do the same pressing flat and trimming technique. I admit, I haven't tried it any other way, but it seems to work pretty well.

So that's the basic process. Here are the things that help with the accuracy.

Spray starch the fabric, starch thinner lawn fabrics twice.

Take time to cut the material accurately. It saves time later.

Consider the grain of the fabric. One side will have more give. I sewed the tighter grain together first so I could utilise the stretchier grain when I needed to pull and push seams to align.

Sew the seams in opposite direction.

Feel along the seams and line them up as you feed them through the machine.

Push and pull fabric to line up at the seams. Don't pull so much that the fabric warps though.

Use a 1/4 inch foot with a guard at the side.

Use the markings on the machine plate to guide in the fabric. Decide what mark to use and stick to it. (I have even practiced doing this to get it right).

Use a good ruler. A wide one allows you to make sure everything lines up.

Don't cut fabrics to the right width then sew them. Sew them, press flat, then trim them.

Don't put too much pressure on the iron and warp fabric. Take time to press it and do a little tugging to make seams straight.

Iron everything all the time. I just leave the iron on.

That's it so far. But I am only through 40 blocks out of about 80 I think.

Making buttons

2012-01-02T16:24:00.003Z

So I have been experimenting with this shell cowl pattern I saw on Persia Lou. The main bit is easy but the ending rib I am having trouble with. So I did one the right size, then a big one so I could see the stitches better. I chose a wool where I knew I would be able to see the stitches clearly. It's Patons Fab Big which is cheap but really soft. I got mine in John Lewis.

It was really easy to do! Now I just need to undo the rib on the smaller version and finish that one off. I have made all my buttons though which is good. The big ones are harder to get the edges perfect, but they're alright if you don't look too closely.

The Year Review

2012-01-02T07:08:00.006Z

So let's compare this time last year with now.

Things I made this year

1. A silver necklace. I've never worn it. It just didn't float my boat in the end.
2. A sewing case. I use them all the time!
3. The second speaker quilt
4. A knitted monster for Arthur
5. The crazy quilt which was an unfinished project last year
6. The The Stripey old sheet quilt which keeps me warm on the sofa
7. The yellow quilt I made in a weekend
8. The iPad case like mums
9. The pincusion organiser for Rachel
10. The crochet cowl I made on the course
11. The crochet roll for Sam

Unfinished projects from 2011
1. My cable knitting practice squares
2. My Petra Prins kit still waiting for a rainy day
3. The Sawtooth Star Quilt which I haven't even started so it sort of doesn't count
4. The Hexagon quilt. It just sits at my feet waiting for one last row
5. The Swoon Quilt. This is a new project unstarted so it doesn't count yet
6. The Worn & Washed quilt I started on Kim's course
7. My postage stamp quilt. it's a whole heap of work!

Courses
I did Kim's quilting course
Made do and mend's crochet course
Rebecca's silver pendant course

so I feel good about that.

Resolutions for 2011
To finish things off instead of starting big new projects - I reckon getting 11 projects finished this last year is pretty good on that score

To improve my knitting - I learnt to circular knit and I am much much better at crochet so I feel good about that

Resolutions for 2012
I'd really like to slim down my project cupboard mostly by finishing things off, but I think I might also need to sift out any fabric that isn't in my a list.
I'd like to finish this hexagon quilt so I can put it away and have a break from these technicolour projects I seem to keep doing. Time for some subtle colours.
Keep up with the crochet. So I don't forget what I learn.

That's it! Phew

Christmas wrapping

2011-12-31T07:01:00.000Z

So this year's theme was red. It wasn't quite so labour intensive as previous years as I bought the labels instead of making them and it was pretty simple overall.

I did make name labels for some of them though.

I was going to freehand machine sew everyone's names onto Kunan Felt and cut them into circles but it took me so long to get one right that I knew I would run out of both felt and time.

I think the birds were the best bit, plus the felt string which I didn't have very much of.

Shell Pattern

2011-12-01T07:59:00.004Z

A while a go I saw this great cowl pattern on Persia Lou's blog made using shell stitch. There seem, to be a few variations so I thought I would try my hand at a few. Here is another one. I decided to use the Bessie May ball of wool I was given from the crochet course. Sam gave it to me as she thought it was hard to crochet with as the wool splits. This is true, the wool does unwind a bit, but it's lovely and soft and as long as you aren't doing it really tight like you often do when you are learning, it works a treat. My problem now is that I only have one ball! Time to buy some more on Etsy

The pattern is much easier than it looks. It is a basically just trebles and singles. The treble is just stretched. I thought it would take ages to get the hang of and I would just be making a practice square, but actually it just seems to be working.

And it's quick. That's just two short evenings work. I tried to order some of the same wool today so we'll see what happens. Then I am going to try and make some self-cover material buttons for it.

It's the wedding this weekend so it looks like I will have to say goodbye to the blue crochet hook. It's from the set I made. Sigh. I reckon I'll wrap it all up and if there is no chance to give it to her on the day then I just get to keep it!

Crochet Cowl

2011-11-28T22:13:00.004Z

So I finished off my sample from the crochet course. It's a great pattern.

I think my chunky wool makes it look a bit of a mess so I might try again with some new wool. I am quite happy with mt first effort. I am giving it away as a christmas present because I am SO nice.

I reaaally want to keep it.

Crochet roll

2011-11-28T21:38:00.003Z

This weekend I made another pencil roll, but this time instead of knitting needles, I made one for crochet hooks. I had bought some cheap linen from IKEA and some cheap florescent fabric from Berwick street.

I'd forgotten how enjoyable the pattern is. It's from Pink Chalk and it's really easy. I made mine a little shorter so the hooks fit nicely and I sewed my pocket in the wrong way so you can't see my nice fabric, but hey ho.

I tried to use some of the walking feet attachments but I kept moving them by accident. I don't think I am using them right.

It's suposed to be a wedding present but I reeeeallly want to keep it. It's not much of a joint present so it's probably best I keep it.

Pin Cushion

2011-11-28T08:16:00.004Z

I saw this pincusion organiser on Noodlehead. The PDF instructions by Oh, Fransson were brilliant.

I made it on a sleepy Saturday for Rachel for Christmas using the flowery material we had each bought a piece of at Chilford and promised to turn into a Christmas gift for each other.

I really enjoyed making it. It was quite a long process and it used up quite a lot of material in the process but the finished result is very professional.

I made my top into stripes like Noddlehead. I really enjoyed trying to pick out delicate colours and matching solids. I've never really had any neutral solids before so I bought a few fat quarters from Strawberry Fayre and laid them out together.

The flannel in the middle is a brushed cotton cream pillow case from tescos which was £2! I'm just getting in to cream. I realise I don't have any cream material at all!

I really want to keep it!!!

Crochet Injection

2011-11-13T20:57:00.004Z

This Sunday I did a Make do and mend crochet course, the same people I learnt with. After learning the basic stitches in one class, and granny squares in another, I was having problems reading patterns so I did the general afternoon course in Limehouse. It was great to get reinspired and the venue was amazing.

We all sat round the table and chose a project we felt we needed guidance on. Some people were beginners doing Granny Squares whilst some people came with specific goals in mind.

Sam practiced doing a ripple cushion cover, whilst I tried to learn the art of reading patterns with this delicate edging. I wanted them to look like this

And there was homemade cake inbetween!

I learnt some great new stitches. I just need to try and remember them now! After my poor attempt at a delicate trim, I moved onto big wool.

But check out what was going on next door to me!

Chilford Quilt Show

2011-11-06T19:45:00.004Z

So Chilford was great, very Christmassy with the lights. The giant scone was great. The team was incomplete as Claire was absent, but we all know the Spring show is better anyway!

For once I didn't buy a huge amount but that's probably because I went to Birmingham and Ally Pally this year already. I have a backlog of projects and all I need for them so there were a few impulse buys but not a lot else. I did get some wadding though which is always handy.

I did get this great tape for joining wadding together. I usually zigzag stitch it but it's a bit of a pain and this stuff just irons on so I thought I would give it a go.

It was a great opportunity for mum to get me my Christmas present and seeing as I am having a Liberty fabric phase, I got her to buy me this pattern. It's very exciting. Now I just have to get everything else done before Christmas!

As for the quilt exhibition, they had a great project where people made the same blocks but joined them together differently to make completely different quilt.

I am really into little squares at the moment. I am already thinking about a triple irish chain project... so many things to do.

There was a great felt stall there. The felt book had loads of intricate stitch samples in it. It was amazing.

Here are a few other nice details from the exhibition.

I love this quilt. It's a bit blurry because I wasn't allowed to photograph it but I don't get it; why not? It's a pattern in the magazine! I guess there must be people who just work patterns out from seeing them, but to my mind, if you can just buy them and cut out all the maths, then why wouldn't you? The thing I love about patterns is that they are so cheap! I don't know, I'm a real kit person, I see something I like and I just want the whole thing all ready for me. When I bought my Petra Prins quilt kit, the lady said "why don't you just photograph it and work it out yourself?" I loved her honesty and willingness to help. I ended up buying the kit of course. Anyway rant over. The quilt is in Fabrications issue 72 I think? I need to double check. Yet another project sigh...

Hexagons

2011-10-16T17:35:00.003+01:00

I have finished the grey hexagons at one end. Just got the other end to do now. I'm not sure how much I like it. I didn't make the blend between the purple, red and yellow subtle enough and so you can sort of see a line where the colours change. I also think I should have looked at the original picture more as the colour is in the centre and the grey all around, but you live and learn. I just want to finish it now so I can move onto the next project!

You can see the different suit material and tweeds. Then I'll be able to think about how I am going to hand quilt it.

Postage Stamp Progress

2011-10-16T12:52:00.002+01:00

Well it's slow going. I have started to think I might make this quilt much, much, smaller as it will take me forever otherwise. I have managed to sew my first block together though and I am very pleased. I think I am going to spend the rest of the day making blocks up. They seems to be coming out 1/4 bigger. Hmmm... shows how good my maths is. Anyway back to it...

Postage Stamp Quilt

2011-10-10T21:49:00.005+01:00

For a while now I have been amassing the odd bit of Liberty's fabric. It's slowly grown on me. I didn't quite know what to do with it until I saw this postage stamp quilt.

So I have embarked on one. I thought it would make a nice change from the giant hexagon quilt. I used up all my spray starch trying to firm up the delicate fabric and went through my stash and scrap bag. It was The Knit & Stitch show this weekend so I bought a pack of Liberty fabric from Sunflower Fabrics which is just perfect.

There's no real colour scheme as I wanted it to be quite varied. I have tried to keep to the greens, pinks and purple in the fabric at the start though so it's all in that vein. I have tried to use small prints as the squares are only 3/4". I couldn't decide between 1/2" and 1" squares so I settled on the inbetween amount. I am a bit worried they will look gross together but by laying the strips together I am beginning to get an idea of how it might look and I think I will like it.

In an effort to be accurate, I have been sewing strips together then trimming the fabric after it is sewn if that makes sense. I am trying to be as perfect as possible. I find that ironing them flat has a tendency to warp and bend the line of the sewing so I am having to be very gentle and just press the fabric so no moving the iron and applying lots of pressure. I am not sure how successful I am being.

I'm not quite sure how big I will make it. I might let the fabric decide as I only have 16ths of the Liberty fabric. I just know that I have plenty more to make...

I drew up a pattern to see how many blocks i would need for a single bed size quilt.

