Printing Week

I have been away this week printing in a letterpress studio deep in the countryside. Here is are two things I made. The word art was made out of the biggest wooden type they had, it was huge. They said it once spelt out 'Liberal Party' but all that is left is R, A, T.

Rat
Art
Tart
Tara

Art it was in the end. This was the test piece but it's sort of my favourite because it is so dogeared and wonky.

Why I have been so Quiet

I made a pact with myself. I would start no other project whilst I was doing a baby quilt. I would not get side tracked. I feel like I have been let out of prison! I thought I would share The Slow Task of Stacy's Baby Quilt with you, you lucky people.

Weekend 1 / Step 1: Find a pattern
I took my mum to a quilt show that was like the opening five minutes of a jumble sale all day long. I felt very weak and insipid next to ladies with such drive and frantic passions, but I managed to squeeze into the Sunflower Fabrics stand and see this mini quilt made my Maggie Wise which she kindly let me photograph as I loved the material so much. I know it's flowery. I don't know what comes over me. I just get all girly and flouncy about these things. The pattern this is based on is called 'Little Stars' and you can get it from here

Step 2: Then I set about buying the material
Again all from Maggie's stall, but you can also get it from her website.

Step 3: I went home and washed it all, dryed it all, ironed it all and starched it all. Then put it away and didn't think about it for a few weeks.

Weekend 2 / Step 4: Measure and Cut
I got the huge cutting matt out and cut all the bits out with a rotary cutter. I was knackered after that and put the whole thing away for a long time. You see how long these things take me. I am very weak.

Weekend 3 / Step 5: The Sowing Machine
My favourite bit has to be the actual pinning and sowing of the top part. I can't say I did it very well. Making star points line up is hard. Mine are qute wonky but I got better as I went along.

Step 6: Working it Out
Because my pattern was adaptd there were some tense math moments where decisions were made, retracted, reinstated then abandoned. After finally deciding how it should be arranged. I pinned, sowed it all together and left it in the cupboard for weeks.

Weekend 4 / Step 7: Making the Sandwich
I taped the backing down tight on a flat surface. I taped the batting/wadding on top nice and tight, then I taped the top over it all and tacked the thing together. I hate that bit, it's boring. Back in the cupbaord it went.

Weekend 5 / Step 8: Quilting
Then I sowed down all the ditches to stabalise the quilt then I movd on to my second favourite part, the laborious hand quilting bit. I drew a design on the computer, based on one I had seen but which was too big. I made a stencil, then pen pricked it down the borders. Then I squished it in a frame, stuck a needle in it then proceeded to half watch every episode of CSI going whilst hand quilting my borders. This took a long time. I am now a CSI expert. Apart from all the bits where I look up and realised I missed the most integral part of the plot.

Weekend 6 / Step 9: The borders
I managed to tack all the borders over breakfast with my mum and sow all the borders on a very quiet sunday train journey from Cambridge to London whilst it pelted with rain outside. It was very theraputic, although I felt a bit of an old granma sowing a quilt in public. Luckily I had the train almost to myself.

Step 9: Untack it and tie it
I picked out all the tacking last night and cut off all the loose ends, one of which was quite integral which I shall now have to go and fix, but in essence it is done. I started when she was 3 months pregnant, I finish when she has 4 weeks to go. You see how slow I am. One baby quilt: done.

I Made Badges

I made badges. In a real proper badge machine. It was ace. I MUST have one. I MUST. I will spend all my day making badges which serve no purpose whatsoever. I have already lost one which said 'cake' on it. This is very sad. The 'Sister' one is ace. It's taken from the Argos Catalogue jewelry page. Steve and Caroline made this one but I made them give it to me as I loved it so much. I am going to get myself an Argos Catalogue, a badge machine and lock myself in a dark room only to emerge bedecked in badges. Alternatively I might deck out my sock monkeys in them. Yes. This is a plan.

Tea Cosy Part Deux

It's a cosy factory! Yes, this time I got my act together and knitted another cosy in a day. all I can say is that it's much easier once you know how to go backwards.

Tea Cosy Bun

There was pain, there was tears, there was swearing like a sailer. It took three people to unpick it: Rachel, Mum & Janis. Constant supervision, words of encouragement, soft words in those dark hours of knitting dispair when I thought I couldn't go on. But now at the end of this journey we are all a little stronger and wiser and can fully enjoy tea from a pot which looks like a giant bun. Because I was so shockingly bad at it, I am determined to dive right into another attempt which I will complete without aid. If ever there was a challenge, I feel this is it. May the force be with me.

