Messy, messy

eli

Amy from Amy’s Creative Side challenged her readers to show their messy sewing space and I’m happy to oblige. Last weekend my messy shelves meant I couldn’t find anything and kept losing things down the back while rooting around.

It was ridiculous, so I spent a little time (actually it felt like forever) going through my shelves and one box of fabric and now my shelves look like this:

I can’t believe it took me so long to tidy up. Sewing has become so much easier. Now for the rest of my fabric which is in boxes under the bed. Please send a search party if you haven’t heard from me in the next 24 hours.

Categories: Musings5 Comments

Upside Down World

eli

Today I brought Little Miss Bossy-Boots to pre-school as I do every Monday. Then I decided to ignore the housework and sit down to do some sewing instead. Ok, I admit it, I do that every Monday too. Anyway, I sat down to sew a bag for my mum.

I love making bags but ironing on the interlining is not my favourite job, so instead of doing it I procrastinated by sewing a zippered pouch. I took the lovely Echino bird print and made a pouch. It looks wonderful…

….on one side. The other side is a bit upsetting.

Yep, I’ve got an upside down bird here. Luckily this pouch was always meant for me so I’ll get a good chuckle every time I use it. That must count for something, mustn’t it?

Categories: Bags1 Comment

London(e) Star

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Hurrah, I finished my London Star cushion cover and I’m really pleased with it. There are a few things that niggle at me but I won’t share what they are as I don’t want anyone to study the picture too carefully and find the flaws. I quilted it by following the star shape twice. I thought about continuing to echo quilt but liked the way it looked now, so I stopped.

I learned a lot from making this project. First, designing your own block is daunting but a lot of fun and once you’ve started you see quilt blocks everywhere. I’ve got a few sketches in my little notebook but before I can sit down and translate them into fabric I have to finish a few WIPs.

Second, think about how to iron the seams before you start sewing and stay consistent. Because I only thought of this as a trial piece I didn’t really care and ironed some seams open and some not. It makes it all a bit awkward.

Third, I realise that I’m not a fan of white as a background. After my Summer Luv mini quilt and this cushion cover I can honestly say that it will be quite a while before I sew with white again. Cream or light grey I would use anytime but not white.

Fourth, I really, really want to make a whole quilt with different size London Stars. Again, I have to finish a few things before I can think about that but when I do I might try to write a pattern. Biting off more than I can chew? Probably, but if I don’t try I can’t succeed, can I?

This cushion cover is coming with me to Switzerland next week and will be given to someone special.

 

Categories: Quilts2 Comments

London Star

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I’m really chuffed today.

One of the classes I took at the Fat Quarterly Retreat was the Designer Challenge where Katy and John got us to think about shapes and design quilt blocks. Most of my drawings were just blah but when we had to think about stars I designed a block that I quite liked. When John said he hadn’t seen anything like that before I took a quick  picture before handing over my drawings.

Back home I couldn’t get my star out of my head and decided to try and sew it up. I sat down, did the math and got it all wrong. When I sewed up the parts that make up the block they ended up way too big. Back to the drawing board….

I decided to actually cut out the components and go from there. I had to adjust my measurements quite a bit but plodded on too stubborn to give up (one of my most prominent traits according to Master). I’m so grateful I did as this is what I ended up with:

Do you like it? I love it. It’s not quite like my drawing but I think I actually prefer it like this. There are so many tiny pieces it takes forever to cut them all out but I think that time is worth it. Now, my math still didn’t quite work the way it was supposed to and the block ended being 11″ rather than 12,5″. Mmmh, not sure if I should just leave it at that or try again. This block will be turned into a cushion for a special person. One day I may even go back to it and make a quilt. Would be fun, wouldn’t it?

Categories: Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat, Quilts5 Comments

We are Family

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I just have to show you the lovely portraits Little Miss Bossy-Boots made of us.

From left to right: Little Miss Bossy-Boots, Aron the dog, Me and Master.

While Little Miss Bossy-Boots was busy drawing I took the time to start and finish (!) a small project. My sister showed me a picture of some birds she wanted to make. Guess what, I thought they were so cute I had to try making one myself. They are incredibly quick to make and a great portable project as they are sewn by hand. I love the idea of getting a branch or two in the garden and make lots of birds for Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ room.

Categories: Home Projects, Kid Projects2 Comments

Summer Luv

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On the train back from London I was thinking back to the fantastic three days that I had just spent in the great company of such creative ladies and gentlemen. I thought of all the things I had learned and the fact that I would have to try them out independently (ie without a teacher holding my hand) to really internalise them. I’m the kind of person who has to use my hands to learn, I write things down to remember them. I can’t read a pattern and understand it, I have to get the materials and make while I read the instructions. I’ve always been like that to a certain degree but it has become more prominent in the last eight years and is probably down to the flippin’ chemo.