Each block is 4 1/2" fnished. I'd need 83 to do this size quilt which roughly means about 7 sets of 6 strips. I am not sure I will still have enough enthusiasm or material to get that far, but we'll see...

Worn and Washed

2011-09-29T22:43:00.003+01:00

Mum me and Angela went on a roadtrip to Kim's Washed and Worn course at the weekend. It was great. A lovely sunny, autumn day in Olney; a very pretty place with a very pretty village hall with plenty of room to spread out in and plenty of material to choose from.

Basically you choose a roll of fabric. Above you can see mine and mum's in the background. She wanted to do flowers. I wanted to do greens. You simply unroll it, pick up two pieces and sew them together, then pick up two more and repeat. So no taxing learning curve, anyone can do it.

You end up with long strips which you move around and cut with scissors and resew until you are happy with how it all fits. It just a nice thing to do and it was nice having lots of space to spread it all out. A lovely excuse to spend the day making something you can finish in a day.

Here is my end result. I was too busy to take many photos. Too busy to even really examine the end result. I had to dash back to London leaving it behind with mum so more photos when I get back to it. It just needs quilting now.

See more photos here

The Hexagon Quilt

2011-09-29T22:15:00.003+01:00

Progress is slow, but this is what has been keeping me quiet. I am going to do something very sombre after this as it's doing my head in a bit. I might have to put it away for a while when I've finished the top.

Hexagons

2011-09-04T08:21:00.004+01:00

So what's up this weekend? Not a lot really. I decided to embark on learning how to do these hexagons. I have been quite good really. The materials are all plains which means they are a lot cheaper than some of those nice patterned materials; a good thing when you are testing out a method. I decided to make my squares pretty big for this first attempt, plus it also means I don't have to make as many.

After reading up about it on the web I decided to follow the instructions from the card templates I bought from Birmingham. I bought HEX275 2-3/4" Hexagons from Paper Pieces. Apparently they measure one edge to create their sizes. In total my hexagons are 5 1/2" wide which is pretty big. So I set about cutting 6 1/8" squares, which they recommend over cutting hexagons (that perspex hexagon guide was a waste of money then). I have no idea if this is a good measurement, I just knew that I wanted a 1/2" overlap as 1/4" is harder to iron flat.

After I had started cutting, it occurred to me that I should be working out how many squares I need to cut, but I am terrible at maths. I made this picture to try and help me but I think the end result is a bit enormous so I might just make half of it. The white outlines are just to help me see where the flowers are so I know how many to make. This is what I plan to do first. So with this plan in mind I settled on cutting 6 blocks of each colour. I have split the colours into three bands: purples, oranges and yellows and tried to collect 6-7 colours in each band.

I'm not really sure if I like it. It's hardly subtle, but hey ho, this seems to just be how I roll. All that tasteful William Morris was bound to have a backlash. I have been informed that it has the potential to look 'hideous', but I must soldier on, even if it is just so I can learn the technique. I have a bag of treasured flowery scraps just waiting to be made into a smaller, more perfect version of whatever this turns out to be.

As for my technique. I decided to just iron the corners over onto the paper templates. I was a bit worried as the heat of the iron warps the card so I paused and started making one flower to see if it affected the outcome. It didn't seem to make any difference.

I made my first flower whilst watching the X factor and it doesn't look too bad. There are a few mismatched lengths, but I faithfully followed the card so I am unsure why they vary. Maybe they are small enough not to matter, I guess i'll see if that becomes a problem later on.

I used the basic whip stitch technique which some people say is not the best as you can see the stitches but I think I will reserve judgement. It looks okay to me and it does show that it's handmade.

Anyway I have run out of card templates now so I will have to start making my own. What a pain...

Just Like Mums

2011-08-28T20:27:00.005+01:00

My mother is a great maker of things. She has made things as long as I can remember. Some things just remind me of her and the things she makes. One of those things is William Morris. Every cushion, curtain and table cloth in our house seems to be made with William Morris material. The other day she showed me a sewing case she had made out of Morris material and weirdly enough the iPad fit in it perfectly so I borrowed it for a while. To be honest, Morris isn't an all-time love of mine, but there is something so... warm and familiar about it. Eventually I decided that I had to give it back as it wasn't really mine, but mum, meanwhile had ferreted out a remnant from our kitchen curtains and told me I should make my own. So this weekend I made my mumple ipad case! She chose every coloured item in order that it be 100% mum choice. And she made me do it properly!

Behold a corner of my parents house. You can see a Morris table cloth, a cushion, mums sewing bag on the left and the material she gave me laid out flat. I cut a section of the material 22" x 14" and backed it with some batting mum had lying around.

I drew chalk lines at 45° angles 1 1/2" increments. I picked out 5 threads and mum chose the blue.

I sewed over my chalk lines using mum's super duper Juki industrial machine which is so fast! I also sewed some velcro onto what would become the flap and the pocket front.

I added the inside backing underneath, pinned it together, trimmed the edges down to a finished size of 22" x 13". Then I sewed the binding onto the front flap and folded and pinned it into shape. I sewed round the whole thing 1/8" to stabalise it which you can see here as I hold it up against the kitchen curtain!

Then I sewed on the remainder of the 1 1/4" binding cit on the bias.

And here it is finished! Just like mum would make!

Finished!

2011-08-21T10:21:00.002+01:00

I stayed up quite late but I finished it off. Now for the next project! Maybe I'll be a bit better with my measurements next time. I miscalculated the backing dimensions on this quite quite drastically hence the little patterned strip at the top, but I quite like it! I have also decided that Kei Honeycomb Dots are my favourite kind of dots ever. You can get them from Fabricworm or M is for Make.

My weekend

2011-08-20T15:06:00.005+01:00

It's a quiet time to myself this weekend. There are lots of things I could be doing, but after Birmingham, I just wanted to have a weekend to myself so I sit down and make something with no outside interruptions. It's been great because I can stay up late and not go out in the daytime now it is pouring with rain.

I have a couple of small projects lined up to soften the longer, more intensive projects I am thinking about starting. One of my main problems is always space. I never have enough surface space to lay big quilts out. I find it hard feeding them through the sewing machine. They are just an effort in my space. So I decided to make a cutting mat quilt. Basically this just meant that it was no bigger than the mat, making it an easy thing to handle.

A while a go I saw this lovely backing on a quilt made by Namoo on Etsy, all in tasteful greys and yellows. I just thought it was ace and I wanted to make exactly the same thing. Of course these things never turn out the same because I always change my mind halfway through when I see the next thing I like!

Pinterest is my newest love as it allow me to make a virtual pinboard of all the things I see which inspire me. I think everyone should sign up and befriend me on it!

Anyway, Rachel and I had bought cheap brushed cotton sheets from Tescos for a fiver so I thought it could be lovely and soft. I had quite a few bits of material for it already and I picked up a few at Birmingham so I was all set. I decided to do just simple squares on the front and recreate the backing I had seen for it.

Because it's small, I had my first go at pin basting. I don't think it's perfect as I have one wrinkle in the back but it's pretty good considering it took minutes to baste.

Here it is all basted together last night. You can see where I had sewn two bits of wadding together. I get quite a few leftovers so it's good to use them up.

Then I stayed up late doing half the machine quilting, then I got up early and did the rest.

I don't think the back looks as nice with the criss cross pattern on it but you live and learn.

Now it's all trimmed and waiting for me to iron the material for the borders and attach that. Then I can sit and tie off the ends. I'll be done by tomorrow night! Until then...

What I bought!

2011-08-15T22:05:00.004+01:00

So what did I buy at the quilt show? Wellll, I thought I did quite well, but I seem to have accumulated a lot. I don't know how it happened! Some things I needed... others... well, they will be useful one day!

At first I didn't buy very much. There was nothing I actually needed. It's quite nice not to feel you have to buy anything. One thing I did realise though is that I often just buy random fat quarters then I am annoyed when nothing quite matches. So when I saw the above material, I remembered it matched a similar set I bought from Chilford.

The one great thing I did get is this template which is just the right size for the big hexagons I am going to make. I also got pre-cut papers. How lazy am I? I was just so excited as I didn't think they would make either so big. If it makes life a little bit easier then why not?

Rachel showed me a great quilt pattern which I bought. We have decided both make it. Even though we still haven't made our sawtooth star quilt yet. The pattern asks for 18 far quarters but I think we will make it 2/3rds of the size. So we bought some material for it. I am very excited about it. More on that in a later post.

Petraprins was there again this year. My favourite stall can never go unmissed, but I felt quilt frugal this time which surprised me.

Another useful purchase. I am making a small quilt based on a lovely one I saw on Etsy. I loved the backing. I mean the front is nice, but the back really caught my attention. I felt that the colours were so tasteful, all yellows and greys, so I bought this material to go with it. More about that later!

And last but it least, I bought some material right near the end from The Eternal Maker, just because it looked pretty and I didn't want to have any regrets.

So that's it! My haul. I had a great time. I wish I had had longer as there is such a lot to look round. But I only would have spent more money!

Finished!

2011-08-15T21:24:00.002+01:00

Another day, another quilt finally finished.

It's hard to show it as it's so white. It's lovely and soft and all hand quilted. I am very please with it.

I used grandad's pillow case for segments of the main quilt, as well as borders AND binding. I definitely made one pillowcase stretch out.

Apart from the pillowcase, this is my favourite material. I like the white stripes. I think it was an old table cloth.

I am very chuffed that I have managed to finish two big projects. I was starting to think I would never get anything actually finished.

Of course, it wouldn't be me if it didn't have a huge error in it. The above was supposed to show the lovely backing sheet I bought for a quid at Emmaus, but it also shows you that I had to create one of the white panels with some extra white material I had as my £1 white emmaus sheet ran out. Little did I realise until they were all sown up that the white is a different colour! Booo. But I think it fits in with the makeshift nature of the whole thing. This was definitely the cheapest quilt I have ever made... well apart from the original roll of fabric bought from Kim at Worn & Washed.

It's great how differently a roll of Kim's fabric works out based on which bit you choose and what you add to it.

This is the same roll I bought. This is the quilt I originally wanted to make, but along the way I changed my mind, probably when I saw this

I added old sheets and pillowcases, along with some scraps of material from the every growing scrapbag and suddenly the whole colour scheme moved slightly. Anyway, it's done and now I get to start something brand new!

Binding update

2011-08-15T20:57:00.003+01:00

So this week I finally managed to have a go at using my binding tool. I followed the instructions and it worked perfectly. Definitely s good buy. A bit lazy perhaps but it elimates the errors I always make as I am terrible at maths.

I am very pleased with the binding. I used the very last bits of grandad's lovely pillowcase. I feel it is now saved forever. I even sewed the original label in so I can remember every part of it.

The Festival of Quilts

2011-08-15T08:18:00.004+01:00

The festival of Quilts 2011 was on this week at the Birmingham NEC. Mum wasn't going this year which made me very sad, but I decided to go along for the day anyway and see what was going on. The pendalino train affected me quite badly this time and I have basically felt sick all weekend ever since! It's a terrible affliction travel sickness. But it didn't stop me looking at all the amazing quilts and buying lots of things I didn't need! I thought it was a bit less busy this year which was nice as it was easier to see things, especially the Cotton Patch which has a lot of the contemporary material and which is usually rammed.

This year I was quite fixated on quilts that are very bright or totally patterned. I think to make myself feel better about my crazy technicolour quilt. Here are some pictures from the show.

Pattern overload, but it kind of works.

All the colours ever conceived, but it works.

The ever tasteful Kaffe Fasset. In the end I felt rather good about my quilt. Then I just moved on to looking at everything!

