As snappy titles go for blog posts this is certainly a dud but they do all link….

My daughter has taken up photography partly as a school subject but she’s had a bent towards it and a good eye from an early age. This has spurred me on and it’s been fun sharing an interest even if sadly that shared interest isn’t going to be quilting….

She even asked me to make this sweet little pouch to hold her memory stick and card reader. With the run of my stash she chose this Alison Glass batik. I think it’s a good choice and a very easy quick make based on a miniature version of  Noodlehead’s wide open pouch to fit her school blazer pocket. 

Now we’ve upgraded to a DSLR I can see a need for more containers for all the filters and general gubbins that go with this of camera. I’ve already managed to lose the plate of our tripod….

We want to have a go at night photography so I’ve been looking into the location of  our nearest ‘dark skies’ where in theory you can see the milky way with the naked eye In fact our nearest is a stone circle in the Cotswolds called Rollright Stones.

How did I not know, living where we have for over 35 years, that we have a complete stone circle dating back to the early Neolithic times within 45 minutes drive! I have visited the Cotswolds many, many times and always loved the honey coloured limestone buildings that make up the pretty villages and towns of this area.  Well it seems our ancestors, c 4,500 years ago, also liked the look of it and created this stone circle.

OK it’s not on the scale of Stonehenge but it’s more intimate and certainly less crowded. My pictures here  don’t  do the site justice at all. I’m playing with our new camera and very slowly getting to grips with manual adjustments and not the automatic setting. This is  hampered, I’m afraid, by not having a particularily good eye for composition. My father reading this is nodding at this sad fact!

The day I visited was overcast with that unrelenting grey montone cloud that photographers so dislike however I had a go….. But it dawned on me that in this very atmospheric and mystical place we are not going to be photographing the stars  in the pitch black and dead of night on our own … This is where searching for a spare husband comes in. Sadly I was widowed many years ago but even if Nigel was around today he hated the dark so I’d still be after a borrowed husband!

My daughter and I are also nervous of the dark and even the dark skies website says it better to photograph in groups for safety. Well we needed to find someone to go with.  A couple of friends have kindly offered up their husbands who are either keen photographers and/or astronomers so we shall have both brawn and brain with us when we go! Now we just need to wait for the full moon to wane and that missing tripod plate to be replaced and spare husbands geared up! Oh and then we need clear skies…. a lot of stars have to align which of course is what we will be aiming to shoot!

How does this connect to quilts? Well I did toy with the idea of taking a quilt with me to drape over a stone but the place had such a mystical atmosphere it didn’t  feel right…. and also they are very protective of their lichen which itself dates back 400-800 years.

However enroute I’d taken the opportunity to visit the quilt show of the Hathaway Quilters, Stratford upon Avon. My quilty friend Abigail Sheridan de Graaf is a member and a number of her quilts were on show.

This is Churned to a T.  Abigail designed the central block and clearly had great fun with all that quilting on her long arm. It’s one of those quilts that needs close inspection where the thread seems to shine and the detail of the quilting is exquisite.

 

This quilt, Where to next?, was a special exhibition quilt Abigail was asked to make, along with a select group of U.K. quilters, on the theme of home at last year’s Festival of Quilts.  She chose a map of her local town. I joked as she shared its construction on IG that she needed to include the notorious  one way system and she did!

This one by also caught my eye. More an art quilt but an unusual choice of colours. This was made by Kathy Unwin.  I liked the inclusion of the simple people.

It was a friendly quilt group and I enjoyed a cup of tea and obviously couldn’t turn down a slice of cake.  Such a pretty table arrangement. One I may have to copy for our Easter table.

Linking up with Amanda Jean Crazy Mom Quilts 

In my pre quilting days I never thought much about colour. Blending the colours above in the latest Bee quilt for Siblings Together would never, ever have occurred to me. In fact colour is something I’m quite ambivalent about. My wardrobe is full of a fairly standard range of safe colours such as blues, greens, russets. They are usually toned down and designed for practical living n fact if they made wearing denim illegal I would be in serious trouble! The colours in the house are equally  muted with an emphasis on warm tones which works for me.

