BLOG 164

Am I unusual in liking this time of the year, that slow but inevitable transition from summer to autumn? We have had a wonderful summer weather-wise this year so every flower, shrub and tree (and weed it has to be said!) has had its ‘time’ or season in the garden. I love the way they bristle with new growth leaves, bud, flower and bloom to the best of their ability and then produce seeds to make replicas of themselves before dying off, job done. And, thankfully, they will be back to do the same next year so the least I can do is to put them to bed to the best of my ability. And that’s what I have been doing for most of this week, hacking, slicing, dragging, sawing, scrapping and chopping. There have been umpteen trips with the trailer to the tip and there’s still a lot more to do. BUT, it’s also the time when the log burner is lit early evening to take the chill off the room, thus providing me with the excuse to sit down in front of it to sew. Curtains are drawn for cosiness, lights are lit and I settle down creatively my fabrics. I wonder what will materialise (excuse the pun!).

ELLA’S WALL HANGING

(ASIDE: This has to be one of the most joyous things I have ever done! It is simple to do and a wonderful project to try with any youngster. It is like freeze-framing a bit of their developmental history in fabric.)

My granddaughter (and Jackie’s, hello)  Ella, who has just had her 4^th birthday and starts full time school next week, did some drawings on white cotton fabric with ‘DYLON fabric painting fine nib pens’.  

                               Dylon pens

They were hot ironed, following the manufacturer’s instructions, to seal the colours. Here are some of her lovely spontaneous drawings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                Drawings

 Her latest one is a bee. This is so cute and has to be my favourite!!

                                 Bee

METHOD

Cut the pictures out randomly with 4 or 5 straight sides so there is not too much white fabric visible around the outer edge. Place a picture centrally onto a square of batting, the size will depend on the scale of the drawing. (I used 3”, 4”, 6” and 8” squares)

                        Picture onto batting

Cut some strips of colourful fabric for the borders. (I used 2 fabrics and I cut 1 ½”, 1 ¾” and 2” strips)

                               Fabric strips

Place a fabric strip, RS together, along one of the straight sides. Sew a ¼” seam with a neutral thread, starting and finishing at the edges of the white fabric.

                           RS together

Lift the strip away from the picture and finger-press it so that it lies flat on the batting.

 

                          Finger press the strip

 

Trim away the excess fabric from both ends of the strip, angling them to follow the line of the adjacent sides.

                         Trim at an angle

Work clock-wise around the centre, sewing, pressing and trimming as you go.

                    Work around the centre

                     First border complete

Continue adding strips until the batting has been covered.

                    Cover the batting

From the WS, the fabric extends beyond the batting.

 

 

WS of batting

Trim away the excess fabric from this side to the size of the batting.

 

                                   Trimmed square
 

Repeat for the other squares, making different sizes for added interest.

                Some completed squares

                             Detail