I’ve said it before, but that really is a great name for a great shop.
My favourite and most visited shop for all my sewing notions.
It was back in the summer when I saw this lovely linen in the window at Aberdashery, the new cushion covers that I’ve been thinking about for a while came instantly to mind. The design, the colours and the texture fitted my vision so well and when I saw the plain bottle green linen the finished cushions were perfectly formed in my imagination. It’s just terrific when that happens. BUT
At the time I had a project underway; a project that had been interrupted a number of times and that I was determined to get finished by Christmas. But more about that in another post.
My idea for the cushions was patchwork in a
Piet Mondrian style
using the plain green to frame the patterned fabric.
I’ve used this idea before for these mono cushions in the sewing room. Clearly I do rather like them, the design is very adaptable and I think really effective.
So having planned to make four different cushion tops, made rough sketches of the proportions of the blocks and decided that they would be framed by half inch borders it was time to start measuring and cutting. I planned for quarter inch seams throughout and the cushion tops came together really quickly.
I wanted the cushion tops to have a little more stability than the linen alone so each one was attached to a lightweight wadding and I stitched around the inner edges of the blocks to give definition.
Four finished tops
Time to make the backs.
I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for buttons and have a huge collection but I also like to use self covered buttons. My go-to style for cushions has become an envelope back with buttons to close. Like this:
It was useful to have made them like this before, I was able to use the measurements for the two halves and for the deep hems and for the placement of the buttons.
Then there are buttonholes of course
My next decision was just an impulse. It was that two of the cushion backs would be made completely with the patterned fabric but the other two would be made with half patterned and half with the plain green linen.
Did I mention that I also have a lot of thread! Again I inherited my Mum’s sewing notions and my MiL’s too; then there have been a couple of random mixed bags from Abakahn when I’ve visited their amazing store in Mostyn on the North Wales coast. This is my blue/green collection where I found a perfect match. Obviously!
Have you tried self covered buttons? Great for all sorts of projects and so very easy.
Self covered buttons
The uncovered button bases are easily available in a large range of sizes from haberdashers and they have full instructions on the packs and no special tools are needed. I have to say I find the larger sizes less fiddley and they are more suited to my projects.
The fabric
The fabric has to be pushed into the centre of the button so that it catches on to the little teeth, you just keep pushing around the circumference until the fabric fits snuggly – sorry I forgot to take photo of this stage but it’s really self-explanatory. Similar plastic bases are also available. I have to say I think the matching buttons are rather classy.
I’m really pleased with the cushions, they were intended for the Spring when I started but I think I’ll leave them just where they are.
And now I think I’ll take a step backwards and write about the much interrupted ’Growing Together ‘ quilt project.
Cushions are such an effective and easy way to update a room or to give it a seasonal vibe. If you would like any support to get started on making new covers for your cushions drop me a message.
The last few days have been bitterly cold with a fierce icy east wind, the ground has been frozen solid and although I had gardening plans they’ve been on hold.
So we followed the necessary parts of our lockdown routines and then the rest of the day loomed ahead.
Thank goodness for sewing is all! An ideal time to get up to date with writing the blog and to finish the Tumbling Blocks quilt.
Just yesterday I finished writing up the story of ‘Football Fan’ and in it I wrote that Nova had asked for two quilts for her girls. So this is the story of the second quilt ‘Tumbling Blocks’ so far.
Once again I was given the freedom to choose the design with purple and green being the colour choices for this one. I knew that there would be plenty of choice and after showing Nova an inspiration piece I had an idea of the tones and began the search. I was collating the fabrics for both quilts because it was inevitable that another lockdown was coming.
Here is the eventual fabric pull. I was rather surprised to find nothing suitable in my stash but then really pleased to find all but one of these fabrics in Aberdashery the wonderful shop right here in town. Something vital was missing though and when I found the green with white leaves online I knew that was it. It balances the other greens and lifts the whole pull. It’s sometimes a bit of a risk buying on line but I have to say that now I have a range of reliable quality suppliers I buy from I never worry about it.
Aberdashery, Market Street, Aberystwyth
I’ve wanted to try the ‘Tumbling blocks’ pattern for a while, I love that ‘box’ illusion. I looked around for a pattern and found one in a back copy of ‘Love Patchwork and Quilting’ magazine.
Their patterns clear and comprehensive. Even so ‘Tumbling Blocks’ did need concentration when it came to the piecing and there were some moments!
I did eventually get the hang of the sequencing and the blocks were put together in rows and the the rows joined. The back was to be plain purple so I put together a row of blocks to add interest to the back.
Time to make the sandwich.
The ‘sandwich’ is when you layer the quilt top, the wadding and the backing together. All three layers need to be lined up and perfectly smooth and flat. Sounds simple really – not always. This one was quite well behaved. Having layered them I began pinning from the middle, moving outward an smoothing the quilt as I went.
Now it’s time to quilt. I’d been planning this all the way through and had decided on free motion quilting with a sort of daisy chain . The daisy chain would begin in one corner and move down the quilt, branching as it went. Free motion is when the machine’s grip of the fabric is turned off and the operator moves the fabric to ‘draw’ with the needle and thread.
What hadn’t decided though was about that thread. I had a multicoloured, mainly green and purple thread that could work well but I just couldn’t make up my mind so eventually I did an Instagram poll and went with the result, a very decisive ‘YES’ for the variegated thread. Get me using an Instagram poll!