My 15 yr old daughter tells me it is the typical decor of an older woman! Now to be fair I’m an older mother having had my children in my forties. Mind you I was horrified to overhear a young women doctor in a hospital waiting room describe those over 65 years as elderly! I think I will be avoiding that hospital.

Anyway we have plans, or rather my daughter has, for refurbing her room, in tones of white to mid grey so in fact even less colour! After a bit of encouragement she has agreed to introduce a grey pink colour as an accent picked out from some room sets on Pinterest.

 

As an aside her choice of a greyish pink made me inwardly smile as pink was banned from her wardrobe after I had dressed her exclusively in that colour as a baby/toddler.  I persuaded myself this was to differentiate her from her boy twin but of course dressing them in pink and blue was very cheesy and predictable but I loved it! Of course by the time she chose her own clothes pink was off the agenda! But things go full circle.

I am trying not to feel too sad  that her current quilt

will be  the wrong colours – perhaps I should encourage her to go for turquoise as her accent colour.

Anyway looking at this new quilt this range of yellows, oranges, corals and pinks blend in so beautifully. Seeing so much inspiration out there as I look at other quilts has definitely made me more aware of colour even if it hasn’t quite got as far as my home and wardrobe.

This has got to be one of the most perfect Bee quilts out there. It’s a free pattern called Field Crossing by Elizabeth Olsen for Cloud 9 fabrics. In fact I’ve done this quilt design before with another Bee

but with blues and greens.

The actual block is an easy and quick make with virtually no waste. Perfect for scraps. In fact it doesn’t take many to make a quilt because of the amount of negative space. So the Bee doesn’t have to be that big to pull off a quilt. And personally I think this design works particularly well with a variety of fabrics.

Its the first quilt of the The Threadhouse Retreat Bee for the charity Siblings Together (for more info on this charity see the tab above). The Bee arose from a show and tell of Bee quilts that Nicky Eglington and I did during the recent retreat and admittedly a fairly heavy sell. I think it was my gimlet eye that made so many sign up as it is in fact quite a big Bee now and I have so many of those blocks there will be another quilt in due course.

For this one I pulled out the blocks that were in the colour range mustard yellow through to plum. Other blocks had ventured into a slightly wider range including cooler colours like purple and bluey green and will eventually make for a very zingy quilt.

With that much negative space I thought the quilt called for an overal design and so swirls it got. I must be getting better as a quilter as the swirls are more consistent, although far from perfect, than the earlier green and blue Field Crossing quilt which was my first attempt at free motion quilting and quite frankly it shows.

I hadn’t quite meant for the quilting to be as dense as it is.  It took forever….however the texture is lovely and it’s a very tactile quilt.

As to the binding I have totally stolen an idea from the very creative and talented Jayne of Twiggy and Opal  who put a strip of colour down just one side of a recent quilt she made which is perfect for this one  as well.

Even the back is pretty!

I have to say it was fun to do a gloriously feminine quilt. I normally go for gender neutral or decidedly masculine colours for Siblings Together  as most gifted quilts are suitable for girls but not all are suitable for boys. But just for once I’ve indulged myself…. although with sewing matters I’m afraid I usually do! It’s just real life where I have to do lots of things I’d rather not……

Linking up with Kelly, My Quilt Infatuation and Amanda Jean, Friday Finish

 

 

 

I love curves in quilting. And I love improv quilting so combine the two and it’s all good as far as I’m conccerned. I’ve been playing with curves again and this time took photos of the process so you can have a go.

The original plan was to make something and show how I’d done the curves but when I came to do a curved picture using this fabulous fabric from the Catnip range by Gingiber.

…it got a bit tricksy as the cat picture wasn’t big enough for the curved window so I had to add bits so it became a bit more complicated. I’m afraid other cats in the panel had to be sacrificed to get the same coloured fabric to extend the original!! It just seemed sensible to plough on with this picture and use completely different fabrics for the demo.

I chose 3 shades of solid blue hoping for a 3D effect. Not sure that’s worked out frankly but if you squint your eyes and see it from a distance there’s maybe a hint…

I used a template to try to get the shape itself  more accurate than last week’s wonky ones. Partly successful on that one.

