2021 - another year (nearly) over

In my sewing summary post for last year I said “2020 was definitely an odd year and I do hope that 2021 is not going to be a repeat.”. Well, I got that wrong!

Sewing-wise there have been no masks this year and has been a mix of quilts, garments, accessories and has included:

• 2 quilts for Project Linus
• 6 incubator covers for Project Linus
• 3 scissor holders for online swaps
• 1 biscornu pincushion for some posh pins that were a Christmas present last year
• 1 zip-up and open-out pouch
• 2 mini quilts for online challenges
• 3 garments for me (an oversized “Womble” top, a twist front dress, a fleece gilet)

 

One bright spot in 2021 was that sewing shows were able to return from the summer. I visited Festival of Quilts and found a very different type of show – quiet and spacious. I think my only in-person sewing purchases for this year were made at the show. As I’m still working from home, my lunchtime trips to Abakhan Fabrics are no more, for which my stash and purse are probably grateful.

After the past two years, somehow I expect 2022 will be more of the same (at least we are all getting used to it now), though it would be nice to be proved wrong on this. 

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

The Travel Quilt

I started this quilt back in March and lost enthusiasm for it once I realised that my choice of colours reminded me of my school uniform and the seats on the local railway*. I finally got round to finishing this weekend and will be very glad for it go to Project Linus where hopefully it finds either a train enthusiast or someone who doesn’t use the local railway. 

The pattern is the Saturday Morning Plaid Quilt from GillyMac Designs, but I added some extra blocks to make is slightly larger and symmetrical. 

I did simple straight line, edge-to-edge quilting either side of the yellow stripes and either side of the middle of the grey squares. It is backed with fleece and bound in dark grey. 

*You’ll have to continue to wonder about my school uniform, but here is a photo of the train seats. 

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

So little sewing

There is still very little sewing being done. All that has been completed this month is re-hemming a pair of jeans that had started to wear through on the edge.

 As ever, this was made easier by the right tools for the multiple layers of denim fabric – jeans thread, size 90 top stitching needles and a “bulk seam aid” (also known as a “hump jumper”).
 

I would like to think that I will have more to report next month, but I’m not convinced that this will be the case.

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

Stash busting

There has not been a lot of sewing going on, but I did manage to make a dent in the stash with some incubator covers requested by my local Project Linus branch.

These were urgently required by a nearby neonatal unit and I managed to get six made, washed and dried in a weekend. The covers only had to be two layers of fabric and required minimal quilting, so this quick and easy project cleared ~12 metres of fabric from my stash.

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

Festival of Quilts 2021

I didn’t expect to be writing this, but I went to Festival of Quilts on Saturday! Given all the uncertainty this year I’d not taken the risk and bought a ticket, but then I won one in a giveaway last week and decided to take the plunge and venture out. Knowing that this year’s show would be “different”, I wanted flexible train tickets so I wasn’t tied to a return train time. As usual, the simple option for tickets was not the cheapest but I managed to save ~£10 by splitting my journey into three.

The first sign that this year was going to different was that with the earlier opening time and staggered admissions, I wasn’t able to play the usual “spot the quilter” on the train or at the stations. My free ticket was valid for entry after 11am and train times meant I got to the NEC about 10.15am which gave me time to get a coffee beforehand. I’d finished my coffee by 10.45am and there was no problem in getting in to the Halls early. The organisers had taken on extra hall space and going by the list on the website, exhibitor numbers seemed reduced by about 50%. With the extra space it was difficult to gauge how visitor numbers compared to previous years, but one thing that was noticeable was the lack of a “hubbub” about the place.

There was lots of space to view the competition quilts, but I got the impression there were fewer entries than in previous years. Rather the usual photos of the quilts that caught my eye, I decided just to take some photos of quilts with cats on them.

It was much easier to move around the trading stands and many of the traders had time to answer questions about their products and chat about the show in general. One of the smaller traders mentioned that the lack of some of the “big names” had been beneficial as people who would normally head to the names were buying from them instead.

I didn’t particularly “need” anything, but there were a few things that were on my “would be useful or nice to have” list. Unfortunately, with the reduced retail offering, I didn’t spot any of them. However, I didn’t come away empty handed and came home with an eclectic mix of shopping - F8 bundles and a half metre from Oakshott Fabrics; low volume FQs from White Gecko; Dutch heritage prints from The Crafty Quilter; elastic for skirt and legging making (from a stand whose name escapes me); bargain jersey fabric from Project Linus (£5 for 2.5m!); ribbon for Christmas cakes (also found at Project Linus); two hair ornaments from Aid for Burma, one of which might be repurposed as a point turner for corners.

It was a different, but enjoyable experience this year, but I kept waiting for the crowds to appear - all day it had the feeling of being the last hour of the show when everyone starts heading home.

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

Unexpected patchwork

There has been no sewing this month as spare time has been spent in the garden or on days out. It was on a couple of these days out that I came across some unexpected patchwork.

The first was in Levens Hall in Cumbria and is described as the earliest English patchwork. It is believed to have been made in ~1708 by family members of Colonel Sir James Grahme of Levens Hall. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the hall, but the quilt and bed curtains are described in “Anonymous Needlework: Uncovering British Patchwork 1680-1820”, a PhD thesis by Bridget Long. The thesis (from which I’ve taken the screenshot below) is available online and shows the photos in a higher resolution (document page 259; PDF page 271).