This was clearly going to be far more visible on the back of the quilt which was good, it would leave the blocks speak for themselves on the top and give interest on the back.
There was only the binding left to do now having measured, cut, pressed it in half along it’s length I sewed it to the front by machine then as always hand finished the back.
Just before Christmas a friend asked me to make a little drawstring pouch big enough to hold her car and house keys. Of course I said yes but not until the quilts were done. So as hand sewing tends to happen in front of the TV in the evening there was time on a rainy day for a little pouch.
So ‘Tumbling Blocks’ is off to it’s new forever home to continue it’s story and I’m taking a break from sewing to re-decorate the sewing room. Now there’s an undertaking.
When Nova asked me to make two quilts for her daughters I was more than happy to take on a winter project, but I have to admit that when reality bit I realised that planning and making two quilts at the same time was a big undertaking.
A big job in normal circumstances but at the time it was evident that another COVID lockdown was looming and I really ought to sort out my fabric choices pretty quickly. Once that was done I could relax get on with the task in hand.
The brief gave me lots of leeway, the designs would be up to me but I was given specific colours to work with. One quilt was to be purple and green (simple request, lots of fabrics to choose from).
Butthis is a little different, and a first for me, a football shirt in a quilting blog! Mmm!
The other quit was to be for Nova’s football fan daughter in her team colours .
I thought this might be a little more challenging and started with a little bit of research. I posted the colours on Instagram and it seems it could be one of two well known teams. Who knew .
I turned to Moda Bella solids to use for background colours to start with and was very happy when these two perfect matches appeared in the fabric list. These were my starting point for my fabric pull.
I do love a fabric pull.
It’s so exciting, all those lovely fabrics to choose from. It all quite makes my mouth water.
It is also intensely nerve racking! Are the tones right; the values; is there enough contrast; is there something that just makes all the colours pop? And that’s just the colour. Do the fabric designs suit the project; the intended recipient; do those designs work together? That can be made easier by choosing from a designer range but I also like to shop local so although that option is fairly simple when shopping online, small local retailers can’t begin to stock whole designer lines so its up to the maker to get creative with choices.
I always begin with my stash, let’s face it, it’s fairly extensive so there is usually something to start with . And it j ustifies my self awarded status as ‘fabric curator’.
I found two suitable fabrics in my stash, the really pretty and perfect match bue and burgundy floral print and the cream with a burgundy flower that would be a good low volume addition. I didnt have much of either of these but a design was beginning to form in my mind and I would be able to incorporate both. The rest of the fabrics were sourced locally.
Making the blocks
My design plan changed a couple of times from ny early first musings. Then the Bento Box block came to mind one, it was one I’d used before and I decided to base these blocks on that design.
Here’s one I made before.
bento box block
The block begins with a square then it’s pieced around with strips, every block is made up differently and quaerterd then the quarters get mixed up. Easy.
I made up the large 12inch blocks in the same way in different colourways and then quartered them but rather than mixing the different quarters up and piecing them together this time I pieced them into the blue background ‘off kilter’ then pieced the quarters back together.
The blocks came together quickly. Nice …..
The reverse shows the sashing strips which were trimmed randomly after piecing.
…. and then of course the quilt top was done. I love seeing a quilt top here, hanging over the banister with the light behind and looking like stain glass windows. Or is that just me!
Do you think it looks like stained glass windows?
There were two tricky points in making the quilt. One was when I realised I didn’t have enough of the 30’s blue I’d chosen for the back. A quick mooch about online soon made me realise that it must have been a lockdown favourite. It was a relief when I found some but having ordered it a phone call from the supplier meant a quick re-measure and a re -think and a plan B was needed.
Plan B was to use remaining fabrics to add some blocks to the backing. It slowed things down considerably but I liked the result.
The second tricky moment turned out to be slightly more serious. I put together the quilt sandwich. Quilt top, backing and batting in between and began the planned quilting which was to be ‘stitching the ditch’ (sewing along the joins in the piecing to join the layers together) part way through this my machine suddenly began sewing tiny stitches and then just refused to sew at all. I systematically went through all the things that I knew that could go wrong but eventually had to admit there was a real problem. Fortunately, in spite of lockdown, our local servicing workshop in town was open. Unfortunately it was beyond her knowledge too.
So a phone call, a description of the problem , packing up my machine and organising a DPD pick-up and my machine was off on a trip to Swansea and my old machine was brought out of retirement to finish the job.
So here is the finished ‘Football Fan’ and I’m pleased to say it’s gone off safely to it’s forever home. It was a fun quilt that I really did enjoy working on it.
And my lovely Pfaff? Still in pieces on a workbench in Swansea I’m afraid. It’s turned out to be quite an unexpected and complex problem and requiring a replacement part and …… it’s lockdown!
What a year that was, surely one that we are all glad to leave behind. We will all share a collective memory of the year but have many mixed memories of our own and our families. As a family we were lucky and apart from missing being together we are all safe and well.
Our youngest granddaughter, Florence. turned one year old during the year and there was a shuffle of bedrooms at their house and her big sister, Olivia, moved into a bigger bedroom and became the proud owner of a new, bigger, bed.
A New ‘Big Bed’ Quilt
So it was time for a new quilt. Like most 4 year old girls at the moment, pink, as is the trend, must be the colour, with a little bit of glitter and bling of course. She has always loved animals so when I came across Art Gallery Fabrics ‘Selva’ I knew it was the right choice. I love working with AGF fabrics, they are such great quality and they make up like a dream.