I was going for a flat look so very minimally quilted round the window and put extra batting under it so the cat picture slightly stands out. It was then just a case of stapling the finished curved picture to a standard art canvas block.

Its supposed to look like Skye our lilac pointed Tonkinese. She’s pointed in her colouring but not so distinct as the picture but it will do for me.

Anyway back to how to do those pieced curves using freezer paper  Firstly and foremostly let me attribute this bit of magic.  Following an IG Post from Hillary Goodwin, Entropy Always Wins  blog she posed the question of who came up with the inset circle technique using freezer paper. That honour goes to Dale Fleming who came up with the technique some years ago.

I understand that Dale has done a YouTube video explaining the technique, I’m sure our mutual friend Google will get you there ….This variation is just an extension of that technique to get an inset curved shape instead of a circle

Imagine you want to sew these shapes together….

You can use raw edge applique, needle turned appliqué or machined appliqué but if appliqué is not your thing and you like the flat look of piecing then you can piece it this way…

take your fabric

Now determine which fabric will have the concave shape.

If we are reproducing the design in the photo above then the blue is the concave shape. Place a piece of freezer paper, sticky/shiny side up under the fabric and cut your curve. Remember that the critical bit of freezer paper is that to the left of your concave curve so make sure that there is at least 2”/ 3” to the left. The fabric and freezer paper to the right are scrap

Now iron the freezer paper to the wrong side of the blue fabric but about 1/2” from th edge.

Make short cuts but stopping about 1/8” before you get to the freezer paper

Now glue these tabs to the freezer paper all along the curve. I use a glue stick but you can use spray starch but I found the dampness distorted the curve of the freezer paper

Once glued down place the blue curved piece right side up on your other fabric and glue in place.

Now if there’s a tricky bit this is it. Turn the whole thing over and unpeel the freezer paper where you ironed it to the fabric. But don’t peel the freezer paper from where you stuck down the tabs.  You need to have the two pieces of fabric that will make the finished block on the left hand side and everything else including the freezer paper when peeled back to the right

Place under the needle…

And then sew along the curve slowly. The more pronounced and small the curve then reduce your stitch length to say 1.5.

Once you’ve sewn the entire length of the curve pull off the freezer paper completely

Trim the seam allowance and then press the curve.  I sewed on an outer straight strip to replicate the original design. And voila

If you like coming up with your own designs this is such a great technique to have up your sleeve.

Linking up with  Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts

As usual I cast an eye over this week’s Project Quilting challenge, by Kim of Persimmon Dreams.  The challenge is to make a quilt in a week starting from scratch and this week’s theme was a stitch in time. Frankly nothing sprang to mind so I settled down to cleaning up my sewing room after a too long gap from the time before. In its awfulness here it is….

As always my scraps were taking over, particularly the blues. With the Bee quilts I make for Siblings Together I typically go for gender neutral colours like blues/greens and often use a blue quilt backing so I have a disproportionate amount  of blue strings of varying widths. Things had got out of hand and it struck me that it would be a stitch in time to use up these scraps before I needed to find another scrap storage system. Yes I agree a bit of a tortuous link to the theme but there it is!

But how to use them? I had been much inspired by the quilts at QuiltCon, the recently held modern quilt show and the showcase of the Modern Quilt Guild.  The quilts displayed push the boundaries and there’s fierce competition to get a quilt entered. There is always much angst when the rejection/selection slips come out in November. Although rejected entries should take comfort for one of the winners this year got rejected last year!

Anyway I wanted to try out an idea on a small scale before trying it on a larger scale. So let play time begin.

The best bit was digging out all these scraps….

and then combining them to make a scrap block like this.

When I say scrap I don’t mean the useful sizeable  off-cuts from a fat quarter but those awkward small sized pieces or strings. This was such fun. You are playing with scrap fabric so if it goes pear shaped it’s bonus fabric to start with. As long as you pair vaguely contrasting tones and values you can’t really go wrong. And it uses a huge amount of scrap.

Then to the design. There’s always a stand out quilt for me at QuiltCon and this year it was the raffle quilt. It was made by Hillary Goodwin a seriously talented quilter who always has a fresh take on quilting. She uses lots of inset circles and it was Hillary’s quilts which inspired me to make  this quilt for the Festival of Quilts last year.

