frayed at the edge

The final stitch!

On Sunday night, I put the last stitch into the 32nd stitchery!

 

these are the last two, pressed and ready to trim, before adding the backing fabrics

 

the pile of thirty two, ready for quilting

 

I had already decided to use this thread and big stitches - although I find it hard to quilt with big stitches, they tend to get smaller as I go

 

I have quilted round the stitchery, and the inner edge of the edging

 

I will also quilt round the outer edge

 

I had a search through my stash yesterday for backing fabric for the big runner.  Not only did I not have anything with a beach or nautical theme, but I didn't have a piece big enough (I don't like joins in my backing fabric).  So it was into my precious stash of Laura Ashley fabrics ........ I have to admit that I have had this stash since the 1990s, when I was able to buy a big pile of remnants which were a quarter of the original price

 

all pinned up, ready to quilt

 

I thought it might be difficult to work the pattern across the whole runner, so I started by quilting down the middle row of squares

 

in places I stitched into the squares on either side, and left spaces so that I could stitch into the centre squares from each side

 

as I quilted down the second row, there was a bit of a clank and a clonk, and I thought the thread had jammed, but the spool had run out

 

fortunately a quick search of my thread stash (!) uncovered another reel of the same colour

 

the second row quilted, showing where I have stitched from side to side over the centre seam

 

the third row stitched

 

it didn't take long to trim the runner and machine stitch the binding to the front.  Now all I have to do is hand stitch the binding to the back

 

this is the blanket that I knitted for the Jedburgh Flower Show industrial section competition.  It has still to be blocked, which will show the pattern off better

 

but a certain bear was most annoyed that Jemima got to show off the blanket, as she also showed off the pink one, so he had to have his photo taken too!

 

I thought the plain cream blanket was perhaps a little bit boring, so I have started one with a different coloured border

 

I have to admit that I put this matinee jacket (also for the competition) aside, as I don't like sewing up knitting ........

 

....... and started on a slightly different version, which will have short sleeves

 

Maureen gave me this piece of fabric on Monday to include in a Linus quilt ....... I'll show you tomorrow what I have done with it so far

 

 

Only two to go!

I have finished another two stitcheries ........ so only two more to go!

 

as with the others, I trimmed them using my template

 

and added the backing fabrics.  This is the two of them in a patch of bright sunlight on the design wall

 

oh dear, I didn't notice until I saw the photo on my laptop, that one of the stitcheries is upside down

 

so that's thirty in the pile

 

I had a blitz on cutting the rest of the other hexagons, altogether I have cut 64 small and 64 large hexagons 

 

the next job was to cut wadding.  Using two rulers, I cut strips

 

then cross cut the strips into rectangles

 

the next stage is to tack the hexagons to the wadding, then trim them.  It's easier to do it that way than cut out hexagons from the wadding, and tack them together, as the soft wadding is difficult to cut accurately

 

Malcolm has been busy in the garage, making a new planter from more of his stash of old pallet wood

 

it has an old plastic storage box inside it, which won't show once it is filled with compost and planted up with a variety of plants

 

we're over at the flat, and the small runner is looking good on the new shelves

 

now for the best photos of the week!  We popped in for a cuppa this afternoon, and Malcolm had caramel shortbread

 

and I had an exceedingly delicious slice of rocky road

 

to finish - this was the stunning sky when I got up at 6.30 this morning ........ but I didn't go outside, I simply took the photos through the back bedroom window!

 

we are planning to head over to St Abbs tomorrow for the Wool Festival and on Sunday we will be glued to the tv to watch England playing in the final of the cricket T20 World Cup.  I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne  

 

 

 

Two finishes!

so - on with the bag.  I layered it up ready for quilting

 

a slight oops - I managed to stitch into the end of the pin.   Amazingly I didn't hit the pin and break the needle!

 

I stitched the pocket in place

 

then folded the bag in half and stitched the side seams

 

then I stitched across the bottom corners to form the base, and added the lining

 

the view from the side

 

I forgot to take a photo of adding the handles, but here is the finished bag, sitting prettily on the garden bench which Malcolm painted at the weekend.  So that's finish #1

 

I still have a pile of black and white bits sitting beside the sewing machine, so I sewed some more together, just for fun!

 

then I had a bit of practice for the fmq pattern for the small runner.  The design is supposed to look like ripples on water - I think in places in looks as if someone has thrown a big stone in!

 

I found a piece of fabric to use for the backing - as you can see it is only just big enough ........

 

....... but I wanted to use it as I think it looks like a stormy sea

 

it didn't take long to quilt the centre section

 

then I changed to the walking foot and stitched in the ditch between the centre section and the border

 

the next job was to trim the runner, ready for the binding

 

and here is finish #2

 

the sun has been shining today, and in the garden the forsythia is starting to flower

 

and the early clematis has buds on it

 

the bright skies made me want to make something lighter for lunch, so we had tuna pate (which we brought back from Portugal) with a little bit of gorgonzola, and some little crackers

 

and to go with it  - pickled onions, cornichons and hot sweet peppers, with olives stuffed with lemon for Malcolm

 

and to finish - I had a basket of ironing to tackle this afternoon, so I watched the latest edition of The Quilt Show while I was doing it.  I loathe ironing, so anything that distracts me while doing it helps!!

 

How many calories .......

..... do you think there are in this slice of Easter Bunny cake, which we shared on Sunday?  Not only was it very chocolatey, there were Smarties in the middle and mini marshmallows and eggs on the top.  The slice was supposed to be for one, but we were full just eating half each!

 

we had a quiet weekend at home .......... we didn't even go for a walk on Sunday, as the weather wasn't very good.  Malcolm pottered about in the garden, and in the garage, giving the garden bench a fresh coat of paint.  I got quite a lot of sewing done, but I have still to sort out the photos, so to finish, some photos of a long tailed tit on the fat ball feeder this afternoon

All square

When I was watching a recent episode of The Quilt Show, I saw a new-to-me method of using squares.  So after I finished the runners on Tuesday, I looked out this charm pack from my stash

 

the first job was to sort the squares into pairs, right sides together

 

then chain piece them

 

but then comes the strange bit - you turn them round and sew them on the opposite side

 

which gives you tubes like this one

 

the next stage was to cut the sets in half.  I lined them three at a time on the cutting mat, with the seams to the sides, and cut them 

 

the first three cut and opened out 

 

having done the same with the rest, I took two of them, and pinned them with the seams lined up

 

having stitched these on both sides, I cut them in half

 

giving me little four-patches.  What a clever technique, so much easier then if I had cut each of the original squares into quarters then stitched them 

 

this is as far as I got on Tuesday - half of the pile done

 

then yesterday I had to decide what to do with all these squares, so I thought I would make a bag.  I remembered this stitchery, made from a kit which I had bought when we were on holiday in Australia quite a few years ago

 

I then looked out this lovely Liberty fabric to use as the lining (yes, Meredithe, I have finally used some of my Liberty stash!!)

 

I used fusible web to stick the Liberty fabric to the stitchery

 

then used the false binding method to finish of the edge of the stitchery.  This will be the front pocket of the bag

 

using the same method as I used for the runners, I stitched all the squares together

 

I folded the strip of squares in half and pinned it to the design wall, the pinned the pocket on.  The square and a half  below the stitchery, along with the matching square and a half on the back,  will form the base of the bag.  Not bad for making it up as I went along!  Hopefully I will get it finished over the weekend

 

I spotted the sparrow and the female blackbird on the bird bath this morning - perhaps they were agreeing that the water was still too cold for a bath!

 

and the robin was looking very grumpy sitting on the wooden owl which we brought back from Indonesia.  The poor owl is slowly rotting away - sitting outside in the British weather hasn't agreed with him!

 

I took this last photo at the weekend, then forgot about it.  This little fishing boat was obviously having engine trouble, with great clouds of smoke belching out the back, giving the scene a misty, romantic look!

 

I won't be here tomorrow and Monday, as it is Easter.  I hope you have a good weekend ....... and don't eat too much chocolate!!  Love Anne

All at sea

After Malcolm made such a good job of the new shelves, I thought that I had better make the effort to make a runner for it.  I remembered that I had bought these fabrics some time ago to make a runner for our little dining table in the flat, and with some calculations, I realised that I had enough to do both

 

I started with the runner for the shelves, arranging the squares on the design wall

 

once I was happy with the arrangement

 

I chain pieced them

 

into rows of three

 

then I sewed the rows together in pairs

 

then sewed the pairs together

 

then sewed all the sections together

 

after pressing the seams well, I added the first border

 

all four borders on, and looking good!

 

I then went through the same process to make the table runner

 

now they just need to be quilted and have the binding put on

 

to finish ..... when we were in Jedburgh  this morning, we saw this daredevil tree surgeon cutting down a tree beside the Abbey.  I wonder if next time we are there, all of the trees will have been cut down

A little tutorial : part 2

After completing the quilt top, the next stage is to quilt it.  For this you need : the quilt top, backing fabric and wadding (batting).  The backing fabric and wadding should be about two inches bigger all round than the quilt top

 

you will also need pins - there are all sorts available, and if you are going to be pinning a lot of quilts, I would recommend getting a gadget to make closing the pins easier (and less painful on the fingers)

 

for the first stage, you will need the backing fabric, masking/low tack tape and scissors

 

give the fabric a good iron, then either tape it to your work table (don't do this on your antique dining table) or to the floor.  Smooth the fabric out but don't pull it too tight

 

next, smooth the wadding out on top of the backing fabric

 

then after ironing the top, put it on top of the wadding and smooth it out

 

stagger the pins - I usually pin about four inches apart

 

having pinned the area on the table, I moved the quilt up so that I could pin the rest, re-taping the backing fabric

 

with all the pinning done, I trimmed away the excess backing fabric and wadding

 

and with a scrap of one of the fabrics from the top, I made a sandwich to check the stitching

 

you can see that several stitches were skipped on the top two rows, but after changing the size of the needle, the stitching was fine

 

I attached the quilting guide to the walking (even feed) foot, setting it so that the lines of stitching would be two inches apart

 

I put a strip of masking tape diagonally across the quilt

 

and stitched along it, removing the pins as I stitched

 

for the next (and subsequent rows) I put the guide on the line of stitching - it takes a bit of practice to focus on the quilting guide rather than the needle as you stitch

 

all the lines stitched on the first diagonal

 

then I used another length of tape for the other diagonal - this shows the first line of stitching

 

the second lot  of stitching goes much faster, as you have already removed the pins

 

this is the simplest way to quilt - and if you don't have a quilting guide for your machine, use two inch wide tape, and just keep moving it to mark your next stitching line

 

the stitching looks good on the back too

 

the last stage is to bind the quilt - but that is a tutorial for another day!