I had also bought a panel, ‘Junglemania’ by Mia Charro for Blend Fabrics some time before and the animals in their floral crowns were just perfect for what I had in mind.
The creatures in the panel are not all jungle dwellers right? I think they were chosen for their charming ability to carry off wearing their floral crowns. Very 2020! It’s sure to be a talking point for Olivia, she’s very keen to be precise about facts.
I’m rather fond of the cheetah myself, Olivia loves the giraffe. What about you?
My ‘Meadowland’ quilt was nearing completion and I really enjoyed making the blocks and thought it wouldn’t be difficult to change the measurements slightly to accommodate the individual creatures. I took a break from ‘Meadowland’ and worked out the measurements to include a rectangular centre block rather than square.
I liked how the block worked out so as soon as I was able – and in between my lockdown gardening and daily exercise – I began work on the quilt that became known as ‘Pink Jungle’.
The garden was a huge part of my lockdown life and I have to admit that I became pretty much obsessed with it and I was outside as much as was possible . Apart from our daily exercise, in the main exploring the local lanes by bike in the eerie quiet of lockdown , gardening took up the majority of my time.
Since this was early Spring though, there were times when the weather made being indoors the more attractive proposition. During these times progress was speedy, the blocks came together quickly and I was soon laying them out
Gardening socks!Indoor slippers!
There’s a weather clue in the photos! The red socks are gardening socks, suggesting ‘rain stopped play’ outside. The indoor slippers suggest that the only gardening that day was watering the trays of seedlings on all the window sills, there’s also a lack of daylight in the colour in the second one bears that out too!
The animals in the ‘Selva’ – Jungle in Spanish (something else to interest Olivia) – are delightful, the sloth is so cute.
The finished top was very bright and I had to remind myself that was what I was aiming for. I decided to be more reserved for the backing so I chose plain pink with just a single row of animals.
Eleventh hour
All was complete but for the binding when, as often happens, I found myself with a new project, or two even! So it wasn’t surprising that I found myself finishing off the binding on Christmas Eve. But it was done and wrapped and waiting for Olivia with her new Scooter on Christmas morning.
We were lucky to have our Aberystwyth family with us for Christmas day but sadly our planned whole family gathering wasn’t to be. Changes to Welsh lockdown rules, and our daughter having to self isolate meant that our Bristol family couldn’t travel to be with us.
Because we’re back in full lockdown I have yet to see Olivia’s quilt in situ but she loves it and I’ve seen pictures her, and Florence too, enjoying it. The next new family quilt will be for Heidi when they move house in the Spring.
I was still working on Florence’s cot quilt, ‘Woodland Creatures’ when a Meadowland block caught my eye on Instagram. One comment led to another and I had something new to think about.
“Couldn’t possibly start another project now!” “Ah, but I’ve never done a quilt along.” ” Oh for goodness sake, finish one project before starting another!” “But quilt alongs are paced and focussed.” “I’ll just have a quick look.”
You get the picture. I talked myself into it. I really wasn’t difficult to persuade and actually I was right. It was very easy for this to sit alongside the ongoing project. And of course I didn’t know then that lockdown was on its way!
After the initial prevarication I headed off to check out Then Came June and the Meadowland Quilt and I so liked the look of what I saw. A block that was very pleasing to the eye, some new and exciting skills to learn from Meghan Buchanan and a great community support network through Instagram. It wasn’t long before I was downloading the pattern and checking out it’s easy to follow instructions and some new tips and ideas to enhance my quilting experience.
Next steps
I had an idea of my colour palette. Having just painted our bedroom in Farrow and Ball Stiffkey Blue, inky blue was my new favourite colour and I wanted a minty green with it.
I found the absolutely perfect inspiration fabric right here in my local fabric shop in town. Aberdashery here in Aberystwyth (isn’t that just the best name) . It is Elephant Garden by Print Fresh for Clothworks and I love it. The colours are fabulous and the little metallic note just tops it off.
For the fabric pull I looked first at the navy and minty green and then the minor notes. I don’t always use the inspiration fabric in the pull but I loved Amy Voloshin’s elephants so much I had to in this case.
The fabric pull is so exciting but nerve racking too. I ended up with a mix of a couple more from the range (bought online) more from Aberdashery and the rest from my stash. Great sense of satisfaction and self congratulation when the stash justifies it’s existence!
The whole Quilt Along experience was great; it was motivating and supportive – from the weekly emails to the supportive comments for our weekly Insta posts – it was great fun. The pattern and instructions made it possible to skip ahead but I decided to stick with the schedule (makes a change) and it gave me space to continue to work on my WIP.
Quarter inch feet
Number 1
Number 2
Chain piecing
Tools of the trade
Quarter inchpresser feet! Absolutely invaluable. Without these my seams would be all over the place and if there is one must for piecing it is that seams have to be a quarter of an inch wide. Have to be!
The first foot gives that perfect edge to edge seam and the second allows you to sew exactly a quarter of an inch either side of a line,
Chain piecing is a simple organisational tool for putting pieces together one after another in a continuous line without breaking the thread until all the similar pieces are together then separating them at the end. Speeds things up tremendously.
I think the best learning of the Quilt Along was Meghan’s method of creating no waste Half Square Triangles. It’s really simple and really does save fabric. But it’s not for me to pass the method on but I have used this HST method succesfully since.
The blocks came together quickly and 5 blocks a week were very manageable.
