frayed at the edge

Easy peasy tutorial

I recently promised Helen of Drop One a tutorial on a very simple way to get started with patchwork.  I've been beavering away in the studio for the last two days, so may I now present my Easy Peasy Tutorial.  The instructions show me using a rotary cutter, ruler and mat, but if you don't have these, don't worry - I'll give you separate instructions at the end.

So, lets get started.  First you will need two fat quarters (that's the size of the material, not my bottom!).  It works best with contrasting colours

 

Iron the fabrics well - your cutting will be much more accurate without creases.  Put the fabrics right sides together, square on the board.  Cut a straight edge along the side that measures approx 21", then cut a strip 5" wide

 

Then cut this strip into 5" squares - I've turned two over so that you can see the wrong side of both fabrics

 

We are now going to start sewing, using a quarter inch seam.  I have a quarter inch foot on my machine - if you don't have one, you can either mark the seam line using a ruler and pencil, or measure a quarter inch away from your needle and put a line of masking tape on the throat plate to act as a guide.  We are going to chain-piece, which makes things quick and easy.  First, fold a piece of scrap fabric in half to use as a thread catcher - put this under the needle and sew almost to the edge.  Have your first squares ready to sew onto as you sew off the thread catcher - this stops the machine chewing up the edge with the first few stitches

 

When you are almost at the end, have your next squares ready to feed in, and repeat with the others.  You will have a string of bunting!

 

Cut off the thread catcher, but don't cut the squares apart - turn them round and sew the opposite side in the same way.  Now you can cut them apart, turn them found and do the other two sides .  You should now have for squares like this

 

Now, I know that at this point you are shouting two things at your computer - first, why didn't I just sew round each square?  It's much more accurate to do it this way.  Second - you stupid woman, you've sewn those squares together, that's not much use.  Don't panic - all will now be revealed!  Decide which of your two fabrics you want to be your centre, then on the other fabric, take your ruler and pencil (use a white pencil for dark fabrics) and mark both diagonals

 

Now comes the tricky bit - you have to pinch the two squares apart, folding the marked square on one line

 

That was tricky, the next bit is scary - you have to take your scissors and snip on the other line

 

It gets easier now - carefully cut along your two lines

 

Open out the triangles and hey presto, abracadabra - you have made your first block!!

 

Next, you have to press the block.  Unlike dressmaking, patchwork seams are pressed on the right side, and are pressed to one side, not open.  In this case, flip the triangles over, so that the seams lie outwards.

 

That was easy really, wasn't it!  So, do it all again with the other three squares.  Now, you have to trim the blocks to make them nice and square (this is part of the easy peasy bit - you can correct minor discrepancies in your stitching!)

 

Can you see that I have centred the block on the thicker yellow lines - this is so I can trim an equal amount off each edge - trim the blocks to measure 6".  They will now look like this

 

Looking good -but, hey, now you can do patchwork, let's keep going!  So, go back to the fabric that you used for the centre square, and cut four 6"squares, and do it all again - sew the two squares together, mark diagonals, pinch, cut, press -and, wow, look what we have now!

 

We've done the scary bits, we're on the home run now.  Flip block two to the left, on top of block one, and block four on top on block three.  Put a pin in the right hand edge, to remind you that's the edge to sew.  Sew the two edges and press the seams - remember to press them to one side - and this time press one to the left and one to the right

 

Now we are going to sew our last seam - butt the two seams up, so that your stitching lines are matched up

 

Pop a pin in to hold the seams in place (put the pin in at right angles, to make it easy to remove just before you sew over it).  Press your last seam .... and step back and admire your first piece of patchwork!!!

 

So what will we do now with our block - I'll tell you that another time!

As promised, what to do if you don't have a rotary cutter etc.    You will have to make cardboard templates (I use cereal boxes).  Mark and cut out five, six, and seven and a half inch squares.  Use the five inch template to cut out your first squares, lining the template up with the straight grain of the fabric and drawing round it with a pencil.  Then use the six inch square to do the first trim - centre the square to cut an equal amount off the four sides, then the seven and a half inch sqaure for the final trim.

I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial - I had great fun doing it - especially when I had to take photos with my left hand, as I am very much right-handed!  (and the photo of pressing the seams - on the first attempt the lens steamed up!)  Please leave a comment telling me if this has inspired you to try patchwork - but be warned - it's addictive!!

Friday fun

As always, having been a good girl and vacuumed and dusted this morning, it was off to Jedburgh for chat and patch at Borderland Fabrics.  As I mentioned yesterday, I took my quilt top of farewell blocks, to start marking it ready to quilt.  There are lots of ways to mark quilts, but if it's a light coloured fabric, I just use an ordinary pencil (I have a stock of pencils from various hotels in Jakarta!).