This quilt was really amazing. I don't think you quite see that here.

After doing a single girl quilt, I can really appreciate how hard double wedding ring is. This one is perfect.

I was really drawn to the hand rendered things this year. It was so perfect. It makes me realise I just need to be better!

The sheer size of some of the hand rendered stuff just blows your mind. I mean how long did that take to make? It's amazing.

Just look at the detail! It's perfect.

Another perfect detail...

From this huge quilt! Lovely.

I like scalloped edges. I have only done it once and it was surprising easy. It might be time for another go at it soon.

I am very interested in solid colours at the moment and how they go together.

My favourite section is always the mini quilt section.

They are tiny! They are obviously made by mice or robots.

I also like the three dimensional section. There is always something crazy! I love these little lace people.

I've never done a class but this one looked good.

I think they were making this long wall hanging.

Anyway, It's a huge post. Tomorrow I will show you what I bought and show you my finished quilt! That makes two quilts I finished before the show, which hopefully justifies some of my big spend.

Continuous Binding

2011-08-08T08:16:00.004+01:00

So in honour of progressing and learning new things, I have bought a binding tool. I tried continuous binding a while a go and really didn't get it. I made a right hash of it in fact. Here it is before I tried to sew it down.

It looked terrible at the end and so I really haven't tried to do it since, but the tool had this video where they make it look simple.

In other news. I took my eyeball melt quilt home to show my mum all my mistakes. I told her how my machine binding was a travesty to quiltmaking. She asked me why I didn't just go over the whole lot with a fancy stitch like she did on a quilt she made me. I sighed and realised I am just not that dedicated to its cause. Here is what my mum meant.

Finished!

2011-08-07T21:08:00.003+01:00

Finally I have finished the Material Obsessions quilt. I didn't put the borders on as it was just so big already. It was a hard one to finish and I made a lot of mistakes.

I should have used a template
I should not have used spray glue
I should not have tried to machine the binding

But it is done. It is so bright that I think my next project needs to me calm and plain.

I feel I have earnt next weekend which is The Festival of Quilts weekend! I can't wait.

Hexagon Quilt

2011-07-22T07:48:00.002+01:00

I really like this quilt made by Abigail Newbold. I like the colours and the big size of the hexagons. I'd like to have a longterm handsewing project like this going on in the background for all those moments when you are free to just sew a few things together. It's a bit of a way off on the old list of things to do but I just happened to be looking at Strawberry Fayre as I needed some yellow material for my new project and I saw these spectrum bundles they sell which seemed perfect, so here they are! Now I want to get started straight away!

Hand Quilting

2011-07-19T19:14:00.004+01:00

So Rachel asked what I was doing at the moment. Wellllll... there hasn't been a lot of time recently for making things, but in the background I have my psychedelic ready and waiting for its borders to be put on. I ordered something recently online and this binding tool came up. I watched a video and thought it looked pretty cool so I am going to give it a go. Hopefully I can get out the cutting matt this weekend and get going.

In the meantime I have been quilting Kim's quilt. It's slow going. I'm looking forward to the course in September. I'd like to have this finished by then.

Finding things

2011-07-19T07:14:00.004+01:00

I went up to Lancashire this weekend and found lots of antique/junk shops which sold some great things.

This quilt was beautiful. All hand sewn. It was only £60! I felt a bit sad that someone had made it for someone, only to see if given away to a shop. There it was sitting in a corner. I would have bought it but it was deemed 'too flowery' by him. It was a little too flowery I spose, but it was still beautiful. So if you're ever in Hebden Bridge and you like the look of it I can tell you where to find it.

Finished!

2011-06-16T21:12:00.004+01:00

At last, I have finished Rebecca Danger's pattern

Circular Needles

2011-06-08T08:59:00.002+01:00

Well it turned out that mum had a secret stash of circular needles which she has never used! She says she bought them just at the end of her knitting days, before her arthritis got so bad, and here they are! All pristine in their original packing.

I think the plastic might have withered on these ones as it's very thin and brittle where it has been curled up so long, but they do have built in counters! Suddenly I seem to have loads!

Knitting update

2011-06-03T16:51:00.003+01:00

There is definitely something funny going on. Either I knit back to front or Americans are just plain weird. It took me ages to realise there is a 'continental' style of knitting. 'Why is the yarn in the their other hand? Why are they knitting it a different way? What am I doing wrong?' Now I see that for most stitches there is more than one way of doing it! As if I didn't have enough problems in life! I have started to think that actually the continental way of holding the yarn might be a better method. I wonder how hard it is to relearn how to knit?

Anyway that aside, here are my legs. I am now on the circulars. I have know learnt the mystery of the Magic Loop. I am all systems go for my train journey. I am just amazingly s l o w

Learning curve

2011-06-01T06:59:00.004+01:00

So I felt pretty good about myself after I learnt to cable. 'I can knit!' I crowed as I patted myself on the back and wrapped myself in my homemade blanket. Then I start Rebecca's pattern and suddenly I feel like I need to enroll in knitting school. So I have my circular needle, I have my lesson with Rachel booked. I have my Double pointed needles, I have my book open on how to use them, I have 300 YouTube videos to show me. It's tough going. I spent all last night knitting and unraveling, knitting and unraveling. I think I am finally ready to give it try. It's looking a bit lumpy though.

YouTube is great and so are the videos on http://www.knittinghelp.com

A Trip to Loop

2011-05-30T07:17:00.003+01:00

Not much has been happening recently. I have a backlog of hand quilting to get through which is taking its time. In the meantime though I met up with Rachel and we went to Loop. I haven't done any knitting in a long, long time so we decided to buy some wool and start something new.

I'll admit, the shop is expensive, but it's very inspiring as everything in there is so tasteful. It really gets my imagination going in a way that the wool department in Selbys just doesn't. Here is the brilliant window display

So here is my purchase. Two skeins of Cascade 220 in pink and yellow.

I have decided to make one of these! which you can buy from Rebecca Danger's Etsy shop.

I thought it would make a fine present for Arthur as long as he doesn't mind the pink. Unfortunately I don't own any circular needles so I can't get started. I might have to get on my bike and see if I can find some as I think it's a great bank holiday monday project.

Bank Holiday

2011-04-23T09:14:00.001+01:00

So here it is. My grandad's pillow cases. The cotton is so soft and cool to touch. Can I really cut it up? Gulp.

I sifted through the enormous scrap bag I have. I have decided that I have to use some scraps with every quilt just to get it down a bit. I think doing a small hexagon quilt will help reduce the mountain, but that's a long way off. For now, I have just pulled out a few things including a great stripey sheet I got from Emmaus with Ray for £1!

I opened Kim's bundle I bought which I always hate doing as it never looks as perfect again.

I really am on a roll here!

I even started laying it out. All I need to do is start sewing!

Maybe I'll just do some gardening on the terrace first. Prepare myself and decide which kind of quilt I am going to make! I might just start and see what happens. Not much of a plan I know...

Worn and Washed

2011-04-20T08:30:00.001+01:00

So Mum and I decided to go to see Kim's show. We are huge fans after having done the day course Kim offers. It's just such a lovely concept, All these faded soft fabrics; favourite old sheets, soft shirts, brushed cottom pyjamas; all reused and put together in bundles which you can just make into simple strip quilts. We were quite excited about the show as Olney is a very beautiful place and I have finally worked out how to use the sat nav.

In the end mums 'crew' who all gang together and go on road trips to shows and shops decided to join us and off we went in Angela's bright red mini, whizzing down country lanes in the fens, sneezing at the oil seed rape fields which were in full bloom.

I was a bit sad we weren't doing the class again as it was a lovely venue and would have been a great day to just dedicate to a project. The show itself was lovely. There was a great array of quilts made my people using Kim's bundles, all of which looked really soft and handmade. If you're not familiar with Worn and Washed, here is a rundown.

Here is a classic bundle

Here is the classic strip quilt you can make really quickly

And that's all there is to it! But the exhibition showed what people had done to take the idea that one step further. It was really great to see what it could all lead on to.

Here are a few of the things I really liked

I think the quilt on the left by Ruth Eglinton is lovely. I love the mixture of blocks and applique. The colours are also very faded and lovely. I am thinking I might ask Kim to see if there is a pattern available or else I will try and work it out myself. I even like the slight puffiness of the quilting. I am not sure how you achieve that effect, perhaps merely by washing it lots.

I also really liked Liz Tew's quilt, which you can't quite see as it has quilts on top of it but I didn't want to touch the display as it was so perfect. It seemed pretty simple. Just long rows of three up strips with white white strips which had been quilted with hearts.

I loved all the washed out tones, the use of stripey sheets and the whiteness of it. It's also a great chance to do some more Durham quilting on the white areas. I think I might actually make it!

I bought the roll for this quilt of Kim's below but now I am torn and think I must make Liz's quilt above. Oh I shall probably end up making a mismatch of both and wish I had stuck to one of them. I am so fickle

Here are some other lovely things

This quilt was tiny squares, slightly wonky which just made it seem perfect.

This one was a bit more complicated than the norm but I liked the quilting around the star and mum was quite taken with the button in the middle.

This one reminds me of the Petra Prins quilt kit I have stashed away for a rainy day

I think overall, that I have decided that I like it when the strips are small. I'll probably change my mind though, but this tiny quilt was lovely.

One day, I will dive into the whole Liberty thing. It is so tempting.

I'll stop now. I know I am gushing, but what can I do? Worn and Washed is exactly my kind of thing, whereas a lot of other kinds of quilting isn't always on the mark for me. At heart I am small sprigs of flowery faded fabrics and Little House on The Prarie. I have fought it, but I can't help myself. I always seem to return to it. My mum gave me my grandads old stripy bed linen years ago as it held such lovely memories for me. I can see it in one of these quilts, I have just never had the guts to cut it up. Bank holiday might see the scissors coming out!

Progress

2011-04-16T07:13:00.001+01:00

Rachel asked me what I was working on the other day so I thought I would post it up here. The answer is... I am hand quilting the 60° degree Material Obsessions quilt.

After thinking that I would never have to hand tack a quilt together ever again now I had discovered 505 spray glue, I have since come to the conclusion that its gluing properties are very weak and unless you are about to whizz it through a machine, it fails when constantly twisted on the lap over a week or two. I don't mind though. I have been feeling that my quilts were rather too flat; too perfect. I am seeking the puffy scrunchiness of an old-fashioned much loved quilt. A quilt you might find in Bagpuss' house. Although, this traincrash of colours would hardly feature there.

I have decided this is the kind of quilt I would have in my Barbican flat, my Erno Goldfinger flat or my Frank Lloyd Wright house. It is kind of 50s 60s quilt.

Anyway, I went to my local craft shop which is kind of one up from a pound shop. It's the cheaper side of craft equipment which is actually great as there are lots of great things in there. One of the best things is that they stock a full range of Gutterman thread. I just bought some of their cheap thick thread in orange, yellow, turquoise and blue and decided to use all of those randomly on the quilt. The finer, more subtle specific quilting threads I have are all in pale colours and just didn't see to fit. Plus a pool of King Tut is £6, whereas a spool of Guttermans is £1! Mum would probably tell me that there is a very good reason for that... but then she did tell me spray glue was not a good idea. One day I might actually start listening!

Yeah, so every evening I do a little bit more. I would say I am half way almost. It's a huge quilt, but I am doing very big stitches so they show up. All the spirals are just done by eye, well I sketch the next bit with a white pencil so then I can not think about it for a while. The last spirals I did were all traced and measured so this is an experiment. I will line then up side by side and see which is the most successful.