I was pleased with the tips for piecing directional fabrics.
There have been trying times on that front!
Elephants!!
All the elephants standing proud and marching to meet each other. None of them standing on their heads or lying down! Hooray!
reverse of block
Love it when I get the reverse as tidy as this one! Clean and flat and no twists! Just showing off!
The next part of the process is another tricky one. Arranging the blocks. Oh, the combinations are endless. should they be random: should they follow a repetitive pattern; should they be colour blocked? This time I decided on a graduated blocked layout. Then of course there is endless shuffling, I take photographs of each layout I try and then spend a while looking at them to make my final decision!
Blocks become rows
I always hang my rows in front of the long window on the landing. Don’t you think they look like stain glass with the light shining through?
We have a Quilt top
The rows are together and as long as the previous stages have gone well everything should line up and suddenly there is the overall design. The art, or is it the maths, of cutting up fabric and sewing it back together !
I enjoy working out my own patterns but when you work to someone else’s pattern there is always something new to learn and the best way to consolidate that learning is to put it into practice again. While I was working on this a little adaptation of the block was forming in my head for Olivia’s ‘Pink Jungle’ quilt for her new big bed. Before moving on to the next stage I had to just try it out. Here we go again!
Olivia’s new quilt inspiration was a printed panel of jungle creatures. The plan was that each creature would be at the centre of each block. Measurements needed adjusting to the size of the centrepiece.
Batting and Backing
Batting (wadding) is a natural bamboo and the backing is a single piece of extra wide backing cotton which I was able to buy from Calico Kate in Lampeter. This is a bit of a departure for me as I usually create a back. It was nice not to have to think about lining up front and back and making the ‘sandwich’ was much quicker.
For the uninitiated the ‘sandwich’ is the quilt top, the backing fabric and the filling! The layers have to be perfectly flat and perfectly joined. They are pinned together using special pins ready to begin the quilting. I use my landing for this bit, there is plenty of space and the light is good.
Quilting
I do my own quilting . It is very amateur but wanting to do this got me into patchwork in the first place. I love absolutely total free motion quilting but the options are endless. I had decide on a mixture of ‘stitching the ditch’ – sewing into the join between pieces – and some medallions on the plain squares created in the blocks. I was using white thread, I could have been kinder to myself sewing on to a navy background but I didn’t want a dark thread on the top.
My quilting varies at the best of times but I do find that keeping on quilting is the the way to good results – and I hadn’t been doing a lot. I was rusty and my quilting was jerky. So it’s not perfect but it’s homemade and it’s all my own work.
Home
So when it’s resting I think the quilt will live here in our bedroom because I like how it looks when I glance into the bedroom. it looks good folded in different colour aspects here and it will be handy to grab for using around the house.
I’m really happy I decided to join in the Quilt Along. Would I do it again? Oh yes!
Florence is growing quickly and suddenly she’s ready to move into her own room so I wanted to make her a quilt of her own for her cot.
I’ve had the Moda ‘Thicket’ panel for some time and it seemed just right for her quilt. After a little bit of research around quilt patterns and blocks to complement the individual creatures I settled on a wonky log cabin block with primary colour and of course black and white logs. A quick look at my scraps made me rethink the primary colours to bright colours.
I was glad I had recently sorted my scraps into colour boxes, it made the selection for the blocks so much easier!
A word about black and white. Bold black-and-white images are great for young babies because they stimulate the development of the optic nerves, teaching the eye muscles and brain to coordinate and function properly. I’ve noticed that they are also naturally drawn to them in the early months in particular.
Rabbit was first up.
I really liked the block.
Once the first block was complete just a little bit of planning was needed to make sure the animals were all going to be central and it was off we go. Later I wished I’d spent a little more time planning the orientation of the black and white and the colours but in the quilting world I’m a relative novice and it’s still a developing skill. Next time!
I like to hang my blocks on the ‘washing line’ as I go. It helps me spot potential problems in improv blocks and generally refine my colour combinations if necessary.
I could see a little problem developing here. My final log (on the left of each block) was having to compensate for my over cutting the other logs. It would be easy to put right and get a more balanced block.
Coming together.
The blocks were quick to put together once the fabrics were ready.
Then it was just about finding the best layout. It can take time! This was when I wished I’d thought more about the orientation of the black and white and colour. Note to self. It’s all in the planning!
Next up the backing for the quilt.
Here’s the layout.
Lovely Aberdashery (isn’t that the best name for a haberdasher’s shop in Aberystwyth) had just the right wadding, an eco-blend suitable for a baby quilt.
The front the wadding and the backing were pinned together to make the quilt sandwich and so it was on to the long job of actually quilting. ‘Free motion’ quilting was always a skill I wanted to grasp and I love the challenge, but it is a challenge and needs patience, concentration, a steady hand and nerve! One of the earliest free motion patterns I learned was stippling and early attempts were dreadful. I’m pleased that its now one of the patterns I frequently turn to.
I stippled around each of the woodland creatures and then stitched around each animal for definition and ‘stitched the ditch’ (sewed exactly into the seams) between each animal and the ‘logs’ and the each block with a cross stitch continuing with the black theme.
You can see this best on the back of the quilt.
The final step is the binding and for this quilt it had to be a black and white binding attached to the front by machine then hand finished at the back. I really enjoy hand finishing a quilt, its a final contact with the finished article and needs to be done at leisure, usually in front of the TV and definitely with thimbles. There’s nothing attractive about red spots on a quilt and stabbing fingers with needles is not recommended.
