First of all, please accept my apologies for the late
posting of this blog. I can write the blog and take and import all the
photographs but it is my husband who uploads it! He has been away in the Forest
of Dean helping on his Auntie’s farm after his cousin broke his heel (never
knew that as possible!) There were sheep and cattle to attend to and his cousin
needed to be ferried to hospital for operation and consultations and the like.
So I have been on my own for 12 days which has been very strange after 42 years
of marriage but I have quite enjoyed it knowing that it wasn’t a permanent
state of affairs. I made my own porridge (Rog always said it was his job and
needed scientific precision to get the balance right! … it took me 2 days to
crack it), I managed the log fire (but broke the glass on the front), I jammed
the garage door so couldn’t get at the stuff I needed in there (but it wasn’t
actually jammed, I just wasn’t turning the handle correctly) and I couldn’t put
together the new office chair when it was delivered (son-in-law did that). But
apart from that I enjoyed my time home alone.
But how did I fill some of that time? I sat at my sewing
machine with a basket of fabric at my feet. It was filled with strips of my
collection of children’s fabrics which I want to use to make a quilt for the
newest member of our extended family.
Again I have chosen the string piecing method because it is
so fast and jolly to do. This one will have larger squares and be sewn onto a
calico background rather than the paper background that I was using for the
Christmas quilt. This means I can hand sew some of the strips on by hand when I
am at craft clubs. The strips are cut at 1” 1 ¼” 1 ½” 1 ¾” and 2”.
Cut calico squares at 8 ½ (you can use any cotton fabric for
the background, especially those you don’t particularly like as they won’t be
seen!)
Place the first strip RS up along the diagonal and pin
another on top so RS are together.
Sew a ¼ sew and flip the strip over to lie flat (press with
an iron or use your finger to make sure there are no creases in the seam).
Sew one square after another (I call it leap frogging) so there
is no need to waste threads.
On completion, press the squares from the WS first to settle
the stitches and then from the RS so that they lie flat for trimming.
Use
a square ruler to cut away the excess fabric from around the edge. Place the 8
½” line of the ruler onto the edge of the calico and cut the top and the right hand side first (If
you are right handed).
Rotate the square and place the 8 ½” line on the cut edges
before trimming the other 2 sides.
These are my trimmings and I save any larger pieces that I
can possibly use on a corner. The rest I discard.
Here are the first 4 blocks. I want to place them together
so that no two fabrics are duplicated.
And 4 lots of 4 blocks. Progress is quick and steady,
especially as the fabric strips are prepared in advance of sitting down at the
sewing machine. Preparation is all!
Another thing I have had a go at are Zentangles, described
as follows: ‘The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun
way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.’
Really it is sophisticated doodling but it was interesting,
if time-consuming. I think you have to learn to ‘get in the zone’ but it may be
worth a look at for you creative souls out there.
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