 

As there is so much detail in the blocks, I am going to quilt the sashings with a simple cable.  You can see my template, which I drew out on a piece of paper then glued to a piece of cardboard.  On the back of the template, I glued two little pieces of sandpaper, so that the template grips the fabric.

However, there was an interruption to the marking, when we were each given a piece of floral fabric and a piece of a mystery fabric.  We were told to stitch the two together, using any kind of pattern we wanted.  I didn't think to take a photo of mine at that stage, so Pam let me take a photo of hers (she deserves a medal, as last week she read my entire blog!) 

Once we had stitched the two pieces together, all was revealed - the mystery fabric is called 'shrink' and when you blast it with steam from the iron it .... shrinks!!

 

This is the wrong side of mine - it's only a bit shrunk, but I think you can see that it has come in somewhat.

 

This photo doesn't clearly show how it has shrunk, but can you see the left-hand flower has some texture?

Of course, as usual, we had to stop mid-afternoon for a cuppa, and this time I remembered to take a photo before all the cake was all eaten ...

  

Doesn't that sponge look delicious ... would you like a closer look ...

 

It had apricot jam in the centre and was so light!!  Although I love cooking, I'm not much of a baker, so I am in awe of anyone who can produce a lovely light sponge like this - well done Annette!!

ps, I haven't heard from the owner of Fantoosh, so I still can't show you the photos, but no doubt we'll be there again sometime soon, so I'll ask again!!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Confessions of a non-finisher

Having (almost) finished the Jennie Rayment cushion cover, I thought I should confess that I have another unfinished Jennie item - this one is a small quilt which I made at a workshop with Jennie a year ago.

 

The photo doesn't do justice to the lovely colours of the Batik fabrics (perhaps I shouldn't have put it on the dark brown studio carpet to take the photo!)  The flower trumpets in the centre have still to be twiddled and fiddled and the corner blocks will have textured flowers on them (once I've made them).  I would have taken it with me tomorrow to chat and patch to work on, but instead I decided to take this .....

 

Please ignore the fact that I pinned the quilt top to a quilt already hanging up to take the photo!  I was given these blocks when I left Greenpark Quilters when we moved here.  It was very kind of them, as they had already made the blocks for the teacup quilt when I left them when we went to Indonesia!  I put the blocks together using calico (muslin) as there is so much colour in the blocks, it would have looked too busy with a patterned fabric.  All the blocks are special, but I want to show you three close up.  First is this applique block by Frances ..

 

Her applique stitching is superb and the embroidery is gorgeous.

Next is another applique block, this one by Moira (ok I admit it, applique is my favourite!)

 

Again, the applique stitching is wonderful and I love the tiny embroidered strawberry that the bird is holding.

As for the third block - it was a bit spooky when I saw this one, as it is the view from my kitchen window!

   

The fields across the road from us are full of sheep - and any day now the lambs should start arriving!

I will finish with a photo that shows that I do finish things ...

 

This wallhanging is called Autumn, and these are definitley my favourite colours to work with.  I made this for an exhibition in Edinburgh some years ago.  Malcolm and I went with our next-door neighbours to the first night of the exhibition.  Things were going well, they were saying nice things about my work .... then Malcolm told them that the textured leaves in the top left-hand corner were added to hide a wrinkle in the quilting!!

Satisfied customers!

This morning we headed east again, this time to the Berwickshire town of Duns.  It's Wednesday, so of course that means we had lunch out.  Today, we went to Pearsons Garden Centre in Duns.  The coffee shop isn't overly pretty - but the food .....

 

As you can see, we thoroughly enjoyed our soup.  I had carrot and courgette, which was lightly spiced, and Malcolm had tomato and basil, and we both had a crusty brown roll, hot from the oven - delicious!

Before lunch, we had a walk round Duns, where we spotted this quirky house ...

 

I wonder if the people who live in it are tall and narrow too?

I can't go to Duns without visiting  a wonderful shop called Albany Courtyard, which sells all sorts of gorgeous things .....

 

As well as all these goodies, they also make curtains, upholster furniture etc ... and this means ... remnants!

 

I couldn't possibly have come home without this beautiful fabric, which is reversible - I think it will make wonderful cushion covers - or maybe a bag (or both!)

When we arrived in Duns, we popped into another favouite place for a quick cuppa - a gift shop/coffee shop with the wonderful name of Fantoosh.  The owner wasn't there, so the two lovely ladies who were serving let me take photos, which I promised not to post until the owner says I can.  I hope she does say it's ok, because it's another shop full of beautifully crafted goodies!

Last night was a wonderful moonlit night - or as we Scots might say - a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht (or something like that!)  This is the best of my many attempts to take a photo of the moon shining above the back garden wall ...