As halloween 2019 approached I recalled having seen some really funky pumpkins when I was browsing on Pinterest. I have quite a bit of orange fabric in my stash so I thought I’d take a closer look. I found a template on the Positively Splendid website. This is a great place for freebie patterns and, I discovered on this visit, you can sign up for email updates.
Once I had the initial segment shape I found it east to scale the size to make the bigger pumpkins I wanted to make.
Lots of lovely juicy oranges
The pumpkins were a really easy little project and could be made up in next to no time. Once the fabrics were selected and cut out they were sewn into two half-pumpkins, the two halves became a whole and were ready for stuffing!
I had a simple system for choosing the fabric for each pumpkin:
2 solid/fairly solid segments
2 dense patterned segments
2 loose patterned segments
Segments were sewn together in 3s to make 2 halves of the pumpkin
Right now the completed pumpkin looks for all the world like a deflated beachball!
Nearly there
Probably the only slightly tedious part of the making was stuffing the pumpkins. I used polyester wadding and just carried on until the pumpkin felt about right and then hand stitched the opening.
I used two pieces of fabric and stitched around the edges and then added veins, then I decided on double stitching just for a bit of definition. the stem was a little cylinder cut on a diagonal along the top edge and stuffed.
Leaves
Completing
All that remained was to pull the pumpkin into a more pumpkin shape. I chose to use 2 strands of embroidery thread from the orange skein; stitched it into place at the bottom of the pumpkin ; stitched into place at the top, and keeping in place in the centre of the segment, tightened it until the shape looked right. This was repeated for each segment. Finally the stem and leaf were stitched into place.
This is definitely a fun, easy and speedy little project. It was popular with the family. I ended making not only my own but a set for my granddaughter and my daughter and a friend. There may be more next year!
It’s a great British tradition to complain about the weather and in January and February this year there was plenty to complain about. One of my favourite ways to keep reasonably fit is to walk in the glorious countryside around here. This January I regularly found myself paddling or sinking to my ankles in mud. In February it was the turn ‘The Beast from the East’ and storm Emma and general biting cold winds that upset us so much.
But – and it’s a very positive but – there was no golf, no gardening and so – there was a lot of sewing time.
Enough time to finish Olivia’s just-about-begun quilt, a story cushion for her birthday and a story cushion for Heidi just so that she didn’t feel left out.
And enough time for a few little projects along the way. The red scraps made their annual appearance just before Valentine’s day.
Olivia’s quilt had been an embarrassingly long time in the making. I was in the middle of making Dougie’s Quilt when we went on one of our long trips to Spain and I decided that while we were away I would hand appliqué the elephant patches. So far so good.
Well when we got back it was summer. Summer = golf + gardening = very little sewing. Then of course came the autumn and it was all stops out to finish Dougie’s quilt in time for Christmas. So the little elephant quilt was the no.1 priority for January. It was easy to piece together with yellow, grey and white patches to match her bedroom.
It needed a little bit of planning to get the balance right before piecing and once that was done
the next step was simple and speedy and I soon had the batting and the yellow and white pin-spot backing together and ready to quilt.
I wanted a quilting design to fit in the yellow, white and grey squares, the elephant squares would just have simple outlines. Here’s what I call ‘the pink claw of quilting’. My quilting gloves are actually cotton gardening gloves that have a fantastic bobbly surface perfect for ‘getting a grip’!
Now the next bit is worth posting, I’ll know where to find it rather than having to think really hard to remember it. I don’t have any idea why, but the sequence for binding around the corners just won’t lodge itself in my brain. So here it is – in pictures.
and in words:
having pressed a diagonal fold at the beginning of the binding (see last photo) sew the double thickness binding strip leaving a 5cm tail at the start, using a quarter-inch seam
stop a quarter-inch from the corner, secure and break thread
fold the binding strip 90º to the right
fold the binding strip back on itself level with the edge of the quilt.
sew across the folded edge stopping and turning the corner a quarter-inch from the edge. Do this on all corners
trim and tuck the end of the binding inside the folded tail before sewing the last 5 cms.
The corners turn back really nicely and it’s on to my favourite bit, sitting quietly folding the binding over and hand stitching to finish the quilt.
I hope Olivia enjoys her quilt, if she’s like Dougie and Heidi it will become her relaxing quilt probably becoming part of the soft furnishings of the teepee we gave her for Christmas – which leads nicely on to the next project … Story cushions’ But that’s for another day.
I’m not going to call this a New Year resolution, for one thing it’s much too late for that. But I am determined that this year it will be back to keeping up with the blog. So I’m going to start with my Christmas 2016, or maybe that should be 2015, sewing.
I started these star placemats before Christmas 2015 and we did use the first six of them then. But when I first embarked on the project I was determined, ambitiously perhaps, that we would have enough to use if all the immediate family were here. I decided that twelve was the ideal number. Ten placemats and two extra, perfect.
I was going to complete the whole set in January but as always priorities changed. Christmas 2016 was a long way in the future!
Back to November 2015! Foundation piecing was, and still is, a challenge. It’s still very much a case of ‘feel the fear and do it anyway!’ I had seen a variety of the foundation pieced stars made up and loved the Christmas Makower Scandi fabric that year and my vision was for a perfectly Scandi set of table mats. Red and white Christmas star perfection!
