BLOG 480

Blog 480

 

This week I managed to make what I thought would be another Linus quilt, but I liked it so much that I am now going to make it into a single bed quilt. Each block measures 14 ½” before construction and the blocks will be joined together with a 1 ½” strip. It’s not an original block and it wasn’t quite designed on ‘the back of an envelope’ because I did manage to find a scrap of paper to work out the size of my centre square! My colourful strips measured 11” x 4” (they are half of the original rectangle) so the centre square needed to be cut at 7 ½”.

 

           Master plan

 

 

CONSTRUCTION

I placed the first strip for side 1 RS together with the centre square, making one edge of the strip align with one edge of the square. I sewed with a ¼” seam from the aligned edge and stopped 2” from the corner of the black square to attach side 1 (the rest of this strip will be sewn in pace when side 4 has been attached). The seams on the strips were pushing the seam allowance towards the black fabric so I pressed them in that direction.

              Part seam

 

Side 2 was placed RS together across the aligned edges of the strip and the black square and sewn and pressed.

               Side 2

 

 

            Press to the centre

 

 

 

Side 3 was aligned along the third side and sewn.

 

                Side 3 RS together

 

 

 

            
                Side 3 press

 

 

And finally, I was able to finish sewing the remainder of side 1 to complete the block.  

           Completed block RS

 

 

 

           Completed block WS

 

 

             Progress 

 This block was a joy to do and it went together very quickly because I had amassed a pile of striped sides. Before I went any further, I pressed all the blocks and measured them to make sure that they were all the same size. They weren’t so I had to trim them down to the size of the smallest before contemplating sewing them together. You can see from the picture that I am talking of tiny trimmings here (¼” or less).

               Trimming

 

 

         9 Blocks and trimmings

 Once trimmed, they went together accurately and smoothly. I reckon another 2 rows of 3 will cover the top of a single bed. And if I add another block on 3 sides of those 15 squares, I will have a dramatic and sizeable quilt.

              9 Blocks together

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLOG 479

Blog 479

 

I have never really thought of it before but the weather and the seasons both play a part in my creative process. In winter, I can do no gardening so I have more time to sew; that’s the theory. But because it is often so cold and wet, it is more difficult to separate myself from the house and go to my playroom in the garage. That said, once I am in there and in the ‘creative zone’, there is no other place I would rather be. What works well for me is having an on-going project; one which I enjoy doing and I don’t have to think about too deeply. The Linus quilts are doing that for me at the moment and I completed another top this week as well as adding more building blocks to the pile. (Can anyone else see the two faces in this quilt? Or is it just me!)

 

 

            Linus quilt #2

 

Working on the creative side of quilting is slower and more deliberate. This week I was inspired by one of my art cushions.  The background of the one below was made with hand sewn lozenges over paper (English paper method); it took ages to prepare! This time I am working with circles of ready-fused fabric left over from other projects.

             Inspiration

 

I started with a square drawn onto the release paper from a roll of fusible (baking parchment would work well too).

              

              Foundation paper

 

I have plenty of prepared shapes to play with and so the creative process begins. What I am trying to do is to cover the square with fabric shapes, over-lapping them slightly so that they stick together when ironed. I am aiming for a blending of colour and a smooth transition from one to another whilst avoiding abrupt tonal changes. It’s fun to do but requires a great variety of shades/tones/tints in the chosen colour palette. Here’s the sequence.

             Palette

 

 

          Sequence 1

 

 

                Sequence 2

 

 

 

             Sequence 3

 

 

           Colour movement

 

 

             Detail 1

 

 

            Detail 2

 

 

           Trimmed square

 

 

 

            Trimmed square on wadding

 

All I need now is to create a rich applique flower to go on one corner. And after seeing the above sequence, now I know why I like doing jigsaws! I have just completed my Christmas jigsaw. It was very difficult because of all the detail and the frequent colour changes but I enjoyed the challenge.