Well she has taken inset circles to a new level with this quilt. I loved the way there was a pattern behind the circles. You can see it here on Cathy’s excellent blog post which features that particular quilt (it hasn’t yet made it into Hillary’s blog) and a very interesting first hand account of QuiltCon this year. One day I will go…

For this mini I  wanted to use the same type of cut out revealing a pattern beneath. Curved but not circles. So I decided on this shape.

A sort of cathedral window shape. But the fact that it had points meant that the inset circle technique wouldn’t work and each curve had to be pieced separately. Which made for a wonky first try until I came up with a template. I also had to think through how to combine the curved pieces to make a whole quilt.

Most quilts are made from squares which are then sewn together like my FoQ quilt  but this would be different. After some thinking I approached it like a foundation paper pieced  design where you separate out the main joins. Once I did that this became my guide. 

You can see I’ve separated it into 3 sections, A, B and C and worked on B first. For this I used freezer paper, as you would with inset circles. But working on a convex curve as opposed to a concave was much harder. As I muttered away on these curves my daughter said it seemed so stressful why did I do it? I told her I was pushing myself and it was a challenge. She didn’t seem convinced. As you see the resulting ‘block’ had its issues.

Yes a nasty pucker. But this was playtime so I pressed on with the next section. This time I abandoned the freezer paper and went with improv curves. This is just where you lay your two pieces of fabric down and cut a curve through both layers and then sew them together. But the problem with this approach is it will never, unless it’s a very shallow curve, lie flat. Geometry dictates this  because to lie flat when sewn together the two cut curves need to have different radii. If you look at two drunkard path pieces they don’t have the same curve. They do have the same curve 1/4” in from the curved cut but not the edges themselves. So these curved seams looked like this, again not great.

So for the third section I went back to freezer paper because it had dawned on me that of course concave one way is convex the other. This occurred to me during my Pilates session when I probably should have been concentrating on my breathing! (But to be fair I never do, it’s just a question of surviving the session) Then all was joy and ease, OK a bit fiddly because of the size of the curves, but flat curves were back in vogue.

To see the stark difference between an improv curve and using freezer paper look at these two pictures. The top picture is the joining seam between two sections, the first just by the improv curve technique (I’d used pins and carefully matched the curved pieces) and the second using freezer paper. No contest!!

After I’d found out the hard way what worked and didn’t work I revisited some of the curved seams to make the most obvious faults go away. That pucker went for a start.

If you are new to doing curves using freezer paper then I had thought about  including a short ‘how to’ but this post is already long so I will do that next time. In the meantime if you can’t wait this approach it is simply a step on from the famous and very wonderful 6 minute inset circle technique found in this post which includes a link to the tutorial.

As to quilting I decided on a simple hatch so the focus was still on the motif. I chose a variegated thread, not sure I like the effect if I’m honest but if you don’t try…..

All in all I’m pleased with this mini quilt and I learnt loads which of course was the purpose. The true irony of this quilt is firstly my room is in an even more devastated  state and secondly my blue scrap drawer is only marginally reduced because this design makes a lot of scrap…. there is something circular about all this quilting lark!

Post Script

As this blog is where I record what I’ve done and learning points, below is a list of pointers so I don’t forget. Having re read them it sounds a mixture of part rant and part dictatorship!! But don’t forget it’s to remind me what to do for the larger quilt but you’re welcome to use it if you want to have a go at these freezer paper curves.

1. Use freezer paper, forget improv curves unless the block is small and the curves are shallow

2. Devise a plan for the design, where the cathedral window motifs will be and crucially the joining seams. As a general rule you need to do the opposite sides of the motif then the two other sides. Make copies. You lost the paper with the design on it under mounds of fabric about every 5 mins….

3. When doing the design decide whether to have precise motif shapes or go with a more improv look. Precise is difficult but you could perhaps mark the motif shape on the fabric and glue curves accordingly. I quite like the mix of precise and  wonky.  The children thought the wonky just looked wrong! I think I’d try for a bigger motif not smaller.

3. Get plenty of the fabric you want for your background. It eats fabric…. And fabric, even the same solid by name/brand, can vary by bolt.