Puzzling endlessly over piecing orientation and overworking my seam ripper was by no means part of the perfect vision. My project planning is nothing if not aspirational! The header for my ‘Quilt Inspiration’ Pinterest board is after all ‘Unrealistically Optimistic Quilter’! Having a good run at making up the stars would leave me feeling I was really getting to grips with the piecing – then a gap in working would have me back to staring blankly at the pattern, the orientation of the fabric and the scribblings I had made over the original copy.
There were a lot (really) of points to get right. To say some are better than others would be an understatement. Now I really do have a sense of achievement having finished. Okay I know they’re not perfect, I know that the number of mismatched seams far outnumbers those that line up just right but I am more than happy with the overall look of them on the table and they certainly shout ‘Christmas’ loud and clear.
I quilted along all the individual points of the stars, you can see that clearly on the reverse. That was a very calm and soothing conclusion to each star and very satisfying. Then I completed each one with binding in red and white Christmas fabric.
Not all of it in the same range unfortunately but I actually like the fact that they are the same but different! January 2017 has seen them finished and I hope that they will grace the Christmas kitchen table for many years to come.
The first ever Puff quilt I made was for my own first baby well over
How home photography has changed in the digital age!
30 years ago. We had a crib that had been in the family for many years and I wanted to update it. I have no idea now where the original idea came from but I obviously liked the look of it. I still do. The quilt was used for both of my children and for my nephew and niece when they took up the family crib.
Then when my daughter was expecting her first baby a puff quilt was the first thing she asked me to make and we chose fabrics to match the colours of his nursery. It was one of the first things I made on my return to sewing. Very fitting I think!
Dougie’s Puff Quilt
Well now that my son and his partner are expecting their first baby, our third grandchild, I thought I would make this a bit of a tradition. I’m sure I can rely on my daughter to carry it on! This time we know we’re waiting for a little girl and I chose a favourite fabric from my stash. I’m often inspired designs from Dashwood Studiosand like all ‘fabricologists’ I just occasionally,sometimes buy fabric and wait for the right project. That was the case with Retro Orchard by Wendy Kendall, it was a 2014 collection so I’ve had it a while.
I added a hot pink pin spot for my backing fabric to the collection..
There are so many great tutorials on Pinterest, (here’s a link)I’m not going to add to them, but I’ll just share the general process.
I’m in the habit of keeping a (very scrappy) journal of my makes so it was easy to decide on the size. 8 x 12 puffs, with each puff being cut to 3.5 inches. I used an old white cotton sheet for the back of the puffs, making each backing square 0.5 inch smaller than the tops. I am still cutting my way through sheets inherited from my mum and mum-in-law, it will be the end of an era when I’ve used them all up, maybe some of mine will be ready for recycling by the time they are. Never throw away a cotton sheet.
So I started my 96 puffs, sewing by day and stuffing and pinning watching TV in the evenings. Some was done in Mel’s sewing class and some at home.
The pile grew quickly and soon I had a bag-full waiting to have their fourth side sewn and be joined together. I had to keep reminding myself to make the seam less than a quarter-inch.
I decided the design should have the four prints running in diagonal lines and began sewing the puffs together in four squares using a quarter-inch seam. This should have meant that the original seams wouldn’t show but the puffiness makes it difficult and many a seam had to be re-done and I had a few broken fingernails – don’t ask!
Pretty soon there were 12 rows and 8 columns all sewn together and then there was a bit more tidying up of seams before cutting the backing and making the binding. For my last puff quilt I wrapped the backing round to self bind but this time I decided on a separate binding. I used the recently learned method of turning the corner.
Now this is worth a tutorial so next time I do it I’ll make one. It’s a method that makes a lovely neat mitre easily!
I wanted to secure the puffs to the backing but I’ve never found a way to keep the joined puffs perfectly square so stitching the ditch would be a hideous messy, lumpy, bumpy business so I hand sewed them together by just catching through the layers in between alternating puffs and making little four -petaled daisy shapes.It’s a great size for a crib, pram or pushchair and is comfy enough for a newborn to lie on for floor time. Here’s a very new Dougie on his.
I could think of uses for it rolled too.
It’s an easy make, comfy and cosy, and could be any size. I hope I get the opportunity to make more!
I’ve been missing from here for such a long time. Nothing blogged since the spring and we’re almost into a new year! It isn’t that I haven’t been busy making, more that I’ve been even more busy with other things.
Since my last blog I spent two months in Spain and survived the annual walking holiday with my sister – this year in the wonderful north Lake District. I’ve added new beds to the garden and visited gardens up and down the land. But most of the ‘busy’ was being in Bristol in the first few weeks after our lovely new granddaughter was born. We felt so blessed to be able to spend so much time with our family at such a special time and we were more than willing to make ourselves useful helping. And of course totally smitten by our latest little addition.
Ihave been making, but just not blogging. Most of the makes were little ones, squeezed in-between travels and the intention to record them just never became a reality.
Just as we arrived back in the country in November I lost my mum which stopped me in my tracks for a while and nothing much happened around here, I found myself spending a good deal of time with family, quite rightly. But I had promised Heidi a quilt and I had begun back in the summer and I found it a solace to return to finishing it.
Bethan had decided on a fab, subtle colour scheme and we set about finding fabrics in grey, coral and mint. Nothing could have filled the brief better than Bonnie Christine’s ‘Hello Bear’ for Art Gallery Fabrics. The bears are gorgeous! I love the quality of AGF cottons, they are just lovely to work with and appear to go on looking like new for many years. The range is a large one and we narrowed it down to eight designs with the addition of a solid grey.