Screenshot from "Anonymous Needlework: Uncovering British Patchwork 1680-1820”,
a PhD thesis by Bridget Long, 2014.

The other unexpected find was in Llangollen in North Wales where, after a walk along the canal, I found the town’s main bridge was covered in a giant patchwork. This was a temporary art work called “Bridges Not Walls” by Luke Jerram and was commissioned by the Eisteddfod. This included some quilts by the public which were positioned alongside the footpath and larger squares of fabric which hung over the arches of the bridge.

 

 More unexpected patchwork is in the offing as I am off to Festival of Quilts at the weekend. I’d not planned on going this year with all the uncertainty about events going ahead, but the decision was made when I won a ticket in a giveaway and it will be interesting to see what’s different this year.

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

Switching to 5/8” seams

There has been rather a lot of football occupying the TV this month and so I decided to use the time to sew some ⅝” seams on clothes to make a change from the usual ¼” seams on patchwork. I managed to complete a wearable toile of McCalls 7922, but progress on a fleece gillet has been hindered by feline assistance.

 

I made view D of M7922 with quite a few modifications. I straighten the hem across the longest point, omitted the zip, back darts and front band, and I also added a wide neckband to raise the neckline by ~1.5” as without this it would have been lower than I liked. The twist front went together fairly easily, but it was a bit unclear which seam allowances needed neatening and when was best to do it.

As I wasn’t too sure how this would go together and look, I used a bargain fabric from stash but I can see myself making more versions in “proper” fabrics in my stash.

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

 

 

 

 

May's mini makes

I’ve made two “quilts” this month!

However, all it not what it seems – these are miniature quilts made for an online challenge. The blue one is ~9″ square and the blue/pink one is ~5″ square. The idea is that they should look like full sized quilts when photographed with nothing to reference for scale.

They were made using Liberty Tana lawn and the blocks in the blue quilt were foundation paper pieced using the Sew Tiny Sampler pattern from Night Quilter. Each block finishes at 1¼” square, but for something so small, a disproportionate amount of fabric seemed to be needed.

 

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

Sewing for a swap

This month's sewing has been a few items for a sewing accessory swap I decided to join. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of one set of items before they were posted, but here is a little scissor case and lanyard I made for one recipient.

Hopefully the other recipient will post photos and I'll be able to show those items too.

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

Zip it up (and start again)

I’m not sure how describe this month’s sewing – it is a fold out tray that zips up into a box shape that I made for an online challenge of “something with a zip”.

The pattern is based on the free Zola Pen Case, but I shorten it by an inch to make it less like a pencil case. I also omitted the snap on the end of the zip and just sewed the zip to the base to make the handle.

I did try it with a bound zip as per the instructions, but I didn’t like the contrast fabric and zip I initially chose, so I replaced them with a lace zip.

Even though I cursed all the unpicking at the time, I am pleased that I went with the lace zip.

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

Heart Strings Quilt

This month’s sewing was made as an online Valentine challenge and is a smallish (40” square) quilt for Project Linus. 

 

With feline assistance, I gathered my fabrics and starting sewing during the weekend of Valentine’s day.

 

The quilt is made from 16 string-pieced squares, some a single colour and some two-coloured. Squares and HST were made using string piecing on to a paper backing, a technique I’d not tried before. The strings were cut from FQs of Liberty quilting cotton and the cream background is from low volume fabrics that I have been adding to my stash over several months. I didn’t get my calculations quite right when working out what size strings to cut so I had to insert narrow strings to get full coverage.

 

I quilted it with a free motion meander with heart shaped motifs. The pink thread I used for the heart was too good a match for some of the strings and I struggled to see the quilting in places.

 

The backing and binding fabrics were from stash and the binding is machine stitched as I think it is more suitable for a quilt that hopefully will get lots of use and washing.

 

I’m quite pleased to have used some more of my Liberty rather than having it sit unused in my Stash.

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

Little and Large

So, 2021 started as 2020 finished – in lockdown. However, looking on the bright side, I did receive some rather nice sewing items for Christmas, one of which was Tulip Akari glass headed pins. I decided that new pins deserved a new pin cushion so I made a tiny (2 inches from side to side) biscornu pin cushion.

The fabric is part of a tweed jacket I got in a charity shop a couple of years ago with plans to upcycle it into a bag (which has not happened) and it is stuffed with crushed walnut shells which make a very satisfying crunching sensation when I push in a pin. I keep the pin cushion in small turned wood pot that I got a craft fair a while ago which stops the pins from pushing through the cushion and scratching the table.

Another necessary item of sewing this month was an oversized top to wear while working from home as the desk is next to a cold window. I had no furry fleece in my stash, but spotted a fur/fleece throw in the supermarket that was equivalent to 2m of 150 cm wide fabric and better value than buying fabric by the metre. I modified a pattern I had in my stash firstly to fit the fabric and secondly to make the collar larger, and I also added a satiny lining (again from stash) to make it easier to slip over existing layers of clothing.

It definitely serves its purpose, though I do feel as though I am channelling my inner womble when wearing it.

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