4. When prepping your curves remember its the motif, because of its concave curves,  that needs to be snipped and attached to the freezer  paper and then glued to the background fabric.

 

5) The trickiest freezer paper cuts are the ones that not only include the curve of the template but extend beyond that curve. Here you need to cut the curve you need with the freezer paper sticky side up, positioned under the fabric which should be facing rightside up and then using the template or free hand cut the fabric and freezer paper. Then iron the freezer paper about 1/2” away from wrong side of the fabric and then after snipping glue down the tabs to make the curved piece. This gets glued down and sewn as usual onto the background fabric

6) When sewing you need to position it so the freezer paper, having been peeled back, is to the right of the needle and the two pieces being sewn together are to the left of the needle. The curve should be concave. If in doubt sew a small section and check.

7) As to general points I didn’t double up the batting which I do for minis, it was a test piece after all, but it does lose a certain sense of quality and substance when it’s thin. Continue to use double thickness

8) In respect of quilting I think I still prefer random verticals lines but possibly the double thickness works well here in respect of texture. I’m so tempted to quilt out orange peels in that grid!

9) Random idea. I preferred the look of the quilt top after I’d stitched in the ditch round the motif but before the all over quilting. I wonder whether a smaller mini backed onto canvas board would work well.

linking up with Amanda Jean, Crazy Mom Quilts and Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation.

 

I’ve made quite a few tote bags recently using my favourite leather handles and a number of people have asked if there is a tutorial or pattern for these bags.  I’ve always said they are a mash up of a variety of ideas I have got from the numerous patterns of pouches and bags I’ve made over the last couple of years. But with the need to make another totebag to replace one I gifted at Christmas I thought it would be a good idea to capture what I did if only for myself when I want to make more of what has proved for me at least a practical shopping bag that can be sized up and down as needed.

When it was finished I couldn’t resist a snow shot, you can see the snow is falling.  In the U.K., much to my children’s delight, we’ve had more snow than normal. This shot was taken when the Beast from the East, a particularly cold weather system from Siberia, met Storm Emma coming up from the west.

The reason I’m making another is that one of these bags in the next picture was gifted to a dear friend who unfortunately had a burglary when she was away for the weekend. The thieves made off with it presumably filled with loot.  As it’s a pretty unique bag  a picture has been sent to the police just in case they find it at a ‘house of interest’. Wouldn’t that be good.

Burglaries are a sad fact of life.  We’ve had a couple one where my husband left the patio door wide open. He had a fun time with the insurers! But the first one was when we’d just bought our current home 25+ years ago.

I guess we’ve all been the enthusiastic young buyers of houses ‘with potential’. This house certainly had potential for vastly improved security and a couple of months in they easily forced what masqueraded as a back door. My husband discovered the theft on returning from work and rang me. When I got home the police asked me to check our bedroom for missing items as the room had been ransacked. After a quick look I had to admit that it was just as we’d left it that morning! I take comfort from this story when I see the rooms of my sons and hope one day they will see the need for order.

Anyway this is what you will need to make the bag above

 

1. Home dec* weight  or canvas fabric for outer panels. You can use quilting cotton but you will need to interface with a fusible woven interface like Pellon SF 101

You need to decide at this point what you want your outer bag to look like, two tone as above or have the same fabric for the whole of the bag. Personally I like the two tone look but it takes slightly longer.

For a two tone bag+ using non directional fabric you will need to cut

2  x 17” by 11.5” This will be the top part of the outer bag                                                      1 x 17” by 12.5” This will form the outer bottom of the bag

For a one fabric bag then cut a piece 17” by 34”

If you are using directional fabric then for the two tone bag you will need to cut the fabric for the base of the bag at the midway line and sew this seam so the pattern is the right way on both sides of the bag.  The same goes if you are using just one fabric  for the bag but it is directional.