Next was the search for a pattern. I’d bought Allison Harris’ ‘Growing Up Modern’ some time before and liked the look of a number of the quilts. We settled on ‘Sparkle’. We loved the design and the classic hourglass blocks suited our fabric choices. Allison’s directions are spot on and the book starts with some really good tips for novice and experienced quilters alike.
Cutting and peicing the top went along quite speedily, there were opportunities for chain piecing the half square triangles, which helped move things along nicely.
The clear instructions and accurate measurements meant that the top was soon done.
And then I added a border in the peachy coloured ‘follow me’.
So, top done but no plan for the quilt back so there was an opportunity for a little diversion. We were having a little nursery chair reupholstered and it seemed to calling out for a cushion! Enter a template for a huge dresden plate borrowed from my sewing class.
Now, I have made a dresden plate block before but it was small and not brilliantly executed. However, as usual, once a plan has entered my head I have to make it come to fruition. So pleased I did. I love the cushion!
Randomly ordered piecing for the dresden plate.
On both sides
Next to add the centre and a backing. my favourite for cushions is a lightweight cotton domette. Not too thick or heavy, just enough to give a little bit of substance to a cushion.
I used one of my favourite stitches, a running cross stitch, to quilt the fabrics.
A little bit of piping around the cushion top was all that was needed to finish it off.
Thecolours are perfect against the silver grey of the chair, just what we wanted.
Back to the quilt back. I decided I had enough of the fabric left to make square patches and enough of the ‘follow me’ for a border. Simple. I just about got it done before we headed of on our travels so I had to leave putting the quilt together until our return.
I free motion quilted with a simple loopy line, or rather two simple loopy lines. One in mint and one in coral.
And made a label
So Heidi’s quilt was finished before Christmas and very nearly coincided with her moving into her big cot in her own room.
Unfortunately I don’t think that the photographs of the finished quilt do the colours justice. It was grey and raining here what felt like every day throughout November and December and the photographs had to be take indoors in poor light. I didn’t do a great job. Maybe I can add a few more when the I’m in Bristol in the sunshine – In the meantime I’ve begun the planning for my next baby quilt. A Nains’ life is a busy life – and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
We didn’t spend a lot of time on the beach on our most recent trip to Spain and we didn’t ride our bikes down to the sea as often as usual either, but I did carry everything I needed to the beach in Aguadulce in the bag that I made in Mel’s class in Capel Bangor.
Back in Capel Bangor in pale and watery March it looked almost too shockingly bright but on a sunny Spanish beach it wasn’t a bit out of place.
Well, the connection is not about cycling at all but the lovely Moda ‘Pedal Pushers’ fabric designed by the mother and daughters Jung that caught my eye in the days before we started making Mel’s brilliantly designed, multi-pocketed bag.
Here’s the whole 1950’s inspired ‘Pedal Pushers’ range:It was, of course, the red and aqua end of the range that caught my attention. A combination that always draws my eye.
The mini-patch, quilted back pocket shows all of my selection with raspberry ‘Wicker’ and sky ‘Floral Crest’ as my main fabrics.
I had a real sense of satisfaction putting the bag together, putting a range of skills to use, getting the inner and outer pockets in place and finding that everything fitted perfectly – thanks to Mel’s clear instructions and direction of course. Left to my own devices it probably would have been assembled and reassembled numerous times!
And as always our group worked happily and supportively; having lots of fun and, on occasion, really getting down to some serious work!
And when it came to going down to the beach in sunny Almeria with all the necessary paraphernalia my bag was light and easy to carry and not just a brightly coloured beach bag but a practical, organised super-bag. Oh! And the soft padding meant it also served as a soft place to lay my head!
I think my beach dress just serves to prove a point about my current colour preferences!
It’sonly just over a year since I began this sampler quilt. Quite a short time in the long line of UfOs waiting in line in my workroom really!
It was the first thing I made when I was over the moon at finding Mel’s class. It was the first thing I made after I discovered the joy and the temptation that is the wonderful Calico Kate shop in Lampeter. Lampeter or Llanbedr Pont Steffan, or locally known as Llambed, this quiet Mid-Wales town is the smallest university town in the UK but more importantly for quilters it is the home of Jen Jones’ Welsh Quilt Centre (find them here on Facebook)
and the most amazing collection of fabrics ranged across twelve mouthwatering rooms at Calico Kate.
This little sampler quilt was also my introduction to the mysteries of foundation piecing. At the time I hadn’t a clue about this particular wonder of patchwork and as I began to find out I realised it may be quite a challenge. It is! A challenge that I’ve loved and will continue to develop. Thanks Mel!
The Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter has hosted the talented and inspirational Kaffe Fassett as a speaker and tutor on more than one occasion. I was totally blown away by the colours of the Kaffe Fassett Comes to Wales Exhibition when I visited. He has been a knitting and weaving hero for me over the years and now here I was quilting only to discover his amazing quilts.
So it’s only fitting, of course, that Calico Kate stocks a good range of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and since then I have used a few. But for this project the focus was on the piecing so when I chose I went for a limited range from the Aboriginal Dots collection. Like all of his fabrics it comes in many hues but the ocean, teal and silver appealed to me on the day; I added some of the shot cottons from his range and a fat quarter given to me by Mel.