Finished!

2011-04-01T08:44:00.003+01:00

So at last the speaker quilt is done. I am free of the task which has been sitting on my list if things to do for what seems like years.

I based it on this lovely Amy Butler quilt really. Although her one is a bit too wonky for my virgoan tendencies.

I did the same as before by sewing an odd patch of buttons on it and using the letter function on the Bernina to write some words associated with its owner. I did them all really badly but I quite like that.

And I also tried some of the other decorative stitches that I never use.

Now that is out of my system, and now that my 'Warm and Natural' wadding arrived from Quilt Direct, I am ready to baste together my big psychedelic quilt this weekend. I am a convert to the spray glue method. I washed my last quilt in the washing machine and it seemed fine so spray glue is cool with me. my mum thinks it takes away from the process, but basting is my least favourite part and is always the moment where I stop a project and out it away forever, so I think, well, you might as well choose not to spend time on the things you don't like.

60 Degrees

2011-03-27T20:30:00.006+01:00

This weekend I decided to give in to the endless demand for the second speaker quilt. Rather than do the same thing as before, I decided to do something different using the same sort of fabric. I decided to practice 60° triangles with the newish 60 degree ruler. It's much easier than the template I was using before. I thought Id's experiment with bigger seams in an effort to improve my precision as they always seem off.

Fighting the stretchy nature of the bias is really frustrating. It didn't make it any easier really, just more bulky, but at least I know now. I just used a lot of spray starch and tried not to pull the material too much as it warps the shape. I also drew a line on the plate of the sewing machine to help with lining the material up when you sew it. That definitely helped when it came to the ends which have a tendency to move weirdly. I have a little wooden cuticle pusher which I used to hold the material in place up until the very last minute it is sewn which made life more precise but it still isn't perfect.

I couldn't work out the maths enough to make it a perfect fit so I evened it up with the leftovers from the last quilt. I'm pleased about this as there was just enough and I had no idea what I was going to do with it otherwise as it was so pindling.

It's all ready and waiting to just be quilted now. A job for next weekend methinks.

Hexagons

2011-03-17T08:15:00.006Z

So I have been thinking about doing some hexagons (or English patchwork if you want to be technical). I have no idea why. It's all done by hand ye olde fashioned way and is a tonne of work unless you just make a pin cushion.) I have many other projects to do, but I quite like the idea of something I can do by hand, little by little. I am not quite sure if it is madness yet. I am still working it out. And I am not quite sure what would look nice. Should it be modern prints, totally random, with a bauhaus colour theme or small pretty sprigs. Plains and patterns forming larger shapes, white bits? Who knows, it is just a small idea lodging itself in the back of my head. Above are some different examples that have caught my eye.

1. The Pillow Talk { Swap } , 2. Eggs from just this morn, 3. Always work in progress, 4. Four, 5. Pillow Talk swap round 3, 6. YIP 365.299 :: Honeycomb Hexagon quilt from Fresh Quilting, 7. girly hexagon quilt, 8. checking out the hexagons...., 9. Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt, 10. butterfly hexes, 11. Hexillow, 12. Milk & Honey

I would also like to mention at this point that I left my crochet granny squares lying around in a pile for so long that they got infested by moths so I have had to wash them and put them in the freezer. I have a bad track record with these things, yet I yearn to start them.

SImple Quilt

2011-03-07T07:09:00.002Z

I have so nearly finished this quilt. It's the first quilt I glued instead of basting. I did this as it was just getting so dirty on the floor and it was too big so the stairs kept getting in the way.

I think I might have to try basting my next quilt on a table. I am going to have to wash it, it is so dirty, but part of me is quite excited to see how this turns out. Although I washed all the fabric, I don't wash wadding and this quilt is made of lots of offcuts sewn together so it could well go all wrong, but I don't think I would mind that either. The backing is an old sheet and the whole thing is really soft. I kind of want it to go old and knackered and be something I can just bung in the wash without being too precious over it. With this in mind I machine quilted it quite heavily. The only problem with that is tying off all the ends. I Still haven't finished them so I still haven't washed it. I am going to try and make it my mission to do so.

I decided to make thick borders for this quilt so that they were soft and floppy, but I did them in continuous binding and I got the measurements wrong as the binding so so much thicker. So I had to make these funny corners. I actually quite like them, they seem to add to the softness, but they are a mistake. One I won't make again.

I started this quilt when I was in my last house as a moving in gift to myself for this house. That was over FIVE years ago. Shows how behind I have been. This is my simple boy friendly quilt based on one I saw by Conran in Libertys that was so expensive it was ridiculous. I wish I had taken a photo of it.

This weekend

2011-02-07T06:56:00.002Z

I bought some new material as a get well soon present for myself, from here. I have really been trying not to as it's Chilford on 13th March and since I am finishing off projects I don't really need any. But at last I have finished the stripey quilt. I am just tying off all the ends then I shall show it to you. As for Chilford, I feel I have earnt the right to go as I have finished this huge unfinished project. Now I just have to apply myself to the multi coloured dream quilt and then I can finally start on the sawtooth star quilt.

In the meantime I am also knitting. I am practising cable stitches from my Cabling book I received for Christmas. I'm not quite sure what I will do with the squares when they are complete. Maybe make them into a multi coloured blanket for a baby as they are every soft. We'll see. I'm doing them in pockets of free time so they won't form into anything for a very long time.

Pendant Making

2011-01-30T20:11:00.004Z

I did a silversmithing glass this weekend at Rachels Studio with Rebecca. It was great! I was very rubbish though. It's so hard to get things straight. In the end I just decided to do something that was supposed to look rough and wonky. I wanted to make sure I finished it in the time so I just set about making two big hoops and bashing them flat.

I should have filed and polished the finished thing more but well, it just takes so long and I am such a wimp I got sore arms and fingers by the end of the day. Hitting your finger a few times with a hammer is no joke I can tell you. I can't quite wear the finished thing as one of the jump rings came unsoldered, but once I fix that then I am well chuffed.

Rachel cut her big circle out of flat silver which looked lovely.

Here is her finished necklace minus the polish.

Here is mine after the polish! I sat sanding and polishing all the way home on the train! I wish I could sign up the evening course and make more things!

Sewing Case

2011-01-15T09:19:00.004Z

I finally finished my sewing cases. I just need to iron the white marker pen out so you can't see where I drew the quilting pattern on. I made two so that I could try different things out on each and learn with one so that the second would be perfect. Of course I just made mistakes on both instead.

I cut the wadding too small. My 1/4 inch sewing didn't leave enough room for the trim. My binding was too thin. My cord too fat... etc etc.. but even with all that, I am very happy with them.

I was intending to give one away, but I love both of them so much, I don't think I can. They have all my favourite scraps of material in them. They are really too precious. And it's always useful to have two of something right? They're the kind of thing that you need when you're on a train doing applique on the move. I bought a new pair of mini scissors just for the other case so now I have two sets of scissors, unpickers, threads, needles and pins. I feel very organised. I still prefer my mums case, but that's always the way I find.

I am also the owner of my very own bodkin now which I found I really couldn't make cord without. I tried with a safety pin but it was arduous work. Then bizarrely enough I was in a cheap shop and there was one right in front of me for £2 and I thought, "why not splash out on a bodkin". I am so very decadent.

The Year Review

2011-01-01T16:50:00.009Z

So it's the first day of 2011, a fine time to take stock of the year.

Things I made this year
An iPad case
The Country Quilt
A baby quilt for a forthcoming baby
A baby quilt for baby Mabel
A pin cushion
Another iPad case
A knitted blanket
A cushion

Unfinished projects from 2010
1. The crazy quilt which I have done NOTHING on.
2. A baby quilt for Mabel Done!
3. The kit to make which I have been saving for a rainy day.
4. The partner to the speaker quilt which I haven't even thought about
5. The Country Quilt, Finished! It was a huge task but I cracked it!
6. The Sawtooth Star Quilt I haven't really tackled it this year as my aim was to clear the decks, so it almost doesn't count.
7. The Stripey Quilt, which I need to do the borders and binding for.

Oh dear, 2 out of 7 is very poor indeed.

Resolutions for 2010
To do a course which I did do in crochet.
To get more done. Well that's always tricky but I think I did pretty well.

Resolutions for 2011
To finish things off instead of starting big new projects (small ones are okay)
To improve my knitting

Better get back to my sewing case...

Blanket done!

2011-01-01T10:15:00.004Z

Well it's taken me nearly a year, but finally I finished my blanket. I am very chuffed with myself. I can't quite believe I knitted something so big! The only bad bit is how I joined the two pieces in the middle. I did it really badly so it's all lumpy. I am hoping it stretches out with use though. In a way I can't wait for more cold weather just so I can test out it's warmth. I reckon it's going to be amazing. I would like to thank my new wool winder which just made the whole process much easier!

I got a cabling book for Christmas so I am going to try out some new cabling stitches. I might just make some squares and see how they turn out. The new local knitting shop had some lovely knitted cushions. I wish I needed cushions. I seem to finally have all the cushions I need!

Sewing case

2010-12-28T09:20:00.004Z

Today I decided to make a sewing case just like my mums. It's an old fashioned thing really but I really like it so here I am rummaging through the scrap bag, trying to dig out my favourite materials I have kept all the ickle bits of. It seems like a good holiday project. I thought I might make two at the same time. The pattern is from an old magazine that my mum bought me when I first started out.

I had forgotten how rubbish I am at flying geese though. I just keep trimming them, then I trim them again. I swear they are now an inch smaller than the pattern. I am not sure about using templates either. They seem less accurate than cutting them straight from the measurements.

Amazing gift #1 - A woolwinder!

2010-12-27T08:46:00.003Z

I mean I really don't deserve one as I am hardly what you would call a hardcore knitter, but it seems that the posher the wool, the more often it is twisted in a skein which I have to hand wind. It was really starting to get on my nerves. So I was kindly given a woolwinder which I am inordinately excited about. I plan to try and up my knitting skills next year. They do make more attractive wooden ones but you need more space for them and to be honest I don't think I will have it out all the time as I don't knit THAT much. It will be great for crochet though as I often spend lots of time winding small balls of wool to take on the move with me. When I went on the crochet course I could see they wound their balls with a machine as they had this lovely pattern to them. Now mine do too!

Xmas wrap

2010-12-25T23:36:00.003Z

This year, my xmas wrap was based on gold and yellow. Not as flamboyant as some years.

Pin cushion

2010-12-25T23:13:00.002Z

I'm quite up for the idea of some cross after seeing some lovely examples at knit and stitch

I thought these were lovely.

I asked for this book for Christmas. It's full of fancy alphabets.

Xmas Presents

2010-12-25T22:58:00.003Z

So this year it was let's make a cushion year! So me and Rachel spent a snowy day in the workshop making cushions out of scraps.

I did a bit of prep work.

The set up in the workshop.

My bunting has found a great new home!

The front with mum's friend's scraps of furnishing material.

The other side, using my £1 pillowcase from the second-hand shop. I didn't make the flap quite deep enough.

A detail.

What I bought

2010-11-13T22:08:00.000Z

There was nothing I really needed at Chilford, so I just ended up buying bits for half-formed ideas. I've realised that often the bast matching materials are the ones from the same series so it's good to get a few when you see them.

I liked these birds and the dots went well with them.

These were super cheap. I have no idea what they would be for.

You can never have enough stripes.