 

I have knitted a bit more of my cushion cover - which just wouldn't co-operate when I tried to arrange it artistically over the back of a kitchen chair!  Although I didn't use flash to take the photo, I think the colours look a bit washed out ...

 

I haven't quite decided how to make the cushion cover, but I think big buttons and I-cord could be involved ......

Fiddled and twiddled

It was Kist day again, so that meant a whole day of sewing, sewing, sewing (with a short pause for lunch!).  I was determined to finish my Jennie Rayment cushion, so I started with the remaining bits to be twiddled and fiddled ...

   

Once they were done, the next step was to trim the block to size, making sure it was square ...

 

As this is going to be a cushion, the next job was to cut the fabric for the back ...

 

This was cut the same width as the block, but long enough to allow the two pieces to overlap.  I used the quick method to prepare the hems for stitching - I ironed them ...

 

Then stitched them ..

 

I made the cushion cover using the simple method you can use to bind a quilt.  First I cut strips an inch and a half wider than the block, by three inches.  I then folded them in half and ironed them ..

 

Next, I placed the block right side down, with the bottom towards me, and laid the first piece of the back on right side up ..

 

I added the second piece (again right side up) then pinned round the edges - note that the pins are at right angles to the edges... this is so that you can pull them out as you sew

 

I then turned the whole thing over and aligned the binding strips with a side edge - the strips for the side are too long, they are trimmed once they have been sewn on. Once I had stitched on both side bindings, I then turned them over to the wrong side and pinned the corners in place ..

    

Then I stitched on the top and bottom binding, leaving an overlap at either end.  We're almost there now!!  The last job is to stitch the binding down on the back, so that it just covers the line of machine stitching.  I didn't have time to do that, so I have pinned it in place, so that you can see the (almost) finished cushion cover.

 

I hope you like it!!

   

It's Friday, so it must be

off to Borderland Fabrics for chat and patch.  I'm still working on my Jennie Rayment block - today I made a start to quilting it.

 

I've layered the block with cotton wadding (batting) and calico (muslin) and now I'll pin the layers together.

 

That's it pinned and ready to quilt.

 

The next decision is which thread to use.  I love working with variegated thread, as they add extra visual interest to the work.

 

You can see which thread I chose, but you can't quite see that I have the free-motion foot on the machine (ok, I admit it, I forgot to take a photo of it!).  I have also dropped the feed dogs, in order to do free motion quilting, also known as meander quilting, or vermicilli (or as one of my friends calls it - that very silly stitch!)

 

You can see that I have meandered all over this square - which will now have the folded flower stitched on to it.

 

This detail shows where I have quilted in the 'background' areas of the square - this makes these areas recede and the main parts of the pattern stand out.

 

This detail shows a slightly different meandering stitch.  Now that the background has been quilted, little folded pieces will be inserted in the centre and the edges rolled and stitched.

 

Finally, I started work on the borders, quilting the centres of the flowers.  Of course I would have done more if we didn't spend so much time chatting and laughing - and of course the obligatory pause for a cuppa.  This afternoon we had a wonderful treat -scones baked by Norrie, the husband of the shop-owner Annette.  These scones were so wonderful (possibly the best I have ever had) that I asked Norrie to marry me and make me scones forever more!  (Malcolm says he doesn't mind as long as I share the scones with him!!)  For non-Scottish readers, scone is pronounced to rhyme with gone.

Tomorrow we are heading east to St Abbs for a day out involving all things woolly, so come back tomorrow and I'll tell you all about it ....

Woolgathering

Yesterday, it was off down the road to Chesters for another Woolgathering, organised by Lindsay.  There were 10 of us there, including Jennifer, who came along with her Mum.  We had a very productive day, with lots of knitting and sewing.  Of course, there was also constant pots of tea and coffee and Lindsay as always brought along some of her wonderful home baking. 

Fiona spent the day knitting a cardi for her aunt, but she had brought her felt ram for us to see.  She made him at a workshop with Moy Mackay.  Isn't he wonderful, he just needs a little bit more work, then he will be ready for Fiona to give him to her brother for his birthday.

   

Lindsay was embroidering small squares of felt - her stitching is exquisite.  She hasn't decided what she is going to do with the squares, but she is thinking about using them as pockets on a wallhanging/ organiser - maybe you'll see it soon in her Folksy shop!

 

Ali brought this wonderful piece with her, although she didn't do any work on it, as she was enjoying relaxing with her knitting.  Again, the future of this hasn't quite been decided, but it will probably be framed.

 

I was working on Sunset over the Bay.  I finished the basic quilting of the leaves, the started on the sand.  I am stitching curves, which I hope look like the ripples left in the sand when the tide goes out.

 

This detail shows the big stitches and raw edges - I'm enjoying working on this - it is just so completely different my usual work.

 

At the end of such a busy day, it was wonderful to get home to find Malcolm busy cooking dinner- how sensible was I, to marry a man who enjoys cooking!

Today, we went for a walk after lunch.  We were strolling past the fields, when suddenly the sheep started a commotion, running to one corner and making a great deal of noise.  The reason for the upset?  There were two deer running across the field!  I wasn't able to get a photo of them, but this photo shows their friend, who wasn't brave enough to run past the sheep and stayed in the middle of the field.  Eventually he (or she) about turned and left the field at the far end, but the sheep went on fussing for some time!

A busy afternoon

After being very good and doing the housework yesterday morning, it was time to head to Borderland Fabrics to have an afternoon of chat and patch (although sometimes I think there might be more chatting than patching!).

 

It was a busy session, with lots of customers, as well as the usual supects working away.

 

I took my Jennie Rayment piece, to do some decorative stitching on it (the 'centre needle' sticker on the machine is because when you turn the machine on, the default position for the needle to the left.  I have my quarter inch foot on the machine a lot of the time and if you forget to centre the needle before you start stitching .... oops, the needle hits the foot and breaks ....).

 

I started with the centre block, stitching down the curved edges with this stitch, which looks like a continuous line of asterisks.

 

I then used the buttonhole stitch on this one (I've still to sew in the threads).

 

For this one, the stitch is a continuous curve with little leaves (again, ends everwhere!).

It was the first birthday of the shop, so when we stopped for tea, we had birthday cake, miniature eclairs and chocolate chip muffins - I'll need to do an awful lot of funky squats next week to work off that lot!  We then had a little competition, when we had to fathom out the names of blocks from cryptic clues .... and, yes, I won!!  For my prize I got this super Moda apron ...

 

Just before we headed for home, a Dutch lady, Barbara Jennekens, came in to the shop.  She had with her this fantastic bag, which she had recently made ...

 

The designs were done using her new embroidery sewing machine.  And if you think the front is cute ....

 

I think I'll be singing 'Jungle Book' songs for the rest of the day!!

I haven't been doing much knitting, as my arm has been sore - it's my own fault, as it is the result of bad posture when I'm knitting - I need a frame to make me sit up straight!

I've got another day out tomorrow ... I'll tell you all about it on Monday.

Where does the time go?

It hardly seems two minutes since the last Kist meeting, but two weeks have gone by, so this morning saw me in my usual headless chicken state, rushing about getting the coffee machine on, laying the tea table, lighting the woodburning stove....

For most of the day, I was working on 'sunset over the bay', but as I am still doing the basic quilting, there was nothing new to take a photo of.  However, later on, I did a bit of knitting on my new project.  This is very definitely making-it-up-as-I-go!

 

I thought I would have a change from socks, so this is the beginnings of a fingerless mit.  I am using the two at a time method on the circular needle, so at least the two mits should turn out the same.  I started with 80 stitches and did ten rounds, so that the cuff would curl over.  I then k2tog to leave me with forty stitches and started the cable pattern (which is only on the back).

 

The first cable has caused a fold in the cuff (which you can just about see on the left of the photo), but I think I can solve that with a button!  I haven't yet decided how to do the thumb - vertically, by knitting back and forward for the required number of rows, then knitting in the round again, or horizontally, knitting the thumb stitches onto waste wool?  Oh, decision, decisions!

And now a bit of fun to end with.  I hope you read Helen's comment on the Show Report (if not, why not??) about when wool doesn't count as adding to your stash.  This reminded me of a t-shirt I bought some time ago in a quilting shop .....

Show report (part two)

So, what did I buy on Friday?  Well the one thing I didn't buy was fabric!  I was tempted, of course, but I stayed strong.  However, I did succumb, first, to this kit from Susan Briscoe ....

 

I chose this colourway - isn't it gorgeous - and that's just the lining fabric you can see at the front!

 

I should point out that fabric in a kit doesn't count as 'buying fabric'!!

Then the lovely Eileen, with her wonderful enthusiasm, made me want this complete set ...

 

It includes full very detailed instructions and patterns which can be printed out from the computer and everything needed to make the bag and cushion (except for the fabric).

 

How could I resist - the sunflowers look as if you could pick them!

And then, I did buy one more thing - I couldn't come home without a new book (yes, I know, New Year's Resolution broken - but it is the middle of February!!)

 

I've only recently started needle felting - I'll show you something when I get a bit better at it!  As well as making lovely things, it is also very therapeutic - all that stabbing with very sharp needles - excellent for dealing with stress and/or tension.

It was lovely to be able to take the photos outside in the sunshine, especially this last one ...

 

These poor snowdrops were buried under snow for two weeks, but with the milder weather of the last few days, they have finally flowered - and it was worth the wait!