2018 - a round up

Sewing has had to take a back seat this year, so my list of finishes is not great. I have managed to complete a quilt for Project Linus and have another top ready to quilt in the new year. I wrote a couple of the tutorials for the BOM club and have added two project tutorials to this website and finished various other bits and pieces. There has also been time to learn some new techniques at Leeds MQG (crumb blocks and a triple Drunkard's Path) which I might put to use in 2019.

There has been a bit of garment sewing (but no photos) and a couple of trips to shows which gave me the chance to meet up with online friends, as well as succumbing to the usual shopping opportunities these events offer.

There was a late addition to the fabric stash - I won some gorgeous Japanese style fabrics just before Christmas in a giveaway from P&Q Magazine on Instagram.

I've also inherited a couple of sewing items - a Victorian style cotton reel stand that used to belong to my Grandma and a Bernina Minimatic sewing machine that was my Mum's. The bobbin stand has been put to use, but I'm now keeping an eye out in charity shops for wooden cotton reels to display on it. Unfortunately, the Bernina will need some attention before I can use it as it will sew a few stitches and then the needle stops going up and down, but I'm hoping this will be fixable.

I hoping for more sewing time in 2019 and first on my list is finishing a quilt for a great nephew who appeared in the summer and is still waiting for his quilt (though I don't think he minds).

A flurry of finishes

My sew-jo seems to have returned and there has been quite a bit of sewing going on in December. First is one of those annoying secret sewing projects that I can't show as it was made for a Secret Santa swap that has been delayed to January.

Moving quickly onto things I can show, I've been working my way through a Block of the Month this year and December's BOM was a 3D Santa. I decided to scale down the pattern and make a tree decoration sized Santa (standard sized visiting cat shown for scale).


Fortunately, I had a spare block from one of the other months and so I was able to use this to complete a quilt top that will probably go to Project Linus. There have been a variety of blocks, but using a limited number of fabrics and adding a narrow dark border to the blocks has brought the various patterns together.

Back in February, I started a FPP challenge for 2018 and I managed to get this completed with a day or two to spare. The original challenge was for the curved pattern, but I made an additional panel using a simplified straight line design and then used the two panels to make a bag for my quilting rulers. I used fusible Bosal R foam to give the bag some structure, but it doesn't want to stay fused so I might try to unfuse it to give a more even effect with the quilting.


After this flurry of activity, I think I need some time tidying up my sewing stuff which seems to have taken over the kitchen table.

Show Time

There’s a bit more to report on the stitching front this month – still no major sewing, but I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things.

The cross stitch design I was working on last month was finished a few weeks ago and made into a card. There was bit of artistic license with the design, but it was recognisable as their new house.


Last week saw my first trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate for four years. Previously I had gone on a coach trip, but these have not been running for the past few years. However, train times have improved and it now only takes a couple of hours to get to Harrogate, very similar to going Birmingham for Festival of Quilts. A friend had got a couple of complimentary tickets, but these were not valid on the Saturday so I took a day of work and we went on the Friday instead.

Friday was “Black Friday” and it was lovely to miss out on all the sell, sell, sell messages from large retailers and spend the time looking at what independent traders had to offer. The show didn’t seem too busy and it was easy to get to the stands to have a look around. I didn’t particularly need anything, but of course that didn’t stop me buying some things.

I got some spare bobbins for my machine, some bag making bits, a few Christmas cards, and a half price back issue of a magazine that I had contemplated buying when it came out just for the free gift. I recently inherited a Victorian thread stand and I have been on the lookout for some wooden reels to display on it. I didn’t expect to find any at the show, but to my surprise a couple of stands had some so I was able to get a few of those. I’ve seen pressing/cutting mat combos and want to make a travel sized one to take to Leeds MQG, so I was pleased to spot some wool felt that should be ideal for the pressing side of the mat. Quilting Antics had scrap rolls of tweed and after much rummaging in the basket, I chose just one (though I was tempted by several others). I’m not sure what I will do with this, but I’m thinking some type bag might be possible.

My final show purchase was a Shaker style box made by Keith Shorrock. There were several different designs of boxes and pin cushions, but I picked an oval box (long enough to hold a small pair of scissors) which came with an insert for you to add your own design to the lid. I’m not sure what I will add to the lid, but I’m wondering about some Liberty patchwork to make a padded top to use as a pin cushion.

No trip to the Harrogate show would be complete without a trip to Betty’s, and after we had seen all we wanted to see at the show, we went and joined a very short queue and enjoyed a sit down, a cup of tea and a cake before heading home. As would be expected, a couple of cakes also headed home with me.

