Midsummer sewing

At this month’s Waterloo Quilters meeting, we had the option to make a multi-pocketed drawstring bag and at times it was a bit like one of the challenges on the Great British Sewing Bee. Some people were regretting their fabric choices, some chose not to follow the instructions and most were wondering if we could finish it in time. I chose to use an old pair of jeans for mine which meant I got two bonus pockets. We all finished our bags, but were very glad that no judging was involved.

My other sewing this month has been a major catch up on the blocks for the tiny nine patch challenge. These have been mainly done while the TV has been occupied by the football and I’ve managed to get over 100 blocks sewn and back on track.

Seeing as there will be more sporting-related TV disruption due to Wimbledon and the Olympics, July may also prove to be a productive month for this project.

(A WordPress version of this post is available here as it may be more mobile-friendly for viewing and commenting.)

Some new items to sew for charity

Just a few bits of charity sewing to show this month.

At the recent meeting of Waterloo Quilters, we made post-surgery heart comfort cushions and syringe driver bags, both of which were new to me.

I managed to finish four cushions and one bag during the meeting and made four more bags at home.

This made a nice change from quilt sewing and it will be useful to have some more options to use up fabrics in my stash.

 

(A WordPress version of this post is available here as it may be more mobile-friendly for viewing and commenting.)

A small quilt from stash

I've had this panel in my stash for ages, but a Project Linus sewing day at Waterloo Quilters was the impetus I needed to use it.

The fabrics for the borders and binding were all from my stash, and the batting and backing were provided by Waterloo Quilters.

Quilting was a free motion meander with flowers in the borders and on the panel I quilted around elements of the design.

This is another quilt to add to the pile that I must take to the local Project Linus co-ordinator.

 (A WordPress version of this post is available here as it may be more mobile-friendly for viewing and commenting.)

Tiny Nine Patch Challenge

I started this project earlier this year after seeing it on Instagram. It is being run by Reproquiltlover and the idea is that by making 10 blocks each week, you will have enough to reproduce an antique quilt from Reproquiltlover’s collection by the end of the year.

Photo from https://reproquiltlover.com/tiny-nine-patch-quilt-blocks/

The main part of the original quilt has 480 1½″ nine patch quilt blocks set on point and I have decided to keep to the original block size but with a limited colour palette of dark reds and browns (mainly to use up some of these fabrics from my stash).

 

It took me a while to work out a system for making these blocks and at first I was just using up scraps, but when I started to need to cut from stash, I became more methodical. Initially, I’m making 5 blocks of each light/dark combination but I’ve not yet worked out if this will give me enough blocks.

I tend not to make the blocks each week but have a catching up session once a month or so and have had to expand my storage option from a biscuit tin to a box file.

I’m making steady progress but might wait a little longer before counting how many blocks I’ve made and, more importantly, how many are still needed.

 (A WordPress version of this post is available here as it may be more mobile-friendly for viewing and commenting.)

Lots of sewing news in the shortest month

Unlike some previous months when I have had hardly any sewing news to share, this month I’ve plenty of sewing news to share.

First up are two FPP mini quilts I made to decorate a friend’s sewing area. They have just got a new Bernina machine to go with their Singer treadle and so I decided to make modern and vintage machines in FPP.

Next, I repurposed a full size iron cover which I received in a swap at Fat Quarterly retreat in 2013. This has been unused for a while as I no longer take a full size iron to sewing days.

I was very pleased to be able to resize this to fit my travel iron and have enough off cuts to make a cover for my craft iron too.

The last of my news is that I had a sewing-related day out to Southport. The main purpose was to hunt for some brown fabrics for a tiny nine patch project I’ve started (more on that next month) and I didn’t come away empty handed after visits to Crafts and Quilts and Sewcrafty.

I was also just in time to see the Quilt | Grid | Pattern exhibition at The Atkinson. This included some very old quilts from the Gawthorpe Hall Quilt Collection and some modern reinterpretations of historic quilt making. I particularly liked the mixed media displays of painted canvas pieces that had been stitched together to look like quilts.

After a packed February, I wonder what March will bring.

 (A WordPress version of this post is available here as it may be more mobile-friendly for viewing and commenting.)

Airspace quilt

My first post of 2024 is to share my last project of 2023 – a quilt for a friend whose baby was due in January 2024. The pattern is the Airspace quilt from Cowden Quilt School and I made the baby size, but added a border so that the triangles appeared to float more.

The background was quilted using a free motion “angular meander” and the triangles were quilted with a cross hatch using the walking foot.

The baby arrived two weeks ago and the quilt is now on its way to them.

 

(A WordPress version of this post is available here as it may be more mobile-friendly for viewing and commenting.)

2023 Sewing Summary

I knew I had not done much sewing this year, but I didn’t realise just how little I have to show – three quilts, a 10” block with lots of tiny sewing and an sewing repair kit for the office.

 On a more positive note, there has been some progress on the Liberty Hexie quilt.

2023

2022

A new year resolution must be to do more sewing in 2024.

(A WordPress version of this post is available here as it may be more mobile-friendly for viewing and commenting.)