I love Liberties material. It's a bit expensive and patterned for my liking, but I couldn't resist these. Maybe I'll build up a collection over time and do something with them.

These go together perfectly. I have no idea what you'd use them for though.

I have a half-formed idea with these. Maybe sooon, maybe... There seem to be so many other projects to do.

That's it! A ood thing to. I just have NO MORE SPACE. I need to stop buying and start making!

Single Girl Quilt

2010-11-11T21:28:00.003Z

Another day, another project finished. Here is the quilt for the baby Mabel. A year late but finished. I really loved the pattern when I saw it. It's called "single girl" and it's by Denise Schmidt.

It took quite a long time because I had to make all the templates out of Myla so I didn't hack the pattern to pieces. I tried to make it as random as possible so each ring looked different.

In the end I did most things wrong. I cut the white material too small and had to unpick it. In future I would cut it much bigger so I could trim it down afterwards.

I finally got to grips with how useful two rulers can be when your quilt is really big. I am not too good at folding them in four and trimming. It just scares me, so this lining up of rulers felt safer.

The biggest problem was the machine quilting. I found it really hard to keep turning the quilt as it was quite bulky and involved a lot of folding it then re folding it. All the twisting and turning and stopping and starting meant that the needle kept jumping when I stopped and started and it took me a long long time to work out how to minimise it. So it's a bit rough round the edges, but I learnt loads and those are my favourite kinds of quilts to do.

It looked great in the end.

Chilford Quilt Show

2010-11-07T21:53:00.002Z

Another year, another quilt show. This year I thought I would pay close mind to how people appliqué and observe how shoddy I am in comparison. I really loved these folk art mini quilts. I think, although they are not really my style, there are parts of them that I really appreciate. Just the sheer time involved for one. I really got up close to people's stitching and marveled at how accurate they could be in something so small.

As for what I bought. Jeez, that's another post

Cloud Nine

2010-11-03T21:27:00.000Z

So for my birthday I asked my mum to buy me some Cloud 9 flannels. They were pretty costly as they seem to be only available in the States and I had to pay import tax on them, but I saw this pattern on Cloud 9 and I just really wanted to make it.

I really like the pattern as it's modern and retro all at the same time and the flannel is so soft. After spending years on my last quilt, it just felt so nice to do something easy and straightforwards.

It only took a few hours to cut the strips, sew them together. By the end of the day I had the backing on and was sewing it together. I didn't quite follow the pattern at this point as it's for a baby and I had used some offcuts of wadding so I thought it needed some slightly more substantial quilting.

I did pin the quilt as opposed to doing my usual tacking. I do find however that pins ping out and scratch me, so used quilter's safety pins on the edges.

I ended up doing simple straight lines inbetween the owls in big, white, perle stitches.

And here is the finished thing. It's bigger than I expected, but I really enjoyed doing it as it took a week in total.

Knitting

2010-11-02T22:45:00.003Z

So I finally had the push to finish off the knitting I started last winter. I was much quicker and before I knew it I was on the borders... only to run out of wool. It's so annoying as I saw it everywhere at Knit and Stitch but now I can't get it for love nor money. So it's back in the bag it goes until Loop have more wool. Another project so nearly finished!

I changed the pattern a bit as I didn't really want a stole, I wanted a blanket, so I just knitted the main panel twice and knitted them together.

Finished

2010-10-24T21:32:00.005+01:00

So I finally finished off the last quilting bits and pulled out the tacking. Of course it instantly fell to pieces in places so I did what any normal adult would do in this situation. I took it home to my mum and whined until she offered to fix it. Ace.

I learnt a lot doing this quilt, mostly about applique. The whole thing is full of mistakes; I left the bloody freezer paper in a few of the leaves and they are already coming loose, but I love it for what it represents and I love all the fabric which I bought with my mum at the first ever patchwork shop she took me to when I had no idea what I was doing (not that I have much more idea now).

Next a bit of a catch up on some long neglected knitting whilst I contemplate what comes next. I have two quilts to finish, one quilt to make and a lot of other projects to start. I'd really like to start something new but now I am on the finishing things off bus, I feel I should continue... Maybe it's back to the garish Material Obsessions quilt which I feel could well turn out to be... well... gross and is going to be a nightmare as it's cut at 60° which I now realise means all the material stretches and nothing goes together as it should. Oh woe is me. Whatever possessed me? And the thing is huge. I am half tempted not to put the borders on as they will just make it even bigger and more garish.

Knitting and Stitching

2010-10-13T20:56:00.005+01:00

So it was Sunday and the sun came out. I had decided to spend the day indoors finishing off my quilt, but it was s nearly done and the sun was out and... well suddenly I was on the bus and at Ally Pally for my first encounter with The Knitting and Stitching Show.

It was ace. It was huge! I've never seen so much wool and so much lovely soft wool at that. It wasn't cheap mind, but it was lovely.

Since I am not the greatest knitter and have not yet managed to finish my white blanket which Rachel made in about 2 days, I didn't really have much purpose. I just wondered around touching everything feeling done in by how much there was. It reminded me of how overwhelmed I felt at my first patchwork show. It was just too much.

So I didn't really buy very much. That was okay though as I am saving myself for Chilford, and really it was a reconnaissance mission so I am prepared for next year.

They had one hall dedicated to exhibitions and some of the stuff was amazing

There were lots of people crammed around the cheap discounted wool bundles in a huge pile on the floor.

There was a lady knitting with giant needles you could buy. Wool's not cheap though and it scared me seeing how much wool she was using, but it's a lovely idea and the needles were well cool!

Another project ends

2010-10-09T17:35:00.000+01:00

So I am at the very end of this quite intensive project which is all hand quilted. I am just sewing the bindings. In a way I'll be sad to see it over as it's been on the go, for what, years and I am quite enjoying sitting on the sofa in my slippers doing it. I'll have to get up and be active after this.

I have decided to wash it when I am finished to give it that wrinkled, soft feel. I'm a bit scared that I'll break it somehow as I have never washed a quilt before and I don't know how touch my appliqué is.

Street Party

2010-09-12T18:54:00.003+01:00

In honour of the local street party, I decided to make some bunting. I didn't want to sacrifice any of my stash though so I decided to do a shabby chic version using my growing amount of scraps which I can pooled into the large scrap bag.

I didn't have whole pieces so I had to sew bits together.

I got a bit carried away and just started sewing anything I could find onto it.

I didn't make it doubled sided, I just got the pinking shears out and went for it. I quite like the results. I made one lot with some bias binding I had. Hand sewing seemed to take forever so I made a second batch on the machine.

Ta-da! it looked a bit small in the end but at least it was something

My Amazing Mum

2010-09-03T08:27:00.005+01:00

So in the time it takes me to sew two bits of material together...wrongly, my mum whips up this little number and gives it to me. This was all hand applique and hand quilted. It must have consumed many hours. My mum is my quilting guru.

This is an adaptation of a classic Robert Callahan quilt pattern. My mum spilt tea all over the pattern book and we had a real job finding another on the internet for her. She was so pleased in the end though when a neat and tidy version came along. Berries seem to be the bane of her life though. No material is ever the right hue and then she is not happy with how she makes them. I was too amazed by the whole thing to even look at the berries!

For any appliquers out there, here is the technique she uses for small circles. That's what I bought those precut circles for. I am going to try and design my own simple applique pattern soon... gulp.

What I Bought

2010-08-23T20:15:00.006+01:00

So what did I buy at the quilt show? The answer is LOADS. Rachel wanted to see my hoard so here goes...

Gosh it's a lot. I feel terribly guilty. I don't know what came over me. What am I going to do with it all? Where do I start?

There a few things that were just 'must have' things which I buy when I see them such as quilting needles which are really small so you can achieve smaller stitches. I lose them constantly and I throw them away the minute they don't slide through the layers or get bent. I bought chalk re-fills, pencil leads, a blue chalk pen and a blade for my cutter. I don't feel bad about that stuff. I needed it all. It's not essential, but I find I use it on most projects. It just makes my life easier.

So what else did I get?

It's my birthday next month so my mum bought me some Amy Butler fat quarters and some dyed threads as I had been borrowing hers to quilt my latest project. I've never been a fan of these variegated threads before but I have changed my mind about them. I don't feel guilty about them as I didn't pay for them!

These are a bit of a luxury as you can just make your own out of template plastic, but I am really into the idea of doing more applique and I have been thinking these would make life easier for a while. Now I have every circle size in the world! I have been really enjoying the circles I did on my first project and have been thinking I might do some more in the future.

I just have no self-control when it comes to Kim's jelly rolls. I really want to make a soft quilt for a cold day. I have been toying with the idea of brushed cotton for a while. She had a beautiful quilt which I commented upon and suddenly she held out a roll and said that it was the fabric she'd used. I was sunk. It was kismet. I have an old brushed cotton sheet somewhere that I bought from Emmaus for a fiver which I could use for the backing. I do feel guilty about this. Happy, but guilty.

I didn't mean to buy this. I had spent all my money. I was done. I blame Rachel. It was a complete impulse buy. I have sinned.

I always buy something from Sunflower Fabrics, it's tradition. I was quite pleased I didn't spend all my money here as they are also at Chilford, but the Liberty material just called me. It's silly really as it's too thin and it's quite pricey AND I don't need it... but it's so preeedy.

God, as for the rest of the stuff, I just don't know. It's all just stuff.

Rachel set the rule though. If we haven't finished a project by Chilford, then we can't purchase a thing!

I'd better get my skates on.

Festival of Quilts

2010-08-23T08:46:00.003+01:00

So Rachel and I braved the quilt show this year. Considering I didn't actually need anything apart from a few pencil leads, I still managed to buy one of everything. But it's so hard when there is just stall after stall packed with things stretching in front of you.

And of course there is the exhibition itself. I always feel good after I've seen an exhibition as I realise that although people have a huge amount of skill, they often create things which make my eyeballs sore. I think I am just a bit too 'Little House on The Prairie' for all these ground-breaking, exciting designs. Below are a few details of things I did like.

I think I gravitated to all the hexagon ones this year because you have to do them by hand. More and more I see Gamel quilting which is where you send off your quilt and a big machine quilts a huge perfect design over it... which is great, but I have started to really appreciate the ones done by hand. They just seem a little more human.

I was much more interested in applique this year after my botch-job attempt. I felt like a real show pro as I had to get right up to them and eyeball them whilst muttering 'how the hell did they do that?' which is what I see a lot of people doing. I think I just thought they were short-sighted before.

It looked like people had printed their own material which I thought looked really good.

There was a lot of experimental stuff which I think bordered on embroidery really. I am not sure how they decide what it patchwork, but I sometimes felt things had veered off into a new realm. Some of them were amazing though.

They had a clothes section which seemed rather like a wizard's wardrobe. Some of them were amazing. This christening dress was so long. The hem was amazing. Of course I didn't photograph that because I am an idiot.

This is my sort of thing. A bit frayed, a bit wonky. When did I become so traditional? I really don't know.

Here is am example of 'close quilting'. It's amazing, but you come out with something so stiff, you could never imagine wrapping it round you on the sofa. Although, I have a feeling none of the quilts will go very near human touch.

Some things were very tastful. This is a miniature quilt, they are always my favourites as they must all be made by people who are bonkers... with really tiny fingers.

I took a whole load more pictures which you can see here if it's your thing.

iPad Case Round Two!

2010-08-17T23:49:00.004+01:00

Wow! my iPad case made Whip up! My iPad case post was described as a 'neat tute'! Cooooooool. I am dead chuffed.