Just a bit of stitching

There’s not much to report this month on the sewing front. The only stitching has been starting this cross stitch house to use as a “New Home” card for someone who moves in a couple of weeks.

Hopefully next month will have a bit more sewing to share.

Ever decreasing circles

At this month’s Leeds MQG meeting, Jenny from Pappersaxsten came to teach us how to sew curves without pins. We had a choice of two patterns – Footloose, a triple Drunkard’s Path, or Sunflower, a standard Drunkard’s Path. I chose the Footloose pattern as it would give me plenty of opportunity to sew curves of different sizes. We were told to bring a small rotary cutter if we had one as it would be easier for cutting curves with the templates and I couldn’t resist bring a few pin, just in case …
 

After Jenny had demonstrated how to sew curves and in what order to assemble the block pieces, it was time for us to give her no pins method a go. I did try a few pieces without using pins, but I found I was much quicker and the edges lined up much better if I used a single pin to match the centre points of the curve. With the help of a few pins, I was able to get 16 blocks completed and joined with sashing so it could go on its way to someone who needs to make a quilt in a hurry and had asked for any spare blocks in purple and black.

Sewing the curves got easier with practice, but I did find it odd trying to cut curves with a template and rotary cutter. I wasn’t put off entirely and bought Jenny’s templates for the Sunflower block so I can make that pattern at some point.
 

Jenny’s templates include a generous ½” seam allowance on the edge of the block and a square-up template. This means that there isn’t the pressure to ensure perfectly matching edges and makes it for more likely for me to try other Drunkard’s Paths patterns when I want a change from sewing straight seam blocks.

It's Festival of Quilts time again

It’s August (but not for much longer) and so it must be time for a report about my trip to Festival of Quilts. After last year’s whirlwind one day visit, this year I went back to a two day visit, mainly because I had the chance to meet up with some friends from an online sewing community.

 

We had been running a little challenge to make quilts for Project Linus using only two colours and neutrals, with the colours having to be complementary on the colour wheel. There was also going to be a competition element to the challenge with the finished quilts being put to a vote.

I had seen a quilt in Lynne Goldsworthy’s book “Quick and Easy Quilts” which had a red balloon appliqued to a neutral log cabin background. By adding a second balloon I was able to meet the two colour requirement, though I knew that this design would be regarded as stretching the rules and wouldn’t do me any favours when it came to the voting. Adding the second balloon meant I could make a larger quilt as these tend to be in short supply for Project Linus.

To avoid any raw edges on the balloons, I used an interfacing technique to enclose the raw edges and then used a blanket stitch on my machine to attach the balloon to the quilt top. The strings were made from a tube of fabric and applied to the quilt top with a straight stitch.

I did echo quilting around the balloons and the strings and then quilted in the ditch for the body of the balloons. The rest of the quilting was just diagonal straight lines. The backing was a cotton lawn from Standfast and Barracks which picked up the neutral theme from the front and went well with the dark binding.

It was lovely to meet up with friends from the forum and to see all the quilts being handed over to Project Linus. As expected, mine was not a winning quilt, but my priority was to make a quilt suitable for an older child and not the competition side of things.

No trip to Festival of Quilts would be complete without a little bit of shopping and I actually managed to come back with some money left in my purse this year.

With visiting for two days, I had time to attend a lecture about geometric design in Islamic art by Eric Broug. I found the way the designs can be created fascinating and I will have to try to make time to try this for some EPP designs.

 

As usual I had mixed feelings about the quilts and I am thinking now that this down to the competition element. Looking at some of the quilts hanging side by side in the same category, I felt uncomfortable that they were being judged against each other. Even though I have been going to Festival of Quilts for a few years, I found it more difficult to find my way around this year and probably missed quite a few exhibits. Galleries seemed to be more in the midst of trading stands than previously and the miniature quilts and modern quilts were over in a far corner of one of the halls away from the other categories of quilts. Perhaps it is time for the organisers to rethink the layout and to have more distinct areas for trading, quilts, galleries and catering.

Oh Crumbs!

At this month’s Leeds MQG meeting we had a taster of one of the workshops on offer at Festival of Quilts and we were being guinea pigs for the tutor so he could check instructions, timings, etc. The class is to make a cushion from scraps and an old shirt. The sleeves and back of the shirt are stitched with the scraps to make crumb blocks and a porthole added using reverse appliqué. The front of the shirt is then used to create a button opening cushion back.

I bought a bright checked shirt from a charity shop and decided to use some of my blue and green Liberty scraps for to make the crumb blocks. There was lots of cutting and pressing and trying to be random but progress was made, albeit slightly disrupted due to us having to leave the building mid morning because of a fire alarm.

 

I got the crumb blocks and porthole done on the day, but my little machine struggled a bit with the top stitching around the porthole.

