Wednesday 13 March 2024

Part Two


 The next nine birds!

I can see that I need to get better at making ones that face right!  Funny that I didn't notice as I was going along, it's only now that they are grouped together that my bias becomes obvious!

Still, I'm pleased with days 10 to 18!

Wednesday 6 March 2024

The Start of Something!


 It's the time of year for #the100dayproject again!

I'm joining in!

This year I'm making a series of 100 birds on 2.5" squares, ready to make a wall hanging with them at the end.

I'm running slightly behind in showing these on here, as today is actually day 18, but here are the first nine.  I like photographing them as a square, so you'll get 11 of these and then a single final bird to make them up to 100!

The first four of these are raptors, to represent the days that my daughter was volunteering with the Raptor Foundation as I started this project!  I should really add a burrowing owl to them, to represent Basil, her favourite of all the birds that she was involved with!   If you are ever near Huntingdon, UK, with an hour or two to spare, she'd recommend that you visit - they do fabulous work educating people about raptors, alongside their main focus, which is to rescue, rehabilitate and then, where possible, release raptors.

Wednesday 28 February 2024

Last of my Christmas Scraps

Last push to get all the Christmas scraps used up, once I'd had enough of making stockings!

This is a reasonable sized 'wrap' for Christmas wrapping - about 35" square.

This side is made up of scraps, put together in blocks and then sewn together.

I backed it with something else Christmassy, which isn't really substantial enough to be used on its own.

Perfect for this project!

My final project was to complete this selvedge project.

I'd joined the Christmas selvedges together on a backing piece of wadding, and once I'd got two pieces of a reasonable size, I was able to make them into a Christmas themed zipper pouch.

Lined with the same fabric that I used to back the wrap.

I'm pleased with how it turned out, but not in a hurry to make another!  

I'm quite pleased to be done with Christmas for the moment!
 

Wednesday 21 February 2024

What Else Would I be Doing?

Surely everyone deals with their Christmas scraps in February?!?  No? Just me?

There were lots and lots of scraps from DD1's fabric bag business - and it was time to deal with them all, in her effort to be as close to zero waste as possible.

So, I drew up a stocking template on paper, and mounted it on some scrap cardboard.
Roughly cut the shape out of some scrap fleece, and then added the fabric scraps / strips using the 'quilt as you go' method to the front.
Then it was time to trim it and flip it over to admire it!
Repeat that seven times, add fabric for the back and lining, sew them together (pouch construction over the years helped me be able to do this fairly competently, I'm pleased to say!), along with a hanging loop, top stitch the edge - and this is the result.

I'm really pleased with these seven stockings, that FabWraps will be able to sell next Christmas.

On to deal with the rest of the Christmas scraps now!


 

Wednesday 14 February 2024

Overnight Necessities!

When a girl might spontaneously stay away overnight, her mother thinks that there are some necessities that she should travel with - and a toothbrush and clean knickers come top of the list, with antiperspirant not fair behind.

After discussion, DD1 also wanted to add in her own toothpaste and her preferred brand of shower gel, handily available in a travel size. 

So, I grabbed a fun kitty print, made some pleated pockets, and produced an overnight roll for her.

 With a hair elastic and a button to close it, it makes a neat roll to be dropped into a handbag, just in case 'plans change' and there is an overnight stay involved!

We are both happy with the outcome!

Wednesday 7 February 2024

Not the whole bird....

I'm taking part in the Quilters Guild 'Imagine a Bird' - and they ask that full images aren't shared ahead of a particular post that they are going to make, so here are just some snippets.

First of all, above, is the background that I've made for my piece.  A technique that I've seen other leading quilters use, layering up different neutrals, that I enjoyed creating.

Then you can see little glimpses of my work in progress - the bird that I am going to applique onto this background.

This was my first guess at a bird breast - but the colour wasn't working!


I was much happier with my second choice!
And the eye!  I thought that it was going to work, but it really didn't!

I've reversed the colours, and it's looking better than it was.

A fun project that I'm enjoying at the moment, although I'm having some adventures with threading needles, perhaps part of the reason why I haven't been doing as much hand sewing over the last couple of years.  More on that another time.
 

Wednesday 31 January 2024

Sewing and Crafting

A fun 'crafternoon' with Benta and Vicky led to me sewing these card toppers.  

I had fun assembling pieces of felt with a selection of scraps, adding stitches to hold them together, and then finishing them with simple flowers.

Have you seen flowers like this?  Mine were made with fabric circles that were about 2" diameter, then cut in half.  Then it was a simple matter of deciding how many petals to use in each flower (mostly I used six, but not always), and sewing a small running stitch across the straight edge of each petal, joining them onto the one length of thread.  Then tie a knot, fluff out the petals, and you have finished a flower!


 I'm still using up random cards from my papercrafting stash, so these were the ones that I made.  Even though they didn't photograph well, the two on the right are silver.

They didn't make much of a dent in my scraps, but were fun to make!

Wednesday 24 January 2024

Crafting not Sewing


 A little side trip into crafting this week - every now and then I make a batch of cards.  This time I had a few bits and pieces that I wanted to use up - sticker sheets that were almost finished, scraps of paper and cut outs - you know how these things accumulate when you aren't looking!

So, with some of my older - again very random - cards, I made a few cards to tide me over until I next sit down with a good idea what I want to do!

Always satisfying, and it makes life easy when you have a few handmade cards on hand!

Wednesday 17 January 2024

Bench covers re-done.

My kitchen benches (two storage ottamans) were needing an update on the quilts that we use to cover them.

This is how they look now, with their new finery quilted on.

This is the third time that I've used the main materials.  

I made two quilts originally (cream and blue hourglass pattern with the floral shown here on the back).  When the quilt got a little too worn, I covered the fronts with new quilt tops, made from the favourite blue and green batiks.

Now the batiks are, in turn, getting a bit too worn.  You can see them here.

This time, I'm covering over the floral back, and 'facing the new quilt top onto the old quilt, apart from one side which has been chopped off to match the new shape of the quilt top.


 You can see that  I had to lose about 5" - it's probably going to be better, as the amount that was tucked down the back of the bench was quite a lot before, so it should be more manageable now!

A simple nine patch with sashing was what I decided on, with plenty of meander quilting to keep everything together.

It's the last time that I'll give these particular quilts a 'do over' though, as the extra layers of fabric on them have made them surprisingly heavy to help through the machine when I'm quilting them!  All new wadding and backing next time.

Still, as the old ones have managed a creditable 18 years, I don't think that they owe me anything!

Wednesday 10 January 2024

What a lucky thing I am!


 So, I little belated, and a little incomplete, but still much appreciated!

My Christmas munificence included a lovely stack of fat quarters, expertly chosen by DH, a small project holder, and these wonderful puffin buttons, both made by the lovely Benta!

Not shown is the Christmas 'ginger' that she also gifted me - but it's packed away with the Christmas decorations now.

Thank you!  I love my Christmas presents!

Wednesday 3 January 2024

Taking a Line for a Walk

I recently took an online workshop with Bethane Nemesh - inspirational!  She had a lovely manner, and a very clear way of demonstrating her ideas both on a whiteboard and with stitch.  Amazing!  Makes me think that I should spend more time planning quilting and practicing it!

This was what I produced shortly afterwards, demonstrating different freehand feathers and fills - fairly quick to quilt, with all sorts of possibilities rolling around my mind as a result of it.

This was just a demo piece for myself on plain fabric, so I could see what I was doing.

Of course, it seemed a waste to leave it like that, so I turned it into a zippy pouch.

This is one side.


This is the other.
And here you can see the zip and the lining (which I added after the quilting was complete.

A nice result from a fun workshop.  I recommend!
 

Wednesday 27 December 2023

Cute Pouch!


 A couple of weeks ago I took part in a sew along (once again with the Miniatures Group with the UK Quilters Guild - they do great work keeping us busy!).

It was to make this cute drawstring pouch, using various scraps.

It's a useful external pocket - useful size to take a phone and a chocolate bar (ideal for a winter walk?) or sunglasses and suncream in the summer!

Mine has been gifted to my osteopath (so I can show it here now!), who is always keen on extra pockets, so when I made this I was thinking of her.

Happy New Year, everyone, and happy sewing in 2024!

Wednesday 20 December 2023

A Christmassy Make

I wanted to make a table runner, and had these four Christmas fabrics to hand.

I followed this pattern, which was really easy.

https://www.centerstreetquilts.com/christmas-tree-table-runner-tutorial/

You start with 2.5" strips (always popular!), cutting them in two types of ways, depending on whether you are making a full tree or two half trees.
Then it's an easy sew to make them into blocks, then add the blocks to each other in order to make the runner.
I really wish that I'd waited for some dark green saturated fabric for the other trees, or a different fabric for the border, as when it was laid out I realised that the 'white' trees bleed into the border, and just look like background.

Lessons! Lessons everyday!

I quilted the tree shapes with red thread, to try and give them a bit more punch, but I think that I need to add even more quilting to them (or some inktense pencil work!) in order to make a real difference!

Never mind, as it's only really going to be used under our Christmas themed ornaments for two weeks or so every year, I'm not going to stress about it too much!

Happy Christmas everyone!  Hope that you enjoy the festive season, however you spend it.
 

Wednesday 13 December 2023

Look What I got!


 Look what I got!  This is the cheery Christmas postcard that I got from Anne in Argyll (thank you Anne!) through the Miniatures group, part of the UK Quilters Guild.

I enjoyed the swap.  Fun to do after so long of not making fabric postcards!

Wednesday 6 December 2023

Welcome, December!

I thought that it would be nice to welcome December in with a photo of my fabric post card, all ready to write when I hear who the recipient will be.

The Miniatures Group - part of the UK Quilters Guild - is hosting a swap this year, and this is my contribution to it.

I wove a background from 3/4" fabric strips, then applied a simple Christmas pudding to it.

On the back you can see the outline of the quilting, and the pen divide that I've drawn between where my message will go and where the address will go.

It's ages since I've made a fabric postcard, so it was fun to make this one!
 

Wednesday 29 November 2023

Ta-Dah! Bobbin Roll Complete!

Final three blocks: Books, Glass, and Coral.

That's it!  Thirty-five blocks complete!

It was quite a quick process to line them up in order and satin stitch the blocks together.  It's makes a wonderfully colourful 'scroll'.  Fun and bright, just like I wanted.
This is how the top of it looks, with the blue fabric around the wooden bobbin that was the start point for the project.

 And this is what it looks like from the back.  Almost all the blocks are backing with my husbands old work shirts (thank goodness for retirement!), each labelled with the number and subject, so I couldn't get muddled.

The whole scroll is now rolled up around the bobbin, and has been sent off to Switzerland. 

Big thanks to 'Swiss Suz', PatCHquilt, and all involved in making this almost year long project a fun one to participate in.

The bobbins will be on display at various places around Europe over the next couple of years, even, I believe, at the Festival of Quilts in 2024! 

Another project complete, time to move on to something else!

Wednesday 22 November 2023

Christmas Bag Making Time

 

As I get further into my Christmas wrapping, I have realised that it's time to replenish my store of fabric Christmas bags.

Of course, I could just buy some from FabWraps - my daughter's business (and I'd encourage you to do that, of course!), but they are also very simple to make.

We like the design with a tie sewn into the seam, so it can't be lost.  They make wrapping very easy, whatever shape or size present you have bought.  Love using 100% cotton so that they are completely biodegradeable at the end of their life, but that they can be used so many times before that!

If you are in the Twickenham UK area, then you can come down and see Georgie's bags in person, as she has a stall at Orleans House Christmas Shopping event on the 3rd December.  

I'm glad that I've got my supplies topped up, ready for the wrapping that I still need to do!


Wednesday 15 November 2023

More Bobbin blocks

The next four blocks!

Photo, pearl, travel and bronze.

My thoughts?  That I'd like to include a family picture - this one is from our summer holiday.  I didn't have any fabric to print on to hand, so I printed it on paper, then used PVA glue to paste it to backing fabric.  Once it was dry I sewed it onto the pink block.

Pearl uses pearly buttons - I was thinking a bit like a traditional pearly king or queen, although I suspect that they have shank buttons that look more like pearls.

Travel uses a fragment of fabric that has various landmarks from around the world on it.  I used it to make a set of bags, pouches and accessories for my younger daughter when she was setting off on her first 'proper' holiday with her friends earlier this year.  

Bronze, I liked the idea of a sun bather, someone bronzing their body, but also tried to get a vibe of those art deco bronzes of young ladies that were so popular in their day.

On to the last three blocks now!
 

Wednesday 8 November 2023

The Jury is Out!

So, I saw a fabric bowl on Instagram, with an advert for a template for it.

I thought about it, decided that it couldn't be too hard, might make fun Christmas presents, and bought it.

I waited for a couple of weeks, and then the template and some rudimentary (and slightly confusing!) instructions arrived.

I gave it my best shot!

Shown here at the final stage of zig zagging the top edge to give it it's final shape and structure.  Binding clips going everywhere as I tried to manipulate the fabric ends to how I wanted them!

Here is the finished bowl.

I'm not sure that I really enjoyed all the process.

The way I did it was to sandwich two fabrics with Heat N Bond (you do that twice over, to make two 'star's that you then interlock and weave together).  I didn't use the suggestion of adding wadding, as then I'd have to zig zag both shapes completely, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to do that - but I can see that it would give a lovely structure to it.

It makes quite an attractive shape.  Mine has 'crown' points.  I think that the demonstration one has a straight edge.  It would be easier to stitch, but harder to wrangle the points into the right place, I think!
For those of you interested, this is the template that I used.  I cut squares of fabric and interlining at 8.5".

So, I think that it's a reasonable outcome, but the jury is out as to whether or not I make any more.  If you get one for your Christmas present you'll know that I decided to step up and make more!