I had already decided to stay at home to get on with my sewing today, instead of going with Malcolm for our usual cuppa and scone, so when I got up and saw the wind and rain, I was glad that I wasn't going out. To start the first quilt, I lined up the two floral fabrics on the board ready to cut.
Having trimmed off the selvedges and squared up the top edge, I cut four x four and a half inch strips
I then lined up the two Fossil Fern fabrics - it was very important to make sure I had these fabrics the right way round. A fat quarter is approximately 19 inches by 22 inches, and as the strips I was going to cut total 20 inches, I had to check that I had the longer side going across the cutting board. A quick tip - if you are going to cut a lot of strips the same size, mark the line on your ruler with post-its or masking tape. It saves a lot of time checking you are cutting the right size every time ..... and stops the dreaded mistake of cutting the strip squint!
I now had eight x four and a half inch strips, and sixteen x two and a half inch strips.
I stitched a narrow strip to one side of each of the wider strips, using chain piecing - you can see that I have fed the next pair under the needle without cutting the thred
I then sewed the remaing narrow strips to the other side of the wider strips, and pressed them
The new strips now measured eight and a half inches, and from each strip I cut two squares, giving me sixteen squares in total. I arranged these on the design wall
The next step was to sew the squares together in pairs. No matter how experienced a quilter you are, it is all too easy to sew the squares together wrongly! I always use the same method - I flip the right hand square over the left one and put a pin in the edge that is to be stitched
Having stitched all the pairs, I put them back on the design wall to make sure I had them the right way round
I then sewed the two parts of each strip together, and then sewed the four resulting strips together, completing the quilt top
I cut the strips for the next quilt, and did the first stage of stitching them together, but I didn't want to do any more, as I will take it with me to patch'n'chat tomorrow, to show some of the others how the quilt is made. However I did arrange four of the strips on the design wall, so that you can see how it will look
Recently I have been watching my box set of Shogun, starring Richard Chamberlain, while I'm sewing. I loved the book, and was unsure about watching the tv progamme when it was first shown, as all too often the actors chosen don't match up to the pictures I have formed in my head of the characters. But apart from an American playing an Englishman and a Welshman playing a Spaniard (without changing their accents!), the cast were excellent.
By the time I came back into the house, the rain had gone off, but it was still windy. The birds had re-appeared, and were pecking at the seed that the wind had blown off the bird table ........
....... except for this little tit, whcih preferred the peanut feeder
The wind has now dropped to a breeze, and the sun is shining in through the window, right in my eyes!