In celebration of this, I thought I should test out the instructions and see if I could follow them. I thought Sparky might like this case and he's not quite so strict about a bit of craft flare, hence I gave it a face!

iPad Case

2010-08-06T06:40:00.010+01:00

It had to happen. The new iPad has been wrapped it tea towels and jumpers all week. Finally it found a baggy home in the laptop case, but when I had to take the laptop out I was sans case and I knew I needed to do something makeshift whilst The Pony decided which case to buy for it. So I made a plan.

You need:
Outside material - I used collar felt which tailors use. It's quite cheap but very thick. You can buy it in John Lewis.

Inside material - I starched some cheap stripey material I got for £4 in Borowicks on Berwick Street in SoHo. They have lots of cheap material.

Wadding - I used offcuts of stuff I had. It doesn't really matter what you use as long as you think it thick enough to do the job.

Thread - I used some neon thread to match my inside lining.

Step 1 - I cut all the material to size using the above diagram. These are pretty rough measurements which allowed me to cut things down after I had sewed them which I find helps to make things look more perfect. You need 2x the inner fabric and the wadding which you need to sew together at the base unless your material is long enough for you to cut one long bit. My stripey material wasn't long enough so I sewed two bits together not worrying about matching up the pattern as this will be at the bottom of the case.

Untrimmed

Step 2 - I sewed the inner material, fabric side down, to the wadding with a 1/4 inch seam leaving a 2-3 inch gap in the middle so I could turn the fabric inside out. (Because the materials are different sizes I always follow the smaller piece and have that on top when I am sewing). I then trimmed the inner fabric down to match the smaller wadding size leaving a bit to turn in on the gap I created which you can just sew together after turning. No one will really see it so I didn't do anything fancy, I just whizzed over it on the machine.

Mistake No.1: My gap is two small. I had to unpick it. I only left an inch. Boo.

Mistake NO.2: See I tried to be neat with my seams which is often important in intricate patchwork. I ironed them out, then forgot and sewed over wrongly on the left. Boo. It's not important but it's good practice. You can see this is the trimmed version with the bit left to turn over the gap.

Step 3 - So you have two long rectangles. I folded my felt in half, ironed it flat, then I folded my material and wadding in half and pinned the top of the material to the felt material side up. I should have perhaps spent more time being accurate as you want the tops to line up. Then I unfolded it and sewed a straight line across each small edge of the material (it being smaller, I followed that edge). Thus anchoring it to the felt.

Instead of tying off threads I used Angela's technique of starting off with a really small stitch length and doing a back stitch by putting the machine in reverse before making my stitch normal and carrying on. I only do it for about 5 stitches but it means you can just cut the thread without thinking about it unraveling.

Step 4 - After this I folded it back in half and sewed both the long sides. I didn't want my wadding to be in my seam as it would make it too bulky so I sewed the felt together around the edge of the wadding (except the top! You need to get in it) Does that make sense? It means the wadding comes away from the inside if you push it, but I didn't think it would matter if an iPad was all that was going in it.

Step 5 - I then trimmed away the felt leaving 1/4 of felt at the edges and 1/2 inch at the top opening so the lining wasn't too visible.

And it looks like this! iPad case. Done. In about an hour.

Update! I made another case here

Crochet

2010-08-01T20:55:00.013+01:00

Finally after a few wrong starts I've come up with my version of the square. I couldn't work out the pattern on the blog as I am not that great at following instructions. So that I can remember it and just in case you want to follow it, here's the pattern I am using. I've never written down a pattern before. I am probably not being very clear so I have inserted lots of pictures.

CH = Chain stitch
SS = Slip stitch
TR = Treble crochet (UK) in the US it should be a Double crochet.

Foundation ring: Yarn A, work 4ch and join with a SS to form the ring. (I always make my stitches very loose as it makes everything easier).

Round 1: 3CH (counts as 1TR) then 1TR into ring, then 1CH, repeat 1TR + 1CH 10 times (12TR total), join with SS into 3rd stitch of 3CH. Break off yarn. This should give you a circle with gaps between each treble.

Round 2: Join yarn B inbetween the first and last treble of previous round. (I always start with quite a loose slip knot so I can pull it tighter later when I tie the ends off and pull the knot to the back).

3CH inbetween two trebles in the gap the CH from the previous round has created (counts as 1TR)

Then 1TR into the same gap, then 1CH. Repeat doing 2TR + 1CH into every gap between the TR in the previous round created by the CH to create 12 groups of 2TR. Break off yarn.

"
You should see when you stretch it that you have gaps inbetween the TR groups.

Round 3: Join yarn C in the gap between TRs created by the CH of the previous round. I usually join between the last and the first TR.

3CH (counts as 1TR) then 2TR and 1CH, then 3TR + 1CH in the next CH gap pf the previous round. Repeat 10 times. (12TR total). Break off yarn.

Round 4: Join yarn C in the gap between TRs. I usually join between the last and the first TR space. 3CH (counts as 1TR), 2TR, 3CH, 3TR to make your corner, then 3TR + 1CH into the next CH space of the previous round, repeat 3TR + 1CH into the next CH space of the previous round, then in the next CH space make a corner with 3TR, 3CH, 3TR. Repeat to end until you have completed all four corners and tie off.

That's it! Does that make sense? Now I just have to learn this joining at you go thing.

In Transit

2010-07-18T22:59:00.002+01:00

As Clairey suggested, I really need to do my cushion in all different colours but I seem to lack the correct wool. I always think I have loads but somehow I never have exactly what I need. So I paused on the blue whilst I think about going back to a wool shop and instead tried it out with the really thin cotton yarn I have for the amigurimi stuff I've done in the past. I also tried out Rachel's interpretation of the instructions which differ to mine.

I'm so indecisive that I'll probably end up doing both a bit more to see if I like one better than the other. The cotton yarn is definitely harder as it's so tiny and has less stretch so you have to have your stitches just right so they're not to tight or too baggy. I think the woolier wool allows you to hide a multitude of sins so maybe I'll finish that one first.

New Project

2010-07-11T18:25:00.006+01:00

Even though I have not finished tying all the ends of my last crochet project, I just thought I would gather together some new wool for the next one as I happened to be passing both the new Loop shop in Islington and Liberties.

I also bought this grey wool because it was just so soft.

Here is close up of the start. I am not sure that it's right at all.

It doesn't seem very square but I am sure it will stretch. Now to decide if I do them all blue or in different colours.

Problem

2010-06-23T17:13:00.003+01:00

My problem is that I see so many things I want to make and I never have time to make any of them, yet I become obsessed with them. Then I stop the three seconds I have spent on the previous project and move onto spending 3 seconds on the new one.

I have been tying up the loose ends of my original granny squares for my cushion which is now going to be a blanket. It's boring work and I haven't got very far since I started back at work. It's so sad to realise that you have about three hours a day of free time in which to cram in the rest of your life.

It did occur to me that I lose track of all these great things I am going to make, so I thought I might post them here so I can find them again when I need to. Obviously this means it's not my work, but I shall always try to credit people and include links. And it means my friends can see if they want to make them with me! It might all come in dribs and drabs and be a bit of a brain dump, but without further a do... I shall begin the new 'Inspiration' tagged posts.

I would like to make this cushion from the brilliant Yvestown blog.

It's so neat and tidy. I can't work out if that is down to technique, practice or wool (Cocktail by Markoma 50% cotton 50% acrylic - which only seems to be on sale in The Netherlands). I love the techniques of joining them together. It's not how we learnt it in class.

I can't decide what colours though. I love the blue, green, yellow and pink squares in this, but I also love this version on Dotty Angel's blog

This is original image that the course was advertised with and what really sold me on doing it! I love the subtle colours. Sometimes I think I am just too technicolour and I need to be more subtle and earthy.

I need to buy wool.
More wool.
I am running out of places to hide it though.

Colour Book

2010-06-20T09:30:00.002+01:00

When I was at school, the printmaking teacher made us all create colour books which consisted of us sitting at home with a print stick or that glue that stunk of fish, sticking magazine clippings into our books. I went through an entire back catalogue of Country Living thinking it was a dumb assignment. I've still got my finished book now and I have to admit, it was a pretty good thing. There's no better colour combinations to be found than those you see around you in nature. I sometimes think I just take it in subliminally.

Time Off

2010-06-19T17:08:00.003+01:00

So I went away on holiday and lay on a sunlounger for ten days. Since I got back I have had 4 days at home to sort odd jobs out and chill out before going back to work. I can't say I have been doing a lot of craft orientated things. Real life gets in the way too much. But I did do a few things which I have been meaning to do for ages.

1. I made a spiral. I printed it out and pricked holes in it so I could push chalk through the holes and draw my lines on. It really is the easiest way to transfer a quilting pattern to a surface, but you have to draw the lines in immediately because it brushes off in no time! It's now in the hoop and waiting for some TV nights in. I reckon I might start a new series of 24 and quilt my way through it!

2. I bought some cork tiles from the local DIY shop so I could dampen my crochet squares and pull them into the right shape. I used a few different thicknesses of wool so they are all slightly different sizes. I used an old sprayer we use for watering our seeds. It really works which surprised me as I didn't think it would make much difference, but the corners don't curl up anymore and they are all the same size! See the before and after below.

I am starting to think I might make them into a blanket and not a cushion cover. That poor cushion is never going to get a cover at this rate.

At the Market

2010-06-18T07:42:00.002+01:00

I went to Spital Fields market on Friday for a mooch around the vinyl records and I saw these two stalls. One selling wool, which I had not seen before and one selling great crochet dolls. I thought they were great but the crafter in me wished she also sold kit patterns. There's a whole flickr roup dedicated to crochet rabbits. I want to make one like this

I also went passed this cafe and thought the flowers were really cool so I thought I'd show you. I can find Spital fields a bit depressing sometimes as I feel that also they have made it all swish and fancy, it has happened at the expense of all the fashion stalls and amazing jewelery makers that used to be there. With chain stores everywhere these days, I just thought it was a shame to fill it with more chain stores when there used to be unique little junk shops and the like on the fringes, but you know, I have to get over it.

Saturday Crochet

2010-05-31T22:59:00.004+01:00

My effort

Rachel's effort

A lovely Saturday spent doing some crochet. Both of us suspect that our crochet could in fact be horrid, but we have to persevere. The most awful thing about spending time making things is to have to stare at them forever after thinking they are ugly. But sometimes you just can't tell until you get to the end.

B was too busy being a ninja to notice.

I am very jealous of Rachel's Amy Butler floor cushions.

Quilting... finally

2010-05-19T07:45:00.002+01:00

So here it is, all tacked together after months of just looking at it and sighing. Finally I taped it to the ground then left it there for a week before forcing myself to tack it together. I just find tacking SO boring.

Now I have yest another decision. How to quilt it. I can't remember what thickness of thread Maggie used on the original. All I remember is that it starts with a spiral and just works its way out in waves. I wish i'd looked closer at it last time!

My mum gave me some space dyed cotten abrode which is great as it's thicker than normal quilting thread which I like as it makes the stitching more visible, and she says that the change in colour will make it look richer. I just can't decide which colour to use or if I should use both!

Blasts from the Past

2010-05-10T07:58:00.000+01:00

This quilt was the first proper quilt I ever made. I made two before this but the top was already premade and I just sandwiched it all together really ineptly. But I was 17 when I made those. This one I made when I was in my twenties for my best friend's baby. He's just turned 11, making it seem like such a long time a go! I love how soft it is now from years of use. You can see my first ever applique I did. It's not half bad even if I do say so myself. I was so chuffed with myself when I finally completed it.

