5 things I have learnt about making a quilt

The whole point of this exercise has been to have a look at what may cause problems and have a practice before I start working with loads of expensive fabric.

1. Make sure your squares are cut accurately. Mine were not, I didn't square them off (lazy) and a few were a little out, this actually had an impact on my quilting, making it look out.

2. Don't take your pins out until you have run some quilting stitches over every block, or you will end up with a pucker.

3. Cutting binding stripes is more difficult than it looks, getting them a uniform width is tricky, and really noticeable when you connect the stripes together. It's also a problem when you sew them on as they don't sit well at the back of the quilt.

4. Leave a bigger tail of binding to connect together. It's tricky when there is just enough space to sew and nothing more.

5. I will not be able to produce a big quilt at my usual sewing station. I will need room, lots of room.

My mother was very bemused by this project. She kept asking what was I going to use this tiny quilt for and didn't get that it was just a little test to see where some of the pitfalls lay. I am still a way off piecing my quilt together but I am ready to start something new and see if I can iron some of the problems I encountered out and to see what new ones I can discover.

Test quilt - day 2

So today was binding day. I followed the fantastic binding tutorial on crazy mom quilts. It was well written and the instructions were very clear.

I decided to pick another inexpensive Ikea fabric for the binding. There were a few strips cut before I got some uniform widths.

Understanding how to stitch the bind on was relatively straight forward, actually stitching the binding on for the first time was quite challenging. The corners were really a mental challenge, which took time to get to grips with. I found even more respect for all those ladies who do this all by hand.

The finished product was highly satisfying to look at. This was my first attempt at making a quilt and I really enjoyed the challenge of working on something new.

This project  has been a steep learning curve with regard to making patchwork and turning it into a quilt. It has left me feeling more inspired to create.

A new project - test quilt- day 1

I have been toying with the idea of tackling a little patchwork for a while. So when my search for a new throw for our bed was unsatisfactory I decided, and even said it out loud to my OH, that I was going to make a quilted throw.


Now not for nothing have I admired these fabulous creations from afar, they look hard and I reckon I need a whole new skill set to follow one through to completion. After much procrastination I found myself in front of my sewing machine last night with a little time on my hands. I decided a test run was in order.

I have been accumulating a nice collection of pre-cuts but I didn't want to do my first test run with them, so I hunted around for a some pretty Japanese scraps I had bought ages ago. They were all cut to 5' squares so I pieced them together. I discovered a little too late that they weren't all exactly the same size, but they were quite close. I selected a piece of Ikea material for the backing, that I had picked up free from a resource outlet. It had at one stage been a sofa cover but I hacked it into chunks of material for practice projects and dug around until I found a piece of wadding I had picked up at some time (probably from the reduced bin in Dunelm Mill). So I was ready to go.

I sewed  9 pieces together and pinned the backing & wadding and then ran up some quilting lines.

My finished 9 squares

A close up on my quilting

The backing

To this point I have spent an hour and am pretty pleased with the outcome so far. I am looking at this as a learning experience. Tomorrow the binding.....

Hello......

Hello is there anyone still out there? Probably not, but none the less I will continue. Over on melly and me there was a post about "slack blogger of the year", I'd definitely be in the running. It's been a case of been sick, been busy, been sick again, but I'm off for the summer hols and starting to feel at, least normal for me if not actually, like a normal human.

Part of me blames my ipad, not really designed with blogging in mind, but rarely out of my hand.

I have been reading blogs and generally having a long think about all things creative. I have definite plans for the summer, which I will share with you as they progress. In the mean time I will leave you with this fab set of patchwork cushions from Red Pepper Quilts in Knitknats shop over on etsy, for some eye candy.

 Delightful.

ps I did start this post on the ipad and then discovered I couldn't add links or insert pictures, so I had to go back to keys, how old-fashioned and traditional :o)

Pink Elephants

I love pink elephants. Although more and more there seems to be one in the room these days, when I'm talking to certain people..

Laura the Elephant Keychain

Pink Elephant Asleep

Pink Elephant Hair Clip

Pink Elephant Fabric from This and That from Japan

Some new bags

Some of the bags with the new gold frames.

The Olivia Clutch

Super Cute Scottie Dogs

Gold Embroidered Flower

I have got a new photo set up and it still needs some work but long term it should make my life easier. I never get much joy from photo editing, so I'm trying to minimise that amount I do by working on the actual photo's. Still a long way to go.

New frames

One a lighter note from yesterday, I did use my new gold frames for the failed fair.

 
They are growing on me and I will post a couple of pictures of them in action tomorrow.

I ordered my usual silver frames back in December and when they arrived they were a 1/2 inch smaller on the sides. I only discovered this fact the night before St Georges market, when I couldn't use all the bags I had sewn :( To say I was upset and annoyed was an understatement. When I went back to my suppliers, my usual silver frames have now been changed. So my problem was I had bags sewn and no frames to put them in. They did have some gold frames, which were more expensive but the right size. I decided to cut my losses, not let fabric go to waste and order them.

They definitely suit some fabrics more than others but at least my hard work has now got a frame and I finally have some more stock for my shop, new listings soon I promise. I will probably order some more so as to put off having to redesign the bags for the new silver frames for as long as possible.

Although all that framing has sparked a bit of creativeness, just need my rib to catch up.