Once home, I redid the top stitching around the porthole and used the same thread to quilt the cushion front with an increasing spiral pattern.

The button front of the shirt is used to make the back of the cushion. All you have to do is place the cushion front over the buttons (and remember to open a few so you can turn the cushion to the right side after stitching!).

I’m still not sure about crumb blocks, but using an old shirt for the cushion back is a great idea if you don’t like doing buttonholes or inserting zips.

Cabin fever

I’ve been playing around with log cabin blocks this month as I offered to write July’s instructions for the online block of the month club I’ve been following.

June’s BOM involved some improv curves which I found a bit challenging. Each of the sub-blocks were only 5” unfinished, so the curves were quite tight in places. I decided to cut everything oversized and trim to size so I could concentrate on the curves and not have to worry about exact seam allowances.

In contrast to the curves, I’ve gone back to straight seams for July’s BOM and have used wide and narrow pieces in a log cabin block to show the different effects that can be achieved with just the one block.
 

I had not really realised the versatility of this block as, until now, my only experience of it was making a single large block in a school needlework class many years ago. Now I’ve seen what can be done with it, I won’t be leaving it as long before making more.

If anyone wants to try making the blue and white blocks, the instructions are available as a pdf file.

Becoming partial to partial seams

As I mentioned last month, I have been following an online block of the month club, but when May's block was posted I felt the need to modify it a little.

The original block used a very clever technique of cutting and inserting strips to create a lattice effect. Unfortunately, I knew I would prefer an even effect of "over and under" rather than the uneven effect this creates.

Uneven Weave

I don't have any fancy quilt design programmes but by drawing the block sections in PowerPoint, I came up with a construction method that used partial seams and would give an even weave effect.

Even Weave

Other members of the BOM club also wanted this effect and so I prepared a tutorial which I have now posted in my Projects/Tutorials section. Getting the even weave effect is a bit more complicated than the method for the original block, but partial seams are a very useful technique and hopefully the instructions make it clear which part to stitch, which part to leave open, and when to close the seam.

Please don't be put off by partial seams - give them ago and you might find them useful when trying to work out how to assemble other designs. Now I've conquered partial seams, I next need to tackle my fear of Y seams.

Blocks, blocks, blocks

I seem to have become reacquainted with my sewing machine and have been playing catch up with an online block of the month club. Several evenings of cutting and sewing saw me complete the blocks for January to April and I am now ready for  May’s block to be issued.

I have also completed the first of 35 low volume log cabin blocks for a Project Linus quilt challenge in the same online community. We are limited to two colours and neutrals and I think my interpretation might be stretching the rules a little, but hopefully will create a modern quilt suitable for an older child.

(Apologies if the formatting for this post is a little odd - I’m trying a new app to write posts from my iPad.)    

Lucy Locket's Hidden Pocket

I’m always slightly annoyed by the general lack of an inside pocket on women’s jackets and coats. So much so, that on many of my coats I have inserted a zipped pocket between the lining and facing. Seeing as I needed to add such a pocket to a jacket recently, I took photos while I was sewing and have written a tutorial showing how to add this hidden pocket to a lined jacket or coat.

If you choose a zip that matches the inside of the coat or jacket, then the pocket is almost hidden when closed. The pocket fabric can be as matching or as contrasting as you like. For this pocket I used some silk and stabilised it with a light weight iron-on interfacing, though if you use quilting cotton or a similar fabric, interfacing would not be needed.

These pockets are not suitable for carrying anything too heavy, but can cope with a passport and boarding card or a set of keys or similar. If your coat or jacket has buttons, the size of the pocket may be limited by the distance between the buttons as these are often sewn on through the outer layer and the facing. My jacket had a zip, so I wasn't limited to a certain size and made my pocket to fit my passport.

 
The tutorial can be found as a pdf file in my Project/Tutorials section.

If you do use this tutorial to add a pocket and find any of the instructions unclear, please get in contact and I will try to help.

Flying FPP

This month I have started a new project as a result of a challenge posted in an online sewing community. The challenge was the “Soaring Compliments” pattern from Bryerpatch Studio.

At first I thought this challenge was not for me – I’ve only done two FPP projects previously and the rainbow colour scheme was not my cup of tea. However, I did a bit of digital colouring in and looked at my stash of Oakshott and the next thing I knew was the challenge had been accepted.

 

Before the sewing could start, some more computer wizardry was required to print the pattern as a tiled PDF and resize it so I could use the charm squares for the geese. My resized pattern is now ~15” instead of the original 25” and so far the smaller scale has been OK for the flying geese sections.
 

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the pattern comes together at the reduced size.