UFO

2010-04-05T09:53:00.002+01:00

Of couse what I really should be doing is tacking down this quilt which is now taking up all the floor space, but I hate tacking, oh how I hate it. The holidays are just never long enough!

This Bank Holiday

2010-04-03T09:42:00.000+01:00

So really I should be finishing things off like this cushion. As you can see, I am so nearly there, but I ran out of purple wool as it was just a left over bit of yarn which I lost all the details for. I am going to be better about keeping samples of the wool I buy together with its label so I am not caught out like this again.

On a more positive note, I decided that I must rise to the challenge and add another colour combination so I did some experimenting and settled of yellow. I am quite pleased with the results. I seem to be very rainbow coloured of late.

Obviously though, as I am so near finishing, I have decided to start something new. I got a bit bored of the basic granny squares so I started a new, bigger, more complex square. Again, it's all technicolour!

Liberties Quilty Pleasures

2010-04-02T09:19:00.000+01:00

Liberties have just opened their Quilty Pleasures mini exhibition on the third floor, where they've hung four quilts. It's not the same standard as your average patchwork show but they are nice to look at and the window display is lovely - a real lesson in how to making quilting trendy! Featuring bundles from Kim at Worn & Washed and Maggie at Sunflower Fabrics. But of course I did go and burn my lip on my tea in the tea room and now I have a huge blister on my lip.

John Lewis Birds

2010-04-01T20:33:00.000+01:00

I saw these knitted birds in John Lewis. Aren't they great!

Country Living Spring Fair

2010-03-27T20:26:00.000Z

I went to The Country Living Spring Fair with Rachel to help out on her stall. Sunflower fabrics and Beyond fabrics were there which was great. They had some lovely things there and a lot of things which all seemed to blur into one.

Wool

2010-03-20T17:52:00.003Z

So I have been busy with my granny squares. I decided that I didn't like some of the colour combinations I had done with the very very bright pink, so I have been doing more of the purpley ones. This has set me back slightly but it's all good practice. I am started to get a little tired of the square though and am itching to start the next big crochet project. I think it's time to start planning for a more advanced square pattern and maybe something a little bigger than a cushion.

When Samara first taught me crochet in the pub I went out and bought this book. My dream being to make an Afgan for myself. I decided to that perhaps I might try the block on the cover now I feel confident enough so I went on a pilgrimage to Loop to get some wool for my project.

I got big wool rather than the thin wool they recommend partly because it was in the right colours and partly because I thought big might make it easier to see with at first and cover a greater area in the end. And to top it all off, I got a free bag, Can't be bad! Rainbow crochet here I come!

Quilt Haul

2010-03-17T19:19:00.002Z

A little roundup of Chillford. I didn't really have anything specific to buy as I haven't really done much patchwork recently so I just got some small bits. I thought I might make some needle cases for Christmas presents with these. You can buy this material from Patchwork Corner

Other than that I bought some fat quarters just to add to the stash. More spots as usual, but this time I saw a lady with these in her hand and I thought they really went well together. I don't think I would have picked up the brown Lecien floral otherwise, but I think it goes well with the spots.

This is from the new Moda range: Rouenneries which I think is really lovely. I might just do something simple and small with these as they were quite expensive so I only got a few fat quarters.

Crochet Book

2010-03-16T08:17:00.003Z

So I showed my granny squares to my mum who was rather underwhelmed by them. Turns out she can crochet but failed to mention it. She said she learnt it all from this book she gave me which she bought from the local wool shop in the 80s. I just love how retro it is. Check out that haircut!

It's a folder with cards for every stitch then project cards.

It even tells you how to make granny squares!

Hooks

2010-03-15T07:15:00.003Z

So my hook collection is pretty poor. I feel it is high time to upgrade to a set of coloured ones like the green one I got from the course which I LOVE. I am going to buy a set from 'Purple Linda' just as soon as the fraud department at the bank sort out who spent £255.50 on nuts at 01.38 using my bank details! Until then I have no card, no bank account. Oh the frustration of not being able to expand my hook empire!

Of course when I do get them, I will have to make a pencil roll for them!

Granny Squares

2010-03-13T06:45:00.000Z

So I went to the second crochet course run by Bee and Claire of 'Make Do Mend' and now I am an unstoppable granny square machine I tell you. I wish I could go somewhere lovely like the Tea Rooms every Thursday evening and just practice crochet. It's so nice to have tea and cake on tap in this lovely shop which quite frankly is always so full of people normally, I can never get in. They had a big basket of wool to select your choices from and I got a green hook which I am very enamored of.

It took us the whole session to makes these two squares but we really feel that we could do it on our own now.

Some people were storming ahead but it was great as they had quite a few patterns they gave you which varied in skill level.

I really feel that I am getting there with how to hold the yarn and get the tension right. The following day I had to get up at 4.45 and get a ridiculously early train to near Brighton. It was great as the time flew by and I didn't feel stupid when people watched what I was doing.

I think I am going to make the cushion I set out to make before I try any of the more advanced squares. Not long to go now!

Crochet course

2010-03-07T17:02:00.004Z

Last Thursday I did a tea and cake crochet night with Makedoandmend which was great. Two hours of beginners crochet. Although I can crochet, I can really only do one stitch and go round and round and round. I just thought it would be a good way to learn the other basic stitches in a few hours and it was.

They had people there that had never knitted or crocheted in their lives which was fine as basically once they taught us all a stitch and started slowly making their way round to check everyone and help them, it gave me time to endlessly drill the actions into my head and really concentrate on holding the wool right. As with my knitting, I am beginning to really appreciate how learning good techniques early can go a long way when you advance but can't seem to speed up.

And let me just say that the ginger cake. Crikey, it was good. I am on a mission to make my own like that; almost black.

They gave us some lovely wool to choose from and I got a hook that I haven't already got so I was stoked. Next Thursday I have signed up for the granny square night which I am very excited about. I want to make this!

I am now going to go and organise my meagre collection of hooks and think about getting some more!

The weekend

2010-02-23T22:25:00.004Z

So I found out that I get train sick on Pendalino trains which meant I couldn't launch into my knitathon. In fact I got very little knitting done! But I did get some new bowls from Ray which are amazing and graceful as usual. They are going to go really well with my white knitted blanket!

Cabling Progress

2010-02-11T07:55:00.002Z

I must be getting better, or it must just be the rewards of big wool, but I feel like I am storming along. I had two scary moments where I had lost the cable and had to take the whole lot off the needle and pull it out until I got back to where I thought I'd gone wrong. Going back is what I really need to perfect. I found that putting the stitches back onto thinner needles made it easier to knit the first row back and work out which were twisted stitches. The whole thing feels a lot smaller than it looks in the picture though. Part of me wants to make a matching strip for it to make it twice as wide! I am not sure if I could hack that though, we'll see. I have a four hour train journey this weekend so I am expecting a lot of progress!

Ravelry

2010-02-10T17:03:00.004Z

So I finally had a proper look at Ravelry today and put up some projects. It seems like a great way to document knitting projects and specify patterns, needles and wool etc... You can see my notebook here I am going to spend a long time trawling through and favouriting projects!

Big Cable Stole

2010-02-08T20:07:00.005Z

I think it's the snow outside, or else it's because Sam has started knitting. All I know is that I am inspired to keep knitting! Here is my knitting inspiration... behold the blanket that Ray knitted me! A wonder! I LOVE it. Well I'd love it more if either it was bigger or I was smaller.

About a year a go I bought some lovely Blue Sky Bulky Natural wool from Loop. It's pretty pricey which is probably why I put it away until the shock wore off. I never bought quite enough, thinking that I would go back the following month and buy the remainder... Well a year later I happened to be passing. I happened to be into cabling... and voila! I just went in and bought the rest!

The pattern I am just starting isn't the same as Ray's but it was the inspiration behind it. We saw in the shop and the idea was born. You can find it here or on Revelry if you're a member. I'm not really planning to wear it, I just want to make it into another blanket.

I bought some wool in the great Cucumberpatch sale which was £2.50 a ball! What a bargain! I might have to make it twice! I mean you can never have too many blankets in this constantly cold weather now can you?

I also splashed out and invested in some nicer wooden needles as mine our plastic. Although these are heavier, they're just nicer to play with and they make a much softer sound as they clash together. I am all set now never to go out again. I am just going to be a kitting machine! I have had to copy the pattern out though as I can't get with this 'row 5, repeat rows 8-11' stuff. I just need to know what one row is after another so I don't have to think too much. I'm going to Manchester next weekend and I plan to knit all the way there and ALL the way back!

Knitted Cowl

2010-02-07T10:02:00.004Z

So I finally finished my neck cowl last night. I made loads of mistakes on it but by the end I felt like I could start again and I would do it right. I agree with the other people I know who have made it though that it's easier to wear the other way up from the pattern. I might make a proper chunky one like the original when I next find myself in front of some Rowan Big Wool, but it would cost 20 odd quid to make with that whereas as my thinner Robin chunky cost a fiver to make.

Knitting Again

2010-01-24T11:34:00.001Z

This is the first weekend this year where I have literally had nothing to do. I was so excited about it. No plans. No one to see. No need to go outside. No need to get dressed. It's been as great as I anticipated. Three exciting events have taken place:

1. The Christmas tree has finally come down. It feels very blank without it. It was the first time in my life I have ever had a fake tree and I think it was perfect. It was that choice between not having one at all because we simply weren't going to be here and having something makeshift. Now we'll always have it just in case. The bottom of it is the only annoying thing. But it's all packed in the loft now should the need arise again.

2. It was chutney production time. ALL the chutneys everyone had ever given us had been consumed. I went through the cupboard and found loads of out of date unchutney products, but there was nothing else. Shop bought chutney was experimented with and found sadly lacking so chutney production began in earnest.

3. It seemed high time to get back into some knitting. It has been such a long time that I seemed to be rubbish all over again! It didn't take long to get back into the swing of things though. I think my needles are just a little too big to hold comfortably. I spent last year re-learning to hold my needles in a better way. I know that it helps with your speed eventually and I wanted to not fall into bad habits.

I have found that utube really helps. There are loads of knitting videos on there. I found this great one from Elsteffo which I am going to try and stick to. I also have problems with how I wind the wool round my hand which inevitably affects the tension and evenness of the stitches. And I think I knit a bit too tightly because I always have to stop and push the knitting along. I will be converted to the path of knitting righteousness!

So I am making this free Rowan Cable Neck pattern. Two people I know have made it. One looks just like the picture, but the other person made it out of thinner wool and it's kind of saggy which I really like. I guess it makes less of a statement but I am fine with that. She also made it with much cheaper wool! Robin chunky here I come!

Not having followed many patterns, I am finding it quite hard going. I have knitted the first two bits, albeit quite badly, but I am not quite sure exactly how to do the next bit. I shall spend today trying though.

2010

2010-01-01T20:50:00.005Z

So here we are in a bright, shiny, new year. In celebration of this, I have harangued the Pony into updating my blog layout a bit. For some time now I haven't been able to take advantage of Blogger's newer features as I had never updated to the latest version as it meant loosing my custom design. But it seems like the year for change, so here is the wider layout with bigger pictures.

I suppose this is also the moment where I take stock of what I said I would do this year and come clean as to whether I've actually achieved any of it.

I made a list last year of outstanding projects. Here it is with an update.

Unfinished Project 1: The Neverending Broken Dishes Quilt
2010 Status: Finished!

