Can Spring be far away?

Or at least, can we pretend, just for this blog post?  after all, I have got the start of a daffodil to share with you!

I was reminded by Kate North 10 days ago about the Patchwork Meadow project.  They are encouraging people to make a textile 'tile' of 15cm square showing a wild flower.  THe project is to encourage people to think about wild flowers across Europe.  I heard about it some time ago, but it never actually reached a written list, so I'd forgotten about it!  Kate's prompt was perfect to remind me to start something, at least!

 

I used my stitch and burn technique over a sketch that I'd make (you can still see my blue wash-away lines on this photo, but I've sprayed them away now).  I'm planning to add hand stitching to the block to complete it, but I'm pleased with this as a start point.

 

I've cut my foam board ready for lacing this over when it's finished - I just need to plan the hand stitched part of it now and get on with it.

 

Last night I didn't hand stitch anything - but spent the evening papercrafting with friends.  They were very productive, and as we had a heart theme we are all well on the way to being prepared for Valentines day!  No photos, as I didn't remember to get my camera out.

 

Fingers crossed for this mild weather continuing - our feathered friends are now out in the their coop / mini run (although not the open run yet, we want them to know that the coop is home!).

 

The Same but Different

The same but different?  That's right.  Behold a crop of C&G samples (the edges have different techniques to finish them, and there will be more hanging systems demonstrated soon too).  Not desperately exciting, but an easy way back into thinking about my course, rather than worrying about not having done very much for the last two months!   I shall use them for small hand embroideries, I think - but I have no idea what will happen to them after that!

 

 

More 'same but different' - this time a set of three post cards for a birthday swap.  I used my 'stitch and burn' technique to create the applique hexagons - not at all traditional - lots of fun!  Then I couched some threads to give a bit more texture and interest.  All good fun!

 Lastly, for the curious, I did finish the tiny purse - but I can't say that it's a great success.  Open, like this, not too bad (and I'll confess out here in public that I couldn't manage to stitch the linings in - they received the full force of a hot glue gun to keep them in place - please don't throw me out of the stitching Brownies - I'll try harder next time!).

Closed, though?  It's just plain ugly!  I need to use ribbon and a zip that go together, I need to use brighter 'cover' fabric, and I need to replace the nylon not-that-nice zip with a metal one (which will have cotton sides and so be easier to stitch through, I hope!).   I'm not down hearted, but it is an ugly little thing, so I've resolved to try again at some point and to do better!

Plenty more stitching things to get on with (I managed to make a quilting 'to-do list' for 2013 which doesn't include the half-square triangle blocks which are lurking next to my sewing machine, oops, so need to try again with the brain engaged).  Plenty more design things to get on with too, as I'd like to get my current C&G module finished before half term arrives - and I need to re-learn what I've half learnt and forgotten from my GIMP classes in order to move some of what's in my head onto the screen!

 

Happy Burn's Night, one and all.  Nearly time for my (veggie) haggis with neeps and tatties

 

The Same but Different

What do you think?

So what do you think?  What chance have i got of finishing these items and ending up with a cute little zip purse (and when I say little, I mean tiny - it might be big enough to hold a single ring so long as the ring isn't too big!).  There are some lovely 'macaron' purses on the web at the moment - like the ones shown with this tutorial at craft passion.  Perhaps I'll have a finished purse to show you next week (or perhaps I'll have decided that tiny stitches are too challenging to make a neat job of!).

 

If you've got a few moments spare, rather than taxing your eyes and fingers with unfeasibily small purses, why not go and vote for 'A Gift of Quilts' in the Epic Awards?

I didn't join in with this project to make these larger quilts, but I took part in a project to try and make an A3 sized pennant for each competitor in the Olympics / Paralympics last year - and as I don't think that I ever showed the pennants on this blog (and to be honest, I can't find a photo of the third one that I made!) I thought that I'd show them now.

 

Anyway, if you'd like to vote for the project and the way that it encouraged people to join in, then please scroll down this page until you find 'A Gift of Quilts' (fourth line down, right hand side) and click on the hand to give a green 'thumbs up'.  If you like you can entertain yourselves by doing that every day until voting closes on the 30th January - you are allowed one vote every day!

 

 

Looking Forward

'Looking forward' - its a great phrase, isn't it?  Not only looking forward in the sense of pausing and looking ahead to what might be in the future, but standing facing ahead, undistracted by the things to either side of us AND seeing the future with enjoyment!  You have to love a language that has so much possibility in just two words!

This is the time of the year when its lovely to do all three of the 'looking forward' actions. To believe that the future is good, to try and see what might come in the year ahead, for me those are the easy two.  The action of looking ahead without distraction, though?  Hmmm.  Not something that  I'm sure that I can really do, these days.  In the past I might have been cross with myself about a lack of focus.  Now, though, I think that I'm easier on myself, or perhaps I've learnt that the distractions are often what make things even more fun!  Sure, I still have a list of things that need to be done every day or week or month, and it would be rare that they didn't get done.  After that, though, whether its doing things with my girls, of for my on-line course, or just random sewing projects that I decide to do, I think that distraction is probably a good thing!


I will probably still make a list of quilting / sewing projects that I'd like to complete this year (from the number of Dear Jane blocks that I'd like to make, having failed to make any at all in 2012) to larger projects that would help use some of my fabric stash and get me back into slightly larger projects than I seem to have been completing recently!


First stop is to put some stitching around these cards to finish them ready for next Christmas - the lovely result of being distracted from what I was doing and 'forced' to play fabric crafts with the girls and one of their friends!


Whether list making or not, I hope that you have a fun crafty New Year!

Merry Christmas!

 Seasons greetings to one and all!  I hope that you have an enjoyable festive season, and that Santa (if he visits your house) is kind to you.

My sewing this week was another fused snowflake tree - just a little one this time, the hanging is 24" tall.  The last of my die cut snow flakes, put to use to make a seasonal leaving gift for one of the teachers from the girls school.

Can you see how these chicks have come on?  They are about four times the size that they were, with feathers coming out all over and the start of little combs too.  The speed of growth has been quite surprising!

They are cheeky little things, very curious (although not very happy about having a camera thrust at them, as you can see!).

They all have names now.  From left to right they are: Earth, Stripes, Cheese and Peckit.

I'm off downstairs to tell them all about Christmas and to apologise for the Christmas tunes which they are about to share as I start peeling potatoes. 

Happy Christmas!

A little bit Christmassy

 A few Christmassy star hangings.  Not the project that I'd hoped to complete, but I realised that I'd reached that 'finished is less than perfect' point, and that if I was going to get anything in the post I'd have to stop prevaricating and get making, in the limited time that I have!

This year I'm taking part in a 'Journal Your Christmas' project by Shimelle Laine.  It's fun, and I thought that it might make me feel a bit more Christmassy, but I'm not sure that it has yet.  One great suggestion was that with a week to go until 'the big day' that we declared a 'Christmas Amnesty' (my interpretation is that you should write the big list of everything that you want / plan to do, then reduce it by 2/3rds, knowing that you'd be able to do all the stuff that didn't happen this Christmas at next Christmas instead, and that this Christmas would be more relaxing if you weren't exhausted by doing stuff that wasn't essential.  Great plan!  I mentally made my list, and realised that if I just finished some stuff life would feel better - I'd already pared it down pretty much to the minimum! 

I'm happy to say that it seems to be working, and a day and half of getting items ticked off the list has worked well.

Of course, some people may not consider sewing decorations, finishing this years TAST stiches or making a small hanging for a teacher who is leaving essential, but then they aren't me, and I am!

I've managed all 48 stitches of the TAST project this year, and I'm quite chuffed that I've managed it before the year's end.  I'm not at all sure that I'll be joining in again next year, although I will be stopping by Sharon's blog to see what other people get up to!


Christmas Sparkle

 An evening of making bead flowers last night - lots of sparkle, but not photographed very well, I'm afraid!

Lots of fun and not too taxing.

My only sewing so far this week - making a bag for 'Patch' who has been home from school for a week with DD2, and who arrived with his journal in a battered paper carrier bag.... I should have taken another photo with Patch, this bag (finished) and the little 'man bag' that I made to match - cute, even if I do say so myself.

It's one of those weeks where I seem to have been busy, but have nothing much to show for it!



Footnote:  For those interested in the progress of the chicks, I'm sorry to say that little Sunshine didn't make it, but that the other four are thriving - already trying to fly short distances, and only two weeks old today!  They are not only turning from fluff to feathers, but growing at a phenomenal rate!


Who would want to see this?

, it's

 Well really, I mean, it's a hanging that I made for my SiL, its Christmassy, fun, finished (always important!), its quilted and so on.....

 

but I'm sure that you'd rather see these little loves instead!  Five days old, collected from the Domestic Fowl Trust near Bidford on Avon, and currently living under a heat lamp in our living room.  We are hoping that they are all girls, as promised, and we are hoping that 'Sunshine' the littlest one, manages to hold her own against the others.

 

Of course, I'd like to hold my own against Blogger - these chicks are more golden than lavender, as you might guess from the bottom of the photo!

Post Card Crazy

 This was  a week to make and send postcards in my birthday swap fabric postcard group.  The three themes were 'anatomy', 'flowers' and 'purple'. 

Fun to make these and play with different ways of making them.  Actually, this FMQ hand was sewn earlier in the year when I cut up my hand quilted block but didn't want to show it in case it gave the game away to the recipient!

As well as these I've started a bit more hand work too - I've managed to get seven stitches behind (that's seven or eight weeks!) on my TAST samples again.  I know that this happens when my finger joints are a bit sore, as I just stop doing hand sewing in the evenings, but it does always surprise me how long these flare ups last.  Still, back up and running and ready to get to grips with it all again, so perhaps a progress photo next week.

 

 I've also ordered some Christmas fabrics.  I thought that I'd never be in a position to say that, as I'm not usually a fan of them, and seem to spend the run up to Christmas trying to use up any that I have on small projects (I don't usually have yardage, I usually have small amounts that have snuck into charm packs or FQ packs....).  This year, though?  I remembered that last year I'd promised to make my DIL a Christmas tree wall hanging with my left over bonda-webbed fabric snow flakes....and that Christmas was fast approaching.  A quick check revealed that her Christmas colours were red and green, so a order to Doughty's followed, and I will soon be able to reveal a new wall hanging.

In the meantime, I also need to think about other projects that need to be finished for Christmas.  I'm hoping that there isn't anything else that I've committed myself to for 'the big day' as I'm feeling a bit behind on other Christmassy things like writing the cards, and I can't see how to give me enough time in the day to do everything!

Hope that you're fitting everything that you'd like to to do into your weekly leisure time!

(PS did you notice the photos?  no streaks?  Why?  no idea!  Maybe I should just stick to taking photos of small pieces!)

Sew and burn away - short tutorial

 Did I tell you about my cousin John?  He takes the most amazing photos of birds - and has a site devoted to them which you can see here.  You will come away from it inspired, I'm sure!

I decided to try out my 'sew and burn' technique to try and reproduce one of his photos to use as a cushion front.  I took some photos along the way in case you wanted to try out something that you feel drawn to too.

This is the finished cover, showing the Nashville Warbler in all its glory.

 

This is how I started.  I made a fine line tracing of the image, showing just the main areas.  I then turned this over and masking taped this to the back of the fabric that I was going to use.  This time I used linen.



 This is the other side - I covered the bird shape with yellow and brown organza and pinned them into place.  You need to think carefully about which colours you use and in which order!

Sewing from the back, I FMQed the basic bird shape and the main areas inside the bird shape.

Next I heated up the soldering iron, and carefully burnt away the brown organza around the shape. You can see all the yellow still untouched.

Next I burned away the yellow all around the bird, and the brown from over the yellow belly of the warbler.  I should have taken photos of this bit (it can be tricky to lift the top layer of organza far enough off the bottom layer so that you only burn through the layer that you want to.  It helps to use a pin or even a darning needle to give you that lift.) but I was using both hands and couldn't hold the camera as well!

Then it's a question of layering more colours on as required.  Pin them to cover the area you want, sewing around them from the back before burning away the excess fabric from the front. 

Although it's called 'burning' the fabric away, really it's more like cutting with heat, as you only make a narrow cut, you don't burn away the whole of the excess fabric.

 

This is the warbler once I'd applied white and silver layers for the beak, lower belly and legs.  After I'd done that I added a little background detail - again sewing from the back following the original tracing which was still taped onto the back.

Finally I took the paper off the back (easy, as it was perforated along the stitched lines).  The last steps were to add some 'thread painting' over the top of the organza colour blocks to blend them a bit better - the colours are fairly true on this photo.

I then went on and created a quilt 'sandwich' with this basic picture, wadding and a backing fabric, before stipple quilting around the motif and adding the name of the bird (look carefully, bottom right).

 

Fancy trying this?  I just use an ordinary battery soldering iron (less than £10 from my local electrical store) rather than one of the fancy fine tipped craft ones.  Normal rules apply: be careful where you put the hot tip down (inside an empty mug on it's side works well), clean 'gunk' off the tip regularly (I use wire wool stuffed into a small pot), your workspace should be well ventilated.

 

Once again apologies for the odd banding on the photos.  I STILL don't know why it's happening!

 

If you give this a whirl let me know how you get on - it's a really fun way to make quick applique with almost no preparation!

 



 

 



All together now!

Not suggesting we all sing (although that would be nice, something rousing with a good chorus would be nice) but telling you that the FMQ samples are neatly put together as a sample quilt and hanging on a newly created bit of wall space (following redecoration and the purchase of a new cupboard.....).  It may not stay there forever, but it fills the space in a pleasing manner at the moment!

I don't think that I've properly tried 'quilt as you go' before.  My way of doing it (zig-zag the squares together, cover this seam with narrow tape on the back by sewing down both sides, then add the 'sashing' at the front by sewing down each side of it) seems secure and fast, but not desperately attractive from the back.  I'm not sure that doing it this way is something that I'd want to take on to larger quilts, but it's interesting to try.

As you can see, I still can't work out why Blogger is splitting my photos....I've tried re-sizing (reducing the pixels in each direction) - this is 1/4 of the usual picture that I use - but to no avail.  I might try photos from my phone next time to see if that makes any difference.

There have been other minor sewing projects this week - using an embroidery machine gifted to my DDs by the lovely Benta, and sewing Christmas felt ornaments with Richmond and Kew Quilters on Monday evening.  No photos to show either yet, though - perhaps next week when they are looking a bit more finished!

I've also spent a little time on GIMP - a freeware image manipulation programme - following the first class with Sharon Boggon who is offering a course for textile design.  I'm quite excited about it!

Hope that you are enjoying some sewing or other creative time!

Can you bear another sample photo or two?

No, honestly, I'm not doing this for fun - but Blogger is still telling me to add purple overlays to my (in real life) white quilting samples!

This is my free form feather with stippling - nothing particularly exciting, I'm afraid, and not one of my best feathers, although I was trying to balance each blob with a partner one and I did at least manage to get a matching number!

This was the other sample that I've sewn this week.  It was fun coming up a continuous line quilting pattern based on one of my designs from my last C&G module on media......  You can still see most of the elements from the design if you look carefully between the two photos, although some parts worked better than others after I'd simplified it!

I'm not sure that I'm going to manage more than samples this week either..... particularly not if I'm going to try and find out why my photos are upsetting Blogger so much!  perhaps Blogger thinks that mostly white photos are too dull? I'll try more colour next week, perhaps!

Fun with FMQ

Not much time for sewing this week - its half term so I'm busy being a mum.  So far I've only grabbed 20 minutes to machine doodle this FMQ sample block as part of my C&G samples.

I have to say that for the second week in a row Blogger has played fast and loose with my photo - this sample is all white and doesn't have interesting colour overlays.....although perhaps that would be a good idea!

My biggest challenge on this was to get the last stitches in each block to lead me to the corner ready to move onto the next design.  I realise that if I'd stitched the grid in purple I'd have been able to overstitch from any point on the edge of the block which is something to consider for the next ones, perhaps!
Happy halloween!

Still making progress

 

 

I can't lie.  My handsewing still doesn't look how I'd like it to.  However, I am just about up to date with my TAST pages, which is cause for a little celebration!  As well as adding the final stitch to this page, at the weekend I managed the next six stitches on the next one of my pages too.

I've also (after trying just one beaded stitch) ordered a book about beaded embroidery stitches which looks lovely, even though I'm not sure that it's easy to find beads that are small but that have holes in big enough to fit needle and sewing thread through.....I'm hoping that the book will help guide me through the right choices!

Not much other sewing so far this week, but I'm hoping to settle down to some machine sewing later, now that I've ticked some other chores off the list for this week.

Finally, my bloggy friend Sarah, who is doing the same C&G course as me, has just set up a new Facebook page - Quilt Candy -  and is starting to showcase her lovely work.  Why not drop by and take a look and a like?

Hope that you are finding some pre-Halloween crafting time too!

Stich and burn

Not much stitching at all this week (but we have nearly put all the things that belong in the Living Room back into the Living Room, which feels like an achievement)

I'm trying to work out whether I can use the stitch and burn idea used to make this postcard to make a more complex image.  My cousin John takes fabulous photos of birds, including some wonderful bright yellow warblers, and I'm wondering whether or not I could use yellow, white and brown voile layered and burnt away from stitching to try and re-create one of his pictures to make an image to go onto a cushion cover......  I might just have to give it a shot next week.

Planning some scrap booking, then hand stitching and maybe a little paper and pencil work for the rest of the week, so that I can try and catch up my TAST stitches again, and start on my Mod 6 design stuff.

Hope that you are having fun crafting or sewing!

Phew!

This isn't a great shot, but taken by DD1 it's the best shot that I have to show something of the quilt show, with my 'flower tree' hanging in a lovely position at the Landmark over the weekend.  It's a lovely building,  large, light and airy.  The quilts were displayed very well by the team of volunteers on Thursday.  Over 600 people came through the doors, so we are hoping to make a good donation to the Royal Marsden.  If you were one of the people who came along, thank you.   We appreciate your support.

 The quilts are all home now - despite two people seeking me out to see if I'd sell the flower tree!

Seeing the quilts piled up like this (mostly backings showing!) explains how I get through the lovely graphic fabric with birds and trees on so quickly.  Perhaps I need another trip to Ikea to stock up on it!

Too worn out even to watch a recording of Downton Abbey yesterday(!), I was saving my energy to go to the quilt group meeting in the evening, where Lesley had made kits and led a mini-workshop on how to use copyright free designs to produce interesting pieces.  Both of these are unfinished but a little more stitching should see them done.

Happy stitching!

Only One More Day!

No, not to see this sample of machine quilting (the photo that I failed to upload last time) - this is merely a distraction (which at the time of being photographed was wet and slapped onto the window so that I could really see the stitching lines.

There is only one more day left to go to the Richmond and Kew Quilters Show at The Landmark, Teddington.  It will be open tomorrow (Sunday 7th Oct) from 10am until 5.00pm, with raffle draws in the mid to late afternoon.

Don't miss out!  There are some fabulous quilts there, including a couple of mine (somewhat less fabulous) and quilts belonging to both Avril and Benta, amongst many others!  If I can entice you further, there is splendid cake, craft and sewing bric-a-brac stalls, local traders......what's not to like?

Hope to hear that you've been along and enjoyed it!

My One Top Tip for Needleworkers.

So what is this one top tip?  It's this.  Don't - actually, let me rephrase that - DO NOT eat Jaffa Cakes at your sewing machine unless you can guarantee that you will be able to keep all the small fragments of chocolate from melting on the side of your hand and transferring themselves to your hitherto pure white quilting......

 

Actually, I do have one more needleworking tip:  even if you think that you are going to pick up your cross stitch again in a couple of hours, I recommend that you store the needle either in a needle case, or really close to the edge of the fabric, NOT either in or close to the stitches that you are making.  Otherwise, if, say you 'file' piece of work for 10 years and then want to finish and frame it, you may find that you have two unattractive rust dots on the fabric to deal with.  Go on, guess how I know (and then don't wonder that the lovely 'Australian Alphabet' I stitched some time ago has such narrow borders within the frame).


Turning away from those warnings, though (and perhaps picking up some bicarb in order to get rid of the chocolate mark) maybe these sampler pieces will encourage you to get quilting too?  These patterns are all made with the walking foot (rather than free motion quilting).  Hmmm.  Pieces?  just the one, I'm afraid.  The other sample photo that I wanted to load doesn't seem to be playing nicely with blogger, so you'll just have to wait until another day to see that one.  Only one sampler piece after all.  Oh well, more sewing to show you next time instead, whilst I go off and have a mini-celebration for passing Mod 5 of my C&G course!

Liberating List Bashing!

 

I'm really enjoying trying to clear my orphan blocks.  This was particularly liberating - having had a good time hand stitching this (very good practice!) I realised that I didn't actually have any way of using it, so it's been stuck to my wall with a pin for something over a year nowI decided it was time to take the rotary cutter to it - and have harvested the bases for three post cards, 4 ATC's and one tag. Not bad for something that would otherwise be destined for the textile bin.

I did wonder about applying some paint or crayon colour before I chopped it up, but decided against it - not quite as brave as I might be, it turns out!

This was my next use of orphan blocks - some of them over two years old, I was horrified to realise!  A bit of novelty fabric, a bit of sashing, and I have another small quilt to donate.

I can see that it's not the most beautiful or cohesive design, but it has some interest to children, and I hope will be a nice fabric hug for someone.

This was something else on my 'list of UFOs' - a very simple hand quilted cushion.  I'd been held up for a little while by running out of the thread that I'd be using....and not being able to remember the name of where I'd bought it from either.  Luckily Lis knew which shop I was talking about (isn't Blogland wonderful?) and I've been able to order more (with just a few extra threads, ahem) and finish the cushion cover.

Next on my hit list was the desire to make some items for the craft sales table for my group's quilt show.  I've added these bags to the others that I made earlier in the year, and a couple of cards too (oh, and one of the cards used another little orphan block - I was pleased with that!).

This productive week also included some work on my C&G module, including a 3d presentation of some of my work.  Isn't this fun? It's like a mini theatre of postcard stands..... ;-)


I'm quite worn out by all the excitement.  Only a few more bits and bobs of unfinished projects or blocks to use, and then my 'design wall' (a piece of fleece hanging from a wooden dowel) will be empty, and I'll turn my attention to my scrap drawers, perhaps.

Time for a rest, and then I need to catch up with TAST (again!).