Knitting part trois

I bought my first pair of knitting needles. This is a historic event. Then I began the epic tea cosy adventure. Rachel started me off with her crazy casting on using her thumb trick, my mother kept me going. I left home, got bak on the train and two rows later it all went wrong and I now I will have to wait two weeks until I go home again and someone can fix the mess I have made. Who would have thought Tea Cosy construction could be so tricky.

In the meantime it's back to crochet.

I taught Rachel what little I know of crochet at the weekend which took all of 5 minutes and the next day she showed me this.



I can't do that! How did this happen! She is a monster I tell you!

Feline Felt

Two cats. One using tailor' thick collar felt and a spotty back, one using Toby's felted jumper.

Jumper

Toby came round with a bag and handed it to me.

'I washed my brand new jumper and it came out five times smaller. I thought you might be able to make me something out of it'.

It's stripey, thick and felted perfectly. I spent a while on the bus thinking of what I could make and decided that in honour of the days when we lived together with Mo; his cat, I would make him a cat. I am making two that are slightly different to see which one is better.

Crochet

On a dark friday night in Sawf Lundan, Samara taught me the beginnings of crochet and the bear was born. I made him a scarf as his neck was so thin his head kept lolling. Behold! It is protobear, my first attempt.

Protobear likes smoking French cigarettes in dark bars on week nights whilst listening to Russian techno. He's a cosmopolitan kind of bear see. He's been writing an epic poem about bear tragedy for many years now but is too much of a critic to ever complete it. His paws are always cold and so he always wears his scarf.

Today I went out and bought hooks and wool to make him a friend. Bear two cometh.

Crocodile Planning

At Christmas Rachel showed this book she bought. We decided to make the crocodile. We decided we need to dye some towelling. Months later we are finally ready and so next weekend we shall make our creatures in her new studio. In preparation, I experimented by making (an completely botching) a mini crocodile.





Now I feel I am ready for the real deal and I have all my material ready and primed for action.

Pin Cushions

I went a bit overboard, but they're so easy to make and I can never decide whether yo make them using bright colours or muted greens and browns so I made some of each. My favourite is the one above. I used my all time favourite button which you can't quite see the colour of, but it's a tiny robin egg blue button. Why didn't I buy more of them? I have no idea. Life is a mystery.

Something Green

I am making something green with sharp teeth. All the greens need to be limey and the same so I dyed some material in the washing machine with mixed results. I am now ready to create my green sharp-toothed monster.

Knitting part deux

So I started off practising with 10 stitches. I dropped about 3, then gained 3. Rachel had to unpick it and fix it along the way as I can't gp backwards, but eventually I made this: my new neck scarf. I am very pleased with myself and have bought a new ball to wool to celebrate.

Pins and Their Cushions

Time to make some more of these I thought. The last ones I made were given away very quickly so I thought I'd do a few more as they're so easy.

New Pin Cushion

Sometimes simple is good.

Baby Quilt

This is an old quilt I made for my best friend's baby and is the hardest, longest project I ever did. There was a lot of work involved in that and I didn't really know what I was doing. I think I watched a whole season of 24 whilst stitching this. It's a traditional Durham baby quilt and I just thought I'd put it up for posterity.

Rock Sock Monster

The only item I bought in the January sales was this pair of black stripey glitter socks for £2 in Oasis. Behold, here is Queequeg. He likes soft rock, tattoos and studded belts. His badge reads: "I'm Lazy" which is probably quite true. Queequeg spends a large portion of his time time sleeping. When he is not asleep, he is awake until he is asleep again. He eats until he is not hungry, then waits until he is hungry again. When not being lazy, Queequeg spends the little time he has left thinking about Boethius and ACDC. This probably accounts for constant snoozing. I am considering making him a sweatband with a streak of lightening on it. Decisions decisions… I best be quick though as this monster is winging its way to the big U S of A on monday. He's going on tour.

To the Dogs

I had a problem with moths a while a go. Luckily I'm far too cheap to go natural fibre, but poor Simon's jumpers took the fall instead - 100% cashmere ones. Even the all time favourite cardigan was shot down in its prime. His love for it was so great that he couldn't bear to throw it away so I found it hidden at the back of the cupboard the other day and decided to immortalise it by making it into a dog. I couldn't decide how big to do it to I made two. They a beautifully soft. but I didn't quite manage to avoid all the moth holes hence the stripey patch on the paw. I don't mind much. I reckon a dogs life is a down and dirty experience so I quite like their rugged edge.