Unfinished Project 2: The Country Quilt
2010 Status: Ongoing. I did a huge chunk of it which including coming to grips with applique so I'm really pleased with myself. Now I just need to baste it together and hand quilt it all.

Unfinished Project 3: The Sawtooth Star Quilt
2010 Status: Well I haven't got much further with that. It's such a big project I am trying to clear the way for it.

1 out of 3 isn't awful when you consider what I have made this past year:

A yellow monster
A stripey monster
A baby quilt for Nell
A baby quilt for Isla
An incubator quilt
A speaker quilt
A Pencil roll
A knitted vest
A cowl

Of course I now have a few more unfinished projects
A big, crazy quilt which I have lots to do on
A baby quilt for Mabel which is nearly done!
A new kit to make
Plus I need to make the partner to the original speaker quilt.
Plus there is another baby on the way. People really need to slow down. Three last year was more than enough to keep me busy.

Resolutions for this year
I'd like to do another course this year as the course I went on last year was very inspiring.

I'd also like to get more done, but time is always a big factor.

So in summary I think it's been a good year productivity-wise.

Xmas Wrapping

2009-12-28T20:30:00.006Z

This year's wrapping was inspired by a blog I saw that I can't remember right now. I'll put up a link when I find it again. I made bags from interfacing using red zigzag stick on the sewing machine, then tied them with butchers/bakers twine. I got some really thick stuff off the internet which is great! I bought some really thick red felt from Paperchase and cut out letter name tags then tied German cake decorations to the knots.

Christmas Cards

2009-12-05T22:45:00.007Z

Today I was in Paperchase and was suddenly seized with the idea to do some glittery Christmas cards. A pack of red glitter, a glue pen and some red card and I was ready for action. They are now drying and spreading glitter over every nook and cranny of the house.

Do not think that there was no suffering involved though. Today turned out to be London's busiest Christmas shopping day so in honour of this they'd closed Oxford street and changed every bus route. yeah, that's really helpful.

To help us shoppers along they had the constant noise of a helicopter circling above us, big PA systems and weird promotional stands in the streets desperately trying to get people to spend money. It was like being in a warzone, except for the bombs and the general death and horror thing.

Anyway, tomorrow it's back to quilting...

Current Quilting Project

2009-10-29T20:37:00.007Z

So I've been cutting templates, cutting material and sewing curves. All for my little latest project. It's a small one so it's a nice change after all the more longterm projects I have been working on. It uses small panels of really bright colours amidst large expanses of white. I think it will look really good. More as it comes.

It's the Autumn Quilt Festival at Chilford Hall on November 6-8th. I am so excited. I am going to restrain myself though as I went rather mad at Birmingham. All I need is some white material to finish this project off and a backing material perhaps. But what can I say? sometimes you just can't help yourself! Clairey will restrain me right? right?

Applique bits

2009-10-15T08:36:00.006+01:00

I sewed my last leaf today and ironed all my bits. I've been taking it very slowly, as it's a bit laborious to try and do it solidly, but every time I sit down to watch TV I've been doing what my mum advised. Tacking leaves and sewing circles. After my awful attempt at the fast way, the difference it makes doing it this slow way is amazing. I am half tempted to unpick my first attempts but if I did that I think the quilt would no longer me my test quilt. There's something satisfying about being able to see your skills progress from one shitty edge to the final perfect one. Well I say perfect…

So in a nutshell, the winning applique technique I have found works best:

LEAVES
Iron freezer paper templates onto wrong side of material.
Cut round material leaving 1/2 inch seam.
Fold edges over freezer paper and tack right into paper roughly making sure you start outside in so your knot is easy to cut off once you've sewn it.
Pin and sew onto material 3/4 way round
Undo tacking, retrieve freezer paper and sew to finish.

CIRCLES
Cut shape out leaving 1/2 inch seam
Use a double thread making sure the lopped thread is at the end of the thread
Sew from outside in leaving a small loop on the outside to start with
Small tacking stitches all round circle
To finish come out through the top into the loop
Place mylar template inside and pull thread in loop to tighten
Iron
Extract mylar

It's a real rigmarole. Definitely more pernickerty than other methods I've seen, but it gives a foolproof finish as the shapes don't look lumpy when sewn on. Maybe as I get better I'll do it differently, but my mum still uses this technique and she is an applique machine I tell you!

Applique Decisions

2009-08-30T09:46:00.011+01:00

I rented out "The Art of Applique" from my mum's library and it's perfect. Everything you needed to know about Applique in a thin, straight forward book with lots of diagrams. Every variation of method explained from start to finish. Everything is clearer now. You can click on the above images to see them larger but they just explain what I have been doing so far this weekend.

I started by cutting some test strips, each using a different method. One strip was ironed into three (which was easier than I thought it was going to be) and hand sewn in place. The other was ironed in half and machine sowed on one side, tacked, then hand finished on the other. Each created a different effect. In the end I decided to follow the same technique used in the quilt instructions which I understood a lot more after reading this book.

The folding in half method creates a raised stem which I like and is slightly quicker. You can't really see what I mean from the image though. Anyhow, I had already photocopied my design onto tracing paper so I needle punched holes down the stems. This is my version of prick and pounce which is just a way of transferring a design onto your material. Previously I've just used a lightbox and lain my material over the design and drawn it on, but I decided to try out this method for a change. I had bought some chalk refills ages ago when I was with Claire so I thought I should try it. I put a small amount of the chalk into a film box, then dabbed a rolled up bit of wadding into it and dabbed the holes. I'd like to say I thought this all up myself, but it's all care of my mum who is the master in these matters. Anyway it worked like a dream and I just joined up the dots and got sewing.

Now I am thinking, Teen Wolf on the telly and I can sew those stems in place. I need to get a wriggle on as I have a backlog of other projects but this is the only one I can now do in front of the TV. This is going to take an age, and then I have to hand quilt round it ALL. There is no machine quilting on this quilt. It is a monster.

What I Bought

2009-08-26T21:22:00.016+01:00

What did I buy from The Festival Of Quilts this year you ask?

I did spend a lot this year, but I sort of realised I would!
I'd like to say in my defence though that nothing was a frivolous purchase, well apart from one... the biggest one. But the rest, the rest were all for some specific project.

There was so much to look at, so much to choose from. The things that were hard to look at were:

books - there just wasn't the time and they got pretty packed with people. Next time I'd go there first if that's what I really needed. Luckily my mum has every book I could ever need! She is like a quilt library.

Bolts - If you want large quantities of material it can mean queuing. I think people cater more for fat quarters and bundles really as they're easy to pick up and purchase.

Stencils - I just didn't see that many to be honest. I admit, instead of going round the whole thing I sat down with my mum at the start and marked the places I was most interested in on the floorplan then just went straight to them. I do need some stencils though for the next big project once I have cleared the decks a little.

Here's what I bought...

I love Madeira's Polyneon fluorescent thread. I just think it's very contemporary. I bought my first lot in 2006 and now some of them are nearly dead so I thought I'd invest in some big reels. I'd like every shade in the range really.

And as for the spots... well my love affair with them continues. These are all for a new project I am going to start working on, but more about that in the future.

This is going to be the backing for the crazy 60° quilt which I have put away for a while. Might be time to get on with it now I have the last thing I need for it. This material was on sale as I think it's the end of the range. I love it so much. It reminds me of 70's Hanna-Barbera cartoons for some reason. I admit, I have been a bit done in by my electric quilt, BUT then I saw this picture advertising Amy Butler's Softwares CD and realised it is just like my quilt, even using the same colours! Well hers sticks to the red pink theme, but it has my backing in it and it looks lovely surrounded by a white room. I might have to make that one as well! Her blocks don't line up though which I find slightly unsettling yet intriguing. One for the Christmas list!

Speaking of my love for Amy Butler, it was her stall I went to first. Every year she plans to come to the show with the CottonPatch so this could be a yearly homage. My mum wanted to buy me a birthday present. Last year it took me 10 minutes at Amy's stall to find a book. This year it took 5. She says she has another book for next year so I probably won't even open it, I'll just buy it. My mum's never had it so easy.

Because I am awed by fame and creative people, I had to have my book signed. Soon I'll be drawing love hearts round our names and writing soppy songs. The book is great though and so is the new colour range of material. I just need to get down and make something from it. It's not just quilts, it's everything! Saying that, these two quilts did catch my eye. You'll note how fuzzy my photos are. That's just me being too lazy to scan the pic in, but you get the gist.

That was it! Well nearly... I did really well until Rachel left me to go sit down. Within 5 minutes I had found another of my favourite stalls: Petra Prins. They always have fabric I have never seen anywhere else and it always gets me right in the squishy centre of my Little House on the Prairie heart. I'm not the only one either!

This is a kit. I don't usually buy kits. They're expensive. But I saw the quilt and then she just showed me the kit. I know I am a sucker. She even said I didn't need the kit, I could just photograph the quilt and make it myself, but that kind of reverse psychology merely fired my heart into action and I'd bought the box set before she had finished speaking. It comes in a lovely box, wrapped in ribbon and tissue paper. I suppose one of the joys of quilting is that even if you follow a pattern, the material you use can make the whole thing come out differently. Sometimes I don't want different. I want exactly what I see. I knew mine would never have the same colours as I am just not programmed to pick those colours out. So the kit is mine. I feel very indulgent.

I bought a few extra fat quarters as I always think it's good to have a little extra and I never see fabrics that would match theirs anywhere so I am now prepared. I think I will shelve this one for a rainy day though. I know it's there like a treat, all ready to get on with. But my list of things to do is so HUGE already. I might have to do another round up of all the unfinished projects I have!

Anyway that's it.
Birmingham Festival of Quilts OVER.
Until next year.

Now I am busy washing all the material in a pillow case, ironing it and trying to shove it into my stash cupboard. Time to start using the loft space soon. My stash is back to bursting level.

Incubator Quilt Finished

2009-08-26T20:57:00.007+01:00

So last week I started the ickle quilt, tonight I added the binding and finished it off. I thought I'd use it as a test for doing a continuous binding and I'm glad I did as I made a right mess of it. I made the border too thin to accommodate the lumpy end bit. I tried to pin and sew the seam under but it didn't really work as it was just too thick.

You can finish it off in a nicer way which I think I will definitely do from now on as I realise the lump is just going to annoy me. Luckily it's packed up ready to go to the premature baby ward, to be given to some lucky baby along with the umpteen others my mum has been churning out. I've done my bit though so I feel very virtuous.

Things I Saw at the Show

2009-08-24T21:03:00.007+01:00

The one thing you take away from a show, is how much you have to learn. There is something too intense about many of the quilts on show. They might not all be to your taste, but the sheer level of skill shown in them makes you realise what small fry you really are. Here are a few things that caught my eye

This was a miniature quilt that was so intricate. It was smaller than an A4 piece of paper yet so detailed.

This quilt was kingsize and was all hand sewn. It was amazing. I have a bag of scraps which will one day make part of an english quilt like this one. I think you need plenty of time for this sort of project.

This is a Petra Prins quilt that I bought the pattern for. I think it appeals to every Waltons/Little House on the Prairie instinct I have. I think the hand quilting is beautiful and I am quite excited about making the puffs! It might have to sit in the back burner for a while.

This quilt was massive and so intricate.

I think this is representative of a lot of the quilts that seem just too much. Too perfect. Too much detail. So perfect. Almost as if they aren't handmade. I can't imagine how much skill and time it takes to be this good! But I like to think of myself as more rustic, yes definitely. I like to embrace my inner makeshift-cobble-it-together nature.