             Jigsaw

 

 

 

 

 

BLOG 478

Blog 478

(Sorry about the lateness of my blog this week; I am usually pleased with myself for the promptness of my postings every Sunday. Unfortunately the phones were down due to the storms and I had no access to the internet. )

 

I have had a few days on my own this week because Rog has been down to the Forest of Dean helping his cousin on the farm. It was the time of the annual TB test and thankfully all the cattle were clear! The farm has been clear for 18 years now but it is always an anxious time for his cousin. Whilst he was away, it is fair to say that for me time passes differently! I have the space to catch up on things which need doing round the house. I am happy to eat snack-type meals as and when I fancy them and I can do what I want when I want! So I have tidied up around the house, sorted out unwanted ‘stuff’ and filled a large bag for the charity shop. So with my conscience clear on the domestic front, I was able to slope off to my playroom.

My main concern recently has been to do something with the mountain of scraps I have accumulated over the years. They are stored in one of my deep storage baskets and, whatever I make, I don’t seem to make any impression on them! (I am reminded of one of the stories that I read to my children years ago: ‘The Magic Porridge Pot’ which just kept over-flowing before it started to engulf everything!!!)

           Scraps

 

So I have made a decision that I will use these scraps to make a series of quilt tops for the Linus project. I have a lot of ‘Stitch and Flip’ panels already made and I will continue to add to these and construct quilts in a variety of designs. There! I have said it; I have written in my blog … so it will happen!!

 And just a reminder of the technique: I sew strips onto a sheet of cheap paper with a small stitch that perforates the paper as I sew. Once the paper has been covered with strips and pressed, the excess fabric is removed from round the edges. The paper can then be removed and the fabric panel has been made.

             Pressed strips

 

 

 

                Stitch and flip

 

 

           Trimming

 

 

             Really small scraps (I can bin these!)

 

 

 

             Removing paper

 

 

These are my building blocks so let’s see what I can do with them over the next few weeks.

 

           Small medium large

 

 

 

            Black trim

 

 

              Pattern row

 

And here is quilt Number 1. I have photo’d it alongside my creative work (which I must get back to) so you can see the contrast. The Stitch and Flip technique is one that reminds me of motorway driving. It is the quickest way from A to B; it is a prescribed route so you don’t have to deviate; it is tedious so you don’t have to think too much about what you are doing; you can just put your foot down and drive! Sometimes, you just need projects like this to make an impression on your fabric stash.

              Quilt 1

 

 

           Potential quilts

 

 

 

 

BLOG 477

Blog 477

 

Where did the last 2 weeks go? Certainly not on sewing that’s for sure! Christmas/New Year has passed so quickly. For us it was a simple and busy family time, with the odd party invitation and the hosting of a New Year’s meal. The decorations have been taken down and stored in the loft once again and we are luxuriating in the newly established space and tidy order after the Xmas clutter has been cleared. I managed a bit of time-out in my room, but only to create order out of chaos. All my wire storage baskets have been sorted and re-ordered and everything is in its place. Mind you, that sometimes has the effect of stifling creativity as I am loath to disrupt what I have pain-stakingly tidied. I’m sure I will get over it in time!!

 

 

 

          Chaos

 

                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      







Order

 

 

The first thing I am going to do this year is get on with using up my drawer full of scraps. These have been accumulated over many years and are all shapes and sizes. I have to iron them first and then cut what strip(s) I can out of them and put the unusable pieces into a carrier bag. The question is ‘how small do the scraps have to be for me NOT to use them?’ Watch this space.

              Scrap basket

 

Tomorrow I will be attending my first machine embroidery day of 2020 at Suzettes. In the same way as I have collected fabric over the years, machine embroiderers collect threads. This is Pat’s collection of threads, from the palette she happened to be working on at our last session, to her storage boxes. She has 3 of them … is there such a thing as thread envy?!!  

 

          Pat’s palette

 

 

 

         Threads

 

 

            Boxes of threads

 

If you are a regular visitor, welcome back! If you are a new to my blog, welcome! This blog is my journal, a record of my creative endeavours. I post every Sunday evening and the content is usually varied and hopefully interesting. I am raring to go again now and next week I will be firing on all creative cylinders.

I have driven Land Rovers for years and I love them as a vehicle! But the last one has been very troublesome lately and has started to cost serious money (the back axle had to be replaced twice in 4 months!) Enough was enough and just before Xmas we found this little beauty. I have always wanted a red car (in fact I would have bought an old boot on pram wheels as long as it was red!!) and now I have!

 

           New wheels