Shadow applique

I mentioned on Tuesday that Elaine was going to show us how to do shadow applique at Abbey Quilters' meeting.  She had made up kits for us to buy, and we had the choice of doing Sunbonnet Sue or tulips

 

I chose the tulips, and this shows the pattern pieces traced on to fusible web, then ironed on to the wrong side of the fabric

 

the pieces were then cut out and fused to the background fabric

 

the next step was to add a piece of organza, and hand quilt round the tulips

 

the hand quilting finished

 

I added some beads

 

checking the placement of the tulip in the card

 

I  stuck the tulips in place with double-sided tape, then stitched round the edge, and added a little Easter greeting

 

when I made the little quilt from four fat quarters, I mentioned that you could make it from pastel colours, so this afternoon I pulled these fat quarters from my stash

 

when I turned on the iron to press the fabrics before cutting them, I took a photo of the clock

 

here is the finished quilt top (the pale colours don't show up well on the design wall)

 

I moved the clock down on to the ironing board, so that you could see that this really was the time when I finished ...... I told you that it was a very quick quilt to make!

 

to finish the afternoon, I cut another batch of hexagons ....... generating another lovely pile of scraps!!

 

and to finish - if you have had a busy day, and can't be bothered to make a proper cheese sauce, or if you have a gluten free diet, here is a quick but tasty sauce.  Simply put some creme fraiche into a small saucepan and add grated or crumbled cheese - this is gorgonzola.  Warm it until the cheese is melted - easy, quick and most importantly, delicious!!

 

A little tutorial

I thought I would write a little tutorial about what I did with the four fat quarters - I made a very quick and easy quilt, which has minimal cutting, and minimal sewing

 

first, for non-quilters, what is a fat quarter.  It is a metre of fabric, cut in half across the width, and then down the length.  This generally gives you a piece of fabric nineteen and a half inches by twenty one or twenty two inches.  But not all fat quarters are cut accurately, as you can see from this one, which doesn't meet the line on its left hand corner

 

but it does on the right

 

it is also over an inch longer than it should be - good for the quilter, but cutting into the shop's profits

 

and you can see the difference in these two fat quarters

 

so, let's start the quilt.  From the centre fat quarter, cut a piece twenty one and a half inches by eighteen and a half inches, and from one of the plain colours cut two pieces twenty one and a half inches by nine and a half inches, and stitch them together like this

 

from the other plain fabric cut two pieces eighteen and a half inches by nine and a half inches, and from the fourth fabric cut four nine and a half inch squares.  Make two units like this one

 

press the seams towards the patterned fabrics, then butt the seams up like this

 

and pin them ready for stitching

 

a little word about stitching.  I always start with a thread catcher.  begin sewing about half an inch from the edge

 

then when you stitch to the edge and sew on to  your seam, the edge won't be chewed up, as often happens if you try to stitch from the very edge.  After stitching, snip off the thread catcher - the ends of thread are on the thread catcher, instead of on the floor.  You can see that I am using my quarter inch foot ....... there is a lot of nonsense spouted about these feet, with certain well known quilters saying you should never use them, but use a regular foot, changing your needle position to obtain a quarter inch seam.  Please be assured that the quilt police won't turn up at your door if you use your quarter inch foot - I have been using one for more than twenty years without any dire consequences!

 

this shows the neatly matched seams

 

and here is the finished quilt, which measures 36"x39".  Of course you don't have to make the quilt in such bright colours - you might like to make it in pastel colours for a new baby

 

I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial, and will be inspired to make a quilt.  Next week I will show you how to layer up and quilt it.

 

A little bit of knitting

Just a quick post, as it is Abbey Quilters' monthly meeting tonight, which means an early dinner before I pop over to Jedburgh to pick up Maureen, and then on to Kelso.  Tonight, one of the members, Elaine, is showing us how to do shadow applique.  

So, a little bit of knitting.  The latest Linus blanket is coming along nicely

 

some weeks ago, Maureen suggested that I might like to enter some knitted items in the Industrial (handcraft) section of Jedburgh flower show.  She sent me the list of items, and when we were in Berwick last week I popped into the little wool shop and bought these patterns for the baby knits

 

then it was into the stash for some yarns.  I like white for tiny matinee jackets

the hooded jacket will be in a bigger size, so I chose this vibrant red, as I think it will show off the pattern well

 

come back tomorrow, and I will show you what I did with these four fat quarters!