Sunday 30 August 2015

BLOG 263


BLOG 263

 After completing my lovely multi-coloured quilt last week which, I have to admit, was a bit of a sewing marathon, I did what I usually do; I cleaned my studio! This necessary and oft-repeated habit is all part of the completed project. It’s the rounding off, the drawing a line under, the winding down and the hiatus before the next project. I put away of any unused fabrics, I file away of patterns, tidy the room and I re-order the sewing station. It is also a necessary technique for avoiding/delaying my next project.

With not having students to cater for, which I have done for nigh on 30 years, I can suit myself what I want to do. I have nothing specific to focus my attention on, no goal to aim for. My next project could be functional, as in a quilt for a newly refurbished room; or it could be a gift for an occasion or perhaps a request from a daughter and so on. All I can say with any certainty is that I am slave to a constant urge to be creative; I just can’t help myself. Projects like the last completed quilt are easy for someone of my experience and, once I have worked out my preferred method of construction, it’s just straight forward application and sewing stamina after that. But in many respects that quilt was also an avoidance measure as it conveniently covered what I really needed to get on with on my design wall. Out of sight, it also became out of mind. I’m talking about the Calendar quilt which has been on the go for a couple of years now.

 


Calendar quilt

I love the colours of the prepared background and the thread flowers I have prepared for the centres of each block; these in themselves are reasons to continue. But the reason I haven’t worked on this quilt is because I need to put in lots of design time on paper. I have drawn 3 more corner motifs and that is all. I am going to do this designing this week …… And sometimes when you actually say things out loud, you make them happen! Watch this space.

 


Potential designs

I have just returned from a surprise 70th birthday party. It was a great party organised by her family, so full of love and warmth and so well done. Everyone enjoyed themselves and people came from everywhere; distance was no object for such a lovely person.  Sue is a regular reader of my blog and is also a member of our group ‘Fun Seekers’. Happy Birthday Sue!

 

AFTERTHOUGHT I have been writing this blog for 5 years plus now and I seldom get any reactions/comments to what I am doing or what I am writing about. Friends have been telling me lately that they have had difficulty responding to the blog so that might explain everything. We are looking into it and will try to sort it out.

Sunday 23 August 2015

BLOG 262


BLOG 262
 Dilys’s Multi-coloured Dream Quilt … and finally!
I prepared two 9” squares for the corner triangles and six 15” squares for the edge triangles. The backing and batting were cut slightly larger and then they were prepared as a quilt sandwich ready for free-motion quilting.
 
Quilt sandwich
 
Free motion quilting
 
After quilting, the 2 small blocks were trimmed to 8 ½” (slightly larger than I needed to be on the safe side!) and each one was then cut on one of the diagonals only to give me two triangles with the straight grain on the two short edges. This gave me the 4 corners.
 
Corner triangles
 
The large squares were trimmed to 14 ½” and each one was cut on both diagonals to produce four triangles with the straight grain on the long edges.
 
Prepared triangles
 
This is how both of the triangles look before being sewn into place.
 
Position of triangles
 
They are sewn in place with the two strips on the seam in exactly the same way as the rest of the blocks, ready for the final assembly.
 
 
Triangles added
 
I couldn’t resist trying some of the strips out for size; it gave me much needed encouragement to get the quilt finished. The strips are lying over the hexagon garden quilt they will eventually replace.
 
 
Final seam
 
 
The rest of the quilt
 
Back
 
Front
 
Final edge trim
 
Binding
 
I prepared a 2” straight-cut strip for the single binding, sewing it in place with my walking foot (this gives me an accurate ½” seam). I will be hand sewing the binding in front of the TV tonight and with a bit of luck and lots of application I will have this on the bed before the day is through!! HURRAH!