Anyway, long story short, I was thinking about the portholes technique and especially about the flower template that Lu gave us together with the circles and heart. In my mind the flower became more abstract and suddenly I could see a picture in my head of three very stylised flowers in bright colours.

What do you think? I realise I could have appliqued the flowers onto the background and it would have taken me half the time but I love the more refined look that you get with the portholes technique (who am I kidding? it’s still something I made). I tried to keep the shapes as simple as possible to practice. The colours were chosen for their zing, I wanted the whole quilt to really pop. I’m very happy with it even though the coloured fabrics show a little through the white and I didn’t bury my knots at the back (as it was only supposed to be a trial piece I didn’t think it would matter). It finished at 12″ by 16″.

I put a picture up on Instagram and it seems I have two takers for this mini quilt. However, as I haven’t got any of the ladies’ addresses I might just hang it up in my room for a little while.

Next stop, finishing my double circle of flying geese. I just hope I remember enough to do it without having to bombard Lynne with too many questions. Watch this space….

Edit: At Di‘s suggestion I’m linking this mini quilt up to Ellison Lane Quilts‘ Summer Sewing Contest. Just for fun 🙂 

Categories: Quilts3 Comments

Fat quarterly Retreat 2012 – Part 3

eli

Welcome to the third and last part of my Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat recap. Can I just mention (again) how much I enjoyed it?

Sunday morning I took my time to get to the Baden-Powell House simply because I hadn’t slept well the night before. I got there long before my first class, though, which was the Designer Challenge. Katy and John sat us down and made us draw various blocks using shapes like squares and triangles before asking us to draw a star block. My star looked a bit like one of these starfish with the long arms and less like a star. As John and Katy kept our drawings I took a quick picture of it so that I could try and actually sew the block. I’ve done the maths and have the fabric ready but need to wait until half-term is over and I have some time to sit at my sewing machine. It was great to just sit down and think about shapes and what you can do with them. At first I felt a bit overwhelmed but after a while I felt very inspired and this process is still going on.

After the Designer Challenge I grabbed my trusty Wernina again to learn how to make portholes in Lucie Summers’ class. Lucie’s Portholes Quilt is breathtaking and I’m sorry to say that I didn’t manage to take a nice picture of it.

The picture of her lovely star quilt which uses the same technique isn’t much better either.

The class was great fun and I loved working both on the circles and the heart.

I felt very sad at the end of my last class as it meant that it was soon time to go home. First, however, it was time for the Ironman show and tell. Our quilt didn’t win but I was very happy that we actually finished it. Ours is the yellow and orange one on the right:

I seem to have missed taking a picture of the winning quilt which absolutely deserved to win. It was lovely with granny squares and a cute border. If you’re interested in seeing more and better pictures of the whole weekend pop over to the FlickR group and then make sure you come to the next retreat. You’re worth it!

A big thank you goes out to the fabulous Fat Quarterly team and all the teachers. You made this weekend truly wonderful! The other big thank you goes to all the lovely people who made their way to London and made me feel part of the community. I loved meeting all you peeps and I love that my reader is now so full of new and creative blogs. See you next year!

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Fat Quarterly Retreat 2012 – Part 2

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Hello again! I meant to write this post earlier but Little Miss Bossy-Boots was very unwell an didn’t want to leave me for even one second. Poor Little Miss has tonsillitis. She’s getting better but refuses to take the antibiotics the doctor prescribed.

Anyway, back to the fantastic adventure the Fat Quarterly Retreat was. Saturday morning I got up and had a lovely breakfast with Amy who I met perchance in the breakfast room. Getting back to my room I was so excited that I went through all my stuff again just to make sure I had everything I needed before making my way to the Baden-Powell House. The Fat Quarterly team were sitting there, greeting us and giving us goodie bags.

Now, I don’t know if you have noticed that I made a name tag for Annabella for the name tag swap but never showed you the one I received? That’s because I didn’t get mine till Saturday morning and my swap partner was  the uber-talented Tacha! Can you imagine how excited I was? Luckily for everyone at the Baden-Powell House I had lost my voice that morning so nobody heard the deafening squeal that was (not) coming out of my mouth.

I also got a sticker with my name on and a Bingo card with six names of attendees which I had to find and get to sign my card. Great little ice-breaker. I have to admit that I haven’t looked at that many female chests ever before. I found my six girls in the end but chatted with at least another 5o in the process and got to meet some really lovely people.

After a nice cup of tea and some biscuits I went to my first class which was frame purses with Katy. The sewing bit went really quickly, Katy explained everything beautifully, and I was very pleased with the look. However we didn’t have time to finish off our frame purses as it was time for lunch. Katy told us to grab her after our next class and she would show us how to glue the frame onto the purse. We did and it was really quick and easy although I managed to get mine a bit wonky. No reflection on Katy’s teaching skills but rather on my non-existent multitasking skills as I was trying to glue my frame and sew for the ironman challenge at the same time.

After lunch, where I got a platter of food especially prepared for me as I’m garlic and olive oil intolerant (I know, I know. Very sad), I headed upstairs  for the sample swap. I had seen so many gorgeous things on Flickr and was a bit nervous that my pouches wouldn’t be good enough. I think they were well received by my swap partners Teresa, Nicky, Emily and Di.

I absolutely adore the gifts I received. When I was taking the pictures Charlie insisted on being in it as well. I’m a softie so I let him sit on my sewing table and stay in the picture..

After the swap I grabbed my sewing machine to take Lynne’s class on paper-pieced pillows. I’m a complete beginner and in my ignorance chose the double circle of flying geese which is not a beginner’s piece. With Lynne’s encouragement I went ahead anyway and managed to almost finish one quarter of it. Sorry about the wrinkles; I took the pictures while unpacking.

Paper-piecing seems to be like marmite, you either hate it or love it. I loved it although the concentration I had to put in meant I stopped breathing for the entire class.

Afterwards I met up with the others from my Ironman group, Amy, Lucy, Muriel, Ruth and Tammy (have I forgotten someone? If I have please forgive me). We got some Savannah Bop by Thomas Knauer to play with. As a novice in quilting I didn’t really say much during the design stage but once the sewing started I did my bit. We didn’t manage to finish that night so when I came back Sunday morning I continued sewing on the sashing. I’ll show you the finished quilt top in the next post.

Although there was more fun to be had with a pub quiz I had to give up and go to bed.

Categories: Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat6 Comments

Fat Quarterly Retreat 2012 – Part 1

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What a fantastic weekend! I really and truly had the time of my life, made some friends and found lots of inspiration.

The Fat Quarterly team and teachers did a fabulous job, everything was well organised and so much fun. They made sure that no one sat in the corner by themselves but joined in and had a blast. The classes I took were great and very inspirational. In fact, it’s a shame this week is half term as I’m dying to get behind the sewing machine to finish off my paper pieced cushion cover and make some more portholes. More about those in my next post, though.

Now, before I continue I have to admit that I am a bad blogger as I hardly took any pictures at all. I was simply overwhelmed by all the friendliness and was chatting too much (is that possible at a retreat?) and in the process forgot to take the camera out.

Friday I hopped on the train to London with my sewing machine on my shopping trolley and three bags. I had already decided to take a cab as I could not imagine dragging my machine up and down stairs to get on the tube. The cab driver almost collapsed when he lifted my Bernina into the cab. She’s a very heavy girl, my dear Wernina (my uncle Werner bought her for my aunt Tania who then gave her to me, hence the name). I think I might have to save up for a lighter machine for the next retreat. Anyway, I got to the hotel where I met the first two participants, Leanne (She Can Quilt) and Susan (Canadian Abroad). My room was very bijou but equipped with an ironing board, iron and hairdryer. I have no idea where I could have put the ironing board had I wanted to use it but it was a nice thought….

At 5.30pm I made my way to the lobby where a bunch of us was meeting up to go to Tikki Patchwork together. I bought some fabric, of course.

I don’t know who the above fabrics are by but I also bought some Bug Jars from the Backyard Baby Collection by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller Fabrics.

Natalie Lymer’s Woodland also came home with me. I want to make some Christmas cushions that aren’t too christmassy and I think those little toadstool houses are perfect for this project.

After our little shopping trip we all went for a lovely meal before going back to our hotels and rooms to get a good night’s sleep before the start of the retreat.

I’ll tell you all about Saturday in my next post. See you then!

Categories: Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat8 Comments

Packing

eli

I’m ready to go to London!

I’ve packed the following items

Basic sewing supplies. Check.

Supplies for Frame Purses. Mostly check (didn’t manage to get a purse frame, will have to buy one there).

Supplies for Paper Pieced Pillows. Check.

Supplies for Designer Challenge. Check.

Supplies for Portholes. Check.

Sample Swap. Check.

Fat Quarters for swap. Check.

Ugly fabric. Check.

Camera. Check.

Fat Quarterly Book (would love to get some signatures). Check.

Pijamas, toothbrush and clothes. Check.

Sense of humour. Oh no, has anyone seen it? Can’t go without it. Phew, found it. Check.

Suitcase and shopping trolley. Will the good people in the Radisson send me away if I walk in with a shopping trolley? Especially as I had to wrap my sewing machine into a black bin bag…

Now all I need is a train ticket. Are we there yet?

 

Categories: Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat1 Comment