2. Quilting cotton for bag lining  2 x 17” by 17” squares if no internal zip pocket wanted or 1 x 17” by 17” square and 1 x 19” by 19” squares if you want to include an  internal zip pocket

3. Headliner fabric* which is 2mm thin foam, I buy mine on EBay. You will need 1 x 17” by 34”

If choosing to include internal zip pocket 2 x 10” quilting cotton squares for pocket linings and min 12” zip

For handles thin 1” by 2mm depth leather straps or webbing

* I prefer my bags to have a bit of body so using both home dec/canvas and headliner undoubtedly achieves that. If you want a less structured bag then interfaced quilting cotton or linen would be Ok for the bag outer fabric and instead of headliner use the stiffest of fusible interfacing you have

+ You can have the top and bottom fabrics of your outer bag any proportion you like as they long as together they equal 34” in length. For me it depends mostly on how much fabric I have of each and what fits what I’ve got!

Method

A) Cut fabrics incuding headliner.

If you are not going to have an internal zip pocket  go straight to J)

 

B) Cut larger lining fabric 19” square as follows. This is where the internal zip pocket will go

The top strip should be 3.5”  inches from the top, the bottom 5.5” from the bottom. Then cut 4.5” from either side leaving a 10” square as the middle piece.

C) Lay one of the pocket lining pieces right side up and the right way up if it’s a directional fabric like mine. Lay zip right side up with pull on the right along the top edge of the pocket lining, you can just see the lining  poking out on the left

Now lay on top, right side down, the middle 10” by 10” square of the larger lining square

Sew along the top using a zipper foot using 1/4” seam.

Now fold back both lining and pocket lining and press. Top stitch about 1/8th” from seam.

D) Now place second pocket lining piece right side up and correct way up. Lay zip unit you’ve just made in D above on top, right side up. Using zipper foot sew 1/8th” from top.

E) Move the zip pull to the centre and now trim the zip unit so it is approx 10” by 10”. Take care not to pull the zipper as it is no longer secured by the zipper stops.

F) Now attach side lining pieces using 1/2” seam. Trim so it is now 17” wide.

G) Attach the top and bottom pieces of the lining with 1/4” seam at the top (because of the zip) and 1/2” seam along the bottom. Remember that the top piece is slimmer than the bottom piece.

 

H) Trim the whole unit to 17” square. This is what it will look like on the reverse side .

J) Now to assemble the bag.

First sew the outer bag pieces together to make the outer bag fabric strip. Using spray adhesive or pins, baste the outer bag strip to the headliner. Next quilt the layers together. I only lightly quilt it with a few lines to secure it.

Now layout the pieces as in the picture. For the purpose of seeing what I’ve  done I’ve laid them rightside up but of course when you come to sew them you need to join rightside to rightside. You will end up with a long strip.

If you’ve got non directional fabric and got one large outer fabric piece then just slot it in between the two lining pieces.

K) now fold in half right sides together. Sew all three sides using a 1/2” seam leaving a 10” gap at the bottom of the lining pieces.

L) cut out from each corner a 2” square. Squeeze the sides together and sew 1/2” seam to join the sides together. To strengthen this I sew this seam twice securing each end.  By doing this you’ve boxed the corners.

M) Now birth your bag through the gap at the lining piece seam making sure to push out your corners and pushing the lining into the bag

 

Carefully press the top edge of the bag then do a top stitch round the top of the bag to finish it off neatly.

N) Your bag should look something like this and is ready for the handles.

For handles either use webbing or make fabric handles or use leather like me. I  sew the leather about 1 1/2” down and 3.5” in from the side. To get the right size for your height/body test out other bags you own to get a length that suits you.

Now my machine doesn’t like this thickness and even with a leather needle it isn’t very neat so I use a rivet to distract. I’ve covered riveting in a separate post here.

You now have one sturdy shopping bag.

 

 This size passes the loaf of bread test. But of course you can size up or down as you like. I find a square panel makes a sufficiently wide top for easy loading  and unloading. A slightly oblong shape also works well. As to handles my friend wanted one that easily went over the shoulder so this one has extra long handles.

I also wanted to see how long it would take to make a simpler bag with just one outer fabric piece and no internal zip. Well discounting time to make and eat lunch, risk a trip up to the shops etc it took less than 40 mins. It’s not my favourite bag but it was the only home dec I had to hand. And I prefer a two toned bag  but this time I allowed the lining to fold over slightly so it looks as if it is bound. At least it’s way more attractive than my usual bright orange plastic canvas type shopping bags.

Linking up to Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts and Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation