Thursday 24 October 2013

All quiet on the sewing front



Things have been quiet on the blog as there has not been much sewing going on. It seems that my sewing get-up-and-go has got up and gone. Even though I’ve not felt like sewing, I was missing not sewing, so last weekend I decided that it was time to dust off the sewing machine and sew something.

First to do was to make a belt loop for my husband’s jeans. This loop has been missing since the jeans were bought and was a fairly quick job once I had bleached the denim to the same shade. As my machine didn’t like sewing through all the layers, I had to find ways to get the same effect but sewing through fewer layers of fabric. In the end, a combination of machine and hand sewing resulted in a passable replacement.



Next was to start some selfish sewing for me. I’ve had two French General layer cakes (Chateau Rouge and Rounneries Deux) in my stash for over a year. Some of the fabrics I used earlier in the year to make my Mommy Poppins bag, but the rest were being saved for a quilt for me.  If  fabrics that I'd admired for so long couldn't get me sewing again, then nothing would. After putting to one side any solid or cream layers, I set about picking 21 red and 21 light layers and pairing them up to make “bordered square” blocks (on checking in my Barbara Brackman Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, I discovered that these are called "Blocks in a Box").


 



All the blocks were made in time for Monday’s LiverpoolSewing Club and I spent the entire evening trying to come up with the perfect “random” layout.  After seeing the photo of the final version from Monday, I’ve spotted a few blocks that I think need moving.

 

I’m wondering about using the solid layers to add a border and then there is the backing to consider. Part of me wants to do a “proper” quilt with wadding and using the cream layers in a pieced backing and part of me wants to do a quick quilt with just a fleece backing. Hopefully the sewing momentum will continue and you won't have too long to wait to find out what I decided to do.