We made a block each week and I think the only one that wasn’t new to me was the nine patch. I learnt a lot about points and pinwheels and about half square triangles – including that they are known as HSTs and are the basis of many more complex blocks.
I made my first log cabin blocks; a large one and four minis that became the four quarters of a larger one. I can’t imagine ever tiring of making a new block for the first time, it can be frustrating, baffling, exasperating and totally troublesome but it makes me happy and if I’m not satisfied with the outcome I’m compelled to make another!When all the blocks were pieced and the top complete I sandwiched the wadding and the back and even began quilting by ‘stitching the ditch’ and trying out some free motion on the sashing but then I was distracted by the quilt I was making for my sister’s 50th birthday (see the post here). More to the point I wasn’t happy with the stitches wandering in and out of the ditch and so it slipped down the priorities until one day I began unpicking. Somehow over time I got better at staying in the ditch and eventually the next stage was complete.
Stitching in the ditch – a few wobbles but nearly there!
This week in a pre-holiday rush it suddenly became imperative that I finished at least one UfO before leaving and this was it.
I trimmed the edges, made a random binding strip from the scraps and hey presto, finished! Hooray!
Among my Christmas presents this year was a treasure chest from one of my lovely friends. Inside were lots of yummy foody things. All locally produced. There were speciality mustards and marmalade, a raspberry couli and a strawberry and kirsch jam produced just at the top of our road and we’d never tried it! There were holly leaf Sarah Bunton Chocolates made just by the narrow gauge train station at Devil’s Bridge. We often take visitors up there so I’ll definitely be calling at the shop in future. There was a lovely little pot, and (how well my friend knows me) a fat quarter of Annali teal floral.
Now as it happens I have had some of this lovely Dashwood Studio range by Stephanie Thannhauser in my stash for some time. This new FQ was just the inspiration I needed to get busy with it.
I also wanted to try a Lynne Goldsworthy design I’d spotted in ‘Love Patchwork and Quilting’ magazine (issue 16) and this fabric seemed just the thing. I needed a bit more than I had for my plan to make a bed runner and cushion covers and turning to my stash again I found some pieces of Eloise Renouf ‘Bark and Branch’ left from a previous project and I chose one for the sashing and one to add to the piecing for the runner. I’d think about the cushions later.
The design for Honeycomb Hexies looks quite complex but Lynne’s instructions combined with the diagrams and illustrations were great and there wasn’t too much work for the seam ripper. I did get carried away on my first row and was merrily adding hexies as if I was making a full size quilt, but I think that shows that the design was simpler than it looks.
The half-hexagon, sashing and triangles were pieced in rows, then mirrored by a second row. Once the rows were pieced they were sewn together in pairs and then the whole top put together. It was a really pleasing process and I loved seeing the pattern emerging.
Here is the runner pinned ready for quilting.
When it came to the cushion covers I decided on one central hexagon with a border in a grey multi and the sashing fabric.
Because this was more of a feature block I tried matching the join in the two halves. It’s not a bad job but it was fiddly so two matches was enough thanks!
I found the multi-grey in the sale in Aberdashery, I used another for the cushion backs.
The quilting needed to be simple, I’m still practicing but I think it’s getting a bit more even overall. Here’s the reverse, simply because it shows up better.
There are so many great designers and quilters out there. Dashwood Studio have some great fabric designers on their books, I’ve recently bought FQs of another great range, ‘Suffolk Garden’ by Brie Harrison. So exciting. They’ll definitely bring the garden into the house.
I find myself following some terrific blogs from designers who generously share their work. Lynne Goldsworthy is one of these. Find her at Lily’s Quilts where she has posted lots of tutorials, among them another great hexie quilt, ‘Hexagon Park’. I’ll certainly be following her fabulous blog as well as looking forward to her contributions in LPQ. So much to look forward to!
Enough doodling and gardening. I was itching to get back to some serious sewing. The perfect project for getting back in the groove was the promise of a festive table runner that I’d made my sister back in the summer. With Christmas creeping up it was time to get going.
Christmas fabric spotting begins in the summer so my sister was wise to mention it back then. I spotted this on one of my regular drop-ins at Aberdashery well before our departure for our travels in September. Scandi is such a trend at the moment and the Makower Christmas collection really appealed to me, I love reindeer right now. I chose my reds and greens and liked the idea of adding in a couple of the neutrals from the range.
I had the seeds of a plan in mind, it involved irregular strips across the width of the runner. I was slightly undecided about having white sashing between each coloured stripe but of course I decided for. I love the crisp, clean, modern look that it gives.
Once decided all that was left to do was get on with sewing strips together, as they were to be random there was very little planning to do and I just chose whichever fabric I thought should come next.
I’d also chosen a red and a very dark green solid to make it a little less busy. Joining the random strips was quick and easy and then all that remained to be done to the front was to trim the sides.
The back was to be plain red. Briefly. I started to think it needed something more so I sewed together some two and a half inch wide strips and cut them into two and a half inch strips then cut the red backing to create a patterned reverse.
I decided on a horizontal strip l strip at each end. Once I had put it all together it made the runner pretty much reversible.
I used cotton domette as wadding. I find it a good weight for table runners, mats and such like. Not too bulky or puffy.
My quilting plan was to have strings of stars and after a bit of doodling decided on this design . The stars are irregular in six, shape and spacing. Simple. Lastly I gave the runner a solid red binding and it was ready to join my sister’s Christmas scheme, she has some lovely decorations. I hope it comes to to scratch!
